Wednesday, June 28, 2023

Mid-Week Song

 

Portland, Oregon - based Grammy award-winning band Portugal. The Man are not just creative composing and performing talents, but are active in a range of issues from providing instruments to disadvantaged schools, to gun safety and support of March for Our Lives, to support of indigenous American rights. Forming some 20 years ago in Alaska, the band's ninth studio album, "Chris Black Changed My Life," was released last week and our song choice today is a track from that album, the Beatleseque "Doubt.




Former Aide: Trump Openly Lusted For Ivanka


In his new book "Blowback: A Warning to Save Democracy from the Next Trump," former chief of staff for the Homeland Security Department Miles Taylor describes situations in which the perverted Malignant Loser made shockingly blunt sexual comments about his own daughter Ivanka. At one point it caused former Marine General and Trump Chief of Staff John Kelly to comment about it in disgust, as reported by Newsweek:

"Donald Trump's 'naked sexism,' including toward his own daughter, is described in a new book by Miles Taylor, the former Trump administration official who famously wrote a scathing op-ed about the former president under the pen name 'Anonymous.'

Taylor, a former chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security, describes several incidents that made women in the Trump administration uncomfortable in his upcoming book Blowback: A Warning to Save Democracy from the Next Trump, an extract of which was obtained exclusively by Newsweek.

These incidents included, the book says, claims'what it might be like to have sex with her.' This prompted a rebuke from his chief of staff, the book says."  (our emphasis)

Recall that in a 2006 appearance on "The View," the Malignant Loser commented, with his daughter present, that if she weren't his own daughter, he'd probably be dating her. There's more here. The Newsweek article continues:

"According to Taylor's book, the worst of the behavior was Trump's lewd comments about his own daughter.

'Aides said he talked about Ivanka Trump's breasts, her backside, and what it might be like to have sex with her, remarks that once led John Kelly to remind the president that Ivanka was his daughter,' Taylor writes.

'Afterward, Kelly retold that story to me in visible disgust. Trump, he said, was 'a very, very evil man.'  [snip]

Taylor says he believes Trump remains unchanged as he leads the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, and fears a second Trump term could be far worse.

'He's a pervert, he's difficult to deal with," the source told Newsweek. 'This is still the same man and, incredibly, we're considering electing him to the presidency again.'"  (our emphasis)

Imagine even remotely considering such a depraved sexual predator for the highest office, in addition to his criminality and treasonous behavior. Millions of his cult not only consider it, but wish it upon us all.

BONUSScott Lemieux ftw --

The RNC this year will involve toggling between calling every LGBTQ+ person a “groomer” and doing a Nuremberg rally for the guy who talks openly about wanting to screw his daughter and liked to prowl around the dressing rooms of teenage pageant contestants.

(photo: A hands on daddy. Getty Images)


More Special Counsel Charging Decisions Near?

 



Special Counsel Jack Smith is nearing charging decisions involving the efforts to overturn the 2020 election and related fraudulent MAGAt grifting, according to multiple sources.  From CNN:

Former Donald Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani has been interviewed by federal investigators as part of the special counsel’s investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, multiple sources familiar with the meeting told CNN.

The meeting between Giuliani, his attorney Robert Costello, and investigators took place in recent weeks. The sources declined to say what investigators’ questions focused on during the meeting, which has not been previously reported.

Special counsel Jack Smith has not announced any charges stemming from his investigation into efforts to block the certification of the 2020 presidential election, but prosecutors appear to be nearing charging decisions, sources familiar with the case have said.

The interview with Giuliani comes amid a flurry of activity in the probe, which is examining a plan from Trump and his allies to put forth fake electors as well as potential financial crimes related to post-election fundraising. Investigators have called a steady stream of witnesses before a federal grand jury in recent weeks and have pressed attorneys to quickly bring in other witnesses for interviews, sources told CNN

Sources say that some of the grand jury questioning has centered on the actions of top lawyers around Trump, including Giuliani, with investigators seeking information about their baseless claims of widespread voter fraud.  [snip]

The special counsel’s office has long shown interest in several members of Trump’s post-election legal team, including Giuliani, Sidney Powell and John Eastman, as well as former Justice Department appointee Jeffrey Clark, who tried to help Trump’s push to use the department to overturn the election.

Several rounds of federal subpoenas have sought the communications of more than a dozen attorneys – including Giuliani, Powell, Eastman and Clark – because of how central some lawyers were to Trump’s post-election response. [snip]

CNN previously reported that Giuliani was subpoenaed late last year to turn over records to a federal grand jury as part of an investigation into the former president’s fundraising following the 2020 election.

The subpoena requested documents from Giuliani about payments he received around the 2020 election, when Giuliani filed numerous lawsuits on Trump’s behalf contesting the election results, a source told CNN...  (our emphasis)

Today, the Special Counsel will be interviewing Georgia Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who's also been interviewed by Fulton County DA Fani Willis over the Malignant Loser's attempt to get Raffensperger to "find" him 11,780 votes and related efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia.

It goes without saying that everyone involved in this seditious conspiracy needs to be held accountable, all the way up to the Malignant Loser.  Given the impressive granularity of the Special Counsel's classified documents indictment, we're looking forward to a broad net of indictments being cast with similarly impressive evidence backing them up.  They, unlike the classified documents case, will be filed in a less- Malignant- Loser- friendly venue than Florida.  

BONUS:

 

 

(Photo:  Special Counsel Smith / Charles Dharapak/AP, FILE)

 

Tuesday, June 27, 2023

Today's Cartoons

 

(click on images to enlarge)

(Marian Kamensky, Cartoon Movement, Vienna)

(Christopher Weyant, Boston Globe)

(Morten Morland, The Times, London)

(John Darkow, Columbia Missourian)

(Nick Anderson, Reform Austin News, TX)

(Robert Ariail, Spartanburg Herald-Journal, SC)

(Bill Bramhall, New York Daily News)

(Andy Marlette, Creators.com)

(Kevin Kallaugher, The Economist, London)

(Tim Campbell, Counterpoint)

(David Sipress, @dsipress)


Tweets Of The Day

 

The Malignant Loser's audio confession --


 

 

 

 


SCOTUS rejects MAGA attempt to subvert future elections via state legislatures -- 


 

 


He'll also be needing a food tester -- 

 

 


It's called the S.S. Implosion (too soon?)--  



Mastering flight -- 


 

 

Arresting The Insurrectionists Twofer

 



Two dimwitted insurrectionist MAGAts begin the journey to their comeuppance.  First, Trevor "Raisin" Cain:

An Ohio man has been arrested on felony and misdemeanor charges for his actions during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the presidential election.

Trevor Cain, 38, of Aurora, Ohio, is charged with the felony offense of obstruction of an official proceeding; and misdemeanor offenses of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly conduct in any of the Capitol buildings; and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in any of the Capitol buildings.

Cain was arrested in Akron, Ohio, and will make his initial appearance today in the Northern District of Ohio.

According to court documents, on Jan. 6, 2021, Cain traveled from Cleveland, Ohio, to Washington, D.C., to attend the rally of President Trump to register his dissent with the 2020 Presidential Election. After attending the rally, Cain joined the procession of persons toward the United States Capitol building.

Court documents state that Cain entered the Capitol building through the Senate wing doors at approximately 2:20 p.m. while filming a video with his phone, which was later obtained by federal law enforcement authorities. According to court records, a voice recognizable as Cain’s states in the video “we are inside the Capitol building dude. Patriots, unbelievable.” Cain then proceeded to the Capitol Crypt and led the mob in chants and singing as they climbed the steps leading from the Crypt toward the Rotunda. Court documents state that Cain arrived in the Rotunda at approximately 2:34 p.m. In additional videos taken from his cell phone, Cain can be heard stating, “Yeah, we had to break a door and a window to get back in here. Hey, but it’s our house so it’s ok anyways” and likening the day’s events to “1776.”

Cain is later observed walking and parading around the Rotunda, narrating videos on his cell phone, and singing songs. At one point, Cain proceeded from the Rotunda to a hallway near the U.S. Senate and attempted to direct others towards it as well.  According to Capitol closed-circuit television footage, Cain exited the Capitol building at approximately 2:51 p.m. Outside of the Capitol, Cain gave an interview that was ultimately published on YouTube, in which he stated, “History was in the air, man. History was in the air. And before you know it, we’re storming like the . . . beaches of Normandy, the Capitol, take it back, because it’s not some dumb phrase, this is our house.”...

Yes, it's just like 1776 and storming the beaches of Normandy, you credulous cretin!  He was also videoed boasting, "Hey, look who's not trespassing!" in the Capitol Rotunda.  Hey, look who's arrested for trespassing!


Now fellow dimbulb Nathan "Not- Hale" Baer takes his turn in the deservedly life- destroying spotlight:

A North Carolina man has been arrested on felony and misdemeanor charges for his actions during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. His actions and the actions of others disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to ascertain and count the electoral votes related to the presidential election.

Nathan Baer, 43, of Asheville, North Carolina, is charged with the felony offense of obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder; and misdemeanor offenses of entering or remaining on restricted grounds without lawful authority to do so; disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building.

Baer was arrested in Asheville and made his initial appearance today in the Western District of North Carolina.

According to court documents, video footage taken from multiple sources on Jan 6., 2021, at the U.S. Capitol building show an individual, later identified as Defendant Baer, making his into the lower west tunnel entrance at approximately 2:50 p.m. While inside this tunnel, court records say that Baer worked with other rioters to push his body back and forth in a concerted “heave-ho” movement against the line of officers...

That's Baer in the photo facing Capitol Police officer Michael Fanone shortly before Fanone was dragged away by the crowd, tased, and beaten.

The wheels of justice continue to grind, however slowly.

The FBI is still looking for January 6 insurrectionists, and they continue to be arrested, prosecuted, and jailed.  If you recognize anyone not yet apprehended, do your country a favor and pick up the phone.

(Photos:  Cain, top;  Baer bottom, circled/ Department of Justice)


QOTD: Running In The Wrong Party




From an opinion piece on CNN.com by Dean Obeidallah on which party suits kooky disinformation-spreader RFK Jr., better:

"There’s a politician running for president who plans to address the conservative Moms For Liberty group this week. He has also trafficked in baseless conspiracy theories on everything from gun violence to vaccines and has been publicly praised by some of the right wing’s most unsavory characters, from Steve Bannon to Roger Stone to Tucker Carlson.

Can you guess which party this candidate belongs to? I’m betting you’ll say Republican — and you would be wrong.

No, I’m referring to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is running for president as a Democrat. Kennedy, of course, has every right to run. But there is no question that his views align far better with the GOP. If he seeks any presidential nomination, that is the one he should be vying for."  (our emphasis)

Of course his right-wing cohort are trying to elevate him as a candidate in a cynical attempt to siphon votes from President Biden in the 2024 general election to give their cult leader the Malignant Loser a better chance. RFK Jr.'s own family has come out against his bizarre ideas and his run against Biden, but a misguided zealot like RFK Jr., won't be deterred. He may even take a page from the Malignant Loser's playbook and claim upcoming elections that he loses were rigged.

(photo: Twitter. Fascist schemers Michael Flynn, left, and Roger Stone, right, lend support to RFK Jr.)

 

Trump On Tape Admitting To Felonies

 



Last night, we got a chance to hear the Malignant Loser in his own words admitting he had classified documents that he shouldn't have in his possession:

In the 2-minute audio clip, Trump can be heard describing a document compiled by Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff when Trump was president, on the potential attacks against Iran. The discussion of the file was recorded during a 2021 meeting in Bedminster, New Jersey, with people working on Milley’s memoir.  

“He said that I wanted to attack Iran. Isn’t it amazing?” Trump says of Milley in the audio clip as the sound is heard of that appears to be shuffling papers. “I have a big pile of papers. This thing just came up. Look. This was him. They presented me this ― this is off the record, but ― they presented me this. This was him. This was the Defense Department and him.”

“All sorts of stuff, pages long. Let’s see here,” the former president continues. “Isn’t that amazing. This totally wins my case, you know, except that it is like highly confidential, secret, this is secret information.”

Trump went on to say the papers he was showing his guest were classified.

“See, as president I could have declassified it,” Trump said in the clip. “Now I can’t, you know, but this is still a secret.”  [snip]

The recording is reportedly a key piece of evidence in special counsel Jack Smith’s case into Trump’s handling of classified files after his presidency.

Federal prosecutors indicted Trump on 37 criminal counts this month, accusing the former president of repeatedly risking national security and undermining the government’s efforts to see the return of boxes of documents from his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. The indictment cites the conversation obtained by CNN.

Trump has rejected the claims and pleaded not guilty to all counts. He has said he had the absolute right to take anything he wanted when he left the White House under the Presidential Records Act and that he had a standing order to declassify anything removed from the Oval Office during his presidency.

Prosecutors, however, appear to have homed in on Trump’s own words during their investigation. The indictment lays out at least two conversations — including the one in the CNN file — in which he acknowledged material in his possession was still classified...

Here's the clip: 


 

That conversation (and others Special Counsel Jack Smith may have, plus sworn testimony) is enough to convict the Malignant Loser, according to legal experts and our own ears. To be clear, existence of this conversation has been known for about a month.  Hearing it in his own words, rather than reading a transcript, takes it to a different level.  This confession confirms that he had classified documents in his possession, knew they were classified, and proceeded to show the documents to others. That in itself covers the felony counts involving possession and knowledge of possession of classified documents and the Espionage Act (sharing classified documents).  The only thing that will keep this p.o.s. out of jail is a MAGAt judge and/or a MAGAt jury member.  Otherwise, the case is, unlike the OceanGate Titan, airtight.

It's hard to believe that someone so ignorant, reckless and deranged was ever President, and that there's a large cohort of knuckle- draggers in this country who would entrust our national security to this moron again.

(Image: Always a crime scene/  Rebecca Zisser/Axios)


Monday, June 26, 2023

"Gym" Jordan, Call Your Lawyer




The Supreme Court today declined to rule on the decision by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals to allow over 230 men to proceed with suits against Ohio State University for years of sexual abuse of athletes by a University-provided doctor. At the time of much of the abuse of the school's wrestling team, MAGAt radical and current Rep. Jim "Gym" Jordan was a wrestling coach whom six athletes accused of ignoring the ongoing abuse by the late Dr. Richard Strauss. From the linked Associated Press story:

"The men who sued are among hundreds of former student-athletes and other alumni who say they were abused by Strauss, who worked at the school from 1978 to 1998.

They say university officials failed to stop him despite complaints raised as early as the late 1970s. Many of them allege Strauss abused them during required physicals and other medical exams at campus athletic facilities, a student health center, his home and an off-campus clinic."

Gym, in his role as coach acting in loco parentis, has to be held accountable, if only in civil actions. Check out our archived stories here and here about sexual predator-protecting Gym. Republican family values! 

(photo: The depravity that exists behind that smile. via CNN)

 

Another Victory For Voting Rights

 

Louisiana Republicans were so blatant in trying to weaken voting rights for blacks that even the Supreme Court couldn't justify it:

On Monday, June 26, the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated an order blocking Louisiana’s congressional map for diluting the voting strength of Black voters, paving the way for Louisiana to redraw its congressional map with a second majority-Black district. Now, litigation will go back to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The order stems from Ardoin v. Robinson, a case challenging Louisiana’s congressional map under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA). Today’s order vacated its previous pause of a lower court decision that temporarily blocked Louisiana’s congressional map for likely violating Section 2 of the VRA.

The voters and civil rights organizations who brought the case against Louisiana’s congressional map argue that Black voters can only elect their candidate of choice in one of the state’s six congressional districts even though Black residents of Louisiana compose over 33% of the total population and vote cohesively as a bloc. The lawsuit alleges that by failing to include a second minority opportunity district, the map dilutes the voting strength of Black voters in violation of Section 2 of the VRA

In June 2022, a federal district court blocked Louisiana’s map for likely diluting the voting strength of Black Louisianans in violation of Section 2 of the VRA and ordered the state to adopt a new map with a second majority-Black district. Republican officials appealed this decision to the Supreme Court and requested emergency relief, arguing that the Louisiana case “presents the same question as” the Alabama case, Allen v. Milligan. The Court granted the Republicans’ requested relief and paused the decision blocking Louisiana’s map while also holding the case pending the outcome of Allen. 

On June 8, the Court issued its opinion in Allen — a landmark ruling upholding Section 2 of the VRA. For Louisiana, this meant that once the case challenging the state’s congressional map was unpaused, litigation over the map would continue. Today, the Court took a final administrative step to allow litigation in the Louisiana case to continue and most importantly, to reinstate the order blocking Louisiana’s congressional map. With the case now permitted to move forward, Black voters in Louisiana will have the opportunity to gain fairer representation under a new congressional map.

Congratulations to the Elias Law Group for their work.  Now, let's stay on these bastards and the Republican bastards in Alabama to make sure they do what they're told.

More about the case here.


Tweets Of The Day

 

Saying the quiet part very loud, cont. --

 

 

Good counterpunch --

 


WTF is wrong with this shitgibbon? (Sound on!) --

 

 


 Lightweight Nikki Haley's good ol' days --

 

 

 


Not- so- miserable Misery Index --


 

Addressing the actual issues --

 

How quickly they've fallen --

 

 

 

Why couldn't this be the National Review's or the Media Research Center's cruise!? 😞 --

 

 

 

Newsmax Staff Subpoenaed In Big Lie Suit

 

 

Staff at the far-right Trumpist propaganda channel Newsmax will be next in line for document and communications discovery over lies about the 2020 election. Rolling Stone reports that a number of Newsmax staff have been served subpoenas in connection with their role in the Malignant Loser's Big Lie campaign to undermine the election and to spread defamatory lies about its "rigged" election equipment:

"Several Newsmax insiders, who spoke with Rolling Stone under a condition of anonymity due to a fear of reprisal, said that roughly three weeks ago they were told to hand over “mirror images of their personal cell phone, personal email, and iCloud” as Smartmatic’s lawsuit against the network moves forward.

Smartmaric’s attorney J. Erik Connolly, Managing Chair of the Litigation Practice Group, at Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff, LLC tells Rolling Stone: “Smartmatic intends to pursue discovery from the current and former Newsmax employees who participated in the egregious disinformation campaign against the company. Some of the discovery has come, and will come, from the company.  Smartmatic is pursuing these individuals to get the rest.  Our complaint does not numerically specify the amount of damages we have suffered.”

Smartmatic claims in their lawsuit that Newsmax knowingly pushed falsehoods about the company following the 2020 presidential election. 'Newsmax published and/or republished false statements and implications during news broadcasts, in online reports, and on social media that ‘Smartmatic participated in a criminal conspiracy’ to fix, rig, and steal the Election,' the defamation suit alleges." (our emphasis)

After Dominion Voting Systems' blockbuster $787 million judgement against the lie-spewing Fox "News" channel in April, Newsmax had to be in meltdown mode anticipating the cost of their defamation in service to the Malignant Loser, who to this day continues to claim the 2020 election was "rigged" and has suffered no penalty for that Big Lie. Smartmatic has suits pending against Fox and OANN. Dominion is also suing Newsmax for defamation.

(photo: Agence France-Presse via Getty Images)

 

Today's Tomorrow Cartoon: Slow Season

 

 (click to enlarge)



It's the slow season, where we had another indictment of the Malignant Loser, a mini-sub destroyed while descending to the Titanic, an armed rebellion in Russia by the Wagner group, House Republicans in disarray, more corruption on the Supreme Court, catastrophic weather events and record heat....You know, slow season. 

You can support Tom's work by going here.


The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

 

The good:

  • Biden leads Trump 49-45. He leads women (55-38), 18-34 year olds (65-30), Latinos (66-26), Indies (47-33). These are good, healthy numbers.

  • Dems lead in Congressional Generic 48-46, up from 46-47 in January. Congressional generic asks “which party are you supporting next year for Congress?” These are good, healthy numbers.

  • Trump’s lead over DeSantis doubles from 46-31 (+15) to 51-22 (+29). A big yikes for the Florida governor.

  • Like other polls DeSantis is already remarkably unpopular with the overall electorate. He is -16 here, -19/20 in Civiqs and Biden is only -9 in this one. While voters do not have a lot of information about DeSantis what they do have so far is really bad for him. It suggests, like Trump, he may have a low general election ceiling. I remain really surprised by how intense his negatives are this early - it has to be the most worrisome data out there right now for the Republicans for it suggests their problems go far beyond Trump. [snip]

    As we saw in 2022 the Biden approval rating is once again not a good gauge for understanding the election this cycle. While he may not be popular, he is more popular than his opponents. The constant focus on his low approval rating led a lot of commentators astray in 2022, and it is doing so again this year. The most powerful force in American politics over the last 3 election cycles has been fear and opposition to MAGA, and if you aren’t talking about that you are leaving out the most important part of the story...

All the usual caveats apply to polling this far in advance of primaries, conventions and the election. But it's better to be in the Democratic Party's shoes right now than to be in the Christofascist Republican Party's.

The bad

... In interviews with Florida politicians, activists and members of the business community — many of whom won’t whisper a word against him on the record — they describe how DeSantis has catered to special interests as ferociously as he has fought the culture wars. DeSantis wields near-dictatorial sway over his state, which he has used to grant special interests a breathtaking list of favors. He has helped them evade accountability, steamrolled regulations, funded their pet projects, and foisted bailouts and tax breaks onto ordinary taxpayers. Often he does so quite openly. One day after launching his 2024 presidential campaign in a live event on Twitter with its owner, Elon Musk, he signed a law relieving private space companies like SpaceX, another Musk company, from liability for accidentally killing its employees. 

In exchange for how he has run the state, DeSantis raised more money for his 2022 reelection than any governor in U.S. history. The funds now power his nascent presidential campaign: Just a few weeks ago, he transferred $82.5 million from his gubernatorial campaign into his presidential super PAC. As a declared presidential contender, he continues to be a fundraising juggernaut, despite donors complaining he has all the personality of wet cardboard.

This doesn’t mean businesses are getting everything they want — it means they’re getting everything DeSantis wants them to have. Despite building his campaign around falsehoods about LGBTQ+ people and fearmongering of woke boogeymen, DeSantis has identified one true thing, which is how few countervailing forces there are against corporations and their political whims. Even in states where Republicans have gerrymandered popular opinion into irrelevance, big consumer-facing companies remain invested in public sentiment. North Carolina’s anti-trans bathroom bill cost the state the NBA All-Star Game. Racist voting restrictions in Georgia did the same for the MLB All-Star Game and draft. DeSantis understands the threat this poses to his ascendance but remains reliant on corporate financial support, which is why his most meaningful attacks on corporate power have all involved reducing it relative to his own.

The word is out. “If you want to get in good with this governor and his team, you have to pay up,” said a Republican consultant in Florida who requested anonymity. The consultant added, “You need to be very careful getting crosswise with the governor.” He will not hesitate to remind you who really runs the state...

Bootsie's corrupt "pay to play" schemes follow the classic authoritarian/ banana republic model. His grubby, bullying form of politics and governance makes us recall the old Dashiell Hammett line from the Maltese Falcon:  "The cheaper the crook, the gaudier the patter." But if the polling above holds, he won't be able to bring his "Florida Freedom" to the rest of us.

The ugly

...A weakened Putin could face challenges from the Russian elite, or inspire leaders in Russian regions such as Chechnya and Tatarstan, many of which have long-standing grievances with the central government, to push for additional autonomy or separation from Russia. In that kind of situation, “we’re very much talking about the dismantling of the Russian state as it currently exists,” said Andrea Kendall-Taylor, who served as deputy national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia from 2015 to 2018.

Putin may be less stable than he appeared, said Angela Stent, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and former national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia at the National Intelligence Council. “It’s not a good look for Putin that this man [Prigozhin], this leader, was able to challenge the authority of the ministry of defense, to take over a city, and to march down the road to Moscow,” she said. “And obviously Putin had to bargain with him.”

“This has been such a credible signal of the extent of discontent and dissatisfaction with the war in Ukraine and with the Putin regime in particular,” said Kendall-Taylor, who is now at the Center for a New American Security. “It’s going to be really difficult to overcome that.”

The real question, said Andrew Weiss, research director on Russia and Eurasia at the Carnegie Endowment, and a former National Security Council and State Department official “is are there significant, powerful people in the shadows who believe that this mess is the final straw, and Putin has screwed up so royally that they need to make him see the error of his ways and push him from power. I have a hard time believing that the scared people around him are likely to move against him.”  [snip]

Russia’s neighbors are bracing for chaos if the situation in Moscow deteriorates, Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics said in an interview. The NATO nations that border Russia are some of the West’s fiercest Putin critics, but they are also the most sensitive to what happens if instability spills across the heavily guarded frontier.

“If there is chaos in Moscow, there’s the same question people were asking back in 1991,” during a coup attempt against Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. “Who controls the nuclear football?” said Rinkevics, who will become Latvia’s president next month.

No one is more invested in the genocidal war in Ukraine than war criminal Putin.  Eventually ousting him might put Russia on a path to negotiations before events become even more calamitous.


Sunday, June 25, 2023

Across The Universe, Cont.

 

(click on image to enlarge)


From NASA/ ESA, June 19, 2023: The teeming stars of the globular cluster NGC 6544 glisten in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. This cluster of tightly bound stars lies more than 8000 light-years away from Earth and is — like all globular clusters — a densely populated region of tens of thousands of stars.

This image of NGC 6544 combines data from two of Hubble’s instruments — the Advanced Camera for Surveys and Wide Field Camera 3 — as well as two separate astronomical observations. The first observation was designed to find a visible counterpart to the radio pulsar discovered in NGC 6544. A pulsar is the rapidly spinning remnant of a dead star, emitting twin beams of electromagnetic radiation like a vast astronomical lighthouse. This pulsar rotates particularly quickly, and astronomers turned to Hubble to help determine how this object evolved in NGC 6544. 

The second observation which contributed data to this image was also designed to find the visible counterparts of objects detected at other electromagnetic wavelengths. Instead of matching up sources to a pulsar, however, astronomers used Hubble to search for the counterparts of faint X-ray sources. Their observations could help explain how clusters like NGC 6544 change over time.

NGC 6544 lies in the constellation Sagittarius, close to the vast Lagoon Nebula, a hazy labyrinth of gas and dust sculpted by the fierce winds of newly born stars. The Lagoon Nebula is truly colossal — even by astronomical standards — and measures 55 light-years across and 20 light-years from top to bottom. Previous Hubble images of the nebula incorporated infrared observations to reveal young stars and intricate structures that would be obscured at visible wavelengths by clouds of gas and dust.

[Image Description: A cluster of stars in warm and cool colours. The whole view is filled with small stars, which become much denser and brighter around a core just right of centre. Most of the stars are small, but some are larger with a round, brightly-coloured glow and four sharp diffraction spikes. Behind the stars, a dark background can be seen.]

Credit:  ESA/Hubble & NASA, W. Lewin, F. R. Ferraro