LIVE: The Biggest Threats In The Whole World!
Today on WonkTV!
Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines and Defense Intelligence Agency chief Scott Berrier are testifying in the Senate Armed Services Committee this morning on worldwide threats. These are always interesting, and we imagine especially so with Russia's evil war in Ukraine ongoing.
It started a few minutes ago, but you can join it in progress right here:
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Russian TV Loves It When Tucker Washes Blood Off Putin's Hands
Why wouldn't they?
Much of America's focus this week has understandably shifted to the stolen, illegitimate, and lying conservative majority on the Supreme Court and its brazen attack on abortion, bodily autonomy, and the privacy rights of anyone who isn't a white supremacist Christian man. But the rest of the world is still on fire, Russia's genocidal war against Ukraine continues, and Vladimir Putin's enthusiastic fluffers in American media are still clocked in for duty.
Julia Davis reports that a Tucker clip from earlier this week is just the star of Russian state-run media right now, as his clips so often are:
Tucker Carlson's latest performance is an especially big hit in Moscow. State TV propagandists loved it so much, Russia's 60 Minutes included it not once, but twice in their evening broadcast\u2014neatly bookended by the Kremlin's war propaganda. Here's one of those clips.\n#TuckyoRosepic.twitter.com/F3qkwOHUOp— Julia Davis (@Julia Davis) 1651716978
Wow.
The broadcast in question happened Monday night, just minutes before Samuel Alito's dirty dark forced birth masturbation fantasy leaked.
Let's see how much blood Tucker can lick off Putin's hands and spit back at America.
TUCKER CARLSON (HOST): Democrats have convinced themselves that Russia stole the presidency, which rightfully belonged to Hillary Clinton. And they mean it when they say it. And that's why they are taking us to war with Russia. [...]
So, that's not their goal — saving Ukraine, saving human lives. No, that's not their goal. Instead, the war in Ukraine is designed to cause regime change in Moscow. They want to topple the Russian government. That would be payback for the 2016 election. So, this is the logical, maybe the inevitable, end stage of Russiagate.
Wow, that's a lot, even for Tucker. The amount of lying bullshit and Kremlin propaganda is immense, but we'll see if we can find it all.
1. Russia worked damn hard to steal that election. The then-Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee agreed. Start with Paul Manafort if you need a refresh.
2. No one in America is taking us to war with Russia. The other side of the current war with Russia is "Ukraine," not "Democrats." We know Putin and Tucker have been flogging that since Putin committed his first Ukrainian war crime of 2022, but it's still a lie.
3. "The war in Ukraine is designed to cause regime change in Moscow"? Smirking traitor say what? Putin started the war against Ukraine, unprovoked. So unless Putin started the war in order to regime change himself ...
Then again, these brain-atrophied DSM-V candidates also think Hillary Clinton created the Russia scandal in order to steal the election from herself, so ...
But note that Tucker still has his tongue up Putin's ass, flogging his conspiracy theory that Democrats forced Russia to attack Ukraine. Calling this "payback for the 2016 election," Tucker absolves Putin of all guilt for the innocent Russian men, women, children and babies Putin has bombed to smithereens.
Tucker claimed that we aren't sending Ukraine arms so it can defend itself. "We arm Ukraine so that we can punish Russia. Why? For stealing Hillary Clinton's coronation." That must be news to all the Republican congressmen who voted to lend American arms to Ukraine. (Ten of Putin's favorite Republicans of course voted against it in the House. The Senate passed it unanimously.)
Tucker also said that if America really cared about Ukraine, we'd "push for a settlement now." He said, "You would have done it two months ago, but they're not doing that." And by "settlement," Tucker means give Putin some of what he wants to steal, in the war he started for zero reason besides how Putin has Little Man Syndrome about recreating the Russian Empire.
That's what Tucker's selling this week. And Russian state TV and the guy who runs it just love it.
By the way, another thing Russian TV is talking about this week is nuking the UK and Ireland to oblivion. Just FYI.
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Which Country Will Putin's Republicans Vote To Give Him Next?
God it's just so appalling.
Lately it seems like if it is a day in the Congress, Democratic leadership is giving Republicans as many chances as possible to affirm that they're on the side of goodness and freedom and not Vladimir Putin.
And a lot of Republicans are going along with it! Congratulations, a lot of Republicans!
Right now, there is some weird shit happening in Transnistria, a region of Moldova. Moldova is a sovereign nation that shares borders with Ukraine, Romania, and Not Even A Little Bit Russia. And look, Transnistria is weird. It's a tiny breakaway region. According to that last link, Moldovans make fun of it for being totally backward. But there are worries Russia is looking to expand its murderous game of grabass with sovereign nations into Moldova. There have been explosions in Transnistria. Nobody's really sure what's up. Sounds like Russia might be trying to do some false-flagging, blaming Ukraine for attacking poor Transnistria.
So this week, the House held a pretty simple vote, "[e]xpressing support for Moldova's democracy, independence, and territorial integrity and strengthening United States and Moldova relations." Literally, you could put any free country in there, except for how Moldova is the one some are worried Putin is training his beady little eyes and his overfilled cheeks toward right now. Just hey, here's a resolution saying we like your democracy and we like you and let's be friends.
Seventeen Republicans voted against that.
17 Republicans vote against \u201cExpressing support for Moldova's democracy, independence, and territorial integrity and strengthening United States and Moldova relations\u201dpic.twitter.com/XBDv9Wjizx— Acyn (@Acyn) 1651094062
What the goddamn fuck?
This is what the goddamn fuck. JoeMyGod shares this tweet, a list of the usual suspects:
17 Russian Republican members of the US House vote to surrender Ukraine\u2019s neighbor Moldova to Putin:\n\nBiggs\nBishop\nBoebert\nCawthorn\nCloud\nClyde\nGosar\nGreene\nHarris\nHice\nHiggins\nMassie\nNehls\nNorman\nPerry\nRoy\nSteube— Tristan Snell (@Tristan Snell) 1651114820
You got Lauren Boebert, Madison Cawthorn and Marjorie Taylor Greene, AKA the remedial learners of the newest class of Republicans. You've got Clay "WHAR BOXES!" Higgins and Thomas Massie and Paul Gosar and Andrew Clyde and Chip Roy and Greg Steube and all the rest. It's just the whole entire Sedition Caucus, that's who.
This is all kind of a thing.
When it was time to suspend normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus in April, the entire Congress voted for it, except three Republicans: Matt Gaetz, Greene, Massie. (Guess Gaetz is cool with Moldova for some reason.)
When it was time to ban oil imports from Russia, 413 House members said yes. Nine said no, including Republicans Gaetz, Greene, Massie, Gosar, Roy, Dan Bishop and Andy Biggs. (And then there were two Democrats, Ilhan Omar and Cori Bush. We noticed.)
An earlier similar resolution in March was opposed by 15 Republicans.
Just a simple resolution backing Ukraine in March? That was fine with everyone except Gosar, Massie and Matt Rosendale.
The exact list of usual suspects in Putin's caucus changes a bit depending on exactly what the bill or resolution is. But that caucus is there, and as William Saletan wrote earlier this month at The Bulwark, it really really loves Russia, and it really really really hates America.
And now they hate Moldova, we guess. We also imagine the number of hours that elapsed between "finding Moldova on map" and voting against Moldova was in the single digits for several of them. You can guess which several we're wildly speculating about.
Can't wait until the House has to vote on Sweden and Finland in NATO. How much Putin-fluffing will there be then?
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LIVE: Biden With The Ukraine Update
Today on WonkTV!
Lots going on with Russia's stupid and vicious war against Ukraine. What will President Joe Biden say about it when he speaks this morning?
We don't know, but here are a few Russia/Ukraine links for you to gander at in the meantime:
- Axios is reporting that the White House will sell assets of Russian oligarch garbage to fund aid for Ukraine.
- Biden is demanding a whole bunch more Ukraine aid from Congress, but it's going to get weird when it gets to Capitol Hill because some lawmakers want to package it with COVID aid.
- Oh yeah, you hear Russia cut off natural gas exports to Bulgaria and Poland because they refused to pay in rubles and those countries are pretty much like PFFFFFFFFT? "We will not succumb to such a racket," said the prime minister of Bulgaria. Rachel Maddow said last night she thinks that, with this development, the jig pretty much is up on Russian energy going into the future, and Europe will look elsewhere.
Biden might talk about all those things and more!
Watch live:
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