Fiendish Thingy
Fiendish Thingy's JournalWaPo confirms Grand Jury has been convened to subpoena "officials in Trump's orbit"
Dont know how I missed this story yesterday:
https://apple.news/A9SUrH9RxR-2LVFmtYsZtmg
The development shows the degree to which the Justice Department investigation which already involves more defendants than any other criminal prosecution in the nations history has moved further beyond the storming of the Capitol to examine events preceding the attack.
Edit to add:
NYT is also on this story:
More from the NYT (via MSNBC):
Time for all the recreational complainers to pause and take a breath, and pay attention instead of ranting- youve been shown to be utterly, completely and absolutely wrong.
P.S. unlike a Congressional subpoena, one cannot ignore a grand jury subpoena without Swift consequences. Just ask Susan Macdougal.
How should the West respond to Ukraine? One rule: We cannot be afraid (of Putin/nukes)
From Anne Applebaum (who knows way more about Eastern European politics than you or I do) writing in the Atlantic:
https://apple.news/AzK4kyh1dTpy1z0JCgwZULA
-snip-
How should the West respond? There is only one rule: We cannot be afraid. Russia wants us to be afraidso afraid that we are crippled by fear, that we cannot make decisions, that we withdraw altogether, leaving the way open for a Russian conquest of Ukraine, and eventually of Poland or even further into Europe. Putin remembers very well an era when Soviet troops controlled the eastern half of Germany. But the threat to those countries will not decrease if Russia carries out massacres in Ukraine. It will grow.
Instead of fear, we should focus on a Ukrainian victory. Once we understand that this is the goal, then we can think about how to achieve it, whether through temporary boycotts of Russian gas, oil, and coal; military exercises elsewhere in the world that will distract Russian troops; humanitarian airlifts on the scale of 1948 Berlin; or more and better weapons.
The specific tactics will be determined by those who best understand diplomacy and military strategy. But the strategy has to be clear. A month ago, nobody believed this war would matter so much, and Im sure many people wish it did not. But it does. Thats why every move we make must have a single goal: How does it help Ukraine win?
Its not our war was something we might have been able to say three weeks ago. Not now.
More at link, expanding on Applebaums compelling argument.
NATO must go to war against Putin now, with the US and Biden...
or they will surely have to go to war with Putin later, likely without the US if Trump is reinstalled as president.
Rather than hesitating out of fear that Putin will use nukes, NATO must vigorously defend Ukraine, in Ukraine, and force the question to Putins inner circle: am I willing to sacrifice my life and the lives of my loved ones for Vladimir Putin?
Its an awful dilemma, and a risky bet, wagering that the Moscow elite will remove Putin rather than risk Armageddon, but if the west doesnt take the bet now, they will be forced to take it later, on Putins terms.
NATO could enter Ukraine on Humanitarian terms, or because the risk to the nuclear power plants endangers all of Europe. Even if Putin launched a single strategic nuclear strike at Ukraine, the tide would turn against him quickly both in Russia and around the world.
The Window of opportunity is narrowing; the sanctions are gradually taking effect (SWIFT ban didnt fully kick in until today), but Putins shifting tactics of scorched earth could mean that Kyiv, and the Zelenskyy government, dont have much time left.
Clarifying note: I am not proposing NATO join the war to defend Ukraine immediately, today. I am suggesting that the window to do so is narrowing rapidly with Putins shift in tactics from seizing control of the country to reducing it to rubble. While it would be nice to wait and let the sanctions have their impact, Im not sure sanctions will trigger an overthrow of Putin (the only way this war ends) before Ukraine is completely destroyed by missiles and bombs.
A much more articulate, detailed argument for this position can be found here:
https://www.greatpower.us/p/there-is-no-way-back-part-1?s=w
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