Putin stands up to the mud of Ukraine.

Are NATO and the US prepared for any further Russian incursion into Ukraine, where it has already captured land and backed an uprising in the country’s eastern region? President Joe Biden cautioned Putin against an invasion, vowing a harsh reaction from the US and NATO, but he waffled about what would happen if Russia staged a “small incursion,” a foolish claim he tried to clarify later.

“Vladimir Putin is not subtle or hidden in his desires. He might declare ‘Again in the USSR’ the national song. ” Max Boot, Washington Post, commented. He must surely revive the Soviet empire, reversing “the finest geopolitical tragedy” of the twentieth century. And it means re-inviting the second-largest ex-Soviet country (by population) – Ukraine. ” If an attack occurs, Boot argues, “we should not hesitate to impose the most severe consequences possible.”
Former US Defense Secretary Robert Gates stated in the Financial Times, “Putin’s flaw is that, like all tyrants, he has overplayed his hand.” His harsh threats toward Ukraine have confirmed NATO’s objectives. His intimidating methods have made Ukrainians more anti-Russian and pushed the nation farther west. This may lead to increased NATO troop deployments along Russia’s western border, a possible suspension of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, and harsh financial penalties. ”

Biden makes his case.

The Democrats failed to halt a filibuster that delayed a voting rights bill, and new polling shows Biden garnering the poorest ratings of any first-year president save Donald Trump.

A failed presidency narrative is incorrect, says Kirsten Powers. She noted that “in reality, approval numbers are closely linked to how people feel about their daily lives.” Since the US has yet to return to some form of normalcy, we must rely on Biden’s popularity ratings to duplicate that discontent.

Don’t criticize the President for not doing what other presidents couldn’t accomplish. ”

Biden is the president, not a magician. He can’t magically create 50 Democratic senators who will support his plan. There aren’t ten GOP senators to pull out of a hat to safeguard voting rights. The complaint is that he did not finish the voting rights filibuster. So he wouldn’t get the votes. ”

Ghitis stated, “Biden expects supply chain issues and the epidemic to subside before the midterms, lowering inflation and calming unrest.” That, he hopes, will boost his approval ratings and the prospects of Democrats. ”

If he is correct, and if he can advance his legislative plan of action in smaller, far more modest sections, his stepped-up messaging campaign may just persuade Americans to perceive his presidency thru the same pleasantly tinted Ray Bans as Biden’s.
Julian Zelizer blames Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for Biden’s woes: “The Kentucky Republican is effectively delaying President Joe Biden’s agenda, exposing the splits within the Democratic Party and making the commander in chief appear weak.” Much of the journalistic coverage surrounding Biden’s performance misses the elephant in the room—a united Senate Republican Caucus using the threat of filibuster to prevent bills from passing outside of the reconciliation process. ”
“Republican stubbornness” was not to blame, said conservative commentator Marc Thiessen in the Washington Post. Instead, writes Thiessen, Biden’s “his party’s progressive wing convinced him he needed to be a revolutionary president.” The people did not elect a revolutionary president. That togetherness, moderation, and compromise that Biden promised but didn’t provide. ”
Sen. Bernie Sanders blamed “two members of the Senate Democratic Caucus, Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona,” for the issue. “President Biden and many others have been negotiating with these senators for six months. These pointless discussions should cease. Voting should begin now. ”

Voting rights bill halted

Despite the fact that Biden’s address in Georgia on January 11 did not influence senators hostile to the voting rights bill, Peniel E. Joseph writes. Bibi “threw down a historic gauntlet to Republicans. Did the GOP have to be “Dr. King or George Wallace”? For his part, former Alabama Governor George Wallace memorably defended “segregation now, segregation tomorrow, and segregation forever” in 1963.

“Biden’s address emphasized how far we’ve come since the civil rights era and how long the road ahead is.” Invoking both the civil rights and Civil War era struggles over racism, Biden admitted that no part of America’s historical past on race is “independent or divided.”

Trump loses

The US Supreme Court declined on Wednesday to halt the transfer of presidential documentation to the House Select Committee probing the January assault on the US Capitol.

“The case’s rapid progress thru the courts confirms the committee’s urgency and undercuts the weak government privilege arguments used by former President Donald Trump’s associates to conceal the truth from Americans,” wrote Norman Eisen, Joshua Perry, and E. Danya Perry. “devastating revelation for [Steve] Bannon, whose legal prosecution for an even more absurd blanket assertion of the privilege has already commenced,” they said.

New York Attorney General Letitia James said her office found “deceptive claims and omissions” in Trump Group documents sent to lenders and insurers.

“James cites as an example Trump’s financial papers for his penthouse in Manhattan. The condo is huge — around 11,000 square feet — but Trump’s papers said it was 30,000 square feet and worth $327 million. When questioned, former Trump Group CFO Allen Weisselberg said the figure was “give or take” $200 million.”

The Home committee is also looking into Trump supporters’ unsuccessful efforts to persuade Vise President Mike Pence to accept opposing pro-Trump voter slates in states Trump lost.

Prof. Robert Alexander said Trump required Pence “to utilize extraconstitutional powers to control the tallying of electoral votes to secure a second term regardless of defeat.” This plan included sending bogus voters to vote in close-fought states won by President Joe Biden… Legislators must act now to prevent a repeat of the incident in 2024. Action appears to be bipartisan, and the credibility of our presidential election system depends on it. ”
According to Jonathan Martin and Maggie Haberman of the New York Instances, Trump has been battling a probable opponent for the title of “King of Florida.” Notably, Gov. Ron DeSantis “has positioned himself as Trump’s pure inheritor, picking up Trump’s trigger-the-libs patois and his conspiracy-driven grievance politics,” but the governor hasn’t promised to drop a prospective 2020 presidential bid.
Glenn Youngkin, the incoming governor of Virginia, is a possible challenger to Trump, although he has not publicly endorsed him. That’s “overlooking the wider picture” when assessing Republican contenders, Hemmer wrote. Whatever the candidates’ voices, they’re all part of the same challenge: strengthening an anti-democratic Republican Party.

Maskless

In a joint statement Wednesday, Justices Neil Gorsuch and Sonia Sotomayor issued a statement Wednesday disputing that she asked him to wear a mask to prevent the spread of COVID-19. “We’re hot buds,” they said.

However, Gorsuch hasn’t worn a mask in recent public courses, while Sotomayor, who has diabetes, has been participating in court proceedings remotely.

Gorsuch’s masklessness was “a spectacular display of masculine entitlement.”

“The discussion of masking is extremely gendered. In a study published in the academic journal Politics & Gender, researchers established a link between masculinity and a dislike of mask wearing. ” Another study found that “women are often more risk-averse when it comes to their health.”
Extra masks are on their way outside the courthouse. Emmeline Ha and Miriam Bukhsh wrote: “His government would make high-quality masks widely accessible and free for everybody.” The vaccination rollout and testing shortages have taught us to be vigilant in ensuring fair access to those masks. While the authorities have said that the masks would be accessible in select native pharmacies and community centers, it is important to ensure that a sufficient supply is available to people at high risk of virus exposure. ”

David M. Perry had misgivings when the US government announced last week a free at-home rapid COVID check website. “The healthcare.gov catastrophe has damaged my knowledge of recent government websites.” My time between conferences was limited, and no government website I’ve ever visited required two forms of ID, proof of residency, and endless forms to fill out. But I did. Two minutes later, I received an email stating that the checks may arrive in a few weeks. ”

If the checks were delivered quickly across the country, it “would comfort us that direct government action could stop the pandemic.” If it works, it begs the question of why the federal government isn’t doing more. ”

Learn to fight crime.

According to former Rep. Charlie Dent, in 2021, Philadelphia had more murders than New York City, despite the latter’s five-fold population increase.

An American congresswoman was carjacked in south Philadelphia, a dangerous high-speed pursuit through the city’s narrow streets, and a police officer was wounded twice in the shoulder investigating a theft, Dent stated.

“The bottom issue is that elected officials in major cities should confront the murder surge. Those who advocate defunding the police and portraying law enforcement as evil should be silenced. It’s time to take the streets seriously.”

Jill Filipovic said, “The recent train death of Michelle Alyssa Go has mobilized the neighborhood and inflamed many New Yorkers’ worst fears.” Los Angeles killings rose 14% in 2021, causing Mayor Eric Garcetti to answer tough questions and proclaim that “Los Angeles is not alone on this planet.”

Filipovic said that while crime rates are still lower than in the 1980s and 1990s, the recent increase in killings calls for action. “We need to do more than just policing to reduce violent crime charges. (And no, the “defund the cops” motion isn’t driving growing crime rates. Despite the infectious language, most cops were not defunded. We want stricter gun laws, a more egalitarian society, and better social services for the poor. “