50 thoughts on “Frenemies”

  2. this morning’s updates from the guardian:
    Zelenskyy calls for European army as Germany hits back at US over Vance tirade – Europe live

    ‘No decisions’ on Ukraine without Kyiv and Europe, says Zelenskyy

    Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday insisted that no decisions should be taken on ending Russia’s war without Kyiv and Europe as the United States pushes to open talks with Moscow.

    “No decisions about Ukraine without Ukraine, no decisions about Europe without Europe. Europe must have a seat at the table,” Zelenskyy told the Munich Security Conference, reports Agence France-Presse.

    Reuters adds that Zelenskyy told leaders at the conference that it would be “dangerous” for US president Donald Trump to meet Russian president Vladimir Putin before meeting him.

    […]

    On Nato membership, Zelenskyy added that if Ukraine does not achieve Nato membership, then there should be conditions to build “another Nato in Ukraine”. He said that now the most influential Nato member seems to be Vladimir Putin.

    The Ukrainian president added: “We cannot agree to a ceasefire without real security guarantees.”

    […]

    Zelenskyy: Ukraine will never accept ‘deals reached behind our backs’

    “We will never accept deals reached behind our backs, without our involvement,” Zelenskyy has told leaders at the Munich Security Conference.

    The Ukrainian president said he would not take Nato membership for Ukraine off the table. “We need coordinated diplomacy … end of this war should be our ‘first shared success.”

    […]

    Zelenskyy has told the Munich Security Conference that weapons should be fully produced in Europe. He adds: “Europe must decide its own future.”

    […]

    Zelenskyy: the time has come for a European army

    Addressing the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the “time has come for a European army to be created”.

    Zelenskyy said that North Korean troops fighting Ukraine are learning “modern warfare”.

    “Our army alone is not enough, we need your support,” he said.

  6. Vance falls flat and Velinsky wows the audience. Whether either event will truly benefit Ukraine will be determined by whether or not Europe will stand up to Russia despite the lack of support from the US.

  7. jamie, “wow” is the right word considering the reception he got 2 hours ago

    After his phone call with Trump about the Ukraine war, Zelenskyy said that urgently more concrete steps are needed. Listen here to the complete interview with Volodymyr Zelenskyy President, Ukraine at the Munich Security Conference 2025. Moderator: Christiane Amanpour Chief International Anchor, Cable News Network, London

    During the main conference in February, the MSC gathers high-ranking decision-makers and prominent opinion leaders from all over the world. More:
    https://www.br.de/nachrichten/deutsch…

  8. DEI, spending cuts as the new N word. Been thinking about this a lot lately, finally looked it up, the interview where Bush Sr. campaign manager (later RNC chair) Lee Atwater laid out his party’s racist, sadly effective euphemisms:

    “You start out in 1954 by saying, “Ni**er, ni**er, ni**er.” By 1968 you can’t say “ni**er”. So you say stuff like forced busing, states’ rights. Now “We want to cut this,” is a lot more abstract than “Ni**er, ni**er.”

    Audio at https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/exclusive-lee-atwaters-infamous-1981-interview-southern-strategy/

  9. If is so sad that the U.S. has turned into a fascist country ruled by oligarchs who are using a demented, senile old low intelligence blob to get what they want. Europe laughs at the idiot who went there to promote nazi parties, they had their fill of them already. Finally, you see President Zelenskyy, up front and speaking the truth about unity and getting rid of fascist and nazis. His constant travel and working to protect Ukraine would have killed many other leaders. Amazing man who deserves so much more than he is getting.

  13. when the DOGE dust settles, it’s likely that the largest percentage of the fired will be the non-white..
    big chunk of women in leadership roles will also be replaced or demoted..

    male whites only lives again

  16. https://essanews.com/zelensky-resists-u-s-bid-for-ukraines-mineral-rights,7125441469949569a

    “Volodymyr Zelensky declined to sign a document he received in Munich from representatives of the American Congress, reports journalist Josh Rogin of “The Washington Post.” According to him, the document would have granted Americans rights to a significant portion of Ukraine’s mineral deposits.”

    “Multiple lawmakers here in Munich told me the US Congressional delegation presented Zelenskyy with a piece of paper they wanted him to sign which would grant the US rights to 50% of Ukraine’s future mineral reserves,” Rogin wrote on social media.”

    What an American, capitalist asshole thing to do.
    Zelenskyy has integrity.
    Slava Ukraine!
    Fu@k You Russian warship!

  17. The late G. Carlin said his 7 heart attacks were caused in part by his hatred and railings against Nixon. Nixon was the person who wrote me: “Greeting: (not Greetings) You are hereby ordered to [ be drafted].”
    I had hated Nixon too, and got myself all worked-up screaming my hatred in public and with friends; some friends began avoiding me because of how I reacted to politics.
    I thought democracy had crashed into the mountain.
    Then I calmed down with Carter in charge, and I felt the nation had been re-born in 2008 with Obama. It felt exhilarating.
    Then we got Drumph, and even I blushed at the stream of hate that came from Carla Lee when it was official. After Joe dethroned Drumph, happiness was back. Carla Lee fought off the death from Covid19 until a few hours after Joe took the oath.
    We as a nation have been up against it many times before; our better angels prevailed.
    Rachel Maddow documented how Nazi organizations were all over the USA during the buildup to our entering the fray in Europe. We got the job done as a nation.
    Now a South African interloper who bought the Presidency lock, stock, and barrel is dismantling the government as Republican Senators stand by in support.
    These goddam Republicans are to blame for all this. They did this, they voted in this stupid sonofabitch and his program of retribution.
    What’s next? Can we as a nation rebound as always? Or as Jim sang, “…this is…THE END.”

  18. Dex, it certainly is a close call how this tragedy ends. Here’s an upbeat approach I am trying to maintain from actress Jessica Chastain at presser on the film “Dreams”about immigrants:

    “I make my home in the U.S. because I’m a hopeful person. I believe you have to participate to create the environment, culture, and society you want. I’m not going to give up on my country. So yes, I would like to say there’s a lot of us there that are still quite hopeful, and we’re fighting the good fight.”

  20. Penny for his thoughts today (while we still have pennies):

    “The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, selfappointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny”

    — James Madison, Federalist Papers

  23. wiki.
    In part 3, Frost asked Nixon whether the president could do something illegal in certain situations such as against antiwar groups and others if he decides “it’s in the best interests of the nation or something”. Nixon replied: “Well, when the president does it, that means that it is not illegal”, by definition

  25. How bad is sfb and muskie handling foreign affairs? To the point I have seen several notes from Ukraine people and soldiers starting to call the U.S. and russia the same. They expect U.S. to supply russia with weapons and money, canceling the sanctions in place.
    Pessimistic, not far from my view though.

  26. Just want to give a heads up that those of us who live in New England are expecting an ice storm starting in the wee hours of tonight. A few years ago… we had a whole house generator put in… but I may not be here for a few days. The last time this happened, we lost power for 11 days… had every wire ripped off our house. Hopefully… this won’t be a repeat.

  27. …reading Maher had Kid Rock in his basement, not surprised that weak-minded pot-head is promoting the nazis

    new rule: eat shit, bill 😊

  29. Federal, nuke workers, if they can be contacted, could make their return contingent upon Elon & the incels undoing what they’ve done & turning themselves in for the many crimes they’ve committed.

  30. i enjoy spy shows and they all seem like such bullshit post-trump, as if there is a shadowy force of benevolent avenging angels to protect our fragile institutions

    nope, just a bunch of salary-collecting weaklings

  34. I’m surprised that veterans’ groups aren’t making more noise about payoffs & benefit cuts. Might give a little incentive to defend the US Constitution before it’s too late.

  36. Adolf is soooo Orwellian.

    Wait, so if military were to round up Adolf, Elon, the incels, the Heritage Foundation cabinet, and Republicans pushing for yt supremacy to usurp our constitution, they would be saving the country & they would not have violated any laws…in Adolf’s own written words. LFG!

  37. It’s late. It’s not over. I’m sure folks in WWI & WWII thought it was too late to ever be good, again. This will have to cycle through, and the more quickly everyone is on board, the better.

    The effing Republicans in Congress who are now upset about their states being impacted by ludicrous cuts, are still delusional in thinking they will have any constituents to curry favor with in the future. They needed to not confirm Vought, at the very least.

    Not sure how we get rid of Elon’s malware & resecure our data. There may be hackers out there who have ideas or even access. Perhaps some recently unemployed, federal workers have insight.

    Boycotts, general strikes, other countries sanctioning the US. Heck, we get most of out fossil fuels from Canada. Drilling, baby, drilling takes time. They could cut us off. Germany and the EU are clamping down on Elon.

    The bigwig n@zis in the 1930s & 1940s thought they were going to come out on top. No, they did not & they won’t this time, either. As Elon says, you have to get the root of it’ll just pop up, again. Hope he ODs on K very soon.

    The military could at least step up to make sure Congress can access government buildings.

  38. https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/rfk-jr-goes-after-antidepressants-claiming-threat-to-americans

    The newly confirmed US Secretary of Health and Human Services has falsely stated that SSRIs are more addictive than heroin and contribute to school shootings.

    While they can carry side effects and are not recommended for some patients, SSRIs are widely prescribed and have significantly decreased the prevalence of suicide, according to a study out of UCLA.

    Kennedy has referred to people who take SSRIs as “addicts” and, during a 2023 livestream with his now colleague Elon Musk, falsely claimed that there is “tremendous circumstantial evidence” that individuals who take SSRIs are more likely to become school shooters.

    When Kennedy was running for president, he proposed a plan to send people struggling with addiction to “wellness farms” in rural areas.

    “I’m going to create these wellness farms where they can go to get off of illegal drugs, off of opiates, but also illegal drugs, other psychiatric drugs,” he said, adding, “if they want to, to get off of SSRIs, to get off of benzos, to get off of Adderall, and to spend time as much time as they need—three or four years if they need it—to learn to get reparented, to reconnect with communities.” (Kennedy later said these farms should be available, but people wouldn’t be forced to attend.)

    That’s mighty yt of RFKJ to offer to take mental health meds away from folks, who will then probably end up incarcerated in a private prison system, working as slave labor.

  40. I realize these are different times, but the asshats will not come out on top. That’s not to say things will ever go back to what they were. End stage capitalism will see to that.

  42. https://www.politico.eu/article/macron-convenes-european-emergency-summit-in-paris-on-sunday-polish-minister-says/

    French President Emmanuel Macron is convening European leaders for an emergency summit in Paris on Monday, according to Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday.

    “President Trump has a method of operating which the Russians call razvedka boyem â€”reconnaissance through battle: You push and you see what happens, and then you change your position. … And we need to respond,” the Polish minister said.

    Yes! Be proactive. No appeasement!

  43. The way I see it, Orange Adolf’s statement gives license to stop the coup with no legal repercussions.

  45. Goldwater led a group of Capitol Hill Republicans to the Oval Office to tell Nixon he was finished, and he resigned. Until then, they were mostly in line.

  48. Of course, Nixon wasn’t having a foreign-born, private citizen with billions in government contracts ransacking everything.

    Hope the current crop of Republicans grow spines pretty dang soon.

    My memory of Nixon is rooted in a mock election in elementary school.

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