The very LAST thing the Secty of Ag should be telling people to do is to get a backyard flock of chickens. Hello, highly pathogenic avian influenza pandemic? If you kept them in an enclosure, that could work, but wandering around in the open where wild birds fly around? Bad idea. The one guy in the U.S. who died from this flu contracted it from his backyard flock. In other countries, like in SE Asia and Egypt, the fatality rate among people who caught it from birds is about 50%. Fortunately, the dairy cows and dairy workers have had mild disease due to the particular mutations that occurred in order for the virus to infect bovine mammary cells, but really, folks, stay away from birds. Just look at the little tweeties in your area and don't handle any.
I've been saying from the beginning of the first Trump term that he has a fundamental dislike, even disdain, for America and most of its citizens. I haven't run the numbers and there's a lot of overlap but think of the groups and individuals which belong to those groups or have their characteristics which Trump has insulted and who is left?:
Democrats
Liberals and progressives
African Americans who are not Republicans
People with physical or other disabiltities
Wounded or captured, even all veterans
government workers
Spanish speaking citizens
Jews who are not Republicans
Noncaucasian immigrants
Women in general
Any Republican who is not totally worshipful of him (standard: if you're not wholly with me you're against me)
Judges who rule against him
How many people does that leave?
He clearly prefers wealthy, white Christian males above all else - not so subtly implying that everyone else is inferior.
The US is the wealthiest and most powerful nation on earth yet the MAGA premise is that it's weak and not wealthy - in fact it's a victim of everyone else, hasn't protected itself or led others or for some reason for 200 years has not had someone like Trump leading it - in fact voted for Presidents not like him - in fact showed no intelligence in all of its past votes and decisiions.
And then there's something more personal. Why has he twice married foreigners - are there no Americans good enough for him? And then there's his most recent reliance of white male ex-South African (Afrikaaners?) to keep close to him - Elon Musk, and the Peter Thiele product -JD Vance. Both happy to destroy the government American citizens have constructed and fought to maintain for hundreds of years.
Have we heard Trump brag about how great and wonderful America is at nearly the same rate that he says he'll make it great again (clearly he thinks it is not great now)
I suspect there are a lot of Charlie Sykes fans here, who read and post on the Bulwark. For an excellent counterpoint to Carville's roll over and play possum prescription for the dems, I would recommend checking out Charlie's very own new podcast. The one from Monday with Susan Glasser. It's extremely worthwhile, but we'd expect nothing less from Charlie. Thumbnail bullet point: now is the hour to save our democracy. And time to do so is not infinite. Dem pols, pundits, strategists have it wrong- the resistance in Trump 1.0 was not a failure. It achieved great returns in the midterms, as well as 2020. Many good dems elected, and best of all, sent Donald Trump packing. These were the fruits of the same kinds of efforts we need now, even more desperately.
This moment is exactly the wrong time to lay back and allow the high ups, and past experts, to lead us to put on the brakes. What we are confronting now is NOTHING LIKE any thing those folks ever had to do battle with, on their ways to getting people elected, and in their roles as party gurus. Let us please be honest with ourselves: The Party failed spectacularly recently, as we know. It stands to reason new answers, energy and strategy is certainly due. But NOT simply on tactics for how to win the next election. What's at stake here is our democracy, our institutions, our way of life and our society, literally. I'm sorry, but partisan politics is not the highest concern we have as a nation, in this moment. Sorry. The concern is frankly existential.
No one anticipated the need to act so quickly. But in 5 weeks, look at what they've accomplished. In another several weeks, think of what more will have met with a fatal encounter with Elon's buzzsaw. Susan lived in Russia while its infant democracy was smothered in its cradle by our good friend Putin. She lived through this, and her views on how this happened are very instructive. And Charlie's interview with her is simply the best. If you have access to it, please give it a listen. Counterpoint is the lifeblood of positive progress.
But is public messaging the right arena for the current fight against DOGE? Or is it the courts? A team of state AGs is challenging Elon in court - and having some success. At this point, maybe the best thing the politicians can do is root for the lawyers.
I have friends who have been doing the backyard chicken thing for years. Before you get chickens, you need a plan to keep them from falling prey to predators, especially foxes. Otherwise, don't bother.
It's almost as if Trump is on the side of the Russians. Who does this to an ally in the middle of a hot war? It's like poking a stick in their eyes.
***The US stopped providing the intelligence that’s helped Ukraine target Russian forces in Moscow’s three-year war as President Donald Trump’s administration escalates a standoff with Kyiv.
The halt covers all the intelligence except for what Ukraine needs to protect its forces, according to a US official familiar with the decision, who spoke under the condition of anonymity.
US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz signaled that intelligence-sharing was among the items on the table after Trump suspended military assistance to Ukraine this week, even as he expressed optimism that negotiators could revive a natural-resources deal the White House sees as crucial to resolving the war.
“We have taken a step back and are pausing and reviewing all aspects of this relationship,” Waltz told reporters in Washington.
Trump reminds me of a 1970s leftist-pacifist: He sees "war" as the enemy and seeks "peace", while waving away questions of who is the aggressor and who is the victim.
An excellent episode. Carville is always worth a listen. Rope a dope sounds like a plan if we can pull it off. Where is our Ali?? Anyone seriously interested in foreign affairs needs to pay attention to Michael Weiss.
The very LAST thing the Secty of Ag should be telling people to do is to get a backyard flock of chickens. Hello, highly pathogenic avian influenza pandemic? If you kept them in an enclosure, that could work, but wandering around in the open where wild birds fly around? Bad idea. The one guy in the U.S. who died from this flu contracted it from his backyard flock. In other countries, like in SE Asia and Egypt, the fatality rate among people who caught it from birds is about 50%. Fortunately, the dairy cows and dairy workers have had mild disease due to the particular mutations that occurred in order for the virus to infect bovine mammary cells, but really, folks, stay away from birds. Just look at the little tweeties in your area and don't handle any.
I've been saying from the beginning of the first Trump term that he has a fundamental dislike, even disdain, for America and most of its citizens. I haven't run the numbers and there's a lot of overlap but think of the groups and individuals which belong to those groups or have their characteristics which Trump has insulted and who is left?:
Democrats
Liberals and progressives
African Americans who are not Republicans
People with physical or other disabiltities
Wounded or captured, even all veterans
government workers
Spanish speaking citizens
Jews who are not Republicans
Noncaucasian immigrants
Women in general
Any Republican who is not totally worshipful of him (standard: if you're not wholly with me you're against me)
Judges who rule against him
How many people does that leave?
He clearly prefers wealthy, white Christian males above all else - not so subtly implying that everyone else is inferior.
The US is the wealthiest and most powerful nation on earth yet the MAGA premise is that it's weak and not wealthy - in fact it's a victim of everyone else, hasn't protected itself or led others or for some reason for 200 years has not had someone like Trump leading it - in fact voted for Presidents not like him - in fact showed no intelligence in all of its past votes and decisiions.
And then there's something more personal. Why has he twice married foreigners - are there no Americans good enough for him? And then there's his most recent reliance of white male ex-South African (Afrikaaners?) to keep close to him - Elon Musk, and the Peter Thiele product -JD Vance. Both happy to destroy the government American citizens have constructed and fought to maintain for hundreds of years.
Have we heard Trump brag about how great and wonderful America is at nearly the same rate that he says he'll make it great again (clearly he thinks it is not great now)
And he wants to grant asylum to white South Africans!
Re bird flu and backyard chickens: https://youtu.be/7vKoRFIO3qI?si=LYGQNGeV_FWfH04Q
I suspect there are a lot of Charlie Sykes fans here, who read and post on the Bulwark. For an excellent counterpoint to Carville's roll over and play possum prescription for the dems, I would recommend checking out Charlie's very own new podcast. The one from Monday with Susan Glasser. It's extremely worthwhile, but we'd expect nothing less from Charlie. Thumbnail bullet point: now is the hour to save our democracy. And time to do so is not infinite. Dem pols, pundits, strategists have it wrong- the resistance in Trump 1.0 was not a failure. It achieved great returns in the midterms, as well as 2020. Many good dems elected, and best of all, sent Donald Trump packing. These were the fruits of the same kinds of efforts we need now, even more desperately.
This moment is exactly the wrong time to lay back and allow the high ups, and past experts, to lead us to put on the brakes. What we are confronting now is NOTHING LIKE any thing those folks ever had to do battle with, on their ways to getting people elected, and in their roles as party gurus. Let us please be honest with ourselves: The Party failed spectacularly recently, as we know. It stands to reason new answers, energy and strategy is certainly due. But NOT simply on tactics for how to win the next election. What's at stake here is our democracy, our institutions, our way of life and our society, literally. I'm sorry, but partisan politics is not the highest concern we have as a nation, in this moment. Sorry. The concern is frankly existential.
No one anticipated the need to act so quickly. But in 5 weeks, look at what they've accomplished. In another several weeks, think of what more will have met with a fatal encounter with Elon's buzzsaw. Susan lived in Russia while its infant democracy was smothered in its cradle by our good friend Putin. She lived through this, and her views on how this happened are very instructive. And Charlie's interview with her is simply the best. If you have access to it, please give it a listen. Counterpoint is the lifeblood of positive progress.
But is public messaging the right arena for the current fight against DOGE? Or is it the courts? A team of state AGs is challenging Elon in court - and having some success. At this point, maybe the best thing the politicians can do is root for the lawyers.
I have friends who have been doing the backyard chicken thing for years. Before you get chickens, you need a plan to keep them from falling prey to predators, especially foxes. Otherwise, don't bother.
It's almost as if Trump is on the side of the Russians. Who does this to an ally in the middle of a hot war? It's like poking a stick in their eyes.
***The US stopped providing the intelligence that’s helped Ukraine target Russian forces in Moscow’s three-year war as President Donald Trump’s administration escalates a standoff with Kyiv.
The halt covers all the intelligence except for what Ukraine needs to protect its forces, according to a US official familiar with the decision, who spoke under the condition of anonymity.
US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz signaled that intelligence-sharing was among the items on the table after Trump suspended military assistance to Ukraine this week, even as he expressed optimism that negotiators could revive a natural-resources deal the White House sees as crucial to resolving the war.
“We have taken a step back and are pausing and reviewing all aspects of this relationship,” Waltz told reporters in Washington.
Trump reminds me of a 1970s leftist-pacifist: He sees "war" as the enemy and seeks "peace", while waving away questions of who is the aggressor and who is the victim.
Yes, what's being done now to Ukraine, to force it to accept our ideas of terms for peace: coercion plus open sabotage. We are behaving like thugs.
Nice country you've got there. Would be a pity if something happened to it...
The lack of intelligence gathering is absolutely shocking! Have these people ever studied Russia? Do they have a clue?
I do think Article Five is dead. Anyone who trusts us is a fool.
We are shits when it comes to Ukraine. We have gone to Russia.
Trump does want capitulation.
Fantastic discussion. Europe is stepping up!
Michael Weiss continues to be one of my favorite commentators on foreign policy, with the other two being Ian Bremmer and Fareed Zakaria.
“Rise to the moment”—yes! So how to get Schumer to pass the damn torch . . . not tomorrow! Asap!
WHOOPIE CUSHIONS
An excellent episode. Carville is always worth a listen. Rope a dope sounds like a plan if we can pull it off. Where is our Ali?? Anyone seriously interested in foreign affairs needs to pay attention to Michael Weiss.
Michael Weiss, great. Carville, WTF?