#Volodymyr Zelensky

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Jay Kuo at Think Big Picture:

For years, critics of Vladimir Putin have been warning that the Russians have taken over parts of the Republican Party. They raised the alarm as Republicans defended the Russian leader, parroted clear Kremlin talking points, and became mules for disinformation campaigns. In recent weeks, that criticism has shifted to include not just Republicans who have left the party, including former representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, but current GOP members. Recently, two powerful Republican chairs of the House Intelligence Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee warned openly about how Russian propaganda has seeped into their party and even made its way into speeches on the House floor. Other members are now even openly questioning whether some of their fellow officials have been compromised and are being extorted. Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) suggested in a recent interview that the Russian spies may possess compromising tapes of some of his colleagues. It’s unclear where he’s getting his information or how accurate it is.

And then there’s this: According to a report by Politico, a number of European politicians were recently paid by Moscow to interfere in the upcoming EU elections by Russians pretending to be a “media” outlet called “Voice of Europe.” The Kremlin-backed operation used money to influence officials to take pro-Russian stances. Authorities have conducted some money seizures and launched an investigation into which members of the European Parliament may have accepted cash bribes. This in turn raises an important question for our own politics: Are the Russians doing the same with U.S. politicians, directly or indirectly? This piece walks through the three types of compromise—disinformation, extortion, and bribery—to give a sense of what we know and what we don’t really know, and, importantly, where we should be on our guard. As this summary will show, from the 2016 election till now, there’s enough Russian smoke now to assume there is a fire, one that compromises not only the integrity of our own system of elections, but the safety and security of the free world. Duped.

Over the past year, we have witnessed two distinct kinds of Russian propaganda in action. Both use our own elected officials and intelligence processes to amplify and even weaponize disinformation. The first kind originates online through Russian-backed internet channels. Information operatives begin spreading false rumors, for example about Ukraine, that then get repeated within right-wing silos before reaching willing purveyors of it within the halls of Congress. A chief culprit in Congress is Georgia’s Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. Among the Russian-originated false narratives she has uplifted is the patently false claim that Ukraine is waging a war against Christianity while Russia is protecting it. On Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast, Greene even claimed, without evidence, that Ukraine is “executing priests.”

Where would Greene have gotten this wild, concocted notion? We don’t have to look far. Russian talking points have included this gaslighting narrative for some time. The twist, of course, is that, according to the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance, it is the Russian army that has been torturing and executing priests and other religious figures, including 30 Ukrainian clergy killed and 26 held captive by Russian forces. The Russians have also targeted Baptists, whom they see as U.S. propagandists, according to an in-depth Time magazine piece on the violence and death directed toward evangelicals. The Congressional propaganda mouthpieces for Russia aren’t limited to the U.S. House. Over in the Senate, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance was also recently accused of spreading Kremlin-backed disinformation about Ukraine, this time over spurious allegations that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy siphoned U.S. aid to purchase himself two luxury yachts.

[...]

The accusation that Russians are presently extorting and blackmailing U.S. politicians into supporting Russia’s agenda has some broad appeal. It would help explain some mysteries, including why people like Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) suddenly is no longer as supportive of Ukraine as before and constantly kisses the ring of Donald Trump these days—after presciently saying in 2016 that the GOP would destroy itself if it nominated him. 

The problem has been that these accusations aren’t supported by much evidence. That means that political extortion by the Russians is either not a very prevalent practice, or it’s so effective that no one dares expose it. Either way, we’re left without much to go on. The Russian word kompromat came into common parlance around the time that Buzzfeed published a salacious story about another intelligence report back in early 2017. In that instance, the author, a former British intelligence officer named Christopher Steele, was concerned Russia had compromising data on the soon-to-be president, Donald Trump.

That report never wound up being substantiated, and its sources and funding came into question as well. But intelligence agencies are in general agreement that obtaining kompromat is standard practice by Russia, and someone like Trump could have been an easy mark considering the company that he kept (e.g. Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell) and the projects he was involved with (e.g. the Miss Universe contest). Lately, the notion of kompromat emerged once again, this time not from Democratic-paid outfits but from within the GOP itself. Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) is one of the more “colorful” characters within the GOP, primarily known lately for being one of the eight members who voted to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy and even for getting into public jostling and shouting matches with McCarthy.

The Republican Party (or at least its pro-MAGA faction) is compromised by Russian kompromat.

[deadpresidents]

"I have a great [Vladimir] Putin story for you. I introduced Putin to Barney, my little Scottish terrier, and Putin dissed him. This is the stage where Putin looked like he was in Lethal Force 2; he had the black body shirt on. It kind of hurt my feelings, but I didn't let him know. So a year later we're at his dacha in Moscow. This is before he had discarded his wife of many years, Lyudmilla, for a water gymnast who was like 30 years younger than he is. And he said, 'Would you like to meet my dog?' I said yes. I'd forgotten about the Barney diss. And out bounds this huge Russian hound, loping across the birch-lined yard, and Putin looked at me and said 'Bigger, stronger, and faster than Barney.'

I told that to Canadian Prime Minister [Stephen] Harper. You may think he's kind of a droll guy, but he's not. He said, 'At least he only showed you his dog.' At any rate, the guy's got a huge chip on his shoulder. 'My dog's bigger than your dog' -- please.

And so you've got to ask why. The demise of the Soviet Union, in Putin's mind, diminished Russia in the eyes of history. What you're watching [in Ukraine] is him trying to reinstate Russian glory -- not Stalinist glory but Russian glory. And he's lost his balance. The guy needs to be stopped,, and the United States needs to hang with [Volodymyr] Zelensky no matter how tough it gets, because if we can't support a young democracy under attack by an autocrat, then we have a problem as a nation knowing what we're all about."

-- Former President George W. Bush, during an interview by David M. Rubenstein, September 19, 2023.

[xoheisse]

not me seeing foreigners bullying Zelensky for congratulating trump as if he has a fucking choice in who to have good relations with. use your brain for once

and donate if you can

[alcestas-sloboda]

"…let the freedom that all our heroes of different times wanted for Ukraine and that must be won right now be a tribute to all those who gave their lives for Ukraine. We will definitely win! For sure!"

- Ukraine, Snake Island. Day 500.

[maaarine]

"Of course we all want to see a different Vladimir here... in The Hague.

The one who deserves to be sentenced for these criminal actions right here in the capital of the international law.

And I'm sure we will see that happen when we win, and we will win."

Times Radio: 'We all want to see Putin here in The Hague' | Zelensky speech

[harri-etvane]

Because we have dignity and we will not allow our freedom to be taken away from us. Because we have to protect our freedom in order not to lose our dignity. Because we know and remember one of the important wisdoms we learned long ago: how important it is not to be afraid, how important it is to fight. - Volodymyr Zelenskyy

[drthrvn]

Ukraine and Poland: *poking russia with a stick* do the trick again

[transparentgentlemenmarker]

Volodymyr Zelensky

[adreciclarte4]

Volodymyr Zelensky

[torillatavataan]

"When Zelensky greets the president of Finland in Kyiv, why doesn't Russia hit the building with Iskander rockets? We'd rebuild the palace later"

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Justin Baragona at The Independent:

Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest man and President-elect Donald Trump’s “first buddy,” took to his social media platform X to ominously accuse the key witness in Trump’s first impeachment of treason while calling for him to “pay the appropriate penalty.” Musk, who has been tasked by Trump to lead an outside agency on government efficiency named after a meme, took issue on Wednesday with comments made by former National Security Council official Alexander Vindman during an appearance on MSNBC.

Vindman, who testified in 2019 that Trump pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to launch an investigation into then-presidential candidate Joe Biden, cited reports that Musk had been engaged in secret conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin dating back to 2022. He then expressed concerns that Musk, who has federal contracts through his SpaceX, Tesla and Starlink companies, may have shared “state secrets” with Putin. “And [Putin’s] been using the richest man in the world to do his bidding. In some cases, that’s encouraging him probably to support Donald Trump,” Vindman told MSNBC. “That’s not speculation. We see how far in Elon has gone. And then using Twitter as a disinformation platform.” Reacting to a clip of Vindman’s remarks, Musk tweeted: “Vindman is on the payroll of Ukrainian oligarchs and has committed treason against the United States, for which he will pay the appropriate penalty.”

Vindman in turn responded on X, tweeting: “Elon, here you go again making false and completely unfounded accusations without providing any specifics. That’s the kind of response one would expect from a conspiracy theorist. What oligarch? What treason? Let me help you out with the facts: I don’t take/have never taken money from any money from oligarchs Ukrainian or other otherwise.” He added: “You, Elon, appear to believe you can act with impunity and are attempting to silence your critics. I’m not intimidated.”

[...] Republicans and conservative media, meanwhile, have long accused Vindman of holding “dual loyalty,” citing the fact that his family fled Soviet-era Ukraine when he was 3 years old. After Vindman first testified before the House impeachment inquiry about Trump’s actions towards Zelensky, Fox News hosts and GOP lawmakers said he “has an affinity for Ukraine” while suggesting he was simultaneously advancing Ukrainian interests while working in the White House. As reported by The Intercept at the time, the “smear tactic” leaned heavily on antisemitic tropes, especially since Vindman himself is Jewish.

Oxygen thief Elon Musk launches unhinged attack against Col. Alexander Vindman by baselessly accusing him of “treason.”

[xoheisse]

how i hate this rat

[alcestas-sloboda]

the president of the people

[odinsblog]

If Republicans didn’t have selective outrage and hypocrisy, they wouldn’t have any “values” at all.