WayOfTheBern

risi

Congress now concerns itself solely with benefiting donors; pitting Democrat against Republican (and vice versa); surveilling and suppressing us hoi polloi; and funding military actions and proxy wars. Oh, yes, and the "purely performative."

Be sure to vote!

MeganDelacroix

ZeroHedge: Fight brewing in the House

Update(12:20ET): With Zelensky in Capitol Hill, and with Ukraine aid hanging in the balance, Kevin McCarthy has failed for a second time to advance a bill funding the Defense Department, which keeps the government on a path toward a shutdown on Oct. 1. This tweet by Mitch McConnell captures the essence of the raging disagreement and debate...

Politico has reported secret, urgent cross-aisle talks as follows: "Small groups of centrist Democrats are holding secret talks with several of McCarthy’s close GOP allies about a last-ditch deal to fund the government, according to more than a half-dozen people familiar with the discussions."

The House voted 212-216 against moving the funding bill to a final vote: Axios

MeganDelacroix

Breitbart: Over Two Dozen GOP Senators, House Lawmakers Say No More Funding for Ukraine

J.D. Vance

Yesterday at a classified briefing over Ukraine, it became clear that America is being asked to fund an indefinite conflict with unlimited resources.

Enough is enough. To these and future requests, my colleagues and I say: NO.

Full letter

WSJ coverage (archive)

chakokat

Is there any doubt? :-D

But I understand that Sen. Vance wants the Biden administration to go on record.

MeganDelacroix

GOP Lawmakers Warn White House On Ukraine Aid As McCarthy Vows To Confront Zelensky

Max Blumenthal

Fetterman has insisted dressing like an adult toddler helped him return to work after a bout with depression

But now he says that he's willing to wear a suit if House "jagoffs" dedicate more US billions to NATO's proxy war

Turns out he's more comfortable in WWIII than a hoodie

Rude dude

"I NEED TO WEAR BASKETBALL SHORTS TO WORK SO EVERYONE CAN SEE I'M A WORKING CLASS SHLUB AND NOT A TRUST FUND KID THAT WENT TO HARVARD!!!

I don't think I have the words properly articulate how much I despise this phoney piece of sh-t. Genuinely the worst political figure democrats have produced in decades, maybe ever.

In Fetterman's defense, I have to say I don't think it's that clear-cut. The competition is fierce.

MeganDelacroix

More from the Senate:

Rand Paul

Today I'm putting congressional leadership & @POTUS on notice that I will oppose any effort to hold the federal government hostage for Ukraine funding.

I will not consent to expedited passage of any spending measure that provides any more US aid to Ukraine.

He adds a link to this AP story: Political divide emerges on Ukraine aid package as Zelenskyy heads to Washington (archive)

Breitbart coverage

MeganDelacroix

RCP clip: Senator Vance talks to Jesse Watters

WATTERS: So Senator, when you see this new news about the Clinton Global Initiative Ukraine Action Network, and we've got Airbnb, you know, we've got famous Hollywood actors now involved, and the World Bank is kind of laundering American taxpayers through the Clintons into Ukraine, it could be a noble cause, yes, but it also seems a little suspicious, considering what the Clintons had been known for their entire career. Do you agree?

VANCE: Oh, I certainly agree, Jesse. I really guess that five years from now, we’re going to find out that between the Clintons and a number of American private equity firms and other hyper-global corporations that, you’re going to find a lot of people have gotten rich from this.

MeganDelacroix

Glenn Greenwald

Ukraine's military has long been employing a disturbed American, @SarahAshtonLV, as its English spokesperson.

We covered last week their insane, deranged threats to hunt down and punish all "Russian propagandists," meaning anyone (including Americans) critical of Ukraine:

Before the war, Zelensky closed opposition media. Under martial law, they now abducted a US citizen/journalist critical of Zelensky: Gonzalo Lira, who this person helped arrest.

Kudos to @JDVance1 for denouncing this repression against Americans:

While Ukraine demands more and more money and weapons from US citizens, they have repeatedly put US journalists and politicians on dangerous official "Russian propagandist" lists for questioning the US role.

What odd behavior for a "democracy":

Even though Ukraine has been using this deranged and unwell maniac for months as their official English-language spokesperson, the combination of these truly deranged threats and attention from Vance and others finally forced Ukraine to distance itself:

(videos at link)

MeganDelacroix

Now we enter the CYA phase: Ukraine’s Transgender Spokesperson Suspended by Military, Zelensky Claims No Knowledge

Following a row sparked by inquiries initiated by Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH), as reported by Breitbart News, the Command of the Territorial Defense Forces (TDF) of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) announced on Wednesday that Sarah Ashton-Cirillo, an American transgender individual, has been suspended from the role of spokesperson.

On social media, the TDF said: “The statements of (Junior Seargant) Ashton-Cirillo in recent days were not approved by the command of the TDF or the command of the AFU. When conducting military operations against the aggressor, the defense forces of Ukraine strictly observe the norms of international humanitarian law.

“The command of the TDF will conduct an official investigation into the circumstances of these statements. Appropriate decisions would be taken. Sergeant Sarah Ashton-Cirillo will be suspended immediately pending the investigation.”

Following the announcement, a source close to President Volodymyr Zelensky told Breitbart News that Ashton-Cirillo had been appointed to the role without the approval of the president and confirmed the suspension.

MeganDelacroix

Updates:

American Conservative Journalist Jack Posobiec Put on Ukrainian Kill List

Ukraine’s Trans ‘Spokesperson’ Lashes Out at Sen. Vance, Refuses to Deny U.S. Gov’t Ties

MeganDelacroix

I made myself sit through this response, so I'll link it here, but it's not very enlightening. Charlie Kirk's summary:

Charlie Kirk

Sarah Ashton-Cirillo, the Fmr US soldier turned trans Ukraine military spokesman, responds to Senator JD Vance’s letter after “Sarah Ashton” threatened that Ukraine would hunt down critics and anti-Ukraine “propagandists.”

1) I don’t hear an apology for threats made in English that seemed to be targeting prominent media personalities and US conservatives.

2) “Sarah Ashton” says he is answerable to US taxpayers.

3) While still psychotic, this is toned down significantly from the foaming at the mouth, gnashing of teeth language of the last. Someone in Ukraine realized these videos harm Ukraine.

4) Good for Sen Vance for paying attention to this. American taxpayer money should not be funding this garbage.

5) If Joe Biden could fire Viktor Shokin with $1 billion, $150 billion should be enough to fire Sarah Ashton-Cirillo.

Vance himself responded:

J.D. Vance

Since I’ve got your attention, are you/Ukraine still planning to kill people who engage in speech you don’t like? And are there any American citizens on the kill list?

J.D. Vance

To everyone asking: Yes, this is real.

This is the English language spokesman for the Ukrainian armed forces.

This same person posted a video last week threatening violence against anyone who engaged in speech the Ukrainians deemed bad propaganda. Disgusting.

Vance also took note of Gonzalo Lira's situation tonight, linking to a Breitbart article:

J.D. Vance

Ukraine is holding an American journalist hostage. This is a disgrace. And why is the Biden admin opening up the checkbook without any accountability?

rundown9

Do we have reason to believe Ukrainian forces or intelligence services are planning to commit acts of violence against those who engage in “Russian propaganda”?

LOL, just a "hit list".

BerryBoy1969

A little off topic, but I think Mikey's bringing a plastic spoon to a knife fight with Maria Zahkarova...

Some context: and Zakharova.

penelopepnortney

According to Newsweek:

A transgender journalist from the United States is now an official spokesperson of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Ashton-Cirillo arrived to Ukraine in March 2022, soon after Russian President Vladimir Putin began his invasion of the country that February. She initially worked in the country as a reporter, leading USA Today to refer to her as "the world's first openly transgender war correspondent." However, after witnessing the war firsthand, she enlisted in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and worked as a combat medic.

penelopepnortney

Damn, glad to see this.

penelopepnortney

“I worry American resources could be supporting violence or the threat of violence against people for speaking their mind. Notably, any critic of America’s incoherent policy in Ukraine has been slandered as propagandists, including multiple presidential candidates and American journalists. While we can debate the merits of these accusations, engaging in protected speech should not invite threats of violence—otherwise, the First Amendment means nothing.”

kingsmeg

lol yes. There, hope I cleared that up.

MeganDelacroix

Full letter

Is this individual employed by the Ukrainian military, and do we have reason to believe they are compensated using American resources?

Is this individual an American citizen? Did they ever serve, in any capacity, American intelligence services?

Do we have reason to believe Ukrainian forces or intelligence services are planning to commit acts of violence against those who engage in “Russian propaganda”?