We are now on the Titanic and even as the ship is sinking the repubs are still trying to throw us overboard. What do they think will happen to them when the ship is 2,000 feet under water? Like everything that krasnov touches it turns to shit. We have one last chance to right the ship- the 2026 mid-terms. The ship will be badly damaged but still will be afloat. Make good trouble.
And the Democrats are on their knees praying for salvation.
2026 will be saved, only if all 15 Democratic trifecta states, get on board with redistricting, otherwise the Republicans will pic,k up 45 seats., because they will redistrict. there are 23 Republican trifecta's.
California, New York, Michigan and Illinois are the mostpopulous states, and have the most representatives in Congress, they are also Democratic and all, except Michigan, are also Democratic trifectas.
Assuming that there will be any further elections, like the mid-term in 2026, or beyond: Trump already has almost everything he wants, so he'll want to keep it that way.
We need a covid level general strike. Most Americans living paycheck to paycheck . Crippling food, energy,insurance costs will be the biggest prevention to a nationwide stop.
Starting, I believe, with big-time athletes and entertainers ( because they are the most visible,) who would certainly be at risk, but the rest of us would have to support them, by eschewing performances and games, and resisting Republican interests.
E.G. The Montgomery Bus Boycott, sparked by Rosa Parks' arrest in December 1955. A 381-day protest against segregated seating on buses was a major catalyst for the movement. MLK spread the word. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_rights_movement
Let’s stop pretending we’re one Mueller footnote away from salvation, or that Robert’s Rules of Order is going to rescue us from a fascist death cult with tactical gear and billionaire backers. Thom Hartmann didn’t mince words, and neither will I: the regime has arrived. It’s wearing a familiar face. It speaks Fox-ese. It drinks Diet Coke and plays golf. But don’t be fooled, this is fascism, American-style. And if we don’t fight like hell, it’s going to win.
This isn’t politics as usual. This isn’t “the pendulum swinging too far.” This is ICE arresting mayors. This is judges indicted for compassion. This is sitting senators zip-tied and dragged out for doing their damn jobs. If you’re still using words like “overreach” or “partisanship,” I want you to Google the phrase “authoritarian checklist” and see how many boxes are already checked in blood-red ink.
This is what collapse looks like, not with sirens and speeches, but with shrugging headlines and passive verbs. A system built on precedent and norms is collapsing under the weight of people who don’t believe in either. And what are we doing? Arguing about tone. Citing rules. Hoping MSNBC gives us a hug.
Hope is not a strategy. The fight is. We need a strategy for nonviolent disruption, mass mobilization, institutional subversion, and yes, electoral ruthlessness. Because if Democrats are unwilling to play the game that Republicans have already turned into a knife fight, we’ll all be bleeding out while the Constitution gets used as a coaster at Mar-a-Lago.
And if that offends your delicate moderate sensibilities? GOOD. I’m not writing for your comfort. I’m writing for your alarm clock.
The time for warnings has passed. We are in the fire. Now act like it.
I was screaming at trump's press conference this morning. Federalizing the nation's capital. Great practice for New York, LA, any Democratic stronghold!
Please consider this: The push to lower D.C.’s age of criminal responsibility to 14 isn’t about public safety, it’s a recycled fear tactic straight from America’s long history of “youth crime” panics. From the creation of juvenile courts in 1899 to the racist “super-predator” myth of the 1990s, lawmakers have used sensational cases to strip kids of rights, expand state control, and set legal precedents that later justify lowering ages for marriage and consent. The real goal isn’t safety; it’s power, and it always leaves the most vulnerable children less protected and more exploitable.
The youth have always been used in every society to be the soldiers, to do the killing. our society doesn't do enough to keep your people interested in what is going on around them unless it's on their phones.
Young people are trafficked in the sense that they are the ones that do the killing in our names. Hitler had his Hitler Youth to indoctrinate their young people. We have phones that do the same thing.
The hard part is that they do it so badly, and so far their "troops" have little conviction. That's why they needed all that money for incentive.
The optics just keep getting worse. Wait till the everyone sees what they do to the homeless. Concentration camps for them will play well with the Nazis---not so much for those with a heart.💔
Never too late! Everyone together can do it. Never buy or utilize goods that are sold by a Republican billionaire or millionaire - blacklist them as widely as possible
-support only your local stores - support you local police and Unions that are visible fighting these Nazis - support your local schools, your councillors - Be ready for the Ice-goons - report their use of overwhelming force - rip off their masks - find out and publicise their local offices - mark their transports - disable them in the night...
YOU can think of more ways to maintain Democracy - it is in the hands of each COMMUNITY...
Good advice Gordon, but everything we eat or use, passes through Republican hands, and the profits end up in Republican pockets, even down to your local Mom and Pop brick and mortar store, and I go so far as to say especially those. Drive a car, the dealer is a Republican and probably a Trump humper,fill it with gas, the same. Nurses, Doctors, physical therapists.
Krasnov is weak and he knows it. He no doubt will pretend to be strong and will get the support his small weak men will give in order to look it. It will crumble at first touch. The only question is will the military stand down from unlawful commands or uphold them to later be in trial for treason. Krasnov replacements will be executed no doubt.
Russian just explained that he was taught in HS in the 90's that US was on a 100 yr lease for Alaska. Putin thinks he owns us too---Probably does own TRump
I'm thinking we should give Putin to Canada. They signed the ICC pledge. He's wanted for stealing children. He is a monster
You are right about the 90s, Alis. That's when trump had so badly mismanaged his heavily mortgaged real estate properties that New York banks would no longer lend to him. He got one bailout from Deutsche Bank, but either two or three bankrupt properties got massive cash infusions and/or loans from Russia. Hence, trump's Putin fawning and bootlicking ever since. It's still true: Just follow the money.
TRump and Epstein opened their accts with the same Deutsche banker the same day. They were both money laundering for Russians. That was 2013. That banker committed suicide. Read about what he was up to there in the 90s too. I know Senator Wyden is going to uncover SOMETHING with the 4700 transfers.
Trump keeps talking about Al Capone. More projection. Tax evasion was Epstein's "expertise". He can be prosecuted after he is out of office. That's when his lawyers will say he has diminished capacity and he rides off into his golden sunset. Maybe to live at Trump Tower in Moscow?
Some will fight back Thom, but in the main, Americans are soft and spoiled, they rest on hope. Hope that a miracle will happen, hope that Trump will die, hope that some knight will come to the rescue. Hope that protesting on main street will convince Trump to cease and desist.
The unofficial motto: "To get along, go along" And look at the power brokers that are caving, media, law firms,universities, corporations, even countries, even the European Union humiliated themselves sending their chief rep to display submission in the the tacky gilded offal office, and Trump condesendingly patted her hand as if she was a submissive child.
"After Russia’s parliamentary elections in 2011 were marred by widespread allegations of fraud, tens of thousands of Russians staged some of the largest anti-government protests since the fall of the Soviet Union.
Demonstrators in Moscow’s Bolotnaya Square and other cities demanded new elections and an end to Vladimir Putin’s rule. These demonstrations marked the start of the 2011–2013 protest wave often called the “Snow Revolution.” Virtually every leader of these protests has since been murdered, imprisoned, or exiled. Notable among them was Alexei Navalny, likely poisoned in a Russian labor camp, and Boris Nemtsov, who was assassinated on a bridge near the Kremlin."
Putin is running out of soldiers, has lost his air power, his troops are defecting in Crimea, factories and airfileds are bombed nightly, has lost several of his generals, and the economy is on the skids.
From GlobalPoast: ... Russia has more potential agricultural land than anywhere else in the world but it has run out of potatoes, onions, and other vegetables, reported DPA, a German newswire.
The shortages followed a spike in the price of potatoes in Russian shops, almost tripling within the last year. Meanwhile, the price of onions has doubled, and cabbage is now 50 percent more expensive than it was a year ago.
Russian officials, meanwhile, say the country is on the verge of a recession.
Since sanctions began after the country’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the Russian economy has grown despite the punitive measures, mainly because of war production and the country’s moves to replace imports, using money from the wealth fund and capital reserves in the banking system. But those reserves are now depleted.
Still, there are always the oligarchs to turn to, observers say.
Earlier this year, Russian officials, backed by the courts, accelerated appropriating the assets of rich Russians to fund their war. In March, the prosecutor general announced it had seized almost $30 billion in assets, not specifying a time period.
In one such example, Russian authorities arrested one of the country’s most powerful oligarchs, billionaire Konstantin Strukov, as he sought to leave the country in July. That move had followed raids on his company, gold producer Yuzhuralzoloto, accusing the firm of violating environmental and industry safety laws – a pretext, say analysts, for confiscating all of Strukov’s shares, worth billions.
“As the staggering costs of his war against Ukraine add up, exacerbated by harsh international economic sanctions, the Kremlin is stepping up implementation of a new funding method to help cover them: seizing assets from wealthy individuals, including longtime Putin loyalists,” wrote World Politics Review. “While authorities claimed to be targeting foreign-owned companies in an effort to nationalize strategic industries, that seems to be just a pretext to grab assets for an increasingly strapped economy….”
All true and more. I subscribe to Medium.com and it has daily offerings from the front (Ukraine, Slava Ukraini)
Russia is now using recruits from Africa, Chechnya, North Korea and even China (though not on the front line in the latter case). Xi has every motivation in the world to support Putin. If Russia fails, then China will be the focus of world, mean while Putin keeps the spotlight off Xi
True that, but Putin is a distraction for the rest of the world, and that serves Xi.
China has reportedly supplied Russia with:
Dual-use components: This includes items like semiconductors and integrated circuits which can be used in the production of weapons.
Critical components for weaponry and civilian drones: According to The Economist, these include items like critical components for weapons and civilian drones.
Materials for the military industry: The Ukrainian intelligence agency stated in May 2025 that China is providing tooling machines, special chemical products, gunpowder, and other components to Russian military factories.
Potential artillery ammunition and military UAVs: While large-scale transfers haven't been confirmed, some reports suggest small quantities of these items may have changed hands.
Satellite imagery: Officials have stated that China is providing imagery to Russia for its war on Ukraine.
Dual-use drone and rocket technology, satellite imagery, and machine tools: According to NBC News, US officials mentioned these as items supplied by China.
It has also been reported that China is providing Putin with technicians that can help
China and Russia are engaged in various forms of military cooperation, including:
Joint military exercises: These have been increasing in frequency and scope, including naval exercises in the Pacific and Sea of Japan.
Drone technology and production: China is providing extensive support to Russia's drone production capabilities, including supplying components and technology, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.
Potential sharing of combat experience: An unnamed source from Ukraine's Defense Intelligence Directorate (HUR) suggests Russia might host Chinese military personnel for training, sharing insights gained from the Ukraine war, including how to counter Western weapons systems.
Cooperation in satellite and space-based capabilities: China is reportedly assisting Russia in improving its satellite and space-based capabilities, including providing imagery for use in the war in Ukraine.
China's denial and western concerns: While China denies providing lethal weapons or direct military assistance to Russia, Western officials and intelligence agencies express concerns about China's indirect support through the supply of dual-use technology and components that benefit Russia's defense industry.
In essence, while Russia may not be "providing military assistance" to China in the sense of one-way weapons transfers, the relationship has evolved into a more reciprocal one with China providing crucial technological and economic support to Russia, while also continuing to acquire advanced Russian military hardware and insights.
Peanuts compared to the fact that Mongolians are ethnically Chinese, and in the rest of the world they are competitors. China wants the world to use the Yuan.
Inside Russia, discrimination against Chinese (and all immigrants).
I know a guy up the hill from me who runs a company that makes industrial ovens. His next door neighbor is a Jew. She joked with me that they didn’t get her in Hungary so they had to come here to get her. That is starting to not be funny anymore.
"When they go low, we mustn’t go high: we must fight ferociously, methodically, and effectively. Like the soldiers who landed on Normandy Beach and burned swastikas, we must disrupt, dismantle, and hold accountable every authoritarian ambition."
In January of 2021, fascism expert Robert O. Paxton called Trump a fascist in the headline of a Newsweek OpEd.
Today, Thom, Bob Reich, Paul Krugman, and Ralph Nader all used the term. Economist Jeff Sachs did too at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Greece back in April as he tore Trump's tariffs and nincompoop staff apart.
Nincompoop fascist witless Witkoff is likely to inadvertently start or escalate a war in Alaska to distract voters from Epstein.
That it has taken 4 years for writers to feel Americans are finally woke enough to openly use the term fascism in America is a relief. Trump triggered it by unleashing his ICE Gestapo, FBI Blackshirts, and National Guard Brownshirts on DC over 2 teens beating up a DOGE Boy despite no justification for declaring an emergency is fascism in practice. Trump has been careful, so far, to only arrest racial minorities so as not to wake up white MAGAs as of yet. We already saw the USMC and CA National Guard used to intimidate peaceful citizens without justification in LA.
Fascism is here, and short of impeachment by a Democratic Congress or death, it looks as if it will replace Democracy for a while.
That is correct, Dr. Cummings. I look all around San Diego, and I don't see any sense of the urgency that I feel. That same malaise exists in Washington. Before the election of Trump (again), I saw the Democrats behave like sloths (except Bernie) and those like Nancy Pelosi hide in her office rather than shun decorum and expose Joe Biden's declining cognitive abilities and demand a new candidate be put forward. What the hell was she waiting for? Leadership on her part was too little too late.
Well the day has arrived. Trump has seized and militarized the administration of America’s Capitol (on a pretext, of course). And after the 2026 midterms,(probably already fatally compromised) any attempt to dislodge the MAGA GOP from power will be dealt with by Trump’s militia. Ben Franklin’s (attr) remark “a democracy, if you can keep it” was prophetic.
I am afraid it is too late. I explained my reasoning for saying this here in "Trump's song was 'It's My Party and I'll Do What I want To.' Now it's 'It's my Country and I'll Do What I want to.' " (link https://halbrown.substack.com/p/trumps-song-was-its-my-party-and )
"After Russia’s parliamentary elections that year were marred by widespread allegations of fraud, tens of thousands of Russians staged some of the largest anti-government protests since the fall of the Soviet Union.
Demonstrators in Moscow’s Bolotnaya Square and other cities demanded new elections and an end to Vladimir Putin’s rule. These demonstrations marked the start of the 2011–2013 protest wave often called the “Snow Revolution.” Virtually every leader of these protests has since been murdered, imprisoned, or exiled. Notable among them was Alexei Navalny, likely poisoned in a Russian labor camp, and Boris Nemtsov, who was assassinated on a bridge near the Kremlin."
What do you think Trump is going to learn from Putin in Alaska?
I want to note here what Kamala Harris recently said about the current dire situation. She said that the only real surprise to her "was the capitulation." For more than six months, I have been leaving telephone messages to select Democratic members of congress, asking "Where ARE you?" "Why are you doing NOTHING?" "What is the end game?" "Do you really believe that you can just wait for trump to destroy himself?" "How soon can you grow up to reality?" "Where are the replacements for what should be strong congressional opposition against this brutal takeover?" Those questions, and others, remain. With a few notable exceptions, the capitulation has been astounding and pathetic. How and how soon can we come up with a viable substitute for what should have been a meaningful opposition? Right now, I don't have a good answer.
Sadly, the birthday parade was simply an excuse to bring the tanks into DC. My comment as we watched them roll in was "These tanks will never leave DC." Perhaps some will be sent to other Blue cities, but DC is effectively occupied. Waiting, waiting, to be called by Steve Bannon, are the militias scattered throughout the country. And Bannon is anticipating his moment to call them. A Herculean rescue challenge lies ahead.
That is accurate, JB Fahnstock, and exactly how I saw it when online flashes of a subdued military and equipment rolled down the streets of DC. No wonder Barron and Ivanka opted out - they understood the optics.
Thom, your columns are always outstanding, but this one really knocked me out for not "sugarcoating the truth." These lyrics are now burned in my brain:
We are now on the Titanic and even as the ship is sinking the repubs are still trying to throw us overboard. What do they think will happen to them when the ship is 2,000 feet under water? Like everything that krasnov touches it turns to shit. We have one last chance to right the ship- the 2026 mid-terms. The ship will be badly damaged but still will be afloat. Make good trouble.
And the Democrats are on their knees praying for salvation.
2026 will be saved, only if all 15 Democratic trifecta states, get on board with redistricting, otherwise the Republicans will pic,k up 45 seats., because they will redistrict. there are 23 Republican trifecta's.
California, New York, Michigan and Illinois are the mostpopulous states, and have the most representatives in Congress, they are also Democratic and all, except Michigan, are also Democratic trifectas.
Assuming that there will be any further elections, like the mid-term in 2026, or beyond: Trump already has almost everything he wants, so he'll want to keep it that way.
Yep
We need a covid level general strike. Most Americans living paycheck to paycheck . Crippling food, energy,insurance costs will be the biggest prevention to a nationwide stop.
Starting, I believe, with big-time athletes and entertainers ( because they are the most visible,) who would certainly be at risk, but the rest of us would have to support them, by eschewing performances and games, and resisting Republican interests.
From acorns, oak trees grow.
E.G. The Montgomery Bus Boycott, sparked by Rosa Parks' arrest in December 1955. A 381-day protest against segregated seating on buses was a major catalyst for the movement. MLK spread the word. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_rights_movement
IMHO several Congressional Republicans know they have been on the wrong side of history. It takes pressure. Case study: Brian Fitzpatrick, R. Pa. https://whyy.org/articles/rep-brian-fitzpatrick-trump-spending-bill-bucks-county-midterm-election/
Let’s stop pretending we’re one Mueller footnote away from salvation, or that Robert’s Rules of Order is going to rescue us from a fascist death cult with tactical gear and billionaire backers. Thom Hartmann didn’t mince words, and neither will I: the regime has arrived. It’s wearing a familiar face. It speaks Fox-ese. It drinks Diet Coke and plays golf. But don’t be fooled, this is fascism, American-style. And if we don’t fight like hell, it’s going to win.
This isn’t politics as usual. This isn’t “the pendulum swinging too far.” This is ICE arresting mayors. This is judges indicted for compassion. This is sitting senators zip-tied and dragged out for doing their damn jobs. If you’re still using words like “overreach” or “partisanship,” I want you to Google the phrase “authoritarian checklist” and see how many boxes are already checked in blood-red ink.
This is what collapse looks like, not with sirens and speeches, but with shrugging headlines and passive verbs. A system built on precedent and norms is collapsing under the weight of people who don’t believe in either. And what are we doing? Arguing about tone. Citing rules. Hoping MSNBC gives us a hug.
Hope is not a strategy. The fight is. We need a strategy for nonviolent disruption, mass mobilization, institutional subversion, and yes, electoral ruthlessness. Because if Democrats are unwilling to play the game that Republicans have already turned into a knife fight, we’ll all be bleeding out while the Constitution gets used as a coaster at Mar-a-Lago.
And if that offends your delicate moderate sensibilities? GOOD. I’m not writing for your comfort. I’m writing for your alarm clock.
The time for warnings has passed. We are in the fire. Now act like it.
This woman votes, too. Outstanding column and advice. A+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Damn straight!
I was screaming at trump's press conference this morning. Federalizing the nation's capital. Great practice for New York, LA, any Democratic stronghold!
Please consider this: The push to lower D.C.’s age of criminal responsibility to 14 isn’t about public safety, it’s a recycled fear tactic straight from America’s long history of “youth crime” panics. From the creation of juvenile courts in 1899 to the racist “super-predator” myth of the 1990s, lawmakers have used sensational cases to strip kids of rights, expand state control, and set legal precedents that later justify lowering ages for marriage and consent. The real goal isn’t safety; it’s power, and it always leaves the most vulnerable children less protected and more exploitable.
https://twvme.substack.com/p/theyve-done-this-before-youth-crime
The youth have always been used in every society to be the soldiers, to do the killing. our society doesn't do enough to keep your people interested in what is going on around them unless it's on their phones.
Young people are trafficked in the sense that they are the ones that do the killing in our names. Hitler had his Hitler Youth to indoctrinate their young people. We have phones that do the same thing.
Well written.
The hard part is that they do it so badly, and so far their "troops" have little conviction. That's why they needed all that money for incentive.
The optics just keep getting worse. Wait till the everyone sees what they do to the homeless. Concentration camps for them will play well with the Nazis---not so much for those with a heart.💔
Never too late! Everyone together can do it. Never buy or utilize goods that are sold by a Republican billionaire or millionaire - blacklist them as widely as possible
-support only your local stores - support you local police and Unions that are visible fighting these Nazis - support your local schools, your councillors - Be ready for the Ice-goons - report their use of overwhelming force - rip off their masks - find out and publicise their local offices - mark their transports - disable them in the night...
YOU can think of more ways to maintain Democracy - it is in the hands of each COMMUNITY...
Good advice Gordon, but everything we eat or use, passes through Republican hands, and the profits end up in Republican pockets, even down to your local Mom and Pop brick and mortar store, and I go so far as to say especially those. Drive a car, the dealer is a Republican and probably a Trump humper,fill it with gas, the same. Nurses, Doctors, physical therapists.
Krasnov is weak and he knows it. He no doubt will pretend to be strong and will get the support his small weak men will give in order to look it. It will crumble at first touch. The only question is will the military stand down from unlawful commands or uphold them to later be in trial for treason. Krasnov replacements will be executed no doubt.
Krasnov and his master meet on Friday in Alaska, which Russia still covets.
Both are weak and vulnerable. The Trumpstein saga probably began with and could end with Russia.
If only a few Congressional Republicans put two and two together....
Russian just explained that he was taught in HS in the 90's that US was on a 100 yr lease for Alaska. Putin thinks he owns us too---Probably does own TRump
I'm thinking we should give Putin to Canada. They signed the ICC pledge. He's wanted for stealing children. He is a monster
You are right about the 90s, Alis. That's when trump had so badly mismanaged his heavily mortgaged real estate properties that New York banks would no longer lend to him. He got one bailout from Deutsche Bank, but either two or three bankrupt properties got massive cash infusions and/or loans from Russia. Hence, trump's Putin fawning and bootlicking ever since. It's still true: Just follow the money.
TRump and Epstein opened their accts with the same Deutsche banker the same day. They were both money laundering for Russians. That was 2013. That banker committed suicide. Read about what he was up to there in the 90s too. I know Senator Wyden is going to uncover SOMETHING with the 4700 transfers.
Trump keeps talking about Al Capone. More projection. Tax evasion was Epstein's "expertise". He can be prosecuted after he is out of office. That's when his lawyers will say he has diminished capacity and he rides off into his golden sunset. Maybe to live at Trump Tower in Moscow?
Does anyone wonder why they are meeting in Alaska?
Saw a Russian say that it's Putin's way of getting a laugh with his people. They think they still own Alaska.
Some will fight back Thom, but in the main, Americans are soft and spoiled, they rest on hope. Hope that a miracle will happen, hope that Trump will die, hope that some knight will come to the rescue. Hope that protesting on main street will convince Trump to cease and desist.
The unofficial motto: "To get along, go along" And look at the power brokers that are caving, media, law firms,universities, corporations, even countries, even the European Union humiliated themselves sending their chief rep to display submission in the the tacky gilded offal office, and Trump condesendingly patted her hand as if she was a submissive child.
https://olgalautman.substack.com/p/guns-spies-and-trump
"After Russia’s parliamentary elections in 2011 were marred by widespread allegations of fraud, tens of thousands of Russians staged some of the largest anti-government protests since the fall of the Soviet Union.
Demonstrators in Moscow’s Bolotnaya Square and other cities demanded new elections and an end to Vladimir Putin’s rule. These demonstrations marked the start of the 2011–2013 protest wave often called the “Snow Revolution.” Virtually every leader of these protests has since been murdered, imprisoned, or exiled. Notable among them was Alexei Navalny, likely poisoned in a Russian labor camp, and Boris Nemtsov, who was assassinated on a bridge near the Kremlin."
Putin is running out of soldiers, has lost his air power, his troops are defecting in Crimea, factories and airfileds are bombed nightly, has lost several of his generals, and the economy is on the skids.
From GlobalPoast: ... Russia has more potential agricultural land than anywhere else in the world but it has run out of potatoes, onions, and other vegetables, reported DPA, a German newswire.
The shortages followed a spike in the price of potatoes in Russian shops, almost tripling within the last year. Meanwhile, the price of onions has doubled, and cabbage is now 50 percent more expensive than it was a year ago.
Russian officials, meanwhile, say the country is on the verge of a recession.
Since sanctions began after the country’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the Russian economy has grown despite the punitive measures, mainly because of war production and the country’s moves to replace imports, using money from the wealth fund and capital reserves in the banking system. But those reserves are now depleted.
Still, there are always the oligarchs to turn to, observers say.
Earlier this year, Russian officials, backed by the courts, accelerated appropriating the assets of rich Russians to fund their war. In March, the prosecutor general announced it had seized almost $30 billion in assets, not specifying a time period.
In one such example, Russian authorities arrested one of the country’s most powerful oligarchs, billionaire Konstantin Strukov, as he sought to leave the country in July. That move had followed raids on his company, gold producer Yuzhuralzoloto, accusing the firm of violating environmental and industry safety laws – a pretext, say analysts, for confiscating all of Strukov’s shares, worth billions.
“As the staggering costs of his war against Ukraine add up, exacerbated by harsh international economic sanctions, the Kremlin is stepping up implementation of a new funding method to help cover them: seizing assets from wealthy individuals, including longtime Putin loyalists,” wrote World Politics Review. “While authorities claimed to be targeting foreign-owned companies in an effort to nationalize strategic industries, that seems to be just a pretext to grab assets for an increasingly strapped economy….”
All true and more. I subscribe to Medium.com and it has daily offerings from the front (Ukraine, Slava Ukraini)
Russia is now using recruits from Africa, Chechnya, North Korea and even China (though not on the front line in the latter case). Xi has every motivation in the world to support Putin. If Russia fails, then China will be the focus of world, mean while Putin keeps the spotlight off Xi
Xi has his attention on Mongolia. Not really a Putin ally.
True that, but Putin is a distraction for the rest of the world, and that serves Xi.
China has reportedly supplied Russia with:
Dual-use components: This includes items like semiconductors and integrated circuits which can be used in the production of weapons.
Critical components for weaponry and civilian drones: According to The Economist, these include items like critical components for weapons and civilian drones.
Materials for the military industry: The Ukrainian intelligence agency stated in May 2025 that China is providing tooling machines, special chemical products, gunpowder, and other components to Russian military factories.
Potential artillery ammunition and military UAVs: While large-scale transfers haven't been confirmed, some reports suggest small quantities of these items may have changed hands.
Satellite imagery: Officials have stated that China is providing imagery to Russia for its war on Ukraine.
Dual-use drone and rocket technology, satellite imagery, and machine tools: According to NBC News, US officials mentioned these as items supplied by China.
It has also been reported that China is providing Putin with technicians that can help
China and Russia are engaged in various forms of military cooperation, including:
Joint military exercises: These have been increasing in frequency and scope, including naval exercises in the Pacific and Sea of Japan.
Drone technology and production: China is providing extensive support to Russia's drone production capabilities, including supplying components and technology, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.
Potential sharing of combat experience: An unnamed source from Ukraine's Defense Intelligence Directorate (HUR) suggests Russia might host Chinese military personnel for training, sharing insights gained from the Ukraine war, including how to counter Western weapons systems.
Cooperation in satellite and space-based capabilities: China is reportedly assisting Russia in improving its satellite and space-based capabilities, including providing imagery for use in the war in Ukraine.
China's denial and western concerns: While China denies providing lethal weapons or direct military assistance to Russia, Western officials and intelligence agencies express concerns about China's indirect support through the supply of dual-use technology and components that benefit Russia's defense industry.
In essence, while Russia may not be "providing military assistance" to China in the sense of one-way weapons transfers, the relationship has evolved into a more reciprocal one with China providing crucial technological and economic support to Russia, while also continuing to acquire advanced Russian military hardware and insights.
Peanuts compared to the fact that Mongolians are ethnically Chinese, and in the rest of the world they are competitors. China wants the world to use the Yuan.
Inside Russia, discrimination against Chinese (and all immigrants).
All true, all irrelevant.
Alan Colmes. . . .
The foppish liberal lightning rod for Hannity's box-headed buffoon character.
The pathetic Mr. Colmes is what the GOP has turned the bulk of the Democratic Party into.
Too many will not wake up until they realize that those new industrial "bakeries" in blue cities are really industrial crematoria.
YIKES! Crematoria.
I know a guy up the hill from me who runs a company that makes industrial ovens. His next door neighbor is a Jew. She joked with me that they didn’t get her in Hungary so they had to come here to get her. That is starting to not be funny anymore.
FYI: 12:08 is a coded lie!
Amen, brother ben.
This, right fucking here:
"When they go low, we mustn’t go high: we must fight ferociously, methodically, and effectively. Like the soldiers who landed on Normandy Beach and burned swastikas, we must disrupt, dismantle, and hold accountable every authoritarian ambition."
We are at war, it's time to start acting like it.
Return fire.
In January of 2021, fascism expert Robert O. Paxton called Trump a fascist in the headline of a Newsweek OpEd.
Today, Thom, Bob Reich, Paul Krugman, and Ralph Nader all used the term. Economist Jeff Sachs did too at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Greece back in April as he tore Trump's tariffs and nincompoop staff apart.
Nincompoop fascist witless Witkoff is likely to inadvertently start or escalate a war in Alaska to distract voters from Epstein.
That it has taken 4 years for writers to feel Americans are finally woke enough to openly use the term fascism in America is a relief. Trump triggered it by unleashing his ICE Gestapo, FBI Blackshirts, and National Guard Brownshirts on DC over 2 teens beating up a DOGE Boy despite no justification for declaring an emergency is fascism in practice. Trump has been careful, so far, to only arrest racial minorities so as not to wake up white MAGAs as of yet. We already saw the USMC and CA National Guard used to intimidate peaceful citizens without justification in LA.
Fascism is here, and short of impeachment by a Democratic Congress or death, it looks as if it will replace Democracy for a while.
It came to my colleagues and me as soon as he was inaugurated as #45. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/07/13/2018-15202/excepting-administrative-law-judges-from-the-competitive-service
Americans are kept way too comfortable to revolt.
That is correct, Dr. Cummings. I look all around San Diego, and I don't see any sense of the urgency that I feel. That same malaise exists in Washington. Before the election of Trump (again), I saw the Democrats behave like sloths (except Bernie) and those like Nancy Pelosi hide in her office rather than shun decorum and expose Joe Biden's declining cognitive abilities and demand a new candidate be put forward. What the hell was she waiting for? Leadership on her part was too little too late.
Well the day has arrived. Trump has seized and militarized the administration of America’s Capitol (on a pretext, of course). And after the 2026 midterms,(probably already fatally compromised) any attempt to dislodge the MAGA GOP from power will be dealt with by Trump’s militia. Ben Franklin’s (attr) remark “a democracy, if you can keep it” was prophetic.
I am afraid it is too late. I explained my reasoning for saying this here in "Trump's song was 'It's My Party and I'll Do What I want To.' Now it's 'It's my Country and I'll Do What I want to.' " (link https://halbrown.substack.com/p/trumps-song-was-its-my-party-and )
Our only chance is unity and direct action, the willingness to feel pain, to make a sacrifice.
And even then:
https://olgalautman.substack.com/p/guns-spies-and-trump
"After Russia’s parliamentary elections that year were marred by widespread allegations of fraud, tens of thousands of Russians staged some of the largest anti-government protests since the fall of the Soviet Union.
Demonstrators in Moscow’s Bolotnaya Square and other cities demanded new elections and an end to Vladimir Putin’s rule. These demonstrations marked the start of the 2011–2013 protest wave often called the “Snow Revolution.” Virtually every leader of these protests has since been murdered, imprisoned, or exiled. Notable among them was Alexei Navalny, likely poisoned in a Russian labor camp, and Boris Nemtsov, who was assassinated on a bridge near the Kremlin."
What do you think Trump is going to learn from Putin in Alaska?
Maybe how to stay in power.
This is like Pinochet in 1973 only it's happening here in the U.S. of A. As Thom has written, it must be stopped by any means at hand.
I want to note here what Kamala Harris recently said about the current dire situation. She said that the only real surprise to her "was the capitulation." For more than six months, I have been leaving telephone messages to select Democratic members of congress, asking "Where ARE you?" "Why are you doing NOTHING?" "What is the end game?" "Do you really believe that you can just wait for trump to destroy himself?" "How soon can you grow up to reality?" "Where are the replacements for what should be strong congressional opposition against this brutal takeover?" Those questions, and others, remain. With a few notable exceptions, the capitulation has been astounding and pathetic. How and how soon can we come up with a viable substitute for what should have been a meaningful opposition? Right now, I don't have a good answer.
Sadly, the birthday parade was simply an excuse to bring the tanks into DC. My comment as we watched them roll in was "These tanks will never leave DC." Perhaps some will be sent to other Blue cities, but DC is effectively occupied. Waiting, waiting, to be called by Steve Bannon, are the militias scattered throughout the country. And Bannon is anticipating his moment to call them. A Herculean rescue challenge lies ahead.
Steve Bannon AKA: Ernst Rohm. 9
That is accurate, JB Fahnstock, and exactly how I saw it when online flashes of a subdued military and equipment rolled down the streets of DC. No wonder Barron and Ivanka opted out - they understood the optics.
"Big Balls" was attacked in Dupont Circle, which is relatively crime free.
Racism in action.
Thom, your columns are always outstanding, but this one really knocked me out for not "sugarcoating the truth." These lyrics are now burned in my brain:
"The grip tightens, but we’re not done,
The fight is ours, and we’ve just begun.
The grip tightens, but we’ll find a way,
To break the chains, to seize the day."