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Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine on a hunch that the West was too divided and decadent to stop him and Ukraine too weak to put up a fight in its own defense. Let’s check in on how that’s all working out shall we?
- Ukraine dealt the Russian military a serious and humiliating blow early Thursday morning by sinking Russia’s flagship missile cruiser, the Moskva, in the Black Sea. While there are conflicting reports as to the nature of the missile strike, Ukrainian officials have taken credit for destroying the vessel. (Russia is sticking to the claim that the ship actually sank while being towed in a storm. Romantic!)
- The White House reportedly plans to send a top U.S. official to Ukraine to meet with Zelenskyy in the coming days as a symbolic display of support for Ukraine, and a demonstration of Ukraine’s success securing large parts of the country, which were recently under assault. Speculation continues on just exactly how high ranking an official we’re talking on a scale of Antony Blinken to Biden himself, but depending whom you ask Joe’s ready to go.
- Meanwhile, a pattern is emerging whereby even Putin’s best pals in Europe—the ones who want to rule countries and weaken NATO—must pretend to dislike him when they’re facing voters. “The trial I am subjected to is particularly unfair,” whined France’s far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, over accusations that she’s too close to Russia (LePen has, in fact, taken money from Putin).
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These are just the latest pies in Russia’s face, none of which have been lost on Vlad the Bad.
- Russia casually threatened to aim its nukes at Finland and Sweden if either country decides to join NATO, echoing comments from top Russian officials last week. While Finland’s Prime Minister, Sanna Mirella, said yesterday her country was prepared to make a decision quickly, Sweden’s government will be reviewing its position on joining the military alliance in the coming months.
- Meanwhile, European Union officials have begun drafting an embargo on Russian oil exports, a move long delayed by Germany’s dependence on imported natural gas as well as the potential impact higher oil prices might have on the upcoming French election. Negotiations among the E.U. countries will begin after April 24th, the day of the French election, and the E.U. hopes to adopt a phased-in ban to lessen the economic pressure on countries more dependent on the Russian oil supply. For his part, Putin has finally admitted that oil and gas sanctions have hurt his economy.
It’s perfectly reasonable for the majority of Americans who oppose Putin’s war to bask in a bit of schadenfreude at Russia’s expense. But we should all remember that the leader of the Republican Party corruptly wanted to leave Ukraine defenseless—and got impeached for it. The situation today would be very different if Donald Trump had won re-election—or if he somehow becomes president again.
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This week on Hysteria, Erin and Alyssa discuss Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation, the Etsy strike, Ivanka Trump’s testimony to the Jan 6 committee, and more. Plus, if you are in the St. Louis or Chicago areas you can catch Alyssa live on the Pod Save America: A(Live) and On Tour stage next month! To get your tickets, check out CROOKED.COM/EVENTS and listen to Hysteria every Thursday wherever you get your podcasts.
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House lawmakers on two key committees have launched an investigation of the identity-verification contractor ID.me, based on serious efficacy and security concerns over the private company’s enormous contracts with 10 federal agencies and 30 state governments. If you’re out of the loop on recent dystopian developments that make you want to throw your iPhone into the ocean and disappear into the woods forever, ID.me is the contractor behind a beleaguered, $86 million IRS plan to require taxpayers to scan their faces with computers or smartphones to access their digital records. Meanwhile, state governments used the technology during the pandemic to verify the identities of people seeking unemployment assistance. Despite loads of evidence that facial recognition carries serious privacy and security risks, and disproportionately fails to identify non-white users, government agencies have been increasingly reliant on the largely unregulated new technology for disbursing services and benefits to Americans. Let’s hope this investigation helps slow down our government’s confident careening into the unproven and untested weird future of RoboCop-approved technologies (at least until the next time we host the Olympics).
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- In an effective demonstration of the potential benefits of a wealth tax, Elon Musk bid $43 billion to buy Twitter, and posted a copy of the pertinent SEC filing to his profile on the social-media platform, expressing his intention to take the company private.
- Covid cases are on the rise in many parts of the U.S. driven by the BA.2 subvariant, with Rhode Island, Maryland, Kansas, Oregon, New Jersey, Connecticut, and New York all seeing more than 60 percent increases in their two-week averages. If it looks like a surge, and sounds like a surge, it just might be a surge.
- The GOP “Plan to Rescue America” shows signs of actually helping Democrats ahead of midterms, generating strong negative responses from viewers to Democratic-run ads featuring controversial plans to require poor people to start paying income tax and to end federal programs like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act. Thanks, Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL)!
- The Kentucky legislature has overridden Gov. Andy Beshear (D-KY) to enact severe abortion restrictions, which, in addition to banning most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, forbids the standard disposal of medical waste following the procedure, instead requiring providers to work with funeral homes to provide individual burial or cremation for every abortion. Because the bill was passed as an “emergency measure,” the two remaining providers in the state will have to cease operations immediately until they can determine how to comply with the new law, effectively banning legal abortion in the state of Kentucky.
- Never one to be outdone in the draconian dismantling of basic rights, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) signed a bill into law banning most abortions in Florida after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
- A panel of Democratic National Committee members voted Wednesday to effectively strip Iowa of its “first in the nation” status for selecting the party’s presidential nominee. The DNC will require the corn-and-caucus state, along with New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina, to reapply for the waivers that have allowed them to hold their nomination processes before the rest of the country.
- Former Trump aide/the Jon Favreau of the Dark Universe, Stephen Miller, gave closed-door testimony today to the congressional committee investigating the January 6 insurrection, over five months after the committee subpoenaed him.
- Wes Moore, a leading Democratic gubernatorial candidate in Maryland, seems to have dramatized aspects of his childhood in his bestselling 2010 memoir, particularly claims he made about growing up in Baltimore.
- British militant El Shafee Elsheikh has been found guilty and convicted to a mandatory life sentence in prison by a United States jury for his participation in the kidnapping, torture, and killing of four American hostages.
- Pam Anderson made her Broadway debut as Roxie Hart.
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California Senator Diane Feinstein’s faculties and memory have deteriorated at an alarming rate over the last few years, according to a lengthy exposé by the San Francisco Chronicle, which cites the experience of several anonymous Hill staffers and colleagues. While doubts of the near-nonagenarian’s fitness to serve have persisted throughout recent years, the Chronicle found three former staffers, four U.S. Senators (including three Democrats), and a California Democratic member of Congress claiming her condition has deteriorated significantly in recent months. Colleagues told the Chronicle that her condition can vary day to day, but on her worst days Feinstein seems to not recognize even longtime colleagues. Feinstein, who is 88 years old, is elected to serve through 2024, and has already filed paperwork to run again. If Democrats retain control of the Senate in next year’s midterms, Senator Feinstein would become the Senate’s pro tem, putting her third in line for the presidency.
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If it’s Earth Month, it’s April. You’re shedding layers and getting ready for more time outdoors, and you have to ask yourself: what’s on my feet? Comfort comes first, whether you’re running to catch your train or getting your steps in. But that doesn’t mean looks can’t be a close second.
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