Not since George W. Bush invaded Iraq...

Tuesday, May 17, 2022
BY BRIAN BEUTLER & CROOKED MEDIA


** -Tucker Carlson ([link removed]) , describing Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX)
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Normally world leaders like it when they’re depicted as hands-on architects of their government’s signature policies, but not since George W. Bush invaded Iraq has there been such a glaring, likely exception.
* Citing undisclosed intelligence, western military sources told The Guardian ([link removed]) that Russian President Vladimir Putin is elbows deep in the planning and operations of his own shambolic invasion of Ukraine, issuing tactical orders “at the level of a colonel or brigadier,” including in the Donbas, where his forces have recently suffered embarrassing setbacks.

* Despite Putin’s involvement, his horrible miscalculations have begun to dawn even on contributors to Russian state media. Referring approvingly to Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) who has single handedly tried to disrupt the flow of U.S. aid to Ukraine, Russian defense columnist Mikhail Khodaryonok admitted on air ([link removed]) that “The resistance of a single [U.S.] senator [Paul] will be overcome quite quickly … European aid will come fully into effect, so a million armed Ukrainian soldiers needs to be viewed as a reality of the very near future. The situation in this regard for us will frankly get worse.”

* The one “bright spot” for Putin is that his months-long massacre of Mariupol has finally won him control of the south-east port city ([link removed]) . On Monday, the Ukrainian military ordered the troops who had been waging a last stand fight against Russian invaders beneath the shelter of an abandoned steel factory to surrender. Hundreds of soldiers, many of whom have suffered serious injuries, have since been evacuated into Russian-controlled territory near the Ukraine-Russia border, where their fates are uncertain.

Despite all this (and perhaps because of it) Putin seems no closer to finding the offramp Ukraine’s western allies have been hoping he’ll eventually take.
* Russian and Ukrainian peace negotiators are reportedly farther from agreement than at any point since the war began ([link removed]) . The impasse seems partly attributable to the fact that Russia’s mounting failures have hardened Ukrainian negotiators, who insist that, having failed, Russian forces should withdraw behind their borders. Notwithstanding the failure of his plan to overthrow the Ukrainian government outright, Putin refuses to withdraw from any of the territory he’s seized.

* The upshot for now is indefinite Russian international isolation. Khodaryonok, the defense commentator, also admitted, “The main deficiency of our military-political positioning is that, in a way, we are in full geopolitical isolation, and that, however much we would hate to admit this, virtually the entire world is against us. And it’s that situation that we need to get out of.” As if to underscore his point, McDonalds announced its intent to sell off its Russian stores ([link removed]) and leave the market there altogether, as the invasion makes its continued presence untenable.

The hope here is that the mere existence of dissenting opinions on Russian state TV might indicate Putin’s grip on state machinery has slipped, and that he’ll eventually heed the common sense of the dissenters. The fear is that he’ll order yet another crackdown and continue on this course indefinitely.
After this weekend’s Bans Off Our Bodies protests, many of us are questioning what a post-Roe world will look like. On this weeks Strict Scrutiny, Kate and Leah interview reproductive health researcher Diana Greene Foster about her 10-year study on the differences in outcomes for people who seek abortions but cannot obtain them. And on America Dissected, Dr.Abdul El Sayed has a conversation with Dr. Heather Irobunda about what the fall of Roe would mean for millions of people. You can listen to these episodes & more by visiting the Strict Scrutiny ([link removed]) and America Dissected ([link removed]) feeds.
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Today’s primary elections in Pennsylvania will determine whether Republicans nominate the most MAGA-loyal, pro-insurrection slate imaginable, or the second-most MAGA-loyal, pro-insurrection slate imaginable. If the polls are right, GOP voters there are poised to nominate Doug Mastriano as their gubernatorial candidate. Mastriano is a far-right, Big-Lie promoting state senator who has all but promised to throw out election results if Democrats win in the future, which is probably why Donald Trump endorsed him, and also why his pending victory has ignited a civil war among Pennsylvania Republicans, many of whom are calling upon the state party chairman to resign ([link removed]) . The Pennsylvania GOP Senate race, by contrast, seems to be a jump ball between the Trump-endorsed charlatan Dr. Oz, the insurrectionist bigot Kathy Barnette, and hedge-fund guy David McCormick. If Mastriano wins, he’ll face Attorney General
Joshua Shapiro (D-PA), who’s running for the Dem gubernatorial nomination unopposed. The Republican Senate nominee will most likely face Lt. Gov John Fetterman (D-PA), though Fetterman has been hospitalized since suffering a mild stroke last week, and it’s unclear what effect if any that will have on his race.
* President Biden spoke in Buffalo, NY, after meeting with families of the victims of Saturday’s mass killing at a black community grocery store ([link removed]) . He described the massacre as “violence inflicted in the service of hate and a vicious thirst for power… A hate that—through the media and politics, the Internet—has radicalized angry, alienated, lost, and isolated individuals into falsely believing that they will be replaced,” and condemned “those who spread the lie for power, political gain, and for profit.”

* The Justice Department has asked the House January 6 Committee for transcripts of its interviews, ([link removed]) including with close associates of Donald Trump.

* The federal government will now send you up to eight more COVID-19 rapid tests ([link removed]) .

* A top Trump State Department official named Robert Destro, who’s now a law professor at Catholic University, met with Big Lie activists ([link removed]) at the department’s headquarters on January 6, but none of the participants in the meeting will say what they discussed.

* Biden has authorized the military to redeploy hundreds of special-operations forces to Somalia ([link removed]) and to target the leaders of the Al Shabab terrorist organization affiliated with Al Qaeda.

* Twitter continues to take steps to close its sale to Elon Musk ([link removed]) , as Musk tries to weasel out of his commitment ([link removed]) .

* A Michigan judge has blocked enforcement of a 1931 law banning abortion that will snap back into effect ([link removed]) if and when the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade.

* Monkeypox (a mild and self-limiting disease endemic to west Africa) is spreading in England’s gay community ([link removed]) for reasons British health authorities don’t yet understand.

* Traffic fatalities jumped 10 percent in 2021 from the prior lockdown year to 43,000, ([link removed]) the highest level in 16 years.

* One of the hired goons who physically blocked reporters from attending Doug Mastriano’s campaign events last week was a participant in the Capitol riot, ([link removed]) and can be seen on video laughing and smiling as insurrectionists smashed equipment they stole from journalists.

* DCCC Chair Sean Patrick Maloney, whose job is to re-elect incumbent House Democrats as possible, jumped ship from his district when he learned of New York’s new maps, ([link removed]) and will instead vie for the district currently represented by Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-NY), who responded like so ([link removed]) : “Sean Patrick Maloney did not even give me a heads up before he went on Twitter to make that announcement. And I think that tells you everything you need to know about Sean Patrick Maloney.”

* For its brief but glorious existence, Joe Biden’s expanded child tax credit cut poverty without ([link removed]) creating a measurable disincentive for parents to remain in the labor market.

* Even brief breaks from social media reduce depression and anxiety and enhances wellbeing ([link removed]) .

* MoveOn will spend $30 million supporting Dems and branding Republicans with the toxic MAGA movement ([link removed]) .

A new, first-of-its-kind study has identified four likely risk factors for developing “long COVID” after acute COVID-19 infection ([link removed]) . The scientists who wrote the study ([link removed](22)00072-1) tracked over 200 patients for several weeks following their COVID-19 diagnoses, which allowed them to match the development of long-COVID symptoms (brain fog, fatigue, shortness of breath) in their sample group with biological indicators. Their findings suggest patients are likelier to develop long COVID if they have high viral loads; if they produce auto-antibodies that stem from auto-immune and inflammatory diseases; if they have latent Epstein-Barr Virus that has been reactivated; or if they are Type-2 diabetic. The identification of these risk factors is a promising step toward helping doctors treat, and even possibly prevent the onset of long COVID, and help patients with diabetes or
autoimmune diseases more accurately assess their overall COVID risk.
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President Biden announced the FDA has reached a deal to safely import baby formula, ([link removed]) which should increase supply in the short term while domestic production at the reopened Abbott Nutrition factory ramps back up.

Biden also reversed several Trump-administration measures meant to sabotage normalization with Cuba ([link removed]) .

Moderna's updated COVID-19 vaccine, still in trials, seems to offer better protection against Omicron and other variants ([link removed]) .

The FDA has authorized boosters for children aged 5 to 11 ([link removed]) .
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