- Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) bein' weird

Is that hope we feel about the war in Ukraine? It’s been six months since Russia invaded, and the war is finally beginning to feel a little less one-sided. 

• On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukrainian forces have liberated 700 square miles since launching a counteroffensive earlier this month. Strategists claim this week that Ukrainian troops “have inflicted a major operational defeat” as they have recaptured dozens of cities, including almost all of the Kharkiv region. 
   
• The reasons for Ukraine’s recent military success are plentiful. Western aid (let’s take a moment to pat ourselves on the back), including artillery-rocket systems and anti-radiation missiles, as well as German anti-aircraft guns, have been vital. Another key has been the strong front that Zelensky and his government have shown throughout the conflict, particularly the early decision by Zelensky and his team not to flee the country. Also, the Ukrainian army has benefitted from the decentralization of authority, as its army is willing to let lower-level commanders make decisions on the fly.
   
• Ukrainians have described many instances of Russian troops running away from their posts as the counteroffensive has heated up. Zelensky said in a speech, “In the end, it is a good choice for them to run away. There is and will be no place for the occupiers in Ukraine.” It may be true, but it may just be the result of carefully planned p.r. Ukraine has banned journalists from the front lines and is only allowing heavily vetted images to be posted on social media by its soldiers.

But what will Putin do next? So far, he has refused to implement a draft or to even refer to this as a war. How do you pivot in a war that doesn’t exist?

• Putin is desperately trying to maintain a sense of normalcy for Russians amidst the chaos. His plan has always been for his people to not be affected by the war, much less know that a war is even happening. When news broke of a strong Ukrainian counteroffensive, Putin took to the street…to celebrate Moscow’s 875th birthday, and preside over the opening of a new Ferris wheel called “The Sun of Moscow.” In a speech, he declared on Sunday that “it’s very important for people to be able to relax with friends and family.” What a normal guy!
   
• But these “look here, not there” tactics can only work for so long, and it seems that Putin has started to lose even the pro-Russia bloggers. One blogger with over two-million followers on Telegram said that he had been avoiding criticizing the Russian military, but that the latest reports have caused him to lose patience, and he referred to the “stupidity” of the Russian command. Even some Russian lawmakers have called for Putin to be replaced over his handling of the war. With what we know about how Russia handles dissent, the fact that so many people are becoming vocal is not a great sign for ol’ Putin. But China may be of some help: Xi Jinping left China for the first time in over two years, to meet with Putin in Kazakhstan at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization's summit.

Exciting News! The Wilderness is back for season 3. This time Jon Favreau talked to grassroots organizers, strategists, and voters across the country who hold the future of democracy in their hands. Throughout the season Jon digs deeper into what it will take for Democrats to reach these voters in battleground regions for the midterms, who turned out to help last election, but aren’t sure if they’ll do it again.

The first episode of The Wilderness is out NOW! Listen on Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts

Former president and current golfer Donald Trump felt compelled to fly to Washington, DC, on Sunday for unexplained reasons—but everyone has a theory. Was it related to his legal woes, or did he just want to play on a different golf course? He ain’t saying, but we do know that it rained in DC on Sunday and Monday and golf would have been difficult. That, coupled with Trump not being invited to the Queen’s funeral (even after simping hard for her on Truth Social), has made a terrible time for Trump that much worse.

Unsurprisingly, Trump is fighting his legal battles with every tactic his big, beautiful brain can think of, including opposing the DOJ’s bid to resume investigating those classified files he’d been using as closet insulation. Trump and his lawyers claim that since the DOJ is appealing the appointment of a special master to review the seized documents, they can’t be allowed to move forward to what he refers to as a “preordained conclusion.” Trump’s team and the DOJ have each submitted two candidates for special master and Trump’s team has, wow, who’d’ve guessed, opposed both of the DOJ’s picks. They claim their reasons are specific but refuse to elaborate, and will until someone makes them. But wait, did the documents really become declassified the day he stole them? Does Trump now have the magical power of declassification? His lawyers are offering only that “the government has not proven these records remain classified.” Trump’s lawyers also hinted that they are preparing for a jury trial. No word yet on where in hell they are gonna get 12 people who have not yet made up their minds about the Donald.

• Radio host and the personification of Tim Allen’s grunt, Alex Jones, begins his next defamation trial on Tuesday. Last time he had to cough up over $50 million, and all signs point to a lot more losses this time around, making Jones a…loser?
   
• A far-right voting bloc holds a narrow lead, but Sweden’s election is still too close to call. Results will not be known until Wednesday, but what is clear is that the far-right party, the Sweden Democrats, has made huge gains and are now the second-largest party behind Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson’s Social Democrats party. 
   
• The Queen is on tour again in Scotland, with Her Majesty’s body today rolling through the streets of Edinburgh, with a stopover at St. Giles Cathedral. The royal family will hold vigil on Monday and the body will then be flown back to London on Tuesday night. If you’re asking “is the body flying first class,” you haven’t been paying attention.
   
• House investigators will finally get access to some of Donald Trump's financial records from his former accounting firm Mazars, but Mazars will get to use "independent judgment" in determining which documents are responsive to the oversight committee's subpoena.
   
• Democrats are polling strong ahead of the 2022 midterms, but like George W. Bush said, fool me once…you can’t get fooled again. Some areas where Dems are polling well are the exact same spots that polls got wrong in 2020, and since then, polling methods haven’t changed much. Still, though! 
   
• The Triple-Dip La Niña is here and, unfortunately, it’s not a new Ben and Jerry’s flavor. La Niña is the weather system over the Pacific Ocean that can affect global weather, and it’s back for the third year in a row. La Niña could mean drier weather or more floods depending on your location. Which weather catastrophe is your favorite?!
   
• Royal protesters are being arrested across England thanks to a combination of new anti-protest laws and the new king being incredibly unlikable. The “Not My King” slogan is growing and should be about as effective as the “Not My President” slogan was for us.
   
• We’re running out of beer. Why? Because a CO2 production hub in Jackson, MS, was contaminated by an extinct volcano, of course. 
   
• The NFL season has begun, and here are all the players who are already hurt in Week One, including stars Dak Prescott, Najee Harris, Mac Jones, and TJ Watt. Please give the jock in your life a little extra love this week.

Sorry, Yalies, Princeton wins again! The latest National University Rankings from U.S. News & World Report have dropped, and there are many familiar names. Princeton slides in at #1. M.I.T. gets the silver, followed by Harvard, Yale, and Stanford in a three-way tie. The annual rankings weigh factors including graduation rates, social mobility, financial resources per student, and faculty resources. Also considered is graduate indebtedness, a category of note to any high-school seniors gaping at the $60,000—or higher—price tags at the top schools. But it’s a small price to pay for our future presidents to get blackout drunk after rowing practice. However, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona threw shade on the rankings, calling “any system of ranking colleges that values wealth, reputation, and exclusivity more than economic mobility and return on investment…‘a joke.’” U.S. News’s methods and underlying data have recently been called into question, especially since it 86ed Columbia University from the rankings over suspect information. Columbia has since admitted to relying on “outdated and/or incorrect methodologies” when supplying U.S. News & World Report with its 2021 data. For those of you who didn’t go to Columbia, that means they were lying.

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Cautious optimism on the climate crisis? The planet gets some help from new legislation, advancements in renewable energy, and rich people finally getting involved.

Joe Biden's once-atrocious approval rating among young voters has increased since he became Dark Brandon.

Doctor gets stuck in traffic so he ditches his car and runs three kilometers to the hospital to perform crucial surgery. I hope they let him catch his breath before performing the surgery.

Child Poverty down 59 percent since 1993, thanks to an expanded safety net.