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Russian President Vladimir Putin is responding to the mounting failure of his war against Ukraine with all the grace you’d expect from a war criminal.
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A fireball consumed two sections of the sole bridge linking the occupied Crimean Peninsula to Russia on Saturday, disrupting the most important supply line for Russian troops fighting in southern Ukraine. The explosion dealt yet another embarrassing blow to the Kremlin, which has already faced sustained battlefield losses and domestic unrest following Putin’s partial mobilization order. The Ukrainian government applauded the damage, but did not publicly claim responsibility for the explosion. This was a highly personal affront to Putin, who presided over the bridge’s opening in 2018. In a video address on the state-run media, Putin said there is “no doubt” that the explosion was “an act of terrorism” by the Ukrainian special services. Russian officials and war hawks immediately began calling for a vengeful military response.
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And vengefully respond they did. Putin unleashed a barrage of Russian missiles against Kyiv and other major Ukrainian cities today, rivaling the severity of the first day of Russia’s invasion last February. In a Russian Security Council meeting in Moscow, Putin boasted about the “massive strike” and promised more if Ukraine continued to hit Russian targets. The Kremlin’s official story is that the missiles targeted military and energy facilities, but they some struck civilian areas while Ukrainians were heading to work or school. One missile hit a playground in downtown Kyiv and another hit a university. The strikes sent residents of Ukraine’s two largest cities, Kyiv and Kharkiv, into bomb shelters.
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The blasts caused electricity outages and disrupted water supplies in cities across Ukraine. According to Ukraine’s national emergency service, at least 14 people were killed across the country, including five in Kyiv, and more than 95 were injured. Harkening back to the first days of the war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted a video of himself standing in Kyiv’s city center outside his presidential office to address Ukrainians. “Always remember,” he said, “Ukraine existed before this enemy, and it will exist after it.”
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Eight long months into this war, Putin’s violent escalations belie a certain panic running through the Kremlin, as Russian leaders continue reeling from humiliating setbacks on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine and increasing international isolation.
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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and President Biden spoke by phone yesterday and agreed that the Kremlin’s nuclear threats were “irresponsible” (understatement of the century) and Putin’s mobilization directive “a serious mistake” as the two prepared for the upcoming G7 and G20 meetings that will address Russia’s war on Ukraine and the associated consequences. French President Emanuel Macron expressed “extreme concern” while British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly called the attacks on civilian areas “unacceptable.” Even India and China, two countries which have refrained from criticizing Russia and seen as its loose allies, have renewed calls for de-escalation.
After months of (relative) calm, the bridge bombing in Crimea and the resulting attacks on civilians in Ukraine have severely escalated the use of force in this war. No matter how many defeats he suffers on the battlefield and in public opinion at home, it’s clear that Putin will not deviate from his course of destruction.
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Crooked’s newest podcast hosted by Tommy Vietor from Pod Save the World and Roger Bennett from Men in Blazers, World Corrupt is finally here! Soccer is a game which has often been called “the world’s most important least important thing.” Yet November's World Cup, the world's most-watched sporting competition, forces fans to confront & grapple with the complexities of a tournament awarded via bribery. Roger’s deep understanding of football history and Tommy’s geopolitical analysis will combine to help listeners understand the tectonic plates shifting under the sporting events they love, and empower them to simultaneously revel in the sporting genius on display, and take action against the grave injustices that have been wrought.
New episodes of World Corrupt drop each Saturday in the Pod Save The World and Men In Blazers feeds. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.
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In a bombshell leaked recording Los Angeles City Council President Nury Martinez can be heard making openly racist remarks, deriding some of her city council colleagues, and seemingly encouraging the city to be gerrymandered. The conversation took place over a year ago, but the audio leaked this weekend, capturing a conversation between Martinez and Councilmembers Gil Cedillo and Kevin de León as well as Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera. Martinez described Councilman Mike Bonin (who is a gay man) as a “little bitch” and his black infant son as “an accessory,” and “like a monkey.” When the audio from October 2021 was released this weekend, calls for all four to resign were immediate. Martinez, de León, and Herrera made public apologies, while Cedillo said, “I don’t have a recollection of this conversation.” Iconic response! It’s unclear who recorded the audio, and who posted it to Reddit, where it first made the rounds. Martinez, in her apology, resigned as city council president effective immediately, but she remains on the body. Everyone involved in making and excusing these unconscionable remarks is a Democrat. We cannot turn a blind eye to prejudices in our own ranks; Democrats have to earn the trust of their voters, and be held accountable when they break that trust. As of this evening, the California Democratic Party’s statewide officers issued a statement “unequivocally” condemning the comments made by the four officials, and calling for their resignation.
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One of Trump’s many lawyers, Christina Bobb, who signed a letter two months before the FBI raided Mar-A-Lago certifying that all sensitive documents had been returned to the government (whoopsie-daisy) spoke to federal investigators on Friday.
A Colorado judge has granted the CEO of Dominion Voting Systems a temporary restraining order against a man who visited the offices to “scope them out” and admitted to having guns in his car.
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) remains the Senate’s most vulnerable Democrat going into midterms, as residual anger from the SCOTUS decision to dismantle abortion rights might not turn out enough voters to save her. If you live in Nevada, there’s still time to ensure Masto returns to Congress next year.
The search for victims affected by Hurricane Ian in Florida has concluded, but residents are bracing for years of work ahead to rebuild.
New affidavits show that state abortion bans are preventing cancer patients from beginning life-saving treatment, and forcing them to first travel out of state to have their pregnancies terminated before they can begin chemotherapy and similar therapies.
Rivian Automotive Group has recalled nearly all of its cars to address a potential problem that could cause drivers to lose steering control.
North Korean state media confirmed that their recent barrage of missile launches were tests meant to potentially “hit and wipe out” South Korean and U.S. targets. Nice! Cool! Love that!
Heavy rains and landslides have killed 22 people and left 52 missing in a single town in northern central Venezuela.
In a New Jersey comedy club, a belligerent Trump supporter hurled a beer at the head of stand-up comedian Ariel Elias (friend of the newsletter!!) because she “seemed like she voted for Biden,” even though she wasn’t doing political material (could it be because she said in her set she was Jewish??). The good news is that this asshole missed, and Ariel is a goddamn pro who handled it with aplomb, chugging the rest of the beer as the man who threw it ran away.
In other antisemitism news, Twitter locked rapper Kanye West’s account after he posted a tweet on Saturday saying he was planning on “going death con 3 [sic] On JEWISH PEOPLE.” Despite the explicitness of the tweet, way too many news outlets seemed to have a hard time calling this antisemitism! It’s worth noting that Indiana’s Attorney General Todd Rokita defended Kanye’s “independent thinking” and none of Kanye’s GOP allies have condemned him, if you can believe it!
Days after floating his “idea” for ending Russia’s war on Ukraine (favoring Russia in the deal), billionaire and extremely annoying guy Elon Musk thought he could solve another geopolitical quandary by suggesting that the conflict between China and Taiwan could be resolved if Taiwan simply ceded some of its sovereignty to China. My man, please stick to what you do best: making cars that get recalled, going to space for no reason, and promising to end world hunger then not doing it.
An Atlanta prosecutor investigating Donald Trump and his cronies’ efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia has secured cooperation from former White House aide and January 6 committee star witness Cassidy Hutchinson.
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California voters first approved a bond issue for the country’s first-ever bullet train, one that would run from Los Angeles to San Francisco, and its $33 billion price tag seemed astronomical at the time. That was back in 2008. It’s now been two years since the project was supposed to be completed, but it’s nowhere close. Construction is now underway on part of a 171-mile “starter” line connecting a few cities in the middle of the state, which is not expected to be finished until 2030, though few expect it to even meet that deadline. In the intervening 14 years since the initiative was passed, costs have jumped to an estimated $113 billion, four times the initial estimate. The massive delays and ballooning budgets are attributed to a string of decisions and political compromises made over the years which have seriously impeded the state’s ability to deliver on its promise, all the more urgent in the era of combating climate change. In terms of public works projects gone way over budget and over schedule, California’s high-speed rail is like Boston’s early 2000’s Big Dig debacle times one thousand. Some of the high-speed rail authority’s former leaders expressed to the New York Times that the project may never work. It currently costs $1.8 million per day, and Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) has been circumspect about approving new money for the project. Unless rail authority officials can improve cost controls and find new sources of funding, the dream of getting from Los Angeles to San Francisco by train in under three hours is likely to remain a dream.
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Help the ACLU protect voting rights.
Elections matter. And the elections this November could affect the course of our country and our democracy for decades to come.
But, attacks on voting rights continue to escalate and, as has long been true, Black Americans are the main target. We’re seeing everything from racially-motivated block-the-vote efforts to so-called “election integrity group” volunteers (many of them armed) confronting people in their home demanding that voters tell them how they voted in the last election.
The ACLU is doing everything in our power to protect free, fair, and robust elections. We’re acting swiftly and decisively to push back against voter suppression and expand voter participation. But, we need you with us.
Join the ACLU to help us fight to protect voting rights and expand voter participation.
Threats to our democracy must be met with a vigorous defense of the right to vote and our other fundamental freedoms. That’s exactly where the ACLU’s resources are focused right now. We’re going all-in to:
✅ Pursue legal challenges to sweeping voter suppression laws.
✅ Engage in Secretary of State races and judicial elections in key states helping voters assess which candidates are likely to preserve, protect, and expand civil rights and civil liberties.
✅ Ramp up our far-reaching mobilization efforts to encourage robust voter participation in the 2022 and 2024 elections and beyond.
Become an ACLU member today to stay up to date on the fight for free and fair elections. Join today.
Thanks for the support,
The ACLU Team
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