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Yet none of the Republicans I personally know will acknowledge the link between Trumps refusal to authorize the weapons shipment and Ukraine defense capabilities. Every time I mention it I get, “ Yeah but Hunter Biden…” as if Hunter Biden caused this war. The ignorance of these cultists is astounding.

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The NYT rejected my latest comment:

Manhattan District Attorney Bragg’s closing down the grand jury proceedings on possible Trump criminal activities reminds me of Pulitzer-Prize-winning Jesse Eisinger’s book, THE CHICKENSHIT CLUB.

The title came from Southern New York Federal Attorney James Comey’s first meeting with his prosecutorial staff. He asked his prosecutors “Have any of you ever lost a case? If so, please raise your hand.” Not a hand came up. Then Comey said “You are all members of the Chickenshit Club.”

“You are all frightened to take on difficult cases that may blemish your ‘perfect’ records.” Eisinger’s book also described the ‘chickenshits’ in the Department of Justice who chose not to prosecute ‘difficult’ cases.

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Putin says that placing economic sanctions against Russia is the equivalent of making a declaration of war. Well - no. Maybe someone should explain that if Russia wants to be included in the international economy, then it has to conform to and respect international laws. The international economy is for countries that want to be members of the world, not for those who want to destroy it.

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"Possibly eager to show their participation in Ukraine’s defense, when Zelensky spoke to Congress this morning, two Republican senators—Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Steve Daines (R-MT)—shared screenshots of his Zoom call while it was going on, despite the explicit request of Ukraine’s ambassador not to share details of the meeting until it was over, out of concern for Zelensky’s safety."

It boggles the mind how we continue to see Repugnants switch positions so seamlessly, AND, at the same time, manage to put their feet in the situation -- in this case, endangering the life of the person they are supposedly supporting!

Thank you, Heather for your incredibly poignant letter revealing such important intellectual analyses of the war, not to mention the updates. Your assessments on the home front and abroad are more exceptional by the day!

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Mar 6, 2022·edited Mar 6, 2022

An apoplectic Putin is closeted in his antiseptic cocoon where he refuses to be within 60 feet of President Macron or his cabinet.

In sharp contrast, Russian soldiers, on his cockamamie Ukrainian venture, are being killed and captured by courageous Ukrainian patriots.

What a bizarre example of ‘heroic leadership.’ Putin is as phony a warrior as Bone Spur Trump.

I wish that Charlie Chaplin were alive today so that he could portray Putin with the same ridicule that he aimed at Hitler in THE GREAT DICTATOR.

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Putin and members of the GOP are discovering the truth of the adage about “the best laid plans of mice and men.”. Lest the rest of the world grow complacent in the face of Putin’s seeming incompetence regarding Ukraine, we must remember that a cornered rat it at its most dangerous. Now is the time the strengthen our support of Ukraine through tightening sanctions, military hardware and humanitarian aid. And if the GOP is mortally crippled as a result it’s support of Putin, I will not shed a single tear.

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A terrible tragedy unfolding. The ego and obsession of one man threatening the world, never mind potentially reducing a country to rubble. There is one element of the wonderfully positive reactions to help and support Ukraine and the desperate refugees that troubles me - dare I say it is because they "look like us"? Afghanistan is literally dying before our eyes, famine in the Yemen, the catastrophe of Syria.... so much else. These are situations caused by people, by massive, evil egos.

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Thank you, Professor Richardson. FYI, I've sent your interview with President Biden to just about everyone I know.

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Mar 6, 2022·edited Mar 6, 2022

Dr. Richardson: I think this is one of our most important letters, at least for me. It completely captures the WHY of how Putin and Trump became the moral center of Christianity in the far right in the United States.

I knew that evangelicals were travelling to Russia at puzzling rate for the last 15 years. But, I never understood why until very, very recently, just the last two days. Why Russia?? Your writing completely clears it up for me.

The Russian state sponsors Orthodox Christianity under Putin. So, evangelicals confuse this state sponsorship with morality and support Putin instead of understanding that Orthodoxy in Russia is just a random outcome of history of Christianity and its adoption and growth mostly associated with Constantine's willingness to conquer land mass and his own conversion to Christianity.

Now, in a truly zany moral thread: Putin supports Trump so? Evangelicals support Trump AND Putin.

This totally irrational thought pathway for evangelicals TRULY defines the threat that growing up in belief space rather than being taught analytical analysis and questioning presents.

Thomas Jefferson routinely wrote about how important education was in maintaining Democracy.

Now? We can see how irrational, belief oriented thinking can push our Democracy to the edge.

Again, thank you for a crystal clear connection between Putin, Trump, Russia and and evangelicals.

I am utterly astonished at the path by which evangelicals have followed true evil and convinced themselves of that evil's "moral values".

True corruption of the message of the sermon on the mount. Agape I am today.

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I am in conversations with people in Ukraine and was able to post this there for the Ukrainians and others to see because many believe that the West is not helping them. Thank you amazing woman for constantly giving us the right information to share around the world. So many are angry that America and NATO are helping Ukraine but never helped their countries. Somehow all of this needs to be addressed. To witness Yemen. Afghanistan. Other countries where the people feel that we have turned our backs on them.....

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I read in an article yesterday that ordinary citizens are buying AirBnB rooms in Kyiv and other cities in Ukraine that they never intend to stay in, just to get a little money to the people there. What a fantastic, modern day, grassroots war effort! If you deside to do it (I did, I'm spending 3 nights is an adorable little apartment right now...lol), just make sure the Host is a person and not a company.

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It is such a volatile moment. The US must resist at all costs direct engagement, which would give Putin the legitimacy he needs back in Russia for his unpopular invasion. Once our jets enter Ukrainian airspace, we lose the ability to drive a wedge between Putin and the Russian public.

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I believe that Vladimir Putin calculated that, through his unwitting (witless?) agent Donald Trump, he had divided and weakened the US and NATO to the point where he could begin to re-assemble the Soviet Union and no one could stop him.

Not only was Putin wrong, his misadventure into Ukraine has undone the real damage to the US and NATO body politic done by the former president. There is determined unity across the US/NATO political spectrum except of course for the hapless US Republican Party who, having long ago abandoned any kind of platform, have, at this point, nothing to stand on.

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"Trump when he withheld $391 million in aid for Ukraine that Congress had appropriated"

Could it be that trump knew that Russia wanted Ukraine, or that trump knew beforehand some Putin's plans, and withheld it for that reason? Disbanding NATO also would have served Putin's goals.

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Thanks, as always, Heather. I apologize that I still haven't had time to watch your interview with the President (been proofreading a book, sorry). Wow, this piece reminds me of another thing remiss: I only selectively view media these days (you, Nextdraft, 1440, bits and pieces of FP, Economist, etc) and somehow Doug MacGregor going off the rails had totally escaped my notice these past few years. Disclosure: I was one of the passionate readers of Breaking the Phalanx back in the day (circa 1998), and full-on in my criticism of Army leadership (it remains, but I'm also not current anymore AND former peers of mine are now 2-Star generals). But wow, to read MacGregor's foreign policy comments...geez--stick to tactics, man. He's become the military version of Rudy Giuliani. Look, he was ALWAYS a bit of a self-promoter, but... people should understand that, in the late 90s this guy was mentioned in the same breath as H.R. McMaster...wow, what a fall (proof of this: his ambassadorial nom was simply returned. That speaks volumes). And proof that you can be intelligent, articulate, successful...and be an absolute crackpot too. His comments about Ukraine and Zelensky are not only, at best, a slanted assessment...they suggest a simple lack of understanding what's even going on there; they are lazy too. Sad, very sad.

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Thank you Heather.

As always, thank you for your succinct distillation of what’s afoot here and abroad. You educate as well as inform me - and that’s so very helpful because it’s important for me to be an advocate for democracy and good governance.

And now I trust that, like me, you’re done for the day. Thank you again for your good service to US.

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