This week, we will combine both blogs, Weekend Wrap Up and the Russia-Ukraine Conflict. Please feel free to share any headlines we may have missed providing they come from reliable and credible sources. We won’t accept any parroted, Russian propaganda from far-right ‘news’ sources unless you’re trying to point out that the far-right extremist in our country and elsewhere actually believe their own BS or Russian disinformation.
Ukraine-Russia Updates:
CNN, Bloomberg Halt Reporting in Russia as Putin Goes to War With Free Press
Italy seizes $156 million in oligarch wealth, pressing Putin
Italy since Friday has seized 143 million euros ($156 million) in luxury yachts and villas in some of its most picturesque destinations, including Sardinia, the Ligurian coast and Lake Como.
“We must be able to stop Putin’s attack, bringing him to the table, and he won’t go with niceties,” Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio told Italian state TV on Friday, announcing Italy’s plans to begin the seizures of property belonging to oligarchs close to Putin.
President Biden/Biden Administration:
Congress:
Idiot Alert: Two GOP senators share photos from Zoom call with Zelensky despite requests not to
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) announced Saturday he would be backing a bill banning Russian oil imports.
The senator said he would co-sponsor the Ban Russian Energy Imports Act after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pleaded in a virtual meeting with Congress Saturday for the U.S. to stop buying Russian oil.
Justice:
U.S. can’t exempt migrant children from border deportation policy, judge rules
A federal judge in Texas on Friday ruled against the Biden administration’s decision to exempt unaccompanied children from a Trump-era order that U.S. border agents have used to rapidly expel hundreds of thousands of migrants during the coronavirus pandemic.
Devastation, Destruction, and Ruin:
Help With the REAL Fake News:
Don’t fall for these hoaxes about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Putin’s Puppets: The GQP:
Pence tells GOP donors the party has “no room in this party for apologists for Putin,” drawing contrast with Trump
Former Vice President Mike Pence told some of the Republican Party’s top donors on Friday night that the party cannot offer any support for Russian President Vladimir Putin, drawing a contrast with former President Trump, who called Putin “smart” and “savvy” during an interview last week.
“There is no room in this party for apologists for Putin,” Pence said, according to excerpts of the speech obtained by CBS News. “There is only room for champions of freedom.”
Pence the Dense Doesn’t Get a Pass:
Putin’s Bigliest Puppet:
Trump renews NATO criticism after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and also says “vote counter” can be more important than candidate
“Are all of these nations going to stand by and watch perhaps millions of people be slaughtered as the onslaught continues?” Trump said, according to a source. “At what point do countries say, ‘No, we can’t take this massive crime against humanity?’ We can’t let it happen. We can’t let it continue to happen.”
Trump joked about the conflict, too, though, telling donors that the U.S. should put the “put the Chinese flag” on F-22 fighter jets and “bomb the s***” out of Russia.
“And then we say, China did it,” he said, to laughter in the room, according to the source. “Then they start fighting with each other, and we sit back and watch.”
What Others are Saying/The Sunday Shows:
COVID-19/COVIDIOTS:
January 6 Updates:
Judge rejects Eastman effort to slow down Jan. 6 committee
“Dr. Eastman’s liberty is not at issue—only his emails,” Judge David Carter rules.
A federal judge has rejected an attempt by attorney John Eastman — the architect of Donald Trump’s legal strategy to overturn the 2020 election — to slow down the Jan. 6 select committee’s push to obtain documents they say could show the former president criminally conspired with Eastman to subvert the democratic process.
In a late Friday order, Judge David Carter said Eastman’s demand to postpone a March 8 hearing and force the select committee to provide him “exculpatory” evidence was unwarranted and legally misguided .
