Once again, thanks so much for your support everyone. It makes me feel downright teary. I’m so, so very grateful and I will do my best to keep up the pace this next year as the chaos accelerates. Between the new House majority and the presidential election kicking into gear, it’s going to be lit. Get some rest while you can.
I still can’t believe I’ve been at this for 20 years. Where does the time go? But I’m proud to have kept up this funky old blogging tradition. I think it still has something to offer and apparently so do all these writers who are offering Substack subscriptions. It’s really just the newer version of what we do here.
But there is something to be said for the old format, I think. It’s free to anyone who stops by and depends upon readers’ voluntary support if they feel it’s worthwhile. I think it’s a nice tradition .
Watching Ukrainian president Zelensky speech last night brought home to me once again just how serious politics are even as they become more and more performative and crazy. Here was a man whose country is being bombarded daily, losing thousands of lives, dealing with the wanton destruction of their vital infrastructure all because a megalomaniac invaded their country, determined to take it from them. It’s the oldest story in the book but it’s shocking to see it in this day and age nonetheless. And yes, it’s particularly shocking to see it in Europe after the massive wars of the 20th century. If that didn’t end the bloodlust there, I guess nothing will.
Zelensky flew to Washington to thank Americans for their support and emphasize to lawmakers that Ukraine will need that support for the long haul. It was good to see the bicameral, bipartisan response to the speech and hopefully that will hold up. On a moral basis, I don’t think the US can turn its back on Ukraine, a country that is being assaulted without provocation and whose citizens are being subjected to torture, killing and mass destruction. On a real politik level, it’s clear that Russia is aggressively threatening the sovereignty of Ukraine, and the entire international order. Turning your back on such behavior has not worked out well.
Luckily, Marge Greene and her friends didn’t act out the way they did at Biden’s State of the Union. Greene didn’t attend while Lauren Boebert and Matt Gaetz sat sullenly throughout, But the pro-Putin MAGA right wingers made their thoughts known:
Like these fine fellows:
And this one:
And this one:
This is what we’re dealing with, folks. And I don’t see that it’s going to get better before it gets worse. They are immature, radical, nihilists and they can’t be stopped by putting our heads in the sand any more than Vladimir Putin can be stopped by legitimizing his invasion of a sovereign country. These are forces that have to be opposed.
We will do our best to keep up with all this. It sometimes takes a toll on your mental health to stay on top of things but that’s what Netflix and wine are for. 🙂 If you think it’s worthwhile to have progressive types combing the internet 7 days a week for political and cultural information and synthesizing it in short takes as well as longer analyses as we do here, then I’d be grateful for your support. This next year is going to be a doozy.
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