Imperialism
Russia
Ukraine
Fig. 1. “Destroyed Russian military vehicles located on the main street Khreshchatyk are seen as part of the celebration of the Independence Day of Ukraine in Kyiv, August 24.” Photograph by Gleb Garanich for Reuters, August 24, 2022,[1] fair use.
Now that both sides are pointing fingers at each other over a blown-up dam,[2] Volodomyr Zelensky is fending off[3] western intelligence reports that Ukraine is somehow behind the Nord Stream pipeline destruction.[4]
Gabriel Gavin and Veronika Melkozerova, “Dam sabotage creates Ukraine’s worst environmental disaster ‘since Chernobyl,’” Politico, June 6, 2023, https://www.politico.eu/article/dam-sabotage-ukraine-worst-environmental-disaster-chernobyl/
Samuel Granados and Ruby Mellen, “Maps show how damaged Kakhovka dam hurts both Ukraine and Russia,” Washington Post, June 6, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/06/06/kakhovka-dam-maps-impact-russia-ukraine/
Paul Ronzheimer, Gabriel Gavin, and Victor Jack, “Zelenskyy denies Ukraine involvement in Nord Stream pipeline blasts,” Politico, June 7, 2023, https://www.politico.eu/article/zelenskyy-denies-ukraine-involvement-in-nord-stream-pipeline-blasts/
Gilead
Speaker of the House of Representatives, 2023
Fig. 2. Photograph credited to Office of Congressman Kevin McCarthy, date inconsistent with title but given as November 9, 2022, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
The outcome underscored the anger that several members of the House Freedom Caucus still harbored toward Republican leadership over their willingness to allow Democrats to vote in support of the debt bill and override their concerns before sending it to the Senate, where it also passed in bipartisan fashion. President [Joe] Biden signed the deal over the weekend, barely skirting a catastrophic default that had been projected for Monday.[5]
It’s worth remembering that the debt ceiling deal passed the House of Representatives with, yes, support from the majority of Democrats, but also support from the majority, albeit a smaller number, of Republicans.[6] The simple fact is the House Freedom Caucus is throwing a temper tantrum first because none of these people ever grew up and learned to distinguish fact from fantasy,[7] and second, because this caucus is in fact isolated even among Republicans in the House.
Marianna Sotomayor et al., “Hard-right Republicans, still angry over debt ceiling, foil McCarthy on vote,” Washington Post, June 6, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/06/06/house-republicans-debt-ceiling-mccarthy-procedural-vote/
Cornel West
Fig. 1. Cornel West, “[t]aken during the #BernieInAL Rally with Bernie Sanders in Birmingham on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. He was accompanied by Nina Turner, . . . , and members of the Birmingham City Council, including Council President Johnathan F. Austin.” Photograph by Darrell Nance, January 18, 2016, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Cornel West sees the Russian invasion of Ukraine strictly as a “proxy war.”[8] Never mind that Russia is a principal actor and therefore cannot be a proxy. West aligns himself with tankies,[9] shows he hasn’t the first idea what he’s talking about, and therefore will not be receiving my support.
Democracy Now!, “Cornel West on Running for President, Ending Ukraine War & Taking on ‘Corporate Duopoly’ of Dems & GOP,” June 7, 2023, https://www.democracynow.org/2023/6/7/cornel_west_2024
- [1]Reuters, “Ukraine puts destroyed Russian tanks on display in Kyiv,” August 25, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/ukraine-puts-destroyed-russian-tanks-on-idUSRTSALV9Q↩
- [2]Gabriel Gavin and Veronika Melkozerova, “Dam sabotage creates Ukraine’s worst environmental disaster ‘since Chernobyl,’” Politico, June 6, 2023, https://www.politico.eu/article/dam-sabotage-ukraine-worst-environmental-disaster-chernobyl/; Samuel Granados and Ruby Mellen, “Maps show how damaged Kakhovka dam hurts both Ukraine and Russia,” Washington Post, June 6, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/06/06/kakhovka-dam-maps-impact-russia-ukraine/↩
- [3]Paul Ronzheimer, Gabriel Gavin, and Victor Jack, “Zelenskyy denies Ukraine involvement in Nord Stream pipeline blasts,” Politico, June 7, 2023, https://www.politico.eu/article/zelenskyy-denies-ukraine-involvement-in-nord-stream-pipeline-blasts/↩
- [4]Dan Sabbagh, Philip Oltermann, and Lorenzo Tondo, “Officials believe pro-Ukraine group may have sabotaged Nord Stream – reports,” Guardian, March 7, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/07/officials-believe-pro-ukraine-group-sabotage-nord-stream-pipelines↩
- [5]Marianna Sotomayor et al., “Hard-right Republicans, still angry over debt ceiling, foil McCarthy on vote,” Washington Post, June 6, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/06/06/house-republicans-debt-ceiling-mccarthy-procedural-vote/↩
- [6]Marianna Sotomayor et al., “Hard-right Republicans, still angry over debt ceiling, foil McCarthy on vote,” Washington Post, June 6, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/06/06/house-republicans-debt-ceiling-mccarthy-procedural-vote/; Abigail Tracy, “Kevin McCarthy Got a Debt Deal Passed. It May Cost Him,” Vanity Fair, June 1, 2023, https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/06/kevin-mccarthy-joe-biden-debt-deal-house-republicans; House of Representatives, “Party Breakdown,” n.d., https://pressgallery.house.gov/member-data/party-breakdown↩
- [7]David Benfell, “A theory of conservative epistemology,” Not Housebroken, February 7, 2023, https://disunitedstates.org/2022/08/06/a-theory-of-conservative-epistemology/↩
- [8]Democracy Now!, “Cornel West on Running for President, Ending Ukraine War & Taking on ‘Corporate Duopoly’ of Dems & GOP,” June 7, 2023, https://www.democracynow.org/2023/6/7/cornel_west_2024↩
- [9]Roane Carey, “Don’t Be a Tankie: How the Left Should Respond to Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine,” Intercept, March 1, 2022, https://theintercept.com/2022/03/01/ukraine-russia-leftists-tankie/↩