Legacy media keeps repeating the mistake of treating "special envoys" like Witkoff as if they were serious negotiators on the international stage. No. Witkoff is a joke. A clown. My guess he is a source of hearty belly-laughs over toasts of vodka for Putin and the Kremlin.

Putin wants empire. He said that. He wrote that. He uses power & cunning to pursue that.
Trump wants an expanding universe of Trump. He thrives parasitically in a pro-capital, under-regulated environment. All take, no give. Pure form avarice.
Putin understands Trump. Trump hasn’t a clue about Putin.

"Past is prologue" -Shakespeare
Past: Russia was an empire. Russia has a long history of devoting blood & treasure to empire.
Putin has said repeatedly & put into writing he intends to restore Russia as an empire. Putin has a history of devoting blood & treasure to empire.
Putin will pursue empire.

Election denial & election denialism are one of the following:
1) delusion, if truly believed
2) mistaken belief if one is uninformed or misinformed by people & sources they trust
3) a Big Lie, the person knows it, but self-serving to promote it
4) a mix of 2 & 3
All are threats to democracy

..disrepair. A Unitary Executive increases power. The Legislative Branch majority shamelessly abdicates its powers, its authority to the Executive. The Judicial Branch invents immunity for the Executive from criminal prosecution for "official" acts. The push & pull that drives democracy ceases.

..and the pursuit of happiness." Our forebears recognized those lessons as "truths" that were "self-evident."
It is on each of us individually to accept that. To reject that is to fall back into autocracy, into monarchy or rule by an elite.
Democracy requires daily maintenance, or it falls into...‪

..disrepair. A Unitary Executive increases power. The Legislative Branch majority shamelessly abdicates its powers, its authority to the Executive. The Judicial Branch invents immunity for the Executive from criminal prosecution for "official" acts. The push & pull that drives democracy ceases.

..and the pursuit of happiness." Our forebears recognized those lessons as "truths" that were "self-evident."
It is on each of us individually to accept that. To reject that is to fall back into autocracy, into monarchy or rule by an elite.
Democracy requires daily maintenance, or it falls into...

Regardless of how one views divinity, including an atheist view, humanity exists in ourselves and all around us. True madness is denying that we or others exist.
The lessons [shared memories & hard won understanding] handed down to us spell out what is needed for the best chances at "life, liberty..

40 years ago social scientists were warning that research, already lagging behind advances in media technology, would fall further behind as advancements accelerated. That dire prediction came true exponentially. Brexit, Trump, MAGA, rise of neofascism in Europe show that. We must fight back.

Amen

1) It lawfully remains the Department of Defense
2) It's the Gulf of Mexico regardless of any imbecilic EO
3) If it looks like abuse of power, swims like abuse of power, and quacks like abuse of power, then it probably is abuse of power.

DOGE was a Trojan Horse. Instead of Troy, it was the US Government the virtual invaders snuck into and tried to destroy, the destruction enabled and applauded by DJT and the GOP.
It is up to Democrats, Independents, rational conservatives, i.e. We the People to make this a Pyrrhic victory.

Concurrently, the John Bolton case, after this initial phase, won’t return to court until Oct. ‘26. And that is still a preliminary hearing.
That confirms this is more about controlling the media, dispersing propaganda, and intimidation than anything else.

Simply enraging. The cruel, absurd, gobsmacking irony is that some of the rationale Hegseth cites for investigating Kelly perfectly describes why the imperial DJT should be investigated, sanctioned or impeached for so much of what he says or posts on social media.

By "peace plan" too often mean "ceasefire" to negotiate something else. Terms and conditions of capitulation, for instance.