Honoring Women.

March 10, 2022

[Audio version here]

          As Putin’s war against Ukraine enters its third week, Russian soldiers are targeting hospitals, cutting-off power to civilian populations, and using thermobaric weapons against civilians. Putin’s wholesale attack on civilian populations is the very definition of a war crime. Fourth Geneva Convention. The U.S. State Department issued a stark warning that Putin is preparing to use chemical or biological weapons—another violation of international law. The State Department bulletin said,

The Kremlin is intentionally spreading outright lies that the United States and Ukraine are conducting chemical and biological weapons activities in Ukraine. . . Russia is inventing false pretexts in an attempt to justify its own horrific actions in Ukraine. . . Russia has a track record of accusing the West of the very crimes that Russia itself is perpetrating.

          In light of the accurate U.S. intelligence leading up to the invasion, we must assume that the U.S. has intercepted Russian communications that discuss the use of chemical weapons. The prospect of chemical warfare against civilian populations seems unimaginable—until we recognize that Putin’s soldiers bombed and destroyed a children’s hospital on Wednesday. See Reuters, Ukraine accuses Russia of genocide after bombing of children's hospital. President Zelenskyy is right to call Russia’s actions genocide. Putin wants to take the territory of Ukraine and sees the people of that country as impediments to Russian expansionism.

          The attack on the children’s hospital was one of eighteen attacks on hospitals in Ukraine. See World Health Organization on Twitter:

          So far, WHO has verified 18 attacks on health facilities [in #Ukraine], healthworkers and ambulances, including 10 deaths and 16 injuries. These attacks deprive whole communities of health care. #NotATarget

          Unimaginable, too, are reports that Russian attacks have knocked out power to the nuclear reactors at Chernobyl, thereby risking a nuclear meltdown at Chernobyl for the second time living memory. Huffpost, Chernobyl Nuclear Plant Site Knocked Off Power Grid, Generators On, Ukraine Says.

          There appears to be no end in sight to Putin’s war on Ukraine. U.S. intelligence assessments indicate that Putin intends to “double-down” on a war he “cannot afford to lose.” In testimony before Congress, CIA Director William Burns summarized the situation as follows:

He’s likely to double down and try to grind down the Ukrainian military with no regard for civilian casualties. He has no sustainable political endgame in the face of what is going to continue to be fierce resistance from Ukrainians.

          But the walls may be closing in on Putin. Two days ago, Putin told the Russian people that conscripts had not been sent to Ukraine to fight—an obvious lie known to parents of conscripts who returned in coffins. On Wednesday, the Kremlin corrected Putin’s lie to say that Putin was not aware that conscripts had been sent to Ukraine. The Kremlin promised to punish the officials who sent conscripts to Ukraine before Putin lied to the Russian people about conscripts not going to Ukraine. Those working under Putin must be looking over the shoulders as Putin seeks to shift blame to others for his failure.

          Putin is likely looking over his shoulder as well. According to a reader in a position to know, Radio Free Europe has been broadcasting stories from its archives about attempts on Hitler’s life by subordinates. The archival stories are being broadcast into Russia in the Russian language. Putin must be sleeping fitfully tonight—just like the women and children he has driven into basements and bombed out buildings.

Kevin McCarthy refuses to sanction GOP members who attended white supremacist convention.  

          Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar attended and spoke at a convention of white nationalists in Florida. Kevin McCarthy later said “off the record” that their attendance was “unacceptable”—but refused to repeat the statement on the record. McCarthy has now made clear that he will not discipline Greene and Gosar, but instead intends to restore them to their committee assignments if he becomes speaker. See HuffPo, Kevin McCarthy Won't Punish Republicans Who Joined White Nationalist Conference.

          Let’s reflect on the double-standard of McCarthy’s use of discipline in the GOP caucus that he leads. If a Republican speaks at a white supremacist convention espousing hateful rhetoric, there is no punishment. If a Republican participates in the investigation of the January 6th insurrection, McCarthy strips those members from all committee assignments.

Another indictment of a promoter of The Big Lie.

          A county clerk in Colorado, Tina Peters, was indicted on Wednesday for leaking confidential information from the county election system that she supervised. The indictment alleges that Peters transferred the information to participants in a “Cybersecurity Symposium” hosted by Mike Lindell, the CEO My Pillow. The disclosure of the information at the symposium destroyed the integrity and security of the county’s election system. See HuffPo, Tina Peters, County Clerk Who Embraced Big Lie, Is Indicted Months After Election Data Leak.

          Like the conviction of the first January 6th insurrectionist and the indictment of the leader of the Proud Boys yesterday, the indictment of Peters should have a cumulative deterrent effect on future wannabe insurrectionists. Violating the law is a crime, no matter how fervently the perpetrator believes that their actions are justified by a baseless conspiracy theory. Kudos to prosecutors in Colorado for pursuing an investigation into Peters, who went to great lengths to conceal her involvement in the leak of the information.

VoteRiders Podcast Interview this weekend.

          A favorite voter-suppression technique is to impose onerous identification requirements that serve no legitimate purpose. VoteRiders is laser focused on helping voters understand voter I.D. laws and obtain identification cards that satisfy requirements in their states. VoteRiders has created an effective and easy-to-navigate website that allows voters help themselves (or obtain help) in securing valid identification. I will interview the Founder of VoteRiders, Kathleen Unger, and its Chief Executive Officer, Lauren Kunis, this Saturday at 11:00 AM Pacific / 2:00 PM Eastern. Listen live on the Callin app to participate in the discussion. (Download the app in the Apple Store or Google Play) I will publish a link to the recorded podcast on Monday.

Concluding Thoughts.

          International Women’s Day was March 8, 2022. I should have acknowledged the event in yesterday’s newsletter. My wife (a.ka. Managing Editor) did mark the occasion in her blog titled, Honoring Women on International Women's Day. Her recognition of the important women in her life caused me to reflect on the role of women in the resistance movement that began after Trump’s election in 2016—a movement that forms the backbone of today’s Democratic party.

          The resistance to Trump began in January 2017 with the series of marches across the nation collectively referred to as the Women’s March. Almost everyone who participated in those marches was changed for good. People who had never before engaged in political activism started a new chapter of their life at that moment and never looked back.

          Those marches also changed the face of politics in America—literally. The millions of women who created the resistance in November 2016 continue to dominate the grassroots activist movement today. Over the last year, I have attended dozens of meetings (via Zoom) with organizations across the country. In every one of those meetings, the ratio of women to men was about 70% to 30%. Women are showing up in disproportionate numbers to do the hard work of defending democracy.

          As they did in January of 2017, women continue to lead the way forward by example—through their passion, dedication, and perseverance. For that, they deserve recognition and thanks. Every day.

          Talk to you tomorrow!