Garry Kasparov: We're Facing Our Gravest Threat Yet open.substack.com/pub/charlies...
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Garry Kasparov: We're Facing Our Gravest Threat Yet open.substack.com/pub/charlies...
korean reporting is nightmarish on the conditions Korean workers were contained in
Pay attention. Something dark might be coming. The murder of Charlie Kirk could have united Americans to confront political violence. Instead, Trump and his anti-democratic radicals look to be readying a campaign to destroy dissent. 1/ Here's what's happening.
Russian drones now crossing into Romania bbc.com/news/article...
Ru sent drones to Romania and "reckless" is a buzz word in the official reactions, but what does it mean? Ru is sending the drones deliberately not inadvertently, so reckless as "thoughtless" doesn't work. Reckless as in "ignores grave consequences" would be good, but where are the consequences?
While russia continues escalating, NATO mostly just worries about escalation
'Trump just caused a major economic... & diplomatic disaster, allowing his Immigration shock troops to raid a Hyundai battery plant in Georgia & put South Korean workers in CHAINS. South Korea...threatening to pull future investment' youtu.be/kBwv01snWus?... via bsky.app/profile/mspopok.bsky.social
The Russians are laughing at Trump. Alexei Zhuravlev, first deputy chairman of the Duma’s defence committee: “Trump remains in his normal state. He is either waiting to have a conversation with Putin, talking to Putin, or is explaining how well he spoke to Putin.”
The fringe is now the mainstream, and we can watch in real time, as the rhetoric moves from social media bleats into Trump’s inner circle, then into the Oval Office itself, and finally into official policies. open.substack.com/pub/charlies...
New version: www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
Thousands of mercenaries are known to be fighting for Russia, but little else is publicly known. Our team at Frontelligence Insight holds exclusive lists with thousands of records, including their names, units, and home countries. In the coming days, we will release this data, broken down by country
19 drones launched over several hours, from Russia and Belarus, into Poland, were not a mistake. Many of them did not carry explosives, so they had not gone astray in Ukraine....they were a probe of Poland, NATO and Trump.
“Every political movement in history, including the most bloodthirsty, has condemned political violence by its opponents. The only real test is whether you also oppose political violence by your allies. This is a test Trump has repeatedly failed.”
Trump: "We're gonna look into Soros because I think it's a RICO case against him and other people."
Ukraine answered our call for help after the 9/11 attacks and deployed 5,000 soldiers despite not being in NATO. 18 Ukrainian soldiers perished. Russia paid bounties to the Taliban for every US soldier they killed. Let's not ever mistake who our friends and enemies are.
Abductions. Abuses. Camps. DHS will be held accountable
Trump to evangelicals: If you give me loyalty, I will give you power
I'm listening to To The Contrary with Charlie Sykes | Jonathan Rauch: The Rise of the Woke Right on Podbean, check it out! www.podbean.com/ea/dir-vnnkx...
What is insane to me is, we have members of this administration blaming the left, trying to stir up retribution killings. They've not even found the shooter. They just want democrats to die.
This is a very Nazi thing to say, actually.
It’s time for congressional Democrats to recognize that this is not remotely business as usual, and begin to behave like it. Almost like it’s an emergency. open.substack.com/pub/charlies...
And, of course, Trump himself shrugged off the presidential role of Comforter in Chief and chose instead to be the Maximalist Inflamer/Divider. Again. open.substack.com/pub/charlies...
One day after a swarm of drones violated NATO airspace in Poland, with some entering from Belarus and crashing into a civilian building and the territory of a military base, the U.S. lifted sanctions on Belarus’s flag carrier airline "Belavia".
The "Ukraine is a US proxy" crowd will purposefully ignore this.
Our Polish friends deserve much better from us.
Mark Galeotti on Russian drones over Poland, youtu.be/Dgg-FFpcwV0?...
This spot on and good phrasing. Now let’s see the response.
Whether by accident or malice - and likely intentionally - the Russians are risking a wider war in Europe. The only path to reducing such a threat is for the world to force Moscow to call off its campaign of butchery in Ukraine. Unfortunately, America is AWOL: www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
Article 5 can only be invoked by a country requesting it. Poland has not done that.
And now law enforcement is in the position of either following the evidence, even if it contradicts Trump’s “conclusions” and makes him mad, or validate his predetermined narrative no matter what
My grandmother took a tougher stance on TV volume with my grandfather than Trump did on Russia penetrating NATO airspace with drones.
The online ghouls who are celebrating and/or justifying the shooting of Charlie Kirk have no idea how much damage they are doing…
BBC analysis: West's response not enough to make Putin fear sending drones to Poland www.bbc.com/news/live/c2...
On MAGA International, from @davidfrum.bsky.social www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
Many media types and Dems continue to operate as if Trump is a politically invincible figure, a "Teflon Don." But in truth he's becoming an increasingly weak, failing, diminished, unpopular, naked-emperor figure, and it's time to treat him as such. 1/ (new piece) newrepublic.com/article/2000...
Will ICE send guys to Boston looking for red hair and listening for brogues? Or stake out delis in Chicago to see who buys a kielbasa? No. This is about profiling people by skin color and language. www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
OTD in 1939 USSR sent congratulations to Nazi Germany for their conquest of Warsaw. Donald really wants to do something like this for me soon.
🇵🇱/1. Polish authorities have officially confirmed that Polish airspace was reportedly violated by drones tonight. According to Polish authorities, defensive weapons were used to intercept the drones. If confirmed this incident marks the first time a NATO member state has shot down Russian drones.
Poland & NATO shoot down Russian drones violating Polish airspace www.afr.com/world/europe...
This is the best advice for the Democrats that I have read www.nytimes.com/2025/09/07/o...
Sounds familiar
Yes. (And tear down the ballroom and restore the Rose Garden.)
It's more than politics—it's a moral test of compassion, justice, and what it means to be a good person. youtube.com/shorts/lVGvT... Follow The Ken Harbaugh Show here: linktr.ee/thekenharbau...
russia lately: directly striking key gov’t building in kyiv + jamming gps on von der leyen’s plane. putin not feeling any pressure.
OTD in 2005 Nordstream 1 was signed. Not even our ongoing butchery of Chechens or future invasion of Georgia would stop cheap gas. Except it wasn't cheap. You just thought it was.
On the meeting of Xi, Putin, Kim, Modi, Lukashenko and others with @fareedzakaria.bsky.social www.cnn.com/2025/09/07/w...
From today's "To the Contrary" Newsletter: Trump Loves the Smell of Brutality in the Morning. charliesykes.substack.com/p/trump-love...
As I was saying (in yesterday’s newsletter), the guy who promised to end “endless wars” is itching for a war of his own. And not just with Venezuela. open.substack.com/pub/charlies...
This is exactly what the European far-right does: pretend that advocates for Ukraine want us to be "dying in Russia." The point is to scare people into doing nothing at all (as if letting Russia win would make us safer)
How NATO caused this war. This anti imperialist's guide.. youtu.be/nGmZg_m6Nhk
Having campaigned on a pledge to end “endless wars,” Trump is now itching for a war of his own.3 And what better distraction from badeconomicnewsEpsteinglobalhumiliations than a quick, bloody war with a country led by a leftist dictator? open.substack.com/pub/charlies...
Europe gears up—again—for tougher sanctions on Russia but always seems to keep one foot on the brake at the same time as the accelerator. Meanwhile the U.S. have done nothing with real deterrence power. No wonder Putin is intent on continuing his war. youtu.be/vbbMqV1Rzqs
WSJ editorial is 🔥🔥: “What an idea: Come in, Mr. Zelensky, welcome to the Kremlin, please sit down. How do you take your tea, one lump or two of polonium? Remember that Russia has made multiple attempts to assassinate the elected Ukrainian president throughout the war…” apple.news/AThn_gFnGQm-...
Posted without comment.
This is infuriating and immoral.
NEW: The anti-Trump protest happening right now on the streets of Washington DC is HUGE! It looks like tens of thousands have joined. This is the view from 16th Street - people stretching as far as the eye can see 👏
Once confined to the fringes of kookery, the ani-vax movement now controls the levers of government, and it is already spreading like a vast oil slick of communicable stupidity. open.substack.com/pub/charlies...
On our unilateral disarmament: America is reorienting its foreign policy to help governments that manipulate and suppress information. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
"It's on the CDC and the HHS websites — the government's estimates of how many people died and the effectiveness of vaccines," said Stephen Hayes. "The data is often there. [RFK Jr.] just doesn't want to accept it, and he uses this — he sort of injects confusion into the debate."
It’s almost as if Trump and Hegseth haven’t the faintest fucking clue how to defend a nation. www.politico.com/news/2025/09...
A video message from your favorite local curmudgeon about the cringe-inducing inanity of renaming the Defense Department
Good morning. After you've read about why renaming the DOD is the sign of silly and unserious nation, you can read my newest about why the world won't take Trump and America seriously anymore: www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
The effort to “decouple” Russia from China has failed. Putin’s rhetoric in Beijing after the Alaska meeting (which produced little of value) only conferred greater legitimacy on Putin. With the 50-day deadline to stop the war expired, the administration’s weakness is glaring
Kudos to the reporter. Trump is incensed the reporter says there's been no action, but then talks about FUTURE action thus confirming there's been nothing so far but talk and hope. No new sanctions, no new/additional weapons, no confiscated frozen assets, nothing.
On today’s “To the Contrary” Podcast, I sit down with David Frum of The Atlantic to unpack the mounting costs of Donald Trump’s foreign policy blunders. From alienating India and Australia to emboldening China and Russia. charliesykes.substack.com/p/the-real-w...
"My Plea to Democrats: Stop Being Polite, Go Nuclear" Absolute #mustread for Zeteo from former GOP strategist Stuart Stevens, in which he lays out what the Dems must do if they win back the House next year, including defunding the entire executive branch and nationalizing SpaceX.
Ha. Here’s an example of the same ridiculousness but leftistly
It is impossible to overstate the inanity of the vapid and stupid stunt of renaming the Defense Department, and Congress should step in and put a stop to it immediately. Gift link: www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
mRNA > RFK
not being talked about enough: the biggest financial success for the president’s family since the inauguration
If our founders saw how much modern voters distance themselves from culpability maybe they would go back and name the Bill of Rights, the Bill of Responsibilities.
Also, lots of people who might have voted for Harris who ignored midterm / state / local elections, which matter a lot
People are so afraid to blame voters. They make the ultimate choices.
Apropos of some bravado by Pu that’s being reported, two reminders: 1) russia is demanding Ukrainian capitulation, not offering a deal. 2) Ru hasn’t achieved its goals in 11yrs of war. It’s not close to achieving them.
“The world is watching us, stunned, while we slit our own throat—with our initiation of trade wars with countries around the globe (including with some of our closest allies); with our president’s display of pathetically gullible obsequiousness to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin;…”
Trump's cover-up is failing. But that raises one big, beautiful question....
The Bad Guys are Winning, from 2021 www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
Putin and other high-ranking Kremlin officials continue to explicitly and publicly state that they are committed to achieving Russia's original war aims through military means.
Russia is engaged in a new kind of Total War: From Child Abduction to Cyber Attacks and Drones to Disinformation. @IoWBobSeely emphasizes the integration of military and non-military tools in modern Russian warfare, and leveraging crimes for advantage. youtu.be/wbkpnXn-yy4
A pro-Ru progressive is an oxymoron. Ru is the most retrograde regime in the world today, trying to bring back 19th century imperialist territorial expansion. If you want to accommodate, understand, appease Ru or if you outright support its challenge to the current order, you are NOT a progressive.
KASIE HUNT: Over the summer you said, “There’s no vaccine that’s safe and effective”. Do you still believe that? RFK JR: “I never said that.” KASIE HUNT: “Play the clip.” RFK JR (clip): “There’s no vaccine that is safe and effective.” (March 2024) ht: @cwebbonline.com
in president trump's defense, he didn’t say which 50 days
I hate that we have to do this. I have filed so many stories about the human toll of Putin's bloodlust in Ukraine. But sometimes, it takes a dog, mourning the death of its human, to get Americans to pay attention. If that is you, don't look away.
Beware of one common euphemism-- Pu only wants a "friendly" Ukraine. To Ru, friendly has always meant fully subjugated and pliable. Just like the Soviet Bloc states were during the Cold War-- friendly meant lacking sovereignty. The only way Ru can achieve these goals is by occupying Ukraine.
I’m sick of Cold War has-beens like Mearsheimer, Posen, Allison, and Walt obtusely misinterpreting Ru and confidently regaling us w clueless takes about how Ukraine can end the war through concessions. Enough. Accept that Ukraine proves you wrong every day by not conforming to your warped theories.
OTD in 2008 Russia claimed a “sphere of influence”. 3 days earlier I had said I recognise all of Ukraine’s borders, including Crimea, statements that are incompatible. You pretended it didn’t matter cos you wanted cheap gas. It isn’t. You just didn’t pay for it all at the time.
A reminder for the “Ukraine is a proxy” crowd which has come out of the woodwork again. Whatever propaganda the Russo-Trumpian alliance now tries to push, the truth is that Europe follows and backs Ukraine, it doesn’t set the goals or the tone.
The Right's Rising Neo-Nazi open.substack.com/pub/charlies...
Donbas: Luke Beasley talking to Caolan Robertson, both independent journalists in Ukraine, about the divorce between reality on the ground & Trump's ivory-tower misunderstanding of situation... Trump: 'It takes 2 to tango' - seriously!! youtu.be/JVizSFTepIs?...
Freaky to hear US officials channel unadulterated Ru propaganda. Let's use the right words-- Ukraine and the Europeans are indeed stopping Trump from trying to force Ukrainian surrender while calling it "a deal".
One possibility is Ru is starting to realize it won't be able to occupy Ukraine militarily so it is returning to its earlier strategy of trying to create enough chaos and destabilization as to cause state failure/collapse. Another possibility is pure revenge and hatred for Maidan's 2014 success.
OTD in 2008, soon after I invaded Georgia, I was interviewed by Germany's biggest TV channel ARD in which I said I recognize all of Ukraine’s borders, including Crimea. 3 days later we claimed a “sphere of influence” that includes Ukraine.
This is my jam! I co-wrote this in The Military Engineer: www.same.org/tmearticle/t... And this about defensive rewilding in RUSI: www.rusi.org/explore-our-... I think there's a lot of potential application to Ukraine, hopefully with aid from the West.
Now that’s a win-win policy
“Sovereign Citizens” are dangerous to democracy & physically dangerous to citizens in democratic nations Giving their conspiracies a platform to wrap their delusions in a false equivalence to free speech is disgraceful The Americanisation of Australia must end before more Aussies needlessly suffer
The Ukrainian Military Intelligence (HUR) has released a video showing a drone attack on a Russian Project 21631 Buyan-M corvette ship, capable of carrying Kalibr cruise missiles. The footage shows two strikes: the first hitting the ship’s radar, and the second impacting its side