He discovered his laws affect real people

In a Ukraine update Kos of Daily Kos discussed an in-depth story in the Washington Post about the Battle of Kyiv in the first 36 days of the war. A few things Kos mentioned: Ukraine knew what Russia was planning and had plans of their own to keep Russia from mowing them over. Those plans were so tightly held that Western assessments thought there was no plan and that Russia would be in Kyiv in days. Zelenskyy was told by an aide not to expect much international help in the first few days of the invasion. The West would want to see how well Ukraine would defend itself. Maybe they don’t want weapons to get in Russian hands. Kos added that US and NATO just had a frantic retreat from Afghanistan, so didn’t want to engage unless there was a chance of success. It is a puzzle why Russia didn’t shell the Ukrainian government buildings. It’s also a puzzle that Russia still hasn’t done so. We’re glad they haven’t. Kos is also mystified by Russia’s efforts to create a new army corps. These are people who are signing up because of an offer of a hefty bonus. Kos lists some of the problems. They tend to be older men – in their 50s and older. They’re also way out of shape. They are being given a month of training – in the US Army basic training is 22 weeks and further training is several months or years beyond that. They aren’t being used to fill out crews that are incomplete because of deaths, where they would be overseen by experienced leaders. They’re formed into a new corps where no one has experience. While the current front lines are now using equipment from the 1960s some of the good modern equipment has been kept aside for this group. Well, Russia, if that’s what you want to use for cannon fodder, that’s fine with us. Keep going. Kos linked to a thread by Kamil Galeev, who has been explaining a lot of Russian culture behind this war. This thread explains why those older men are joining up – they probably have chronic indebtedness and see no way out. It seems that bonus may be the only money these recruits see. Existing soldiers are complaining about not being paid. Dartagnan of the Kos community reported that South Carolina state Rep. Neal Collins had a change of heart. He voted to enact an abortion ban for the state, then discovered it affects real people in tragic situations. In this case it was a 19 year old woman forced to continue to carry a non-viable pregnancy that might lead to infection, the loss of her uterus, or death. If Republicans hadn’t already killed irony we might use that term to describe Collins relating the woman’s plight and his change of heart as the SC legislature debated passing a more restrictive ban. That harsher ban passed one chamber and will likely pass the other and be signed into law. During the vote Collins ... abstained. Didn’t even vote no. It is good to see a legislator realize what he passes affects real people. Most Christian white males in the legislature don’t notice, or are indifferent to, the people harmed by what they do. Or maybe the harm is intentional. One reason why they don’t see who is affected by their laws is because they and their constituents have been told by the church for a long time that abortion isn’t health care, it’s murder. To say anything other than being pro-life means risking being shunned by church and community. Only bad people have to worry about such gut-wrenching decisions. This view is not going to fade quickly. In a post from last Saturday Mark Sumner of Kos included an image of the front page of that day’s New York Times, which has a headline of “U.S. Feared Trump Files Put Spies at Risk.” In the buildup to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine Biden had accurate info about what Russia was planning. That’s an example of a well placed informant. And it looks like the nasty guy betrayed several informants around the world. Sumner reviewed that the nasty guy has always had disdain for the intelligence services and whistleblowers. He’s also had disdain for protecting classified info. That’s a recipe for catastrophe. Sumner reminded us that about a week before the 2016 election James Comey, head of the FBI, announced an investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails. That severely cut Clinton’s lead and she lost the Electoral College to the nasty guy. Now he is admitting that Comey’s announcement was fake, but because of it he won. Yesterday I wrote about a couple essays in the NYT saying prosecuting the nasty guy will bring about domestic unrest, to put it mildly. Greg Dworkin, in a pundit roundup for Kos, quoted Nicholas Grossman of the Daily Beast. Here’s a bit of that quote.

Whatever the Department of Justice (DOJ) decides, it will set precedent, provoke public reactions, and shape history. ... If prosecuting Trump would set a dangerous precedent, so would letting his crimes slide. We can’t know what will happen, so we should follow the law and let the chips fall where they may. But even if we say U.S. law enforcement should prioritize political impact, the “domestic tranquility” argument fails on its own terms.

Barbara Morrill of Kos reported that Sen. Lindsay Graham declared there would be riots in the streets if the nasty guy is prosecuted – essentially calling for riots. Yeah, Graham has no concern for the crimes the nasty guy committed or the resulting damage to national security or the injuries and deaths that would come from that violence.