I don't care about his morals, I want control of the Senate

There are a pair of bridges, one for cars and trucks, the other for trains, across the Kerch Strait, that bit of water between the eastern side of Crimea and Russia. These bridges are the only way to drive from Russia to Crimea without going the long way around through Ukraine (even if it is Russian controlled Ukraine “annexed” by Russia). The bridges are 12 miles long. Today there was an explosion on the road bridge exactly when a fuel train was alongside. Yes, the train caught on fire. One section of one direction of the road bridge fell into the water. Kos of Daily Kos has the first images to the story posted at 12:48 am eastern US time (online time calculators say there is a 7 hour time difference, so Kos posted 7:45 am Ukraine time, though the explosion happened before the sun was up). Kos posted additional photos and videos over the next couple of hours (and didn’t get much sleep). Mark Sumner of Kos had time to do some analysis before posting this morning. The big question is what made the road go boom? Short answer: he doesn’t know. And no officials are saying. Well, Russia is saying a truck bomb, but we know they tend to not tell the truth. Sumner, who was in the military and dealt with things that go boom, explained what he saw in the best video of the explosion. It wasn’t a truck. It seems to have come from below and to the side of the road bridge. It doesn’t appear to be a missile (none appear in the video before the explosion) and how could a missile time it just right to catch the train going by? As Chereese tweeted, it could have been Godzilla. Russia had said the Kerch bridge is “civilian infrastructure” and thus supposedly off limits to war bombings. But Sumner included a video of tanks mounted on a train going across the bridge. Yes, this will hamper Russia’s war effort. This is a major way to get supplies into Crimea and from there into the Russian held territories in southern Ukraine. The bridge can be repaired, but it will take a while. In the meantime Russia will have to use alternate means to supply its troops and the residents of Crimea. And those residents are freaking out. Herschel Walker is a former football great and the Republican candidate for the US Senate for Georgia. He’s running against Rev. Rafael Warnock, who was elected to a partial term two years ago. It seems Walker has been saying stupid thing after stupid thing, including: He denied having children through any woman other than his wife, then admitted there were other children out there. He said he is firmly anti-abortion, then a woman came forward saying he paid for her abortion and has a get well card with his signature. Greg Dworkin, in a pundit roundup for Kos, quoted a few people with something to say on Walker and Republicans. First is Michael Cohen of MSNBC:

The muted response from some of the country’s most virulent critics of abortion is an instructive reminder that for many conservatives — particular conservative politicians — opposition to abortion has little to do with morality, and everything to do with politics. Indeed, conservative commentator Dana Loesch summed up best the rank hypocrisy of the anti-abortion movement. Calling Walker’s former girlfriend a “skank” she said, "I don’t care if Herschel Walker paid to abort endangered baby eagles. I want control of the Senate.”

As with the nasty guy, it doesn’t matter what he did. It matters whether his vote is reliable. Dworkin included a tweet by Doug Jones, who included a link to an article on Politico:

Folks it’s time to acknowledge that “evangelical” is no longer a Christian religous label but a political one focused on political power more than faith. Walker’s opponent is an ordained minister whose life has been a demonstration of faith and service.

Dworkin quoted Ty Rushing of Iowa Starting Line, which I’ll summarize: Routine stories about electric vehicles draw intense and fierce debates. And Dworkin quoted a tweet by Sarah Reese Jones that includes a video of comments by Biden. Jones wrote:

Biden names names of Republicans who voted against infrastructure and then asked for money. The President said, "I was surprised to see so many socialists in the Republican caucus."

Bill in Portland, Maine, in a Cheers and Jeers column for Kos, quoted late night commentary.

“A former girlfriend of Georgia senate candidate Herschel Walker claimed in a new interview that Walker paid for her to get an abortion in 2009. And the only way that will hurt him with Republicans is if some of that money went to pay down her student loans.” —Seth Meyers “I literally don’t even understand what that means. My sense of manhood is not connected to whether or not my vehicle is fueled by gasoline or whether it’s fueled by electricity.” —Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Fox News, responding to Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene's remark that electric vehicles “emasculate” drivers.

Sumner reported on the continuing protests by women over the requirement they wear the hijab while in public. The protests have added a new dimension – girls schools. Officials may think there is no leadership to these protests – leading people that, if eliminated, would cause the protests to collapse. Officials may also think a revolution can happen only with assault rifles. Sumner quoted Dr. Rohman Alvadi:

Unlike in previous protests, where people would flee the security forces, what we’re seeing in these protests is that unarmed young people are standing their ground. And that kind of bravery is a real problem for the regime, because it all it does is encourage more and more opposition and more people to come out. In my view, this is the beginning of the end. This is the beginning of the end for the Islamic Republic. ... Something fundamental has changed in Iran and we are never going back.

In a show of sisterhood, famous women around the world are cutting their hair. This international solidarity is important both now and when the regime falls. Cartoon Movement tweeted one by Marzieh Khanizadeh showing the high heels kicked aside and a woman lacing up combat boots. Pat Begley, editorial cartoonist for the Salt Lake Tribune, tweeted one showing a man with an American flag draped as religious stole and holding high a cross saying “We need more God in government!” A woman looks over his shoulder to see an Iranian cleric and another I can’t identify about to beat women at their feet. Begley added above the image: “Mixing politics and religion is toxic.” A cartoon by Matt Wuerker of Politico shows a pastor changing the sign in front of the church. The top of the sign says “Today’s Religious Issues” and it shows “abortion.” Being taken off the sign are “Peace,” “Tolerance,” “Charity,” Poverty,” and “Love.” The pastor is looking over his shoulder at a statue of a benevolent Jesus and the pastor says, “What?!” Yeah, this is saying the conservative Christian pastors in America are quite similar to the conservative Muslim clerics in Iran.