Rat Season in such numbers even attorneys are fed up

In a Ukraine update from last Friday, almost a week ago, Mark Sumner of Daily Kos discussed the perilous situation in Bakhmut (and almost a week later Bakhmut still remains in Ukrainian control). Ukraine is also poking at Russia’s defenses at other places along the line. Sumner also reported on the situation in Georgia (the one south of Russia). The Dream Party (aligned with Russia) proposed a bill that employees of Non Governmental Organizations (which is a large part of Georgian society) had to register as foreign agents. There were two days of massive protests and the legislation was withdrawn. Sumner included images of the size of the protest crowds. Russian propaganda is blaming foreign “Anglo-Saxon” agitators. Nope, this protest is all homegrown. A couple things related to that. First, Russians and Russian supporters in Georgia are so worried that the Russian friendly government might fall they are fleeing back to Russia, or otherwise deciding now is a good time for a holiday somewhere else. Second, since Russia has about 97% of its military engaged in Ukraine, there aren’t available soldiers to force an end to the protests in Georgia. If the people do topple the government there could be major shifts across the region. In an update from last Saturday Sumner noted the Russian death count was over 1000 for that day for a total of over 158K Russian dead. They also lost 10 tanks and 20 armored personnel vehicles that day. However, Sumner’s big story of the post is about the wave of Russian citizens ratting each other out.

All over Russia, it’s open season on anyone. All it takes is a quick suggestion that they said something against Putin, the war, or the Russian military. Or a claim that they were caught saying anything favorable about Ukraine. No evidence required. Rat Season has only been boosted by new legislation that has upped penalties and added even more restrictions about what it’s permissible to say. Russians are ratting Russians out in such numbers that even attorneys are fed up over dealing with the cases. Those who have long harbored a grudge are using this as an opportunity to get back at the guy they didn’t think was respectful enough in the local bar, or the neighbor who played his music too loud. And the worse things get in Ukraine, the more “traitors” they’re going to find.

In an update posted Sunday Kos of Kos discussed whether Bakhmut is still a good place to kill off Russian soldiers or has the cost to Ukrainian soldiers become to high? Is it better for Ukraine to pull out of the city to the higher ground to the west? Kos (as does Sumner) reminds us that Zelenskyy and the military leadership know more about the situation than he does. An Associated Press article posted on Kos discusses the efforts and problems of sanctioning Russian oligarchs. There is an effort to sell off the huge yachts that had been seized, with cases coordinated by KleptoCapture. The money would go to Ukraine. The effort can be slow because each case has to go through proper legal and judicial procedures. Another effort is to go after the wealth managers, those who facilitate keeping an oligarch’s wealth hidden from prosecutors. The managers can be indicted on conspiring to violate and evade US sanctions. In a Wednesday update Sumner reported that Bakhmut’s position is still dangerous. And Zelenskyy came for a visit. That is a signal to the world that Ukraine hasn’t given up on the town in spite of the danger. Kos discussed Switzerland’s neutrality, which kept the country out of two world wars. A big way that the Swiss remain neutral is they have a pretty good arms industry. But that arms industry needs exports to survive. Yet, Germany is getting infuriated with its neighbor because the Swiss refuse to permit armaments sold to Germany to be given to Ukraine. That fury means Germany will stop buying Swiss weapons, which threatens the viability of those weapons companies, and thus Swiss neutrality. There’s another aspect of this. Switzerland is not under threat by the NATO countries that surround it. But the Swiss refusal to give defensive weapons to Ukraine helps Russia. That’s another hit to their claims of neutrality.

The Swiss care about one thing: money. Their banking industry, friendly to money launderers everywhere, holds between $50 and $200 billion in Russian assets. The Swiss have sanctioned just $8 billion of that amount. It’s a weird kind of “neutrality” that only benefits the aggressor.

In a pundit roundup Chitown Kev of Kos quoted Maxim Trudolyubov of the independent Russia media outlet Meduza discussing why Putin is incapable of ending the invasion.

This incapacity is rooted in the political system Putin himself has created, part of which is the disorganized, unwieldy, and uncontrollably violent military that doesn’t stop at crimes against civilians. No leader can conduct a war marked by atrocities like those that shocked the world when the Russian army retreated from the Kyiv region, without forfeiting his chances of shaping the conditions for peace. As a leader, Putin cannot extricate himself from this war without facing the gravest accusations and possibly even threats to his life. As a result, his only way out of warfare is to crush the adversary, if he can. But given how big an ‘if’ this is, his best option is to perpetuate the war, since any conditional peace would probably mean Putin’s removal from power, followed by severe repercussions.

Another AP story posted to Kos is about Machaela Cavanaugh of the Nebraska legislature. A bill to allow gender affirming therapy for those 18 years and younger has been proposed. Cavanaugh is fighting it with all she has – which is quite a bit. She has been personally filibustering that bill and is now three weeks into the effort. That has ground the legislature to a crawl. And this is a legislature that is in session only 90 days.

Both Cavanaugh and the conservative Omaha lawmaker who introduced the trans bill, state Sen. Kathleen Kauth, said they're seeking to protect children. Cavanaugh cited a 2021 survey by the Trevor Project, a nonprofit focused on suicide prevention efforts among LGBTQ youth, that found that 58% of transgender and nonbinary youth in Nebraska seriously considered suicide in the previous year, and more than 1 in 5 reported that they had attempted it. “This is a bill that attacks trans children,” Cavanaugh said. “It is legislating hate. It is legislating meanness. The children of Nebraska deserve to have somebody stand up and fight for them.” Kauth said she's trying to protect children from undertaking gender-affirming treatments that they might later regret as adults. She has characterized treatments such as hormone therapy and gender reassignment surgery as medically unproven and potentially dangerous in the long term — although the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychiatric Association all support gender-affirming care for youths. Cavanaugh and other lawmakers who support her filibuster effort “don't want to acknowledge the support I have for this bill," Kauth said. “We should be allowed to debate this," she said. “What this is doing is taking the ball and going home.”

Kauth’s reasons are all bunk. When the AMA, AAP, and APA support gender affirming care they mean the hormone therapy the Kauth claims is unproven. Such therapy is very much proven. As for the gender reassignment surgery, that isn’t done on those under 18. Surveys have shown adults rarely regret the treatments. There is more harm in preventing treatment for those who need it than harm in those who regret it. The chamber’s leadership praises Cavanaugh’s use of the filibuster, but apparently is making no effort to withdraw the offending bill in order to get everything else done.