DL Open Thread: Sat., Feb. 26, 2022

Right-Wing ‘Legal Foundation’ Goes After Delaware Voter Rights.  (h/t to Matt Bittle) You know because a good man, an honest man, is forced to choose between doing his elections job and, um, honoring the Delaware Constitution:

The Foundation’s client is Michael Mennella, an inspector of elections for the Delaware Department of Elections…The Foundation’s client Michael Mennella, an election official, is forced to choose between enforcing the Constitution of Delaware or these statutes. He wants clarity on which law he must follow – the statutes or the constitution.

Well, no he’s not.  He can always quit.

Let’s be honest:  It’s this dark-money right wing group plus the Delaware Rethuglican Party:

Jane Brady of Brady Legal Group LLC is serving as local counsel.

Oh.  Nowhere in the ‘article’ is Brady mentioned as being the State Rethuglican Chairman.  She and her party need that infusion of dark money cash.

Is Russia’s Attack On Ukraine Stalling?  I don’t know.  But that seems to be the consensus.  Knowing, of course, that the consensus is often wrong.  The issue? Supply lines.

How Trump’s ‘Russian Hoax’ Led To Ukraine Battle:

For years, Donald Trump has incessantly railed against what he called “the Russia hoax” and denied Vladimir Putin’s attack on the United States. Yet the real Russia con was that very dismissal. And this fraud, perpetuated by Trump, his conservative minions, top Republicans, Fox, and other right-wing media, has ledto Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.

There are at least two ways that happened, and both originate with the Trump cult in 2016 (and onward) refusing to acknowledge Moscow’s assault on American democracy. Though numerous investigations concluded that Russia mounted a hack-and-dump operation and a covert social media campaign to sow political discord in the United States, cripple the campaign of Hillary Clinton, and help Trump win the presidency, Trump and his allies claimed at the time (and since) that no such thing had ever occurred—or they belittled its impact.

Imagine how this looked to Putin. He had helped bring about a regime change in the most powerful nation of the world, installing in office an utterly inexperienced fellow who had been heaping praise on the corrupt Russian autocrat for years. What a victory! On election night 2016, an employee of Russia’s Internet Research Agency, which had been a key part of the Kremlin operation, sent a message reporting that cyber operatives there “uncorked a tiny bottle of champagne” when they found out Trump had won and “uttered almost in unison: ‘We made America great.’” At a celebration in Moscow, Dmitry Drobnitsky, a writer for pro-Kremlin outlets, exclaimed, “This is the real reset of the Western world.”

It’s no secret that Putin, the former KGB man, has resented the diminution of Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union and has been looking to restore a Greater Russia. But he may also consider this a messianic obligation in which he’s spearheading a holy crusade against the West. His attack on the US election six years ago was neither a one-off nor an endgame in itself but part of this grandiose vision. Consequently, Moscow’s success in America likely fed Putin’s megalomania, and if he believes he’s answering a divine call, he must have regarded this as a righteous sign. The Trump cult-enabled victory empowered Putin and probably encouraged his ambition. If America could not stop him from wreaking havoc within its own borders, what could?

Nnamdi’s Brother Likely To Join Wilmington City Council.  Don’t think Al Mills was the best choice from a progressive perspective.  But, was he a good choice?  Floor’s yours.

What do you want to talk about?