Booklover by the coast. Born again cynic. Nice person really!
Joined April 2014
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We used to call this consequences.
🚨EMEUTES EN ITALIE / MELONI : EN 48 HEURES, LES SLOGANS DEVIENNENT DU DROIT
Pendant que la France débat encore de ce qu’il faudrait faire après les émeutes du 17 octobre, l’Italie vient de fournir un laboratoire grandeur nature.
Après les violences de Milan et d’autres villes, Giorgia Meloni réunit son gouvernement. Et transforme immédiatement plusieurs principes politiques en décret.
Sa ligne : « MANIFESTER EST UN DROIT. DÉVASTER LA VILLE, NON. »
Puis vient le droit.
1. PARTICIPER À LA VIOLENCE DE GROUPE DEVIENT UN DÉLIT SPÉCIFIQUE
Cinq personnes ou davantage.
Pierres.
Bâtons.
Pétards.
Objets dangereux.
Jusqu’à :
5 ANS DE PRISON.
20 000 € D’AMENDE.
Visage dissimulé ou blessés ?
AGGRAVATION DES PEINES.
Voilà une réponse directe au problème des groupes qui permettent à chacun de prétendre ensuite : « Moi, personnellement, je n’ai rien cassé. »
2. « QUI CASSE PAIE »
Et là, on retrouve presque mot pour mot la doctrine développée par Sarah Knafo depuis les violences françaises.
Meloni : si l’auteur est mineur, ses parents paient.
Bien public détruit ?
Le préfet peut envoyer une injonction de paiement.
Commerce ou véhicule privé ?
La victime peut obtenir rapidement un titre exécutoire.
Et le patrimoine familial peut être mobilisé.
La facture ne doit plus automatiquement terminer chez :
L’ASSUREUR.
LA COLLECTIVITÉ.
LE CONTRIBUABLE.
Elle remonte vers l’auteur et sa responsabilité familiale lorsqu’il est mineur.
3. LES MINEURS AUSSI ENTRENT DANS LA DOCTRINE PRÉVENTIVE
La retenue préventive est étendue aux 14–17 ans.
Les autorités obtiennent également davantage de moyens pour empêcher certains regroupements de jeunes considérés comme dangereux.
Là encore, la philosophie change : ne plus attendre systématiquement la première vitrine explosée pour intervenir.
4. 500 MILITAIRES SUPPLÉMENTAIRES À MILAN
Jusqu’à la fin de l’année.
Autrement dit :
PRÉVENTION + POLICE + JUSTICE + RESPONSABILITÉ FINANCIÈRE.
Et c’est là que le parallèle français devient fascinant.
Car, depuis le 17 octobre, trois responsables français développent séparément des morceaux de cette architecture.
KNAFO :
QUI CASSE PAIE.
LES PARENTS DOIVENT ÊTRE RESPONSABILISÉS.
LA SANCTION DOIT DEVENIR CERTAINE.
ZEMMOUR :
loi anti-casseurs, peines planchers, intervention policière plus offensive, durcissement de l’arsenal pénal.
LISNARD :
intervenir plus tôt, responsabiliser les mineurs et leurs parents, développer les TIG, réparer les dégâts, améliorer renseignement et anticipation.
Meloni vient donc de montrer ce que produit une différence fondamentale :
PASSER DU DISCOURS AU TEXTE JURIDIQUE.
On peut évidemment discuter chacune de ces mesures.
Les juges, les constitutionnalistes et les défenseurs des libertés publiques le feront.
Mais l’Italie offre désormais un test grandeur nature.
EST-CE EFFICACE ?
EST-CE CONSTITUTIONNEL ?
EST-CE APPLICABLE ?
EST-CE DISSUASIF ?
Voilà les quatre questions sérieuses.
Car après une émeute, il existe deux temporalités politiques.
La première consiste à déclarer : « Plus jamais ça. »
La seconde consiste à écrire : ARTICLE 1.
bookworm retweeted
This is the truth you don’t want to hear.
The current US Government have decided to try and inflict as much death and slaughter on Ukrainians as possible, they have decided to hold back air defence missiles previously purchased that are solely used to defend against incoming missile strikes on civilians, and civilian energy infrastructure both of which are War crimes conducted by Russia.
Furthermore with the restrictions of Starlink/Starshield that is not just used for conducting strikes against the Russian war machine, it’s used to defend themselves. They use this as part of a network to detect incoming strikes on homes, on school, on hospitals.
Furthermore the US Government are directly withholding information on strikes they can see happening, they know when the bombs are going to drop, and they know where, and instead of picking up the phone, they watch, and then they watch the aftermath and blame Zelensky.
In conjunction with Putin the internationally wanted war criminal the US Government are allowing Russia to strike civilians, hospitals like yesterday, and children’s parks the day before. They are allowing Putin to strike the Ukrainian energy sector, that in which families will rely on so they don’t freeze to death this winter.
They are doing this because they believe if they do this, then they can force Ukraine to give in and surrender, to ‘Negotiate’ as they like to say. But this won’t work, surrender means death, surrender means rape, surrender means no more Ukraine. Do you think that Ukraine would rather just give up, to allow the Russian army to sweep across their country, to rape women and children and even so to their men, like we have seen so many times throughout this war? Do they think they want to be slaughtered and put in mass graves like we have seen so far in occupied territories of Ukraine.
This isn’t just a matter of money, these services are paid for, this is a matter of death.
I will put this plainly, the US Government have blood on their hands with this, this isn’t some indirect repercussion of deciding not to do business, this is a direct attempt at trying to aid in the murder and destruction of a nation of innocent people that were invaded by an aggressor, Ukraine was a country that sent soldier to die for America after 9/11. Ukraine was a country that gave up their nuclear arsenal in an agreement because they believed that the US Government would help keep them safe, because they believed in America. It’s fucking despicable to be honest.
There has never been a more important time for the world to know the truth about what’s going on in Ukraine and the truth about the current US Government administration. There has never been a more important time for people around the world to stand up against the actions of Russia, against that of the United States Government and every other Russian ally.
Ukraine will not stop fighting, but I can tell you this much. Regular US citizens taking to the voting booths in this mid term election and voting against the Trump Administration will help save hundred’s of thousands of lives.
These people have no soul, these people have no honour, they are empty and evil vessels of hatred and depravity.
Donald J Trump is a War Criminal.
Donald J Trump is a traitor to America and he has done more for the interests of Russia than he ever would for the United States.
It’s time for the world to act, it’s time for all governments across Europe to do even more. Ukraine isn’t just a nation, it’s an example we will set for every dictator, it’s an example of what happens when someone chooses total destruction. It’s an example of whether the world will just stand by and watch or will they step in and do everything they can to stop it.
It’s time to save Ukraine. This shouldn’t be happening. Tell the world. Do something. Anything.
bookworm retweeted
We do not need to restore the West. We need to defend it...
We do not need to restore the West. Our society has not collapsed. We are stronger than ever, and it is that strength that allows us to endure adversity and continue to prosper.
There are two invasions. The first comes with tanks, aircraft and drones advancing from the east, held back by Ukraine. A nation that has survived against all odds and continues to resist an adversary many times its size. But Ukraine cannot hold forever, nor should it be expected to. We must do everything within our power to assist and reinforce its defence with resources, personnel, equipment and arms.
We owe Ukraine a debt that cannot be measured in money or weapons alone. Its people have fought a war they did not ask for, defending not only their own sovereignty but the security of Europe and global democracy. They should never have been left to bear so much of that burden alone. For that, we all owe them an apology.
The second invasion is not at our borders. It is not being carried out by immigrants or foreigners whose cultures, religions or traditions differ from our own. It is at our fingertips.
It comes through the devices we carry every day, through digital platforms weaponized by oligarchs and hostile states seeking to weaken, divide and ultimately subjugate our societies and make fools of our men and slaves of our women and children.
Through fear, these actors manipulate the masses, particularly our youth and our men. Through fabricated images, videos and narratives, they exploit the psychologically vulnerable, the socially isolated and those who struggle to distinguish truth from deception. They convince people to fear their neighbours, hate and have contempt towards women, distrust their governments and turn against their own communities. It creates traitors out of patriots, and sinners out of the righteous.
They transform ordinary citizens into unwitting instruments of information warfare, spreading the disease of disinformation to everyone around them, often without realizing that they have become part of the machinery being used against their own society, to attack their own nation.
The objective is not simply to make people believe lies. It is to destroy their ability to trust one another, distinguish fact from fiction and recognise the institutions and communities that hold their societies together. It allows them to commit arson, rape, theft and mass murder without remorse, convinced that their actions are justified, their victims are enemies and their crimes are acts of righteousness.
A population consumed by fear and suspicion becomes easier to divide, manipulate and control. A society that can no longer agree on what is real becomes increasingly incapable of recognising the threats against it, let alone defending itself. Its enemies no longer need to cross its borders when they can turn its own citizens against one another.
We do not have the answer to how we bring back those who have been lost to this manipulation, yet. I do not know how we reach people who have become so consumed by fabricated realities that they can no longer recognise the humanity of their own neighbours.
I refuse to believe they are beyond our reach, but until we understand how to reach them, we must also recognise the danger they can pose to others and take the necessary steps to protect ourselves, our communities and our institutions.
For those who remain, who refuse to surrender their judgment to fear, who continue to recognise the humanity in their neighbours and the strength of their communities, we must endure. We must not allow fear to dictate our actions. We must not permit those who seek to divide us to determine our future. And we must never mistake the deliberate manufacture of social disorder for evidence that our civilization has failed.
Our societies are not perfect, and our institutions must be subject to scrutiny, accountability and reform. But their failures do not erase what generations before us have built, defended and sacrificed for. Nor do they justify surrendering the rights, freedoms and institutions they fought to establish to oligarchs and hostile powers seeking to dismantle them.
We do not need to restore a civilization that has not fallen. We need to recognise the value of what we already have, understand the forces seeking to undermine it and stand together to defend what generations before us fought to build.
We are not a collapsing civilization waiting to be saved. We are a society worth defending.
Stay calm. Stay smart. Stay strong.
bookworm retweeted
BOCHKOV: A PUNCH! ANOTHER PUNCH! AND ZELENSKYY KNOCKS TRUMP OUT!
Trump is accustomed to hitting people who cannot fight back. It is his favorite sport. He enters the ring against an opponent whose hands have already been tied, whose gloves have been taken away, and who has been warned that every retaliatory punch will cost him his food. Donald then squares his shoulders, sticks out his belly, and demands to be recognized as the world champion.
But with Zelenskyy, something went wrong.
Trump demanded that Ukraine abandon its fight for Donbas. He explained that continued resistance was pointless, that Kyiv should accept a deal with Russia, and at the same time made it unmistakably clear that the Ukrainian president should step aside for someone more accommodating.
The first punch.
Then came concessions to Moscow, discussions about trading Russian diesel, delays in missile deliveries for Ukraine’s air defenses, and restrictions on satellite communications reported by Kyiv. Meanwhile, Trump somehow managed to declare that Russia was behaving quite reasonably and was not doing anything particularly objectionable.
The second punch.
And then something happened that the self-satisfied American heavyweight apparently never expected.
Zelenskyy stepped forward.
He openly declared that Washington was effectively pushing Ukraine toward capitulation, that supporting Putin would become a historic mistake for America, and that no promises of future economic prosperity could justify surrendering a country to an aggressor.
Consider this: the president of a country bleeding from war, dependent on American weapons and intelligence, refuses to bow his head before a man who commands enormous resources and is accustomed to treating other people's vulnerability as sufficient grounds for their unconditional submission.
What makes this particularly remarkable is that Zelenskyy understands perfectly well the price of such defiance. He knows Trump is capable of retaliation, cutting off assistance, issuing threats, and applying blackmail. He knows that plenty of supposedly sensible gentlemen in Europe are ready to advise him to be more accommodating, smile more broadly, and under no circumstances irritate the occupant of the White House.
But there is something these gentlemen overlook.
Zelenskyy represents a country that has already paid in blood for the right to determine its own destiny. And now he is being asked to exchange that right for the promise of a good deal.
I can imagine how furious Trump must be. Throughout his life, he has been accustomed to measuring people by the size of their bank accounts, the value of their real estate, and their willingness to grovel before someone wealthier. Yet here stands the president of a country devastated by war, refusing to sell something that has no price.
Of course, a diplomatic knockout has not yet occurred. Trump still possesses enormous leverage, and Ukraine desperately needs American assistance. Difficult negotiations lie ahead, and their outcome remains uncertain.
But this confrontation has already revealed something profoundly important.
Trump may be stronger than Zelenskyy. He may be wealthier, more influential, and more powerful. He may threaten him with every punishment the American administration is capable of inflicting.
But forcing him to voluntarily get down on his knees is an entirely different challenge.
Because in politics, a knockout does not happen when your opponent falls.
It happens when you discover that, despite all your power, you still cannot force him to surrender.
bookworm retweeted
The way Zelensky has handled this war, the relationships he has built, how he’s handled people, how he has played his position politically to ensure Ukraine receives continued support even through the frustrations has been incredible.
Not many people see how he handles situations when Ukraine is screwed over, when promises aren’t met, when Ukraine needs more support, but the hands he plays are something of an art-form.
He handles different leaders, personalities and political systems individually and in the different forms they are required, this man is playing 100 games of Chess at the same time and making incredible moves with each turn.
Zelensky may have short falls but one thing is for sure, without Zelensky, Ukraine would have never survived.
He is a Hero along with many of the Ukrainians helping their war efforts to defend themselves.
Zelensky’s name will go down in history with the Churchill’s of the past. His story, is every bit as magnificent, his determination is every bit as brave. His resolve is absolute.
Long Live Ukraine.
Ukrainian troop had to cut off leg to survive frontline for 200 days dailymail.com/news/article-1…
And this is why #Ukraine will never surrender to the likes of #Trump or #Musk
bookworm retweeted
I don’t think Europeans fully appreciate what is happening to the European Union right now.
The EU is under an extraordinary, multi-front assault, both from outside and from within. And I struggle to think of another period in its history when so many powerful actors had an interest in weakening it simultaneously.
Russia has spent years waging hybrid warfare against Europe. Weaponised migration, sabotage, cyberattacks, coordinated disinformation campaigns, bot networks and political interference. The objective is clear: undermine trust in democratic institutions, deepen social divisions and weaken European unity.
China has different motivations, primarily economic and geopolitical. A fragmented Europe is easier to pressure, easier to negotiate with individually and less capable of defending its economic interests.
And then there is the United States. Perhaps the most disturbing development of all.
Under Trump and MAGA, a country that helped rebuild the old continent and then spent decades supporting European integration now has an administration openly hostile to much of what the EU represents. Its own National Security Strategy even calls for cultivating resistance to Europe’s current political direction.
Think about that for a moment.
Meanwhile, within Europe, parts of the far right and far left amplify these divisions, whether through ideological alignment, political opportunism or outright sympathy for authoritarian regimes.
This doesn’t mean Russia, China and MAGA are all following some jointly coordinated master plan. They don’t have to. Their interests increasingly overlap, and Europe’s internal divisions make their work considerably easier.
What makes this particularly alarming is what is actually at stake.
For all its flaws, the EU remains one of the world’s most consequential projects built around liberal democracy, the rule of law, individual freedoms and cooperation between nations.
At a time when authoritarianism is gaining ground and even longstanding democracies are showing disturbing tendencies, that matters enormously.
Europe is far from perfect. Its bureaucracy, indecision and inability to act decisively are real problems. But the answer cannot be to retreat into 27 competing nation-states, each too small to meaningfully influence a world increasingly dominated by continental powers.
Quite the opposite.
Europe needs deeper integration, stronger common institutions, genuine strategic autonomy and the political courage to defend its interests and values.
Because fragmentation is precisely what so many external actors want.
And perhaps that’s the central irony of our time: people are being deliberately manipulated into believing that the reverse is true — that national identity and sovereignty can only be protected by weakening European cooperation. In reality, a divided Europe is less sovereign, less secure and far easier for outside powers to pressure. Therefore the very thing that will make Europe stronger is the thing its adversaries are working hardest to prevent.
A united Europe is a geopolitical power. A divided Europe is a collection of countries waiting to be played against one another.
bookworm retweeted
All of Europe, UK including, needs to get off American technology underpinning our critical services asap.
We can be blackmailed & bullied by a rogue US until we actually run on core defence & telecomms that we have a stake in.
That is another reason why we should join the EU.
US threatens Europe over Starlink restrictions ft.trib.al/0KUTiUQ
bookworm retweeted
America may eventually change its president. But Europe may never return to the dependency it once accepted.
Something remarkable is happening across Europe.
First, defence. Europe is investing in its own military industry, production capacity and strategic capabilities.
Then satellites. European programmes such as IRIS² and GOVSATCOM are building alternatives to dependence on American-controlled communications infrastructure.
Now, even payment systems. Europe is developing alternatives to Visa and Mastercard through initiatives such as Wero and the digital euro.
Different industries. The same underlying objective.
Strategic autonomy.
Europe learned from Russia that energy dependence could become a geopolitical weapon.
Now it is confronting an uncomfortable question: what happens when even your closest ally can use technological and economic dependence as political leverage?
The irony is extraordinary.
Washington wants to preserve American influence in Europe. Yet its confrontational policies may be accelerating the very European independence that could reduce that influence.
And here is the part that future American administrations should consider carefully:
Diplomatic relations can be repaired. Trust takes much longer.
Factories will not close because a new president takes office. Satellite constellations will not disappear. European payment infrastructure will not simply be dismantled.
Europe can remain America's ally without remaining dependent on America.
The United States may change its leadership in four years. But Europe is changing its strategic architecture for decades.
And that may prove to be one of the most lasting geopolitical consequences of this era.
bookworm retweeted
And now I’m going to tell you f̶r̶o̶m̶ w̶h̶i̶c̶h̶ d̶i̶r̶e̶c̶t̶i̶o̶n̶s̶ t̶h̶e̶ a̶t̶t̶a̶c̶k̶ o̶n̶ B̶e̶l̶a̶r̶u̶s̶ w̶a̶s̶ b̶e̶i̶n̶g̶ p̶r̶e̶p̶a̶r̶e̶d̶ what’s actually going to happen instead of all this hysterical white noise desperately trying to drown out the inevitable:
The Orange Man is going to lose the elections with a deafening crash, and spend the rest of his time in office, along with his entire administration, desperately fending off a third impeachment, countless investigations, and criminal prosecutions for all his wild antics. And all this pompous posturing will finally come to an end.
As for Putin, he can play Stalin all he wants, fantasize endlessly about carving up the world into three spheres of influence at some imaginary new “Yalta,” and unleash as many hordes of bots on social media as he likes.
But when, at the end of the fifth year of your glorious blitzkrieg against Ukraine, you’re still banging your head against Mala Tokmachka, suffering your second defeat at Lyman, while Ukraine is bombing Moscow and St. Petersburg, and when you’re 1.5% of the global economy, all these fantasies can only impress a handful of useful idiots from Elon Musk’s freak show.
And the man sitting next to him at this imaginary Yalta is, to put it mildly, no Roosevelt. He’s a semi-coherent, half-con artist from trashy reality TV who has failed spectacularly in Iran and has no idea how to get away with that.
As for the Chinese emperor, it’s not even clear why he would want to take part in this lunatic circus in the first place, let alone share power with these people.
bookworm retweeted
⛑️‼️BREAKING: Ukraine has carried out the first frontline CASEVAC mission using a heavy-lift aerial drone.
A wounded soldier of the 30th Mechanized Brigade was trapped at his position, with Russian drone activity and minefields making ground evacuation impossible. It was effectively a choice between attempting a highly dangerous and untested aerial evacuation or leaving the wounded with no viable way to rescue him.
A Ukrainian-made Gurzuf Defence heavy hexacopter, specially modified for casualty evacuation, successfully airlifted him to safety.
The operation was conducted through cooperation between Ukraine’s 92nd Assault Brigade, 30th and 14th Mechanized Brigades, 10th Army Corps.
The soldier is now recovering from his injuries.
bookworm retweeted
A Russian officer turned against his own miltary and fed Ukrainian forces locations of hundreds of his own soldiers before defecting to Ukraine being led across a minefield by a drone, he is now fighting for the Ukrainian army against Russian forces-WSJ
Wow...
bookworm retweeted
西方部分政客一直在私下劝乌克兰：把东部的顿巴斯让出去，战争不就能停了吗？
“土地换和平”，听上去像是一笔务实的妥协。
泽连斯基在布鲁塞尔的新闻发布会上，说出了自己的逻辑，各位且听，有没有道理：
如果普京真的只想要顿巴斯，2022 年 2 月全面开战的第一天，俄军装甲部队为什么要直扑基辅？
基辅在乌克兰中北部。
离顿巴斯前线有六七百公里。
那里既不是俄语区争议的核心，也没有东部的煤矿工业带。
那是首都。
一个国家的神经中枢。
当时俄军精锐伞兵强行突降安东诺夫机场，几十公里长的机械化纵队从切尔诺贝利一路向南狂飙，目标只有一个：
斩首政府班子，瘫痪全军指挥系统，彻底抹掉这个国家的主权。
没有首都，就没有国家。
今天俄军为什么把大部分主力压在顿巴斯打残酷的阵地战？
不是因为莫斯科的胃口变小了。
是因为他们在基辅城外被打崩了，后勤补给全线断裂，不得不狼狈撤退。
打不下首都，才被迫缩回东部，靠漫无止境的炮火犁地打消耗战。
把军事失利后的被动收缩，说成自己自始至终只要东部，这本身就是战场受挫后的包装。
如果乌克兰真听了那些政客的劝告，主动从顿巴斯撤军，接下来会发生什么？
很多人不知道顿巴斯在军事防御上意味着什么。
从 2014 年起，乌克兰依托当地密集的重工业城市群和高地，修筑了整整十年的坚固防御带。
斯拉维扬斯克、克拉马托尔斯克，地下工事纵横，全是最坚固的钢筋混凝土支撑点。
这是挡住俄军向西推进的最厚一道装甲盾牌。
一旦乌克兰为了换取一纸停火协议把这些阵地拱手让出，整条防线就必须向西后撤数百公里。
防线后面是一马平川的平原，无险可守。
这等于自己走出修了十年的堡垒，站在开阔地上，把命运押在侵略者的信誉上。
面对一个公开宣称乌克兰根本不配算作一个国家和民族的对手，让步换不来满足。
割让土地只会向对方发出最危险的激励信号：暴力吞并确实有效。
停火只会给对方提供宝贵的喘息期，重组军工产能，补充前线兵员，把重炮和装甲集结地直接前移到乌克兰毫无遮拦的腹地门槛上。
等下一轮攻势再次打响，乌克兰已经失去了最后一道天然屏障。
那些在布鲁塞尔催促乌克兰早点签字妥协的人，总觉得这是花最少代价结束冲突的捷径。
泽连斯基把欧洲一直避而不谈的后果直接摆上了台面：
如果乌克兰的防御彻底崩塌，国家解体，会发生什么？
两千万难民将直接涌入欧洲。
欧洲各国的边境管控、财政预算、社会治安和福利系统，会在几个月内被彻底冲垮。
为了看守多出来的两千公里高危边境，北约必须把几十万正规部队永久前移，常年维持战备。
现在省下来的每一笔防务预算，日后都会变成整个欧洲不得不掏出十倍代价去填的安全黑洞。
在残酷的地缘现实面前，最致命的幻想就是拿生存底牌去喂侵略者的胃口。
停火线从来不是靠善意画出来的。
面对一个旨在消灭你国家地位的对手，你主动让出的每一寸阵地，最后都会变成刺向你胸口的下一柄刺刀。
bookworm retweeted
Everybody else seems to have bought a blue tick.
There is only me left.
Shoutout if you aren't ever giving Elon Musk a penny.
bookworm retweeted
I have a disturbing theory about Donald Trump’s increasingly bizarre behavior. What if Vladimir Putin has finally lost patience and delivered an ultimatum: “Listen, Donald. Do whatever you want with Ukraine and Zelensky, but they must surrender soon. Otherwise, everything we’ve collected about you over the years becomes public. You’ll lose Congress, face impeachment, and perhaps spend your remaining years behind bars.”
This is speculation, not an established fact. But imagine how much of Trump's behavior it could explain.
He eases pressure on Russia, announces questionable ceasefires, portrays Ukraine as responsible for the war, pressures Zelensky, restricts intelligence cooperation, and interferes with Ukraine’s ability to strike Russian energy infrastructure. Meanwhile, Moscow continues its aggression.
And what has all this achieved? Nothing resembling the Ukrainian capitulation Putin wants.
At this point, I wouldn't even be surprised if Trump offered Russia Patriot air defense systems to protect its refineries, then threatened Ukraine with American military intervention unless Kyiv accepted Moscow’s demands.
Naturally, he would call it “forcing Ukraine to make peace.”
Imagine the nightmare: Ukraine facing military pressure from two nuclear superpowers simultaneously. And thirty years later, Russian and American textbooks describing how Washington and Moscow supposedly “saved the world from Ukrainian Nazism.”
Absurd? Certainly. But so much that once seemed politically unthinkable has already entered mainstream discussion.
My deeper concern is that Russia learned something from the Soviet Union’s collapse: direct repression and military force alone cannot secure lasting geopolitical dominance. Influence, dependency, corruption, propaganda, and political manipulation can be far more effective.
For decades, Moscow cultivated relationships with influential Western politicians, exploited European dependence on Russian energy, and supported political movements that weakened Western unity.
Gerhard Schröder’s relationship with Russian energy interests is well documented. Russian support for certain European far-right movements has also raised serious concerns. But allegations involving other politicians require evidence, not assumptions.
Migration crises, economic insecurity, and political polarization have created opportunities for Kremlin influence operations. Russia did not invent every European crisis, but it has repeatedly demonstrated an interest in exploiting divisions within democratic societies.
This is the old imperial strategy: divide and rule.
I also wonder whether Russia benefits strategically from Washington becoming increasingly entangled in Middle Eastern conflicts while Ukraine faces growing pressure.
And now comes the most dangerous part: the approaching November 3 congressional elections.
We have less than three weeks. I fear that this period could produce particularly reckless decisions concerning Ukraine, Russia, and American foreign policy.
Perhaps my imagined blackmail scenario is completely wrong. I hope it is. But the central question remains:
How did the democratic world reach a point where Ukraine must worry not only about Russian aggression, but also about pressure from the very country that once promised to defend its sovereignty?
History may eventually reveal the answer. For now, the consequences are already frightening.
bookworm retweeted
BREAKING: Billionaire Sir Richard Branson unleashes a SCORCHING attack on Trump and his disgusting cozying up to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
This is EXACTLY the kind of thing that gets under Trump's skin...
"I thought I’d never have to say this in my lifetime, but this is 2026, and sadly nothing is what it used to be," Branson, the founder of Virgin Group, wrote on LinkedIn. "The Trump administration has become an appeaser to autocrats and dictators, putting their personal whims before the best interests of the American people and those of the free world. What is it about Putin that President Trump fawns over?"
"How will America’s allies ever be able to trust this administration again when they are now turning against them at a time of war and suffering?" he asked.
Trump has repeatedly betrayed our Ukrainian allies in recent days. First, he announced a stunning deal with Putin to allow millions of barrels of diesel into the global markets, a move that will directly pump money into the Russian war machine. Then, he began a concerted smear campaign against President Zelenskyy and said that Putin is easier to deal with.
The backstabbing escalated when Washington failed to provide its usual early warning to Kyiv of an incoming Russian ballistic missile attack. Now, it appears that the White House ordered a temporary disruption of Starshield, a military version of Elon Musk's Starlink that the Ukrainian armed forces rely upon.
"The slowdown of Starlink/Starshield and the inexplicable lack of advance warning of Russian missile launches have already caused Ukrainian civilians to die unnecessarily," wrote Branson. "How much worse can it get?"
"If one thing is clear it’s that European leaders must overcome the initial shock about Trump’s recent actions and step up to the plate. It’s as much about Europe’s freedom as it is about Ukraine’s sovereignty. Both are worth fighting for," he continued. "All options should be on the table now, from the transfer of frozen Russian assets to Ukraine to the delivery of advanced weapons systems such as Germany’s Taurus."
"Why oh why is this happening? We cannot let the free world be dismantled before our very eyes," Branson concluded.
We couldn't agree more. Trump is an enemy to Ukraine, an enemy to democracy, and an enemy to the American people. When Democrats retake power, we have our work cut out for us. Every last trace of this monstrous man's legacy must be erased.
Please ❤️ and share if you think that Trump is Putin's puppet!
