Dk-IA

[Sarah Longwell @SarahLongwell25]

Things conservatives told me when I was in my 20’s:

*Character counts
*Crony capitalism is bad
*Russia is our enemy
*Tariffs are taxes
*The Constitution is sacrosanct
*Government power should be limited, restrained, and checked by congress.

Guess they were just joking.

[Garry Kasparov @Kasparov63]

The torch of talking tough about a tough bill that they never advance has been passed from Sen. Graham to Sen. Cotton. And again, will Trump enact and enforce it, or will the we just get another chapter of "tough on Russia" lip service while Russia murders more Ukrainians?

[Mark Warner @MarkWarner]

Well folks, as expected, Trump revealed essentially nothing new.

His speech was just lies & long-debunked conspiracies about the 2020 election.

This is all just a prelude to interfere in our midterms — don’t fall for it.

[David French @DavidAFrench]

This is honestly pitiful. If you don't have the tiny amount of political courage that it takes to answer that question, why should we believe that you'd deal with Trump with anything other than total subservience?

[David French @DavidAFrench]

The faster the center-right and the center-left realize that they have more in common with each other than with the extremists on their own "sides," the better off we'll be.

[Dk-IA @DK_IA34]

You are embarrassing. Britain stood alone against Nazi germany for months takings horrific casualties while the US floundered in neutrality. Without Churchill and Great Britain’s heroic stand the war was lost. You are an ignorant idiot.

[Ron DeSantis @RonDeSantis]

And if it wasn’t for America the insignia on the pub would be written in German.

[Ron DeSantis @RonDeSantis]

And if it wasn’t for America the insignia on the pub would be written in German.

[Mark Valorian @markvalorian]

A critical element that the "rulebook purists" arguing Balogun deserved a red card are conveniently overlooking:

BALOGUN was the one who was challenged from behind.

The Bosnian player played *through* Balogun from behind and placed himself in the path of Balogun's natural step.

When he begins taking that step, Balogun has no idea the Bosnian player would even be in front of him. In that sense, you can't really even consider his move a "challenge." It was simply a step that incidentally landed in the same place the opponent's foot did.

In fact, the reason Balogun's step came down so hard is *because* the Bosnian player challenged into him and knocked him off balance.

This is not "reckless" or "excessive force" by any stretch of the imagination.

The red card was *obviously* unjustified from the outset. The only thing FIFA got wrong here is not immediately suspending the red card after the match.

[Jeremy Schaap @JeremySchaap]

On Balogun, via ESPN's @MarkOgden_ , here's former Premier League ref Andy Davies:

"In my postmatch review, I spoke about not only the decision being incorrect, but the VAR process not aligning to protocol, as only slo-mo and still pictures were presented to the referee when asked to review the situation at the screen," Davies said. "Real-time footage should have been considered by the referee, and this was not the case.

"In my opinion, FIFA has reviewed the incident internally and felt that either the judgment to send off Balogun was incorrect, or the correct process to do so via VAR was not followed. But either way, this outcome feels like a pivot from FIFA using a regulation to add credibility to their reasoning. The decision lacks transparency and a credible rationale as to why a red card has effectively been overturned."

To summarize, Davies says the call was wrong and the wrong procedure was used to make it. That's 0 for 2.

But FIFA owes it to everyone--the USMNT, its fans, Belgium, everyone else--to explain the process.

[Richard Hanania @RichardHanania]

The scale of Trump’s fraud on his own supporters is awe inspiring,

Nearly a million traders on his memecoin lost $3.81 bill. That’s $3,800 per person.

He robbed his most devoted supporters in broad daylight and there is zero outrage about it on the right.

What a movement.

[Matt Van Swol @mattvanswol]

🚨#BREAKING: A German soccer fan who flew to the USA but was fearful about coming because of news about criminals and people being mean...

...breaks down into TEARS, live on air saying he has FALLEN IN LOVE with America after a random man named "Bob" in Boston gave him a ride home after he was stuck at a game with no way back to his hotel

The German soccer fan's name is Sebastian, he said after meeting Bob, he extended his entire trip.

He said leaving America will hurt worse than watching Germany get knocked out of the World Cup.

"I fall in love with America. I'm sorry, it's just so emotional. Americans are not rude... if we are together, we can achieve great things."

THIS IS THE AMERICA I KNOW!!!!!! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

[Nancy Pelosi Stock Tracker ♟ @pelositracker]

You just can't make this up

The day before Trump announced a tariff pause that sent the S&P 500 up 9.5%

His accounts purchased 327 stocks worth up to $12.8 million

By law, those trades had to be disclosed within 45 days

Instead, they were disclosed over a year late, for a $200 penalty

[Glenn Greenwald @ggreenwald]

The magnitude of Trump's personal corruption and the monetizing of the presidency by him and his family have no precedent in US history.

It takes a total peasant mentality, or some weird cultish devotion, to defend or excuse this, especially if you objected to corrupt Biden transactions (as I did). It's on a completely different scale.

Trump set up a crypto company (World Liberty Financial) 4 days before his inauguration, then had the UAE pour hundreds of millions into his pockets for 49% of it, then gave rewards to the UAE. Jared getting $2 billion from the Saudis. On and on and on.

[David French @DavidAFrench]

And to add to the injustice and absurdity, Trump is likely to pardon everyone involved, including himself. And we've barely even begun to talk about the national security implications of Trump's international graft.

[Mike Levin @MikeLevin]

Let me tell you what just got reported, because you will not believe it until you see it laid out.

The Trump administration cut a billion-dollar tungsten deal with Kazakhstan. Tungsten is the metal we need for missile warheads, fighter jets, and computer chips. Trump himself got on the phone to close it. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick worked it from the inside, sending letters, leaning on the Kazakh president, lining up as much as $1.6 billion in federal financing.

Within weeks of those negotiations, investors tied to a firm partly owned by Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump took a 20% stake in an entity connected to the very same Kazakhstan project their father was negotiating. Around that same time, Cantor Fitzgerald, the firm run by Lutnick’s own sons, raised $210 million for a partner in the deal and pocketed the fees.

The fathers set the policy. The sons cashed in.

Six days after the Trump sons and their partners moved their money, Lutnick signed the final deal.

The reporting found one or both families have financial ties to at least 14 companies working with the government on critical mining deals.

The total federal funding flowing toward those companies tops $8.9 billion.

This is your tax money.

It is supposed to secure our supply chains and protect our troops, not pad the portfolios of the President’s children and the Commerce Secretary’s children.

This is the most corrupt administration in American history. It is not close.

We must keep digging, and keep asking the questions they do not want asked. Republicans in Congress are unwilling to lift a finger. Mike Johnson is running a protection racket.

Either we will end the corruption, or the corruption will be the end of us.

https://t.co/yFOl7zvOhC

[Dk-IA @DK_IA34]

Inject this into my veins. I could watch this all day.

[Andrew Neil @afneil]

The US has circulated its version of the Memo of Understanding with Iran to G7 leaders in France. It’s as bad if not worse than expected.
— The moment it’s signed (Friday) sanctions on the export of Iran oil are lifted. So the regime can start replenishing its coffers immediately.
— The US commits to doing nothing to undermine or destabilise the Iranian regime (it started the war to remove it).
— The US specifically commits to ending its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz but Iran does not commit specifically to returning the Strait to toll/fee free transit exactly as before the war, with no Iranian control/regulation whatsoever .
— All sanctions against Iran will be dropped should phase two negotiations go well. And America will withdraw its forces from the region.
— The US ‘undertakes’ to work with Iran and Gulf allies to create a $300 billion reconstruction package for Iran. So America will now become a partner with the tyrants of Tehran, who Trump only recently wanted to overthrow, in rebuilding their economy.
— All matters related to Iran’s nuclear capabilities are kicked into the ‘final agreement’ in 60 days time (or longer if necessary).
— No mention of Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities or its financing of terrorist proxies.
And that’s just about it. When Trump insisted the war would only end with ‘unconditional surrender’ it never crossed my mind he meant his own.

[Michael McFaul @McFaul]

This agreement is far worse than I expected. To reopen the strait— a strait that was open before the war— we and our partners are transferring billions to the autocrats. We get nothing else— no elimination of enriched uranium, missiles, or terrorist support. And to add one final gift, we agree to not help the Iranian people pursue their democratic aspirations. Just incredible.

[David French @DavidAFrench]

This is an astonishing document. Not a single war aim has been achieved, but Iran receives enormous financial incentives, and even Hezbollah gets some benefits. What an absolute disaster. https://t.co/uj3990eh6q

[Kate from Kharkiv @BohuslavskaKate]

Today, Ukrainian drones attacked Moscow’s largest oil refinery.

To understand the scale of the strike, a few key facts about Moscow Oil Refinery:

- Located just 15 kilometers from the Kremlin.
- Supplies up to 40% of Moscow’s gasoline and about 50% of its diesel fuel.
- Overall, it meets around 70% of gasoline needs for Russian capital and surrounding region.
- One in every three cars in Moscow is fueled by products from this refinery.
- Bitumen from the plant is used to build or repair every second street in Moscow.

Drones struck and damaged a key refining unit at Moscow oil refinery, likely causing the facility to halt operations for an extended period of time!