Old Bull Lee

RIA, PM, Recovering Banker, Cook, Cheese Maker, Music Buff, Outhouse Philosopher, Father of 6, Senior Citizen, Rabid Capitalist, and usually ignored. It/it

[Old Bull Lee @davebudge]

“Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.”

― H.L. Mencken

[Miles Taylor @MilesTaylorUSA]

Donald Trump has effectively killed NATO, at least for now. He didn't have to tear up a treaty or fire a shot.

Here's the proof:

A new poll shows the number of Europeans who see America as an "ally" has plummeted 50% since Trump came back into office.

NINE out of TEN of our closest friends no longer see us as a friend at all.

Put another way, the world's most consequential alliance has been effectively cut in half in 18 months.

Some folks might say this is a "mood" that will pass, but they're wrong.

Alliances aren't built on paper. They're built on one belief, i.e. that when the worst comes, your friends will come for you.

That same survey found majorities in every European country now doubt America would defend them if attacked. If you don't know anything about international relations, let me tell you: this is basically the heart of the NATO alliance. It's now got a stake in it.

Article 5 is the promise our allies invoked to run to our side after 9/11. They officially no longer believe we'd return the favor.

Trump may not grasp what that means. But trust me, Vladimir Putin does. Xi Jinping does. Russia and China see how weak Trump has made America and the West.

Donald Trump is headed to France next week for a G7 summit... and I hope our allies read him the riot act. If they don't, they should be prepared to write NATO's eulogy.

Full story: https://t.co/E0xkJxgnxC

[Euromaidan Press @EuromaidanPress]

A joint Nordic-Baltic investigation documented Russian military construction along NATO's northern flank with a capacity for up to 115,000 troops

The Petsamo base, 10 km from Norway, is doubling in size
https://t.co/WpZa0Cribn

[Old Bull Lee @davebudge]

Because we know how public ownership creates consumer surplus.

[Polymarket @Polymarket]

JUST IN: Trump announces the government will seek equity stakes in top AI companies to make the public “very rich”

[Glenn Greenwald @ggreenwald]

Trump is pretty open-minded, but the one thing he won't abide are men who cheat on their wives and are accused of sexual assault.

[Old Bull Lee @davebudge]

Pre-war traffic through the straight was ~80 ships/day if memory serves. So they got less than 3 days of normal traffic.

[RedboxGlobal @RedboxWire]

TRUMP ANNOUNCES SECRET US MILITARY MISSION LAST MONTH ESCORTED OVER 100M BARRELS OF OIL AND 200+ COMMERCIAL SHIPS THROUGH HORMUZ, DECLARING THE US CONTROLS THE STRAIT, IRAN'S MILITARY IS DEFEATED, AND ITS ECONOMY IS LOST. - TRUTH SOCIAL

[Ryan Ellis @RyanLEllis]

Good thing they are paying higher tariff prices, though.

[Old Bull Lee @davebudge]

My wife just called to bitch about the $85 bucks it took to fill up her car. I said "Well, have you seen the reflecting pool?"

[Justin Amash @justinamash]

“I love the inflation.”
—Donald Trump

[Cathy Young 🇺🇸🇺🇦🇮🇱 @CathyYoung63]

Some people will read this as endorsement of Platner. It's not -- @SarahLongwell25 talks about why some voters defend him (& makes clear that she is alarmed and distressed by this situation). But totally agree that anyone who backs Trump should shut up on the morals.

[Garry Kasparov @Kasparov63]

To coin a phrase, Putin could shoot a man on 5th Avenue and Trumpists wouldn’t do anything about it…

[Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @ReichlinMelnick]

Did the Border Patrol's actions here make America safe?

[Old Bull Lee @davebudge]

Terrorism every day.

[NEXTA @nexta_tv]

⚡️ At the railway station in Sumy, Ukraine, a Russian drone fell onto the platform while people were boarding a train.

Four people are reported to have been injured.

[Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger]

Calvin Coolidge: "The people have to bear their own responsibilities. There is no method by which that burden can be shifted to the government. It is not the enactment, but the observance of laws, that creates the character of a nation."

[Kareem Rifai 🌐 @KareemRifai]

The supporters, voters, and donors:

[Mike Young @micyoung75]

The man running the agency responsible for 340 million Americans' health arrives at 10am, leaves by 4pm, skips his own division chief meetings, and when he does show up - scrolls his phone and gets described by colleagues as "checked out."

Ebola is spreading. Six Americans already exposed. He has not briefed himself with CDC scientists. His response to a reporter asking if he was worried: "Yeah, we're working on it."

The CDC is being run by a health economist with no public health experience who already has another full-time job running NIH. Half of the 27 NIH institutes have no permanent director. The top FDA drug regulator got fired in May - Kennedy found out after it happened.
When measles killed two children in Texas, the CDC official leading the response asked repeatedly to brief Kennedy. He was rebuffed every time.

The person actually running HHS operations is a longtime personal adviser whose policy spreadsheet - more than 50 items - is hidden from the department's own policy team. When Kennedy gets asked a question, his standing answer is "just run that by Stefanie."

This is not a management philosophy. This is a vacancy wearing a title.

[Jim Geraghty @jimgeraghty]

Pay attention you ignorant MF

[Jay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger]

At the D-Day ceremony in France, the U.S. secretary of defense decried the invasion of Europe by immigrants. Without saying a word about Russia's invasion of a European country, Ukraine. Which says a lot, as @saletan points out. https://t.co/37f1nu1LLU

[Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 @IAPonomarenko]

Fresh poll:

61% of Ukrainians living in Ukraine trust Zelensky. 34% do not.

The most popular figures in Ukraine’s military and political leadership are Robert “Magyar” Brovdi (70% trust, 7% distrust), General Valerii Zaluzhnyi (73%/21%), and General Kyrylo Budanov (70%/22%).

General Andrii Biletskyi has a 49% trust rating against 12% distrust. Commander-in-Chief General Oleksandr Syrskyi stands at 52%/36%. Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov is at 50%/21%.

Interestingly, the once flamboyant and scandalous politician Oleh Liashko is now experiencing a genuine renaissance in his popularity: 47% trust him, while 43% do not. Back in 2021, 70% of Ukrainians distrusted him. The reason is that after the war began, he joined the military, quickly rose through the ranks, and unexpectedly proved himself to be an effective and honest commander of a UAV battalion.

Military volunteer and entertainer Serhii Prytula is trusted by 46% and distrusted by 44%. Kyiv Mayor Vitalii Klitschko is trusted by 38% and distrusted by 50%.

Meanwhile, Yurii Boiko, one of the most prominent pro-Russian figures in Ukrainian politics before 2022, has a trust rating of just 6%, while 78% view him negatively.

And here are the ratings of the people whom the Trump administration was reportedly engaging with not long ago as potential alternatives to Zelensky:

Former President Petro Poroshenko is trusted by 26% of Ukrainians and distrusted by 71%. Former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko stands at 11%/85%.

[Aaron Blake @AaronBlake]

It gets worse. The piece also makes this claim, which is false and which Trump's own DOJ has debunked.

The Washington Times op-ed just states it as fact.

[Heather Long @byHeatherLong]

Inflation is so high that it's erasing all wage gains.

Inflation: 4.2% in May for the past year
Wage growth: 3.4% in May for the past year.

Americans are getting squeezed financially. This isn't just "bad vibes" about the economy. There is real pain, especially for middle-class and lower-income households. It's tough because so many basic items are seeing sizable price increases: gas, electricity, food, medical care.