Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was at the G-20 summit in India. Russia hasn’t been welcome in very many places since the criminal invasion of Ukraine but…India’s Observer Research Foundation invited them to this meeting, so they showed up. Nice. Lavrov started off well. He accused the West of having a double standard when they decry Russia’s invasion of Ukraine after the US’ own illegal invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq. (I’d say he has a point.)

But, then he turned to his comedy routine and said about the war in Ukraine, “…which we are trying to stop, which was launched against us using Ukrainian people…” The audience groaned and laughed out loud. Straight into his face. Some, still loyal to (or dependent upon) Russia didn’t – but I bet they wanted to.

This war in Ukraine was ALL Russia’s doing. Ukraine is NOT harboring Nazis. Most of the world knows this without question. American cons don’t know it, largely because they like to read ‘Russia Today.’ These days it goes by the name of RT.com but that’s what the RT stood for originally, ‘Russia Today.’ You might not be surprised to hear RT.com has a pro-Russian bias, being state-owned as it is. That’s why so many cons want the US out of Ukraine. US weapons are making it more difficult for their backup dear leader, Putin, to capture and imprison Ukraine back into the old USSR.

I think it’s past time for Russia to pack up what’s left of their gear and go home. I also think Russia should have to hand Crimea back over to the Ukrainians in compensation for all the trouble and damage they’ve done in Ukraine for no good reason. Besides, I suspect Russia was emboldened to try for all of Ukraine after they were allowed to finesse Crimea on threat of war in 2014…

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I had one big reason for not wanting Hillary to be the candidate in 2016. No, that’s not right. I had several reasons but one of the biggest was this: since husband Bill was President, the right-wing insane machine has been trashing her name and everything about her. Cons hate her with a white-hot passion and nothing, and I do mean nothing, would inflame the right to come out and vote against their opponent like running Hillary. (Please note: that’s exactly what happened, too.) But, Hillary had purchased the nomination fair(ish) and square(ish) and, as a direct result, the world was subjected to “President Trump.” Nice job, DNC.

45 is still frighteningly popular among the cons. It’s true, they have no idea about his true record or behavior or crimes or mendacity or failures, faults, or fabrications. On the right, the conservative media bubble ran interference for the Former Guy to near-perfect effect and the cons were never allowed to see anything other than the strong, capable leader he never was, never has been, never will be. But the rest of us did.

On the left, we couldn’t believe that the embarrassing moron who had moved into the White House was really our “President.” As he began to monetize his presidency, the shock began to wear off and the left started getting angry. As he failed at one task after another (something the con media bubble papered over nicely), I’d say anger on the left increased exponentially as the next four years unfolded. At the end of four years, as the left was all muttering into our masks about the complete incompetence of the Feckless Fuckup, we were sick and tired of it – and we were furious. And not the faux outrage so beloved on the right, this was true rage. We had come to realize that he had to go and, in the same way Hillary had brought out the right to vote against her, every person on the left fell out to vote against trumpery. I’m not sure anybody was actually voting FOR Biden. Every thinking person knew 45 had to go and we banded together to do the right thing, dump trump.

We did, too. The largest voter turnout in history left him on the outs and then, in response, he was kind enough to remind us all of the actual and honest danger he represents to our once-great nation by launching a temper tantrum the world will never forget in the form of the January 6th insurrection. It’s a heartbreaking reality that he has never been held to account for his traitorous ways and likely never will be. These days, ‘Rule of Law’ is little more than a catch-phrase in out submerging nation. Because the Democrats refused to prosecute and failed even to implement the 14th amendment prohibition against a person ever holding public office again if they’ve participated in an insurrection, he’s back – and threatening the nation all over again. He told the crowed at this year’s CPAC (I think that stands for ‘Conservative People Acting Crappily) conference that he is their “retribution” and that the country will be “lost forever” if he doesn’t win. But we all know, when it comes to cons, every accusation is a confession.

But THIS time, the white-hot hatred of one’s opponent is owned by the left. Will Rogers once famously said, “I don’t belong to any organized political party. I’m a Democrat!” But I think the Dems and progressives will fall out in large numbers to vote against him again. (He was shellacked last time because his pandemic had run wildly out of control and most people were forced to vote on paper. DO THAT AGAIN. Vote on paper.) I suspect the visceral hatred of the man will inspire the left to move heaven and earth to get out the vote. I hope so.

I’ll tell you this: The danger hasn’t passed and the threat is real. Make sure your voting registration is good (cons are forever trying to disenroll Dems) and vote – on paper – in this next election. Since the legal and political apparatus of this once-great nation seems unable to stop him, we, the people must act on our own…