“Citizens of EU countries, you should realize your authorities have unilaterally entered into a war with Russia . So be vigilant and do not be surprised by anything. The peaceful sleep is over. But you know who to ask why!”
– Dmitry Medvedev, Former Russian President
“Russia started this war, Russia continues to wage it, and Russia could end it today simply by withdrawing its troops and respecting Ukraine’s sovereignty. The full responsibility lies with the aggressor.”
– Kaja Kallas, European Union Foreign Minister
“We are dealing with a ruthless aggressor. Vladimir Putin has chosen war, and he must bear full responsibility for the suffering, destruction, and death he has caused.“
– Donald Tusk, Prime Minister of Poland
“Western civilization depends on a United States that fulfills its historic obligation as leader of the free world. That means ensuring that the monsters who seek our destruction never prevail.”
– Mike Pompeo, Former Secretary of State
“Vladimir Putin is personification of evil with absolute power. He wants to reassemble as much of Soviet Union or Russian Empire as he can. He does not believe Ukraine has right to exist as independent country. We didn’t listen carefully enough. He says it all out loud.“
– General David Petraeus, Former Director of the CIA
“We stand firmly with our NATO ally Romania. The United States will defend every inch of NATO territory.”
– U.S. NATO Ambassador Matthew Whitaker
New Jersey – An Insurrection in the Making: Radical left-wing groups are purposely attacking federal law enforcement members. They are NOT hiding their intentions. This isn’t a demonstration gone bad, these are violent rioters who are openly attacking U.S. government facilities, personnel, and calling for the killing of federal agents.
Those breaking the law, attacking federal agents, or threatening to kill federal agents should be arrested and prosecuted.
And remember, many of these folks are just “using” ICE as an excuse to stir civil unrest and revolution. Funded by those who hate America. This is no game.
We cannot expect to live in a country based on the rule of law if we allow every law that is inconvenient, because you fear to be viewed as mean or racist, to not be enforced.
This is getting out of hand and is moving to a neighborhood near you!
Not a good situation… it’s time to draw a clear line between demonstrating and rioting/insurrection.
Talk, yell, march, and protest all you want. Obstruct, engage in violence, or threaten bodily harm… you’ve crossed the line.
Putin Strikes/Tests NATO: On the night of May 29, a Russian drone crashed into the roof of a multi-story residential building in Galati, near the Ukrainian border, testing NATO’s response and continuing to terrorize the civilian population.
This isn’t a declaration of war on Romania or NATO, it’s a test, it’s seeing how far can Russia go before NATO actually responds.
A weak and indecisive response is what Russia expects. This helps them plan and play. Don’t worry, we’ll know when Russia attacks another country… it won’t be a single drone.
The greatest risk to NATO members is the inability of NATO and the United States to respond in a timely system.
Sanctions were/are working… we can do more. Support of Ukraine can be increased and provided faster. A no-fly zone over much of Ukraine would be an appropriate response. There are options.
Russia is OK with a war of attrition… both in bodies and equipment. That’s clearly Ukraine’s biggest liability, especially if NATO, EU, and the U.S. don’t step up to live up to our obligations.
Pay attention folks… Putin and Russia are getting desperate.
Putin & Russia Continue Committing War Crimes: Day after day, Russia continues bombing civilian targets. They violate international law and any norms of war with blatant disregard.
Ukraine targets military targets… taking out the military industrial complex and its supply network.
It’s frustrating to watch as the United States and the European Union and its member states “support” Ukraine slowly and carefully while Putin’s Russia murders civilians, kidnaps children, and attempts to blackmail and intimidate his neighbors.
Some are looking for a peace agreement… we have one. Ukraine, Russia, the United States, and others signed the Budapest Agreement where Ukraine gave up its nuclear arsenal in return for EVERYONE involved guaranteeing their sovereignty and borders.
Russia… ONLY Russia violated that agreement and attacked Ukraine.
Putin’s Russia is slowly falling apart. Maybe, just maybe, a new leader will emerge that wants to make Russia great again… enrich its people… and join the civilized, peaceful world as a constructive participant versus a warmongering bully.
Let the oligarch and Putin’s cronies keep their billions and milk their own economy. Their folks accept it.
All Russia has to do is retreat from Ukraine, respect their neighbors, and join the international community as a partner rather than an adversary. Russia is the aggressor NOT the victim.
There is much to be gained… but it will depend on what Russia chooses to do next.
Democrats Autopsy: You’ve got to read it… embarrassing and the total lack of self-awareness is striking.
Any PoliSci 101 student could summarize the Democrat’s problem: lousy candidate and a party leadership that has lost touch with the electorate by being too woke, too progressive, and too out of touch with mainstream America.
This is NOT your parents’ Democratic Party!
Read more below and follow me on X & GETTR – @sanuzis
–Saul Anuzis
Saul’s News Weekly Rewind Video
This Week: Byron Donalds gets a huge endorsement for Florida governor, Joe Biden sues the DOJ, and new $250 bill in the works with President Trump on the front!
Primaries prove Trump clout stronger than ever
That is good news for Republicans as the midterms approach
President Trump has a way of making his political adversaries adopt new heroes.
We just saw another example of this phenomenon in the Republican primary election that concluded in Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District last week.
Nearly all the nation’s mainstream media, populated by mostly left-of-center journalists, gave approving coverage to incumbent Republican Rep. Thomas Massie, a self-described libertarian whom it would otherwise treat with tremendous disdain.
But in this election, Mr. Massie was being challenged by Ed Gallrein, a Kentucky farmer and retired Navy SEAL officer endorsed by Mr. Trump.
Because of the Trump support, media and congressional Democrats rallied behind Mr. Massie, casting him as a lovable eccentric, an oddball inventor who also just happens to serve in Congress. They gave him this cover because he’s been the leading thorn in the president’s side in the House of Representatives, opposing the Trump “America First” agenda and siding with radical leftists against key Republican priorities.
It was a classic “The enemy of my enemy is my friend” situation, and Democrats and their media allies dug in hard for Mr. Massie.
Despite these efforts, their guy got thrashed by Mr. Gallrein, whose successful campaign my public affairs firm was proud to advise.
Can Republicans Survive High Food and Gas Prices?
Classic kitchen table issues have the GOP on edge as midterms approach.
Four years ago, then-President Joe Biden and the Democrats were fretting over the cost of groceries and gas. As the 2022 midterms approached, 40-year-high inflation sent the cost of living through the roof. Prices at the pump soared to an average of more than five dollars a gallon by mid-June. Biden’s approval dropped below 40% for the first time, never to recover, and only the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade saved Democrats from a blowout loss in November. With the tables now turned and Republicans controlling both chambers of Congress, could the same issues that haunted the Democrats throughout the Biden era now rear their ugly heads in Trump’s final term? In an iteration of Yogi Berra’s déjà vu all over again, Trump’s average approval has fallen below 40% for the first time as gas prices are spiking and inflation concerns rise — a mirror image of 2022.
It’s not like gloom and doom dominate the economic horizon. Inflation is certainly lower than the 9% peak four years ago, but it has reemerged as an issue, albeit not to the extent it was for Biden, but it has risen again to above 3%. While there was much discussion about lower interest rates in the new era of Warshonomics, we are now hearing that an interest rate hike may be in the offing. When those who may not be MAGA advocates voted for Donald Trump on the promise of a sound economy and lower cost of living — not an insubstantial number — experience food and especially gas prices rising instead of falling, their allegiance to the Trump agenda is placed in jeopardy, no matter how weak and out of touch the Democrats may be.
Affordability politics are here to stay
“I should be securely in the middle class,” Kris Massey, a 57-year-old nurse practitioner who lives near Nashville, told CNN. “I should be fine, and I’m not. I can’t be the only one feeling like this.”
As that CNN article shows, a lot of people in America are struggling to get by right now, thanks in part to a huge spike in prices caused by President Trump’s war against Iran, which retaliated by closing the Strait of Hormuz. The nationwide average for a gallon of gas is $4.45, per AAA’s tracker. Consumer sentiment just hit an all-time low—worse not only than during the Great Recession the pandemic, and even the oil crises of the 1970s. Since 2021, CNN notes, prices are up more than 25 percent.
The high cost of everything played a pivotal role in the 2024 election, dragging down approval of the Biden-Harris administration and boosting Trump’s campaign, which focused on bringing down prices. Now, looking ahead to the November midterms and the 2028 presidential election, the table has turned: Without really doing much of anything—largely because they hold no power in Washington—the Democratic Party is favored to retake at least one chamber of Congress in the fall and will likely be in a strong position to retake the presidency two years later. Affordability politics has become a pendulum, with consumer sentiment driving electoral shifts: Voters punish incumbent parties for high prices and empower minority parties, and then a few years later they reverse course. That’s good news for the Democrats in the near term—but a warning to them as well.
Texas Senate to Leans Republican Following Paxton Win
KEY POINTS FROM THIS ARTICLE
— In the closely watched Texas Senate race, state Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) easily defeated Sen. John Cornyn (R) in yesterday’s GOP runoff.
— With Paxton’s nomination, the Texas Senate race moves from Likely Republican to Leans Republican, as Republicans went with a riskier general election candidate. But, as our rating suggests, riskier can still win.
— We are making the same move in TX-35, a San Antonio-area seat that was redrawn to have a mild red hue, as Democrats avoided nominating their weaker option.
— Elsewhere in the South, it appears South Carolina’s House map will retain one blue-leaning seat for the 2026 election.
Democrat Hopes for Senate Takeover Hit a Reality Roadblock
While the pollsters and betting markets have the Democratic Party on course to take back the US House of Representatives in this November’s midterm elections, control of the Senate has become a whispered aspiration. Party leaders and pundits are – albeit cautiously – suggesting that flipping the upper chamber is within the realm of possibility. But like Icarus, who flew too close to the sun, there’s a lot of hubris at play. And with the “must-win” contests sporting candidates who are pulling whole baggage trains behind them, perhaps it’s time to reflect on the advice of the mythological master craftsman Daedalus.
The story goes that Daedalus and his son, Icarus, were imprisoned by King Minos in a famous labyrinth. To escape, the wily inventor made wings from feathers, threads, and beeswax. He warned his son to neither fly too close to the sun nor to soar too low, lest the sea foam sink him. Of course, Icarus ignored his father’s advice and ended up tumbling to his death when the heat of the sun melted the wax.
This is not, naturally, a tale on how to achieve a flight safety certificate, but rather a cautionary fable about the dangers of hubris and the necessity of moderation. It’s a lesson that some Senate hopefuls would be wise to take to heart.
Currently, the balance of power is 53 seats for the GOP and 47 for Democrats. Although this cycle favors the left (Republicans defending 22 against just 13 for the Dems), only a handful have any real possibility of flipping. Because of the VP tie-breaker vote, the GOP would have to lose four races, without picking off any on the Democratic side, for the upper chamber to slip from their grasp. Just how realistic is that?
Takeaways from the Democratic National Committee’s long-awaited autopsy report on 2024 election
It’s never a good sign when a report comes with a big red disclaimer at the top of each page, but that’s what happened on Thursday when the Democratic National Committee belatedly released its controversial autopsy report on the 2024 election.
“This document reflects the views of the author, not the DNC,” the disclaimer said. “The DNC was not provided with the underlying sourcing, interviews, or supporting data for many of the assertions contained herein and therefore cannot independently verify the claims presented.”
It’s an inauspicious label on a document that has caused so much heartburn. Ken Martin, the DNC chair, originally promised to release the autopsy, then decided to keep it under wraps because he said he didn’t want to cause a distraction ahead of the midterms.
After months of handwringing, Martin released the report on Thursday, saying it was only withheld because it was so shoddily done.
After all that, what’s in the report? Here are some takeaways from the 192 pages.
Putin is a man on the edge. These are the tell-tale signs
Even if peace were reached on terms acceptable to the Kremlin, the damage to Russia’s geopolitical standing would remain
Russians are brought up to rejoice in their past military triumphs. Tolstoy’s great novel War and Peace celebrated their hard-won victory over Napoleon. The Soviet army’s capture of Berlin in 1945 remains at the core of the Russian people’s sense of self-worth.
Woe betides a Russian leader who is seen to fail at war. Tsar Nicholas II never recovered politically from losing the war against Japan in 1905, a war that he had started and then mismanaged. In 1917 he was forced to abdicate in the February Revolution when blamed as commander-in-chief for failure against Germany and its allies in the Great War. In fact, the Russian army was acquitting itself well by that point in the fighting, and the Eastern Front was crucial in wearing down the German war machine. But Nicholas was seen as a loser and, as it were, given his marching orders.
Vladimir Putin has had several military successes that were easily achievable. Crimea was annexed in a walkover in 2014, and Syrian cities were bombed from the air starting in 2015 without need for ground forces. But Ukraine as a whole has proved a tougher enemy in the greater conflict he started in February 2022. This year, for the very first time, Victory Day saw a Red Square parade without tanks and the most advanced military hardware for fear of attack by Ukrainian drones. Cities deep in the Russian heartland have been attacked.
NATO 3.0: Report Details ‘Fundamental Restructuring’ Of US Commitments
The US is moving forward with a “fundamental restructuring” of its commitments to European security, transitioning from the traditional “burden sharing” strategy to that of “burden shifting,” according to a Der Spiegel report published on May 26.
Under the new vision dubbed “NATO 3.0,” Washington expects European allies to assume responsibility for the continent’s entire conventional defense.
In this new framework, the US will primarily provide a nuclear deterrent rather than the broad military support it has historically guaranteed.
This transition, which the report notes has blindsided European officials, involves drastic reductions in US military assets previously committed to the “NATO Force Model.”
Alexander Velez-Green, an envoy to US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, recently informed allies that Washington intends to cut its contribution of fighter jets by one-third and significantly reduce the number of strategic bombers, navy destroyers, and aerial refueling aircraft.
The report notes that the US plans to stop providing submarines to the NATO pool entirely and expects Europeans to supply their own reconnaissance and armed drones.
How Ben Sasse Raised Me
“Tell me three true things about yourself.”
If I had to define the parenting style of my father, Ben Sasse, in one sentence, it would be those seven words. I can’t pinpoint the first time I remember him using them, but over the years, I’ve been directed by the prompt many times. After any success or failure, whether jumping with excitement or drenched in tears, my dad asked us to recite three things: one that reaffirmed our relationship with God; one that reaffirmed our family’s unconditional love for us; and one that reaffirmed qualities we most valued, like perseverance and grit.
The specific statements changed, but the goal behind the formula was consistent: Get out of your messy head and take an aerial view of your life.
In December, two hours before I walked the stage at my college graduation, we learned that my dad had been diagnosed with metastasized, stage 4 pancreatic cancer. The following weeks were a blur of extraordinary grief and random crying—in parking lots, on morning runs, in Trader Joe’s checkout lines, and while studying for the MCAT. I’m not sure what the world record is for use of the word terminal in a 30-minute appointment, but I’m pretty confident that between Memorial Sloan Kettering and MD Anderson Cancer Center, at least one renowned oncologist we saw came close.
Final Thoughts
