Trump and Vance Were Dead Wrong About Ukraine. There’s Still Plenty of Fight Left.

Well, that was an adult portion of a weekend. First of all, somebody in Ukrainian intelligence HQ deserves a raise. A country under massive bombardment by a ruthless dictator who revels in destroying population centers with promiscuous contempt puts together a nearly perfect counterstrike on a huge percentage of its opponent’s airborne missile carriers. It was planned for an entire year and a half in immaculate secrecy. They struck with drones smuggled into range and launched from trucks, a remarkable combination of high- and low-tech warfare. And you wondered why Volodymyr Zelenskyy was able to sit with equanimity there in the Oval Office while enduring the attack of the pinheads. Turns out they were wrong, all of them—the president, vice president J. Divan Vance, and the microscopic remains of Marco Rubio. Ukraine has a few more cards to play.

Meanwhile, here at home, where our murderous impulses are directed in an intramural fashion, it turns out I may have been wrong. The violence in Gaza has become our war. The administration has committed constitutional violence against those who oppose the Israeli government’s unconscionable campaign of making the rubble bounce and then land on doctors and children. Meanwhile, our overbrimming reservoir of domestic maniacs have taken up arms against supporters of the Israeli hostages. From the BBC:

Police said eight people—aged between 52 and 88—were hurt in the attack at the Pearl Street Mall, a popular outdoor space in Boulder, about 30 miles (48km) from Denver. The FBI called it a suspected terror attack and said the suspect had used a makeshift flamethrower, Molotov cocktails and other incendiary devices. Footage of the attack shows the suspect, who was shirtless, screaming at the group, holding what appears to be Molotov cocktails in each hand when he was arrested.

Question—who in the hell fires up a homemade flamethrower and a Molotov cocktail while not wearing a shirt?

The attack is the second high-profile act of violence in the U.S. in the last two weeks that appears to be related to the conflict in Gaza. A man who shouted “free Palestine” fatally shot two Israeli embassy employees outside a Jewish museum in Washington, DC on 22 May. The incident happened at a networking event organized by a Jewish organization.

Some people opposing and organizing against a campaign of outright ethnic cleansing in Gaza are managing to sacrifice the moral high ground over here. This is a considerable achievement. It’s only a matter of time before some uninvolved citizens get turned into collateral damage, and then there will truly be hell to pay. (Kash Patel is just quivering with anticipation. You know he is.) Knock it off, you maniacs, before your causes get lost and we all pay the price for it.

Buried by these stories were two more unfortunate exercises in Second Amendment rights—one outside a house party in North Carolina and another outside an after-prom party in Chicago. From ABC News:

The shooting occurred at around 12:45 a.m. at a residence in Mountain View, about 60 miles northwest of Charlotte, according to a social media statement posted by the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office.

“Our investigation indicates more than one shooter was involved in the incident. We are still working to determine when they arrived, how they arrived, what their reasoning was for their presence. Also, their motive,” Maj. Aaron Turk of the Catawba County Sheriff’s Department said at a news conference Sunday afternoon. Turk said that the crime scene, which was estimated to be around two acres, was still being processed for evidence by investigators. When asked by a reporter how many shots were fired in the incident, Turk said, “As I stand here, more than 80 shots were fired.”

Clue: Their motive was “We have guns and like to shoot them because we are Americans, and a lot of America has lost its mind and a bigger portion has lost its way.”