WEEKEND QUOTABLES
WEEKEND QUOTABLES
Sanctions are failing... Dems are afraid to prosecute Trump.
The failure of sanctions
Western sanctions and condemnations intended to pile pressure on Vladimir Putin instead seem to be rallying Russians behind him. (Axios)
The more horrific the allegations against Russia — such as the apparent massacre of civilians in Bucha— the stronger the impulse to reject them as lies, says Grigory Yudin, a sociologist at the Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences.
Denis Volkov, Russia’s top independent pollster.
Even among supporters of the war, "there is no euphoria," Volkov says. "Deep down there is some understanding that the situation is serious," and even some of Putin's supporters feel "traumatized" by what's taking place, he says. He thinks most Russians want the conflict to end.
The ruble, mocked by U.S. President Biden as “rubble,” has surged back to where it was before the war. The reason? Europeans and others continue to see Russian oil and gas as their lifeline, despite pressure from the US. Shell Oil continues to buy and ship Russian oil free from any penalties.
In the oil market, traders whisper about a “Latvian blend” – a new origin for diesel that looks like a workaround to supply Russian product mixed with something else.
Javier Blas
The loopholes and backdoors are a reminder of why sanctions are hard to implement. And when sanctions aren’t imposed but actually self-sanctions, it opens the door for companies to do as they see fit. The result? Russia keeps selling its fossil fuels and making money. Europe, too, benefits from higher diesel supply, and lower energy prices. The moral question awaits its reckoning. — Bloomberg
The games people play: You sanction us. We sanction you.
Iran on Saturday sanctioned 24 Americans, including former U.S. generals and former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, amid ongoing discussions to revive a nuclear deal between the West and Iran. Iran’s sanctions list comes just days after President Biden announced sanctions targeting Iran’s ballistic missile program.
Above the law…
The leaders of the House committee investigating the Capitol attack, (mostly Democrats) are split over whether to ask the Justice Department to prosecute Donald Trump, even though they have concluded that they have enough evidence to do so.
According to a report in the Boston Globe, some members are worried that prosecuting Trump might appear to be too “political.”
Actually, the opposite is true. If all the months and taxpayer dollars spent on impeachments, congressional investigations, and local evidence gathering don’t lead to prosecution, that will be seen by many in this country as either Democrats using the process for purely political reasons or that the Democratic leadership is afraid that moving against will hurt their chances for a bi-partisan coalition with Republicans.
So the question remains, are D.T. and the band of grifters that ruled the country from 2016 to 2020, and who planned and carried out the January 6 attack on the Capitol in an attempt to overturn the presidential election, above the law?
In a similar vein, how could federal prosecutors fail to get a conviction in the Michigan trial of white supremacist militiamen who clearly plotted to kidnap and murder the governor?
Rep. Liz Cheney, Republican (WY)
“I think that it is absolutely the case; it’s absolutely clear that what President Trump was doing, what a number of people around him were doing, that they knew it was unlawful. They did it anyway,”
Representative Pete Aguilar, CA Democrat
“It’s an insult to the lives of the Capitol Police officers if we don’t pursue what happened and take meaningful and concrete steps to ensure that it doesn’t happen again.”
U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge
…said his office was “disappointed” with the [Michigan] verdict, adding, "we continue to respect the jury trial system whatever the outcome.” — Washington Post
Gov. Whitmer’s chief of staff, JoAnne Huls
"Today, Michiganders and Americans — especially our children — are living through the normalization of political violence. The plot to kidnap and kill a governor may seem like an anomaly. But we must be honest about what it really is: the result of violent, divisive rhetoric that is all too common across our country," the statement reads. "There must be accountability and consequences for those who commit heinous crimes. Without accountability, extremists will be emboldened." — Detroit Free Press