If someone had said to me three months ago that Mike Johnson , the guy who helped engineer the legal part of Trump’s attempted coup and the most conservative Speaker ever , would face down the MAGA crowd and the Boss himself , I’d have said you’re out of your mind. That he has done precisely that without regard for his own future kind of rekindles my faith in humankind.
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He did not face down the boss, he visited Maralago and recieved Trump’s blessing for this, as far as I understand. If Trump was strongly verbally and vehemently against, this would not have happened. He is not courageous, he if so, then this would have happened 6 months ago and the situation would be different.
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Trump sank the Ukraine bill just a couple of months ago when House Republicans were offered what they had previously demanded , a border secutity bill to go along with it. Johnson’s trip to Mar-a-Lago was to get cover from Trump against moves to oust him from the MAGA caucus. Somehow he persuaded Trump to remain quiet on Ukraine , and however it was that he managed it is likely to become known soon enough. Still it was a brave and selfless act that he deserves credit for and one that seemed highly improbable at the turn of the year.
I have a lot of respect for you, Roberts. I just don’t agree.
My own opinion about the rehabilitation, and worse, lionization, of Johnson is more akin to this:
Let’s leave it at that, mate 
ATACAMS on the way to Ukraine.
Edit: (Mark Warner, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.)
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Important read (tatarigami should always be read, everything he posts, always, imo):
https://twitter.com/Danspiun/status/1781960626786402335
I’m tempted to draw some parallels to the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact and the sense of victimhood that the Russians had when that blew up in their face.
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It’s been simmering, but RU unfortunately broke through the front and advanced 3km after Ukrainian mistakes (mistakes that have to do with lack of morale, ammunition, training and rotation).
https://twitter.com/Militarylandnet/status/1782126390319419696
It’s a disaster, but thankfully, so far it seems that general in command of Russian Army Group South did not realise the extent of the tactical victory, and did not comitt his formidable reserves. Thank God for slow Russian Soviet-like communications. It could have been a Kharkiv-roll up, but now seems to have stabilised. It’s still very bad though, and the hit on Ukrainian morale is significant (47th never gets rotation ).
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There is no air defence and no artillery barring 3-4 daily shell allowance here. It’s a disaster. The last 6 months have unfortunately produced this situation with ammunition hunger. This vastly increases Ukrainian manpower losses and they can’t afford to lose much manpower…
It is assumed, that in a month from now, unless RU breaks through and exploits, the situation will stabilise with ammunition from the US. But that takes several weeks to get to the front safely…
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it’s a shitty state of affairs, was hoping a stalemate at the winter lines would help forces some dialogue between east and west. But as it stands, Russia keeps clawing more and more land. and the NPP which is a big problem.
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What is the NPP?
https://maps.app.goo.gl/nqLDFfYWAfqQGz3C9
largest one in Europe, under Russian control and their biggest piece on the board.