Inheriting the wind

Putin has stepped up his game of "I know you are but what am I?" with the west, announcing sanctions on a long list of irritating Americans.  Joe Biden, Antony Blinken, Lloyd Austin, Jen Psaki, Hunter Biden and Mark Milley are among those who won't be attending the spring fashion show in Pskov this year.  (Not a single Republican -- how odd.)  The response from "Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton" was classic:  "I want to thank the Russian Academy for this Lifetime Achievement Award."  Why didn't she uncork a few of those in 2016?  

For those who just awoke from a coma, former RNC chair Marc Racicot explains why he thinks Trump lacks "the essential qualities of character to lead this nation" in a Washington Post op-ed.  It sounds like he just awoke, in time to hear Trump tell Jeanine Pirro that Putin is killing Ukrainians because "They had a country...where there was a lot of love and we do it because, you know, someone wants to expand their country or he wants to put it back the way it was..."  Imperial love is tough love.  Millions of people wish he loved them a little less.  

Wolodymyr Zelensky skyped the Canadian Parliament this morning with the usual results (three standing ovations, zero jets).  And it looks like Canada's contribution to the war, the renowned sniper known as Wali, was killed in Mariupol.

Today's hero is Marina Ovsyannikova, who decided it was time to make amends for her years as a purveyor of government propaganda on Russia One.  She came onto the set behind a news reader with a sign that said "NO WAR -- Don't believe the propaganda -- they are lying to you here" in English and Russian.  Of course she was arrested.  Meanwhile Candace Owens is appalled at the way Russians are being mistreated by the liberal media.  She wants us to know that "Russian lives matter."  Why won't the Ukrainians stop the violence?  Sorry, Candace, the Kremlin has already selected Tucker Carlson as its spokesman.  Leave your audition tape at reception.

Candace will be even more appalled when Ukraine unleashes its occult powers.  Lara Logan has identified the "black sun of the occult" on their body armor and she is Not Having It.  "This is why Crimea voted for independence" in an election only she could see.  To escape the Nazis, of course.  Ed Henry, fired by Fox for sexual misconduct and now keeping busy at something called Real America's Voice, thanked her for the "truth bombs" before they both went out for Kool-Aid.  Now I can't wait for Zelensky to turn Putin into a newt.

Remember that guy in Les Miz who's completely obsessed with that other guy?  Meet Rand Paul, the self-certified eye doctor on a mission.  Babbling about "dictators" and "science," he now wants to eliminate the entire position of director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and replace it with some kind of politically-appointed triumvirate who will be easier to bully than Anthony Fauci, who he hates with all his tiny, shriveled heart.  So the next pandemic will kill four million Americans.  

Today in ironically named shipping news the Norwegian Escape was freed after running aground off the Dominican Republic.  The container ship Ever Forward remains grounded in Chesapeake Bay.  (Its sister ship Ever Given blocked the Suez Canal for a week last year.)

The completely ridiculous Josh Hawley neglected to get permission for the January 6 fist-pump photo he uses on campaign merchandise.  E&E News, a subsidiary of Politico, wants him to stop.  "This new mug is really whipping the left into a frenzy!" his website assures the punters.  It's true, I've seen the left rending their garments and howling at the moon.  But, you know, copyright infringement.  Did they cover that at Yale Law, Mr. Elitist Professor?

Andrei Muraviev, Lev Parnas, Igor Fruman, Giuliani, Trump, and now Ron DeSantis?  That ball of snakes is getting bigger.

According to a Wall Street Journal poll, 52 percent of Americans think Biden will not run for re-election.  Hell, I wouldn't blame him if he quit in the morning.