Comment on The Real Story Behind Putin’s Syria Strikes

“President Biden will award the Presidential Citizens Medal, one of the nation’s highest civilian honors, to 20 people on Thursday afternoon, including former Rep. Liz Cheney and two close personal advisers, Ted Kaufman and Christopher Dodd,” the New York Times reports.

“I don’t know how to say this without cussing. If they thought I had no Fs to give before, I definitely have no Fs to give now.” — Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), quoted by the Wall Street Journal, explaining why he’ll vote against Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA).

“House Democrats are pushing back furiously against a proposed change to House rules that would allow only Republicans to force a vote on removing the speaker of the House,” Axios reports. “Top Democrats are arguing the move would inhibit bipartisanship and effectively make House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) answerable only to his members — not the entire House.” Said Rep.

Punchbowl News: “Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) will do anything in his power to ensure that Johnson’s path to the speakership is obstructed, if not completely blocked.” “This means that Johnson’s future as speaker may come down to Texas GOP Rep. Chip Roy. And it’s difficult to reconcile how Roy can vote for Johnson after his recent screed on the House floor against the speaker, though Roy insists he’s not a ‘hard no.’” “This is a dangerous situation for Johnson due to a plethora of reasons.” “First, Trump has a relatively inexperienced legislative affairs staff, which gives the incoming administration limited insight and few levers to pull with sitting members of the House.

“Chinese government hackers breached a highly sensitive office in the Treasury Department that administers economic sanctions against countries and groups of individuals — one of the most potent tools possessed by the United States to achieve national security aims,” the Washington Post reports. “The targeting of the Office of Foreign Assets Control as well as the Office of the Treasury Secretary — developments not previously reported — reflects Beijing’s determination to acquire intelligence on its most significant rival in the global competition for power and influence.”

New York Times: “Predictions in the early months of the war that economic restrictions would soon undermine President Vladimir Putin’s regime or reduce the ruble to “rubble” did not pan out. Mr. Putin remains entrenched in the Kremlin, and his forces are inflicting punishing damage on Ukraine and gaining on the battlefield.” “Yet the idea that economic sanctions could bring a quick end to the war was always more a product of hope than a realistic assessment, said Sergei Guriev, a Russian economist who fled the country in 2013 and is now the dean of the London Business School.” “A better measure of success, Mr.