When a small number of mostly U.S.-funded truck drivers demonstrated their ability to block critical border crossings and snarl traffic in the Canadian capital of Ottowa recently, idling thousands of workers on both sides of the border, they didn’t launch their attack without some advance PR work. Right-wing media has pounded the word “caravan” into the ground for years by associating that term with groups of immigrants seeking refuge in the United States—complete with chyrons about the potential for crime and lots of scary music. So the truckers resurrected the term “convoy,” harking back to 1970s songs about sneaking past ol’ Smokey and “truckin’ on through the night.”
As the sad, sorry attempt to replicate this action south of the border continues somewhere out there in America, Republicans are still trying to make associations between what’s happening in Ukraine and what happened in Canada. If Americans really want to fight against fascism, say Donald Trump and Marjorie Taylor Greene, they should look north to where Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau committed the heinous act of … arresting people who were blocking traffic and refusing to move, and ignore what their pal Vladimir Putin is doing.
But the term convoy may be the best link. Over the last four days in Ukraine, Russia has launched a series of convoys containing tanks, supply trucks, troop transports, missile launchers, and more as they seek to gain control of Kyiv and other cities in Ukraine. Again and again the ultimate fate of these convoys has been to become the stars of videos as their stranded, abandoned, smoking, or simply smashed into unrecognizable bits are seen along Ukrainian roads.
When fascist convoys roll in against democracies that have the tools to deal with them, it ends badly for the convoy. Something to keep in mind on both sides of the Atlantic.
Monday, Feb 28, 2022 · 6:50:47 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner
More images showing the result of the bombing in Kharkiv. This area is very close to the Russian border and right across from the military base at Belgorad. Each day of the war, Russia has been sending invasion columns into the country that have been systematically taken apart as they approach Kharkiv. So now they are simply trying to destroy the city, civilians and all, to clear this route to Kyiv.
Monday, Feb 28, 2022 · 6:59:15 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner
A new statement from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy directed to the Russian troops invading his nation. How effective these statements have been isn’t clear, but Ukraine has obviously brought it’s A game to the social media battlefield as well as the one with the tanks.
Now the question is whether Laura Ingraham will go on Fox to call this the “pathetic” statement of a “defeated man,” the way she did the last time Zelenskyy made such an address.
Monday, Feb 28, 2022 · 7:22:41 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner
This is a town north east of Mariupol, only 20 miles from the territory Russia claimed in 2014. It’s about halfway between the border and Mariupol. What this means for the city itself isn’t clear, but Mariupol has held off assaults from both east and west so far.
Mariupol was also the site of this event, which helped cement the reality and horror of what is happening.
Monday, Feb 28, 2022 · 8:56:55 PM +00:00 · Barbara Morrill
Via Axios:
The International Criminal Court (ICC) will open an investigation into possible war crimes or crimes against humanity in Ukraine, ICC prosecutor Karim A.A.Khan QC said Monday. [...]
Khan said in a statement that "there is a reasonable basis" to believe that Russia has committed both as its invasion unfolds.