KRAZY JUNE WEEK THREE

There are 141 days to the mid terms.

Dr. Phillips O’Brien post good news about Ukraine’s battle success against Russia over the weekend:

Up until this point in the war the Ukrainians had actually worked hard to isolate Crimea from the air and the sea. They had forced the Russians to abandon the Sevastopol naval base, meaning getting shipping in and out of the peninsula except in the far east, is very difficult. The Ukrainians have also waged a continuous campaign against Russian air defense, which means that the Russians flying supplies in and out of Crimea would be far too risky. So all that is left is the road and rail bridges. Until this last week. Since June 6, Ukraine has launched a comprehensive and well thought out series of mid-range UAV attacks against the road and rail network into Crimea. They were focused on cutting off the peninsula from the north.

On June 7, the Chonhar Road Bridge, a primary artery carrying the R-280 highway from Rostov-on-Don into Crimea, was conducted using the newly debuted “Behemoth” mid-range strike drone, equipped with a dual high-explosive and thermobaric warhead. One of the advantages of the mid-range campaign is the shorter distances involved means that mid-range systems need less fuel and can carry heavier warheads such as this.Satellite imagery confirmed dark impact craters on the central span, forcing Russian occupation authorities to halt traffic and deploy an adjacent pontoon bridge. Two days later, a second wave of long-range UAVs hit the Chonhar crossing. Simultaneously, Ukrainian forces launched an attack near the bridge linking Henichesk to the Arabat Spit. The Chonhar road crossing was officially declared inoperable, with military bloggers noting repairs could take up to a month. The Henichesk detour was also suspended, forcing Russian military logistics to entirely shift westward toward the Perekop Isthmus.

With all road traffic being sent through Armiansk, the Ukrainians moved to attack there. Four distinct bridges along the northwestern corridor over the North Crimean Canal were hit on June 11. Catching Russian supply lines exactly where they had been diverted, a massive overnight drone and missile barrage struck the main Perekop–Armiansk Road Bridge, the road bridge near the village of Stavky, and bridges crossing the canal near Preobrazhenka and Myrne. The strike on the Armiansk bridge directly hit a dense convoy of roughly 50 Russian military cargo trucks loaded with fuel and ammunition intended for the Zaporizhzhia front. The Da Vinci 1st Separate Assault Regiment confirmed the route was “completely paralyzed,” leaving Russia with heavily restricted, convoluted dirt and secondary detours through the region. Follow-up attacks targeted the pontoon infrastructure built by Russian engineers to bypass the crippled main road bridge. At least one active pontoon crossing near Chonhar was verified as damaged or sunk during the overnight strikes. Satellite imagery from June 12 confirmed that vast queues of military and cargo trucks had stalled on the approaches, with north-south transit effectively paralyzed.

Ukraine now has the mass and technical capabilities to wage a methodical and practically daily campaign against Russian logistics linking Crimea to the mainland to the north. If maintained, that will have major implications for the Russian army in Ukraine and the occupying forces in Crimea. That means Russian forces at the front will have no chance of getting supplies sent through Crimea up to them. For Crimea, that means nothing will get in from the north. And as shipping and air supply is practically impossible, that means vital commodities such as fuel and even water (Crimea is rather dry) can only come from the Kerch side. That is a big problem for the Russians too. Damage to the Kerch bridge over the last few years means the Russians have been severely restricting the amount of fuel and other hazardous cargo they are willing to send over that bridge (they do not want the Ukrainians to turn fuel trucks and trains into bombs—as they did earlier in the war. And this Spring Ukraine has attacked the ferries that are operating on the Kerch side as well, reportedly doing great damage.

So, if the Northern route remains closed and Russian cannot find a way to significantly increase traffic from the Kerch end, Crimea is for all intents and purposes cut off. That turns the peninsula from a strategic asset to a major strategic and political headache. The Russians will have to move heaven and earth to try and get supplies in to their military and population there. Already there are reports of long lines to get gas. The Ukrainians will have to keep the road and rail network shut for a considerable period to fully cut off Crimea, but this is not the situation the Putin traitors in the White House expected - and neither did Putin. He has no way to counter this on the battlefield, since Okrainian UAVs now dominate ground fighting in eastern Ukraine.

Back to the news in DilbertWorld:

New York Times correspondents, Trump-whisperer Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, report in their upcoming book that Permanent High School Freshman Dumbassed Dweeb, er I mean Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, proposed suspending habeas corpus to speed up mass deportations, and both he and Vice President JD Vance pushed the president to invoke the Insurrection Act in Minnesota. Come next January, look for this to be top of the congressional investigations we will launch against these putzes. (For those who don’t know the term, a Putz is “a penis that thinks it’s a person.”

Miller also launched into a tirade Sunday over wind turbines, which he described as “monstrous” and a “visual assault on God’s creation.” A social media user on X published a photograph Saturday that showed several wind turbines off the coast of Virginia Beach. The image apparently upset Miller, who responded tohe post, voicing preference for fossil fuels as an energy source. “These monstrous wind farms - very one of which exists solely based on federal subsidy - are a visual assault on God’s creation that weaken the grid, disrupt marine ecosystems, and force reliance on foreign fuel when we have near-limitless reserves of our own. Miller’s claims have been refuted by Maladministration II’s own Energy Department, which still has a page on its official government website dedicated to the “advantages of wind power.” On the page, the Energy Department states that wind power is “cost-effective” and bolsters energy reserves.

By now, everyone has heard what professional lunkhead Josh Hoskit had to say about a woman with more class and accomplishment in her little toe than the class lout we always avoided back in school. However, there’s some interesting reporting about the audience of one the mentally-challenged turd was giving a “shout-out” to after shouting out his “Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.” (Hoskit seems to me to be a “six days spreading wild oats and one day praying for crop failure” kind of bible-banger - like the song said: “The odds against goin’ to heaven - six to one”) Anyway, CNN reported that Trump, who was seated in the front row during the match, “appeared to show a half-smile” seconds after Hokit’s outrageous remark. Why am I completely unsurprised? He is, after all, the Biggest Piece of Shit on Planet Earth. Let’s recall that, back in February, Trump faced rare bipartisan outrage after posting a video on his social media platform Truth Social that briefly depicted former President Barack Obama and the first lady as primates in the jungle. The blowback was so fierce that Trump - who denied being aware that the segment of the video he posted included the racist depiction - ultimately deleted the post. Saturday wasn’t Hokit’s first white supremacist rodeo. At a UFC event in January, he referenced legendary women’s basketball player and 10-time WNBA All-Star Brittney Griner at the end of his victory speech, saying to Joe Rogan, “And P.S., Brittney Griner is a man,” Rogan said, “Brittney Griner catching strays.” I’ve always been a big believer in “what’s ten dead dumbfuckingjocks? A good start.” And they keep living down to my expectations.

Following his Desecration of America last night, Sundowning Gramps seemed to stay up all night, with his thumbs going crazy on his Samsung. Around 0300, he launched a Lies Anti-Social tirade to declare he will not support renewing FISA 702 unless his so-called SAVE America Act is passed. On one level, it’s interesting to realize that in the middle of what for other people would be a nice high from a happy birthday party, what’s bugging Grampa is that

Congress rejected a short-term extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and he’s grabbing it for another desperate attempt to get his SAVE Act, his last-gasp plan to suppress enough votes to keep a Republican majority in November and keep his ass out of jail. Yes, he knows in his heart what a criming scumbag he is and always has been. “I’m against FISA if it doesn’t come with The Save America Act (Full version!) firmly attached to it. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” This would require the Senate GOP to kill the filibuster in order to deliver, and once again - they are not going to slit their own throats for the likes of Trump. The House of Representatives voted 218-198 on Thursday against extending FISA until July 2, with 19 Republicans joining nearly all Democrats in opposing the measure.The Senate then went into break anbd left town. Dilbert’s ginormous posterior is getting closer and closer to the whirling blades of the baloney-slicer.

“When Johnny comes marching home again, Hurrah! Hurrah! We’ll give him a hearty welcome then. Hurrah! Hurrah! Oh, the men will cheer and the boys will shout. The ladies they will all turn out. And we’ll all feel gay when Johnny comes marching home.” I don’t think Donald John Trump is going to even get the cheers Johnny Reb got when he marched home, when Donald John Trump returns victorious next week after signing the most craven surrender document never signed before by an American president and starts his tour to convince us all that shit sandwiches are really tasty and good for what ails you. David Rothkopf has the whole sordid mess covered with this: “Donald Trump deserves exactly as much credit for the “deal” with Iran that he has announced as a spouse abuser does for announcing he will stop beating his wife.”

Professor Robert Pape says of this “agreement”: “Despite the headlines, this deal remains highly uncertain.” “According to Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister – the most senior to comment on the Friday signing after Trump’s announcement -- Tehran expects three conditions before any long-term process begins: immediate release of $12 billion in frozen assets, an immediate and complete end to Israeli military operations in Lebanon, and significant movement toward reducing the American military presence in the Gulf. He also said Iran begins charging fees in 60 days. Those demands tell us something important. Negotiations are no longer occurring because Iran fears defeat. They are occurring because Tehran believes time increasingly favors Iran. Iran is no longer negotiating to stop losing. It is negotiating to win more.” “For Trump, no question he is under enormous pressure to end the war at virtually any price. When he started it, he promised to destroy Iran’s missiles and proxies, and “to the great proud people of Iran…take over your government.” None of these goals will be achieved. Even in Trump’s interpretation of the deal, Iran’s regime remains and retains missiles, drones, proxies and no limits on expanding these tools of regional influence.The critical source of Iran’s advantage hinges on what’s changing for the world’s economy, not on the battlefield per se. The world’s economic cushions are running out and are smaller than many assume.” “The US Strategic Petroleum Reserve began the war with just under 400 million barrels. Today it stands near 348 million. Energy specialists increasingly argue that the operational floor lies closer to 270 to 300 million barrels, the operational minimum after which the salt walls in the storage caverns start to physically collapse. At current draw rates, that leaves only six to eight weeks before Washington faces harder choices.” “For months, the administration successfully reduced immediate pressure by talking down oil prices. Politically, that strategy bought time. Economically, however, it postponed adjustment. High prices normally encourage conservation and substitution. Suppressed prices delay those responses. Delayed adjustments frequently become abrupt adjustments. If inventories continue shrinking, Iran’s leverage will likely be significantly greater in August than it is today.”

His final point: “History will ultimately judge this war by a single question: did the war—and the agreement designed to end it - actually prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear weapons state? Ironically, the very dynamics that have strengthened Iran’s bargaining position may also strengthen Tehran’s incentives to seek the one form of leverage that cannot be blockaded, sanctioned, or negotiated away. The regime survived. The leadership survived. Oil leverage worked. And if growing leverage now creates pressure for American military withdrawal and regional accommodation, Iranian leaders may reasonably conclude that an eventual nuclear deterrent would lock those gains into place permanently.”

Here’s how desperate the commercial world is for this deal to stick: Crude prices slid about 5% following the news and hit their lowest level since March: Brent crude futures fell $4.38, or 5.02%, to $82.95 a barrel by 10:54 a.m. EDT and U.S. West Texas Intermediate was at $80.28, down $4.60, or 5.42%. Both contracts fell to their lowest levels since March 10 after tumbling more than 3% on Friday. WTI futures fell as much as $5 during the session. This aided shares of energy-sensitive airline and cruise stocks and hurt energy shares. United Airlines rose 6.4%, while Delta Air Lines and American Airlines added 4.1% and 5.2%, respectively. Norwegian Cruise and Carnival Corp advanced 5.2% each. Shares of oil majors Exxon Mobil and Chevron fell about 5% each. The S&P 500 energy index was down 3.9%. Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency said the draft deal called for reopening the Strait of Hormuz within 30 days under Iranian arrangements. What all this means is Trump is constrained because he is desperate to get the market up with gas down, and can’t do anything that affects that “wrong.” This leaves the U.S. with little to any negotiation room and no ability to walk away from a deal. The Iranians have Trumpty-Dumpty by the short hairs and are squeezing the family jewels - that’s why he squeals like a piggie.

Remember, you are not the crazy ones, and we were made for these times. Regardless of what you may feel right now, act as if you believe that and redouble your efforts.

“Neither let us be slandered from our duty by false accusations against us, nor frightened from it by menaces of destruction to the Government, nor of dungeons to ourselves. Let us have faith that right makes might; and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty, as we understand it.” - Abraham Lincoln

Tigger the gentle giant

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