timelets

President Trump has ordered a pause to intelligence sharing with Ukraine, said Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe, a move that deprives Kyiv of a key tool in fighting Russian forces.

The suspension of intelligence sharing to Ukraine is a major concession to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has said that U.S. involvement in weapons targeting has made Washington a virtual combatant of the war.
https://www.wsj.com/world/trump-suspends-intelligence-sharing-with-ukraine-147c7f2c

Trump looks like a Russian asset; Trump talks like a Russian asset; Trump acts as a Russian asset. He's a Russian asset.

In the US, the media is often called the fourth branch of the government. Why? Because in a republic, the people between elections don't have any direct control over the three official branches of the government (executive, legislative, judicial), while the media serves as the only real-time public feedback/control channel. Today, the fourth branch of the government is not the traditional media, but a mix of podcasts, social influencers, blogs, etc. During the Biden term, the Democrats managed to lose control over that new media. There’s nobody like Joe Rogan on their side now. This means that the Democrats not only lost control over the three official branches of the government after the elections, but also that there’s no way for them to provide key inputs into the in-between-elections feedback/control system now. To me, this is the essence of the Democrats' current predicament. There are no thought leaders among them who could go on, e.g. the Joe Rogan show, and credibly represent the dissatisfied population. They could go to Ezra Kline or Jon Stuart, but that wouldn't move the needle. Maybe AOC could go on a Joe Rogan tour. Or Bill Mahr. The Democrats need to take a page from Trump's playbook and flood the zone.