Heller was the SCOTUS decision that established an individual right to own a gun.

From Wikipedia:

District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008), was a landmark decision of the US Supreme Court ruling that the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution protects an individual's right to keep and bear arms, unconnected with service in a militia, for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home, and that the District of Columbia's handgun ban and requirement that lawfully owned rifles and shotguns be kept "unloaded and disassembled or bound by a trigger lock" violated this guarantee.


Roe v Wade was decided in 1973. District of Columbia v Heller was decided in 2008, much more recent & thus, according to Alito's reasoning anyway, not "deeply rooted in this nation's history."

This is just a point I've made to right-wing gun humpers who are cheering the impending fall of Roe, & it tends to stop them in their tracks, so I figured I'd share it.

Also, most MAGAts don't believe the GOP is trying to destroy American democracy, so this next point isn't always useful, but there are situations where you can make the point that if the Radical Right (which is what I call them now) succeed in eliminating true democracy & suppressing votes to the point that they're basically installing themselves as rulers, do you really think they will tolerate an armed public?

It's a simple straightforward message that can be supported with examples like a woman's right (& freedom) to choose, the right (& freedom) to vote in the manner you choose (in person, by mail, using a drop box), the right (& freedom) to marry the person you love (regardless of your gender) etc

Note that these things are all rights & freedoms that apply to all Americans, & Republicans want to take them away. Democrats are defending them.

If you want to defend your American rights & freedoms, vote for Democrats.

Just some thoughts on messaging ideas... Gotta get back to work...

Recently I’ve seen a variety of comments here on DU about Dem messaging, & in other recent threads, recent developments at Twitter.

I want to highlight a couple items that stood out to me:

1) The point was made that Dem messaging isn’t the problem, media is the problem, because the media doesn’t deliver Dem messaging to the people who really need to hear it most.

-and-

2) Some folks have said things like “If Elon Musk buys Twitter & it fills with right-wing propaganda, I will delete my Twitter account.” Some folks already have.

Do my DU friends see the problem here?

Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that Musk’s purchase of Twitter increases the amount of right-wing propaganda & lies on Twitter (i.e. the number of accounts repeating right-wing/Reich-wing messaging). Folks, that means you are being handed the opportunity to personally “deliver Dem messaging to the people who really need to hear it most”.

For every one of their GOP messages, you can respond with a Democratic message. For every one of their lies, you can respond with truth.

If you believe “the media doesn’t deliver Dem messaging to the people who really need to hear it most” (& I agree they don’t) then YOU (& ME) should deliver it, directly to them, right in front of their eyeballs on Twitter or whatever social media program they appear on.

In my humble opinion, saying “I quit” & running away, without challenging their propaganda is inviting failure & disaster.

Again, just my humble opinion, & it is not my intention to offend any of my friends here.

Thank you for listening.

April 6 (Reuters) - Britain is drawing up plans to send armoured vehicles to Ukraine, according to The Times.

Options under consideration in the Ministry of Defence include sending a protected patrol vehicle, such as the Mastiff, or a vehicle like the Jackal, which can be used as a reconnaissance or long-range patrol vehicle, the report said.

The vehicles would be stripped of sensitive equipment and British troops would be sent to a country neigbouring Ukraine to carry out training, The Times reported, citing a defence source.

Further support, including anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles, would be announced by Britain in the coming days, the report said.

More at link.

[link:https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-drawing-up-plans-send-armoured-vehicles-ukraine-the-times-2022-04-06/|]

Hilarious take by Task and Purpose on the confrontation between Matt Gaetz & Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin today.

Matt and the no good, very bad ‘woke’ military: A picture story.
Matt likes to go to hearings about the military, but nobody likes to listen. Oh darn.

Matt is a big important Congress man. Sometimes he attends hearings. But Matt doesn’t like to listen.
On Tuesday, Congress held a budget hearing for the military. Yay military! But Matt wasn’t happy.
Matt is really mad about “wokeness” in the military. Being woke is bad because Matt likes naps.

More hilarity at the link.

[link:https://taskandpurpose.com/mandatory-fun/matt-gaetz-woke-military-picture-story/|]

Interesting perspective from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

From their April 4 assessment:

"Degraded Russian forces in northeastern Ukraine continued to withdraw to Russia and are unlikely to be effective elsewhere, despite ongoing Russian efforts to redeploy them to eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian forces are conducting operations to clear Russians left behind in the withdrawal, and Russian forces are unlikely to hold any cohesive defensive positions. The Ukrainian military reported that elements of Russian VDV (Airborne) units withdrawn from northern Kyiv flew to Belgorod, Russia, on April 4. These units are understrength, missing equipment, and likely highly demoralized. Russian servicemen from the Kyiv axis ordered to renter combat operations may desert or refuse orders, which has occurred in several Russian units throughout the war—including several units that had not yet entered combat."

Much more detailed analysis of the current situation at the link.

About the ISW:
Our Mission
The Institute for the Study of War advances an informed understanding of military affairs through reliable research, trusted analysis, and innovative education. We are committed to improving the nation’s ability to execute military operations and respond to emerging threats in order to achieve U.S. strategic objectives. ISW is a non-partisan, non-profit, public policy research organization.

[link:https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-april-4|]

Global Guardian is now evacuating Ukrainians who work for Western companies and their families.

President Joe Biden repeatedly made clear that he would not send American troops to evacuate people stuck in Ukraine at risk of sparking a “world war.”

That doesn’t mean evacuations aren’t happening. But they’ll cost you.

Global Guardian, a private security firm, has evacuated more than 6,500 people from Ukraine over the past month, according to Dale Buckner, a former Green Beret who owns the firm. Buckner said Global Guardian completed 12 missions on Sunday and another nine on Monday. He said evacuations may be hitting their peak as the Russian invasion of Ukraine extends to its third week.

[link:https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2022/03/private-company-has-evacuated-6500-people-ukraine/363225/|]


Anyone who doesn't trust Defense One as a source, please just don't click on the link, please don't attack & insult me for posting it, thank you.

I'm sorry if this was already posted, I didn't see it.

The White House

President Biden today announced an additional $800 million in security assistance to Ukraine, bringing the total U.S. security assistance committed to Ukraine to $1 billion in just the past week, and a total of $2 billion since the start of the Biden Administration. The assistance will take the form of direct transfers of equipment from the Department of Defense to the Ukrainian military to help them defend their country against Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified invasion.

The new $800 million assistance package includes:

800 Stinger anti-aircraft systems;

2,000 Javelin, 1,000 light anti-armor weapons, and 6,000 AT-4 anti-armor systems;

100 Tactical Unmanned Aerial Systems;

100 grenade launchers, 5,000 rifles, 1,000 pistols, 400 machine guns, and 400 shotguns;

Over 20 million rounds of small arms ammunition and grenade launcher and mortar rounds;

25,000 sets of body armor; and

25,000 helmets.

In addition to the weapons listed above, previous United States assistance committed to Ukraine includes:

Over 600 Stinger anti-aircraft systems;

Approximately 2,600 Javelin anti-armor systems;

Five Mi-17 helicopters;

Three patrol boats;

Four counter-artillery and counter-unmanned aerial system tracking radars;

Four counter-mortar radar systems;

200 grenade launchers and ammunition;

200 shotguns and 200 machine guns;

Nearly 40 million rounds of small arms ammunition and over 1 million grenade, mortar, and artillery rounds;

70 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWVs) and other vehicles;

Secure communications, electronic warfare detection systems, body armor, helmets, and other tactical gear;

Military medical equipment to support treatment and combat evacuation;

Explosive ordnance disposal and demining equipment; and

Satellite imagery and analysis capability.

In addition to the U.S.-produced short-range air defense systems the Ukrainians have been using to great effect, the United States has also identified and is helping the Ukrainians acquire additional, longer-range systems on which Ukraine’s forces are already trained, as well as additional munitions for those systems.

[link:https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/03/16/fact-sheet-on-u-s-security-assistance-for-ukraine/|]

(CEPA is the Center for European Policy Analysis)

The Kremlin makes dark threats about the fate of foreign volunteers captured on the battlefield, but these are likely to rebound.
Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine has produced some strange and unexpected results, not least the rush among Western citizens to join President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s armed forces.

Ukrainian defense officials claim that over 20,000 individuals from 52 nations have volunteered to join the Ukrainian armed forces resisting the Russian invasion, perhaps the most notable volunteer effort since the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War.

Among them are US software developers, Canadian cooks, numerous ex-service personnel, and even (the UK government has admitted) a soldier from one of Britain’s most venerable regiments, the Coldstream Guards, who is reported to have gone absent without leave to head for Ukraine. At least three other serving UK personnel have done likewise; the government has pledged to prosecute them on their return.

Russia has responded with threats, trying to scare and sway potential volunteers to reconsider, and threatening repercussions if captured by Russian forces. Russia says that those joining the Ukrainian armed forces are bandits, criminals, and mercenaries and will be punished accordingly.

Defense Ministry spokesperson, Igor Konashenkov, said on March 3 that any foreign volunteer taken in Ukraine will not be accorded prisoner of war (PoW) status, but will be treated as a law-breaker accountable for their acts. Konashenkov hinted at executions by stating that, “at best, they can expect to be prosecuted as criminals.” Naturally, if that is the best-case scenario, then the worst-case scenario would suggest execution as a possible outcome.

In fact, international law is clear and applies to Russia’s treatment of PoWs. Under the Geneva Convention, article 4, reads; “Prisoners of war, in the sense of the present Convention, are persons belonging to one of the following categories, who have fallen into the power of the enemy: Members of the armed forces of a Party to the conflict as well as members of militias or volunteer corps forming part of such armed forces.”

As long as these volunteers themselves follow the laws of armed conflict, they are by international law protected as prisoners of war (PoW). There is no ambiguity about this: those who volunteer to join the Ukrainian armed forces are protected by the Geneva Convention and international humanitarian law. There is an established legal doctrine, and there is no space for contrarian interpretation.

[link:https://cepa.org/too-late-for-russia-to-stop-the-foreign-volunteer-army/|]

A group of former U.S. military service members, including a retired U.S. Army Special Forces sergeant, traveled to Ukraine earlier this month to assist resistance forces fighting the Russian invasion.

ABC7 San Francisco reported March 4 that Aaron Epstein, a surgeon from Buffalo, New York, and founder of Global Surgical and Medical Support Group (GSMSG), was contacted by Ukraine’s Minister of Defense, who asked for the group’s support in the nation’s resistance against Russia.

“We would ask for all possible cooperation from GSMSG in the field of medical/surgeon training,” the message from the Defense Minister said in a message to GSMSG.

Shortly after receiving the request, Epstein organized 10 GSMSG volunteers, including a surgeon, a pediatrician, an OR nurse, medics, and a recently retired U.S. Army Special Forces sergeant, who headed to Ukraine.

“I’ve told them that they can be armed, if it’s starting to look like where they will be is going to be a hostile combat area,” Epstein said.

When asked if the volunteers can return fire should they find themselves under attack, Epstein responded, “Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.”

Epstein’s group also translated the U.S. military’s “Tactical Combat Casualty Care Course” into Ukrainian and shared it online.

[link:https://americanmilitarynews.com/2022/03/us-military-vets-are-in-ukraine-for-elite-medical-mission/|]