* Scary sequel? NPR has reported that Trump-fawning GOPsters are working hard in states such as Arizona and Georgia, which didn’t yield to Trump intimidation in 2020, to institutionalize the Big Lie. The result: election-deniers running for offices that control the voting process. According to the Washington Post, “at least 163 Republicans who have embraced Trump’s false claims are running for statewide positions that would give them authority over the administration of elections” and “at least five candidates for the U.S. House were at the Capitol during the Jan. 6 riots.”
* As the Biden Administration and America’s NATO allies confront Russia over the implications of a military move on Ukraine, we are reminded that NATOisn’t the only treaty organization involved. While it’s hardly on a par with NATO, there is the CSTO—the Collective Security Treaty Organization, whose members include Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. No, it’s hardly NATOesque, but it does provide Vladimir Putin with a patina of regional support that he will try to leverage.