* Karma update. Former Attorney General William Barr, who tried to be as helpful to Trump as he could, said (in his memoir “One Damn Thing After Another”) that he was fired by Trump in December 2020 for trashing the various conspiracy theories contending that the presidential election was stolen. The key karmic exchange: “I told him that all this stuff was bulls**t about election fraud.”–William Barr. “Go home. Don’t go back to your office. You’re done.”–Donald Trump.
* “(Trump asked if) Finland was part of Russia.”–A recollection of former Trump national security advisor John Bolton.
* “There is no room in this party for apologists for Putin.”–Former VP Mike Pence.
* “Take him (Putin) out.” That was Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, giving voice to hopes that some Russian insiders would make the world a better place and assassinate Putin. We get it, but don’t say it. It plays well in South Carolina but not in the Oval Office or the Kremlin.
* Russia’s goal in Ukraine, according to Vladimir Putin: to demilitarize and “denazify” its neighbor. That’s no less a fabrication than “stop the steal.”
* For all his criticism of President Biden’s handling of the Russia invasion, let’s not forget: As president, Trump held up military aid for Ukraine as he pushed it to investigate Hunter Biden.
* “Smart,” “savvy,” “a genius.” That’s how Trump recently referred to Putin. It’s not how most non-Joe Stalin fans would have described him. More like “a vengeful, unhinged, autocratic punk.”
* “The global warming hoax—it just never ends.” Neither does Trump’s dismissal of science.