Observing Juneteenth
Plus: There Is No Substitute for Ukrainian Victory
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CHARLIE SYKES: The Call is Coming from Inside the House
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DAVID J. KRAMER AND ERIC EDELMAN: There Is No Substitute for Ukrainian Victory.
JUST WHEN UKRAINE MAY BE ON THE MARCH to regain more of its territory currently occupied by Russia, some in the commentariat are ready to come to Russia’s rescue. That, in essence, is the idea put forward by Samuel Charap in Foreign Affairs. The United States and others, he argues, should broker an armistice between Russia and Ukraine. The idea is misguided and dangerous.
Coming on the eve of the Ukrainian counteroffensive, which may shift the military balance even more in Ukraine's favor, a push for an armistice would undercut any hopes Ukraine might have of winning the war. Such a deal, Charap acknowledges, would also leave Ukraine “without all its territory,” consigning millions of Ukrainians against their will to live under repressive Russian control.
Combined with the Ukrainians’ tremendous courage and determination to fight—and they would defend their land and freedom even without Western support—Western military aid has helped produce an unmitigated disaster for Russia’s Vladimir Putin and his forces. It also has made possible a Ukrainian victory on the battlefield, a realistic and far better way for this war to end.
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OBSERVING JUNETEENTH
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON ET AL.: ‘The Day of Freedom Came’
The end of slavery in the United States was a drawn-out process, with the timing and method varying from state to state and within states. Here are five testimonies of men and women from four different states recollecting—decades later—how they and their families heard and responded to the news of their freedom.
BARACK OBAMA: ‘Whether This Nation Might Fulfill the Call of Its Birth.’
Today, the issue of chattel slavery seems so simple, so obvious—it is wrong in every sense. Stealing men, women, and children from their homelands. Tearing husband from wife, parent from child; stripped and sold to the highest bidder; shackled in chains and bloodied with the whip. It’s antithetical not only to our conception of human rights and dignity, but to our conception of ourselves—a people founded on the premise that all are created equal.
THEODORE R. JOHNSON: The Real Story of the Politics of Juneteenth.
On June 19, 1865, a Union general read General Order No. 3 aloud, informing the people of Galveston, Texas that, as decreed by President Abraham Lincoln, “all slaves are free.” Though the Emancipation Proclamation was signed more than two years earlier, June 19th—thus the portmanteau Juneteenth—is usually considered the day that the last enslaved black people in the Confederacy finally learned of their freedom. Black Texans have celebrated the date since 1866, and the tradition slowly migrated to other portions of the South. By the end of the twentieth century, it had eventually stretched into communities throughout the country. Since then, activists and legislators have worked for decades to obtain national recognition for it.
🚨OVERTIME🚨
Happy Juneteenth! Don’t worry, we aren’t going to go all SpaghettiOs on you today. (Alas, some people did.) And a belated happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there.
Unfortunately, many on the right are having trouble accepting Juneteenth as a federal holiday. For all the talk on the right of Lincoln freeing the slaves, you’d think some might treat this as an opportunity to own the libs. Alas not. As a friend observed, we’re seeing a repeat of conservatives and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
Conservative thought leader Charlie Kirk opined: “Not taking today off for a CRT-inspired federal holiday that competes with July 4th.” And in the Washington Examiner, though this was not published this year, Rep. Matt Rosendale had this doozy:
A textbook case of “Yeah, but…” that not only passed an editor’s desk, but was published. Don’t get it? They’re not confessing, they’re bragging. When people show you who they are, believe them…
Which brings us to rat fuck candidate RFK… And don’t forget the 9:30 show is completely different than the 7:30 show.
How the monobloc… Conquered the globe.
Bold strategy, Cotton! General Mark Hertling explains whether packing T-55s with explosives is gonna work out for the Russians.
The Poisoning of the American Mind: Part II… Our friends at Connors Forum on the ways “Americans are being fed questionable messages by the information sources that they rely on.”
Slave cases are still cited as “good law”… And this team is trying to change that.
Meanwhile, in North Carolina… There are allegations that the House Speaker Tim Moore, engaged in group sex, among other affairs. It should be the end of Moore’s career.
… and in Long Island… The GOP has dropped ties with a “flasher” candidate.
Brett Crozier isn’t bitter… The Navy Captain who lost his job after concern over his sailors regarding COVID reflects on the end of his career.
Raise the Titanic? The military and others are trying to see if they can save tourists who went missing while trying to visit the wreck of the Titanic. Apparently, Titanic trutherism is a thing.
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Correction (6/19/23 7:20 PM): An earlier version of this newsletter incorrectly stated that TN Rep. Scotty Campbell, who resigned due to sexual harassment, was a representative in North Carolina.
Editorial photos provided by Getty Images. For full credits, please consult the article.
