August 25, 2026

Bill Friskics-Warren of the New York Times: “Dolly Parton, the country singer, songwriter, entertainer and entrepreneur whose rags-to-riches story, outsize persona and prodigious vision and talent placed her in a class by herself, died on Tuesday in Nashville. She was 80.” The link is a gift link. ~~~

Ian Austen of the New York Times: “Canada announced retaliatory tariffs as high as 50 percent on hundreds of American products on Tuesday, just days after the collapse of trade talks triggered punishing tariffs from the Trump administration. As a trade war between the countries intensifies, Canada will start collecting tariffs of 50, 25 and 15 percent on about 700 products beginning on Sept. 8. The most significant measure is a doubling of tariffs on American steel and aluminum to 50 percent. But the list of products affected ranges from household rolls of aluminum foil to railway locomotives and steel bridges. Many of the American products Canada will now tax mirror the Canadian exports hit by the new U.S. tariffs, particularly in clothing, forestry products, tools and electronics including smartphones. But Canada is also targeting costly consumer products like dishwashers, washing machines and stoves. A wide array of fish, frozen and fresh, also appear on the list.” The link is a gift link. 

Greg Jaffe, et al., of the New York Times: “A series of firings and feuds initiated by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has left the Army essentially rudderless as it struggles to deal with the threat posed by cheap, deadly drones and missiles that have pounded U.S. bases in the Middle East. The Army has not had a chief of staff, the service’s top officer, since Mr. Hegseth fired Gen. Randy George without explanation in April, and there are no signs that he is close to filling the position.... Mr. Hegseth has forced out at least three senior officers who had been viewed as potential successors to General George. Army Secretary Daniel P. Driscoll, the service’s top civilian leader, is also expected to leave the administration in the next few months.... The turmoil comes as the Army, the military’s largest service, faces its busiest period since the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.” The link is a gift link.

Trump Threatens to Take His East Wing Wrecking Ball to the Kennedy Center. Julia Jacobs of the New York Times: “Lawyers for the Trump administration told a federal judge that the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts desperately needs the major renovation ordered by ... [Donald] Trump and raised the specter that it would need to be 'taken down' if those plans are blocked. In a court filing late on Monday, Justice Department lawyers defended plans for the $250 million renovation project and described how, as recognition for the president’s role, an inscription of his name on the arts center’s marble facade would be appropriate.... It was unclear how seriously any thought to knock down the building has been considered, but it was the most extreme measure that has been cited to support Mr. Trump’s contention that the Washington arts center needs a major overhaul that would force it to close for two years. 

“Mr. Trump ordered the demolition of the White House’s East Wing last fall to make way for a luxury ballroom.... The filing was part of the proceedings in a lawsuit by Representative Joyce Beatty, an ex officio board member at the center who has fought to block its plans to close and conspicuously honor Mr. Trump. In a statement on Tuesday, Nathaniel Zelinsky, a lawyer for Ms. Beatty, said the suggestion by Justice Department lawyers was a 'not-so-subtle threat to demolish the Kennedy Center if the president doesn’t get his way.'” The link is a gift link.

Yahoo! News has republished (i.e., not firewalled) Jonathan Edwards' Washington Post story on Trump's Kennedy Center financial fiasco (original linked below). 

Teddy Rosenbluth of the New York Times: “Two unvaccinated people in Pennsylvania have died from measles, as a large outbreak there continues to spread, the state’s Health Department reported on Tuesday morning. They were the first measles deaths this year in the United States. The deaths come during a record-setting year for measles in the United States: More cases have been reported in 2026 than in any other year since the virus was declared eliminated in 2000. Outbreaks have popped up all over the country. Lancaster County, Pa., where both patients lived, has been at the center of an outbreak that has so far hospitalized 70 people and infected more than 390, a third of whom were children. Some public health experts believe this number to be a vast undercount because the area is home to large Mennonite and Amish communities that tend to avoid traditional health care....

“Earlier this month..., [Donald] Trump made the unsubstantiated claim that vaccinating against measles, mumps and rubella at the same time could be 'quite lethal.' The nation’s health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has long underplayed the seriousness of measles infections and spread misinformation about vaccines.” The link is a gift link. The ABC News story is here. 

Shane Harris of the Atlantic: “People close to Trump suggested to the Qataris that instead of selling [their ultra-luxurious jet to him as they had hoped to do], they could donate it to the United States. A gift. A freebie from 'friends' who had already put hundreds of millions of dollars into Trump’s son-in-law’s private-equity firm and bought a debt-laden Manhattan hotel belonging to Steve Witkoff, his Middle East special envoy, for $623 million. That’s to say nothing of the $8 billion they’d spent to build the Americans an air base — the biggest U.S. military base in the Middle East — or their plans to spend $10 billion more to enhance and maintain it. What was another $400 million, for a plane that the president so dearly loved? Even some Qatari leaders were surprised by the president’s gall. But they did what they’ve always done when an American official has asked them for something dubious.... They said yes.

“But recently, Qatar’s leaders haven’t gotten what they paid for. In February, the United States attacked Iran with practically no warning to the Qataris.... Then Iran attacked Qatar, badly damaging the country’s natural-gas facilities, the main source of its wealth. Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, the only route available to Qatar to export its natural gas.... Qatar is stuck, uniquely afflicted by the misadventures of the guy who took their airplane. In Trump, the Qataris had met a man who could not be bought. He could be paid, and expected to be. But the security the Qataris hoped for turned out to be a protection racket. A man who doesn’t remember yesterday never asks Are we friends? He only wants to know, What have you done for me lately?” Thanks to akaWendy for this gift link.

Marie: Sorry, my Internet connection has been down for a couple of hours, and Xfinity says it may go down again over the next day. I'm not dead; Xfinity is on life-support, though. I'll do what I can when I can. Update: It keeps going down; looks like it's on for 5-10 minutes, then off for 15. I'm having a difficult time here. Update 2: Now I've given up. I'll try again much later today.  

Just When You Think Trump Can't Do of Say Anything Dumber. Angie Hernandez of NOTUS: "... Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to rename Lake Ontario, the body of water between Canada and New York, 'Lake America' after collapsed negotiations over the weekend sparked an escalating trade war between the two historic allies. Trump, in a post to Truth Social, said Tuesday that the name change was under 'serious consideration' because the United States didn’t expect to be 'doing much business with Ontario any longer.'” MB: Oh, why not just call it Lake Donaldo? ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Hernandez doesn't say so, but I imagine the beef here is with Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario. ~~~

     ~~~ Rob Ferguson & Robert Benzie of the Toronto Star: Ontario "Premier Doug Ford is in a war of words with ... Donald Trump as trade tensions escalate between Canada and the U.S. After Ford said Monday that Trump 'can kiss my ass' for threatening 50 per cent tariffs on Canadian-made vehicles going stateside starting in January, the president lashed out at the premier and Prime Minister Mark Carney on social media. 'Lots of "bluster" from Doug Ford, who is the Premier of the Canadian Province of Ontario, but who is better known as the overall unimpressive brother of the late, great Rob Ford,' wrote Trump on his Truth Social website, referring to the former Toronto mayor."

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There are primary runoffs today in Oklahoma & South Carolina. 

Marie: Six members of the Supreme Court believe in promoting democratic principles and following the Constitution as much as Donald Trump believes in promoting democratic principles and following the Constitution. Lawrence O'Donnell was far more brutal than I am here; he said the unsigned opinion -- almost certainly written by CJ Johnnie -- was penned by a "Natalie Harp-type Trump groupie." ~~~

~~~⭐Abbie Van Sickle & Ann Marimow of the New York Times: “A divided Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Trump administration to move forward with plans to restrict mail-in voting before the midterm elections. In an emergency order, the justices said ... [Donald] Trump could proceed with implementing an executive order he had signed, which directed the U.S. Postal Service to help decide which voters should receive mail-in ballots. Under the executive order, the Department of Homeland Security will also create lists of U.S. citizens that the administration believes could be used to monitor voter rolls for noncitizens. The decision means the administration can move ahead with planning for restricting the use of mail ballots even as a lower court continues to weigh the legality of Mr. Trump’s executive order. But with a little more than two months until Election Day — and considerably less time before early voting begins in many states — it remains unclear whether the White House’s rules will be in effect for a midterm election in which control of both chambers is at stake. Additional legal action is a near certainty with the plan’s fate not yet final.

“A separate injunction by the same lower court complicates matters. That court action prevents the postal service from implementing some parts of the executive order. That case could also soon be headed to the justices.... The three liberal justices dissented, with Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson warning that the majority 'needlessly injects chaos and uncertainty into the upcoming midterm elections.'” The link is a gift link. Politico's report, by Josh Gerstein, is here. Democracy Docket's report is here. MB: IMO, both Politico's and Democracy Docket's report do a better job of getting to the heart of the order than does the NYT report; however, Kanno-Young's report -- linked below --makes up for what the report linked above lacks. Again, that's just my opinion, pretty much made off the top of my head after quick scans. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Yunior Rivas of Democracy Docket reviews Justice Jackson's dissent: “Jackson, one of three liberal justices who dissented, said the decision creates a new bind for states and voting rights groups seeking to challenge last-minute election changes. They can be told they sued too early before a final rule is issued, only to later risk being told they sued too late as Election Day approaches.... She added that the federal government, “which controls the timing of proposed and final rules,” can 'easily game the system.'” Rivas also summarizes some of the responses to the decision from voting-rights advocates. 

     ~~~ Steve Vladeck does a very good job of parsing -- in layman's terms -- all that's involved here. As for his opinion, he says the ruling -- or at least the major argument about the case being "premature" -- is "bollocks." But if you read his post, you'll see that the plaintiffs do at least have another shot at saving democracy from this gang of Constitution-bashing Supremes. (MB: Sheldon Whitehouse [my favorite senator] explained some of this on Lawrence O'Donnell's show last night. I don't have a clip, but as long as this pirated copy stays up, you can hear Whitehouse's explanation beginning at about 16:30 minutes in.) ~~~

     ~~~ Scott Lemieux in LG&$: "Allowing flagrantly illegal policies to remain in place, even temporarily, is precisely the opposite of what the court should actually be doing with the shadow docket if it chooses to act at all. Nothing good comes from this; the only question is how bad. And what it indicates about how in the tank the Court remains for Trump is disturbing in itself. " 

~~~ Zolan Kanno-Youngs, et al., of the New York Times: “Four weeks before ... [Donald] Trump signed an executive order seeking to restrict mail voting, he filed four nominations for vacancies on the Board of Governors of the U.S. Postal Service. All four were Republicans. Three have expressed doubts about who won the 2020 presidential election and the security of voting. The selections broke with a longstanding practice of nominating board members in bipartisan pairs. Two of those nominees are on a fast track for approval, and could reach a full Senate vote when the chamber returns from recess in September. If confirmed, their appointments would effectively tip the board to a majority that is loyal to Mr. Trump. The quiet attempt to restructure the leadership of the Postal Service comes as the president and his allies are trying to transform the 251-year-old agency into a central player in their quest to overhaul the nation’s elections. Last year, Mr. Trump took an unusually active role directing the board of governors to select the current postmaster general, David Steiner. And the president has imposed a highly partisan agenda on a historically apolitical institution: restricting mail voting, a practice more heavily used by Democrats than Republicans, which Mr. Trump has publicly acknowledged would benefit his party.” The link is a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.)  

Ana Swanson & Tony Romm of the New York Times: Donald “Trump threatened on Monday to increase tariffs on all cars, trucks, car parts and steel from Canada to 50 percent, starting Jan. 1, as the relationship with America’s closest traditional ally edges toward a full-blown trade war. Writing on Truth Social, the president said that Canada was 'among the worst Nations in the World to deal with' and that it 'will be treated like a State no longer.... They feel entitled, and yet, WE DON’T NEED CANADA, THEY NEED US!'...” The link is a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Why don't the White House press corps ask Trump every day why this is? Thanks to RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

No one in this world ... has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby. -- H.L. Mencken, 1926 ~~~ 

~~~ Gregory Schneider & Praveena Somasundaram of the Washington Post: “The collapse of a trade deal between the United States and Canada over the weekend, followed by ... Donald Trump’s announcement Monday that he would impose even more tariffs on Canadian goods, added a new shock to midterm elections already dominated by price concerns.... Trump campaigned heavily in 2024 on fighting rampant inflation and improving the economy, but since taking office last year has taken a series of actions widely seen as making things worse.” MB: Nevertheless, that does not give Trump supporters much pause: “Several attendees at [a campaign] event [in Maine featuring JD Vance] said they believed the president was looking out for broader U.S. interests.” ~~~

~~~ Stephen Marche in a New York Times op-ed: “Friday, Aug. 21, may go down in history as Canada’s Liberation Day. It was the day America came for us, and we said no.... Apparently, one of the final sticking points was an American demand that Quebec undo its French-language laws and French-language cultural protections....  [Mr. Carney, a] gray banker — ... one of the leading bankers in the world — has stood up and said that there’s more to life than a little bit of money.... Mr. Trump’s world, a world of transaction and submission, is not the only world we all have to live in. The American president clearly did not know whom he was dealing with. He is following in the grand tradition of American leaders starting wars with people they don’t understand, then wondering what went wrong.” The link is a gift link. ~~~

~~~ Daniel Desrochers, et al., of Politico, agree with Marche, from a U.S. POV: “... Donald Trump is threatening Canada with economic destruction amid an escalating trade war. He’s not factoring in one key U.S. disadvantage. Americans are not nearly as gung-ho for a tariff stand-off as their northern neighbors, who have been seething for months over Trump’s rhetoric against their country.... Poll after poll shows Canadians across the political spectrum are willing to accept [hardships] in order to stand up to the U.S. government. The opposite is true in the U.S., where even many in the president’s own party oppose Trump’s trade agenda — particularly his tariffs on Canada. And unlike Carney, the president faces a voter referendum in November, in the form of midterm elections. As the two countries settle in for a long-term standoff, the outcome is likely to be defined by each government’s ability to endure pain: economic in Ottawa and political in Washington.”

Jonathan Edwards of the Washington Post: “Ticket sales and fundraising collapsed after ... Donald Trump’s name was added to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, even as the center’s leaders publicly touted a financial turnaround, according to confidential documents obtained by The Washington Post. Ticket sales had already dropped in the 10 months following Trump’s takeover, but both ticket sales and donations plunged after the Trump-led board of trustees voted in December to rename the center after him and put his name on the front of the building.... The documents show that leaders knew both were cratering even as they publicly portrayed Trump’s takeover as a financial rescue. In a failed June request to keep Trump’s name on the building, for instance, a Justice Department lawyer wrote that renaming the center after Trump 'represented a saving of The Kennedy Center which, if this doesn’t happen, would go into financial and structural collapse.' Just the week before, the center’s own financial projections showed ticket revenue and fundraising had plummeted after the name change, putting it on track to fall nearly $100 million short of its revenue target.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: It appears that DOJ lawyer made that assertion in a court filing; if so, that DOJ lawyer lied to the court. Also, in light of the story linked above, the June 11 WashPo story linked here suggests that the center's director Matt Floca also lied in a sworn court filing. So federal crimes all around.

Riley Beggin, et al., of the Washington Post: “Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday unveiled a sweeping campaign of financial sanctions and diplomatic pressure designed to sever Iran’s remaining links to the global economy, but he declined to say which countries would be targeted or when new penalties on Iran’s trading partners would take effect.... The initiative is aimed at closing loopholes in the existing U.S. financial dragnet around Iran and, Bessent said, forcing an 'endgame' in the conflict that ... Donald Trump launched in February. Treasury officials said they are adding five sectors of the Iranian economy to their target list: cryptocurrency used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and regime insiders; weapons-related technologies; gold used to stabilize the plummeting Iranian currency; Iran’s airlines; and shipping that carries weapons components and oil. They also announced sanctions on 60 entities, individuals and vessels that enable Iran to procure nuclear or missile technology, conduct cyber operations, and sell oil.” (Also linked yesterday.) 

More Murder on the High Seas. Eric Schmitt & Helene Cooper of the New York Times: “The U.S. military killed two men in a strike against a boat in the eastern Pacific that it said was transporting narcotics, U.S. Southern Command announced early Monday. It was the first such strike by the military since June 21. The United States began a campaign of boat strikes last year in the run-up to the military operation that seized Nicolás Maduro, the president of Venezuela. The military has continued the operations in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific, killing at least 223 people in 67 strikes that it said were involved in the narcotics trade. But narcotics experts say the boat strikes have failed to slow the smuggling of cocaine from South America to the United States. According to Brown University, the costs of the operation were at $4.7 billion as of March 31. Legal specialists also have said that the strikes are illegal extrajudicial killings because the military is not permitted to deliberately target civilians — even suspected criminals — who do not pose an imminent threat of violence.” The link is a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.) 

They Don't Know Much About Art, But They Know They Don't Like Obama. Zachary Small of the New York Times: “The State Department wants to sell a painting by the celebrated artist Kehinde Wiley that the director of its Art in Embassies program called 'very woke' and 'aesthetically terrifying.' It was removed from the U.S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic last week. The painting by Wiley, who rose to fame after being selected to create President Barack Obama's official portrait, features four Dominican models against a floral backdrop. It was commissioned by the federal government in 2013 and paid for with taxpayer dollars. State Department officials removed the painting from the embassy last week, after first hiding it behind a tarp designed with an image of the American flag. Erin Scavino, the director of Art in Embassies, criticized Wiley’s painting in a recent podcast interview and pointed out the artist’s connection to Obama. Leah Campos, the U.S. ambassador to the Dominican Republic, celebrated its removal on social media with a video playing the rock anthem 'We’re Not Gonna Take It,' writing that the painting was an example of 'globalist and woke ideologies.'” The link is a gift link. “Woke” is confederate PC for “Black.” ~~~

     ~~~ All in the Family. Marie: Scavino. Scavino? Why does that name sound familiar? Oh, yeah, Erin Scavino is married to Dan Scavino, Donald Trump's former caddy and current assistant to Natalie Harp. What a bunch of fine-arts experts. Update: Oh wait, there's more: Leah Campos is the sister of Rachel Campos-Duffy, the wife of Transportation Secretary & "Road Trip" star Sean Duffy. I remind you that nepotism is a form of corruption. And probably not the best way to pick an art curator or ambassador/art critic.

Ted Hesson & Lauren Gurley of the Washington Post: “The Trump administration plans to charge employers seeking skilled foreign workers through the H-1B visa program a $103,265 fee, a proposed regulation posted on Monday said. Revenue from the fee would be used to run the legal immigration system.... Trump tried to implement a similar $100,000 fee last year through a presidential proclamation, but it was invalidated by a federal judge in June.... U.S. District Judge Leo T. Sorokin of Massachusetts said the president unilaterally imposed an illegal tax, bypassing Congress, and failed to consider the impact of his actions on sectors experiencing labor shortages that rely on the H-1B program to hire physicians, nurses and teachers. The Trump administration appealed the ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit and requested it be paused pending the appeal, but the request was denied in late July. The new proposed regulation ... seeks to carve a different legal path by proposing to use the fees to offset the cost of running the immigration system....

“The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and an association of top research universities in a separate lawsuit last year criticized Trump’s earlier fee, saying H-1B workers fill critical jobs in the medical, manufacturing and technology fields. The federal judge in that case sided with the Trump administration in December, leading the Chamber of Commerce and university association to appeal.” MB: Obviously, Trump hates immigrants more than he loves U.S. businesses. (Also linked yesterday.) 

Madeleine Ngo of the New York Times: “A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to immediately bring back a Mexican man who was deported this month despite proving to an immigration court that he would likely face torture in Mexico. The man, who is in his late 40s and was referred to in court documents only as John Doe, helped U.S. authorities by testifying against Mexican drug cartels. The man provided information to U.S. law enforcement that put his and his family members’ lives at 'significant risk,' according to the order, which was issued by Judge Stephanie Gallagher in Maryland on Friday. The court found that the administration’s revocation of protections barring his removal 'likely violated his procedural due process rights,' exceeding the government’s lawful authority. The head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement moved to reverse his protections after the State Department received diplomatic assurances from the Mexican government that the man would not be harmed, according to background information on the case included in the judge’s order.” The link is a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.)

Monica Hesse of the Washington Post: Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy's new YouTube series “'Road Trip' is marketed as a highways-and-byways celebration of America’s 250th, but it was controversially corporate-sponsored, which might explain why the Duffys visit that iconic American vacation destination, a Boeing factory, and why Sean later finds himself cheerfully asking a random executive in a hard hat, 'What makes a great asphalt company?' And, 'Did you grow up in the asphalt business?' And, 'Do you fill up all the drums with asphalt?'... Two episodes in it becomes clear that this is not a show about America. It’s a show about the Duffy family, whose patriarch and matriarch (weekend “'ox & Friends' host Rachel Campos-Duffy) were both 1990s cast members of “The Real World” and who, on multiple occasions, seem like they’re trying to reboot that reality TV career.... Either that, or this is a soft launch of a 2028 presidential run.”  

Sarah Kaplan of the Washington Post: “Nevada sued the Trump administration Monday over a plan requiring it and two other states to cut Colorado River water use, the first legal challenge to the federal government’s attempt to rescue the waterway, which is on the brink of collapse. The state in its challenge filed in U.S. district court said the Interior Department’s long-awaited drought management plan would cause 'devastating environmental, socioeconomic, and health and human safety impacts to southern Nevada and its citizens.' The federal plan was developed after the seven states that rely on the river failed to reach a compromise over how to share the pain of mounting water shortages.” (Also linked yesterday.)

Benjamin Mullin of the New York Times: “A private arbitrator has ordered The Washington Post to rehire the opinion columnist Karen Attiah, who was fired in September over her social media posts about the assassination of the conservative activist Charlie Kirk. It also ordered the company to compensate her with back pay. Sarah Miller Espinosa, the arbitrator, said in a written decision Thursday that The Post 'did not have good and sufficient cause' to terminate Ms. Attiah and 'violated' its labor agreement, according to a copy of the decision shared with The New York Times by Ms. Attiah’s lawyers. 'The Washington Post failed to establish the grievant engaged in gross misconduct,' Ms. Espinosa wrote.... The Post’s opinion section has been in flux since early last year, when Jeff Bezos, the newspaper’s owner, moved to reorient the section to focus on 'personal liberties and free markets.'” The link is a gift link. (Also linked yesterday.)

Marie's Sports Report

Marie: The report linked next explains why I hate football. I won't watch it in any form, and the more people who boycott the games, the broadcasts and cablecasts of the games, the sports stories that cover it, the paraphernalia, etc., the better: ~~~

~~~  John Branch of the New York Times: “Since the degenerative brain disease known as C.T.E. was first scientifically linked to football about 20 years ago..., hundreds of former professional football players have been diagnosed with the disease after their deaths.... New data provides a sobering indication: At least one in four of all the people who have played in the N.F.L. might expect to end up with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, according to a study of hundreds of cases over a recent six-year period. Researchers considered every former N.F.L. player who died from 2016 to 2021. There were 878. Some died in their 20s, some in their 80s, most in between. The study’s main finding was simple math: At least 215 of those 878 former players — 24.5 percent — had C.T.E. The actual prevalence could be far higher.” The link is a gift link. 

Jayna Bardahl & Matt Barrows of the New York Times/Athletic: “San Francisco 49ers owner and CEO John 'Jed' York was arrested on Sunday in East Palestine, Ohio, on misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and possessing criminal tools, according to court records. York was booked Sunday morning and released that afternoon on an Own Recognizance bond, the Columbiana County Sheriff’s Office confirmed. York appeared in Columbiana County Municipal Court on Monday, where he pleaded no contest to both charges. York was fined $150 for disorderly conduct and $1,000 for possessing criminal tools and sentenced to two days in jail. The fourth-degree disorderly conduct charge was originally listed as engaging in prostitution before it was changed.” The link is a gift link.

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Ukraine. Cassandra Vinograd & Oleksandr Chubko of the New York Times: “Once Ukraine’s most sought-after Western weapons, [armored] tanks now mostly sit idle, hidden in forests and collecting cobwebs. The $10 million machines, procured with great fanfare, proved no match for cheap drones that now dominate the battlefield. Yet Ukraine still maintains them and trains soldiers to use them, while trying to imagine new ways to deploy them.... Ukraine started asking for Western-made tanks almost immediately after Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.... Kyiv’s allies resisted sending them until January 2023, when Britain, Germany and the United States changed course following fraught negotiations and public pressure.... By the time they entered the fight late that spring, cheap drones were already inflicting a deadly toll and were able to strike tanks at their most vulnerable points.” The link is a gift link.