Dispatches from Vilnius

At least 34 killed in missile strike on Sumy When the war first broke out in Ukraine, the Lithuanian Prime Minister Šimonytė called it our "Poland moment," referring to Hitler's attack on Poland in 1939.  Had Putin been able to overrun Ukraine the way Hitler had Poland, it very well could have been the start of WWIII.  In many ways it still is because NATO was relatively quick to come to the defense of Ukraine and help the country hold off the Russian onslaught with a steady supply of munitions. Witless Steve Witkoff proudly announced he had reached a ceasefire agreement in the Black Sea after what he described as " compelling " talks with Putin.  This hasn't stopped Vlad the Impaler from continually firing on Ukrainian cities, including the Black Sea city of Odessa, which was hit with a barrage of missiles and drones this week.  Nevertheless, the Trump administration presses on, using a combination of "diplomacy" and Trump rants on social media ...

Palm Sunday and speculation abounds that Trump will declare martial law on Easter to deploy troops to the southern border.  His administration seems to have a knack for invoking old acts, in this case the 1807 Insurrection Act, to justify their heinous policies.  So far, the Supreme Court has been very accommodating as they upheld the Trump administration's use of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to detain and deport what they regard as dangerous immigrants.  Autocracy appears to be the logical next step. He's certainly managed to put everyone on guard, but so far he hasn't exactly followed through on his initiatives.  All his talk of tariffs to rectify what he regarded as a massive trade deficit blew up in his face last week when the Dow tumbled 5000 points.  He very quickly pulled back on the tariffs which even his DOGE efficiency expert called "dumb as a sack of bricks."  Musk was referring to Pete Navarro out of deference to Trump.  Petey was the supp...