An open letter to Speaker Mike Johnson

Sir, I applaud you for calling the US and its leaders to “turn the rhetoric down.”

1/ 2/ On NBC, you said, “We've got to turn the rhetoric down, we got to turn the temperature down in this country, we need leaders of all parties on both sides to call that out.”

Education as an Antidote to Violence

I’ve been saddened to see some of my friends repeating the false claim that colleges “radicalize” young people into violence.

The truth is exactly the opposite.

1/n 2/ Research consistently shows that education reduces crime. More schooling lowers the likelihood of arrests, convictions, and incarceration for violent offenses, including homicide.

Americans are divided like never before. The right hates the left, and the left hates the right. Republicans vs. Democrats. Blacks vs. whites. Christians vs. atheists. The list goes on.

1/n 2/ Sometimes it’s hard to even recognize your own friends when they openly call for violence — and that’s happening on both sides.

The Nord Stream saga.

For two years, the world has speculated: Who blew up the Nord Stream pipeline? Russia accused the U.S. The U.S. pointed at russia. Conspiracy theories flourished — each more imaginative than the last.

1/n 2/ Now, reports suggest that it was not the CIA, not British divers — but an elite Ukrainian team that carried out the sabotage in September 2022.

Many Americans have complained that the allocated $400 million in aid to Ukraine is “very little.” I disagree. That number may look modest, but it’s almost as high as $500 million Donald Trump is on track to spend on his golf trips during his presidency.

1/n 2/ GAO audit: Just four Mar-a-Lago trips in 2017 cost U.S. taxpayers ~$13.6M total (~$3.4M per trip) when you include Air Force aircraft, Coast Guard boats, and overtime.

Russian attack on Poland achieved several objectives at once.

First — testing NATO’s “red lines.” The Kremlin knows well that the West’s main weakness is not the lack of weapons or finances, but political will.

1/n 2/ Ideally, Moscow wants to prove the North Atlantic Alliance’s inability to act as a collective institution. This test is aimed personally at Donald Trump, who has repeatedly expressed skepticism about U.S. commitments to its allies.

After watching the full video of how Iryna Zarutska was murdered, I couldn’t hold back tears. It made me sick to my stomach.

How is it possible that a man arrested 14 times for armed robbery, assault, and violence was allowed to roam the streets freely? Fourteen times!

1/n 2/ It doesn’t matter whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat — if someone has a record like that, they should never be back on the streets. Period. Every release was another roll of the dice, and this time it cost Iryna her life. That is unthinkable. That is unacceptable.

Watching ICE agents drag people off the streets feels like a reenactment of the Nazi Gestapo. I can’t believe what this morally bankrupt government has turned our country into.

How did we get here?

1/n 2/ At least now I understand how most Germans, including a Christians, in the 1930s ended up supporting Hitler.

Please read this text from Jake McGrew, who survived a russian attack on Kyiv.

Jake was one of my first hires at American University Kyiv. He is a U.S. citizen who moved to Ukraine during the war to teach Ukrainian students. But American leadership has betrayed all of us.

1/n
2/ “Last night, I went to bed hoping for a quiet night.

There were drones in the sky, but none near Kyiv, so I thought maybe, just maybe, I’d get a few hours of peaceful sleep. That’s become a rare thing lately.

The U.S. economy is in real trouble — just look at the latest jobs report.

With 300+ million people, the U.S. historically added about 150,000 jobs a month, roughly in line with population growth.

1/n 2/ Then came the pandemic crash of spring 2020: 1.4 million jobs lost in March, 20 million in April.

In russia, 12-year-old Masha Moskalyova drew rockets flying toward a Ukrainian family and wrote:
“No to war. No to Putin.” – Die Welt.

Her classmates reported her.

1/n 2/ Soon after, russian authorities arrested her father, Oleksii.

On New Year’s Eve, masked men with weapons stormed their apartment — smashing walls, stealing money, and beating him again.

What Security Guarantees Ukraine Actually Needs

Lately there have been many talks about possible “security guarantees” for Ukraine. It’s time to cut through the noise and lay out what real assurances could look like.

1/n 2/ No more illusions about russian “guarantees.”

History has shown one thing beyond doubt: russia’s promises are worthless. From the Budapest Memorandum to countless ceasefires, Moscow has broken every pledge the moment it suited them.

In 2027, Russia attacks Poland from Belarus and the Kaliningrad region. It occupies Suwałki, and the front line stabilizes near Białystok. Every night, Russia bombs Polish cities, striking hospitals and kindergartens alike.

1/n 2/ NATO’s response is limited. Weapons are sent to Poland, but no soldiers. Western European countries have armies too small to enter the fight.

Peace talks are dead. Security “guarantees” from Europe look hollow. The U.S. waits for a Ukraine–russia summit that will likely never happen.

So what can the U.S. and EU do now to truly help end the war?

1/n 1. Expand sanctions.

Target Lukoil & Rosneft — two giants behind nearly half of russia’s crude exports. Cutting their revenues would directly weaken the Kremlin’s war machine. /2

Europe’s rearmament is happening at historic speed.

Since russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Europe has been expanding military factory capacity three times faster. From 790,000 m² in 2020-2021 to 2.8 million m² in 2024-2025 - a true “rearmament of historic proportions.”

1/n 2/ One of the largest projects is the joint Rheinmetall-N7 Holding venture in Hungary. Construction began in 2022, and by 2024 the first plant producing 30mm shells for Lynx IFVs was already operational.

Russian officials saying that Putin will not sign any agreement with Zelensky, because he is “illegitimate.”

All of this is a direct consequence of Trump trying to appease Putin. I saw this coming eight months ago.

Here is what I wrote on February 18:

1/n 2/ Here is what I wrote on February 18:

Fox News has reported that russia and the U.S. have proposed a three-step peace plan, which includes a ceasefire, elections in Ukraine, and the signing of a final agreement.

Ukraine is doing its best to strike at russia's ability to wage war against the Ukrainian people, while russia aims to kill Ukrainian civilians. Yet, we never hear America praising Zelensky and Ukraine for ethically defending their country.

1/n 2/ We have heard in the past week that President Trump, others in his administration, and conservative news, reference the 'two warring countries', or the 'two warring presidents.' This is such a gross misrepresentation of this war.

It is so painful to read. About 6,000 bodies of Ukrainians that russia has returned. It feels like a vision from the times of Stalin and Hitler. I am grateful to our pathologists who carry out this work, giving relatives the final confirmation of who has died.

1/n 2/ On a dusty railway platform in the Odesa region, Ukrainian workers unload white bags with bodies from refrigerated train cars. The air is thick with the stench of death, The New York Times reports.

Independence is not an event, but a process.

Usually, the declaration of independence is only the beginning. What follows is the war for independence - because empires never let anyone go voluntarily.

1/n 2/ Our own war for independence was long delayed. Many say we wasted the years when we should have been preparing. That is true, and not true. If we had prepared, the war would have started earlier.

It is very dangerous to “hope” that Trump will stop russia’s war against Ukraine.

Yesterday I spoke with someone who genuinely believes the upcoming “negotiations” between Putin and Zelenskyy are a real chance to end the war.

1/n 2/ We talked for an hour and a half. I kept returning to one thought: Zelenskyy could end the war at a meeting with Putin — but only by signing a pact of capitulation.

What is the “root cause” of russia’s aggression against Ukraine?

No, it’s not NATO expansion, “demilitarization,” “denazification,” “defense of russian-speaking minorities,” or Putin’s personal insecurities. It’s older and deeper…

1/n 2/ Russian imperialism — sustained by a culture that has long justified domination of its neighbors.