Month: May 2024

Authored by Emel Akan via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

President Joe Biden is struggling to win over key Democratic voting blocs in battleground states, according to recent polls. Yet, it’s becoming increasingly evident that this challenge is largely unique to the incumbent president himself, rather than indicative of a broader issue within the Democratic Party.

According to a recent poll by the New York Times and Siena College, the president trailed former President Donald Trump among registered voters in a head-to-head matchup in five out of six key swing states: Michigan, Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, and Pennsylvania. Wisconsin was the only state where the president had the advantage.

Among likely voters, which are considered a more accurate reflection, the race was tighter, with President Trump holding his advantage in five states and President Biden edging ahead in Michigan.

Meanwhile, the Senate races are showing a very different picture.

In four battleground states, Democratic Senate candidates outperformed President Biden, according to the New York Times/Siena College survey.

In Nevada, for example, where President Biden is facing his biggest challenge, President Trump holds a 12-point lead. However, in the Senate race, polls indicate that Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) is heading off her Republican opponent, Sam Brown, by 40 percent to 38 percent among registered voters.

In Arizona, the former president leads 49 percent to 42 percent. Meanwhile, Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) is ahead of his Republican rival for Senate, Kari Lake, by 4 points. And a most recent CBS News poll indicates an even wider margin, with Mr. Gallego holding a 13-point lead.

A study by the Center for Politics, since World War II, shows 196 instances of ticket-splitting, which means that states voted for a president from one party and a Senate candidate from another party.

However, that trend has become a lot less common in recent years.

In 2020, nearly 90 percent of candidate Biden and President Trump voters also opted for a congressional candidate from the same party. However, in the 1970s and ‘80s, that ratio was roughly 70 percent, according to the American National Election Studies.

“Split ticket voting at the Senate level is not as prevalent as it used to be,” Ford O’Connell, a political analyst and Republican strategist, told The Epoch Times.

Maine was the only state in 2020 where voters split their tickets, electing Democrat Mr. Biden for president and Republican Susan Collins for Senate.

Is 2024 Ripe for Ticket-Splitting?

Some observers are wondering if ticket splitters will return in 2024, given the large gaps in the survey results of presidential and Senate races.

Aside from Nevada and Arizona, President Biden is underperforming in Pennsylvania, where Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) leads by 5 points, and in Wisconsin, where Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) leads by 9 points, according to the New York Times/Siena College poll.

Even in red states like Ohio and Montana, where President Trump enjoys overwhelming popularity, Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) lead their Republican opponents in polls.

This is the opposite of what happened in 2020 when congressional Republicans outperformed President Trump and President Biden outperformed congressional Democrats.

Mitchell Brown, pollster and director of political strategy at Cygnal, said the large gaps are driven by President Biden’s historically low approval ratings.

This creates the possibility that President Trump could win several battleground states in 2024, while Democratic incumbent senators retain their seats in those races, Mr. Brown told The Epoch Times.

Read more here…

By Trucker News

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at a California commercial facility made two major drug seizures recently. The interceptions of illegal drugs found in tractor-trailers included:

• 400 pounds of cocaine 

• 11,469 pounds of methamphetamine

Cocaine found in fuel tank

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Otay Port Commercial Facility discovered over 400 pounds of cocaine concealed in a tractor-trailer’s fuel tanks on Friday, May 17.

At approximately 9 p.m., CBP officers encountered a 35-year-old man driving a commercial tractor-trailer and empty trailer applying for entry from Mexico at the Otay Mesa Commercial Facility. The driver, a valid border crossing card holder, was referred for further examination by CBP officers along with the tractor and empty trailer.

In the secondary inspection area, a CBP canine unit screened the tractor-trailer and alerted officers to examine the fuel tanks.

After an intensive examination, CBP officers discovered packages hidden in a non-factory compartment inside both fuel tanks of the semi-truck. The contents of the packages were tested and identified as cocaine, with a total of 160 packages extracted weighing 412.26 pounds.

CBP officers seized the narcotics and commercial tractor-trailer while the driver was turned over to the custody of Homeland Security Investigations for further investigation

“The continued success of OFO canine teams in the detection of narcotics is a team effort,” stated Rosa E. Hernandez, Port Director for the Area Ports of Otay Mesa. “We will continue to conduct operations, including Operation Apollo, while leveraging intelligence and investigative information to target drug traffickers’ supply chains.”

Over $18 million in meth found in squash

CBP officers working at the Otay Mesa Commercial Facility discovered $18 million dollars’ worth of methamphetamine hidden within a shipment of squash.

On Monday, May 20, at about 6:47 a.m., CBP officers encountered a 44-year-old male driving a commercial tractor-trailer with a shipment manifested for squash. The driver, a valid border crossing card holder, was referred for further examination by CBP officers along with the tractor-trailer and shipment.  

Non-intrusive scanning technology was utilized to conduct a full scan of the tractor-trailer. After examination, irregularities were observed and CBP officers requested a CBP human and narcotics detection canine. The canine team responded and alerted officers to the presence of narcotics. 

CBP officers discovered and extracted a total of 1,419 packages concealed within the shipment of squash. The narcotics were tested and identified as methamphetamine with a total weight of 11,469 pounds with an estimated street value of $18,350,400.

“Our officers’ commitment to duty, excellence, and the safety of our nation is truly commendable. These results serve as an outstanding display of effectiveness in thwarting the illegal importation of narcotics,” stated Rosa E. Hernandez, Otay Mesa Area Port Director. “Their exceptional efforts truly embody the highest standards of service.”

CBP officers seized the narcotics, commercial tractor, and trailer while the driver was turned over to the custody of Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) for further investigation.

Authored by Nathan Worcester via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

In remarks at the Libertarian National Convention, Trump surrogate and former Libertarian Party voter Vivek Ramaswamy called for the men and women in attendance to ally with the “America First” wing of the Republican Party.

“I believe the future of this country depends on a libertarian-nationalist alliance,” the entrepreneur said. The crowd mostly booed in response.

The call for tactical cooperation came after Mr. Ramaswamy outlined his skepticism with both Democrats and what he characterized as “the establishment wing of the Republican Party,” criticizing Republican support for the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), among other policies.

He also said that independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who spoke earlier that day to the convention, was “in no sense a libertarian,” citing his past support for “punish[ing]” skeptics of the mainstream scientific narrative on climate change.

In his opening comments and a subsequent debate with the Libertarians’ vice presidential nominee, Clint Russell, Mr. Ramaswamy suggested that the current political moment offered an opportunity for libertarian ideals to influence the future of former President Donald J. Trump’s “America First” movement.

“I have had extensive conversations with Donald Trump about libertarian objectives,” the entrepreneur said.

In New Hampshire, after Mr. Ramaswamy left the race, President Trump stressed his opposition to central-bank digital currencies, adding that “Vivek [also] wanted this.”

Yet, President Trump’s warm response to new support from another past presidential hopeful, Nikki Haley, has some wondering whether Ms. Haley’s more neoconservative politics would significantly influence a future Trump administration.

“You know, we had a nasty campaign, it was pretty nasty, but she’s a very capable person, and I’m sure she’s going to be on our team in some form absolutely,” President Trump said in an interview after his rally in the Bronx on May 22.

President Trump will also be speaking at the Libertarian National Convention.

In his remarks in D.C., Mr. Ramaswamy also criticized what he described as two other possible future paths for “America First,” aside from a more libertarian or constitutionalist vision.

One was neoconservatism, “the way of Dick Cheney.” The other, he said, was “what they would call industrial policy, but what increasingly looks and smells like a right-wing version of the nanny state.”

He reiterated his criticism of industrial policy during his debate with Mr. Russell, which was moderated by comedian Dave Smith.

Yet, when defending his views on China—an area of meaningful disagreement between many Republicans and many libertarians—the businessman and investor leaned on concerns about Chinese domination of America’s defense-industrial base while indicating that some would disagree that such a sector is necessary at all.

When asked about legislators’ intensified worries about TikTok, Mr. Ramaswamy also hewed to the GOP-friendly view.

“Why do you think there was this push to ban TikTok? Do you think it’s really because, as they say, it’s partially owned by a Chinese subsidiary. Or is it because of, let’s say, a different foreign nation?” Mr. Smith asked.

It was a clear reference to Israel and the Israel lobby, the frequent target of Mr. Smith and many other libertarian commentators as the nation’s war with Hamas rages.

The Wall Street Journal’s Georgia Wells wrote that pro-Palestine content on the app “helped galvanize lawmakers to want to take action” after years of comparative indifference.

Mr. Ramaswamy, known for his comments on the U.S.-Israel relationship while on the campaign trail, laughed before reframing the question.

“I think you’re talking about a foreign nation beginning in Silicon Valley, actually. It’s Facebook lobbying is the reason we passed that bill,” he said.

“He’s not entirely wrong,” Mr. Smith interjected as the former candidate kept talking.

While CNN remains an undisputed propaganda arm of the ruling class (see: Ted Cruz’s recent ‘will you accept the results’ purity test interview), the network committed two recent acts of journalism we felt warranted recognition in the hope they’ll change their ways (don’t hold your breath).

First, they debunked the absurd “unified Reich” hoax – in which the Trump campaign ‘reTruth’d’ a video which used a stock video template that anyone can buy online, called “Newspaper Vintage History Headlines Promo,” and which flashed the image of a headline from 1871 which reads “”German Industrial Strength After 1871 Driven By The Creation Of A Unified Reich.””

The leftist media complex, which unrepentantly helped the US intelligence community frame Trump as a Russian asset, flipped out – with networks including CNN going into literal shakes to whip up their goldfish-brained viewers.

• Newsweek: Donald Trump ‘Unified Reich’ Video Leaves People Stunned
• MSNBC: Trump’s Online Account Promotes ‘Unified Reich’ Video, Adding To Alarming Pattern
• The Hill: White House Slams ‘Sickening’ Video Shared By Trump Referencing ‘Unified Reich’
• CNN: Trump Posts Video Referencing ‘Unified Reich’ If Reelected

Former CIA Director Gen. Michael Hayden amplified the hysteria to his 345,000 followers.

UNIFIED REICH, My God. https://t.co/mfE6L37gJJ

— Gen Michael Hayden (@GenMhayden) May 21, 2024

CNN does journalism!

What’s amazing here is that CNN then devoted resources to actual journalism to track down the origin of the video (no doubt in the hopes of finding a tiki-torch aficionado at the bottom of it) – only to discover, and report, that a 30-year-old Turkish graphic designer made it, and that “All signs point to it’s inclusion being an oversight, not a fascist dog whistle.“

He made the template to mimic a vintage newsreel and copy and pasted random phrases that he assumed people would replace. “United Reich” appeared in the Wikipedia entry on WW1. pic.twitter.com/UuozlxeWWB

— Jon Sarlin (@jonsarlin) May 24, 2024

“I’m really actually in my soul…I’m sad, because this is just for the text.” pic.twitter.com/mTH8pgQUtF

— Jon Sarlin (@jonsarlin) May 25, 2024

How did this slip past the editors!?

Of course, this moment of journalistic integrity is likely an outlier, as the same CNN journalist, Jon Sarlin, was pushing ‘it’s not the economy, you’re just stupid‘ propaganda earlier this year.

Except…

While underlying costs have similarly risen – including forced wage hikes, ruining the ‘greedflation’ narrative. Even James Carville is willing to tell the truth.

James Carville: “We keep wondering why these young people are not coming home to the Democrats. Why are blacks not coming home to the Democrats? Because Democrat messaging is full of shit, that’s why.”

Democrats went from “It’s the economy, stupid!” to “You’re stupid if you… pic.twitter.com/9q2Rpipu7f

— Eric Abbenante (@EricAbbenante) May 25, 2024

CNN’s second act of journalism in the course of two weeks was when Manu Raju ambushed Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) and badgered him over his bribery case.

New — Henry Cuellar, a Texas Democrat, walked into my live shot so I asked him about his three associates pleading guilty in his bribery case and whether he would resign from Congress amid his federal indictment. pic.twitter.com/TFtApNdpsr

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) May 15, 2024

What’s going on here?

Authored by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,

Have you ever felt like you can never seem to get ahead no matter how hard you try?  If so, you are definitely not alone.  The gap between the ultra-wealthy and the rest of us has never been greater, and more wealth is being transferred to the top of the pyramid with each passing day.  Unfortunately, our economy has evolved into a highly centralized system that is designed to drain wealth from those that do not own wealth-producing assets and transfer it to those that do own wealth-producing assets.  Sadly, even most of our homes and most of our vehicles have been turned into wealth-producing assets by the elite.  Every month when you make your mortgage payment and your vehicle payment, you are making the wealthy even wealthier.  The entire system is designed to get you deep into debt and keep you paying on that debt until you die.

As we have seen in recent years, those that manage the system will do whatever it takes to protect the wealth of the elite.

The Federal Reserve pumped trillions of dollars into the system to prop up the value of financial assets, and it worked.

Right now, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is hovering around 40,000 and those that own stocks are living the high life.

But who owns most of the stocks?

According to Federal Reserve data, the wealthiest 10 percent of all Americans own a record high 93 percent of all the stocks…

The wealthiest Americans have never owned so much of the stock market, with the top 10% now holding a record 93% of US equities, according to Federal Reserve data.

On the flip side, the poorest 50 percent of all Americans own just 1 percent of all the stocks…

Still, stock ownership is skewed toward the top: by comparison, the bottom 50% of Americans owned just 1% of all stocks and mutual fund shares in the third quarter, central bank data shows.

Of course stocks are just one form of wealth.

But when you add in all other forms of wealth, the bottom 50 percent of the U.S. population still only owns just 2.6 percent of all the wealth.

Tens of millions of Americans have lost faith in the system and are becoming increasingly restless, and our politicians have been trying to keep them pacified with handouts.

At this point, a whopping 42 million Americans receive food stamp benefits each month, and much of that money is spent on junk food…

An alarming study has spotlighted how 42 million food stamp recipients spend their welfare handouts on ultra-processed junk food.

Coca-Cola, Sprite and other soft drinks are the most commonly-bought items via the $135 billion-a-year Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), a new study says.

Candy, potato chips, frozen pizza, ice cream, cookies, and other ultra-processed food dominates the top 20 items, says a report from the Economic Policy Innovation Center (EPIC).

A lot of those that are receiving government assistance are actually employed.

But the cost of living has become so oppressive that even people working for some of the biggest companies in America can’t afford the basics…

Five years after Amazon.com Inc. raised wages to $15 an hour, half of warehouse workers surveyed by researchers say they struggle to afford enough food or a place to live.

The national study, published Wednesday by the University of Illinois Chicago’s Center for Urban Economic Development, asked US employees about their economic wellbeing, including whether they’d skipped meals, went hungry, or were worried about being able to make rent or mortgage payments.

Fifty-three percent of respondents reported that they’d experienced one or more forms of food insecurity in the prior three months, and 48% experienced one or more forms of housing insecurity. Workers who said they took unpaid time off after getting hurt on the job were more likely to report trouble paying their bills, the researchers found.

Today, approximately 40 percent of the entire U.S. population is either living in poverty or is considered to be among the ranks of “the working poor”.

In order to maintain the same standard of living as it did in January 2021, it now costs the average American family $12,000 more per year.

If your income has not increased by $12,000 a year since January 2021, you are falling behind.

And now that economic conditions are starting to deteriorate at a frightening pace, Americans are becoming increasingly pessimistic about where the economy is heading next…

After a spurt of optimism, Americans are feeling a little more glum about the economy — again.

Consumer sentiment, a gauge of Americans’ economic perceptions, is at a six-month low, according to a closely watched index by the University of Michigan. The measure notched its biggest drop since 2021, reflecting the persistent tug of inflation on household budgets and fueling fears that rising prices, unemployment and interest rates could all worsen in the coming months.

That pessimism is altering consumers’ spending habits. McDonald’s, Home Depot, Under Armour and Starbucks all recently reported disappointing earnings, as people cut back on fast food, kitchen renovations, sneakers and afternoon lattes.

Frustration with the economy is going to be a major theme during the next few years here in the United States.

Of course the entire world is grappling with a system that is leaving way too many people behind.

According to Oxfam, most of the global population has gotten poorer since the turn of the decade…

Oxfam’s new report, Inequality Inc., explores the disparity between the uber-wealthy and the rest of society. Since 2020, five billion people have become poorer, while the world’s five richest men have more than doubled their fortunes—at a rate of $14 million per hour.

Just like in the United States, the gap between the wealthy and the poor globally has reached a level we have never seen before.

Since 2020, Oxfam says that billionaires have gotten “$3.3 trillion richer”…

Hundreds of millions of people are struggling to keep up with the cost of living; meanwhile, billionaires are $3.3 trillion richer than they were in 2020. This is not a coincidence. When we analyzed the world’s largest corporations, we found that a billionaire is running or the principal shareholder of 7 out of 10 of them.

Such a system is not sustainable.

If most of the global population is steadily getting poorer and a tiny sliver of the global population is becoming fabulously wealthy, it is only a matter of time before the entire system comes crashing down.

Hundreds of millions of people are becoming deeply angry and deeply frustrated, and civil unrest will erupt in major cities all over the planet during the period of great chaos that we are entering.

Today, the world is dominated by ultra-powerful governments, ultra-powerful banks and ultra-powerful corporations.

The little guy is being absolutely crushed, but it won’t be too long before the deeply corrupt system that the ultra-wealthy have created suddenly implodes right in front of their eyes.

*  *  *

Michael’s new book entitled “Chaos” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

Last week, Russian media took note of the latest provocative statements by Estonia’s Prime Minister Kaja Kallas. She has led Russia’s tiny Baltic neighbor into a firm hawkish anti-Moscow position. The country was part of the wave of eastern European nations to join NATO in the mid-2000s during the Bush era.

She’s calling for the breakup of the Russian Federation. Kallas proposed during a debate in the country’s capital of Tallinn last week that Russia could become much “smaller” as a desired outcome of the Ukraine war.

“Russia’s defeat is not a bad thing because then you know there could really be a change in society,” the prime minister told the 17th Lennart Meri Conference, as translated in Russia’s RT.

She said that currently the Russian Federation can actually be seen as making up “many different nations” and that they could be naturally broken into separate states.

“I think if you would have more like small nations… it is not a bad thing if the big power is actually [made] much smaller,” Kallas asserted.

Despite its small size Estonia has been outspoken over the last several months related to the war. For example it recently appeared to back French President Macron’s call for NATO to consider sending Western troops to Ukraine:

The government of Estonia is “seriously” discussing the possibility of sending troops into western Ukraine to take over non-direct combat, “rear” roles from Ukrainian forces in order to free them up to fight on the front, though no decision is imminent, Tallinn’s national security advisor to the president told Breaking Defense.

Of course, these troops would face the possibility of direct attack by Russian aerial forces, even if in the “rear” and far away from front battle lines.

And more recently, there’s the potential for a fresh border dispute brewing:

Moscow is looking to test NATO’s “resolve” after Kremlin border guards removed buoys that marked Russia’s maritime border with Estonia, according to a report from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

Estonian Police and Border Guard said in a release that Russian law enforcement removed part of the floating border placed in the Narva River overnight Thursday. The buoys are used to mark shipping routes and the border is placed every spring as part of a 2022 agreement between Tallinn and Moscow, Estonian police said.

Such provocations are likely to continue, perhaps as some level of retaliation for Estonian leaders’ consistently bold remarks aimed at Moscow.

Political map/states of the Russian Federation…

There’s been a tread of the leaders of pro-West Baltic states increasingly talking ‘tough’ throughout the Russia-Ukraine conflict, but ultimately they all must rely on strong Western backing, including from Washington.

On Friday the Biden administration revealed a new $275 million aid package for Ukraine, to address its “urgent battlefield needs” – and which is said to include a large infusion of desperately needed artillery shells.

US sources have estimated that Russian artillery outpaces Ukraine’s at ten to one. The new package comes as Ukraine forces are being driven back in Kharkiv oblast, leading to new desperation on the part of the West. However, Russia has said that the continued flow of new weapons and munitions to Kiev will only prolong the suffering of Ukrainians and the Zelensky government.

Russia’s ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov in fresh remarks has said “It is emblematic” as “the US announces this supply of deadly products from the local defense industry on the very same day when the Russian leadership clearly and unequivocally confirmed its readiness for negotiations.”

We detailed earlier that President Putin is newly signaling that he’s ready for negotiations if it means ‘freezing’ current lines, which “must reflect realities on the ground” – according to his Friday words.

Reuters whas written that “Three of the sources, familiar with discussions in Putin’s entourage, said the veteran Russian leader had expressed frustration to a small group of advisers about what he views as Western-backed attempts to stymie negotiations and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s decision to rule out talks.”

Any scenario which sees current lines frozen would mean Ukraine would have to cede substantial chunks of four Ukrainian regions. And in Kharkiv, for example, where a new Russian offensive is taking place, the border has been moved deeper into Ukrainian territory over the last weeks.

Putin also commented on the fact that the presidential election which was scheduled to be held in Ukraine this month was canceled under martial law. Zelensky will continue as president for as long as the war persists. Putin has as a result decried him as illegitimate.

“But with whom to negotiate? That’s a peculiar question, I agree,” Putin told a press briefing, emphasizing that “the legitimacy of the incumbent head of the [Ukrainian] state has expired.”

Meanwhile, the US government has not been secret about stating its ultimate long term goal…

When we hold the @NATO Washington Summit in July, we’ll take tangible steps to increase NATO’s role in building a capable Ukrainian force, supporting its ongoing reforms, better integrating Ukraine into the Alliance. pic.twitter.com/dxYxnAbWlP

— Department of State (@StateDept) May 19, 2024

Authored by Tristan Greene via CoinTelegraph.com,

While the assessment remains ongoing, OpenAI appears to have made little in the way of progress since 2023…

The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) published the first progress report from its “GPT taskforce” and the news isn’t good for ChatGPT.

OpenAI’s efforts to bring its flagship AI model, ChatGPT, into line with European Union rules, including the comprehensive General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), were noted by the EDPB but ultimately deemed insufficient.

Per the EDPB document:

“Although the measures taken in order to comply with the transparency principle are beneficial to avoid misinterpretation of the output of ChatGPT, they are not sufficient to comply.”

The findings come as OpenAI has spent much of 2024 dealing with temporary stop orders from several European member states.

As Cointelegraph reported back in January, Italy’s data protection agency found that ChatGPT and OpenAI were still afoul of Italian and EU data privacy laws despite having been warned and subsequently banned back in March 2023.

According to the EDPB’s report, OpenAI hasn’t done enough in the time since to bring ChatGPT in line with the EU’s laws.

The chief complaint appears to be that ChatGPT is prone to outputting inaccurate information.

“As a matter of fact,” writes the EDPB, “due to the probabilistic nature of the system, the current training approach leads to a model which may also produce biased or made up outputs.”

The report also expresses EDPB worries that “the outputs provided by ChatGPT are likely to be taken as factually accurate by end users,” whether they’re accurate or not.

It’s unclear at this time exactly how OpenAI could bring ChatGPT into compliance. The GPT-4 model, for example, contains billions of data points and around a trillion parameters.

It would be infeasible for humans to comb through the dataset to verify its accuracy to a degree that would allow it to be said to be reasonably accurate by GDPR standards. 

Unfortunately for OpenAI, the EDPB explicitly wrote that “in particular, technical impossibility cannot be invoked to justify non-compliance with these requirements.”

With the cost of living crisis and inflation having shot up in the last few years, many households are starting to look nervously at their bank balance.

This feeling is particularly pronounced in Greece, according to survey data conducted by Statista’s Consumer Insights, where as many as six in ten people said they are worried about their financial future.

This is well above the 38 percent average of the 39 countries surveyed. Portugal and Argentina also reveal high figures, hovering just shy of the 50 percent mark.

As Statista’s Anna Fleck shows in the following chart, financial uncertainty is widespread.

You will find more infographics at Statista

Even in France, one of the countries with a comparatively lower share of people reporting that they were worried about their financial future, around three in ten reported feeling concerned.

Submitted by Andrew Korybko

The reality is that Russian influence is non-existent in Poland due to the legacy of its former conservative-nationalist government.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk declared that he’s establishing a “Russian influence commission” to investigate alleged examples of this from 2004-2024. What’s hypocritical is that he condemned his predecessor for doing the exact same thing last summer, which he and the West condemned as a means for influencing last fall’s parliamentary election in the former government’s favor. It’s arguably the case that Tusk now wants to influence next spring’s presidential election in the same way.

Incumbent Andrzej Duda from what’s now the conservative-nationalist opposition has been able to obstruct some of the new liberal-globalist coalition government’s policies, which his envisaged successor (whoever they’ll be since he can’t run for re-election) envisages continuing to keep them in check. It’s precisely for this reason that Tusk is hellbent on ensuring that his party wins that post by hook or by crook, ergo why he’s now resorting to the same meddling that his predecessor employed against him.

The larger context concerns Poland comprehensively subordinating itself to Germany under Tusk’s rule so as to accelerate the resumption of the latter’s superpower trajectory, which the US supports in order for Germany to contain Russia on its behalf as it “Pivots (back) to Asia” once the Ukrainian Conflict ends. An important aspect of this policy involves fearmongering about Russia, most recently with respect to it allegedly carrying out sabotage inside of Poland, including the arson of Warsaw’s largest mall.

These accusations serve to keep Russia at the center of Poles’ minds, which in turn is intended to influence them into thinking that Poland cannot stand alone against its historical rival in the east and must therefore closely coordinate all relevant security matters with neighboring Germany. The notion is that newly remilitarizing and nowadays anti-Russian Germany is right next door while the US is halfway across the world and NATO’s collective action could be hamstrung by pragmatic members like Hungary.

Complementarily, the ruling liberal-globalist coalition has sought to connect the high-ranking Warsaw judge that fled to Belarus earlier this month to escape political persecution for his anti-proxy war views with the conservative-nationalist opposition. Shortly after that happened, Polish media then reported that the Supreme Audit Office is investigating the former government for allegedly misallocating funds spent on an anti-Russian propaganda campaign, which could potentially lead to charges by summertime.

Tusk exploited these narratives of Russia plotting to invade Poland, actively waging “hybrid war” against it, and even infiltrating the state itself to justify the revival of his predecessor’s “influence commission” in a new context that’s designed to lend it false legitimacy in order to distract from its true purposes. That aforementioned judge who just fled to Belarus predicted that it’ll lead to “purges and political prisons”, which aligns with this analysis’ argument that the end goal is to influence the next presidential election.

The reality is that Russian influence is non-existent in Poland due to the legacy of its former conservative-nationalist government whose premier boasted about his country being responsible for Russophobia going mainstream across the world and called the Russian World a “cancer”. He also “de-Russified” the energy sector, ramped up military spending, invited even more US troops into Poland, and ultimately turned Poland into NATO’s top logistics base for arming Ukraine against Russia.

These aren’t the policies of a government operating under Russian influence, yet Tusk wants to manipulate Poles into thinking otherwise so that they don’t vote for the conservative-nationalist candidate during the next presidential election, who might even be barred from running. If the liberal-globalist candidate wins, then the ruling coalition will be able to impose the most radical parts of their ideological agenda onto the country, though at the risk of Poland’s political crisis spiraling out of control.