memeorandum: DeSantis' rising star — and fraught relationship with Trump — on display as CPAC kicks off in Florida (CNN)

9:40 AM ET, February 24, 2022

Top Items:

Statement by President Biden on Russia's Unprovoked and Unjustified Attack on Ukraine — The prayers of the entire world are with the people of Ukraine tonight as they suffer an unprovoked and unjustified attack by Russian military forces. President Putin has chosen a premeditated war …

Wall Street Journal:

Russia Attacks Ukraine, Drawing Broad Condemnation — Missiles and airstrikes hit Kyiv and several other cities in Ukraine, in what President Biden calls an unprovoked attack, pledging further action against Moscow — KYIV, Ukraine—Russian armored columns pushed into Ukraine and airstrikes hit …

Discussion: Common Sense, The Guardian, Associated Press, CNN, Washington Post, RedState, New York Times, Outside the Beltway, Financial Times and Metro.co.uk, more at Techmeme »

Zoya Sheftalovich / Politico:

Ukraine's Jewish President Zelenskiy asks Putin: ‘How could I be a Nazi?’ — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday declared war on Ukraine and pledged to oversee a “demilitarization and de-Nazification” of the country — which is led by a Jewish president.

Discussion: Associated Press, NBC News, Insider, WHYY and New York Times

Associated Press:

Russia's Putin announces military operation in Ukraine — KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday announced a military operation in Ukraine, claiming it's intended to protect civilians. — In a televised address, Putin said the action comes in response to threats coming from Ukraine.

New York Times:

Putin Issues Threat Against ‘Anyone Who Tries to Interfere’ — Several Ukrainian cities were under attack on Thursday morning. President Biden condemned President Vladimir Putin's actions, saying he would speak to the American people on Thursday.

Discussion: HotAir, UPI, Insider, Politico, Washington Post, politicalwire.com, Responsible Statecraft, Associated Press, NBC News, Breitbart, BuzzFeed News, CNN, National Review and ukraine@war

Associated Press:

Russia attacks Ukraine, ‘shattering’ European peace — KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched a wide-ranging attack on Ukraine on Thursday, hitting cities and bases with airstrikes or shelling, as civilians piled into trains and cars to flee. Ukraine's government said Russian tanks …

Politico:

Battles flare across Ukraine after Putin declares war — KYIV — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday launched an all-out assault on Ukraine with missiles, warplanes and tanks that threatens to push Europe into its biggest conflict since World War II.

Discussion: CNBC, Washington Examiner, National Review, UPI, Al Jazeera, CNN, New York Times, Insider, Metro.co.uk, CNN, Forbes, NBC New York, WAVY-TV, Breitbart, The Hill, Indie News Network, Wall Street Journal, Townhall, Politico and Hollywood Reporter

NBC News:

Russia-Ukraine conflict live updates: Ukraine battles Russian attack on multiple fronts — Watch live: Russia launches attack on Ukraine — Russia launched what Ukraine said was a “full-scale attack” against its neighbor Thursday, with cities bombarded from the air and forces fighting on the ground.

Discussion: Politico, The Daily Caller, Associated Press and The Last Refuge

The White House:
Statement by President Joe Biden on Phone Call with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine

Discussion: New York Times, CNN, Associated Press, HotAir, CNN, The Moderate Voice, Media Matters for America, Politico and Forbes

Lorne Cook / Associated Press:
NATO vows to defend its entire territory after Russia attack

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Breitbart, WAVY-TV, The BondBeat, Daily Kos, Radio Free Europe/Radio … and TASS

Reuters:
Russia invades Ukraine in Europe's ‘darkest hours’ since WWII

Discussion: Fox News, The Energy Transitions Blog, Townhall, Power Line, Mediaite, The Guardian, TheBlaze and The Drifter

Jim Swift / The Bulwark:
“Pain, Blood, Mud, and Death”: Putin Attacks Ukraine

Discussion: Insider, New York Times, Outside the Tent, CNN and Talking Points Memo

Associated Press:
The Latest: Biden condemns Russia for ‘unjustified attack’

Discussion: New York Times, PIX11, New York Post, KRQE-TV, The Dispatch, Politico, WFLA-TV, Associated Press, NBC New York and Insider

David E. Sanger / New York Times:
Putin Spins a Conspiracy Theory That Ukraine Is on a Path to Nuclear Weapons

Discussion: Just Security, Bloomberg, Washington Examiner, The Daily Caller, Foreign Exchanges, One America News Network and Reason

Gideon Rachman / Financial Times:

Putin's war will shake the world — Russia intends to install a puppet government in Kyiv. The west must now respond — ADD TO MYFT — The phoney war is over. The real war has begun. For several weeks, the US and British governments have believed that Vladimir Putin was intent on a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Discussion: Bloomberg, Washington Post, New York Times, TheJournal.ie and The Drive

Anne Applebaum / The Atlantic:

Calamity Again … The poem is called “Calamity Again.” The original version was written in Ukrainian, in 1859, and the author, Taras Shevchenko, was not speaking metaphorically when he wrote about slavery. Shevchenko was born into a family of serfs—slaves—on an estate in what is now central Ukraine …

Michael Kofman / The Economist:

Michael Kofman, an expert on Russia's armed forces, explains why the Kremlin will seek regime change in Ukraine — Scenarios involving only limited fighting make little sense militarily — AFTER A LENGTHY and ominous speech, Russia's President Vladimir Putin chose to recognise …

Discussion: Axios, Axios, Washington Examiner, From The Forests of Arduinna, Associated Press, Bloomberg, bellingcat, A Conservative Perspective, U.S. Department of Defense, AP-NORC, NBC News, Washington Post and New York Post, more at Techmeme »

Nick Wadhams / Bloomberg:
Biden's Own Aides Feared His Sanctions Wouldn't Stop Putin

Discussion: CBS News, Campaign Update, Summit News and Florida Politics

Washington Post:
Why Ukraine — and Russian aggression against it — matters to Americans

Discussion: National Review, Bloomberg and Convert or Die

David Ignatius / Washington Post:
A deadly, devious intelligence war unfolds in Ukraine

Discussion: The Atlantic and Politico

Ryan Lizza / Politico:
POLITICO Playbook: War in Europe

Discussion: New York Post and Bloomberg

Eliot A. Cohen / The Atlantic:
Arm the Ukrainians Now — A rule of thumb in the theater is that if someone produces a pistol …

Discussion: Bloomberg, The Economist, The Guardian, CBS News and Responsible Statecraft

Anton Troianovski / New York Times:
Many Russians Feel a Deep Unease Over Going to War

Discussion: Politico, CNBC, Hackwhackers and Bloomberg

Bernard-Henri Lévy / Tablet Magazine:
The Rape of Ukraine — Taking Putin's grievances seriously would be nothing more than a death wish …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Bloomberg and Insider

Ann Coulter:

Stop Talking About Ukraine, Republicans! — Amid the media's 24/7 UKRAINE UPDATES, perhaps some enterprising journalist could write an article explaining how our esteem for that country's borders benefits a single American — other than President Joe Biden.

Discussion: National Review, Washington Post, Washington Free Beacon and Townhall

David Corn / Mother Jones:
Is It Amnesia or Hypocrisy That Fuels the GOP's Crazy Response to Putin?

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, Dakota Free Press, HuffPost, Mediaite, Fox News, Patterico's Pontifications, The Mahablog, Zandar Versus The Stupid, The Bulwark and Politico

Meryl Kornfield / Washington Post:
Trump and his supporters praise Putin and dismiss Biden as crisis unfolds

Discussion: Boston.com, Fox News, USA Today, CNN, Jihad Watch, Today's Edition Newsletter, POLITICUSUSA, New York Post, Raw Story, Mike Klonsky's Edu/Pol, Mercury News, Alpha News, Takes & Re-Takes, Politico and Insider

Jo Yurcaba / NBC News:

Texas governor calls on citizens to report parents of transgender kids for abuse — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is calling on “licensed professionals” and “members of the general public” to report the parents of transgender minors to state authorities if it appears the minors are receiving gender-affirming medical care.

Kate Sosin / The 19th:
Ken Paxton dined with the family of a trans kid. They now feel under attack.

Discussion: Rolling Stone, Axios, Reason, Mic and LifeSite

Washington Post:

Russia-Ukraine live updates: Russia launches attacks across Ukraine; Biden vows ‘consequences’ — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declared martial law as explosions were heard throughout the country and Russian forces targeted the capital.

Samuel Benson / Politico:

Hard pivot toward Trump proves costly for red-state ally — Like many GOP primaries this year, the challenge to Sen. Mike Lee in Utah turns on the question of fealty to Donald Trump. Unlike in most of those primaries, however, the issue isn't whether he's loyal enough. It's whether he's gone too far.

Discussion: USA Today and Raw Story

CNN:

DeSantis' rising star — and fraught relationship with Trump — on display as CPAC kicks off in Florida — Orlando (CNN)For the first time since 2017, the hottest name at the Conservative Political Action Conference might be someone other than Donald Trump.

Discussion: Fox News, Raw Story, Orlando Sentinel, Florida Politics and NPR

Roger Sollenberger / The Daily Beast:

The Mysterious Right-Wing Group Funding the Trucker Convoy — A conservative dark-money group created to fund election challenges has pivoted to funding the trucker convoy. — A rowdy convoy of truckers is descending on the Beltway outside of Washington, D.C., presenting itself as an organic reaction to mask and vaccine mandates.

Discussion: Raw Story, Washington Examiner, New York Magazine and IJR

David M. Herszenhorn / Politico:

Ukraine naval base drew Putin's wrath, then Russian fire — OCHAKIV, Ukraine — Two explosions rocked the port of Ochakiv around 7 a.m. on Thursday, as Russian forces unleashed a fierce assault on a Ukrainian naval base President Vladimir Putin had personally griped about as a symbol …

Discussion: Bloomberg, Insider, South China Morning Post and Shoaib's Newsletter

Jeff Cox / CNBC:

Jobless claims total 232,000, slightly less than expected; Q4 GDP revised up to 7% — Jobless claims for the week ended Feb. 19 totaled 232,000, slightly less than expected. — Continuing claims hit their lowest level in nearly 52 years. — GDP increased at a 7% annualized pace …

Discussion: The Daily Caller