The Definition of Chutzpah
A News Link Round-Up
The latest weekly round-up of links, covering: accountability everywhere but here, Trump suddenly needing help on Iran from people he treated like dirt (and getting treated like dirt by people he helped), Trump’s dictator’s clubhouse, a strangely conditional meaning for “unconditional surrender,” a collapse in trust but also a mysterious collapse in violence, and: the public is sick of our twice-annual time change.
Why Can’t We Do This, Too?
Bolsonaro to Start Serving 27-Year Sentence Over Coup Plot
After the nation’s top court rejected an initial appeal by Mr. Bolsonaro’s lawyers challenging his sentence, the court ruled that he will begin serving his sentence at a federal police facility in Brasília, the capital.
The court’s ruling brought to a close a multiyear effort to hold Mr. Bolsonaro accountable for his role in a far-reaching plot to overturn the results of the 2022 election and remain in power following his loss at the polls.
The case became a severe test of Brazil’s young democracy after President Trump tried to help his political ally by imposing punishing tariffs and sanctions in an attempt to pressure Brazil into dropping the case. But Brazilian authorities did not cave and Mr. Trump appears to have moved on.
South Korea’s Former President Yoon Suk Yeol Jailed for Life for Leading Insurrection
A South Korean court has sentenced the former president Yoon Suk Yeol to life imprisonment with labour over his failed martial law declaration in December 2024, finding him guilty of leading an insurrection and making him the first elected head of state in the country’s democratic era to receive the maximum custodial sentence.
The Seoul central district court found that Yoon’s declaration of martial law on 3 December 2024 constituted insurrection, carried out with the intent to disrupt the constitutional order.
Judge Jee Kui-youn said the purpose was “to send troops to the national assembly to blockade the assembly hall and arrest key figures, including the assembly speaker and party leaders, thereby preventing lawmakers from gathering to deliberate or vote.”…
In a historical digression, the judge traced the history of insurrection law and cited the 1649 execution of England’s Charles I, who led troops into parliament, to establish that even heads of state can commit insurrection by attacking the legislature.
Ex-Prince Andrew “Basically Under House Arrest” After Royal Downfall
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor may soon find his world limited to a quiet corner of the Sandringham estate. According to palace insiders, the disgraced royal is expected to move into a heavily secured farmhouse on the property.
Sources say the setup reflects the monarchy’s latest effort to keep the disgraced former prince away from the spotlight while his legal troubles continue to play out.
The relocation follows Andrew’s February 19 arrest on suspicion of misconduct in public office. Authorities are now examining claims that he may have shared sensitive information with financier Jeffrey Epstein while serving as Britain’s trade envoy. He was taken into custody and released a few hours later. However, the investigation is still ongoing….
One source put it bluntly. “Effectively, Andrew is now under house arrest and will remain so for the rest of his life, as, in exchange, his brother will fund his comfortable lifestyle.”
The Epstein Scandal Is Taking Down Europe’s Political Class. In the US, They’re Getting a Pass.
Across the Atlantic, heads are rolling over the Jeffrey Epstein revelations.
In Norway, one prominent diplomat has already been suspended and a police investigation has been opened into a former prime minister. In the U.K., the former ambassador to the U.S. has been fired; on Tuesday, he resigned from the House of Lords. Police are reviewing reports he shared market-sensitive information with Epstein….
But as Europe’s political class moves to clean up its mess and address its shame concerning ties with the convicted sex offender, it’s inadvertently highlighting something else—the comparative lack of accountability in the U.S.
No prominent politicians have taken a fall. Consequences have been limited. Wagons have been circled around the most prominent political figures whose names have surfaced in the legal document dumps.
The Definition of Chutzpah
Trump Calls on Kurds to Aid US Effort in Iran, Offers Support
The Trump administration, bracing for more US casualties and considering whether to put troops on the ground in Iran, has begun reaching out to Tehran’s domestic opposition as potential allies to foment an uprising against the regime.
In calls this week to Kurdish minority leaders in Iran and neighboring Iraq, President Donald Trump offered “extensive US aircover” and other backing for anti-regime Iranian Kurds to take over portions of western Iran, according to multiple people familiar with the effort….
The Kurds, in Iran numbering about 10 million across five western provinces, are also among the largest minorities in Iraq, Syria and parts of Turkey. In each of those countries, they have fought politically and sometimes physically—often with U.S. support when it coincided with American objectives—against systematic marginalization and for the right to self-determination.
But they have just as often felt abandoned by Washington. Most recently, the U.S. lifted its support from the Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish group that had been America’s long-standing partner in countering the Islamic State in Syria as the Trump administration moved to partner instead with the new regime in Damascus.
US Asked Ukraine for Help Fighting Iranian Drones, Zelensky Says
