Ukraine reports 5,276 new COVID-19 cases Zelensky: Every third Ukrainian considers road construction one of greatest achievements of 2021 Ukraine ready to implement Minsk agreements, but Russia's desire needed - Yermak Michel: EU unanimously agree to roll over economic sanctions against Russia Actions by Ukraine's partners will help prevent worst-case scenario - Zelensky COVID-19 in Ukraine: Health officials confirm 8,899 daily cases as of Dec 17 Macron tells Zelensky he declared support for Ukraine in call with Putin Zelensky, Scholz discuss gas transit through Ukraine after 2024 Ukraine ready for any format of talks with Russia - Zelensky Ukraine’s only journalist in Russia facing extremism charges - lawyer PM Shmyhal: First two applications for investment projects worth $96 million filed Zelensky, PM of Italy discuss security situation around Ukraine President signs off State Budget 2022 London considering all options for responding to Russia's aggression against Ukraine Putin, Biden to hold another round of talks Some 260,000 Ukrainians “victims of human trafficking” over 30 years - prosecutor general Ukraine plans to create center to protect energy infrastructure from cyber attacks No clear idea so far when Normandy Four top diplomats set to meet - German Ambassador Ukraine receives EUR 600M in macro-financial assistance from EU Zelensky holds phone conversation with PM of Israel Ukraine sets new daily COVID vaccination record MFA: European Union has not yet removed Ukraine from list of safe countries Kyiv records 1,023 new COVID-19 cases, 29 deaths G7 ambassadors welcome adoption of law on NABU status Ukraine can increase Covid vaccination rates to 1.5M a week – Liashko

As the government shutdown stretches on with no end in sight, President Trump is facing increasingly vocal opposition from his political opponents. In a fiery Instagram address Wednesday, rapper Cardi B expressed sympathy with furloughed government employees and excoriated the president for his role in the government shutdown. Cardi B’s address follows similar remarks from Snoop Dogg earlier in the month, and will doubtless be seen by political analysts as yet another data point strongly suggesting that the entire country has realized that the current president is, in political science terms, an “incompetent white supremacist toddler”:

Cardi B pointed to the president’s decision Tuesday to call nearly 50,000 furloughed employees back to work without pay as an egregious example of the president’s willingness to make other people suffer to get what he wants, but took in the macro view as well, observing that “our country is in a hellhole right now, all for a fucking wall.” As for conservative water-carriers offering specious comparisons between Trump and Obama on the basis of the 2013 government shutdown, Cardi B has a simple message: the conservative intelligentsia can’t fuck with her if they wanted to:

Now I don’t wanna hear y’all motherfuckers talking about, “Oh, but Obama shut down the government for seventeen days.” Yeah, bitch, for health care! So your grandma could check her blood pressure and you bitches could go check y’all pussy at the gynecologist with no motherfucking problem!

It’s depressing that mainstream news so rarely asks the question, “Are you trying to accomplish something good or bad with this policy?” but at least someone is. The 24-hour news cycle has brought us endless sophisticated analyses of everything Trump does, nuance on top of nuance, as very smart people struggle to make sense of our very dumb president. Cardi B’s statement, like Snoop Dogg’s before her, is a refreshing reminder that not everything is complicated. It really shouldn’t take more than a minute or two of Instagram video to expose Trump’s ideas as self-serving bullshit.

Here are Cardi B’s complete comments:

Hey, y’all. I just wanna remind you because it’s been a bit over three weeks, okay? It’s been a little bit over three weeks. Trump is now ordering, as in summonsing, federal government workers to go back to work without getting paid. Now I don’t wanna hear y’all motherfuckers talking about, “Oh, but Obama shut down the government for seventeen days.” Yeah, bitch! For health care! So your grandma could check her blood pressure and you bitches could go check y’all pussy at the gynecologist with no motherfucking problem. Now I know a lot of y’all don’t care because y’all don’t work for the government, or y’all probably don’t even have a job, but this shit is really fucking serious, bro. This shit is crazy. Like, our country is in a hellhole right now, all for a fucking wall. And we need to really take this serious—I feel like we need to take some action. I don’t know what type of action, bitch, because this is not what I do. But bitch, I’m scared. This is crazy. And I really feel bad for these people that gotta go to fucking work to not get motherfucking paid.