There is a great temptation to reduce the intrigue of the first debate between Trump and Biden in the US presidential election campaign to Biden's old age and infirmity. We would forgive him these failings if the rest of the story was okay. After all, Reagan was re-elected president when he was 73. He was only semi-coherent when he left office.
The war in Ukraine is only a small part of a gigantic front in the battle between stupidity and greed. We all remember Rudy1. The problem is not that Biden and Trump are running. It’s that Team USA has failed to articulate responses to batshit criticism of lots of things, including Ukraine’s struggle for survival in the 11th year of a genocidal war.
Has U.S. policy toward Russia been inconsistent and wishywashy?
Yes.
Has US assistance to Ukraine been rational and timely?
No.
These reproaches can be blamed on Biden personally. But Trump and prior Republican administrations bear as much responsibility in shaping this trend as Biden and prior Democratic administrations. Team USA suffers from a deep institutional political crisis and a constitutional crisis that cold eyed strategists of the next American empire will have to deal with.
The thumbnail of this vid gives you an excellent peek at the J-Frame(TM) technology of my girlie Hoka Gaviotas.
Over the weekend, I read Brian’s very long story about the demise of The Washington Post2. It explains, in part, why the newspaper’s coverage about Ukraine has been so, er, erratic. Last time I checked, WAPO had still had not retracted its bullshit exclusive about Roman Chervinsky organizing the demolition of the Nord Stream pipelines3.
The last paragraph of Trudy’s fawning article about Z appearing in the Philadelphia Inquirer also got me thinking4.
We need less courage and more competence from Ukraine’s leaders, starting with Z. There is zero reason for the president to be bone-tired. He should stop eating fried eggs and drinking wine, maybe take some vitamins, do some aerobic exercises.
The above thought is also irritating, because today’s mess could/would have been lessy bloody if Z had heeded repeated, detailed warnings in late 2021 that Russia would attempt to decapitate Kyiv.
Also, it’s not “sad” that NATO won’t be offering Ukraine membership at its 75th birthday party in early July.
Looking on the positive side, Russian KIA counts are way up, now averaging about 35,000 per month.
Realities we don’t see (Februay 10, 2021)
THE REAL STORY OF THE CRISIS AT THE WASHINGTON POST. How the world’s greatest businessman drove his newspaper into a ditch (The Atlantic, June 27, 2024)
Ukrainian military officer coordinated Nord Stream pipeline attack. Roman Chervinsky, a colonel in Ukraine’s special operations forces, was integral to the brazen sabotage operation, say people familiar with planning (The Washington Post, November 11, 2023)
Zelensky lays out how Ukraine can win, if the West loses its fear of Putin. “It is impossible to help Ukraine with one hand and shake Putin’s hand with the other.” (The Philadelphia Inquirer, July 1, 2024)