June 12, 2022

"President Joe Biden told donors at a fundraising event in Los Angeles on Friday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky 'didn’t want to hear it' when U.S. officials warned him of the Feb. 24 Russian invasion...."

"'I know a lot of people thought I was maybe exaggerating. But I knew we had data to sustain [Putin] was going to go in, off the border. There was no doubt, and Zelensky didn’t want to hear it,' he said. In response, Zelensky’s spokesperson Serhiy Nykyforov told Ukrainian news website LIGA.net that Zelensky spoke with Biden three or four times before the invasion, and Ukraine had called for preventive sanctions but Western allies 'didn’t want to hear us.' Zelensky adviser Mykhailo Podolyak also expressed his dislike for Biden’s phrasing, telling the news outlet it was 'absurd to blame a country that for more than 100 days has effectively been fighting in a full-scale war against a much more resourceful opponent, if the key countries weren’t able to preventatively stop the militaristic appetites of Russia, knowing them perfectly well.'"

The Daily Beast reports.

Terrible!

94 comments:

Narayanan said...

similar or not similar : to US-Mex-Tex border

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

If Biden was so sure Putin was going in, what did he do to prevent it?

Did he even call Putin, himself?

"See, I told you so", is not a good argument in your own defense, when the world had just seen you order American troops to flee Afghanistan in a way that seemed desperate, unplanned and disorganized. Nobody was chasing us out of there. And even if you wanted to get out, there was already an organized plan in place to do so.

David Begley said...

I don’t believe one fucking word out of Biden’s mouth.

Mr Wibble said...

I think that the Biden admin pushed the Russians into a more aggressive posture, expecting that they could manipulate it to get concessions out of both Ukraine and Russia. When they realized their screw-up, they expected the Russians to steamroll the Ukrainians. That's why Biden made his "minor incursion" statement: it was a walkback of promises to help out Ukraine. The hope was that the Russians would quickly take the eastern portion of the country, and then the State Dept weenies could sweep in an negotiate a new status quo. What screwed them over was Zelensky's decision not to flee Kiev. The government didn't fall, the military didn't collapse, and it turns out that the Russians were a lot more corrupt and a lot less capable than expected.

Now, the situation is basically the worst for the globalists: the war drags on, with popular support in the west for providing arms and equipment to the Ukrainians. The longer it goes on, the more strain it puts on the global economic and political networks that the political class used to enrich themselves.

Skeptical Voter said...

Who am I going to believe? Zelensky or Slow Joe? Based on the fact that Joe has lied to me many times---without shame or remorse, and--at least to date I don't know that Zelensky has lied to me---I'll go with Zelensky.

And it's Joe who has started this slanging match (there's another less polite term for such "matches"). It's very bad form.

Paddy O said...

Ukraine was wearing a short skirt in a bad part of town

JMR said...

He knew in advance and felt strongly enough to declare that Putin can't remain in power, yet did nothing during the run-up to the invasion to help. Maybe they failed to remove another public prosecutor, who knows? But if this is how quickly Biden reacts to a situation about which he feels strongly, imagine how swift his reactions to any other "sudden" developments.

Michael K said...

I agree with Mr Wibble. They tried to manipulate the situation and had a history of demonizing Putin. Anyone who questioned their behavior was "an ally of Putin." I'm afraid that Russia will come out of this better off than we will. The communists are now on our side.

gspencer said...

Joe's a regular Nostradamus.

gilbar said...

Paddy O said...
Ukraine was wearing a short skirt in a bad part of town

not Only That! She had twenty dollar bills sticking out of her expensive purse!!
I mean, da Bitch was just Asking for it!

Mikey NTH said...

I cLl malarkey. The Ukrainians have one foe for their intelligence apparatus to focus on, I doubt they didn't anticipate a Russian invasion.

Jupiter said...

White Christians killing each other, while Muslim rapists occupy Western Europe. What's not to like? This is Neoconservative heaven.

tim in vermont said...

Pontius Pilate

farmgirl said...

So, what he’s saying is: it was a set up.
A manipulation of a war.

Mark said...

So, Biden is now using the misery of the Ukrainian people to raise money.

madAsHell said...

There was no doubt, and Zelensky didn’t want to hear it

Bullshit! This is another hedge to white wash the actual events. This is blaming Putin for the price of gasoline. Everything is external, and outside of Biden's control.

The dog ate my homework.

tim in vermont said...

Wearing a short skirt while initiating an artillery barrage on Dunbas while Russia had announced its intention to protect them and had troops massed on the Dunbas border.

14,000 killed in Donbas over 8 years because they refused to accept the US appointed government in Kiev.

Kevin said...

Nothing is ever Biden’s fault.

Drago said...

Has Biden's Earpiece claimed to be a Ukrainian war hero yet?

You know it's comin'......Fat!

minnesota farm guy said...

As with Afghanistan, the Biden administration has no idea what it is, or was, doing in Ukraine. The idea that Ukraine had no idea Russia was about to invade is laughable. How long had Russia been building up forces on the border? Us telling the Ukrainians that Russia was about to invade is like the lineman who misses a block and then yells at the QB to "Look out"! I have no idea who is running the show at the White House, but they certainly have no concept what the average Joe, or Jane, is prepared to believe, nor do they have even the faintest acquaintance with truth or even what is important.

Hari said...

Things Joe Biden has said (or claims to have said):

July 2021: "Most of the price increases we’ve seen are . . . expected to be temporary”
August 2021: "The intelligence community did not say, back in June or July, that in fact [Afghanistan] was going to collapse like it did,"
January 2022: "'I know a lot of people thought I was maybe exaggerating. But I knew we had data to sustain [Putin] was going to go in, off the border."
June 9, 2022: "We’ve never seen anything like Putin’s tax on both food and gas . . .”
June 11, 2022: We’re gonna live with this inflation for a while . . .”

PB said...

Joe's just bloviating. Again.

Howard said...

It all fake news with photoshopped deep fakes and crisis actors like Sandy Hook and Robb Elementary

Big Mike said...

Joe Biden has been a fabulist since before 1987, when he notably plagiarized the life story of Neil Kinnock — a Welsh politician and not even American! — and thought to pass it off as his own. No reason to assume he’s suddenly and miraculously started telling the truth now.

rhhardin said...

Apparently the payoffs from Ukraine have stopped.

Not Sure said...

Stupid Zelensky, not trusting the super-competent and completely straight-shooting US intel professionals?

Skipper said...

It was Granpa Joe who invited Putin into Ukraine (as long as it was a minor incursion).

Critter said...

Is there a single disaster of his Administration that Biden has not very publicly blamed on someone else? Remember this liar gave “his sacred word as a Biden” to always tell the truth and take the blame when his administration screws up. For this alone the American people would be fools to believe anything Biden says.

Leland said...

What was Zelensky to do? Hand over the territory that Biden predicted on Jan 20 would be taken by Putin in a minor incursion? I remember thinking at the time that Biden's mouth just urged Putin to go ahead and invade, just keep it small. I believe Biden warned Zelensky, because he warned us all. I just not sure who Biden was supporting when he made the warning.

I'm not sure who it serves that Biden is blaming Zelensky now.

Iman said...

Both oars out of the water…

Josephbleau said...

How petty! How childish! Beiden crows an I Told You So Na na na na nahhh nahhh. He is the President, his words are spoken to influence the world, not for personal aggrandizement. He is less serious than Moe, Larry, and Curley.

n.n said...

Ukraine was wearing a short skirt in a bad part of town

Ukraine was intended to be the backdoor to redistribute Russian resources. But, alas, Russia is not Libya, not Syria, not even South Africa, and leaving Afghanistan to the Taliban with housewarming "gifts" didn't impress them. Progressive disenfranchisement of Ukrainians, denial of essential services to Ukrainians in Crimea, and backing the Kiev-aligned military, paramilitary axis assault of Ukrainians in the Donbas region. This is your Slavic Spring, Zelensky, eight years, two under your control.

Yancey Ward said...

I guess Zelensky is the designated fall guy. Poor bastard.

Mike Sylwester said...

President Biden should have used his son Hunter to warn the Ukrainian Government.

The reason why Ukraine had paid Hunter Biden $85,000 a month as a "compliance consultant" was that Ukraine understood well that represented his father, Vice President Joe Biden.

Ukraine understood that when Hunter spoke, he spoke for his powerful father. Ukraine understood further that the money paid to Hunter was essentially paid to the US Vice President.

Warnings from the US State Department had far less impact on the Ukrainian Government than warnings from Hunter Biden would have had.

Sebastian said...

"Terrible!"

Why? For a change, everyone may not be lying. But if you mean, the worst-case scenario came to pass, sure.

Joe encouraged Vlad--with the Afghanistan debacle, the Nord Stream II clearance, the minor incursion comment--and Z didn't want to face a real invasion and thought he could make peace and then started bitching about not getting enough weapons.

Meanwhile, millions flee, grain gets blocked, fertilizer goes missing, the West undermines anyone else's trust in the finanicial system, and the way grinds on. Lose-lose-lose-lose.

mikee said...

Can we at least give Ukraine the support to bleed the hell out of the Russian/Belorus military for as long as possible? Make the invasion expensive in lives and material for the invaders? So the Russians aren't as likely to do so again - say in Latvia or Georgia or Finland?

Proxy wars are inexpensive for the noncombatants. Send more weapons. Lots more. Let the Ukrainians kill some Russians for Christ, to paraphrase an old Cold War saying.

Kai Akker said...

Neither Biden's nor Zelensky's (by proxy) comments make any sense to me. Each wants to blame the other, that's all I can get from it. I know from our end that Biden's misjudged words about the limited incursion would have been taken as encouragement for some invasion by the Kremlin. Is Russia really paying the Biden family more than the millions they collected out of the Ukraine?

You can't tell the bribers without a scorecard.

BuckIV said...

"We knew for certain, once feeble Joe was in office, that the Russians would attack" maybe not the winning slogan they're hoping for.

Kai Akker said...

---14,000 killed in Donbas over 8 years because they refused to accept the US appointed government in Kiev.

Are you forgetting the masks? Don't forget the masks, Auntie Tim. They could have saved everybody, if only they had listened.

tim in vermont said...

Wait until the global famine begins to bite and you will be made to forget that this war was provoked by Biden crossing a Russian red line that has stood since Gorbachev. Biden could easily have avoided this war. Timeline: November, Joe Biden, compromised by his Ukrainian corruption, overturns long standing US policy and , despite numerous warnings from the foreign policy community that it would lead to war, sends a letter to Ukraine paving their way into NATO. December: Putin gives a speech listing four demands that sound like a bargain now. Biden won’t pick up the phone, Putin had threatened full scale war over this, and starts massing forces, Biden would not pick up the phone and call Putin, we all know Trump would have. Finally a huge force is massed on the border, and the Nazis start heavily shelling Dunbas. Students of history could be forgiven for assuming that the US wanted this war to weaken Russia, but wanted Russia to start it to bring along the rubes in the West.

Joe Biden’s bellicose foreign policy led to this war, and is the cause of the coming humanitarian catastrophe. If China started to militerize Mexico, we would not wait for them to set up missile bases before responding.

JAORE said...

"It was Granpa Joe who invited Putin into Ukraine (as long as it was a minor incursion)."

Just the tip, Vlad,just the tip.

Static Ping said...

Have Biden's handlers walked it back yet? You know, the handlers that Biden gets mad at for contradicting him, even though as President he has every right to fire them for insubordination. You know, because he's not really the President.

Seriously, Biden is one of the most dishonest persons in Washington and has been for five decades, lying about essentially everything including his own life events to the point of plagiarizing the life of someone from a different country. This is probably for the best because when he is honest, he reveals himself to be a genuine idiot on all policy matters. In his addled state I seriously doubt he can tell if he is lying or not anymore, assuming he ever had that ability. Anything Biden says should be treated as if it is coming from a senile con artist because it literally is.

Narr said...

n.n. bangs on about "denial of essential services to Ukrainians in the Crimea."

What is that about? Russian both claims and occupies the Crimea. Russia is responsible for what happens in Crimea. Not Biden, not Zelensky, not the Slavic Spring.

As for Eastern Ukraine, Putin may grind his way to a point where he can claim to have accomplished what he intended, and proceed to mismanage the ruins. There's no telling what may happen in the rest of the world, but that portion will probably never recover. Endemic ethno-national conflict at best, with outbursts of outright terrorism from any and all parties involved.

tim maguire said...

I remember in the weeks leading up to the invasion, the US saying invasion was imminent, and the underwind saying no. So that part checks out. And i generally supportBiden's approach of helping, but not too much to be considered a constant.

But why is Biden bragging about this now? Haven't we've moved on from there, with Ukraine fighting valiantly and many thousands dead, with the US funneling billions with of equipment in, is this really the time?

cubanbob said...

Leave it to Biden to screw things up. He could have kept his mouth shut and quietly armed the Ukrainians but no. Instead he flaps his gums and gives Putin the green light like April Glaspie did for Saddam Hussein in 1990. Indeed the Russian war effort so far seems more of an ad hoc affairs than a well planned and executed affair which leads to Putin taking the opportunity while Biden gave him an opening. Also what is it to all these pro-Russian commenters here? The Russians have no legitimate claims, not now and in 2014. Blaming NATO expansion for Russian revanchism is exactly back aswards. NATO expansion is directly a reaction to Russian revanchism.

Achilles said...

Joe Biden is just a complete lying piece of shit.

He has always been a lying piece of shit.

Joe Biden has been a known rapist for decades.

So anyone who supported him in 2020 is also a piece of shit.

Beasts of England said...

Never thought I’d miss Jimmah Carter, but here we are…

Achilles said...

Howard said...

It all fake news with photoshopped deep fakes and crisis actors like Sandy Hook and Robb Elementary

Howard cannot address any of this honestly.

The Russian Conspiracy theorist and Kavanaugh Rape Conspiracy Theorist has other made up conspiracies he wants you to think his opponents believe in.

He has to lie to himself and hang on to these straw men he has created.

Because in the end he knows Biden started this war on purpose and his side is just a bunch of warmongering shitheads. If Howard ever addressed any of the things that actually happened honestly he would have to admit he was wrong and he is supporting an evil illegitimate regime.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Tim in Vermont

Wearing a short skirt while initiating an artillery barrage on Dunbas while Russia had announced its intention to protect them and had troops massed on the Dunbas border.

14,000 killed in Donbas over 8 years because they refused to accept the US appointed government in Kiev.


Geez. Not found on the US nightly news.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Howard 2:18
No
it's not like those things.

Narr said...

The Ukrainians, who know the Russians quite intimately, haven't been sitting with their thumbs up their asses since 2014. They have had serious professional soldiers studying the most likely conflict, i.e. conflict with Russia.

One of the reforms was the creation of territorial defense forces modeled on what the West Germans had come up with, specifically to slow down and even stop Soviet armor and mech forces.

The Ukes were left with bits and pieces of the Russian military and mil-industry complex, and Soviet offensive doctrine, both of which they knew were pretty much garbage, and were
re-organizing and refitting for Russian assault at some point in the future.

This war isn't over by a long shot, but it is on a different scale and footing now, and may be, like WWI (the great one), as significant for the revolutions it sparks as the national victories and defeats.



Narr said...

BoE says, "Never thought I'd miss Jimmah Carter, but here we are . . ."

OTOH, the weed is a lot better, amirite?

RoseAnne said...

Well, as a manager, I was never threatened by a nuclear power, but I have had the experience of seeing of seeing a looming threat and knowing that it is both inevitable and likely not to go well for my people. I have never tried "panic" as a response so I can't say for certain it is a bad option, but instead I tried to present the strongest offense I could while keeping my people calm and involving them in trying to make a bad situation "less bad" for all concerned. Crazy, I know.

Yancey Ward said...

The day after Reagan beat Carter, a young friend of mine point out that someday President Joe Biden would make us long for the days of President Carter. If only we had listened to that boy, instead of walling him up in the abandoned coke oven.

Amadeus 48 said...

Tim in Vermont—that is a nice analysis of how we got here. Where from here? Putin is not going to call for negotiations.

Lance said...

I don't understand how this is meant to help Biden. He's saying he anticipated the invasion, but couldn't convince the Ukrainians? How does that help him raise political campaign funds?

LA_Bob said...

What really happened is, Zelenskyy told Biden, "Yeah, we know, Doofus. So, what are you going to do about it?".

And Doofus mumbled something and stumbled off for some ice cream.

n.n said...

n.n. bangs on about "denial of essential services to Ukrainians in the Crimea."

Narr: What is that about? Russian both claims and occupies the Crimea. Russia is responsible for what happens in Crimea.


Following the Maidan/Slavic Spring, the regime in Kiev denied essential services (e.g. water, energy) to Ukrainians in Crimea, which motivated their vote to join with Russia. The Ukrainians in the Donbas region have been under assault by the Kiev-aligned military and paramilitary axis since the Slavic Spring in 2014, which prompted their invitation for Russian aid. To Russia's discredit, they helped Crimea because of shared interests (e.g. legal title to property), and delayed helping in Donbas until Biden et al took affirmative action to extend an invitation to NATO's expansion. The illicit operation of Wuhan-style labs hasn't improved the standing of either the regime in Kiev or DC with Ukraine's neighbors.

Endemic ethno-national conflict at best

People of Asia (e.g. Russians) do not process diversity [dogma] (i.e. color judgments, class-based bigotry) in the same manner as Western progressive liberals.

n.n said...

Are you forgetting the masks? Don't forget the masks

Masks, goggles, back hole (i.e. fecal transmission) covers, and, according to the military medical institute in Wuhan, 3 m social... physical distancing.

n.n said...

Never thought I’d miss Jimmah Carter, but here we are…

World War Springs (WWS) from Tripoli to Kiev. Now, people... persons care.

LA_Bob said...

cubanbob said, "Also what is it to all these pro-Russian commenters here?"

It's not being "pro-Russian". My view is there are no good guys here. Not the Russians, Ukraine's government, nor NATO. Ukraine has a long history of existing under someone else's rule. For the last few hundred years, that rule was Russian.

Ukraine seems to be a rich land long piquing the interest of oligarchs. Since Ukraine became independent in 1991, Western oligarchs wanted in on the grift. The only reason for the West to "fight for Ukraine" is to keep the grift going.

Lurker21 said...

To be fair, I didn't believe the CIA's war talk either. I assumed it was just more palaver from disinformation central. Zelensky and the Ukrainians were more informed about what was going on. Zelensky was aware of the situation, but didn't want to cause a panic.

I don't think Zelensky's assessment and the CIA's were that different: an invasion was possible. Zelensky was hoping that negotiations would work out. Biden interpreted the reports to say that an invasion was certain.

But this seems to be deflection. What was Biden doing to prevent a war? Did he actually want one? Was he powerless to do anything? Or did he bungle Ukraine into it?

Narr said...

Maybe Putin and Russia are the Charlie Brown of Eurasia ("Why Is Everybody Always Pickin' On Me?") and maybe he's a foolish little apparatchik leading his country into the abyss . . . either way, when you roll the iron dice you have to live or die with the consequences.

He rolled.

Darkisland said...

This is odd. Perhaps even more odd than finding a human foot in my toaster oven:

https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Westinghouse-and-Energoatom-expand-plans-to-nine-A

Energoatom and US firm Westinghouse have signed an agreement to increase from five to nine the number of planned new AP1000 reactors for Ukraine, as well as a widened agreement to supply all nuclear fuel for the country’s reactor fleet.

The story is from last Monday, June 6. It doesn't say when the signing took place but my impression is possibly Monday, possibly a few days before.

Why would an American company be signing up to build billions of dollars worth of nuclear plants in a country that may not exist in a couple of months. According to the propaganda/news.

Ir is this what the $40,000,000,000 grift that Congress passed last month is designed to protect?

I can see Westinghouse staying committed but holding off on signing the contract until things settle out.

They seem to know something they are not telling us.

Perhaps if we had an actual news media instead of a propaganda machine, this would be reported.

John LGKTQ Henry

Barry Dauphin said...

Does Biden know who he's talking to at any point in time? Does he even know if he's taking?

Bob Boyd said...

If she could, Amber Heard would leave Joe Biden in Johnny Depp's bed.

Darkisland said...

Perhaps off topic but a funny story from Corey Doctorow's blog that I have been meaning to post.

Remember how the Russians stole some John Deere combines (tractors?) from Ukraine and sent them to Chechnya? Remember how we laughed and laughed because John Deere bricked the software and the combines were useless heaps of scrap metal?

Corey has been writing for a while about "right to repair" laws and how companies such as John Deere will brick machines that the owners repair themselves, use non-factory parts and so on.

The Ukrainians have developed a whole industry of hacking machine software to unbrick the machines.

The Chechynyans are aware of this and as soon as the combines arrived, they called their buddies in Ukraine and had them unbricked.

John LGBTQ Henry

In honor of Pride month I am going back to LGBTQ although I still think we need to get Kamala to quit first.

Darkisland said...

It is not the Russians dnying services to Ukrainians in Crimea.

In the first place, there are not many. Crimea has always been mostly ethnic Russian.

Not sure what services nn has in mind but the big one would be water. The Ukrainians have dammed the Dnieper river which is the principal water supply for Crimea. Crimea is struggling for water now.

So precisely backwards. It is Ukrainians who are denying essential services, water, to Russians in Crimea.

Let's not forget that a substantial majority of Crimeans voted to leave Ukraine and join Russia. In an election that is less questionable than our 2020 election.

What happened to our proud philosophy of self-determination? Seems like this was a good example, we should support, not condemn, it.

John LGBTQ Henry

n.n said...

So precisely backwards. It is Ukrainians who are denying essential services, water, to Russians in Crimea.

Yes, it was Ukrainians (i.e. Kiev, military, paramilitary) denying essential services to Ukrainians... Russian-Ukrainians? in Crimea, and Ukrainians who voted to approve Russian aide. I recall it included water, energy, and perhaps other services and products. A model of the war against the Serbian population through targeting civilian infrastructure to force attrition, which was aborted in Ukraine through Ukrainian collaboration with Russians.

Just an old country lawyer said...

Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus.
This may no longer be sound common law doctrine, but it works perfectly well for analyzing politicians.

Narr said...

A lot of people haven't glommed to the fact that the intermixing of ethnicities and promotion of interethnic resentments were Soviet specialties, and the political geography of the whole system was gerrymandered to provide opportunities for the Center to intervene in defense of this or that minority.

In other words, what's going on is a feature for Moscow (until it backfires). And for all the righteous huffing about Ukrainian Nazi Mad Scientists Out To Exterminate Russians First, everyone in the neighborhood remembers the last century, and Who Whom.

tim in vermont said...

If you had followed events in Ukraine prior to Putin's invasion, you would have a very different view of the conflict than those who only heard about it in the propaganda onslaught since. I was aware of what was going on their because of Ukrainian election interfence in 2016, surely some remember my comments on Ukraine's faked up "Black Ledger" that was published on the front page of. the New York Times, a couple months before the 2016 election, which decapitated Trump's campaign, but that turned out to be an own goal, since it led to Kelly Anne Conway taking over and winning.

Impeachment also was heavily centered on Ukraine, it was a cover up for Biden's influence peddling to Ukrainian billionaires, and has been and interest of mine. If you search on Ukraine, say from 2014 t0 2020, you will find Nazis, lots of Nazis, who were immediately rehabilitated in February. I don't like Nazis, and they are Nazis, even if Putin says it.

I wouldn't want to live in Russia, or under Putin, but NATO was supposed to be about security and stability. This war is globally destabilizing and should never have happened, and the non-Nazi Ukrainians are suffering for an un-winnable war, and the pointless global humanitarian disaster is only now starting to unfold.

Here is a video of one of the Nazis bragging about "starting the war."

https://twitter.com/RealAlexRubi/status/1497747535783411714

effinayright said...

LA_Bob said...

Ukraine seems to be a rich land long piquing the interest of oligarchs. Since Ukraine became independent in 1991, Western oligarchs wanted in on the grift. The only reason for the West to "fight for Ukraine" is to keep the grift going.
********************

Name those oligarchs.

Identify their nationalities.

Then name "the grift".

MalaiseLongue said...

@ tim in vermont: "If China started to militerize Mexico, we would not wait for them to set up missile bases before responding."

Joe Biden would. Easily the worst president of my lifetime, and I'm 73.

Butkus51 said...

well yeah, he OK'd a minor incursion.

Its almost as if he gave the ok to Putin. Its almost as if Putin has something on him.

no big whoop, move on, nothing to see here.

Back to normal, right?

tim in vermont said...

"Blaming NATO expansion for Russian revanchism is exactly back aswards"

Look at a map, we don't have to like it, but Ukraine borders on Russia's underbelly, and Russia undoubtedly sees this as an existential war. Ukraine's formidably army, backed by NATO, hosting missile bases, would sit awfully close to Moscow. How would the US react if Russia deployed missiles to Cuba? Oh wait, we know, we would threaten nuclear war.

Sometimes being a grownup means that you have to accept bad things in the interest of preventing far worse things, well the horse is long gone from that barn. Far worse things are coming, unless this war is ended soon and the suicidal sanctions are lifted, although it's probably too late, the economic blockade on Russian fertilizer and grain, and Ukraine's mining of its own harbors, is a gash below the waterline. Maybe if the grain gets out, that will help, but the fertilizer loss is probably not recoverable. Modern grains need it to be productive in ways that the original strains of the grains never did. Asia is set to produce ten to fifteen percent less rice.

It's not to be "Putin's cock holster" to desire peaceful coexistence with a peer nuclear power which supplies the world with minerals, grains, and fertilizers, as well as. energy, but that is what the TV has been telling you for five years. I am juts personally sick of it.

Narayanan said...

Does Biden know who he's talking to at any point in time? Does he even know if he's taking?
===========
I hope Google;s sentient AI [= 7 yr old kid] can take over White House and run the country!

Josephbleau said...

You know that the Crimea was owned by the Ottoman Turk Omar Pasha. In the mid 1800's the Russians tried to conquer Crimea but the French and UK and others stopped it, (half a league onward, forward the light brigade.)

So if Donbass is Russian Speaking, they are colonial misappropriationists and do not deserve to live in a modern world. Do the Russian speakers of Donbass put stickers on the ground saying "this is the land of Omar Pasha, and the Turks?" No, they don't.

Russia lost the Crimean war, why don't they let the Crimean people alone?

n.n said...

Progressive disenfranchisement of Ukrainians, denial of essential services to Ukrainians in Crimea, and backing the Kiev-aligned military, paramilitary axis assault of Ukrainians in the Donbas region. This is your Slavic Spring, Zelensky, eight years, two under your control.

John Henry, I think we have followed the same trail to reach similar conclusions about past, present, and progressive events. The Westinghouse/Swedish deal is an interesting conflict of interest that followed the Spring/coup. Perhaps everyone should submit a full disclosure to mitigate the appearance of diversity, inequity, and exclusion in the service of transnational redistributive change.

Left Bank of the Charles said...

“if the key countries weren’t able to preventatively stop the militaristic appetites of Russia”

The key word is countries.

tim in vermont said...

Name those oligarchs.

Identify their nationalities.

Then name "the grift".


LOL, The billionaire who owns Barisma became a billionaire by self dealing to shell companies when he was interior minister.

He was under investigation for this theft when he hired famed Democrat fixer law firm Perkins-Coie, and Blue Star, and hired Joe Biden's crack head son and paid him millions at a time when Joe Biden was Obama's "point man" on Ukraine.

On Hunter's laptop is an email from Burisma asking Hunter to make the investigation go away.

Hunter's famous dad has famously bragged about doing that exact thing.

We could talk about how the "whistleblower" shows up on White House logs meeting with the very Ukrainian politicians who faked up evidence, which they gave to the New York Times, which published it on the front page in August of 2016.

https://washingtonmonthly.com/2017/04/12/manafort-admits-he-was-paid-through-black-ledger/ (Narrator voice, he doesn't). BTW, look at the war mongering picture, desire for peaceful coexistence with Russia makes you "Putin's cock holster." You know who really is "Putin's cock holster"? Joe Biden.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/15/us/politics/what-is-the-black-ledger.html

https://redstate.com/elizabeth-vaughn/2020/02/07/mueller-team-learned-in-april-2018-that-black-ledger-which-triggered-the-russia-collusion-investigation-was-fake-n127890

We could talk about Nancy Pelosi's son being a "green energy executive" in Ukraine, "green energy" being a huge recipient of foreign aid, which Pelosi controls. Anyway, if you don't know about this stuff, maybe your news sources are lying to you by omission.

Tom said...

Biden needs Ukraine to lose. Russia is taking too long.

JAORE said...

"I don't understand how this is meant to help Biden. He's saying he anticipated the invasion, but couldn't convince the Ukrainians? How does that help him raise political campaign funds?"

Joe is prone to making up tales of brilliance and bravery. He's the hero of each and every story. He's the first Walter Mitty POTUS. I'm not sure he ever really links these fairy tales to the real world of things like political fund rising.

M Jordan said...

Seems to me the neocons wanted this proxy war with Russia but the military industrial complex not so much. I smell division in the various factions of our ruling class. Biden is indeed a marionette but there are several happens fighting for the strings. My money’s on the Pentagon.

Tom said...

The only way out of this entire mess is nuclear. Nuclear power. We must transform our energy footprint and reduce the need for both the Russian and Saudi oil and gas. Otherwise, we’ll be faced with other other way out of the this mess - nuclear.

M Jordan said...

*happens = hands (not that it matters or anyone will read this)

PB said...

I note the short skirt references, and since countries are often referred to as female (motherland), Joe is basically saying she was asking for it wearing that short skirt? Where's MeToo's reactionnn?

Narayanan said...

"I don't understand how this is meant to help Biden. He's saying he anticipated the invasion, but couldn't convince the Ukrainians? How does that help him raise political campaign funds?"
==========
yo all misreading of what FJB is trying here >>> c'mon man : I know what I am being told - see with evidence! - even if many people don't want you to believe me

Narr said...

"Ukraine's formidable army."

That's enough.

Candide said...

Biden to Ukraine, "You provoke the bear, now it will lash out" (obviously)

Ukraine to Biden, "You sanction the bear, or it will lash out" (obviously)

Begging the obvious question, why purpose did it serve to mess with the bear?

When you have to deal with the bear, you have only two choices: kill the bear or leave the bear alone. If you won't kill the bear, you give it 'distance and respect', as posted on nature trails.

Given so many obvious things, why are we at the present situation?

To those who still peddle some version of 'Russian collusion' canard, first thing you need to realize that anything you hear about Ukraine in mainstream media is pro-Ukranian propaganda, straight from Kiev. That is why anything that deviates from that sounds 'pro-Russian'. I don't blame Kiev for waging information war, but mainstream media is failing this nation by presenting only Kievan side of the story.

Also, demanding explanation why mess with the bear doesn't mean that one 'likes' the bear, doesn't mean that one 'supports' the bear, doesn't mean that one 'works for' the bear (obviously).

Narr said...

In that part of the world, history didn't begin in 2014.

Are there right-wing ethno-nationalist nutters in the Ukrainian forces? Duh. Putin is an open ethno-imperialist nutter himself, so the question is, what is the benefit for the rest of us in a Putin win? Or a Uke win?

As far as the bear, it left scat everywhere it went for centuries, and it is endangering itself and other forest denizens now far more than anyone else is.

tim in vermont said...

Ukraine's army was formidable, not enough to handle Russia by itself, but combined with the rest of NATO, it would have been a force to be reckoned with, even for Russia. It was a genuine threat. I think Putin would have been deposed had he allowed Ukraine to join that aggressive military alliance.

tim in vermont said...

"and it is endangering itself and other forest denizens now far more than anyone else is."

Based on its response to Joe Biden's provocation? Look at the hornets' nest Joe just stirred up in China. This is a border dispute and none of our business. It's not the job of the US to act as judge and executioner for countries we don't like. Say, like Libya, or Syria. The US doesn't "invade its neighbors" because our neighbors have been subjugated for over a century. Instead we invade countries on the other side of the world.

Narr said...

Have a nice day, tim.