"... when Europe faces what may be the most dangerous and consequential war on the continent since the Second World War? As Biden spoke, Ukraine was fighting—alone—against overwhelming military odds. There was a pitched battle in the nuclear hellscape that the Soviet Union left behind in Chernobyl. In Kyiv, air-raid sirens sounded for what must have been the first time since the Second World War, and a military official warned that the Russians’ goal was to quickly encircle the capital and decapitate the government of President Volodymyr Zelensky.... In his appearance Thursday afternoon, Biden said he believed that Putin would 'test the resolve of the West to see if we stay together,' and vowed, 'we will.' But ... [i]n the weeks leading up to the invasion, officials had pledged retaliatory measures, including possibly cutting Russia off from the swift international banking system, but Reuters reported that Europeans were still refusing to take this step, even with Kyiv now under attack. When he appeared to announce sanctions, Biden confirmed that the Europeans had in fact balked. 'That’s not the position that the rest of Europe wishes to take,' he said. Plenty of other measures have been left untaken, as well, including sanctioning Putin himself, which Biden said he was considering. What, exactly, is the President waiting for? He did not say. The historical record will show that Biden had strong words after the invasion, and also that this confrontation with Russia was the last thing he wanted his Presidency to be about...."
From "In Washington, a Ukraine Tragedy Foretold/But what can Biden really do to stop Putin?" by Susan B. Glasser (The New Yorker).
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70 comments:
Really, Biden can't do anything about Putin. Why, he's incapable of doing anything useful at all about anything.
Biden is a joke, and anybody who thinks otherwise are ignorant idiots. They all claimed Trump would start wars...he didn't. Trump should get the Nobel Peace Prize for the Abraham Accords, not starting any wars, and trying to spread peace through the Middle East. Biden is incompetent, and his people are the same people who let Putin take Crimea.
Putin wants his RUBK back and Biden with the rest of Europe is going to give it to him. NATO is utterly toothless and the UN is worthless as usual. I’m sure Blinken and the rest of the European striped pants brigade will tell Zelensky and the rest of the Ukrainians to lie back and think of Western Europe and America.
Europe does not have the backbone to protect their own, why should the US spend its blood and treasure? My mind is open, so convince me.
Biden’s handlers said climate change is the Existential Threat of Our Time. The Biden administration surrendered western energy independence in the name of climate change. Now the United States and Europe are dependent on Russian oil production. That puts Putin in a position of strength…
Biden’s handlers were correct, in a sense…
. Plenty of other measures have been left untaken
if (IF) Jo Biden actually Wanted to do something that would hurt the russians...
He would open up oil and gas drilling in the United States.
Russia LIVES on oil and gas. Oil and gas are sky high, Because Jo Biden has stopped US production.
Why? The Obvious Answer is: Jo Biden does NOT want to hurt the russians...
This whole thing is a charade
We have a President, elected with the most votes in history, in the most honest and fair election in history, that can only slur words off a teleprompter in a 2 hour window in the middle of the day.
The New Yorker staff(D), predictably kisses Biden's corrupt and incompetent ass.
"Distinguish the man of words from the man of deeds." Baltasar Gracian, S.J.
The Dems are real good at talking, but they are absolute fuckups when it comes to getting things done for anyone other than themselves and their cronies.
If Europe won't help defend itself... This shows the fundamental flaw in the bureaucratic leadership style of the EU. Careful incremental steps against a kinetic fluid situation invites aggression.
Easy, Biden could have reversed his policies towards domestic energy production, with the goal of driving down oil and gas prices. Biden could have supported the Israeli gas pipeline. He could have continued to press hard for European countries to increase their defense spending. He could have told Democrats in Congress to support blocking Nord Stream 2. Etc., etc., etc.
He did none of those things because a) he's beholden to the radical environmentalists in his party, and b) his administration's reflexively anti-Trump positions made them blind to actual threats.
"Trump was on Fox News, praising Putin and the hell he had unleashed. Trump in recent days has hailed the Russian President, who intervened in the 2016 U.S. election on Trump’s behalf, for his “genius,” and called him a shrewd, smart, savvy warrior who would get Ukraine for the price of “two dollars worth of sanctions.”
Trump never learns. I knew what Trump meant with these words. But he has to know how the media would portray him as a Putin fanboy. I love the guy (Trump), but it's time to move on from him. This was it for me.
Also, it's hilarious to watch the managerial class and bureaucracy flail impotently while their sycophants mumble excuses. Biden had all the "right words" whereas Trump sent out mean tweets. But the right words weren't enough, while the BadOrangeMan kept the Russians in check.
They sacrificed every scrap of cultural, political, and social capital they had in order to get rid of Trump and restore the old order, but instead their actions have hastened its demise.
But what can Biden really do to stop Putin?
At this point, nothing. We had options as recently as a month ago. But the options were not exercised.
After 45 years of trying to make sense of geopolitical events, I have come to the conclusion that I am no expert.
However, if Putin is Hitler, if this is "our moment in history", if we are on a war footing, and we all need to sacrifice, and the price to be paid is higher gas prices...
Why doesn't our President do the thing that would hurt Putin, and help America and Europe, the most? The thing that worked?
Issue executive orders to revive US production of oil and gas.
If he does that, perhaps this can be taken seriously. Until then, why should we believe them?
"What, exactly, is the President waiting for?"
Nothing.
"Biden had strong words after the invasion"
"Biden"? Or Ron Klein and Jake Sullivan?
"what can Biden really do to stop Putin?"
Nothing. He's playing a weak hand weakly. We are not prepared to go to war in or over Ukraine. Europe doesn't want to cut off Putin altogether. Putin read our weakness and is prepared to make sacrifices. Best-case scenario for us is that the Ukrainians make things really hard for him, which also means greater costs to them.
If he didn't want his presidency to be about this, maybe he should have spent less time wholesaling the favors of empire to his son, Prince Hunter, to resell to Ukrainian kleptocrats, and more time talking to Putin. But that course was put off the table as the Democrats have spent the past five years demonizing Putin because Hillary was a lousy candidate.
Putin is no nice guy, but Russia exists, and geopolitics is a real thing, and wishing Russia away is not going to work, and they will not be crushed without a fight that nobody wants. The best course is peaceful co-existence, not putting a knife to Putin's throat, no matter how much the Ukrainians want that. Their revenge is not our business.
The right thing to do is often the unexpected thing. That was one of Trump’s strengths-keeping your opponents off balance by doing the unexpected.
"...this confrontation with Russia was the last thing he wanted his Presidency to be about...."
What, exactly, DOES he want it to be about? COVID deaths? Inflation? A disastrous Afghan withdrawal? Our Southern border fiasco? So many options.
Trying to get the West to follow a US lead regarding Ukraine might have been easier if the US had coordinated our Afghanistan withdrawal with our allies who were in Afghanistan with us and who had citizens to extract. Doesn’t the Bible say something about sowing and reaping?
Glasser has been tweeting nonsense about Trump, too, trying to distract from the fact that she basically voted to make this war happen.
“The historical record will show that Biden had strong words after the invasion, and also that this confrontation with Russia was the last thing he wanted his Presidency to be about...."
So fucking what?
The historical record will show that he had strong words? Seriously? And who cares what he “wanted his presidency to be about”?
I’m sure he wanted it to be all sweetness and light. Grandpa eating ice cream, living off the USA teat and patting himself on the back for how woke and green he is. Fuck You!
I wish we had a media that actually reported news…
How about “the historical record will show that Biden was an incompetent old fool and Putin took advantage of The USA’s weakness under his so called leadership”? Didn’t the Babylon Bee run a pice about how Biden threatened to send his transgendered admiral if Putin invaded…?
Good God we’re in fantasy land …
Biden's a literal word machine gun. And that has to worry Putin. Will Biden escalate to accusations that Putin has no soul? The memory of those Biden words is still seared into Putin's memory.
And as if that prospect weren't fearsome enough, John Kerry has weighed in (his ponderous words have always been known for their considerable throw weight), pointing out that the carbon emission from Russian tanks damage the effort against Global Warming. One can almost sympathize with the toll this verbal barrage must be taking on Vlad and his troops.
What can he do?? He can talk tough!
I can hardly wait for the State of the Union speech. I’m sure it will be the most inspiring, stirring, heroic, yet humble oration by any statesman since who? Churchill? Lincoln? Cicero? Themistocles? No, probably just the greatest ever.
It will be Biden’s Finest Hour and a Half.
The Art of Apology starts at home.
Unrelated to the topic at hand, I looked for information about Susan B. Glasser and found this tidbit at Wikipedia ...
Glasser is the daughter of Lynn (née Schreiber) and Stephen Glasser (of Jewish ancestry). (my bold)
Seems strange but I'm not very educated about such things.
Wikipedia
Biden’s last remaining mirage, that he’s restored American leadership behind a cohesive international coalition, exposed as yet another patch of sand.
Stop, or we shall say stop again.
With Biden, the next thing could be the last thing his Presidency is about.
What he could have done is simple, or was simple. Now nothing is simple.
He could have kept Trump's entire energy policy in place, keeping both North America and Europe in plenty of oil and gas for the long-term future. That would have also limited Russia's source of money to do anything. Remember- they export two things to the world: Vodka and Gas.
He could have done today's sanctions last March, while he was massing his forces along the borders. Instead, he waited for the invasion. Trump could out-negotiate, and out maneuver Biden in his sleep. Trump had a lifetime of hardball negotiations, strategies to move on before his competitors did. Putin has as well. Biden is the piker in the group. Trump and his team would not have been caught so flat-footed.
Lastly, I have a nagging suspicion that if Biden goes after Putin personally, Putin will unleash what he has on Joe and his family. And Joe knows this. So now it's a game of chicken, and the Ukranian people are getting killed in the middle of it.
The hallmark of globalists is strongly worded statements as they beat a hasty retreat from conflict. But they remain unified! In what, we are not told except to the concept of a rules-based order! Must insist that everything reinforces the precious rules-based order. Putin has taken the measure of this feckless president and invaded Ukraine.
Both Europe and the US under Biden will not put everything on the table in response to Putin’s aggression. Specifically, they will not change course on green new deal policies and reopen national energy sources. Ukraine is less important to them than the “existential” threat of climate change because that threat is a key enabler of globalist control over western economies and peoples. It’s all about their control and the new world order. Putin is satan for disrupting the long march to globalist control. Just like Trump’s America first policies. Globalists still have the delusion that Russia and China and Iran will be members in good standing of the new world order over time. Remember, globalists are our betters.
LOL! This, from the insufferable HuffPost, should tell one all one needs to know about the West in this day and age. That an article like this was even conceived by someone considered part of our elite class speaks volumes about our society.
Putin invaded Ukraine because he can see the obvious- we aren't a serious people any longer.
Today the Ukrainians, tomorrow the polls.
Putin has to win quick and big, or he's done. In 1905 there was a near-revolution after the war against Japan, and we all remember 1917 when the liberals overthrew the Tsar and the Bolshies overthrew the liberals.
There's a direct line between the Soviet quagmire in Afghanistan to the fall of the USSR, of course, and Putin may have created a national identity for the Ukraine the way Israel unknowingly created a national identity called Palestinian.
It took until the early 1950s for the USSR to pacify all the boondock regions of the Bloodlands. If the Ukrainians have the will, they can wear down Russian morale (and Putin's popularity) just by doing what their ancestors have done before.
All he had to do was not f*ck up. But to the left f*cking up is baked in the cake.
Nobody is talking about America bombing Somalia right now.
Open the Keystone XL pipeline and all the other sources or energy he shut down the day he was inaugurated? The loonies had the Executive Orders all printed up. He signed 17 of them and thereby refilled Russia's bank account. Russia is the largest source of imported oil under Biden's lunatic regime. If somebody was Putin's agent, the best candidate is Hunter Biden's father.
"when Europe faces what may be the most dangerous and consequential war on the continent since the Second World War? "
Why do people keep writing this hysterical crap? "Europe" just needs to keep its nose out of the Ukraine, White Russia, and the former USSR Republics and they'll be no "danger". And the Soviet crushing of the Hungarian revolution in 1956, and the Berlin Crisis of 1948 and 1961 were much more dangerous to European peace.
Russia installing a friendly government in Ukraine won't have much affect any American's life.
Maybe force NATO to strengthen their forces by meeting their pledges to finance defense...
Maybe by assuring the US is not only energy independent instead of Encourage Germany to NOT become overly dependent on Russia for natural gas.
As an energy EXPORTER we could sent energy to help Germany overcome their foolish energy policies (shutting down their three remaining nukes, pledging to go all green too soon, relying on Russia for gas.)
We could not vote in a shell of a man subject to the whims of the radical left on energy, and other items.
Of course some people have urged this for some time. It's WAY late in the game. But, even today it would send a signal stronger than the toothless sanctions being proposed.
Sadly the above is not even on the table.
When the president is senescent and senile and his words are stale gibberish, then propogandists claim no words could be equal to the moment. Certainly Churchill would have produced some.
From "In Washington, a Ukraine Tragedy Foretold/But what can Biden really do to stop Putin?" by Susan B. Glasser (The New Yorker).
1: Not have removed sanctions from the Nord Stream 2 pipeline
2: Have sold lots of anti-tank and anti-air weapons to Ukraine before Russia attacked
3: Approve the Keystone II pipeline
4: Aggressively support fracking and other methods of producing oil in the US
5: Resume US support for the proposed Israeli gas pipeline to Europe (yes, Israel now has petroleum reserves)
6: Kick Russia out of SWIFT
Basically, every single thing the Biden* Admin has done that could affect Russia, they have, and continue to, they picked the choice that helped Putin.
Essentially, if you voted for Biden you are objectively pro-Putin
The Democrat "environmental" polices are all objectively pro-Putin and / or pro-CCP
Pick what you want to be, and own it
"President Biden said the right things. The expected things."
It was expected that there would be multiple cringeworthy and head-shaking moments of disgust, and there were. But he did NOT say the right things.
It is stupidly arrogant to suppose the Russian hierarchy has not considered all the sanctions and the likelihood they will be imposed before invading. Their public statements confirm this. But why listen? We don't listen to the mullahs' when they chant, "Death to America."
Putin knows the effete Europeans well and our unprincipled flight from Afghanistan told him all he needed to know about QuidProJoe's resolve. As for "Biden said ...", Putin also knows a gasbag when he sees one.
Taiwan may be next.
As bad as Biden is, which is very bad, has there ever been a worse group of political leaders than we now have in Europe?
With all politicians, it's best to focus on what they do rather than what they say. For all the talk of a world-shattering crisis -- war in the middle of Europe! -- what Biden (and the rest of NATO too) have done about the Russian invasion is very little. Even when they were telling everyone it was coming, they didn't do much to help the Ukrainians prepare to defend. Now that Putin has invaded, the response has been just some financial sanctions along with 'check back in a month' on how that's working out. Once you're past the 'crisis' rhetoric, what you see is lots of handwringing about avoiding a wider conflict, and especially a direct confrontation with Russia, coupled with conspicuous non-action (e.g., indecision on sending arms and ammunition).
That tells you what they really think and who they really are. It's a lesson that Putin, Xi and the Mullahs are unlikely to miss.
No one's going to fight a war for Ukraine.
What does Bill Clinton say? What lessons has he learned from Yugoslavia, Serbia, and Kosovo that would inform his advice about the old Soviet empire, Russia, and Kiev? Who in the media is informed sufficiently to even ask?
I think the disappointment w Biden is not that he won’t send troops or arms (no President would given the nuclear bear it would provoke) but he’s unable to summon the power of words to fight the PR war. Partly it’s not his skill set but also he’s just too old. A damn near 80 yr old man isn’t going to be able to do speed diplomacy and fiery speeches. He’s simply not the man for the moment.
President Biden said the right things???
The Democrats and their green agenda have hamstrung the United States. This naive idea that the U.S. should stop producing fossil fuels and concentrate on green energy has placed us in a weakened position in many ways. First, it has caused inflation to skyrocket. Everything shipped by truck, train, ships, plane that run on fossil fuel has had a price increase. We are no longer energy independent but back to depending on other (unfriendly) countries for oil. So, back to the 1970s with Jimmy Carter. How did that work out? After the Afghanistan withdrawal debacle, Putin sees our military in disarray.
The Democrats are being run by the most radical and stupid members of their party who have half-assed ideas and should be put in the corner with their big mouths duct taped. You know who I mean.
The middle class worker is being punished for this asinine policy. And, the world is watching as Biden mumbles through some “sanctions” that will be the answer to this unnecessary predicament. What a joke of a President! Putin is laughing his ass off as slow-Joe shuffles to microphone.
We now have to play catch up, yet again, to protect our economy, to protect our ability to fight aggressors, to protect our quality of life. This was completely unnecessary and an unforced error on the U.S. part. But, what do you expect from an addled old man who is being told what to do by Bernie Sanders and AOC, and the people behind the curtain who want this country to go hard left.
China is watching and will take their turn at seizing an independent country (Taiwan) as soon as Ukraine is back in Russia’s control.
"Biden said the right things ..."
Nice in-depth analysis from the New Yorker.
I'm not sure the right question is being asked. It's not What can Biden do -- rather, it should be What should Biden have been doing..
Once you answer that one, you can proceed to the present day. And you ask: If Biden didn't do things to stop Putin in the past, why should we expect something different now?
Nobody wants to lose money and think that US and UK military might Will be a sufficient backstop. How mother fucking ironic that the American Democrats and the EU bureaucracy have been shitting all over you deplorables and Brexiteers for the last several decades and now expect your children and grandchildren to fight for the Davos elites against Putin Oligarchs.
Remember that bumper sticker during the Vietnam War: "What if they Gave a War and Nobody Came?"
Europe might actually find out.
"But what can Biden really do to stop Putin?"
It's too late now, but the threat of economic isolation might have worked. "We will stop doing business with you if you invade another European country, even at a cost to ourselves."
The threat of intentionally weak sanctions trumped up as the greatest sanctions ever wasn't going to do it. In fact, this strategy has the look of a deal that has been struck with the Russians for show.
The US is still buying Russian oil, even today, post invasion.
Sanctions, my ass.
Also, I remain unconvinced that Russia is capable of a full and clear military victory.
The true problem is that western Europeans became total pussies two generations ago. The Poles are not, but they cannot provide expeditionary defence, except to the Baltics. I say this as someone who has spent enough time in Europe, and has enough family there, that I'm linguistically able to get along in all rural areas the continent except Greece, Turkey, Albania, and maybe Finland.
Those who could help, won't. Most of those who wish to do, are too small.
Well, apparently what the acerebral hoser tried to do was to get the Chi-coms to restrain the Russkis. Can you imagine? Dr. Fucking Jill must have thought that one up. Anyway, they gave the Chikes secret intelligence indicating that the Russians were going to invade. Which the Chikes duly passed on to the Russians. Probably got a few CIA assets killed there, but what the fuck. Can't make a first-rank diplomatic debacle without breaking a few eggs.
I'm guessing they're having a good laugh at the idiot Americans in Moscow. And the Chikes are getting ready to really Tai Wan on.
"President Biden said the right things. The expected things"
She writes this as if it actually means something.
As if "saying" is as or more important than "doing".
This is the pathological failure of those who gravitate to the Left: The pathetic desire to belief that words are as valuable or meaningful as actual actions
And yet here we are… saddled with the So Called Ruler of the United States.
SCROTUS was last seen at his podium, staring blankly into space and picking his teeth.
Biden’s advisors are starting to ask, “What would Trump do?”
What drivel! (Honest question: Does Dah Nooyawkah publish any non-drivel? Ever?) Nothing Biden did say or might have said was either historically accurate or morally sound that did not begin with the admission that none of this would have transpired if the American people had not been defrauded/duped in the 2020 election.
Poor Joe. The perpetual innocent bystander.
"Biden’s advisors are starting to ask, 'What would Trump do?'"
Don't keep me in suspense Rosalyn. What would Trump do? Take back the weapons that he didn't want to give Ukraine in the first place? Run off with Putin to some romantic island?
"But what can Biden really do to stop Putin?"
Now? Nothing. Except perhaps get a lot of people, including Americans, killed in some futile clusterfuck. (Think Carter's rescue mission)
What he could have done was not strangle the American energy industry immediately on coming in to office. He could have not cancelled our pipelines (or Israel's) while promoting Russian ones.
We could have a world that had abundant, cheap energy not held hostage by OPEC and Russia. We could have had a Germany getting cheap natural gas from the United States instead of Russia. We could have had a Russia not strengthened by the massively increased income and political power produced by their energy exports.
But apparently that wouldn't have been boring enough.
"How mother fucking ironic that the American Democrats and the EU bureaucracy have been shitting all over you deplorables and Brexiteers for the last several decades and now expect your children and grandchildren to fight for the Davos elites against Putin Oligarchs. "
Who are you and what have you done with Howard?
Anthony said...
"No one's going to fight a war for Ukraine."
Ukrainians? Russians?
Humperdink said...
Trump never learns. I knew what Trump meant with these words. But he has to know how the media would portray him as a Putin fanboy. I love the guy (Trump), but it's time to move on from him. This was it for me.
There are a lot of stupid things being said right now.
""...But what can Biden really do to stop Putin?"
Stop Putin? Biden enabled him.
What purpose does NATO have in 2022?
Asking for a friend.
iowan2 said...
Europe does not have the backbone to protect their own, why should the US spend its blood and treasure? My mind is open, so convince me.
We can spend blood and treasure now, against a smaller and weaker Russia.
Or we can spend more later, against a strong Russia empowered by its conquests.
As Putin is our enemy, and is working to make sure anyone who follows him will also be our enemy, what we won't be able to do is not spend blood and treasure fighting Russia
Jefferson's Revenge said...
As bad as Biden is, which is very bad, has there ever been a worse group of political leaders than we now have in Europe?
Sure. The 1930s Europe Hitler appeasers
Nothing Biden can do would “stop Putin” although as has already been posted we could do a lot to defund Putin’s revenue stream from American consumers. Biden won’t do any of them. The commie Greens would freak out if we exploit our domestic oil and gas assets. Biden DID do everything in his power to enable this and made sure he and Hunter were paid up before throwing Ukraine to the hell of war. If NATO was worth a shit they would’ve acted without needing Joe’s input. Trump was right about Putin, NATO and Joe.
Biden will find some way to make us pay for Putin's misdeeds.
Maybe cut off Russian oil exports to the US so we can pay another 20% for gasoline.
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