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FEBRUARY 25,  2022

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

AWKWARD – OVERNIGHT:  The circumstances and atmosphere could have been better, but President Biden revealed his nominee for the US Supreme Court.  From FOX:   The selection of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson of the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to replace Justice Stephen Breyer on the Supreme Court was widely expected. From the start of his administration, Joe Biden has made it clear that his top priority is paying back the liberal Arabella Advisors dark money network that spent over one billion dollars to help elect him and Senate Democrats.  These Arabella-advised groups seek nothing less than the appointment of politicians in robes who will rubber stamp their left-wing political agendas from the bench.  That is what we can expect from a future Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. President Biden’s announcement, like much of the messaging already coming from her promoters, zips quickly through resume items like her clerkship for Justice Breyer and work in private practice and as a public defender.  Missing are details like her work drafting an amicus brief on behalf of pro-abortion organizations in a buffer zone case in which she repeatedly disparaged the peaceful and often prayerful clinic protesters as engaging in "in-your-face" and "chaotic" activity that somehow fell short of "pure speech." She also represented several Guantanamo Bay detainees as a public defender and continued that representation on a pro bono basis after moving back to private practice.  We'll learn more as the confirmation process proceeds, but so far it appears we'll be getting a justice who is to the left of the liberal justice Breyer, whom she would replace.  Not a happy prospect, but expected.

February 25, 2022       Permalink

UKRAINE – OVERNIGHT:  The Russian enemy is in the capital of Kyiv.  There is fighting in the streets.  And all through this, the president of the nation shows us what Ernest Hemingway meant when he wrote that courage is grace under pressure.  From Fox: 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted a video to social media Friday showing him standing alongside other government officials who vowed to defend the country from Russian aggression.

"Good evening, everyone," he said on a video posted to the Armed Forces of Ukraine Facebook page. " (The) Leader of the faction (party) is here, head of the president’s administration is here, Prime Minister (Denys) Shmyhal is here, (adviser to the head of the President’s Office Mykhailo) Podoliak is here. The president is here."

"We're all here. Our military is here. Citizens in society are here. We're all here defending our independence, our country, and it will stay this way," Zelenskyy added. "Glory to our defenders! Glory to our women defenders! Glory to Ukraine!"

Zelenskyy has refused to be evacuated from the country as his military continues to engage with Russian forces. Ukraine's former ambassador to Austria praised the president's leadership in a Tweet on Friday. 

"President of Ukraine refused America’s offer to be evacuated," Olexander Scherba wrote. "In a situation where (an) American president would have been evacuated a long time ago. Ukrainians are tough cookies - with a badass president."

The actions of Russian President Vladimir Putin's unprovoked invasion have been widely condemned, prompting President Biden to impose sanctions in an effort to force him to change his behavior. 

As of Saturday morning, large explosions were happening around the capital city of Kyiv and gunfire erupted in the streets. 

COMMENT:  We fear the worst for Ukraine.  And we fear the worst for its truly brave president.  Our own president, Field Marshal Joseph Biden, and vice president, Grand Admiral Kamala Harris, have been unspeakably slow in getting military aid to the Ukranians, and nations that depend on the United States for their security will remember that.

I suspect we'll see real heroism in Ukraine in the coming days, and much dying.

Field Marshal Biden went to Delaware for the weekend.

February 25, 2022       Permalink

FEBRUARY 23-24,  2022

2:30 A.M. ET:   Certain trends, possibly tentative ones, seem to be emerging as the war in Ukraine heats up. 

1.  We're losing.  There is a kind of resignation in the comments of knowledgeable people.  I've never seen it quite this way before.  The usual liberal cheering section in the press corps has essentially disappeared.  We are failing, Putin is playing President Biden like a second-hand violin.  Russian troops are advancing into Ukraine, yet no one seems willing to intervene to stop them.  We see a major, catastrophic defeat ahead.

2.  Biden's new sanctions are a joke.  I heard not one commentator who expressed any enthusiasm for them.  Not strong enough.  Not targeting Putin himself.  No confidence in Biden doing anything more effective.

3.  It could have been prevented.  Biden's ridiculous energy policies have taken this country from energy independence to dependence on foreign oil, some of that from Russia, if you can believe that!  His refusal to reverse those policies means Europe will still be buying energy from Russia rather than us, a catastrophic situation, and we may still need Russian oil and gas.  The feeling of humiliation is everywhere in the commentary.

4.  China is watching, and laughing.  China, our main adversary, is having the best of times.  Since Biden took office China has watched America humble itself, first by being chased out of Afghanistan after years of struggle, now by standing by like a dumb fool as a friendly nation is devoured by an economically weak Russia.  If China decided to take Taiwan, what could we actually do?

5. Biden is isolated.  Who wants to go near him?  The expected loss of Ukraine could be a death blow to the Democratic Party.  Its standard bearer, the president, is fading.  Its vice president has disappeared again.   There are rumors she's on a milk carton in Poland.  What Dem candidate would want either of those two to campaign for him or her?  I haven't heard clear talk about a new political party to replace the Dems, but I think we're getting close.  We are eight months away from the midterms.  What does the Democratic Party have for an argument?

We are an unhappy nation.  Ukraine reminds us of our weakness, and our mediocre government officials.  Coming after all the confusion about the pandemic, we didn't need this. We're looking for a psychological break, and we aren't finding one. 

3:05 P.M. ET:  President Biden spoke to the nation today.  At least that's what he tried to do.  The speech, in the midst of an international crisis, should have been delivered in the evening, from the Oval Office.  That's what real presidents do.  Americans who work can't watch an afternoon speech.

Biden's speech, perhaps the most important of his life, was widely anticipated.  A few days ago he announced a first set of sanctions – Sanctions Lite – on Russia for menacing Ukraine.  Most observers thought them laughably mild.  Greater toughness was expected today. 

Well, the president, as usual, fell below expectations.  He said all the right things about how bad Vladimir Putin is, what a raw, rude fellow he'd become.  But then the president rattled off, from a teleprompter, a pretty vague list of sanctions, admitting later that they would take some time to have effect.  But he assured us that he'd revisit them if they didn't work within a month.

Yawn.

Are we serious here?  The people of Ukraine are facing Russian tanks right now, not a month from now.  A month from now might well see the Russian flag flying all over Ukraine. 

Not a great performance from the president.  Most commentators expressed a kind of reserved dismay.  Where was the hammer?  Where were the hard blows?   The speech was all belly and no spine.  Tough words mean nothing unless they're accompanied by chilling actions.

Mr. Biden needed a home run, not a fly-ball single to left.

More on this later.

February 24, 2022       Permalink

THE SITUATION – OVERNIGHT:  All eyes on Ukraine.  No need to give you a blow-by-blow.  Urgent Agenda readers are well informed, and you know what's happened.   You're watching the same networks I am.

And so, first, a word about news coverage.  Ukraine may turn out to be the largest military clash in Europe since World War II.  It requires the best journalism.  I'm pleased to report that the TV journalism I'm seeing is awfully good.  I'm especially pleased to report that CNN, which has suffered under the now-dismissed Jeff Zucker, has performed ably.  Solid reporting, calmness in presentation, a good body of knowledge, and very few words about Donald Trump.  Maybe Zucker's departure has had a liberating effect. 

We've been tough on CNN here, but we always give credit where it's due.  I hope we continue to see in the future  the CNN we've seen in the last 24 hours.

Putin's invasion of Ukraine reminds us of a lesson we have to relearn over and over – that not everyone in the world thinks the way we do.  In World War II, many American naval officers could not understand the Japanese kamikaze – pilots trained to commit suicide as they crashed their planes into American warships.  Even Admiral Ernest King, the chief of naval operations, threw up his hands in bafflement.  No commander would send a pilot to commit suicide.

Well, the Japanese begged to disagree.  And now, today, we have a situation where we find it hard to understand a seemingly irrational act by the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin.  He delivered a message a few days ago that was right out of 19th-century international politics – that Russia, a great nation sold out during the Cold War, must be recognized for its greatness again, and that meant rebuilding the Soviet empire.  Was he serious?  I mean, ain't that stuff old-fashioned?  Yes, but not to Putin.  He feels no need to see the world in modern terms.  He hasn't "moved on," to use that tired cliché of the American left.  I would not be shocked, after he gobbles up Ukraine, and perhaps another country, to see him change Russia's name to something more grand.  During the Cold War it was called the USSR, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.  I would expect to see something equally pompous.  To Putin, it would be final justice, and he would absorb the glory.  Hail Vlad, king of the empire.

Inevitably, as the fighting increases, commentators will get to the question of blame.  How did this happen?  How did we allow it to happen?  Putin, for some reason, believed that the United States was so weak that he could strike in Europe without fear of being defeated. 

The discussion of blame is proper...if it is allowed to be honest.  But if certain names are off limits because of political correctness, the discussion is useless, even dangerous.   Thus, we must insist that the role of President Barack Obama be thoroughly examined.  It was he who invited the Russians back into the Middle East.  It was he who allowed Putin to take Crimea.  It was he who ridiculed the notion that Russia was a major threat.  It was he who gave us Hillary Clinton and John Kerry as secretaries of state.  Decisions have consequences.

We continue to monitor.  Check back here later today.

February 24, 2022     Permalink