Ukraine Always Get What You Want

[Starman]

Fatfork wants an excuse to order U.S. troops into the war to fight under Putin's command, under the ruse of "trying to end the war as quickly as possible."

I've been saying this for a year or more.

 

[WriteThinking]

I literally want to cry, reading these. You will, too.

It Was an Ambush

The sheer rudeness shown to a foreign guest and friend of the United States was (to use a word) deplorable as a matter of manners and grace, but worse, Trump and Vance acted like a couple of online Kremlin sock puppets instead of American leaders. They pushed talking points that they either knew or should have known were wrong. Even if Zelensky were as fluent and capable in English as Winston Churchill, he would never have been able to rebut the flood of falsehoods. No, the U.S. has not given Ukraine $350 billion; yes, Zelensky has repeatedly expressed his thanks to America and to Trump; no, Zelensky was not attacking the administration. The Ukrainian leader did his best to stand up to the bullying, but Trump and Vance were playing to the cameras and the MAGA gallery at home....

Today's meeting and America's shameful vote in the United Nations on Monday confirmed that the United States is now aligned with Russia and against Ukraine, Europe, and most of the planet. I felt physically sick watching the president of the United States yell at a brave ally, fulminating in the Oval Office as if he were an addled old man shaking his fist at a television. Zelensky has endured tragedies, and risked his life, in ways that men such as Trump and Vance cannot imagine. (Vance served as a public-relations officer in the most powerful military in the world; he has never had to huddle in a bunker during a Russian bombardment.) I am ashamed for my nation; even if Congress acts to support and aid Ukraine, it cannot restore the American honor lost today.

But no matter how disgusted anyone might be at Trump and Vance's behavior, the strategic reality is that this meeting is a catastrophe for the United States and the free world. America's alliances are now in danger, and should be: Trump is openly, and gleefully, betraying everything America has tried to defend since the defeat of the Axis 80 years ago. The entire international order of peace and security is now in danger, as Russian autocrats, after slaughtering innocent people for three years, look forward to enjoying the spoils of their invasion instead of standing trial for their crimes. (Shortly after Trump dismissed Zelensky from the White House, Putin's homunculus, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, posted on X: "The insolent pig finally got a proper slap down in the Oval Office.").

Friday, February 28, 2025, will go into the history books as one of the grimmest days in American diplomacy, the beginning of a long-term disaster that every American, every U.S. ally, and anyone who cares about the future of democracy will have to endure. With the White House's betrayal of Ukraine capping a month of authoritarian chaos in America, Putin, along with other dictators around the world, can finally look at Trump with confidence and think: one of us.

The Real Reason Trump Berated Zelensky

Of the many bizarre and uncomfortable moments during today's Oval Office meeting between Donald Trump, J. D. Vance, and Volodymyr Zelensky—during which Trump finally shattered the American alliance with Ukraine—one was particularly revealing: What, a reporter asked, would happen if the cease-fire Trump is trying to negotiate were to be violated by Russia? "What if anything? What if a bomb drops on your head right now?" Trump spat back, as if Russia violating a neighbor's sovereignty were the wildest and most unlikely possibility, rather than a frequently recurring event.

 

[Driftwood]

Seems like Zelensky flew straight to London where he will meet the UK PM today and attend a summit of Euro leaders on Sunday. All indications are that Europe is united against us.

 

[DanOregon]

I've been a student of history all of my life, and while you always look back and see the big "results" - you don't often notice the many small steps that lead to those results. Living in the era of Trump, we're reading about them every day in real time.
Really reminds me of the doughfaces in the Civil War era.

 

[Brooklyn Bridge]

A leader who makes a deal with a blood thirsty dictator. WCGW?

 

[dixiehack]

A never-Trump conservative friend of mine, one who has always been a straight arrow rule of law sort, is becoming more blue-curious by the day. She's the one sending me outraged texts about the treatment of Zelensky and pulling out the Chamberlin comparisons and now texting me Heather Cox Richardson articles. She is planning like she could be part of a mass firing at DOJ any day now and already has her podcast in mind she wants to start if it happens and she's no longer bound by the Hatch Act.

And I don't have the heart to tell her or any of my other friends who are starting to find their special causes targeted. I'm sure people wonder why I'm not back in my 2017 mode of "We have to do something!"

That's because the correct answer is "We had to do something," and did not. One does not un-slit a wrist. One does not recall a nuclear warhead back into the silo. One does not reinsert the linchpin back into the machine already in motion.

 

[Driftwood]

starting to find their special causes targeted.

I am a Cold War veteran who is an outdoorsman/conservationist, lives in a hurricane zone, and is within sight of the social security goal line.
It's a good thing I got a jump start on drinking years ago.

 

[garrow]

 

[Batman]

Saw that earlier, but didn't see anything from what I'd consider reputable sites or reporters. A Google search didn't even turn up any stories. And supposedly it was from a Facebook post that has since been deleted.
It's been a few hours, though, so has there been any legitimate reporting on it?

 

[Justin_Rice]

Saw that earlier, but didn't see anything from what I'd consider reputable sites or reporters. A Google search didn't even turn up any stories. And supposedly it was from a Facebook post that has since been deleted.
It's been a few hours, though, so has there been any legitimate reporting on it?

Oh man. Imagine you doing the exact same fact-checking exercise when you hear Donald Trump say something bat shirt crazy ...

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

Saw that earlier, but didn't see anything from what I'd consider reputable sites or reporters. A Google search didn't even turn up any stories. And supposedly it was from a Facebook post that has since been deleted.
It's been a few hours, though, so has there been any legitimate reporting on it?

Yes.

fork Trump.

 

[WriteThinking]

Of course, the U.S. doesn't support Zelensky. Even if most the rest of the world does, according to TIME magazine.

World Leaders React: Zelensky and Trump Oval Office Showdown