By Charlie Johnston
Of all the commentary I have read on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, only one so far has struck me as being grounded in hard geo-political facts. Interestingly, it largely relies on the analysis of the late Aleksander Solzhenitzyn – one of the most astute historical and political observers of the last century. Most of the rest of the commentary, even by the best pundits, has seemed to me to be hair on fire reactions that don’t even skim the surface of this flash point or what its potential consequences are. So I’ll give it a go for all you Next Right Steppers. I am going to go step by step through some significant issues that have to be considered before making any sort of coherent analysis.
Historical Aspects: It has been a troubled encounter between Russia and Ukraine for over three centuries. Most of the offenses have been the fault of Russia – but not all. The Russian Empire took over Ukraine in the late 1700’s and held it tightly until the dissolution of the Soviet Empire in 1991. Unfortunately, Soviet rule seriously warped the definition of what is actual Russian and what is Ukrainian territory. In 1954, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev “gifted” Crimea to Ukraine. This was peculiar because Crimea had never been part of Ukraine. It was part of the Khanate when Russia took it over in the late 1700’s and drove most of the Muslims out, replacing them with ethnic Russians. And yet, it was kind of an honorary thing because both Crimea and Ukraine were firmly under the rule of Russia, so it changed nothing then about who ruled – just made it part of a particular Soviet Province. Many suspected it was a tacit apology by Khrushchev for the Holodomor, the forced starvation of millions of Ukrainians by Josef Stalin. These redefinitions of boundaries of Soviet Regions had no consequences then but are having many now. When the Soviet Union broke up and Ukraine declared its independence after three centuries of Russian rule, big chunks of Eastern Ukraine considered themselves Russian – and believed they were now governed by a “foreign” power. Data from public surveys in the 90’s showed that nearly 70 percent of people in Eastern Ukraine considered themselves Russian – and wanted to be repatriated with Russia. Had Soviet rule not deformed traditional national boundaries, many of the ongoing troubles in that region would never have been sparked. Kiev is not only an historical Russian city: it is the city where Russia was founded in 988 A.D.
Cultural Aspects: About a third of modern-day Ukraine is overwhelmingly Russian Orthodox. This is all in the east. The rest is Eastern-rite Catholic. The shallow thinkers in the media and modern foreign policy establishments don’t think culture and religion mean much of anything. They are wrong. The border between Russian Orthodox and Eastern-rite Catholic in Ukraine is almost as sharply defined as the border between the north and the south was in the American Civil War. Most Russian Orthodox consider themselves Russian. Most Eastern-rite Catholics consider themselves Ukrainian. That is a problem that has been festering since the Soviet break-up over 30 years ago. Eastern Ukrainians have repeatedly reported that the Ukrainian government has treated them as second-class citizens since independence. This animosity is understandable, as Ukraine has been oppressed by Russia worse than any country except, perhaps, Poland. But I have known since the 90’s that this could not last. I had hoped that Russia and Ukraine would, through diplomatic means, work out the borders so that ethnic Ukrainians were fully in independent Ukraine and places with majority ethnic Russians could peacefully re-unite with Russia if they so chose.
Feckless U.S. Diplomacy: The last U.S. President who had both a coherent understanding of the Russia issue and the political capital to carry out coherent diplomacy was Ronald Reagan. Everything since has been wishful thinking or thwarted efforts. The Soviet Union fell under the first George Bush’s watch, but that result was entirely the culmination of events initiated by Reagan, Pope St. John Paul II, and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Bush Sr. was too busy celebrating the illusory end of history and American status as the world sole superpower to deal effectively with the turbulent transition in world affairs. Bill Clinton continued the policy begun by Bush of inviting near every country in the world to join NATO, thus diluting it and ensuring that it would become a dead man walking at the next truly global crisis – when he wasn’t ignoring the growing threat of radical Jihadists and giving satellite-targeting technology to the Chinese. The second George Bush handled the specific immediate crisis of 9-11 well but had little feel for geo-political realities otherwise. Hurricane Katrina sapped Bush junior’s mojo and he staggered ineffectively to the end of his second term, both in foreign affairs and domestically. Barack Obama put the feck in feckless. One of his first acts was to unilaterally stop the missile defense radars being built in Poland. Russia had complained of them, because of course they would. Actually, Russia would have benefitted from them as an early warning against Chinese mischief, but it was a good opportunity to get something in exchange from the U.S. in trade. Russian President Vladimir Putin is not stupid. This was a routine diplomatic ploy by Russia. The first rule of international diplomacy is that the only thing you give away for nothing is…nothing. I remember watching in 2010, I think, an early meeting between Obama and Putin after the latter had cancelled the missile defense program. Putin could barely hide his disdain for the American president. A serious global leader is not much interested in shows of how much a colleague loves them: they want to know you are a competent dance partner. Putin’s visage reflected the late Casey Stengel’s lament about the pitiful 1963 New York Mets: “Doesn’t anybody here know how to play this game?” Any idiot could see the growing threat of China – and the ultimate conflict that must come between China and Russia because of simple geography. Putin was looking for a competent ally to deal with that threat – and we could have gotten a lot in return, but Obama was too busy looking for a pat on the head to be a serious ally, so Putin made a deal with China in hopes of forestalling the inevitable confrontation between those two states. Donald Trump provided the first serious opportunity since Reagan to forge mutually beneficial ties. It is not so much that Trump is a geo-political genius, but he is a brilliantly shrewd negotiator whose gut instincts are as fine as any around. Alas, the Democrats and Republican establishmentarians hated Trump so much they were glad to use Russia as a bugaboo for purely political reasons to mount a false narrative in hopes of taking Trump down. They squandered our last serious chance to forge a diplomatic alliance that could have preserved peace and provided a diplomatic means to resolve conflicts in the region. Then came Joe Biden who took fecklessness to a whole new level. Since Bush junior, Putin has had to deal with incompetent American dance partners or a competent one who was barred from forging any serious alliance with Russia. Putin realized that, for the foreseeable future, he is on his own. So he forged an alliance with the Chinese, hoping to forestall the inevitable conflict they would have if he is not willing to become a vassal client state to China. For a decade and a half, he has practically been screaming for someone of stature in the American foreign policy establishment to notice that China is a huge and growing threat to both America and Russia – and everything in between. But the America foreign policy establishment hasn’t gotten anything right in decades – and is too busy grappling with the “crises” of climate change, gay rights, critical race theory and transgenderism to pay attention to anything real. Some of these guys are smart but, sadly, in these times, smart often just means you are better able to convince yourself of your own fantasies than that you can deal effectively with the reality in front of you. When the history of these times is written 50 years from now, it will be a history of constantly squandered opportunities spanning decades.
Haven for U.S. Officials Corruption: It is often noted that corruption is rife in Ukraine. That is true BUT powerful American politicians have used that poor country as an ATM and an effective money-laundering operation for the proceeds of their influence peddling and rank corruption. Shoot, when he was vice-president, Biden actually bragged about getting the prosecutor who was investigating Burisma, the company from which his son Hunter was getting tens of thousands a month, fired. When Ukraine tried to root out corruption, powerful establishment American officials stepped in to keep it corrupt so as not to disturb their honeypot. I have read various establishment media outlets supposedly “debunking” these stories – but all the debunking consists of technical issues rather than the raw substance of the allegations of corruption. They say that, for example, it is not Mitt Romney’s son who is making big money from Ukraine, but a close crony…or that Nancy Pelosi’s son does not work for a Ukrainian energy company, he just has a sweetheart deal to import Ukrainian oil. The establishment is so desperate to hide these ties that they impeached (but did not convict) Trump when he tried to get to the bottom of it. It did stop the investigation which would have led to their massive corruption, though. Ukraine was victimized by powerful American establishment politicians to keep their own honeypot flowing. Now it is victimized by Russia’s invasion. But when Biden and company so ruthlessly exploited Ukraine for profit, I have to wonder whether the dogs of war they want to unleash are to defend Ukraine or to keep the Russians from getting hard evidence of their own corruption. There is no doubt that Ukraine has been badly victimized for a long time – but I have yet to see a “good guy” in this situation…and I am not eager to commit American lives to protect the dirty secrets of establishment politicians.
[the_ad id=”157875″]
What Putin Wants Now: Putin is often quoted as saying the breakup of the Soviet Union was the worst catastrophe of the 20th century. The implication is that he is a closet communist, yearning for the old days. Even when he was a KGB officer, Putin had no great love for communism. He did, however, and still does have a yearning for a great and powerful Russian Empire. If people say that Putin is a modern equivalent of a Russian Czar, I have no quibble with that. He has no desire I have ever fathomed to be a Communist First Secretary. Given the realities that he wants Russian greatness, fears Chinese hegemony, and knows he is on his own to fend as best he can, what is his endgame? Here it gets tricky, for several are possible. What is certain is that Putin wants to expose NATO as the toothless paper tiger it is and utterly destroy it. Thanks to German intransigence and dependence on Russia, he will probably succeed on that. NATO was the greatest collective security coalition in the history of the world – but its sell-by date expired three decades ago. It has been a shuffling zombie ever since. You might think that is no big deal, but it is. The maintenance of a now-useless security alliance retards the creation of new security alliances that match the threats of our time. What we need is a collective security alliance along the lines of NATO in East Asia and with Eastern European and Middle Eastern states that border China. Even if Putin can’t hope to get such a collective started under this feckless administration, the destruction of NATO will force officials to think with fresh eyes about such things. I have doubts that Putin wants to absorb all of Ukraine. To take Western Ukraine would just create a constant center of resentment and rebellion. When he invaded Georgia in 2008, after those responsible for violent incursions into Russia were brought to heel, Putin withdrew his forces and returned full sovereignty to the nation of Georgia. He has not shown a history of wanting to buy vexing problems for show. If he goes into Ukraine just to the intrinsic border between the Russian Orthodox and Eastern-rite Catholics, for all the storm and fury of the moment, this will ultimately die down and both nations will have more stable borders. If that breaks NATO, I doubt he will go any further. If it does not, I would not be surprised if he does go further or even invades other countries on his border such as Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia or Belarus. He needs to break NATO and get other western nations focused on the threat of China. If he has to ultimately go it alone against China, in his mind, better to do it from Empire. If the backlash that seems certain in American politics takes solid shape this fall, he only has two more years before once again having the potential for a potent western alliance. As a bonus, he would have a host of bargaining chips in his pocket to sweeten any deal. I cannot speak to what Putin’s moral character is. Certainly, he is a determined autocrat, for which Americans denounce him regularly – without noting that the only Russian rulers who have survived very long for over a thousand years in Russian politics of whatever stripe have been strongman autocrats. Faculty lounge fantasists need not apply – and if they do, they will be toppled very quickly. If you doubt it, see Georgi Malenkov. What I do know is that, up to this point in his tenure, the moves Putin has made have made geo-political sense from the standpoint of someone who puts Russian interests first. The great tragedy is that we have been too blind to exploit opportunities where mutual interests could have made us allies and shaved off some very rough edges, while genuinely confronting China.
Consequences and…China: If America and NATO do somehow mount a vigorous defense of Ukraine, I expect to see cyber-attacks like we have never seen before. I already know that Putin is shrewd. If he is very shrewd, he will target his cyber attacks against critical government infrastructure such as federal police forces, military communications, the IRS and other bureaucracies while making as few attacks on services ordinary Americans rely on as possible.
Putin had been planning exactly this for more than 20 years. He needed the right moment with a weak and feckless president and he got that in biden. By the way, biden is in Delaware, away from his post. He is detached from the Ukraine situation because his Delaware home does not have a scif.
We are so screwed with this illegitimate piece of human excrement biden.
A Prayer for Volodymyr Zelensky – History has found the Ukrainian president, and his courage is remarkable to witness.
What a shame such bravery and honor has to be sacrificed because election fraud put idiot Biden in control of the US.
Volodymyr Zelensky – The Ukrainian national hero that a failed casino owner tried to extort. The man who stood up to Putin.
No no. Trump stopped Putin. You and Biden have let him invade the Ukraine.
Trump was looking into Biden’s own corruption that he even admitted to on video, as Zelensky was being extorted by Democrats. Zelensky is very much like Trump: strong, steadfast, and commits to what is right. They share that in common and are still friends.
Nice try at the old “say Trump did what my own party did, publicly.”
This war is on you and the party you support. Zelensky would not look at you as a friend.
More lies from greg
One of the nameless bots is currently posting as “greg.” The posts are canned responses, and they don’t track at all with the discussion.
You can tell there’s at least three “gregs” if you watch the patterns in how they respond.
My thoughts are “they” are in the EU. Not American at least, and not on American soil.
No, it’s just Greg again with his cut and paste. He has not read the article above, refuses to look at the larger picture. The photo of Zelensky in the flack jacket is old stock from him visiting the trenches of eastern Ukraine, with his quote from a few days ago.
Greg admits there are entire units of neo nazis but denies Putin wants to wipe them from the soil of Ukraine, a thing his heroic Zelensky has not done. BTW The units flag is the Ukrainian flag with a big ol swastika in the center.
You’re taking the wrong side, on this one.
You can always get back to your Biden-bashing after the crisis has passed.
Biden needs no bashing. His failures are fact, and irrefutable. Now people are dying and you’re taking Putin’s side.
Greg says not being on the side of neo-nazis is wrong now?
Pointing out that Putins actions have history is defending him, the EU and US diplomacy turning Putins pipelines to China (a short distance) and not Europe could have more serious consequences. The short sighted policy of todays morons in charge, as pushing Russia away from Nato years ago because he wasnt a mindless WEF NWO debt ridden fool too independent. A commie like you wouldnt see leaving Russia having to turn to Xi for support as a downside.
After this crisis there will be another. And another. And another. Idiot Biden used to be known as a gaffe machine. Now he has become a crisis machine, creating one after another, each resulting in disaster.
The same recycled, debunked lies from Greg, lashing out like a spoiled, petulant brat because his daddy is proven to be an incompetent boob.
Different day, same pile of shit from greg
Zelensky replaced the leader idiot Biden DID extort in order to protect the $80,000 a month his besotted son was getting to PROTECT against investigation. Idiot Biden, per Hunter’s laptop, was getting $40,000 a month of that. Idiot Biden actually bragged on video that he did this; it is irrefutable. Idiot Biden has never stood up to anyone except to the US taxpayer, denying them the economy Trump had created.
None of that is proven no super secret whistle blower was ever produced by Adam Schiffless. The I heard it from a friend who heard it from a friend who overheard a onesided phone call prosecution fell flat on its face.
Biden and his masters have sparked off what appears to be WWIII. Leftists suddenly pretend they care about Ukraine.
Biden caused this. Trump had stopped it.
The choice is clear.
Joseph Biden is an American President standing up to a nuclear-armed lunatic.
Former Vice President Biden is a fraud and has caused a nuclear-armed lunatic to invade another country. He’s hardly standing up to anything.
Our forever 45th President of the United State, Donald Trump, showed us how to properly keep Putin in his place.
There are only two sides at the moment. Putin has reduced the choice to that.
EU will close airspace to Russia, fund military equipment; US calls Putin’s nuclear move ‘unacceptable’- live updates
There are three sides: The US, Russia, and the EU.
Covid and rigged elections were about keeping the US at the heel of Geneva’s interests, and now open war has come about because of it.
There is the side of democracy and there is the side of tyranny. In this case, you could characterize the situation to good vs. evil. Ukraine did not attack Vladimir Putin. It was the other way around. Putin felt threatened because of what Putin is.
Putin was not threatened. This was his plan back to 2014 when feckless obama and jackass biden were in office. Read more, write less moron.
FUCK JOE BIDEN
Incorrect. Only a child would speak in these terms.
This conflict has been ongoing for decades, with NATO, the US, and Russia all trading blows in one way or the other.
The invasion of Ukraine could have been avoided.
Reducing this to “Putin is a meany” isn’t intelligence discourse.
Putin wins his elections the same way Biden won his, so….evil men all around? Yes.
Another despot held in check by President Trump
North Korea Fires Ballistic Missile Eastward Toward Sea as Vladimir Putin Orders Nuclear Forces on Highest Alert
Next is China, striking out somewhere where we least expect.
Not if the leaders of China see the entire free world united to stare down Vladimir Putin. The sanctions are going to damage the Russian economy ENORMOUSLY.
They’ll damage us too, but that’s our own choice, and a price worth paying. As somebody pointed out once, Freedom isn’t free. That isn’t just a statement about somebody else going off to war on behalf of the American consumer. It was never supposed to be that sort of statement in the first place.
Are you sure you’re logged into the correct troll account, Cletus?
I am who I always am. I’m old enough now to know.
Or old enough to forget, like sundowning former VP Biden.
If you can’t figure out that Biden has consistently placed right action ahead of his own popularity, you’re not very observant. This is the exact opposite of Donald Trump, who is entirely about Donald Trump.
Biden has lied. About everything. Many campaign promises instantly abandoned. He’s take wrong action over and over again, costing American lives, careers, and quality of life.
He’s put the profit of those who installed him in front of everything.
Trump’s actions prove you wrong. Saying it was “about Trump” is nebulous and dismissed, as the prosperity and promises kept by Trump debunk your complete bullshit.
Keep going. Maybe you can lie your way into truth.
Oh, really. Is that why idiot Biden won’t hit Putin in his oil industry and refuses to ask AOC’s permission to reopen ours? Because he doesn’t care about his “popularity”? True, he has destroyed it to the point that it is hardly worth fretting over, but everything idiot Biden does is to try and restore his approvals. Remember the temporary $0.04 reduction in gas prices he provided the masses by dipping into our strategic reserve?
Hey greg, biden is losing to Putin
Feb. 27, 2022 – ‘I’ve got morons on my team’: Sen. Mitt Romney hits Reps. Paul Gosar, Marjorie Taylor Greene
Romney voted for an unconstitutional impeachment. He might be the head moron.
Romney might be the GOP’s 2024 presidential candidate.
Yeah, and monkeys might fly out of your ass.
He is going to have a difficult time should he decide to retain his seat Not well liked by the people of Utah
Bwahahahaha Romney nowhere on anyones radar
That’s true, isn’t it.
Biden Approval Drops to 37 Percent in ABC-WaPo Poll
And continuing to drop to single digits
We can only hope he drops to below 10%. It will be a happy day for America
You would be closer to dig up John McStain
John McCain was another conservative American patriot that Trump trashed.
McCain was no conservative. His politics sucked
just another sunshine patriot
Talk to some of the POWs who served with McCain. Also, McCain screwed up and cost many lives due to his hot dogging. He was only saved from court-martial by his father. If you knew have of what you think you know, you would only be a borderline village idiot!
It is also suspected he collided with the enemy while in the Hanoi Hilton
Hey watch the first 10 of this.
https://www.bizpacreview.com/2022/02/27/joe-rogan-mocks-so-called-health-expert-bill-gates-over-his-war-on-beef-you-look-like-sht-1206394/
What kind of Ganja are you smoking today
If we abandon Zelensky and his nation to their fate because we fear a tyrant–or worse yet, because we fear a loss of ease and comfort–we will lose any claim we have to freedom and to honor.
That kind of “ganja”, monkey-boy.
Trump Calls on Republicans to Launch Select Committee to Investigate Hunter Biden and Biden Family Corruption (VIDEO)
C-Crap Convention. Tiny little hands, tiny little feet. My me mine, my me mine, my me mine.
If we abandon a man like Zelensky and his nation to their fate because we fear a tyrant–or worse yet, because we fear a loss of ease and comfort–we will lose any claim we have to freedom and to honor.
He is a stand up comedian
Zelensky is a better man than your cult leader. He’s an ACTUAL man.
That is the problem with you communist leftists. You only court a person when it serves you. You are void of character
Is there anyway to find out who this guy is using the “greg” account?
It’s not the usual greg. Sounds like a weird Chinese propaganda troll, like a real one.
The world must be coming to and end, as Biden praises Putin,why he practically licked Putins boots! Biden saying he “waxes elequently.”
Zelensky was quite grateful for Trump’s support. He thinks idiot Biden is a coward.
Very Disturbing, Joe Biden Claims Inflation Is an Imaginary American Psychosis That Does Not Exist in Reality
maybe he should get out more before the sundowner effect.
buy some gas
buy some groceries
go to a restaurant and pay for a meal
When you buy your gas, or groceries, or go to a restaurant, remember what’s happening in Ukraine. We take it all for granted.
Look at the billionaire on his Mar-o-Lago stage, expounding on how terrible everything is and how tyrannical his political opponents are, while his audience in the cheap seats slurp up their $5000-a-plate bowls of soup.
This is who you choose?
We are going to love it when President Trump returns to office in 2024. Hopefully you wil still be around so you can either have a heart attack or commit suicide
Of course. Trump has the receipts. Trump prevented war in the Ukraine, the ME, and Taiwan.
Now Biden is allowing it.
Democrats want this. It’s part of the great reset, and you’re being paid to run agitprop during such events.
Like that’s the only time I show up, right?
You will see the last of me when the threat of Trump is gone.
I just bought gas an hour ago. $3.59/gallon at Family Express. Their LED sign is displaying a Ukrainian flag. The cashier told me that her friend works at a local liquor store. This morning, all products originating in Russia were removed from their shelves. This is in conservative Indiana.
The Russian that made the vodka has his money already, perhaps they are waitng for the iron curtain to fall again and like good capitalists sell it at a premium to Pelosi?
Who was this?Last edited 1 hour ago by Greg
If we abandon a man like Zelensky and his nation to their fate because we fear a tyrant–or worse yet, because we fear a loss of ease and comfort–we will lose any claim we have to freedom and to honor.
…and that gets a down vote.
Zelensky: …We are not afraid of Russia. We are not afraid to talk to Russia…
But Biden is afraid…
Zelensky had rejected an earlier call for negotiations in Belarus, saying that holding talks there — as per Moscow’s demand — was untenable when Belarusian territory was being used as a staging ground for the unprovoked Russian invasion. “Of course, we want peace, we want to meet, we want for the war to end,” Zelensky said earlier. “Warsaw, Bratislava, Budapest, Istanbul, Baku — we have suggested all that to Russia.”
You’re trying to frame yourself and your party as friends of Zelensky.
You’re not. You’re his enemies. Trump is his friend.
Trump attempted to extort help with a political smear campaign from Zelensky. Now Putin is trying to kill Zelensky. Figure it out. Many people figured it out a long time ago.
Not even close. Biden was caught on camera admitting withholding aid to Ukraine for favors, and Trump investigated AS HE SHOULD.
The sham impeachment ensued. Biden and his handlers attempted to cover this us by manufacturing a case against Trump that fell flat.
Nice try with that line of disinformation. It’s not going to fly, dumbf*ck.
I think the Leftists are serious about their cognitive dissonance in trying to frame this war about Trump.
At what point is the “greg” account flagged as foreign psy-ops and blocked?
It only was close to truth after shifty schiff lied from the chairman’s seat
FLAGGED. This guy or girl posting is a troll. A Bonafide one.
greggie, you are so ignorant. My dad accurately described people like you. “If your brains were gun powder, you would not have enough to blow your nose!”
Your father never met me.
Afraid of an honest investigation of the Biden Crime Family?
It was the same b.s. with Clinton. They never found anything to charge her with. “Lock her up” was a rally chant for Trump cultists.
US Secret Service Claims it CAN’T FIND Three Years Worth of Hunter Biden’s Travel Records After Agency Made “Extensive, Inappropriate Redactions” to Docs Produced Last Month
EXCLUSIVE: THE BIDENS’ UKRAINIAN BLOOD MONEY – What the U.S. Government and Mainstream Media Hid from the Public
Monkey-boy oooh Wow big words
I have not been called that since second grade.
you are a real tuff guy
…he says as he wraps his tail around the chair leg…
That doesn’t translate well to Engrish.
Maybe it makes sense in Mandarin?
Only idiot Biden would likely abandon Zelensky. Hell, he put him in this crisis to begin with.
China owns idiot Biden, most Democrats and some Republicans lock, stock and barrel. Xi will do whatever he wants and idiot Biden will defend it, just as he defended their release of COVID on the world.
greggie, do you mean the sanctions that continue to pay Russia billions of dollars daily for oil that Biden buys while shutting down US production? Those sanctions will really help the current situation and the inflation of the US dollar. You do not even qualify as the village idiot, just an idiot!
If we gathered all the village idiots and made a village Greg would be the village idiot.
I appreciate unintentional irony.
Odd perspective from someone that endorses, supports and defends the party of tyranny.
They finally accept as reality what Trump told them three years ago.
biden is an illegitimate president, period full stop
Joseph Biden is an American President on the payroll of a nuclear-armed lunatic.
There. Fixed it to reflect the truth.
Starting soon, all ex-USSR countries should (must) expell all ethnic Russian people.
Russia’s leader uses the idea that ethnic Russians are in country X, Y, or Z as his excuse to invade.
Now, who here, among all the “anti-racists” in the Lefty community, could identify a Russian from a Ukrainian if they were in just their underwear?
Not one of you!
They are all Eastern Europeans who pretty much look just alike.
So much for all your race-baiting.
You also probably couldn’t tell the Hutu and the Tutsi tribes apart, but there were over 800,000 of them slaughtered in fewer than 100 days back in 1994.
Race is not the thing.
Here, the Left is trying hard to make it a thing to obfuscate from the real things.
Ethnic Russians are part of the fabric of those nations. The problem isn’t Russians. The problem is Vladimir Putin.
Study more, write less. There is much that has gone into this, and while Putin is to blame, many others are as well.
I know you pea-brained Leftists need to have or manufacture a “just kill this guy and everything will be fine” mentality, but your ignorance is what caused this in the first place.
Just shut up and go read. You offer nothing but partisan lies. Your values and your non-democratic ideas have gotten Ukrainians killed.
Meanwhile, feckless jackass biden is eating smashed peas and peaches in Delaware, detached from classified intel because his Delaware home is not properly scif-ed
FUCK JOE BIDEN
You are utterly clueless.
Great argument. Wait for the other greg to wake up. Maybe he has something cogent to offer.
Quite rich coming from one who continues to lie with impunity
FJB
After getting 81 million votes, Biden has worked hard and fast at implementing every Far-Left wet dream of the last 50 years. And as Greg has told us, Biden has gotten a lot done and all of it done perfectly.
I can’t figure out why he’s so unpopular.
That problem is corrupt career politicians like idiot Biden that give thugs like Putin the green light to invade other countries.
&linkEncoded=0&quality=50&width=420&shrinkonly=1
Biden himself is part of the money being laundered through the Ukraine. He’s not the guy to stop a Russian invasion.
There’s also the matter of the Natural Gas deposits in the Black Sea. Russia might not take over the whole country, but just take the entire coast…also opening the canal to feed the Crimea that has been costing Putin billions to maintain without its water supply (the Ukrainians rightly cemented it up after Crimea was annexed).
Very complex history here.
There’s also a lot of propaganda to say Russians don’t want to fight and they are poorly armed and all that.
Maybe.
200,000 troops is one of the largest invasion forces in history.
NATO should be fighting back.
I think, properly armed, Ukraine can take care of itself. Instead of mothballing A-10’s, they should have been sent to Ukraine. Putin has big, fat, long convoys of armored vehicles and supply trucks all across eastern Ukraine that an A-10 would just gobble up.
I just get a bad feeling about the coverage. It’s in the left wing media is best interest to frame everything as Russia is incompetent and the Ukraine is brave and that will be enough.
If Putin’s goal is truly to take Kyiv and the entire country, I believe he will.
There are definitely warning signs. Good read why
There is much to agree and disagree with here, but what is definitely true is that Putin is in a hurry. He has a very narrow window to achieve his aims. The weakness and incompetence controlling the most powerful nation on earth will not be around forever; in fact, it is unlikely to get a second term if it even makes it that long. And, it ain’t going well.
Now Putin lashes out with a nuclear threat. He is digging himself a deeper hole, both in Ukraine and in Russia and is becoming dangerous. If this ends with him and his wife committing suicide in a bunker somewhere, let us hope the outside world doesn’t look like 1945 Berlin when it does.
If he takes Ukraine, he will have an endless Western-supported war on his own doorstep with the friends and relatives of the people of his own nation. He will have endless economic sanctions exacted against the oligarchy that keeps him in power. He is choosing his own fate. This might not be the act of genius that Donald Trump thinks it is.
02/27/22 – Europe and Canada move to close skies to Russian planes
Will the US follow? No official word yet. I certainly hope so.
Ask Biden if it would be Xenophobic to close travel to China…er…I mean Russia.
Tell Xi he looks like Winnie the Pooh, and Marxism doesn’t work.
It would be stupid to close travel to China. The Chinese government is observing the world’s reaction to what Putin has done. Their Russian market is far smaller than their combined US and European markets. For entirely selfish reasons, they don’t want to be that guy. There’s no good reason why they should. For Russia to turn a blind eye when they snatch territory? What does it matter if Russia does, if the rest of the world refuses to trade with you?
You’re a certified idiot, and a certified troll. You can’t read and understand English.
Who are you?
Not an American, clearly.
Just like in every other case, China is just waiting for the opportunity to butt-f**k Russia, just like they do everyone else when it benefits them. If Putin gets weakened much more, he can expect his “buddies” to turn on him, too.
The people of Ukraine are very different than those in Afghanistan, notice how the men try to escape with their family and not just high tail it leaving them behind for cushy civilized europes welfare system. Putin did not take any territory prior to invasion all he did was recognize 2 small places that declared themselves new nations. There are many tiny or micro nations in and outside Europe.
https://www.titlemax.com/discovery-center/lifestyle/the-100-smallest-countries-in-the-world/
“I consider it necessary to take a long-overdue decision: To immediately recognize the independence and sovereignty of Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic,” Mr. Putin said.
Putin has no right to declare them independent of Ukraine, any more than some foreign power has a right to declare US territory independent. It’s an immoral and and illegal annexation.
You should not be defending this man.
What do you know of the region that has been waging a civil war for years?
Only that I know a good person who lives there. He didn’t want this.
You are a liar you always come up with the I know someone there lie.
Just an FYI: can’t you see the weird patterns and complete difference in the replies from whoever is using the “greg” account?
Seriously, can this be blocked? It’s some kind of troll portal being used by multiple people who clearly don’t speak English as a first language.
They are Euro, or worse, CCP.
This Greggie likes McStain who always seemed to push for regime change for the NWO meeting with terrorists and nazis backed by Soros
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/senators-mccain-murphy-join-massive-ukraine-anti-government-protest-threaten-sanctions
You DO NOT know any Ukrainians, Zhang.
Knowing people in distant places isn’t unusual in the days of international social media and computer translation. It broadens understanding and outlook. I hate to disappoint you, but no one I know is in China. Maybe because Chinese is resistant to accurate computer translation. Chinese is a very different from Indo-European languages. Computer translation handles Ukranian quite well.
Just minutes ago an image a friend posted from Ukraine let all of his friends there, in Russia, and elsewhere know that he’s still OK. He shares no other details, for reasons that should be obvious.
What sanctions do: FOX News, 02/27/22 – Rouble dives to new record low
This is ALSO what sanctions do: 02/28/22 – Russia central bank more than doubles key interest rate to 20% to boost sinking ruble
There could be a run on the Russian banks. That will be Putin’s doing.
Putin has made a serious miscalculation. The Russian people will soon know it. The Russian casualty figures will also find their way in.
The sanctions biden put on Russia are as weak and feckless as biden…
FJB
Larry Kudlow — Biden made an enormous mistake…
“We Are Still Buying Crude Oil From Putin. We Are Wiring Him Money Every Day” – American Billionaire John Catsimatidis
putin sized up the weakness of biden when he made us energy dependent.
and again when biden created the disaster that was Afghanistan
“Broke the Oldest Rule”: Tucker Rips Slow Joe [Video]
The Ukraine invasion is another failure of joe biden. The guy is beyond the worst ever president in the history of America. This is the darkest period in our History.
Right. Putin didn’t see sanctions coming.
Speaking of miscalculations…this week is going to be very interesting.
Putin is not the least bit concerned about the meaningless sanctions. He will continue because there is no leadership here to dissuade him. Sanctions against Putin are tantamount to pulling ore diplomatic core from the genocide olympics in the CCP.
Its a good thing I dont want a Russian loan, not a short term CD
their banking system still operates as it did yesterday our dollars still pour in for the oil that you filled up with yesterday. Whats yer point?
There has been a civil war in Ukraine where Nazis have been sent to kill and torture people.
We are arming and encouraging untrained people to go out and get themselves killed. They cant possibly win.
China is funding Russia’s invasion.
You don’t know anybody in Ukraine.
I do, and they are running for their lives after their house was bombed, not posing for selfies so a jerk like you can take some kind of credit and pretend “Biden is taking care of it.”
Biden caused this. Trump prevented it. The current news spin of Russia failing is very curious.
Hey, do you remember that virus we had a few years back? Covid-19? Where did that go??
Remind us how many Americans China killed.
No one is defending Putin. We’re blaming Leftists like you for causing this.
You’re to blame.
Speaking of leftists to bame
https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/canadian-officials-who-met-with-ukrainian-unit-linked-to-neo-nazis-feared-exposure-by-news-media-documents
I guess Putin will be too busy to aid in the elections of any Democrats this election, huh?
And yet Putin didn’t invade during Trump’s watch.
You and your party suddenly caring about Ukraine might not be the act of courage Biden and the Left thinks it is.
Well, you certainly prove you’re no genius, time and time again. What Trump said was “smart” (or “clever”, or “devious”) was Putin moving his forces into the Donbas region by calling them “peacekeeping” forces. One specific and limited action was described as “smart”, not the entire invasion.
If you continue to accept stupidity as your primary position, you will inevitably become nothing but stupid. And, you are close… VEEEEERY close.
Yeah, Putin really screwed up. He expected this campaign to be over and world-wide acceptance of his coup beginning to take hold. Instead, he is still fighting for control of a major population center. He is losing equipment and personnel. He is suffering financial setbacks. Citizens at home are turning against him. These are all the reasons why I, personally, thought Putin would never do this, but apparently the enticement to take action while the weakest, most incompetent, most corrupt, stupidest idiot was in the White House was simply too much to not take advantage of.
I hope Kyiv becomes Zelenskygrad for Putin. If the west can remain strong and unified, this could be the opportunity to get rid of Putin and replace him, not with another Putin puppet like Medvedev, but with someone that might want to cooperate with the West.
He is using the same play book he used in Georgia and Kazakstan, both those nations still exist. Now a little less corrupt. Fewer American tax dollars washed back into oligarchs pockets to give to corrupt American politicians or their spawn.
Overnight, Biden’s sanctions have put Russia’s banks and currency on the verge of collapse, and NATO hasn’t fired a shot.
THAT is my idea of smart.
Historically neutral, non-NATO Switzerland has just announced that they are ALSO freezing Russian assets. BOOM!
I wonder where Putin has hidden his stolen $200 Billion?
So now we are engaged in destroying the currency of another sovereign nation. Not an honorable thing to do nutsack
I think the Russian ambassador to the UN had Pelosi’s January 6th commission collect his “evidence” for him.
Rep. Lauren Boebert, GOP airhead of the Day:
You can’t cure stupid. You can only try to keep it on the sidelines.
Most of America prefers Lauren boebert over sandy cortex or omar.
This is why we should never send boots to any theater while this jackass is in charge.
Jill Biden Introduces Kamala Harris as “the President of the United States” (VIDEO)
Obviously suffering from sundowner effect
You don’t speak for most of America, just because a loudmouth billionaire has a megaphone.
Putin is another. You can see where putting power in such people’s hands takes a nation.
Admit Ukraine. These are good people to have guarding your eastern borders.
Ukrainian president appeals for EU membership and urges Russian soldiers to leave
What the fuck is wrong with your president?
Joe Biden Mispronounces His Own Supreme Court Nominee’s Name During Black History Month Celebration (VIDEO)
Is he a racist?
Nothing whatsoever. What’s wrong with YOU?
Does not know the name of the black judge he is installing
whiskey tango foxtrot
greggie, I guess you know because you likely have been trying to self-medicate all of your life to cure stupid! You can’t cure stupid!
Biden has made the smartest moves of the match. Russia is in a financial meltdown, and it’s all on Putin.
You might want to check the purity of that crack yo be smokin
I am sure you consider this a smart move.
“We Are Still Buying Crude Oil From Putin. We Are Wiring Him Money Every Day” – American Billionaire John Catsimatidis
Do you want your gasoline prices doubled? The point is to hit Putin’s economy, not our own.
Biden’s strategy is working very well, and John Catsimatidis knows that perfectly well. Catsimatidis one of Trump’s billionaire money bags, now turned Putin fifth columnist.
Stop gaslighting
you are full of shit
Biden is quite adept at raising gas prices. His strategy with Putin has decidedly failed.
Trump is poor compared to those who pay and installed politicians like Pelosi and Biden.
This war is Biden’s fault and Biden’s alone.
Putin is getting exactly what he wants
biden has not done jack shit
It is idiot Biden’s fault our own energy supplies and costs are held hostage by Putin. No, I don’t want energy prices to double, but they are inevitably going to go way up. All thanks to idiot Biden.
Biden has botched everything he’s touched, and this war in Ukraine it probably the worst of all.
Russia was prepared for sanctions and had currency set aside for this very predictable, very weak response from a demonstrably stupid Biden.
The panic of the Left to flood the space with the usual “Biden is doing the opposite of what you can see with your own naked eyes” is astonishing, and completely ignored by the American People.
Biden must be removed immediately for dereliction of duty. We, and the world, can’t afford not to have strong and decisive leadership from our WH to stave off open war around the globe.
Biden has put Putin’s currency and financial system into a tailspin. Russians are out on the streets protesting the war, and Putin’s invasion is turning into a military disaster. Captured Russian troops don’t know what the hell they’re doing there. Even if Putin fully occupies Ukraine, he loses, because there will be an endless resistance. NATO has not fired a shot.
This all works for me.
biden is now george soros
Biden has put the world’s financial system into a tailspin, yes.
A few Russians are protesting, yes. You know how to make a few people into a crowd, and a few hundred thousand Trump supporters into three people.
You’re stalling.
If Putin fully occupies Ukraine…uh…he wins. You and your regime can’t save face on this one.
Can we block greg yet? He’s not an American citizen, and he’s literally working for the bad guys.
Yeah
It is time to push him out of the plane without a chute…
It is obvious he is not on team America
Go ahead. I’m not your problem. Reality is your problem.
You can ignore reality but you can not ignore the consequences of ignoring reality…
Any Rand
Ayn Rand:
Arizona Senate study finds 200k ballots counted in 2020 with mismatched signaturesA recent study of Maricopa County mail ballots in the state’s 2020…
CNN poll
58% do not have confidence in biden or the decisions he has made
Indeed. That reality of high prices, supply failure, inflation and global instability is our problem, thanks to idiot Biden and election fraud.
Nearly 6,000 detained across Russia after fourth day of anti-war protests
The only thing longer than the lines of anti-war protesters are the lines trying to take money out of Russia’s ATM machines. Putin has a VERY BIG problem, and it’s all of his own making.
Get lost moron.
Is Trudeau going to have to arrest more to keep up? How about our DOJ? How can they accept Putin running up the score on them? They might lose their totalitarian police state cred.
According to a number of Russian soldiers captured in Ukraine, they were told they were taking part in a military exercise. They didn’t even know an invasion was in progress.
Propaganda
There’s a video. I suppose I tend to believe Radio Free Europe and Voice of America more than Vladimir Putin, but it might be the era I grew up in.
Of course you fall for propaganda…when it fits your narrative.
Indeed, you’re stuck in the 20th Century model of what is “real”, being what you mindlessly believe from “the authority” rather than using your eyes.
Oh, and you listened to Putin plenty…at least when it supported your anti-American, anti-Trump agenda.
Guess I was raised a bit better than you, as I don’t believe propaganda, on either side of things.
Bingo!!!!
greg was always a big fan of Putin. Guess Biden is the true “sleeve” as Colbert so tastefully put it.
Biden is getting owned by Putin on the global stage.
What an embarrassment.
Does this look like it’s a Army of dummies who don’t know what they’re doing?
They don’t know what they’re doing, because they haven’t considered what happens when they “win”.
Trump and his entire media apparatus have become traitors to their nation.
“traitors” in that they actually tell the truth and hurt the unelected Biden regime.
Typical dictator language.
Biden and Putin have a LOT in common.
The Democrats entire media apparatus had failed. They, and you, are struggling to obscure this disaster as you ramble on.
Biden did this. He started WWIII.
Incorrect. The spinmasters in the Leftist media know this is truly game-over for Democrats and Biden.
They allowed for this. Trump had Putin stopped and holed up in Moscow.
Biden doesn’t know what he’s doing.
Putin does.
Taiwan is next, and the Russo-Sino coalition begins…as does WWIII.
Great job, Democrats and EU Globalists.
Holy crap you’re naive… They know exactly what they’re doing.
the “greg” account has been tasked with just posting Bannon-style to “sh*t” on the conversation so we don’t even know what’s true.
Can “greg”, in all his various personalities, be banned?
He’s real and not a bot (in the sense of a computer bot, he most definitely is a liberal human bot if you know what I mean). I’ve done my homework. I ban rarely. Really only people trying to pretend they’re someone else like Ward. People like him are annoying, I understand that but it really needs to be something else rather than annoyance to ban someone.
From the article you’re commenting on… Which apparently you don’t read… Shocking
Most people don’t understand what’s at stake in Ukraine. Putin will take most of the coast for the new Natural Gas deposits (Russia is already the number 1 Nat. Gas producer). They will open the canal to feed Crimea fresh water (it’s costing billions to maintain) and also control the pipelines through Ukraine.
Putin saw his chance in the pant-sh*tting puppet sundowning at his fake desk at a fake WH in the way of former VP Joe Biden.
Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that idiot Biden’s sanctions, along with those from much of the rest of the free world, are working… working marvelously. Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that Putin is forced to remove all his forces from Ukraine.
So? NONE OF THIS would be happening were it not for idiot Biden’s energy stupidity and foreign policy weakness. Are we to congratulate idiot Biden for providing a suitable solution to his own self-made disaster? Hardly. He’s still a disaster.
And, of course, Putin hasn’t removed himself from Ukraine and all those Ukrainians that were killed by the Russians are still dead (sans the 13 reportedly killed on Snake Island). The buildings are still destroyed. The infrastructure is still shattered. And, if you actually believe this shit, the harm to your beloved “climate change” is still there.
No matter how it turns out, idiot Biden brought it about. And, election fraud brought him about.
There’s really no need to bother.
Darryl Cooper: Another posturing little twit with a website:
How much are you paying them, moron?
China isn’t at war with America, Brian. You don’t seem to be very clear about this “war” concept.
Actually it is no longer tin soldiers lined up with muskets anymore Greggie.
The genocide in Eastern Ukraine by Nazis was just fine for you and your imaginary friend.
Right now Id love to buy about 50 bucks worth of Russian money my bet it would pay off better than the casino.
We are still buying over 500K barrels a day from Putin, what friggin sanctions? Pour out all the gas in your tank buddy boycott!
China is a war with America, and has been for decades.
You posting here is part of that war, Zhang.
It’s fact that China has been seeding Marxism into our colleges and schools, and paying professors to teach it.
They’ve also been stealing our technology. That’s an act of war by itself.
They very much are. They want to bring down the US economy and take supremacy over the world. It’s just a different kind of war.
And they pay scum like idiot Biden to sit it out.
They want to strengthen their economy and sell us their products. Putin’s miscalculation is something they will learn from.
You know so little. Of course the CCP wants to neuter America.
how stupid can you possibly be.
Look in a mirror.
Biden and most democrats are traitors to this nation.
Putin is still getting billions from us by selling oil.
Putin miscalculated nothing. We’re at day 5. It took America 42 to take Iraq.
Best not to celebrate a partisan fantasy just yet.
Biden has failed and a vast majority of Americans want him removed from office, for this and many other things…like now.
He factored in the ruble in free fall, a run on Russian banks, thousands of dead Russian soldiers, thousands of his own people arrested, a war that will only have begun once he completes his occupation, and countless people all over the world who would applaud if he put a bullet through his own head on live television?
That must have been one helluva calculation.
But Psaki says, “It’s HAAAAAAARD! We so thoroughly screwed up our energy production and independence, it will take a long time to effectively increase production!”
Well, if Putin keeps raking in the fat stacks by selling his oil at the new increased price per barrel, how long do you think this will go on, you stupid idiot? Plus, how many other examples of the folly of not being energy independent do you morons need? We won’t get any more second chances.
Note to Manchin: The President of the United States doesn’t control oil production, you dumb bastard. Why do you even pretend to be a Democrat?
Baloney:
And he’s doubling down:
Yes he does. When he controls the leases on federal land and almost every open space is federal land, when this dumbass kills a pipeline, he damn sure does control production, you dumb bastard.
Strangling our energy production and independence is the stupidest thing someone could do. Well, maybe feeding the revenue of someone you are sanctioning might rank right up there. Idiot Biden has done both.
A president doesn’t control oil production, nor any component of gasoline pump prices.
God you are the most ignorant leftist ever
Explain how oil was at $41 a barrel on 03/11/2020 and one year later $90+?
How did oil reach $41 a barrel before 03/11/2020?
Global oil production was so high that the supply exceeded the demand.
Incorrect.
Scarcity drives the price. Having a surplus in oil is a good thing, and it helps everyone.
The rampant Bidenflation is the biggest threat to the average American. Leftists are running to hide this behind the Russia/Ukraine war, which really makes you wonder how much of a “surprise” this whole thing is.
Refusing to grant leases on federal land is not “control”? Stop trying to wordsmith your way out of the hole you have found yourself in.
The bottom line is you don’t give a damn about Ukraine. You only care about the dragon. The bear understood that if it didn’t have support from the eagle, eventually the dragon would take it over so it cozied up to the dragon, for the time being. Putin needs resources knowing that eventually the dragon will go after the bear so Ukraine, being the bread basket of Europe, has to be under bear control. Troops need food as much as they need fuel. Fuel Putin has.
What you know about foreign affairs could be stored in the eye of a gnat. All you know is that Russia, and Putin, must be controlled. Not for the safety of Europe but to prevent Putin deciding he wants to be the top dog, not Xi.
It has been clear for a long time now; you’re loyalty lies with the Tiger.
As to Biden; while you think he is a bad ass, he’s proving he’s nothing more than a dumb ass. The European nations are making him look bad. Biden confronting Putin? You have to be the dumbest guy on the face of the earth to believe that. Biden couldn’t confront his way out of a wet paper bag. Has always been known as one of the dumbest men in Congress. When Obama ran, Biden was an insurance policy against any possibility of impeachment for Obama. Just like Kamala is for Joey Dementia.
What a useful idiot you are.
greggie learned all he knows about foreign affairs while peeling potatoes while in Vietnam smoking Mary Jane laced with LSD..
Greg’s opinion changes like the wind as well. From 2014 when Russia invaded the Ukraine and guess who was President then?
greggie, you are dumber than a rotten pine stump. What do you think shutting down the pipe lines and restricting drilling did to pump prices and heating bills as well as inflation. Are you still on LSD?
Guess where that money is going, oligarchs. The sanctions are hurting the people, not the people in power.
Steve Cortes: “Chance of Nuclear Episode Higher than Any Time since Cuban Missile Crisis – We Have Dropped a Financial Dirty Bomb on the Russian People” (VIDEO)
Yeah, thanks for pointing that out. Why would any American be following Putin’s twitter posts?
She pointed out he has one, not that anyone is following it you liar.
Trump is the forever 45th President of the United States with an incredible record while he was in.
Putin is a dictator who is invading another country.
That says it all: we’re fighting our own dictators and tyrants here at here against Biden and Zuckerberg.
China didn’t lay siege to our Capitol. Putin is a dictator who won’t stop with Ukraine.
Trump was combatting fentanyl. Trump would have saved Floyd if not opposed by traitor democrats and their media apparatus.
True, but Ukraine is a bigger, WWIII-potential-causing deal.
Don’t really agree however once China moves into Taiwan because of our paper tiger President then all bets are off
China has stolen our property, spied on us opening, and used psy-ops to weaken and destroy our institutions.
So yeah, they’ve laid siege to our Capitol.
THE POLITICAL RIGHT is using psy-ops to weaken and destroy our own nation’s institutions. Consider all of your “information” outlets—the unending lies and disinformation, and who and what they constantly attack. There’s an overlap with what was recently described as the pro-Putin wing of the republican party.
Engel isn’t being glib. That’s a precise description of the moral dilemma. We’re it not for the nukes, there would be an airstrike on Putin’s convoy. There wouldn’t be a moment’s hesitation, because there’s no question about the immorality of what Putin is doing.
While nothing is said about China’s concentration camps… Hmmm, I wonder why? How was the Olympics btw?
I seem to remember the left (Democrats and the media) running a constant campaign of lies against Trump, the duly elected President of the United States. Based on lies they knew were lies, they investigated him for 3 years, accused him of being a traitor and Russian asset, accused him of extorting Ukraine (when there was a video of idiot Biden ADMITTING to extorting Ukraine), all without any evidence that any of it was true. Why is it you disregard that?
Yeah, they did. And with damn good reason. Putin is presently trying to kill the guy that Trump failed to extort.
Indeed, being totally incompetent in the face of Trump’s leadership and success is a damn good reason for cowards and liars to commit sedition. Trump failed to extort ANYONE. Glad you finally admitted it. However, idiot Biden openly, admittedly extorted his predecessor to get the investigator that was getting close to his payout from his son and Burisma fired. Idiot Biden extorted, Trump never did.
Trump is presently talking like a traitor and a Russian asset. But he could shoot a guy on Fifth Avenue…