Spot on. I had called out the Biden/Sullivan smoke screen as “defenders of the Russian war machine” well before the 2024 election, because that’s what they were actively accomplishing.
A paraphrased Churchill quote (because I’m too lazy to look it up) went “the Americans will do the right thing eventually, after they’ve tried all the wrong things”. If you substitute “Europeans” for “Americans” it seems to fit current events. Whereas you must acknowledge that lately and currently the U.S. government is sure to do only the wrong things; to the point of being destructive in the process.
He was the reason why Democrats lost the election. I wrote this one year before the November 2024 election. I still stand by that comment. He fucked Biden in Afgan. Then he did the same in Ukraine. It was biden's fault to not fire him and he totally deserves the legacy now.
Garland the same; so inept it had to be purposeful. The combination of the two were lethal. And there were others. I can't stop questioning, why? Purposeful?
The answer to that question is essential in deciding who our next candidate will be. We can't let it happen again.
His excuse was that he wanted to make sure they had enough evidence. Never mind that it happened in broad daylight right there on broadcast television for all the world to see.
Yes. There will be elections. It will be legit. It is still strong enough to withstand the attacks. But they are trying every day to weaken it. That is ok. Let them. If the House can be pulled back, it will slow them down. That is the best we can do. That will do for now.
I was so disgusted with the BS “stolen election claim” from denier-in-chief trump after 2020, and the crap rumblings by repugnicans that they would accept 2024 “only if…”, I volunteered to become an election official in Virginia, to see what I could learn about the process. Just went through the primaries last Tuesday, 17 June.
At least in Virginia, I’m very confident with security. I cannot vouch for the swing states. The process is built by each state - with inevitable significant variations. Confidence in security is advanced, for example if individual polling locations report results by phone and NOT using software on the internet.
The most serious threat to valid elections is active selective voter suppression, under the guise of “protecting the voting roster from illegal immigrants”. Many examples of this are conducted in red states. The latest HUGE example of typical MAGA tactics is blatantly on display in the SAVE Act, which was passed in the House and currently stalled in the Senate, where it will hopefully die.
There is a great probability that the House will be flipped, which is huge because of the amount of power in the hands of the Speaker. As we approach the midterms, I can picture more and more repugnicans trying to distance themselves from trump, without actually denouncing him or his failed policies, in an attempt to salvage their electability.
The more Trump is pre-empted, as effectively done by Macron and Carney, and the more the US is sidelined in the Russo/Ukraine conflict the better for the future of Europe and Ukraine. It is also better for the survival of the democratic world, as well. Trump is "King of Chaos" and the fact that there are no adult voices around to constrain him makes him even more dangerous. As his (and the US's) stature falls in international circles, additional "voices" like Macron's and Carney's will become more common. We are witnessing a titanic shift in geopolitics that would have been unthinkable six months ago. There is more to come and in the shifting tides of big power politics and military upsets (Israel vs Iran, for example) the opportunities for the rise of new power blocs and leadership will be great. Europe has the best chance to become the next superpower: It has the economic strength, the military potential and the population. It appears that real leadership is also beginning to emerge from the eighty years of subsrvience to the US. Now, the only question is: does it have the collective will?
Slowly, slowly the west (except Israel) is distancing itself from the US and making their own decisions. I’m hoping to see that trend increase exponentially from now on, leaving the US behind. Ironically, isolation is what they voted for but I don’t think trump enjoys the reality of being left out of things.
Thank you Shankar. It's true, we really should have done more to support Ukraine. Amen for Macron. When Macron was meeting and trying to negotiate/discuss Ukraine with Putin he was really putting himself in a leadership position which we are seeing now. If you watch the body language when trump was in Canada at the G7 versus after he left it's quite telling that the group was happy to be together, once he was gone.
I read this and once again hung my head in shame for being an (unwilling) member of a country that has lied, cheated and conned one too many of its citizens as well as allies into believing we are on the side of anyone other than the plutocrats in various industries who don't have their best interests, or ours, at heart. It's easy to miss this, so don't feel too bad, Shankar. You are doing a lot to correct the problem right now, and right now is all we have.
We all have a yen to move away, to ignore, to negatively hallucinate (as they taught us in How to be a Hypnotherapist 1A. This is because we underestimate our various powers: to endure, to overcome, to sacrifice comfort for standing up to malign powers. Times like these show us why that's a bad idea.
"No kings" is really incorrect when you consider the oligarchs/ corporations 👑🤴🤴 that are above the law and running things the way they want, without consideration for the people.
They're not mutually exclusive, but rule by one man's decree - policy, law and its enforcement, all by Executive Order, seemingly by one tyrant's decree. His flagrant massive profimaking ventures. That's what makes it feel like we're suddenly on another planet.
The oligarchic control and technofascist takeover have been brewing. Those have accelerated greatly, but don't feel as otherworldly. And two syllables ....
It pains me profoundly that Biden and Sullivan were so misleadingly unsupportive of Ukraine. They visited Kyiv, warmly welcomed Zelenskyy and spoke about the need to defend democracy. But the steady hand stayed on the parking brake. I don’t get why. Fear of Russia? Congress? He was otherwise so excellent in many ways. And although Harris stayed in his shadow, I think she would have emerged with a stronger tack on Ukraine and Gaza.
Trump is rotting from the inside and the stink is noted around the world. But the authoritarian techstate run by others he has relegated power to bears watching. They each have personal and political agendas and close ties to Moscow. I hope Macron, Carney and Starmer are up to navigating those influences.
I became very skeptical of Biden’s administration in not delivering what was needed for Ukraine to make consequential advances against Russia. It infuriated me! But here’s what I felt - I never once faulted Anthony Blinken (one of the best Secretaries of State IMO) for is role in what must have been a mission of despair at times. He had the best interests of Ukraine at heart but had his hands tied. It turned out to be Jake Sullivan in the end who mismanaged his role in advising Biden.
Thank you for laying out the facts. It’s taken time to sort it all out. Can’t get the toothpaste back in the tube from here, but across the ocean there is NEW HOPE.
First of all, THANK YOU FOR FINALLY WRITING THAT BIDEN WAS USELESS in the Ukraine campaign. And talk without action is actually more disgusting than what Trump is doing.
As for Macron, I thought and said the same as you as soon as I saw the news about his bus stop in and ensuing public video in Greenland (predictably, posted first by a non-Western media source). But I also think that it's not just Macron. It's the whole gang. Trump showed up at the G7 in a foul mood and naturally assumed he would upset the applecart in the same way as he did in Charlevoix. But there was a problem. He was already undoubtedly grumpy about Macron and Greenland - and then Carney stuffed him in a box during a presser before the first team meeting. And the rest of the team gave him zero platform to vent his twisted spleen. I think was a team effort, and it worked. To add to Trump's troubles, he was very under the weather, appeared disheveled, was incoherent, pretended to fall asleep at round table talks (a notorious Trump "this is all beneath me" act) but then had trouble participating in any noteworthy team dialogue during the short time he was there. He was not able to muster his usual arrogance to cause the disturbance he wanted.
And then he abruptly left the venue. I will never believe it was because of the Middle East no matter how much he bloviates about how important his personal decisions are to the matter. It was a result of him being unable to gain any traction, and Macron led it. He has been a hero of mine for a very long time.
As a side note - and I rarely comment on his cognitive decline because it's largely irrelevant in the scheme of things - this is different. Trump is not well. Perhaps he would have stayed and tried to regain his position as Chief Shit Disturber had he been in better shape. He clearly was not.
Hmm. I thought I was very clear on this one: THANK YOU FOR FINALLY WRITING THAT BIDEN WAS USELESS. To be honest I think he messed it up big time, just like Obama.
You think I wasn't very clear on this stance? If I were, that would be a huge mistake. Let me know. I am looking forward to your answer.
This is what I think.
Sarkozy was the trigger.
Then obama and merkel made an unholy mess out of it.
Biden dialed the whole thing up by trying to make sure that Ukraine does not win and also Ukraine does not lose.
And voila, when you play for a draw, you are going to lose. If not for Ukraine's resilience, this war would have been lost by now because of Team Biden.
Now Team Trump is trying to freeze the frontlines, thinking Putin will agree. Once again a gross underestimation. And they also really think Ukraine does not have the cards and they can bully their way.
No, no. I just l like that you went it into much more detail! Yes, this was clear. If I missed some (much) earlier posts of yours on the subject, that's on me.
I am really so angry with Biden policy that I think it's a shame that Harris was the candidate. I obviously am not happy with Trump, but if only the Dem candidate had broken with Biden policy instead of sticking to it like glue... maybe US voters would have done differently. In my mind, it was the same scenario as if Trudeau had stayed and we'd all voted for him again because "Liberal".
I think I got off the track here but just wanted to clarify.
Yeah this is all very true. America isn’t the “defender of the free world” - it doesn’t care about the world. It doesn’t care about *us*. It cares about itself, it has become selfish. And it doesn’t care about freedom either, if it did, it would be steadfastly behind Ukraine and steadfastly opposed to Iran too. It’s failing on both counts - Trump prevaricates and wavers just like Biden before him. A light breeze could blow them both head over heels.
I appreciate your insights. Can you one day explain the rationale, motivations and strategies behind Biden’s approach and actions. You imply nefarious intent. Was it, or merely timidity
No not nefarious. He is a good man who picked the worst nat sec team possible to advise him.
And he is also a stubborn one..... so that makes it hard to move him. He had the best team in the world on economic issues. There will never be any president who can outdo him on the economic front. It is near impossible. His team was that good. The best anyone can do is to copy what he did on the economic front.
That brings up a question for me - it did not appear that the majority of voters had any knowledge or understanding of his success economically. At least according to the media, the economy was voters number one concern, and they trusted Trump more. You add to that the failures in Ukraine and procescuting Trump, and it ends in unimpressed voters.
Was there a failure on the Biden administration's part to communicate and educate the public in the areas where he was succeeding?
I apologize, the question of why this happened continually plagues me; a lack of perception of success and obvious serious failures that benefited Putin over and over. I feel like until we understand it, we can't fix it.
"Was there a failure on the Biden administration's part to communicate and educate the public in the areas where he was succeeding?"
Yes. 100%. They had no idea how to explain what they were doing and why what they were delivering was so important.
Dems still don't have a clue about explaining things to people and rallying them. Newsom is trying a different angle. He works hard to stay in touch. That is good. Let's see.
Liberals had the same downfall in Canada, Poroshenko in Ukraine. It's not enough to be successful, you have to "work hard to stay in touch" and never presume you can ignore the jackals at your heels.
Great reset, just like Europe. The US is an occupied country now, doing more harm than good in every area it touches. It is necessary and good for Europe to support Ukraine, block Putin, and fill the current void. Bravo!
He also left because German Chancellor Merz scolded Trump. Trump’s balloon of Putin being mistreated was popped. He slunk away with his dead balloon on a string. He decided he needed a powerful excuse for his departure so he blamed the Israel/Iran situation. Trump is the World’s Biggest Loser.
Rump is an evil bag of shit that needs to go, I still can’t figure out why none of the vaunted security services, from anywhere around the world really, haven’t taken him off the board, seems like it would be in everyone’s best interests.
Spot on. I had called out the Biden/Sullivan smoke screen as “defenders of the Russian war machine” well before the 2024 election, because that’s what they were actively accomplishing.
A paraphrased Churchill quote (because I’m too lazy to look it up) went “the Americans will do the right thing eventually, after they’ve tried all the wrong things”. If you substitute “Europeans” for “Americans” it seems to fit current events. Whereas you must acknowledge that lately and currently the U.S. government is sure to do only the wrong things; to the point of being destructive in the process.
joke sullivan, because he was a joke of a foregin secetary in two admins
He was the reason why Democrats lost the election. I wrote this one year before the November 2024 election. I still stand by that comment. He fucked Biden in Afgan. Then he did the same in Ukraine. It was biden's fault to not fire him and he totally deserves the legacy now.
Decisions have consquences.
Garland the same; so inept it had to be purposeful. The combination of the two were lethal. And there were others. I can't stop questioning, why? Purposeful?
The answer to that question is essential in deciding who our next candidate will be. We can't let it happen again.
Agree. Garland was inept.
He would've made a great SCJ though. But, of course, thanks to Bitch McConnell...
Garland even worse, in terms of getting us where we are. Slow walking the prosecution - to appear unbiased?
Supposedly. anemic Sullivan actually urged slower withdrawal but Biden ultimately pushed for the precipitous option (https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/jake-sullivan-navigates-a-world-of-chaos-54d9d280).
His excuse was that he wanted to make sure they had enough evidence. Never mind that it happened in broad daylight right there on broadcast television for all the world to see.
If we’re even able to have elections at all. Or elections that are legit.
Yes. There will be elections. It will be legit. It is still strong enough to withstand the attacks. But they are trying every day to weaken it. That is ok. Let them. If the House can be pulled back, it will slow them down. That is the best we can do. That will do for now.
I was so disgusted with the BS “stolen election claim” from denier-in-chief trump after 2020, and the crap rumblings by repugnicans that they would accept 2024 “only if…”, I volunteered to become an election official in Virginia, to see what I could learn about the process. Just went through the primaries last Tuesday, 17 June.
At least in Virginia, I’m very confident with security. I cannot vouch for the swing states. The process is built by each state - with inevitable significant variations. Confidence in security is advanced, for example if individual polling locations report results by phone and NOT using software on the internet.
The most serious threat to valid elections is active selective voter suppression, under the guise of “protecting the voting roster from illegal immigrants”. Many examples of this are conducted in red states. The latest HUGE example of typical MAGA tactics is blatantly on display in the SAVE Act, which was passed in the House and currently stalled in the Senate, where it will hopefully die.
There is a great probability that the House will be flipped, which is huge because of the amount of power in the hands of the Speaker. As we approach the midterms, I can picture more and more repugnicans trying to distance themselves from trump, without actually denouncing him or his failed policies, in an attempt to salvage their electability.
I sure hope you're right about this. November 2026 is over a year away. An awful lot can happen in that time.
It's a great reminder of the imperative that we continue to Rise! Resist! ✊✊✊
Sadly yes.
The more Trump is pre-empted, as effectively done by Macron and Carney, and the more the US is sidelined in the Russo/Ukraine conflict the better for the future of Europe and Ukraine. It is also better for the survival of the democratic world, as well. Trump is "King of Chaos" and the fact that there are no adult voices around to constrain him makes him even more dangerous. As his (and the US's) stature falls in international circles, additional "voices" like Macron's and Carney's will become more common. We are witnessing a titanic shift in geopolitics that would have been unthinkable six months ago. There is more to come and in the shifting tides of big power politics and military upsets (Israel vs Iran, for example) the opportunities for the rise of new power blocs and leadership will be great. Europe has the best chance to become the next superpower: It has the economic strength, the military potential and the population. It appears that real leadership is also beginning to emerge from the eighty years of subsrvience to the US. Now, the only question is: does it have the collective will?
Slowly, slowly the west (except Israel) is distancing itself from the US and making their own decisions. I’m hoping to see that trend increase exponentially from now on, leaving the US behind. Ironically, isolation is what they voted for but I don’t think trump enjoys the reality of being left out of things.
Thank you Shankar. It's true, we really should have done more to support Ukraine. Amen for Macron. When Macron was meeting and trying to negotiate/discuss Ukraine with Putin he was really putting himself in a leadership position which we are seeing now. If you watch the body language when trump was in Canada at the G7 versus after he left it's quite telling that the group was happy to be together, once he was gone.
I read this and once again hung my head in shame for being an (unwilling) member of a country that has lied, cheated and conned one too many of its citizens as well as allies into believing we are on the side of anyone other than the plutocrats in various industries who don't have their best interests, or ours, at heart. It's easy to miss this, so don't feel too bad, Shankar. You are doing a lot to correct the problem right now, and right now is all we have.
I don't know. I think I will never let that one go. I am ok with making mistakes. I respect my mistakes.
But this one feels like wilful ignorance. The kind that never leaves you alone.
We all have a yen to move away, to ignore, to negatively hallucinate (as they taught us in How to be a Hypnotherapist 1A. This is because we underestimate our various powers: to endure, to overcome, to sacrifice comfort for standing up to malign powers. Times like these show us why that's a bad idea.
Been there
"No kings" is really incorrect when you consider the oligarchs/ corporations 👑🤴🤴 that are above the law and running things the way they want, without consideration for the people.
They're not mutually exclusive, but rule by one man's decree - policy, law and its enforcement, all by Executive Order, seemingly by one tyrant's decree. His flagrant massive profimaking ventures. That's what makes it feel like we're suddenly on another planet.
The oligarchic control and technofascist takeover have been brewing. Those have accelerated greatly, but don't feel as otherworldly. And two syllables ....
It pains me profoundly that Biden and Sullivan were so misleadingly unsupportive of Ukraine. They visited Kyiv, warmly welcomed Zelenskyy and spoke about the need to defend democracy. But the steady hand stayed on the parking brake. I don’t get why. Fear of Russia? Congress? He was otherwise so excellent in many ways. And although Harris stayed in his shadow, I think she would have emerged with a stronger tack on Ukraine and Gaza.
Trump is rotting from the inside and the stink is noted around the world. But the authoritarian techstate run by others he has relegated power to bears watching. They each have personal and political agendas and close ties to Moscow. I hope Macron, Carney and Starmer are up to navigating those influences.
Exactly how I feel. I’m surprised to learn how unhelpful the US was under Biden and cannot understand why. Was it deliberate? If so, why??
I became very skeptical of Biden’s administration in not delivering what was needed for Ukraine to make consequential advances against Russia. It infuriated me! But here’s what I felt - I never once faulted Anthony Blinken (one of the best Secretaries of State IMO) for is role in what must have been a mission of despair at times. He had the best interests of Ukraine at heart but had his hands tied. It turned out to be Jake Sullivan in the end who mismanaged his role in advising Biden.
Thank you for laying out the facts. It’s taken time to sort it all out. Can’t get the toothpaste back in the tube from here, but across the ocean there is NEW HOPE.
I didn't notice the issue with Ukraine, but I couldn't understand the issues with Gaza. That still bothers me.
Number of ATACMS missiles is fewer than 40, as AP reported it.
Note: US Army fired 414 such missiles at Iraq in 20 days in 2003.
Wonderful. Shows really what they have done.
First of all, THANK YOU FOR FINALLY WRITING THAT BIDEN WAS USELESS in the Ukraine campaign. And talk without action is actually more disgusting than what Trump is doing.
As for Macron, I thought and said the same as you as soon as I saw the news about his bus stop in and ensuing public video in Greenland (predictably, posted first by a non-Western media source). But I also think that it's not just Macron. It's the whole gang. Trump showed up at the G7 in a foul mood and naturally assumed he would upset the applecart in the same way as he did in Charlevoix. But there was a problem. He was already undoubtedly grumpy about Macron and Greenland - and then Carney stuffed him in a box during a presser before the first team meeting. And the rest of the team gave him zero platform to vent his twisted spleen. I think was a team effort, and it worked. To add to Trump's troubles, he was very under the weather, appeared disheveled, was incoherent, pretended to fall asleep at round table talks (a notorious Trump "this is all beneath me" act) but then had trouble participating in any noteworthy team dialogue during the short time he was there. He was not able to muster his usual arrogance to cause the disturbance he wanted.
And then he abruptly left the venue. I will never believe it was because of the Middle East no matter how much he bloviates about how important his personal decisions are to the matter. It was a result of him being unable to gain any traction, and Macron led it. He has been a hero of mine for a very long time.
As a side note - and I rarely comment on his cognitive decline because it's largely irrelevant in the scheme of things - this is different. Trump is not well. Perhaps he would have stayed and tried to regain his position as Chief Shit Disturber had he been in better shape. He clearly was not.
Hmm. I thought I was very clear on this one: THANK YOU FOR FINALLY WRITING THAT BIDEN WAS USELESS. To be honest I think he messed it up big time, just like Obama.
You think I wasn't very clear on this stance? If I were, that would be a huge mistake. Let me know. I am looking forward to your answer.
This is what I think.
Sarkozy was the trigger.
Then obama and merkel made an unholy mess out of it.
Biden dialed the whole thing up by trying to make sure that Ukraine does not win and also Ukraine does not lose.
And voila, when you play for a draw, you are going to lose. If not for Ukraine's resilience, this war would have been lost by now because of Team Biden.
Now Team Trump is trying to freeze the frontlines, thinking Putin will agree. Once again a gross underestimation. And they also really think Ukraine does not have the cards and they can bully their way.
No, no. I just l like that you went it into much more detail! Yes, this was clear. If I missed some (much) earlier posts of yours on the subject, that's on me.
I am really so angry with Biden policy that I think it's a shame that Harris was the candidate. I obviously am not happy with Trump, but if only the Dem candidate had broken with Biden policy instead of sticking to it like glue... maybe US voters would have done differently. In my mind, it was the same scenario as if Trudeau had stayed and we'd all voted for him again because "Liberal".
I think I got off the track here but just wanted to clarify.
No problem. It is ok. Unless you tell me where I am going off track I will never know. Thanks...
👍
Shankar!
Thanks for the retake!
Biden was a disaster for Ukraine, “all hat and no horse!”
The sooner everyone knows, including Ukraine, that the USA is now a fascist regime the better!
It’s all on Europe, and it always has been , as you now know!!!!
Yeah this is all very true. America isn’t the “defender of the free world” - it doesn’t care about the world. It doesn’t care about *us*. It cares about itself, it has become selfish. And it doesn’t care about freedom either, if it did, it would be steadfastly behind Ukraine and steadfastly opposed to Iran too. It’s failing on both counts - Trump prevaricates and wavers just like Biden before him. A light breeze could blow them both head over heels.
I appreciate your insights. Can you one day explain the rationale, motivations and strategies behind Biden’s approach and actions. You imply nefarious intent. Was it, or merely timidity
No not nefarious. He is a good man who picked the worst nat sec team possible to advise him.
And he is also a stubborn one..... so that makes it hard to move him. He had the best team in the world on economic issues. There will never be any president who can outdo him on the economic front. It is near impossible. His team was that good. The best anyone can do is to copy what he did on the economic front.
That brings up a question for me - it did not appear that the majority of voters had any knowledge or understanding of his success economically. At least according to the media, the economy was voters number one concern, and they trusted Trump more. You add to that the failures in Ukraine and procescuting Trump, and it ends in unimpressed voters.
Was there a failure on the Biden administration's part to communicate and educate the public in the areas where he was succeeding?
I apologize, the question of why this happened continually plagues me; a lack of perception of success and obvious serious failures that benefited Putin over and over. I feel like until we understand it, we can't fix it.
"Was there a failure on the Biden administration's part to communicate and educate the public in the areas where he was succeeding?"
Yes. 100%. They had no idea how to explain what they were doing and why what they were delivering was so important.
Dems still don't have a clue about explaining things to people and rallying them. Newsom is trying a different angle. He works hard to stay in touch. That is good. Let's see.
Liberals had the same downfall in Canada, Poroshenko in Ukraine. It's not enough to be successful, you have to "work hard to stay in touch" and never presume you can ignore the jackals at your heels.
Thank you Shankar :) Newsom was fiercely loyal to Biden. He's been hard to read, but his response to Trump has been impressive.
Great reset, just like Europe. The US is an occupied country now, doing more harm than good in every area it touches. It is necessary and good for Europe to support Ukraine, block Putin, and fill the current void. Bravo!
He also left because German Chancellor Merz scolded Trump. Trump’s balloon of Putin being mistreated was popped. He slunk away with his dead balloon on a string. He decided he needed a powerful excuse for his departure so he blamed the Israel/Iran situation. Trump is the World’s Biggest Loser.
Upside, Zelenskyy filled Trumps seat well.
Poor Zelensky. So many promises…
Rump is an evil bag of shit that needs to go, I still can’t figure out why none of the vaunted security services, from anywhere around the world really, haven’t taken him off the board, seems like it would be in everyone’s best interests.
Christ, just load a golfball ffs.
“Fore!” -whack- - boom -……