Something to be thankful for.

[Joe Elliott]

Something to be thankful for.

Every day that we get to live, without Trump being President, is a day to be thankful for. But this is particularly true now, during the current Ukraine crisis.

Can one imagine what would have happened, if upon the invasion of Ukraine, that President Biden said that Putin is a genius, that he is savvy, that he is smart? It would send a defeatist message to Europe. It would tell that that they better not attract the wrath of Russia, by sending aid to Ukraine. Besides, it's all hopeless anyway. Russia may appear to be bogged down at the moment. But don’t be fooled. That Putin guy is pretty savvy. He has it figured out.

Or imagine with the disastrous defeat in France in 1940, that Churchill praised Hitler as a genius, implying that maybe resistance is doomed. It might easily tilt the government to negotiating a peace settlement, something it came close to doing anyway despite Churchill’s best efforts.

If Trump was President, and had control of Congress, he might have been able to greatly cut down on the aid Ukraine received the last year. Conservative Republicans, influenced by Trump, are the biggest detractors of Ukraine. Saying, why should we be concerned about a small nation far away that most Americans cannot spot on a map? And that the President of Ukraine is a “thug”. Today, it’s not the far left that is the biggest force trying to undermine support for Ukraine, something I would have predicted as recently as five years ago. It is the damn far right.

Trump does not like Ukraine. He is bitter they didn’t manufacture a case against Hunter Biden as he requested. Trump likes Putin. He is a real fanboy. He is a real fanboy of dictators in general. He wants to emulate them and become one of them. Only, in the last week, when it if finally starting to dawn on Trump that Putin may be a “loser” is Trump starting to turn against Putin. And such a turn will be only temporary if Putin prevails.

Now, I don’t agree with every decision by President Biden. I think we should have found some way to send those Polish jets to Ukraine. I don’t like figuring that, well, it could get us into trouble. And besides, we don’t think they are needed. In war, you send all you can and just hope it was enough. Within reason. No, we don’t send them chemical, biological or nuclear weapons, but we should send all the jets they have requested.

Of course, I don’t agree with every decision that Churchill made in World War II either. Sending a small army to Greece in 1941? Nighttime bombing raids? No extensive research into developing a long-range fighter (something the Americans managed with the Mustang using essentially the same engine that powered the Spitfires, it was fairly straight forward). Totally against an invasion of France even as late as 1944? But overall Churchill was a great wartime leader. And overall, I think President Biden is the man we need during this crisis and I fully support him.

[Richard Smith]

Something to be thankful for.

Every day that we get to live, without Trump being President, is a day to be thankful for. But this is particularly true now, during the current Ukraine crisis.

Can one imagine what would have happened, if upon the invasion of Ukraine, that President Biden said that Putin is a genius, that he is savvy, that he is smart? It would send a defeatist message to Europe. It would tell that that they better not attract the wrath of Russia, by sending aid to Ukraine. Besides, it's all hopeless anyway. Russia may appear to be bogged down at the moment. But don’t be fooled. That Putin guy is pretty savvy. He has it figured out.

Or imagine with the disastrous defeat in France in 1940, that Churchill praised Hitler as a genius, implying that maybe resistance is doomed. It might easily tilt the government to negotiating a peace settlement, something it came close to doing anyway despite Churchill’s best efforts.

If Trump was President, and had control of Congress, he might have been able to greatly cut down on the aid Ukraine received the last year. Conservative Republicans, influenced by Trump, are the biggest detractors of Ukraine. Saying, why should we be concerned about a small nation far away that most Americans cannot spot on a map? And that the President of Ukraine is a “thug”. Today, it’s not the far left that is the biggest force trying to undermine support for Ukraine, something I would have predicted as recently as five years ago. It is the damn far right.

Trump does not like Ukraine. He is bitter they didn’t manufacture a case against Hunter Biden as he requested. Trump likes Putin. He is a real fanboy. He is a real fanboy of dictators in general. He wants to emulate them and become one of them. Only, in the last week, when it if finally starting to dawn on Trump that Putin may be a “loser” is Trump starting to turn against Putin. And such a turn will be only temporary if Putin prevails.

Now, I don’t agree with every decision by President Biden. I think we should have found some way to send those Polish jets to Ukraine. I don’t like figuring that, well, it could get us into trouble. And besides, we don’t think they are needed. In war, you send all you can and just hope it was enough. Within reason. No, we don’t send them chemical, biological or nuclear weapons, but we should send all the jets they have requested.

Of course, I don’t agree with every decision that Churchill made in World War II either. Sending a small army to Greece in 1941? Nighttime bombing raids? No extensive research into developing a long-range fighter (something the Americans managed with the Mustang using essentially the same engine that powered the Spitfires, it was fairly straight forward). Totally against an invasion of France even as late as 1944? But overall Churchill was a great wartime leader. And overall, I think President Biden is the man we need during this crisis and I fully support him.

In which we learn again that words matter more than results.  And everything is Trump's fault.  Yawn.  It's apparently more important to say critical things about Putin than to avoid an invasion and total war.   Did you ever consider that perhaps flattery works on Putin's ego?  Expressing a few meaningless compliments to avoid WWIII is a small tradeoff for the tens thousands of lost lives and billions of dollars spent in Biden's war.   Trump hatred runs so deep, however, that even WWIII is preferrable to acknowledging that Trump's approach with Putin worked while Biden's "tough" approach has been a disastrous failure.

[Joe Elliott]

In which we learn again that words matter more than results.  And everything is Trump's fault.  Yawn.  It's apparently more important to say critical things about Putin than to avoid an invasion and total war.   Did you ever consider that perhaps flattery works on Putin's ego?  Expressing a few meaningless compliments to avoid WWIII is a small tradeoff for the tens thousands of lost lives and billions of dollars spent in Biden's war.   Trump hatred runs so deep, however, that even WWIII is preferrable to acknowledging that Trump's approach with Putin worked while Biden's "tough" approach has been a disastrous failure.

It is difficult to look the various ways Trump made it seem that Ukraine was not important to the United States:
* Ignoring the newly elected President of Ukraine, Zelenskyy, request to have President Trump or at least Vice President Pence attending the inauguration.
* Withholding military aid that was authorized by Congress, to try to force Ukraine to produce evidence, possibly Trumped-up evidence, against Hunter Pence.
* Congress failed to impeach Trump over this, which now signals that perhaps Ukraine is not important to Congress either.
And not conclude that Trump was in part responsible for this mess. Yes, it may have happened anyway, given Putin’s attitude, but Trump did not help.

You have not responded to any of these points to show how any of this was helpful to Ukraine. So, yes, just as Chamberlain signaled to Hitler that Austria and Czechoslovakia were not important to Britain (indeed, told him and the world outright that this was so), Trump clearly did the same thing with Ukraine. And made it worst by praising Putin.

Flattery does not work against dictators. Either one comes off as weak (Chamberlain) or as an admirer (Trump).

Once Hitler seized power, Churchill never flattered Hitler. He always criticized Hitler. Churchill never gave Hitler the impression that he was admired or feared by Churchill. In contrast, Chamberlain would praise Hitler as someone who he thought was reasonable and one who it was safe to form an agreement with.

I trust the Churchill/Zelenskyy way of dealing with dictators, not the Chamberlain/Trump method. Tell them you know what they are up to and that they are not going to get away with it. Don’t encourage them. Don’t appear weak, or worse, that you may be with them.