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It should come as no surprise that Donald Trump believes that his friend Vladimir Putin did nothing wrong by inviting many thousands of young Russian men to pay a visit to Russia’s nearby neighbor, Ukraine.
It’s not his fault if those darned Nazified Ukrainians misunderstood his benevolent motives and have reacted in an unfriendly and aggressive way to their Russian visitors. Just as those who entered the Capital on Jan 6 could be described as merely a batch of ordinary citizens curious to see the inside of that venerated landmark, these young Russian men could be thought of as nothing more than a large group of tourists who have always wanted to see the sights in Kharkiv and Donetsk.
That Mr. Trump sees his buddy Vladimir through rose colored glasses is old news. Past experience tells us that Mr. Trump is certain that information from Vladi can be relied upon far more than anything that might emanate from US intelligence. Based upon the close trusting relationship shared by these two strangest of bedfellows, Mr. Trump has recently been emphatic in telling audiences of adoring supporters that he could solve the whole Russian-Ukrainian brouhaha within 24 hours of being reinstated on his throne in DC.
And for once we believe him.
All it would take is one perfect phone call. “Vladi, you say that Ukraine is really yours, and if you say so, it must be true. How about we stop sending those villains any more arms in exchange for a simple understanding that Russia will take loving care of those guys, however mean and misguided they have been. After all, you’ll all be one happy Russian family now.”
While it was 100% predictable which way Trump would blow in the wind, it hasn’t been at all clear how his chief rival Ron DeSantis would go. After all, DeSantis’ foreign policy experience is about as extensive as Sarah Palin’s. She could see Russia from her abode in Alaska. He can almost see Cuba from Key West in his home state.
For those who question DeSantis’ foreign policy acumen, he tells us that he has been reading up on history and has it all figured out. “Yes, mistakes were made back then,” he notes. “The Sudetenland was a hot piece of real estate that we should have contested a long time ago, but Kiev is nothing more than a backwater town that’s not in US interests to worry about. Nor should we worry about any of those other countries that were once part of the USSR. Come on, who would want any of those rundown little duchies.
“I’m a keen student of world history,” says the Florida Governor. “I’ve studied all the great leaders, from Napoleon to Alexander the Great. I’m a pupil of all those great minds, people like Churchill, DeGaulle, and Truman. And don’t forget that Neville Chamberlain, a truly under-rated statesman.
“Take my word,” he states with confidence. “Putin is done expanding. Elect me and there will be peace for our time.”
I sort of sense just a scent of irony in this piece. It is said humour is the most advanced of human defense mechanisms. The way world politics is heading now, that might soon be the only defense left to survive.
More seriously, I do think it’s time grumpy (albeit humorous) old men and women like us actually enter politics in thousands in order to get things right. What do you think about what happens in Israel, Ed?
Understanding Israel is hard, and commenting on it is like walking into a nest of vipers. As a Jew, I have a deep love for Israel, and what liberal Israelis have done and continue to do is generally quite admirable, both internally and externally. Unfortunately, Israel cannot manage to avoid the tremendous influence of religious zealots, who, like religious zealots everywhere in the world, think that all those who think differently are enemies to be hated and defeated. That’s my take on it in a nutshell, perhaps one day to be commented on in my blog.