Although candidate Biden engaged in laughably fake tough talk about Putin (to quote, “Vladimir Putin doesn’t want me to be our nominee … because I’m the only person in this field who’s ever gone toe-to-toe with him”), it seems pretty clear that it was Biden’s fecklessness and weakness in foreign affairs that played some role in encouraging Putin’s aggression.
And, Putin is no fool and remembers well the “consequences” of his invasion of Crimea in 2014 when Biden was VP, which was that he got to keep what he illegally took. I guess that’s what Biden thinks of as going “toe-to-toe.” Yikes!
Putin also no doubt observed whom Biden seems to consider his real enemies … and they were not usually malevolent foreign actors. Instead, we’ve seen Biden and his administration lackeys label various domestic groups as the chief threat to peace and order in the USA.
After calling all the protestors from January 6, 2021, “domestic terrorists,” regardless of whether they actually participated in the exceedingly stupid incursion of the capitol, the next major blow came in August 18th of the same year when Biden gave his speech announcing vaccine mandates for most employers and government employees. This, in spite of his promise early in his presidency NOT to mandate masks or vaccines, was followed by his labeling the ongoing Covid crisis as a “pandemic of the unvaccinated.” After blaming them for Covid’s persistence, he went on to say his patience was “wearing thin,” even though it was known that the vaccine did not prevent infection or transmission.
He added to the enemies list in October of the same year, when the DOJ issued a memo that instructed the FBI to be on the lookout for parents who were threatening school board members. Never mind that this memo came at the behest of the National School Board Association and so reveals collusion between this group, the White House, and the FBI to suppress the speech of concerned parents; what this incident once again showed is that Biden considers parents worried about leftist indoctrination in their public schools to be potential enemies of the state, worthy of FBI scrutiny and public scorn.
Meanwhile, what was Biden doing about our actual enemies in Russia and China? The simple answer is that he was either encouraging them or ignoring them. He encouraged Russia by refusing to block the Nordstream 2 pipeline from Russia to Western Europe, which will put billions of dollars more in Russia’s coffers and make Europe more dependent on Russia, and less able to resist their aggression.
For Biden’s dangerous topsy-turvy world, the enemies are former workers on the Keystone Pipeline because of their imaginary threat to the climate, whereas the workers on the Nordstream 2 pipeline are protected by his policies even though that pipeline will have at least as much effect on the climate as Keystone, and give succor to the leadership at the Kremlin.
When it comes to China, after trying to distance himself from previous remarks about his closeness to Xi Jingping and having the press run cover on his family’s multi-million dollar deals with Chinese companies, Biden has refused to do anything about China’s increasingly bellicose rhetoric and actions in regards to Taiwan. He even recently cancelled a Trump era program designed to prevent Chinese spying and theft of intellectual property in the American university system.
Parents who want to protect their children, people who criticize the administration and its Covid policies, Joe Rogan, Ron DeSantis, Trump voters … these are all Biden’s enemies while the tyrannical dictators of the world get a free pass from this feckless, weak administration.
Oh, and don’t forget that anyone who didn’t support the Democrats’ radical election law reform bill were labeled as abject racists in Biden’s demented November speech on the issue.
Fortunately, the Europeans are stepping up and helping to put teeth in the recent sanctions on Russia and are providing more weaponry and military equipment to Ukraine to help check Russia’s aggression, even though Biden recently admitted that the sanctions he kept trumpeting were never designed to prevent this war. What?
Anyway, I believe that with the assistance of democratic countries and prayer, the evil of Putin can and will be defeated IN SPITE OF Biden’s weakness, incompetence, and foolishness. I also hope that Biden and his allies in politics and the press are now reminded of who our true enemies really are.
Trey Hoffman
Peachtree City, Ga.
This is how Russia (Putin) will influence either the upcoming midterm elections or the 2024 election. Putin will offer either Brittney Griner or Paul Whelan in an exchange. Who should Biden choose?? Either choice offers pollical backlash. I suspect Putin knows this.
BTW, the Whelan’s are still waiting on their phone call from Biden and Harris.
Putin? Influence? Not so long ago, there were do many deniers.
Hey Dawn,
Ah yes, the election of the “orange” one.
For some reason I keep thinking of the snub of Bernie Sanders by the leadership of the DNC. (eyes rolling)
Anyways, Biden’s team let the President and VP walk blindly into this one; nothing covert about this. The Russians will want Viktor Bout back and will offer either Brittney or Paul in an exchange. Who should Biden choose?
BTW, Biden did finally reach out to the Whelan family. I guess the VP was too busy.
Biden has been a disaster for America. It seems his obsessive goals were to undue everything President Trump did. And sadly he’s succeeded. I notice even some of Biden’s defenders are realizing he’s not the President they hoped he’d be. It’s times like this I wish America had a ‘no confidence’ clause in our Constitution to call a special election. Trump had his issues but he kept America strong and moving forward. I’d like to see some new leadership from both sides of the aisle.
I know some will not admit it but most of us agree that we need to do far better than Trump. Even among the ones who will not vocalize it, most want something better than Trump.
But we have to agree that Biden is an abject failure. Senile and weak. Being run by Ron Klain and the party left. We need better than both/either of these men.
We need better from ourselves if our country is to survive.
I will not defend everything the 46th President has done since taking office. However, he seems to be successful in rallying much of the world around opposing Putin’s aggressive war in Ukraine. If Trump were president, I am unsure that he would even find fault with Putin’s actions. Trump’s America First rhetoric alienated most of our allies, so it would be hard to imagine that he could bring them together in a meaningful coalition against Russia.
But Al, I also would like to see better and much younger women and men leading our country from the political center, eschewing both the political extremities.
Trump was friendly in his rhetoric towards Putin but in his actions he was far more punitive than Biden pre-February 2022. He insisted that NATO countries keep their promise of allocating 2% of the GDP in order to have a decent military-readiness. He opposed tooth & nail the Nordstream 2 pipeline project and advocated for reliance on non-Russian oil. He was spot on. Putin would have not attacked Ukraine during a second Trump term, he knew he was on a tight leash. Biden, on the other hand, was a front-row witness during the Crimea invasion, and he sent the signal to all the despots that they can do whatever they want after the embarrassing Afghanistan withdrawal.
Abject failure? Hardly. Do I think Biden is a great President – not really. Is he the worst we’ve ever had – nah, not even close. I had hoped he was going to keep his promise of seeking/serving only one-term, but I’m not so sure about that now.
I would prefer a moderate that was younger, energized and had a reasonable vision for our country.
I guess he is battling it out with our fellow Georgian Jimmy Carter
When you’re talking about incompetence and totally way above his head, see Jimmy Carter. Biden is reaching that point, but the country is way more divided than when Carter stumbled and fumbled around. so I’ll give Sleepy Joe a little more slack than the fiasco of Jimmy Carter as President.
For all of those new arrivals in GA, he was also a really bad governor who beat a decent former governor by playing the race angle. Won’t even talk about his family that would make a lot of progs wet their pants and cancel him just based on his genetics.
When one turns to constant commentary of politics you know they are bored with those around them and bored with their lives in general.
Like others have said before, Trey, find a different hobby that doesn’t continually involve embarrassing yourself.
Since you can’t beat his arguments, you resort to tearing apart the person who’s speaking the ideas? You’re pathetic Doon. How about you give us a counter to what Hoffman is opining, and back up your statements with facts and/or logic? It’s so much easier just to attack a person than to defeat his ideas, isn’t it?
i’ll give it a try:
Invasion in Crimea – The sanctions contributed to the collapse of the Russian ruble and the Russian financial crisis. As of 2014, Russia’s Finance Minister announced that the sanctions had cost Russia $40 billion, with another $100 billion loss in 2014 taken due to the decrease in the price of oil the same year driven by the 2010s oil glut. Following the latest sanctions imposed in August 2018, economic losses incurred by Russia amount to some 0.5–1.5% of foregone GDP growth. By mid-2016, Russia had lost an estimated $170 billion due to financial sanctions, with another $400 billion in lost revenues from oil and gas. According to Ukrainian officials, the sanctions forced Russia to change its approach towards Ukraine and undermined the Russian military advances in the region. Hardly seems like a slap on the wrist.
Pipelines – first, Nord Stream is two words. While both have potential climate issues, Keystone is much more toxic to the US due to its proximity. Also, Nord Stream was approved under the former president’s term, not under Biden.
China – I think he forgot his hero, the former guy, has countless deals with and within China. It must be okay since he likes him. There are countless Americans with deals in China. Also, the DOJ ended the The department’s “China Initiative,” which started in 2018, because it has faced intense scrutiny by civil rights groups and some members of Congress for its expansive investigation into professors at U.S. universities over whether they disclosed financial ties to China when seeking federal grant funding and visiting Chinese scholars from military affiliated universities. In essence, racial profiling. The move, is a “recognition that the focus on China was too limited”, said Matt Olsen, the Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division. “We see nations such as China, Russia, Iran and North Korea becoming more aggressive and more capable in their nefarious activity than ever before, our new strategy is threat-driven.”
Enemies – we have a bunch, both foreign and domestic. Domestic are scary and should be talked about, because they are killing us from within. The massive amount of misinformation and the people who believe it is staggering. Yes, you can be vaccinated and still get COVID, and yes you can pass it on even though you are vaccinated. The point the CDC and others smarter than all of us are saying is, you are dramatically less likely to get sick and/or die from it if you are vaccinated. This is usually conveniently left out when this discussion come up. This is one teeny tiny piece of a greater misinformation campaign going on right now.
What’s wrong with election reform? If the former guy was right, we are in desperate need of it. Unless of course the reform is to help people like the elderly, minorities, and low income folks. Don’t go off on illegals voting, or people committing voter fraud. There is little to no proof that illegals vote regularly, and in numbers to affect any outcome. I encourage the writer to do a little research on fraud that was exposed after the recent presidential election. Probably won’t like what he finds.
The writer calls Biden feckless, weak, incompetent, and foolish. All sounds like projection to me. At the end of the day, one should not rely on Fox News for all your opinions, “facts”, and beliefs. Nor should one allow themselves to be subjugated by those who are not experts in fields they are discussing. Look for 3 or 4 outlets to give you a more informed base to do your writing… and find a hobby.
Thank you JP! It’s so difficult to refute all Trey’s Gish Gallop of bogeyman arguments week by week, and I truly appreciate your taking the time to do so in this case. Can you please be on call for next week when Trey pops off about the State of the Union address?
Also thank you, Suz, for pointing out the truth that Putin and Trump are both bullies, and the time when bullies ruled the earth is over. Thank God!
Wing, I generally respond to Trey’s letters with some cogent stated facts. Please go back and reread. However, on this particular occasion fatigue has set in from having to personally correct Mr. Hoffman’s weekly routine of misstatements and inaccuracies that he has gleaned from questionable news sources. So thanks to JP for his follow up. And facts / logic you request? Well down in Florida last weekend at the AFPAC conference they were chanting “Putin, Putin!” … days after the invasion of Ukraine. This same group thinks of January 6 as “awesome.” So my takeaway (logic) is that these GOP extremists of the new Republican party are not pro-democracy and are big Russian sympathizers as well, similar to their party’s political leader.
Thanks to JP and faithful Doon–well done and sincerely appreciated.
To Trey Hoffman–It’s time to grow up.
Vladimir Putin is a bully. We’ve all known his kind at school–a violent, heartless kid who intimidates others, usually those smaller or different from them in some way.
The “old school” solution was to expect an
equally tough child to give as good as they got. It may have worked in elementary school (which is debatable) but the stakes are simply too high in world affairs.
What we need is an adult who handles situations with restraint and experience.
In other words–maturity.
An adult that protects the victims, punishes the perpetrators (sanctions) and works to contain the evil.
A strong leader is not a bully (even when dealing with one). He admits that he doesn’t know it all; he listens to experts and trusted advisors. He realizes we can’t stand alone; he relies on our allies and coordinates efforts with them. He admits his mistakes and looks for better options.
You of all people, Trey, a devout Christian, should understand why American voters were weary of a blustering bully-boy.
Trump is hardly the man who “does justice, loves mercy, and walks humbly with his God.”
Say what you will about President Biden–and you repeatedly do with unbecoming insults–at least he has given up school-
yard mentality and tactics. That is what
I voted for.
Suz, actually Vlad and the Donald are a different level of schoolyard bullies; more of the snotty nose little rich kid types that take to the playgrounds and feel emboldened and entitled because of their associated wealth and community power. When confronted by resistance or someone stronger, they do not seek a resolution on the matter, but wish to escalate things – and then cower in their residence to let others do their fighting for them … i.e. authoritarian bullies.
This is weak
Trey Hoffman, he sure is “savvy” and a “genius” for seizing an entire newspaper column letter – while suffering only “two dollars-worth of sanctions” (in time) in which to write it. Not sure if he sides with the Orange One’s potential disastrous beliefs on NATO, the European Union and their Alliances, our own US Intelligence vs Foreign, or for that matter whether his good Russian “friend” should be readmitted back into the G7 Group since ousted after Crimea … but my guess is it’s contrary to world-wide opinion and sentiment. But then again, even that conservative cable news station made a quick 180˚ pivot in less than 24 hours.