All U.S. presidents campaign on promises of ending whichever quagmire(s) the nation is floundering in. It plays well with voters.
Walking the walk is a lot harder than talking the talk, though.
For one thing, Ukraine represents a propaganda effort by Western corporate media that was so sudden and so comprehensive that I'll admit it smacked me upside of the head in 2022. (Full report here.) It completely split the "peace" or antiwar groups I was part of, with the Democrats of the former vilifying the anti-imperialists of the latter. Among the things I was called: a mouthpiece for Putin, and a parrot of Tucker Carlson (who I literally never watch). Veterans for Peace members locally turned their backs on me for carrying signs like "NO WAR WITH RUSSIA". A statewide coalition that holds monthly protests attracted a diverse list of co-sponsors that included the Libertarian Party of Maine, the Maine Communist Party, and the Party for Socialism & Liberation. But no Democratic Party.
How many times did President Zelensky travel to the U.S. to be valorized by Biden's crew and Congress? Now Z is in the dog house, and he and 47 are engaged in a flame war on social media. In Riyadh this week, it appears Russia and the U.S. made considerable progress toward a comprehensive agreement that would include a negotiated end to the war in Ukraine.
This would never have happened under a Harris administration because Biden et al. owned the Ukraine war. Hunter Biden and "the big guy" made millions from its money laundering services, and it's no secret that dad shielded himself while extending a pardon for Hunter that stretches infinitely into the future.
Now 47 threatens to audit Ukraine to see where all the money went. That's got to be making some people nervous.
Among the lies we were told by corporate press throughout the war:
- It wasn't a proxy war with the West that aimed at weakening Russia using Ukraine as a cat's paw.
- Russia blew up the Nord Stream pipeline carrying gas to Germany.
- Russia tried to blow up the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, in an area under its control. And, more recently, fired a missile into the Chernobyl nuclear power plant entombed in concrete.
- Russia was losing, barely had any troops or equipment, and would be forced to surrender any day now.
- Ukraine's government and military were not full of Nazis
- Ukraine was winning.
On the eve of the third anniversary of Russia's special military operation, Ukraine has lost much of its eastern flank after referenda in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions indicated the residents overwhelmingly preferred to be Russian.
Elections Zelensky should have held a year ago would have been a referendum on his conduct of the war with Russia, and he would be expected to lose mightily.
So now the sticking point in negotiations appears to be: should elections be held before or after an agreement is reached? Russia has pointed out that once Zelensky declared martial law which precludes elections, and once March 2024 -- his term's end date -- had passed, they cannot negotiate with him. He's no longer a legitimate president.
47 appears to be holding out for a negotiated end to the war with elections to be held afterwards.
Who will blink first?
I often get feedback from readers who point out mistakes or suggest other interpretations, and I often get warm feedback as well. One I cherish is that after posting about how the vilification of Putin was deliberately morphed into the Russiagate nonsense by Democrats, former CIA analyst Ray McGovern sent me an email that simply said: Good, Lisa.
Whenever and however the Ukraine war ends, it's safe to say that the U.S. will never claw back any of the $119.2 BILLION that went into Zelensky's coffers. Because isn't that the real point of wars these days -- big profits for the weapons industry?
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