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DOJ Clears Gates of Sex Trafficking

LOS ANGELES (OnlineColumnist.com), Feb. 15, 2023.--Department of Justice announced today that they’re dropping any charges against 40-year-old Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fl.) for sex trafficking.  Many Democrats are disappointed hoping to destroy Gaetz politically, a big past supporter of 76-year-old former President Donald Trump.  Trump announced his third run for president Nov. 15, 2022, counting on loyalists like Gaetz to jump on the Trump bandwagon.  “The Department of Justice has confirmed to Congressman Gaets’s attorneys that their investigation has concluded and that he will not be charged with any crimes,” the DOJ tatement said.  Gaetz, a two-term Congressman, received national publicity for his vocal support of Trump, making him a pariah to the U.S. press.  How the U.S. press gets away with its extreme prejudice against Trump or any other candidate for public office is anyone’s guess.    

News in today’s America is tainted by Democrat political bias, with most members of the press strongly liberal.  Instead of reporting facts, the press skews the facts against Republicans, with Gaetz being one of its favorite targets.  Gaetz, a member of the ultra-right wing Freedom Caucus, unnerved fellow Republicans when he refused to back 58-year-old former House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) for House Speaker, taking the process an unprecedented 15 ballots.  Things got so bad on the House floor, Gaetz nearly came to blows with 58 year-old Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Al.), who lashed out in frustration against Gaetz.  But by far, Gaetz has been under the gun with the DOJ investigating whether he participated in sex-for-gifts with teenage girls, something that could have ended his career.  Gaetz was a close friend of former Seminole County tax collector Joel Greenberg, who was convicted of sex trafficking.

Greenberg, with whom Gaetz attended the same parties, was charged, convicted and sentenced to 11 years in federal prison for sex trafficking with under-aged minors.  DOJ officials investigated a party in the Bahamas where Gaetz took with his hand-surgeon donor Jason Pirozzolo where Greenberg was charge with sex crimes.  How Gaetz got off the hook is anyone’s guess but the DOJ dropped its investigation.  Apart from Gaetz’s scrutiny by the DOJ, he was by far persecuted for his support of Trump, something that could come back to haunt him in 2024.  Gaetz hasn’t announced any endorsement in the 2024 election, knowing that his 44-year-old friend Gov. Ron DeSantis might run in 2024.  DeSantis has a lot of GOP donors encouraging him to jump into the ring, believing that the party needs a fresh face in 2024.  President Joe Biden, 80, has not announced his intent yet.

Gaetz upped his political capital with the DOJ taking him out of the hot seat, dropping its investigation.  Federal prosecutors also looked into whether or not Gaetz improperly took money or granted favors to the medical marijuana industry in Florida.  On those grounds as well, federal prosecutors couldn’t find any credible evidence of wrongdoing by the 40-year-old Congressman.  House Ethics Committee announced in April 2021 that it was looking into any improper dealings in Florida with the medial marijuana lobby.  House ethics investigators aren’t likely to reach any conclusions about Gaetz’s ties to Florida’s medial marijuana lobby.  At age 40, Gaetz plays close to the edge but so far has eluded any serious charges.  If he plays his cards right, he could be a popular conservative in the GOP heading into 2014, possibly a kingmaker with DeSantis looking for support.

Gaetz’s had the media put a target on his back for his past support of Trump, especially in the wake of the FBI’s Aug. 8, 2022 Mar-a-Lago raid.  Gaetz gave Trump the benefit of the doubt all Democrats various charges, especially about the classified files and Jan. 6, 2020 Capitol riots.  Gaetz infuriated Democrats and the press not jumping on lets charge Trump bandwagon.  Now that the DOJ decided to not charge Gaetz, look for the high profile young congressman to rise steadily in GOP ranks.  If Gaetz presses DeSantis to keep the Trump agenda, including his opposition to the Ukraine War, he’ll find himself getting more traction for the GOP nominee.  There’s enough folks in the GOP looking or a new face in 2024.  DeSantis could benefit from the desire of voters to move one from geriatric politicians, whether Trump or Biden, and sneak into the White House in 2024.

Cleared from the DOJ for any wrongdoing in the sex trafficking scandal, the sky is the limit for Gaetz looking to move up in GOP ranks.  If he keeps his principles of limited government and America First, he’ll help DeSantis win over a lot of Trump voters who will eventually realize that DeSantis is more electable than Trump in 2024.  Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, 49, needs to work feverishly to confront pernicious Democrat and media propaganda about how Republicans would rob citizens on their Social Security and Medicare.  Democrats and the press did such an effective job of discrediting Trump in 2020, it handed the public Biden with all that’s gone wrong.  Cleared of wrongdoing, Gaetz looks to jump to the top of the GOP heap, pushing DeSantis in 2024 to carry on the Trump agenda, only giving the party a new look.

About the Author  

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.  

[opedguy]

Ukraine War in Stalemate

LOS ANGELES (OnlineColumnist.com), Feb. 15, 2023.--Russian President Vladimir Putin, 70, has made clear he sees the Ukraine War as the ultimate battle with the United States and NATO, not a war between Russia and Ukraine.  Western nations led by 80-year-old President Joe Biden grossly miscalculated Putin’s resolve to hold his own in Ukraine, no matter what the costs.  While neither side stands to gain victory, both sides have not found any off ramps, with Ukraine’s 44-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky begs for more cash-and-weapons from the U.S. and NATO, saying more lethal weapons would help him defeat the Russian Federation.  But judging by how the war’s gone over the first 12 months, it’s clear that Ukraine is only catching up to reclaim lost territory, roughly 25% of Ukraine’s sovereign land.  Both sides seem dug into an unending conflict, draining both Ukraine and Russia, in what looks like loggerheads.

All Zelensky talks about is how Ukraine defends the European Continent from a Russian takeover, something not supported by any facts on the ground.  By all accounts, the war has ground to a halt, with neither side making any real progress.  Sending more cash-and-arms to Ukraine has not produced the kind of result that gives citizens, especially in Ukraine, reason for hope.  Zelensky’s unwillingness to compromise, move the conflict from the battlefield to the peace table has left the American public more skeptical than ever about supporting the war.  Biden has dug in his heels but knows that the prospect of a Ukraine victory are slim-and-none.  Biden once hoped he could vanquish the Russian military, making prospects for victory less realistic. Resorting to clichés about defending democracy in Europe, Biden knows that bankrupt Ukraine cannot take on the Russia indefinitely.

Biden has chose to ignore his 64-year-old Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Miley who said a few weeks ago that there’s no military solution to Ukraine, only a political one.  When Biden’s 52-year-old Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines confirmed that the Ukraine War was near stalemate, she was ignored as well. New polls show that the American public has lost patience supplying unending cash-and-arms to Ukraine, realizing that the U.S. has bigger priorities than spending umpteen billions on a former Soviet satellite fighting a border dispute with the Kremlin.  Biden wrecked decades of pragmatic, cooperative relations with Russia, turning a cooperative adversary into a bitter enemy.  Putin views the Ukraine War as Biden waging war with NATO against the Russian Federation.  Putin has no intent of rolling over to the Western Alliance, certainly not to Ukraine.

Biden keeps insisting that we can’t let Putin win in Ukraine because it would spell perpetual war on the European Continent.  But Biden doesn’t really know what Putin wants in Ukraine.  Zelensky claims Putin’s trying to conquer the former Soviet satellite in his unrelenting march to reclaim Russian dominance over Eastern Europe.  But Putin has made clear he wants independence for Russian speaking enclaves in Donetsk and Luhansk that wants nothing to do with Kiev’s pro-Western government.  Putin offered to end his offensive in Ukraine for Zelensky acknowledging the independence of Donetsk, Luhansk and Russian sovereignty over Crimea.  Russia had troops in Donetsk, Luhansk and Crimea before the Feb. 24, 2022 invasion.  Yet Zelensky rejected any peace proposal insisting, with Biden’s cash-and-arms, that he would battle the Kremlin to oust every Russian soldier from Ukraine.

U.S. and European media haven’t helped matters spreading unwelcome disinformation about the Ukraine War.  Zelensky sets the tone for the Western press, insisting that Putin wants to wipe out Ukraine, commit genocide against itself people and destroy the Ukrainian identity.  “Ahead, it will be even more difficult and more costly for both Ukraine and Russia,” said an anonymous Russian source.  Economic losses on this scale are not worth a few conquered territories,” expressing the exasperation with the war.  Whether Putin incurs economic and battlefield losses or not, he’s not going to surrender to the U.S. or NATO, planning to stay in the fight for the long haul.  So how does that help Ukraine, or for that matter the U.S, whose citizens are growing wary of Biden’s capacity as commander in chief.  Taking on the Russian Federation was a big mistake by the White House.

Biden and Zelensky think Ukraine’s spring offensive with tanks, missiles and possibly fighter jets will force Putin to give up and abandon Ukraine.  But there’s no evidence to back up their plans, only conjecture about the future. “The next six moths, it seems to me, and it’s our assessment at the CIA, are going to be critical,” said  66-year-old CIA Director William Burns.  Burns thinks “puncturing Putin’s hubris” will be a big factor in Kiev and Washington getting an upper hand.  “The president [Putin] believes he can win in Ukraine,” said an unnamed Russian official.  “He, of course, cannot lose the war.  Victory will be ours.”  Neither side has anything to gain continuing to fight.  Zelensky hasn’t yet come to the realization that he cannot win the war against the Kremlin.  With the war a stalemate, only going to the peace table can win back sovereign territory lost over 12 months of war.

About the Author  

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

[opedguy]

Spy Balloon Origin Unknown

LOS ANGELES (OnlineColumnist.com), Feb. 14, 2023.--Downing the Chinese spy balloon Feb. 4 with a sidewinder missile fired from an F-22 fighter jet, the Pentagon collected the debris in shallow water off Myrtle Beach, S.C., determining that it was Chinese origin.  China Foreign Ministry’s predictable response, insisting the two-ton, double-bus-sized object was anything but an innocent weather balloon that strayed off course.  Whatever the guidance mechanisms, it was enough to travel from China, into Alaska, down to Idaho, pass over Montana’s Malmstrom Air Force Base, over the Midwest to Missouri’s Whiteman Air Force base home to the Stealth Bomber and on to the East Coast.  It took 80-year-old President Joe Biden at least a week to figure out what to do, claiming he was being cautious not to shoot it down over populated areas.  Pentagon officials, despute China’s denials, say the balloon was a Chinese skycraft.

One week later Feb. 11, the Pentagon shot down another suspicious ballot over the Alaska coast, unable, like in South Carolina, to confirm yet the origin of the balloon   While the origin is not known yet, it’s highly likely that the smaller balloon, the size of a car, was part of the same fleet of spy balloons sent over the North and South America.  China admitted Feb. 3 that another balloon detected over South America was part of its weather balloon fleet collecting atmospheric data.   When the North American Aerospace Command [NORAD] shot down another balloon over Canada’s northern Yukon territories, 51-year-old Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the UFO violated Canadian airspace, posing a threat to Canadian aviation. With the fleet of balloons all found in one week, it’s more clear than ever that it was part of an organized spy balloon fleet sent from China.

  Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau acted swiftly coordinating with Biden and NORAD to give the order to shoot down the balloon.  “I ordered the take down of an unidentified object that violated Canadian airspace,” Trudeau said.  “[NORAD] shot down the object over the Yukon and U.S. aircraft were scrambled, and the U.S. F-22 successfully fired at the object.”  Trudeau said he talked with Biden about the necessity to send a message to any nation, especially China, which violated Canadian sovereignty.  Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said he would be working with the RCMP “as Canadian authorities conduct a recovery operations to help our countries learn about the object,” knowing, with high certainty, it was Chinese in origin. Yukon Premier Ranj Rillai said he was briefed by federal ministers about the object, and reassured resident “at no time was the safety of Yukoners at risk“

 Flying at around 40,000 feet the balloon could potentially interfere with Canadian air traffic, prompting the urgent decision to shoot it down.  “Frankly, we were concerned with getting it out the sky,” Ryder said.  “And that was our focus all day and indeed the past 24 hours.  And so an further information about the object and reassured residents that “at no time was the safety of Yukoners at risk.”  Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand said Canadian CF-18s were involved in tracking the coordinates of the balloon, coordinated with NORAD’s F-22 that eventually fired the kill shot.  “When we first started tracking this object it was dark and we needed to make sure that we had a visual of it and so needed to wait for daylight to emerge,” Anand said.  Anand confirmed that she wanted to have infrared capability working with NORAD to coordinate with F-22s to fire the sidewinder missile.

Canada’s liberal government was under fire opposition parties to confirm the identity of the object taken town Feb. 11 over Yukon territories.  Canada’s House of Commons agreed to hold hearings to allow Anand to testify everything she knows about the origin of the balloon.  So far, all indications point to China but Anand wants to have confirmation after the debris has been recovered.  Three  balloons shot down over Alaska, Canada and South Carolina present compelling evidence that the Chinese were on a fishing expedition trying to gain intel on strategic U.S. and Canadian military sites. Pentagon officials confirmed a fourth balloon located over South America, confirming a coordinated effort by Chinese to seek intel around the North and South American hemisphere.  Multiple balloon sighting over a week period indicates they were all launched roughly at the same time.

Shooting down three balloons with a week period indicates that China went on a fishing expedition into sovereign airspace of North and South America.  China’s Peoples Liberation Army [PLA] shows little regard of international sovereignty but, more importantly, for the rule of law, especially as it concerns international waters and airspace.  When China rejected the International Court of Arbitration at the Hague’s ruling July 12, 2016 about violating sovereignty in the South China Sea, the PLA demonstrated it was a rogue organization rejecting the rules based order.  Sending spy balloons over North and South American continues China’s rogue activities when it comes to respecting territorial integrity.  Recovering sensors guiding the massive balloon shot down Feb. 4 over Myrtle Beach proves that China lied about collecting only weather information with its balloon fleet.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

[opedguy]

House Republicans to Investigate Coronavirus

LOS ANGELES (OnlineColumnist.com), Feb. 14, 2023.--House Republicans opened up an investigation into the origin of the deadly novel corona virus that’s killed over 1 million Americans, more that 6.7 million worldwide.  President Joe Biden, 80, asked 52-year-old Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines to get to the bottom of the virus origin in June 2021, returning her findings three months later. Haines concluded in August 2021 that it was impossible for the intelligence community to conclude anything because China, who holds the lab data, refused to cooperate.  Yet that didn’t satisfy the majority of House Republicans who have plenty of data on how the National Intitute’s of Health, under 82-year-old Dr. Anthony Fauci, awarded $15 million in grants to New York-based EchoHealth Alliance CEO Peter Daszak.  Dasak admitted to funding Shi Zehenli’s laba the Wuhan Institute of Virology nearly a million dollars.

Fauci testified before Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-Ky.) Oversight Committee on at least two occasions denying that the NIH ever funded so-called “gain of function” research at Zhengli’s virology lab.  Daszak, 54, admitted to funding Zhegli’s lab, despite Fauci’s denials.  On a technical issue, the NIH didn’t fund Zhengli’s lab directly but gave the cash to EcoHealth Alliance that funded the lab.  University of North Carolina microbiologist Dr. Ralph Baric openly admitted to working with Zhengli in her Wuhan lab, injecting harmless bat coronaviruses with Angiotensin 2 [ACE 2], a powerful beta-blocker drug, to enhance the infectiousness of the virus.  Fauci, Daszak and World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyseus all insist that the virus originated naturally, jumping from bats to animals, then to humans.  Fauci, Daszak and Tedros prove zero evidence to back up their claims.

Early on in the coronaviurs global pandemic, former President Donald Trump said April 30, 2020 that the virus leaked from Zhengli’s Wuhan lab, prompting Fauci, Daszak and Tedros to challenge the lab-leak theory.  Daszak, sent a letter Feb 27. 2020  backed by 27 other scientists to the British Medical Journal Lancet saying that the virus was a “spillover event,” jumping from bats, to an intermediate animal, they infecting human.  If that’s not a convoluted theory, then what is?  When the first deadly coronavirus SARS CoV-1occurred in 2003, it infected 8,000, killing only 800 worldwide. How could the second version of the virus, SARS CoV-2, infect nearly 678 million, with over 6.7 million deaths worldwide?  Something happened to the virus in Zhengli’s lab that engineered the virus into the most deadly virus known to man.  It’s genetically impossible for SARS CoV-1 to morph into SARS CoV-2.

House Intelligence Committee Rep. James Comer (R-Ten..) said his committee will get to the bottom of how the deadly coronavirus emerged.  DNI Avril Haines said before her final report to Biden the virus origin of the virus that preventing another global pandemic was imperative.  But listening to Fauci, Daszak or Tedros would be a wild goose chase.  All indications point to Zhengli’s “gain-of-function” experiments, turning harmless coronaviurses into the most infectious pathogens, explaining why the SARS CoV-1 bears little resemblance to SARS CoV-2.  Comer said he will “follow the facts” and “hold U.S. government officials that took part in any cover-up accountable.”  Fauci’s prior testimony under oath resulted in screaming matches with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), calling Paul a “liar” for saying Fauci funded Daszak’s EcoHealth Alliance who, in turn, funded Zhengli’s bioweapons lab.

U.S. press vehemently attacked former President Trump when he said April 30, 2020 that the lab-leak idea was a conspiracy theory.  Seeking to oust him from office during an election year, the media could care less about the origin of the virus, only preventing Trump from a second term.  Well, they succeeded in getting rid of Trump but they’ve done their profession and world a disservice by not putting their resources to determining the origin of the virus.  Why should the House Intel committee be forced to spend its resources on determining the origin of the virus?  “This investigation must begin with where and how this virus cam about so that we can attempt to predict, prepare or prevent it from happening again,” said Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio), chair of the virus subcommittee in a statement.  If the virus came from Zhengli’s lab, the world should know the risk of bioweapons.

House Intel Committee officials are doing a real public service because today’s media is all about politics, not concerned with their mandated job under the First Amendment to objectively find the truth. Like so many lies promoted against Trump in the press, finding the origin of the deadly novel coronavirus should help scientists prevent another future outbreak.  There’s no sense of spending millions on a goose chase pushed by Fauci, Daszak and Tedros, seeking to cover-up the origin of the virus.  Fauci has the most to lose in his decades-long reputation for funding Daszak’s EcoHealth Alliance that gave Zhengli about a million dollars to study “gain-of-function” research on harmless bay coronaviruses.  Whatever role Fauci played in creating the deadly novel coronavirus, the public has aright to know what happened.  U.S. press should be ashamed of turning facts into politics.

About the Author    

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation. Charisma.

[opedguy]

House Republicans to Investigate Coronavirus

LOS ANGELES (OnlineColumnist.com), Feb. 14, 2023.--House Republicans opened up an investigation into the origin of the deadly novel corona virus that’s killed over 1 million Americans, more that 6.7 million worldwide.  President Joe Biden, 80, asked 52-year-old Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines to get to the bottom of the virus origin in June 2021, returning her findings three months later. Haines concluded in August 2021 that it was impossible for the intelligence community to conclude anything because China, who holds the lab data, refused to cooperate.  Yet that didn’t satisfy the majority of House Republicans who have plenty of data on how the National Intitute’s of Health, under 82-year-old Dr. Anthony Fauci, awarded $15 million in grants to New York-based EchoHealth Alliance CEO Peter Daszak.  Dasak admitted to funding Shi Zehenli’s laba the Wuhan Institute of Virology nearly a million dollars.

Fauci testified before Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-Ky.) Oversight Committee on at least two occasions denying that the NIH ever funded so-called “gain of function” research at Zhengli’s virology lab.  Daszak, 54, admitted to funding Zhegli’s lab, despite Fauci’s denials.  On a technical issue, the NIH didn’t fund Zhengli’s lab directly but gave the cash to EcoHealth Alliance that funded the lab.  University of North Carolina microbiologist Dr. Ralph Baric openly admitted to working with Zhengli in her Wuhan lab, injecting harmless bat coronaviruses with Angiotensin 2 [ACE 2], a powerful beta-blocker drug, to enhance the infectiousness of the virus.  Fauci, Daszak and World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyseus all insist that the virus originated naturally, jumping from bats to animals, then to humans.  Fauci, Daszak and Tedros prove zero evidence to back up their claims.

Early on in the coronaviurs global pandemic, former President Donald Trump said April 30, 2020 that the virus leaked from Zhengli’s Wuhan lab, prompting Fauci, Daszak and Tedros to challenge the lab-leak theory.  Daszak, sent a letter Feb 27. 2020  backed by 27 other scientists to the British Medical Journal Lancet saying that the virus was a “spillover event,” jumping from bats, to an intermediate animal, they infecting human.  If that’s not a convoluted theory, then what is?  When the first deadly coronavirus SARS CoV-1occurred in 2003, it infected 8,000, killing only 800 worldwide. How could the second version of the virus, SARS CoV-2, infect nearly 678 million, with over 6.7 million deaths worldwide?  Something happened to the virus in Zhengli’s lab that engineered the virus into the most deadly virus known to man.  It’s genetically impossible for SARS CoV-1 to morph into SARS CoV-2.

House Intelligence Committee Rep. James Comer (R-Ten..) said his committee will get to the bottom of how the deadly coronavirus emerged.  DNI Avril Haines said before her final report to Biden the virus origin of the virus that preventing another global pandemic was imperative.  But listening to Fauci, Daszak or Tedros would be a wild goose chase.  All indications point to Zhengli’s “gain-of-function” experiments, turning harmless coronaviurses into the most infectious pathogens, explaining why the SARS CoV-1 bears little resemblance to SARS CoV-2.  Comer said he will “follow the facts” and “hold U.S. government officials that took part in any cover-up accountable.”  Fauci’s prior testimony under oath resulted in screaming matches with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), calling Paul a “liar” for saying Fauci funded Daszak’s EcoHealth Alliance who, in turn, funded Zhengli’s bioweapons lab.

U.S. press vehemently attacked former President Trump when he said April 30, 2020 that the lab-leak idea was a conspiracy theory.  Seeking to oust him from office during an election year, the media could care less about the origin of the virus, only preventing Trump from a second term.  Well, they succeeded in getting rid of Trump but they’ve done their profession and world a disservice by not putting their resources to determining the origin of the virus.  Why should the House Intel committee be forced to spend its resources on determining the origin of the virus?  “This investigation must begin with where and how this virus cam about so that we can attempt to predict, prepare or prevent it from happening again,” said Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio), chair of the virus subcommittee in a statement.  If the virus came from Zhengli’s lab, the world should know the risk of bioweapons.

House Intel Committee officials are doing a real public service because today’s media is all about politics, not concerned with their mandated job under the First Amendment to objectively find the truth. Like so many lies promoted against Trump in the press, finding the origin of the deadly novel coronavirus should help scientists prevent another future outbreak.  There’s no sense of spending millions on a goose chase pushed by Fauci, Daszak and Tedros, seeking to cover-up the origin of the virus.  Fauci has the most to lose in his decades-long reputation for funding Daszak’s EcoHealth Alliance that gave Zhengli about a million dollars to study “gain-of-function” research on harmless bay coronaviruses.  Whatever role Fauci played in creating the deadly novel coronavirus, the public has aright to know what happened.  U.S. press should be ashamed of turning facts into politics.

About the Author    

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation. Charisma.

[opedguy]

State Department Says Get Out of Russia

LOS ANGELES (OnlineColumnist.com, Feb. 13, 2023.--U.S. State Department warned U.S. citizens officially to not travel or leave immediately the Russian FederatioN, posting warnings about U.S. citizens harassed by Russian authorities.  “U.S. citizens residing or traveling in Russia should depart immediately,” said the U.S. embassy in Moscow.  “Exercise increased caution due to the risk of wrongful detentions,” referring to recent high profile case involving 32-year-old  WNBA star Brittney Griner who recently left Russian detention under a prisoner swap for 56-year-old  “Agent of Death” arms trafficker Viktor Bout.  But when it comes to ordinary American citizens traveling in the Russian Federation, things could not be worse because 80-year-old President Joe Biden decided to join a Ukraine proxy war against the Russian Federation.  State Department officials have not admitted that the U.S. is embroiled in active war wit the Kremlin.

White House officials have done everything possible to deny that the U.S. funds a proxy war in Ukraine against the Kremlin.  Even in warning U.S. citizens to leave or stay out of Russia, the State Department refuses to level with the American public.  Biden keeps his multibillion dollar proxy war a secret from the U.S. press, hoping to justify the untenable U.S. proxy war based on 70-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin.  Biden justifies paying Ukraine’s bankrupt government and war against the Russian Federation due to Putin’s Feb. 24, 2022 invasion.  But U.S. elected officials haven’t questioned the over $60 billion price tag for the Ukraine War.  Biden and Ukraine’s 44-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky tell the U.S. Congress and Brussels that Ukraine gets arms-and-cash to defend European democracy.  Zelensky and Biden say nothing about NATO’s role of defending the EU.

State Department officials now warn U.S. citizens about staying or traveling to Russia, saying that U.S. citizens have a target on their backs.  “Russian security services have arrested U.S. citizens on spurious charges, singled out U.S. citizens in Russia for detention and harassment, denied them fair and transparent treatments, and convicted them in secret trials or without presenting credible evidence,” said Moscow’s U.S. embassy.  Does the Moscow embassy think Russian authorities fabricated all charges against Brittney Griner’s Feb, 17, 2022 for cannabis possession?  If you listen to the Sate Department communiqué, Griner was innocent of all charges, referring to them as “spurious.”  Britney told a Moscow Judge July 7, 2022 that she had an Arizona state prescription for medical marijuana.  Does that sound like Russian authorities fabricated all charges against Brittney?

U.S.-Russian relations are at the lowest level since WW II, far worse during the bottom of the Cold War when the two nuclear-armed superpowers almost came to blows in the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. ”They [warnings] have been voiced by the State Department many times in the last period, so this is not a new thing,” said Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov.  State Department officials don’t want to admit that U.S.-Russian relations hit a low-point with the Ukraine War.  Biden can’t expect preferential or even-handed treatment for U.S. citizens with the White House conducts a bloody proxy war against the Kremlin.  Biden said March 26, 2022 that he did not think Putin should remain as Russian president, saying U.S. policy was to degrade the Russian military to the point it could no longer wage war.  State Department officials don’t admit the U.S. is at war with the Kremlin.

When Biden decided to fund the Ukraine proxy war against the Kremlin, U.S.-Russian relations hit rock bottom.  Moscow has never been closer to breaking off diplomatic relations from the U.S.  Before the Biden administration, the U.S. enjoyed pragmatic, cooperative relations with the Russia Federation, something enjoyed for decades.  Once Biden funded the Ukraine proxy war against the Kremlin, U.S.-Russian relations plummeted to all-time lows.  State Department officials can’t use Brittney Griner as an example of Trump fabricating charges against a U.S. citizen.  Whatever happened to Griner, it was a product of violating Russia’s strict drug laws, expected the Kremlin to adopt liberal U.S. cannabis laws.  Biden and 60-year-old Secretary of State Antony Blinken like to say that Brittney was wrongfully detained, not admitting she broke Russian drug laws.

Whatever the fate of other U.S. Russian prisoners, including 53-year-old former Marine and security executive Paul Whelan or teacher Marc Hillard Fogel, Biden’s proxy war in Ukraine makes diplomatic relations next to impossible.  Instead of working feverishly to end the Ukraine war, Biden goes along with Zelensky to blame Putin for invading Ukraine’s sovereignty.  Biden doesn’t want to admit that funding the U.S. proxy war in Ukraine damages U.S.-Russian relations.  Kremlin officials have little sympathy for U.S. citizens while the government fights its war with the Kremlin.  Zelensky decided without coercion to reject Putin’s offer to end the Ukraine war by recognizing the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk.  Zelensky’s new mission involves taking as much cash-and-arms as he can get to oust Putin from every inch of Ukraine’s territory, including the Crimean Peninsula.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

[opedguy]

Berlusconi Disagrees with Zelensky

LOS ANGELES (OnlineColumnist.com), Feb. 13, 2023.==Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi , 86, showed there’s dissention within the European Union about the U.S. proxy war with the Russian Federation.  President Joe Biden, 80, has given Ukraine’s 44-year-oldj President Volodymyr Zelensky a blank check to prosecute an endless war with the Kremlin, requiring the U.S. to fund the lion’s share of Ukraine expenses and war.  Zelensky seeks cash-and-lethal weapons to battle the Kremlin, hoping one day to claim victory over 70-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin. Zelensky wants U.S. and NATO cash-and-arms to reclaim lost sovereign territory  lost to the Kremlin over the last 14 months of war.  Zelensky decided to go to war with the Russian Federation over the prospects of sitting down and working out the architecture of a mutually agreeable peace settlement. Zelensky and Biden have so far refused to negotiate with Putin.

Putin made clear in March 2022, only weeks after the Feb. 24, 2022 invasion, that he’s willinging to stop his “special military operation if Zelensky would recognize the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk and Russin sovereignty over Crimea.  Zelensky rejected Putin’s offer, seeking U.S. and NATO arms and cash to prosecute an open-ended proxy war against the Russian Federation.  No one forced Zelensky into a full-on conflict with the Kremlin, only to watch over the last years Kive lose some 25% of Ukraine’s sovereign territory. Now Zelensky wants to fight indefinitely to reclaim his lost territory with U.S. cash-and-arms.  Berlusconi said if he were prime minister, he would meet with Zelensky knowing his military objective destabilize the European Continent, battling the Russian Federation.  Biden and his European partners have blamed the entire Ukraine War on the Russian Federation.

Pentagon Spokesman Ned Price, 40, who mirror’s Biden’s views, say if Russia took the peace process seriously, he’s pull all Russian troops out of Ukraine.  But Putin made commitments to Russian-speaking Peoples Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, who want nothing to do with Zelensky’s pro-Western Kiev government.  Western media outlets denigrate anyone that different ideas about the Ukraine War.  If you agree that peace talks should be the highest priority, you’re viewed by Kiev and giving in to Russian disinformation.  Berlusconi is the latest foreign leader to disagree with Biden and Zelensky’s approach to Ukraine.  Berlusconi accused France and Germany for organizing a dinner with Zelensky in Paris, excluding other EU states that don’t agree with Zelensky’s approach to the Ukraine War.  Belusconi’s believes that Putin was provoked into the Ukraine War.

Berlusconi’s thinks that if Zelensky had not attacked the Peoples Republicans of Donetsk and Luhansk, Putin would not have invaded to protect Russian-speaking populations as he did in 2008 Georgia’s South Ossetia an Abkhazia if Georgia protected Russian-speaking populations.  Zelensky was told by Putin in March 2022 he would end his “special military operation” if Zelensky would simply recognize Donetsk and Luhansk as independent.  Zelensky refused and the war rages on in Europe with the new objective to getting Russia out of Donbas and Crimea.  “I would have never gone talking to Zelensky because we are witnessing the devastation of his country and the slaughter.  Zelensky accuses Russia of war crimes, saying would never enter ceasefire or peace talks unless Putin is prosecuted at the Hague in the International Criminal Court and agrees to pay reparations.

Belusconi disagrees in the strongest possible terms with Biden and Zelensky that the war was “unprovoked” and “unjustified.”  Seeking NATO membership and taking unlimited cash-and-arms from the U.S. and NATO, the Kremlin wasn’t comfortable with Ukraine becoming an armed puppet U.S. state on the Russian border.”  So I judge, very, very negatively, the behavior of this gentlemen,” Berulsconi said about Zelensky.  Italian Prime Minister Georia Meloni said her government supports Zelensky attempt to reclaim sovereignty from the Russian Federation.  Berlusconi sees things differently, asking Biden to reconsider his unlimited support to the Kiev government.  Berlusconi has been discredited by Kiev as an old school politician with ties to the Putin and the Kremlin.  Zelensky refuses to accept old school views about Russian.  Zelensky thinks Putin should be removed from office.

When it comes to the Ukraine War, there’s only one view that works for Ukraine and the Western Alliance.  Putin needs to pull all his troops out of Ukraine and pay Kiev reparations f or war crimes over the last 12 months.  Before the Feb. 24, 2022 war started, Biden and Zelensky sees no provocations when it comes to Putin’s rationale for invading.  Biden and Zelensky hold the view that they can continue battling the Kremlin until the Russian army has been degraded to the point it can no longer wage war.  Putin sees his first obligation as protecting Russian-speaking areas in Donetsk and Luhnask, not acquiescing to Kiev’s demands for unlimited cash-and-arms.  Berlusconi’s views reflect a number of EU countries views by Kiev as Russian puppets because they don’t agree with Biden and Zelensky’s proxy war against the Russian Federation.  In Zelensky’s world, dissent cannot be tolerated.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

[opedguy]

Biden Pushes China to the Brink

LOS ANGELES (OnlineColumnist.com), Feb. 12, 2023.--After shooting down what China calls a weather balloon last week, tensions have never been higher with the Peoples Republic of China, prompting calls by the Foreign Ministry that the U.S. used “indiscriminate aggression.”  Instead of ratcheting down tensions, Biden sent the USS Nimitz nuclear-powered aircraft carrier strike group and the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit to conduct “integrated expeditionary strike force operations” into the South China Sea.  U.S. has had a beef with China for building out military installations on sandbars in the Spratly Islands’ shallow shoals for the past 10 years.  U.S. took China to the International Court of Arbitration at the Hague where China lost a ruling July 12, 2016, over freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.  China rejected the Hague’s ruling because Beijing doesn’t subscribe to the International Court of Arbitration.

U.S. officials, and its Indo-Pacific allies claim that China seized illegally sovereign control of areas in open waters, not part of any sovereign country.  Yet building military installation on sandbars, China asserted its right to seize control of the South China Sea, considering the waterway part of Communist China.  U.S. officials are committed to open navigation in the South China Sea where some $5 trillion in goods pass through on ships every year.  Sending a U.S. carrier strike force to the South China Sea directly challenges China’s navy, no match to the U.S. Pacific Fleet but still capable to launching attacks on U.S. ships.  Relations with China took a hit last summer when 82-yearold former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) visited Taiwan Aug. 4, 2022, telling the Taipei government that the U.S. has its back. Biden followed up Sept. 23, 2022, saying he would defend Taiwan with U.S. troops.

Biden knows the U.S. is bound by the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, signed into law by former President Jimmy Carter, agreeing to recognize diplomatically only one China, the one in Beijing.   Signing the Taiwan Relations Act, Carter agreed to end the 1954 Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty that obligates the U.S. to defend Taiwan in the event of a Beijing takeover.  So, with Biden ordering the shoot down of a Chinese Spy Balloon Feb. 4, China was already up in arms.  Sending the Nimitz strike force into the South China only makes a bad situation worse.  Biden has a proxy war in Ukraine going against the Russian Federation.  Now he’s on the verge of going to war against Communist China, all because he doesn’t like China’s human rights record, something not typically used to interfere with relations between nuclear-armed superpowers.  Biden’s been the most belligerent U.S. president on record.

When the U.S. discovered the Chinese spy balloon drifting for six days across the continental states, Biden finally order the shoot down Feb. 4, prompting Beijing to react harshly to U.S. actions. No one knows now how China will react to today’s provocation in the South China Sea.  While freedom of navigation still applies in the South China Sea, given the high state of tension between Washington and Beijing, you’d think Biden would call off any provocative military drills.  Secretary of State Antony Blinken, 60, already cancelled his recently scheduled trip to Beijing after the Feb. 4 balloon shoot down.  Blinken finds it’s going to be difficult under the circumstances to reschedule his diplomatic mission to Beijing, knowing the current state of tensions.  Beijing could act at anytime to attack U.S. assets in the region.  Blinken called the spy balloon incident a clear violation of U.S. sovereignty.

Whatever the reason, Biden has no business provoking the Chinese while he’s fighting a bloody proxy war against the Russian Federation.  U.S. national security requires the White House to get along with its adversaries, regardless of the propensity to take more aggressive action.  Biden knows the U.S. should end its proxy war against the Russian Federation.  Whatever Ukraine’s beef with the Kremlin, it’s not up to the U.S. to settle the score.  When it comes to China, there’s no reason for Biden to make bilateral relations more tense when provocation could send world peace in flames.  Pentagon officials have known about China’s network of spy balloons for years.  Why now the White House takes an aggressive stand is anyone’s guess.  Biden can’t afford to open up a new war front with China when the outcome in Ukraine remains in doubt with U.S. national security requiring careful calculation.

Sending the U.S. Nimitz carrier strike force into the South China Sea was bad timing, not required for national security.  “As a ready response force, we underpin a broad spectrum of missions including landing Marines ashore, humanitarian disaster relief, and deterring potential adversaries through visible combat power,” read a Pentagon news release.  Biden must pick-and-chose his battles wisely to protect U.S. national security.  Going to war with the Russian Federation harmed U.S. national security, something unnecessary to protect democracy in Europe.  Ukraine’s 44-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky told a joint session of Congress Dec. 21, 2022 and more recently in Brussels that Ukraine is not a charity case but an investment in preserving Europe democracy.  Elected officials on both sides of the Atlantic have been sold a bill of goods by Zelensky, when NATO protects Europe’s security.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

[opedguy]

Americans Favor Ban on African American Studies

LOS ANGELES (OnlineColumnist.com, Feb. 11, 2023.;--Pushing a controversial ban on College Board African American Studies Advanced Placement courses, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fl.) created more polarization demanding the College Board remove the AP course.  Yahooo/YouGov poll shows that about 40 of Americans favor banning AP African American studies, similar to the ban proposed by DeSantis.  No surprise that the same Yahoo/YouGov poll found 65% of African Americans oppose any ban on the AP course in contrast to 58% of Republicans that favor a ban.  Overall, 46% of Americans oppose the ban, less than the 40% mark.  White Americans under lobbying from groups like Black Lives Matter and the Southern Poverty Law Center or National Association for Advancement of Colored People [NAACP] overwhelmingly support the College Board’s Advance Placement in African American Studies.

DeSantis objected to the conflation in the College Board’s African American Studies of including “queer theory” or the New York Times “1619 Project” that urges reparations for African Americans because of official U.S. government policy supporting slavery for African Americans.  “This course on Black history, what’s one of the lesions about?  Queer theory,” DeSantis said last month.  “Now who would say that an important part of Black history is queer theory?  That is somebody pushing an agenda,” DeSantis said.  Black scholars like Bell Hooks, Angela Davis, TanNehsi Coates, said DeSantis was “divisive.”  Core to modern Black studies and essential to include any college-level survey class.  “[These are] complicated works of sociology and philosophy.  They’re highly contested polemics,” Joshua Zeitz wrote in Politico. Academics want all course material, whether controversial or not.

Yahoo/YouGov’s poll shows that attitudes toward African American Studies fall along racial lines, currently dominated in U.S. party politics. Democrats have become the party of blacks and various gay groups, creating a real polarization between the major political parties. “We read them to sharpen our capacity for analysis and argument.  Contra Gov. DeSantis, being assigned a text is not an exercise in indoctrination,” Zeitz wrote in Politico.  Republicans, especially Trump supporters, 65% backed a ban on African American AP studies.  Showing the contrast, a full 75% of Democrats oppose any ban on African American Studies. Joe Biden’s voters oppose a ban by 75%, corresponding to views of the Democrat Party.  Yahoo/YouGov’s polls shows the deep divide between the political parties on the issue of African American Studies, something embraced by 75% of Biden supporters.

DeSantis thinks racial and sexual identity politics should be banned from the public square, thinking that Black Queer studies, reparations, Black Lives Matters, criminal justice reform, should stay out of Democrat debates. DeSantis thinks that race should be kept out of politics and the public square, something opposed by Democrats.  DeSantis wants no part of today’s racial politics, where Democrat think race always enters into political discussions.  DeSantis and most Republicans believe in American meritocracy where they accept a level playing field where every citizen has the same opportunities and legal protection for success.  African Americans and Democrats think the playing field cannot be leveled with “systemic racism” that exists in American society.  Yaho/YoGov’s poll shows that 61% of black Americans think that “systemic racism” exists in the country.

Democrats and African American wants critical race theory taught in public schools, stating for the record that there’s no level playing field when it comes to African Americans. Africans Americans and the gay community have take dominant roles in the Democrat Party, subscribing to “systemic racism,” “white privilege” and ubiquitous racial injustice in the criminal justice system.  Only 40% of white Americans say that “U.S. public school students are currently taught about African-American history are appropriate.  DeSantis and former President Donald Trump are satisfied with the current content of U.S. racial history that tends to minimize the role of slavery, Jim Crow laws and racial discrimination on the success of African Americans.  DeSantis has banned Florida’s education system from teaching about critical race theory, blaming whites for discrimination and slavery.

Yahoo’YouGov’s poll shows that the country has a nationwide divide on racial politics, diving blacks and whites, Democrats and Republicans.  Democrats overwhelmingly believe that race plays a ubiquitous rule in American politics.  Democrats and Republicans are more divided than ever about role of incorporating African American studies, including the role of slavery, Jim Crow, reparations and critical race theory into social studies curriculum in K to 12 public school curriculum.  DeSantis in particular wants to ban the new African American curriculum from public school, returning to time when it was taboo to teach anything approaching the truth about American history, especially as presented by historian Howard Zinn. Democrats and Republicans have grown even more divided when it comes to U.S. history, with Republicans seeking to perpetuate old myths and stereotypes.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

[opedguy]

Biden on Roll, Shoots Down UFO

LOS ANGELES (OnlineColumnist.com), Feb. 10, 2023.--On a roll from his Feb. 7 State of the Union speech to a joint session of Congress, 80-year-old President Joe Biden ordered the shoot-down of another Unidentified Flying Object [UFO] this time over icy waters in Deadhorse, Alaska on Prudhoe Bay.  Biden was notified of the UFO Thursday morning, deciding, unlike the shoot-down of a 2,000-poind Chinese balloon Friday, Feb. 10, Biden acted decisively ordering the downing of the unmanned aerial vehicle.  Once the Pentagon determined the balloon-like object was unmanned, Biden wasted no time ordering an F-22 from Join Base Elmendorf to take doown the unknown object, about the size of a small car, with a sidewinder missile, the same one used last Saturday Feb. 4.  Biden was rejuvenated by his State of the Union, getting high marks from Democrats, but, more importantly, showed he can still work a crowd at his advanced age.

Last weeks delayed response, letting the Chinese spy balloon drift methodically over Alaska, Canada, Idaho, Montana all the way across the U.S. generated much-deserved criticism, especially with the spy-craft monitoring U.S. nuclear Air Force bases across the continental United States.  Biden said he didn’t want to jeopardize any civilians on the ground, before shooting down the balloon over shallow waters in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  Biden faced criticism from his GOP colleagues for not acting more decisively, though Democrats pointed out quickly that similar Chinese spy balloons flew into U.S. air space during the Trump administration.  Trump didn’t order a shoot down because the balloon quickly left U.S. air space.  Biden ordered the shoot down today over Deadhorse, Alaska, claiming that the UFO presented a danger at 40,000 feet to commercial air flights.

Pentagon Spokesman John Kirby didn’t have much to report, other than a UFO was shot down over Prudhoe Bay, Alaska.  “All I can say is that it wasn’t flying with any sort of propulsion, so if that is ‘balloon like’—we just don’t enough at this point,” Kirby said.  “It came in, inside our territorial waters, those waters right now are frozen, but inside territorial air space and over territorial waters.  Fighter aircraft assigned to the U.S. Northern Command took down the object with the last hour,” Kirby reported.  No country, including China, has claimed responsibility for what looks like another spy balloon, prompting Biden to shoot first, wait to see whether any recovered debris identifies the country of origin.  Two spy balloons in one week certainly raises eyebrows, even if the Pentagon can’t confirm the nature or origin of the flying object.  “We don’t know who owns this object,” Kirby said.

Like the Chinese spy balloon shot down Feb. 4, the object did not to have any guidance or propulsion.  “It did not appear to have maneuverability capability, “ Kirby said.  “It was virtually at the whim of the wind.” Kirby confirmed that a fighter pilot was up in the sky on Feb. 9, determining the that the balloon-like object had no human on board, before Biden gave the order Friday, 1:45 p.m. to shoot it down.  “We were able to get some fighter aircraft up and around it before the order to shoot it down.  And the pilots’ assessment was that this was not manned,” Kirby said.  “There was a limit to how much they could divine,” including whether the object was booby-trapped with explosives.  Pentagon officials hoped to recover the debris off the ice and determine the nature and origin of the UFO.  Biden’s decision to shoot it down stemmed directly from last week’s delay in taking down the Chinese balloon.

Pentagon officials think last week’s shoot down of the Chinese spy balloon won’t impact U.S.-Chinese relations in the scheme of things.  China reacted harshly to the shoot down, saying the U.S. showed “indiscriminate aggression.”  China insisted that it’s weather balloon posed no threat at all to U.S. national security.  Pentagon officials haven’t yet determined or said publicly what if any national security issues were compromised by the spy-craft that spend six days flying over U.S. nuclear and stealth bomber bases in Montana and Missouri.  No one knows what, if anything, the Chinese got after from the surveillance balloon.  Pentagon officials said the Chinese already monitor U.S. air bases from a network of space-based satellites, not sure they would get more intel from a spy balloon.  Two balloon incidents in one week suggest a correlation between the events.

Biden has a wind at his back following a commanding performance at the State of the Union speech.  If there’s anything to glean from today’s shoot down, Biden has more confidence than ever as he prepares to announce he’s running for reelection in 2024.  Anyone listening to the speech knows that it was a campaign speech, not a typical State of the Union message.  Biden touted his big spending bills that he claims have benefited the U.S. economy, despite the runaway inflation that makes life harder for most working people.  Biden cast himself as a champion of U.S. workers, despite the economic challenges from rising prices.  Shooting down the UFO over Alaska reflects Biden’s new confidence after Tuesday night’s speech. Pentagon officials should know soon the nature and origin of the car-sized balloon.  Shooting it down without hesitation speaks volumes about Biden’s future plans.

About the Author    

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

[opedguy]

Russia Escalates War in Donbas

LOS ANGELES (OnlineColumnist.com), Feb. 10, 2023.--Ukrainian military commanders in Donbas confirmed that that a new Russian offensive has begun, before the expected target date of Feb. 24, 2023, the one year anniversary of the Ukraine War. “We can conclude that a certain escalation has already begun,” said Serhii Haidai, head of the Luhansk region military administration.  Ukraine’s military commanders say that attacks have intensified around Kreminna, a Russian occupied city in Luhansk, home to key ground communication.  Haidai said Ukraine’s military repulsed the Russian advance.  “We can say de facto that this is part of the full-scale offensive that Russia has been planning,” Haidai said.  Kiev’s 44-year-old President Voldymyr Zelensky has said he’s waiting for U.S., German and British tanks before challenging the Russian advance.  Putin put the U.S., U.K. and Germany on notice that they’re directly participating in the Ukraine War.

Kiev and Washington have committed to escalating the conflict adding tanks to  Ukraine’s arsenal at the same time asking the U.S., U.K. and Germany for missiles and fighter jets, something so far that hasn’t happened.  But whatever advanced weapons Ukraine gets, it’s never enough to challenge the Russian offensive, called war atrocities by Kiev officials.  “Russia throws colossal amounts of weapons and people to attack Ukraine and has been for some time,” said Haidai, not saying when Ukraine would have the battle tanks and ong-range missiles requested.  Since losing 25% of its sovereign territory in one year, Zelensky has promised Washington and Kiev that he plans to recapture the lost territory.  Yet every time the Ukrainian army fails to reclaim lost territory, Zelensky promises to double down on his military response.  U.S. President Joe Biden said he would back Ukraine as long as it takes.

Biden  introduced Ukraine’s U.S. Amb. Oksana Markarova at the Feb. 7 State of the Union speech, assuring her the U.S. would not give up on Ukraine.  Biden has tried to keep the U.S. and European Union coalition going, promising that, with more lethal weapons, Kiev would eventually oust the Russian military.  No one knows how long that would take, if ever, to rid Ukraine of all Russian troops.  Russian forces were in Donetsk and Luhansk before the Feb. 24, 2022 war and no doubt will continue to park in Russian-controlled territories for the foreseeable future.  Zelensky has moved the goal posts in the last year, now seeking to rid Ukraine of all Russian troops.  Before the war began, Russia troops were in Donbas, supporting Russian-speaking residents from acquiescing to Kiev’s demands.  Kiev claims that over 15,000 Ukrainian civilians and military have been killed since 2008.

Whether Russia escalates it’s fighting for not, Zelensky must decide how he wants to proceed in the future.  If he decides to keep the war going, he can expect a grinding stalemate where neither side makes much progress.  Even using U.S., German and U.S. battle tanks doesn’t guarantee that Ukraine will get back its lost sovereign territory or work toward ridding the country of Russian troops.  Chairman of the Join Chiefs of State Gen. Mark Miley, 64, said there’s only a political solution to the Ukraine conflict.  If that’s the case, why does Biden insist on giving Kiev more lethal weapons to fight the Russian Federation?   A Ukrainian soldier named Anton said the fighting has intensified around the front lines in Donbas.  “The fighting has intensified. They launched another offensive last night.  So far, we are holding our position, it’s its tough,” Anton reports on the front line.

If the war under the best of times is a stalemate, Kiev would be better off letting U.N. peacemakers come up with a plan to end the conflict.  Battling the Kremlin to loggerheads is not answer for Kiev.  More progress in reclaiming lost territory would happen with peace talks over continuing the bloodshed and destruction of Ukraine infrastructure. Zelensky has recently asked the EU for more lethal weapons, including fighter jets, promising to vanquish the Russian military.  But if the last year has taught any lesion, Russian can more than hold its own in Ukraine.  No matter how many battles Zelensky claims victory, the fact remains that Russia controls some 25% of Ukraine’s sovereign territory, making the outcome for progress more in doubt.  Instead of looking to escalate the war, Zelensky should be looking to get Putin to the peace table to negotiate a return of sovereign territory.

Zelensky and Biden have some big decisions to make before the Russian offensive gets underway.  Both need to look to the future of the best way to restore Ukraine’s sovereignty without more carnage and infrastructure destruction.  Zelensky with U.S. cash-and-lethal weapons shows zero interest in moving the conflict to the peace table.  Biden and Zelensky thinks if Ukraine can hit Russia with more tanks and missiles, Putin will agree to bigger concessions at the peace table.  Whether that’s pure conjecture or not, the longer the war goes, the more casualties the Kremlin sustains, the more difficult finding a settlement.  Waiting for tanks, missile and fighter jets, Zelensky makes more excuse why he’s lost more ground to Putin.  Whether the war has ground to a halt or not, Zelensky and Biden must accept that there’s no better path to a mutually beneficial settlement than the peace table.

About the Author  

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

[opedguy]

Zelensky Pushes for EU Membership

LOS ANGELES (OnlineColumnist.com), Feb. 9, 2023.-- Ukraine’s 44-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky pressed the European Council in Brussels for European Union Membership, knowing it was a long shot, especially knowing the economy in bankruptcy and war with the Russian Federation.  “We have to enhance the dynamics our cooperation, we have to do it faster that the aggressor,” Zelensky told the European Council.  More that pressing for EU membership, Zelensky asked the EU for fighter jets, something opposed by 64-year-old German Chancellor Olaf Scholz who, only recently, approved delivery of 14 German Leopard 2 tanks.  Zelensky continues to pitch the idea that Ukraine deserves the most advance weapons to preserve European democracy, an idea so preposterous it’s hard to imagine no one pushed back.  EU countries, all 27, know that NATO, not Zelensky, protects European security on the Continent.

Zelensky’s presidential adviser Mykhaylo Podolyak said on Ukraine TV that the EU would eventually supply long-range missiles and fighter jets to beat back a Russian advance.  Poland demurred on Zelensky’s requests for fighter jets, telling Kiev that Poland would only supply jets “within the entire framework of NATO.”  Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz said his country would consider Zelensky’s request fighter jets collectively, with other members of the Alliance.  Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the idea of supplying jets could only be discussed “behind closed doors.”  Whether admitted to or not, Zelensky continues to pressure Washington and Brussels for more lethal weapons, including long-range missiles and fighter jets.  There’s no mention from Zelensky about working on a ceasefire and peace talks, only escalating the war to oust Russian from Ukrainan territory.

Zelensky has tried to sell Brussels on escalating the war based on their shared way of life., seeking to fast-track EU membership.  “Ukraine is going to be a member of the European Union,” Zelensky told MEPs. Zelensky gave the same pitch to a joint session of Congress Dec. 21, 2022, saying Ukraine defended Europe against Russian aggression.  Zelensky told the EU that Europe could not be free without a free Ukraine, saying that Ukraine defended Europe from Russian tyranny.  Every member of the EU parliament should confront Zelensky’s attempt to gaslight the EU.  War-torn and bankrupt Ukraine cannot defend Europe against Russian aggression, that’s the role of NATO since the end of WW III.  Key members of the EU should remind Zelensky that Ukraine has its own problems with the Kremlin but certainly doesn’t see Kiev as defending European democracy.

Zelensky tried to sell French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on the idea that the sooner Kiev received long-range missiles and fighter jets, “the quicker the Russian aggression would end.”  Once Zelensky got a commitment of U.S., German and British tanks, he began pushing for EU membership, fighter jets and long-range missiles.  “The pros and cons—you have to make absolutely sure you are not getting into an Article Five direct confrontation between NATO and Russia,” Mr. Rutte said.  Kremlin officials have warned NATO that more arms shipments to Ukraine borders on direct involvement in the conflict.  “We regret this and state that such actions of these countries lead to the escalation of tension around this conflict, prolong it and make it more painful and tortuous for Ukraine,” s aid Kemlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Zelensky has no compunction about asking Brussels for more lethal weapons to battle the Russian Federation.  Zelensky would welcome the direct involvement of European countries into the war, including ground troops or a no-fly-zone. Zelensky already thinks WW III has begun in Europe with the war against the Kremlin.  So, when it comes to Zelensky, he’s looking for more weapons and cash any way he can get it.  French President Emmanuel Macron has been working behind the scenes with Russian President Vladimir Putin to move the conflict from the battlefield to the peace table.  Zelensky and other Kiev officials have given Macron a hard time for trying to push for peace.  German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reluctantly agreed to give Kiev Leopard 2 battle tanks, thinking it only prolongs the conflict.  Zelensky wants more cash-and-arms but should be working feverishly to find a political solution.

Zelensky keeps telling London and Brussels that Ukraine battles to keep Europe free from the Russian menace.  Before the Feb. 24, 2022 invasion, Europe enjoyed a good working relationship with the Russian Federation.  With President Joe Biden slapping Russia with an oil embargo and punitive economic sanctions, Brussels has been swept up in war fever.  Only France and Germany have recognized the importance of a ceasefire and peace talks.  Biden and Zelensky have only talks about how more lethal weapons will eventually end the war but there are no guarantees.  If giving Ukraine tanks and eventually missiles and fighter jets prolongs the war, then it’s done Ukraine and the world a disservice.  Regardless of who’s right or wrong, there’s only one path to peace through a ceasefire and peace talks.  Biden and Zelensky continue to prolong the conflict at Ukraine’s expense.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.  

[opedguy]

Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Mental Problems

LOS ANGELES (OnlineColumnist.com), Feb. 9, 2023.--Watching Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) misbehave at the Feb. 7 State of the Union Speech spoke volumes about her inability to control herself, a real problem for the Republican Party.  Greene was seen blurting out inappropriate comments throughout 80-year-old President Joe Biden’s speech, resembling more a campaign stump speech than an honest appraisal of the nation.  During the speech, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) could be seen signaling to Greene to tone it down, all falling on deaf ears.  What’s abundantly clear is Greene can’t control herself, not because she’s ill-bred or doesn’t understand protocol but because she’s got some kind of impulse control problems that prevents he from showing restraint.  Democrat strategist 78-year-old James Carville called Greene “white trash” for her heckling during Biden’s hour-plus State-of-the-Union Speech.

Carville likes to put things in the most base terms accusing Greene of being a “white trash,” a kind of old fashion term used by blacks and other minorities to disparage white people without proper breeding, poor people growing up in trailer parks or other pockets of poverty.  “I tell people I have the equivalent of a Ph.D. in white trashology, and we saw real white trash on display,” Carville told MSNBC’s Ari Melber, who happens to be Jewish.  Instead to reminding Carville that network or cable TV tries to avoid prejudicial labels, especially when applied to minorities. Greene has shown a propensity to embrace conspiracy theories like QAnon, a group claiming that a pedophile cult led by former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton exists in Washington.  Carville likes to quip and make jokes but calling Greene “white trash” reflects badly on his reckless use of language.

Whatever Greene’s problems, and there are many, ripping her for the way she dresses hits way below the belt for someone who should know better.  She “dresses like white trash” and should take her fashion lessons from Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) who Democrats have targeted since he was sworn in Jan. 4.  Santos, who misrepresented his resume, has been the butt of Democrat and Republican jokes since admitting much of his background was fabricated.  Carville conflates Santos with Greene, deliberately making her look like a loon with other members of the GOP caucus.  “The level of white trashdom is the Republican Party is staggering,” said Carville, overplaying the “white trash” card about Greene and other Republicans.  Carville seems to be describing himself while slamming Greene and other Republicans.  Whatever’s wrong with Greene, Carville doesn’t have to use the “white trash” stereotype.  

Carville shows he’s part of a different, less politically correct era, where racial and ethnic stereotypes were used freely, without any regard to proper speech.  “I mean, for somebody that has observed it for a long time like I have, I’ve never seen it manifest itself on a level that is manifesting itself,” Carville said, calling names but not shedding any light on what may be wrong with Greene.  For all Carville knows the 48-year-old Georgia congresswoman may suffer from bipolar disorder or some other biological disorder, like Tourette’s Syndrome, that inhibits normal restraints.  Screaming out “liar” at Biden’s State of the Union speech speaks volumes about how Greene handles her emotions, letting it all hang out regardless of how inappropriate.  McCarthy tried to stop Greene from his podium without much success.  Greene couldn’t stop herself from blurting out inappropriate things.

Carville trashed the type of candidates fielded by Republicans in 2022 Midterm elections, saying they were “very low-quality candidates,” giving a rather feeble explanation.  “They have a lot of stupid people that vote in their primaries.  They really do.  I’m not really supposed to say that, but it’s an obvious fact.  And you know, when stupid people vote, you know who they nominate?  Other stupid people,” Carville said, showing why he’s not really taken seriously by Democrats or Republicans.  Carville helped get former President Bill Clinton elected, at a time when he was in his prime, in his late 40s.  Thirty years later, Carville displays the same kind of impulsiveness as Greene and other members of the GOP extreme right wing, like Rep. Lauren Boebart (R-Co.) who barely won reelection.  Carville’s from an old school of political consultants that went by their own rules.

Whatever example Marjorie Taylor Greene set at the State of the Union, it only reflects on her deficits that can’t be blamed on other Republicans or their constituents.   Calling her “white trash” shows the kind of tactics once used by old school political consultants like Carville that used racial epithets to disparage ooponents  “If the American people had been on the House floor listening to that speech, it would have been a lot worse than I called him,” Greene said, trying to justify he inexcusable behavior.  “Not one single bit I have the speakers support, and he has mine,” Greene said, asked whether she was concerned about some reprimand.  Green knows that McCarthy tried to stop her outbursts throughout the speech, knowing how badly it looks on camera.  Greene doesn’t have a clue how badly it reflects on the GOP that she can’t control her outbursts in front of a national TV audience.

About the Author  

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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Pink Floyd Speaks to Security Council

LOS ANGELES (OnlineColumnist.com), Feb. 8, 2023.==Speaking to the U.N. Security Council at Russia’s request, Pink Floyd’s 79-year-old founder Roger Waters dared to tell the truth about the Ukraine War.  Waters admitted the Russian invasion was illegal but said it was “provoked.”  From the outset of the war Feb. 24, 2022, 80-year-old President Joe Biden and all the Western allies, called the invasion “unprovoked” and “unjustified,” repeating the same mantra until they actually believed their own propaganda.  No one denies that invading a sovereign nation is illegal but the idea that it was “unprovoked” or “unjustified” is a matter of subjectivity.  President Vladimir Putin, 70, asked Biden for at least four months to sit down and renegotiate new security arrangement for Ukraine. Biden told Putin his ideas were all “non-starters,” prompting Putin to invoke his “special military operation,” designed to “demilitarize” and “de-Nazify” Ukraine.

Putin objected in the strongest possible terms Biden’s decision to arm Ukraine since taking office Jan. 20, 2021.  Biden recalls as former President Barack Obama’s Vice President letting Putin, without resistance, seize the Crimean Peninsula March 1, 2014.  Western governments don’t acknowledge a Feb. 22, 2014 CIA-backed, pro-Western Coup toppled the Kiev government of Kremlin-backed Viktor Yanukovych.  Once Kiev fell to pro-Western forces, Putin seized Crimea to protect his Sevastopol naval base, home to Russia’s warm water fleet.  Western powers led by the Obama State Department did nothing to mobilize military support for Ukraine in 2014.  After Putin annexed Crimea, Ukrainian troops, under 57-year-old former Ukraine President Petro Poloshenko, battled Russian forces for control over Donetsk and Luhank, two Russian-speaking separatist provinces in Donbas.

Waters wanted the Security Council to know that the Feb. 24, 2022 invasion was not “unprovoked” as Western powers insist, asking for a ceasefire at the earliest possible time. “He’s lucky to be in New York, in a free country, speak his mind, say whatever he likes, including about Russian aggression and how wrong that is.  If he had been in Russia, with what he said, he might have been in custody by now,” Albania’s U.N. Amb. Ferit Hoxha told the 16-member Security Council.  Russia’s Deputy U.N. Amb. Dmitry Polyanky rejected Hoxha’s statements, saying Russia respected freedom of speech.  Waters argued against sending more weapons to Ukraine, asking for an immediate ceasefire.  Waters, like many other European diplomats, sees only more destruction and bloodshed in Ukraine from supplying Kiev more weapons. Ukraine’s 44-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky shows no interest in peace talks.

Waters’ position to move the conflict from the battlefield to the peace table is the only logical plan for the Ukraine War.  Every time anyone in the Biden White House says there’s no military solution in Ukraine, they’re silenced, including 64-year-old Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Miley.  Miley said weeks ago that there’s no military solution to the Ukraine War, only a political one.  Even 52-year-old Director of National Intelligence Avil Haines said last week that the Ukraine War was close to a stalemate.  Biden and Zelensky operate under the plan that more lethal weapons can drive the Russian Federation from Ukraine’s sovereign territory.  So far, whatever the weapons given to Kiev, Zelensky has lost ground, losing more sovereign territory, while Russia destroys more of Ukraine’s infrastructure.  Waters has the courage to ask the Security Council to work on a ceasefire.

Deputy U.S. Amb. to the United Nations, Richard Mills, recognized Waters’ accomplishments as a “recording artist,” but questioned his credentials to speak on European security issues.  Does Mills think Gen. Mark Miley, who said there’s only a political solution in Ukraine, has the experience to speak on European Security?  Biden officials find any excuse to discredit anyone trying to give peace a chance in Ukraine.  Waters has every right to give his opinion on the Ukraine War.  White House officials have only made excuses why they should continue the proxy war using Ukrainian troops to battle the Russian Federation.  Does Mills really think the current state of U.S.-Russian relations helps world peace?  Waters wants to state for the record that the Ukraine war was not “unprovoked.”  Even Pope Francis, soon after the war began, said the NATO most likely pushed Putin into invading Ukraine.  Does Mills think Pope Francis isn’t entitled to an opinion?

Biden and Zelensky don’t like hearing anyone question their plan in Ukraine to defeat the Russian Federation.  Both complain daily about Russian war atrocities but they’re unwilling to let U.N. peacekeepers end the conflict.  When private citizens like Waters share opinions, the White House and Kiev find a way to discredit them.  “How sad for the former fans to see him accepting the role of just a brick in the wall—the wall of Russian disinformation and propaganda,” said Ukraine’s Amb. Sergiy Kyslysaya, mocking Pink Floyd’s song “Another brick in the wall.”  When the White House silences Gen. Mark Miley and Avril Haines, it shows the extreme position on the Ukraine War.  U.S., European or citizens of the world have aright to ask for world peace.  “The only sensible course of action today is to call for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine,” Waters said, willing to take the heat.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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Huckabee Sanders Gives GOP Response

LOS ANGELES (OnlineColumnist.com), Feb. 8, 2023.--President Joe Biden, 80, delivered a clever State-of-the-Union speech Feb. 7, working the joint session of Congress like skilled impresario at a three-ring circus.  For anyone listening, Biden exceeded all expectations reading short lines on his teleprompter often mangling words or grammar but nothing really mattered.  Biden showed, beyond any of former President Donald Trump’s descriptions of Biden’s impaired, that he knows how to throw red meat to an audience.  Biden benefited from a brilliantly written speech, allowing the president to play folksy Uncle Joe to a largely receptive audience.  Whatever outbursts took place by Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), Biden’s State-of-the-Union was a campaign speech, in effect, announcing that he’s running for reelection in 2024.  Nothing in Biden’s speech delivered any factual accuracy, only a self-congratulatory personal sales job.

If you listened to Biden, the U.S. economy and foreign policy have never been better, touting U.S. alliances overseas to battle the evil 70-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin.  Biden didn’t admit how the U.S. proxy war, using Ukrainian troops, has fueled the worst inflation in 40 years, all because Ukraine defends European democracy against an existential threat from Putin.  Much of Biden’s speech was a hodgepodge of platitudes, far from even the most partisan reality.  Biden said that backing Ukraine helped save European democracy, the same malarkey said by Ukraine’s 44-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky to a joint session of Congress Dec. 21, 2022 that Ukraine was not a charity case but an investment in preserving democracy.  Biden said the same rubbish knowing that Ukraine’s war-torn, bankrupt government only fights for its own survival, certainly not Europe’s.

Delivering the GOP rebuttal, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders went over the deep end talking about Biden pandering to “the woke mob.”  Whether that’s true or not, ordinary voters, those tuning into the State-of-the-Union, don’t know what she’s talking about.  “Whether Joe Biden believes this madness or is simply too weak to resist it, his administration has been completely hijacked by the radical left,” a fashionable term in conservative circles.  Most voters want to know what the GOP plans to do to fix the ailing U.S. economy.  What, if anything, the GOP plans to do about the proxy war in Ukraine against the Russian Federation.  How the White House plans to stop a war with China over Taiwan or some other useless dispute.  “Everyday, we are told that we must partake in their rituals, salute their flags and worship their false idols,” Huckabee Sanders told a largely bewildered audience. Uncle Joe spoke to the working class voters, looking for government to bail them out of their financial woes due to runaway inflation and economic problems.  Huckabee Sanders grossly missed an effective rejoinder to Biden’s utter nonsense, delivering his announcement that he’s running for reelection in 2024.  “Americans want common sense for their leaders, but in Washington, the Biden administration is doubling down on crazy,” Huckabee said.  Huckabee tried to say Biden squandered the prosperity and peace of the Trump administration but, somehow, got lost in translation.  When 58-year-old  House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) kept telling Greene to pipe down, what kind of message did that send about “crazy?”  Huckabee-Sanders had the perfect chance to call Biden out on his nonsense about the economy and foreign policy, when the U.S. is in the worst place in decades.

Huckabee-Sanders talked about Biden’s failure on the border, violent crime, while Democrats ask to de-fund the police, all because African American lobbying groups have a stranglehold on the Democrat Party.  “Despite Democrats’ trillions in reckless spending and mountains of debt, we now have the worst border crisis in American history,” Huckabee-Sanders told her audience.  Instead of offering propose GOP fixes, Huckabee-Sanders on complained about what’s not going right.  Most voters like Biden’s profligate government spending because they benefit from more outlays of cash.  Instead of going after Biden’s disastrous foreign policy, Huckabee-Sanders highlighted how Democrats and Republicans are on the same page when it comes to Ukraine. Only former President Donald Trump, 76, has had the guts to question Biden’s proxy war in Ukraine, telling the public the war must stop.

Biden played Uncle Joe, working the crowd like circus impresario, selling the American public a bill of goods.  Trump was dead wrong about Biden’s cognitive deficits, proving he can work a crowd like the best of him.  Watching Joe laugh when he accused the GOP of trying to gut Social Security and Medicare, shows that Joe knows how to gaslight the crowd.  Joe managed to get applause from both sides of the aisle, even from McCarthy, who, like other Republicans, have fallen into the Ukraine trap.  Biden has no plan in Ukraine other than a perpetual blank check, pouring billions in tax dollars down a rat hole.  Huckabee-Sanders talks about the “woke mob,” but she doesn’t call Joe out on his reckless foreign policy that has the U.S. dangerously close to WW III, possibly nuclear War.  Where’s the GOP when it comes to Biden’s abysmal relations with Russia and China?

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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Biden’s State of the Union Speech

LOS ANGELES (OnlineColumnist.com), Feb. 7, 2023.--President Joe Biden, 80, faces a joint-session of Congress tonight to deliver his second State-of-the-Union Speech, without a Democrat-controlled House.  Instead of 82-year-old House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) sitting behind him, 58-year-old newly minted House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) will get the honor next to Vice President Kamala Harris.  Biden will focus on recent jobs gains that prompted 75-year-old Treasury Secretary Jane Yellin to say there’s no recession with the nation’s record unemployment rate.  At the same time, Biden faces debt-ceiling negotiations with Republicans hell-bent on driving down federal spending and the $31.4 trillion national debt, leaving GOP lawmakers to pressure Biden to find cuts.  Biden promises to whip Republicans into submission, saying an U.S. government default would only damage the U.S. economy.

Biden has been avoiding the 900-pound gorilla about funding the Ukraine government and war.  Growing numbers of Republicans are growing skeptical of the blank check, over $60 billion, Biden has given the Ukraine government to fund the government and proxy war against the Russian Federation.  Biden has not admitted the drag the Ukraine War puts on the U.S. economy, only talking about defending democracy in Europe. When Ukraine’s 44-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed a joint session of Congress Dec. 21, 2022 he told elected officials that Ukraine is not a charity case but an investment in protecting democracy in Europe.  Imagine that, Zelensky sold U.S. lawmakers on believing his bankrupt Kiev government, requiring 100% foreign aid to run his government, promised to protect democracy in Europe.  What happened to NATO’s role in defending Western democracies?

Biden has enjoyed a loud contingent of GOP lawmakers, led by 68-year-old Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who’ve given him support to fund his proxy war using Ukrainian troops against the Kremlin.  But the real question arises now how long can Biden afford to throw his economy into reverse funding another costly foreign war? Biden and his past boss former President Barack Obama, spent billions funding a proxy war in Syria trying tying to take down Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.  Only when 70-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin joined the fight to protect al-Assad, were Obama and Biden’s plans foiled in Syria.  Twelve years later, Biden decides to give Ukraine a blank check to fund a proxy war against the Kremlin.  Biden hasn’t acknowledged that his Russian oil embargo and proxy war in Ukraine fueled the worst inflation in 40 years, something he won’t mention tonight.

If Biden brings anyone to the State-of-the-Union speech, look for a Ukrainian refugee that fled Russian oppression to make a better life in the states.  Biden surely won’t admit his Ukraine proxy has destabilized world energy markets, fueling today’s runaway inflation.  Whatever the Federal Reserve Board does to hike interest rates, it harms ordinary consumers already suffering with high inflation, unable to make ends meet.  Biden can tout the diminished role Covid-19 plays in American life, highlighting his government’s work in making vaccines and new anti-viral treatments available to American consumers.  Look for Biden to take credit for beating the Covid-19 global pandemic and getting the U.S. economy back on tracking.  Citing recent jobs data, Biden can boast about some 15 million jobs created under his watch in the last two years of his administration.

Biden and his Vice President Kamala Harris were notorious in 2020 for laying all the blame for Covid-19 at Trump’s feet.  Trump was never given credit for pushing vaccine makers into coming up with a vaccine in record time.  Pfizer released its first vaccine only one week after the Nov. 3, 2020 presidential election.  Biden and Harris said they would never trust a vaccine developed under Trump.  Biden and Harris readily pushed the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines as soon as they came out.  Biden wants to push Republicans to pass a continuing budget resolution to raise the debt ceiling to keep government functioning at leas for the next six months.  Republicans hoped they could win concessions on cutting government spending, something Biden has refused to do.  But with the GOP in control of the House, Biden will be forced to scale back at least some of his discretionary spending.

Biden isn’t likely at tonight’s State-of-the-Union Speech to acknowledge how his Ukraine proxy war has gutted the federal budget and added to the inflationary cycle causing hardship to American consumers.  Highlighting the record low unemployment, Biden hopes to push the GOP to agree to his terms to increase the debt ceiling. Biden won’t admit that he needs to mend fences with China after shooting down a spy balloon that crossed the continental U.S. before shot down near Myrtle Beach, S.C.  Biden’s track record on foreign policy has left the U.S. with the worst U.S.-Russian and U.S. Chinese relations in decades, returning the U.S. to Cold War.  Biden won’t spend any time leveling with the public about the abysmal foreign relations, especially with U.S. adversaries.  Look to Biden to milk every applause line possible with Republicans looking stone-faced across the aisle.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global new. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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Balloon Shoot Down Humiliates China

LOS ANGELES (ONlineColumnist.com), Feb. 7, 2023.--Fallout from the Feb. 4 shoot-down of a Chinese spy craft over Myrtle Beach, South Carolina generated an angry response of the Chinese Communist Party [CCP].  Vice Chinese Foreign Minister Xie Feng said he filed a formal complaint with the U.S. Amb. in Beijing, accusing the U.S. of “indiscriminate aggression.” Puncturing China’s orb-like spy balloon prompted strong objections from the Peoples Republic of China. “However, the United States turned a deaf ear and insisted on indiscriminate use of force against the civilian airship that was about to leave the United State airspace, obviously overreacted and seriously violated the spirit of international law and international practice,” Xie said, turning the balloon incident inside out.  China violated U.S. sovereignty sending a spy balloon to travel from Idaho, Montana across the U.S. to the Atlantic Carolina Coast.

China has way of accusing other countries of violating its sovereignty, just like it did when it decided over the last 10 years to build military installations on sandbars in against international law in the South China Sea.  Yet when China sends a spycraft, insisting it was a harmless weather balloon into U.S. air space it’s no big deal, insisting the U.S. used “indiscriminate force.”  President Joe Biden, 80, waited six days, letting the spy balloon collect whatever data it picked up flying at 60,000 feet over U.S. nuclear air bases from Montana over the east coast. Whatever Feng thinks the U.S. did to China shooting down its spy balloon, elected officials think China did far worse.  Secretary of State Antony Blinken, 60, cancelled his scheduled trip to Beijing to try to mend fences on a number of disputed issues.  Blinken’s trip could take months, if ever, to start to improve U.S.-Chinese relations.

Xie claims the Chinese weather balloon threatened no one, only veered off course into U.S. air space when the Jet Stream with its prevailing trade winds sent the balloon off course into U.S. sovereign territory.  “An accidental incident caused by force majeure or an act of nature.  No one at the Pentagon buys Xie’s explanation that the balloon was collecting innocent atmospheric data.  All military analysts believe, as in the past, the Chinese balloon tried to collect data not available to China’s space-based spy satellite network.  “What the U.S. has done has seriously impacted and damaged both sides’ efforts and progress in stabilizing Sino-U.S. relations since the Bali meeting,” Xie said, referring to attempts at the sidelines of the G20 meeting by Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping to improve bilateral relations.  U.S.-Chinese relations have deteriorated to near all-time lows.

When 82-year-old House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan Aug. 4, 2022 over Beijing’s objections, China said the act nearly severed U.S.-China diplomatic ties.  Pelosi told China that Beijing does not set her travel itinerary to a friendly ally.  Beijing objects in the strongest possible terms to the U.S. maintaining any informal ties to the Republic of China, a democratic outpost of former Chinese nationalists led by Gen. Chaing Kai-Shek to the Island of Formosa in 1949 the Maoist Revolution.  Ever since then, Beijing knows that the U.S. defended Taiwan’s right to freedom from Mainland China.  Only recently has Beijing made an issue of Communist dominion over the independent nation-state.  Taiwan officials defend their right to freedom from Beiijing in the strongest possible terms.  Beijing objects strongly to the U.S. supplying Taiwan with offensive and defensive weapons.

So, when Xie talks about the U.S. indiscriminate aggression against a peaceful weather balloon, it pales in comparison to Beijing’s objections over U.S. military support of Taipei.  Biden infuriated Chinese President Xi Jinping Sept. 23, 2022 telling the press he would defend Taiwan with U.S. troops, in effect, violating the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act.  When it comes to the balloon, it only has symbolic value to the Chinese with everything else going on in U.S.-Chinese relations.  Beijing doesn’t like being lectured by the sanctimonious Biden White House about human rights abuses.  Senior Chinese diplomat Wang Li told 60-year-old Secretary of State Antony Blinken to stop lecturing Beijing about Muslim Uyghurs when the U.S. government once enslaved and now discriminates against African Americans.  If Blinken gets to meet with Wang Li again, he’d better park the vitriol at the door.

Getting U.S.-Chinese relations back on track won’t be easy for the Biden White House that fights a proxy war in Ukraine with the Kremlin and threatens war with China over Taiwan.  Shooting down an inconsequential balloon displays American machismo but doesn’t change the litany of disagreement with Communist China.  Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mao Ning said the U.S. grossly overreacted to a harmless weather balloon.  “We have stated that this is completely an isolated and accidental incident cause by force majeure, but the U.S. still hyped up the incident on purpose and even used force to attack,” Mao said.  “This is an unacceptable and irresponsible action,” putting the blame on the White House.  Mao said she’d like to see the U.S. stop in surveillance flights and patrol warships in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.