Biden Mumbles Statement on Ukraine

 

No one expects a Biden statement to build confidence on the homefront or inspire fear in our enemies. So we shouldn’t be surprised the president’s brief presser on Friday was an hour late and won’t change much between Russia and Ukraine.

The only news was the president saying he is now convinced Putin plans to invade his smaller neighbor. “Ashuhv hiss momen ahm covissed he’s made uh deshishan,” Biden mumbled, but stressed the Russian leader can choose diplomacy any time he wants. (Or, “dipomacy aways possumility” in Biden-speak.)

Russia was likely behind a massive cyberattack on Ukraine earlier this week, a typical pre-invasion move. Putin has 169,000-190,000 troops in or near Ukraine and in the past two days has blamed several “attacks” in the Donbas region on Ukrainian troops. False-flag ops are often used as a pretext for war, especially in Russian military history.

Vice President Kamala Harris is currently in Munich for Saturday peace talks and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is scheduled to attend. Many US and NATO officials, along with several Ukraine politicians, are urging him to remain in his own country due to the worsening situation.

All indications point to a Russian invasion any day now. In essence, a replay of the seizure of Crimea when Biden was vice president.

Published in Foreign Policy, Military, Politics
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  1. Jimmy Carter Member
    Jimmy Carter
    @JimmyCarter

    • #1
  2. Franco Member
    Franco
    @Franco

    Jon Gabriel, Ed.: All indications point to a Russian invasion any day now. In essence, a replay of the seizure of Crimea when Biden was vice president.

    Says who? Where do you get your information, Jon? 

    Hey, it could be true, but I can’t see how anyone – anyone – can argue at this point that our intel agencies and media aren’t lying to us like they’ve lied before. Is it true this time?

     

    Jon Gabriel, Ed.:

    Russia was likely behind a massive cyberattack on Ukraine earlier this week, a typical pre-invasion move. Putin has 169,000-190,000 troops in or near Ukraine and in the past two days has blamed several “attacks” in the Donbas region on Ukrainian troops. False-flag ops are often used as a pretext for war, especially in Russian military history.

     

    However suggesting our own FBI engages in the same behavior domestically(!) is considered a conspiracy theory, right? Because we would never do anything like that. The FBI and the CIA and other (15?) intel agencies remain entirely uncorrupted, despite recent revelations to the contrary. 

     

     

    • #2
  3. Jim McConnell Member
    Jim McConnell
    @JimMcConnell

    That would be humorous if it weren’t for the fact that Joe Biden is the President of the United States. That makes it very worrisome; to me, at least.

    • #3
  4. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    If he can get through a public statement without reminiscing on Cornpop or his days as a truck driver, it’s a win.

    • #4
  5. Skyler Coolidge
    Skyler
    @Skyler

    It’s funny how so many people said that Trump was the worst thing to ever happen to the office of president.  Even were that true, the democrats proved again that they will sink lower than you could ever expect.  

    If you’re going to throw an election, you might as well do it for someone with a good act.

    • #5
  6. DrewInWisconsin, Oik Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Oik
    @DrewInWisconsin

    Franco (View Comment):
    Hey, it could be true, but I can’t see how anyone – anyone – can argue at this point that our intel agencies and media aren’t lying to us like they’ve lied before. Is it true this time?

    Yeah, . . . it’s kind of a shame they threw their reputations in a pile and lit them on fire because they hated the Orange Man so much.

    Regardless of what you think of Trump, we should thank him for revealing the perfidy of our intelligence agencies, . . . and pretty much every other bureaucracy in Washington.

    • #6
  7. Franco Member
    Franco
    @Franco

    DrewInWisconsin, Oik (View Comment):

    Franco (View Comment):
    Hey, it could be true, but I can’t see how anyone – anyone – can argue at this point that our intel agencies and media aren’t lying to us like they’ve lied before. Is it true this time?

    Yeah, . . . it’s kind of a shame they threw their reputations in a pile and lit them on fire because they hated the Orange Man so much.

    Regardless of what you think of Trump, we should thank him for revealing the perfidy of our intelligence agencies, . . . and pretty much every other bureaucracy in Washington.

    Honestly Drew, I can’t imagine how opinion pundits can even pretend to have any knowledge of anything  anymore.

    Biden mumbles something is the headline. So because he mumbles we are supposed to think things might get dicey? Yeah, we know he’s incompetent. We’ve known it for years now. 

    Or is it that maybe, the fact Biden is even in office – was nominated and shoe-horned into the nomination by Democrats – and our media is feeding us disinformation daily might be the larger problem?

    But no. It’s focusing on how we are in the hands of an incompetent.

    Jon, consider that this is all under control and proceeding wonderfully according to their plan.

    Biden is the distraction.

    Now, I only question whether he knows it or not.

     

    • #7
  8. DrewInWisconsin, Oik Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Oik
    @DrewInWisconsin

    I honestly have a hard time caring about what happens in (or to) Ukraine while America is rapidly becoming a tyrannical dictatorship. (To say nothing of America’s hat.)

     

    • #8
  9. Franco Member
    Franco
    @Franco

    DrewInWisconsin, Oik (View Comment):

    I honestly have a hard time caring about what happens in (or to) Ukraine while America is rapidly becoming a tyrannical dictatorship. (To say nothing of America’s hat.)

     

    It’s typical of the GOPe (which Jon may or may not be a member). They care about borders (in other countries) they care about freedom (everywhere else excluding Canada ) and our pundits and journos  expose tyranny (everywhere else). 

    • #9
  10. Manny Coolidge
    Manny
    @Manny

    May I ask?  Where is the Russian Orthodox Church in this Ukraine invasion?  Have they made a statement?  Are they supporting Putin and the invasion or are they against it?  They have an obligation to make a statement concerning the morality of this action, whether supportive of Putin or against. I have not seen anything from the Russian Church. 

    • #10
  11. MWD B612 "Dawg" Member
    MWD B612 "Dawg"
    @danok1

    Franco (View Comment):
    Hey, it could be true, but I can’t see how anyone – anyone – can argue at this point that our intel agencies and media aren’t lying to us like they’ve lied before. Is it true this time?

    As I’ve said elsewhere, I can’t recall a single major event the “intelligence” services have called correctly in my lifetime. They’ve missed everything.

    And remember, these are essentially the same agencies that told us in 1989 that the Eastern Bloc economies were fairly strong.

    • #11
  12. Jon Gabriel, Ed. Contributor
    Jon Gabriel, Ed.
    @jon

    Franco (View Comment):

    Jon Gabriel, Ed.: All indications point to a Russian invasion any day now. In essence, a replay of the seizure of Crimea when Biden was vice president.

    Says who? Where do you get your information, Jon?

    Hey, it could be true, but I can’t see how anyone – anyone – can argue at this point that our intel agencies and media aren’t lying to us like they’ve lied before. Is it true this time?

    Says me. I wrote the post. Also, I expect our intel agencies and media to lie to us, which is why I follow lots of independent, “open-source” intel sites.

    Jon Gabriel, Ed.:

    Russia was likely behind a massive cyberattack on Ukraine earlier this week, a typical pre-invasion move. Putin has 169,000-190,000 troops in or near Ukraine and in the past two days has blamed several “attacks” in the Donbas region on Ukrainian troops. False-flag ops are often used as a pretext for war, especially in Russian military history.

    However suggesting our own FBI engages in the same behavior domestically(!) is considered a conspiracy theory, right? Because we would never do anything like that. The FBI and the CIA and other (15?) intel agencies remain entirely uncorrupted, despite recent revelations to the contrary.

    The FBI and CIA have behaved the same. And false-flag pretext is a very traditional strategy by the Russian military going well past the Soviet era and through the czars. They have employed it throughout their history.

    • #12
  13. DaveSchmidt Coolidge
    DaveSchmidt
    @DaveSchmidt

    Percival (View Comment):

    If he can get through a public statement without reminiscing on Cornpop or his days as a truck driver, it’s a win.

    If Biden repeats the yarn about his days as a lifeguard then we are in big trouble.

    Dr. Jill, call your office.

    • #13
  14. Jon Gabriel, Ed. Contributor
    Jon Gabriel, Ed.
    @jon

    Franco (View Comment):

    DrewInWisconsin, Oik (View Comment):

    I honestly have a hard time caring about what happens in (or to) Ukraine while America is rapidly becoming a tyrannical dictatorship. (To say nothing of America’s hat.)

     

    It’s typical of the GOPe (which Jon may or may not be a member). They care about borders (in other countries) they care about freedom (everywhere else excluding Canada ) and our pundits and journos expose tyranny (everywhere else).

    I’m not GOP, let alone GOPe. I care a great deal about geopolitics and military matters as I always have, and comment extensively on Russia, Ukraine, and the authoritarianism in Canada. And living in Arizona, I care a great deal about securing our border, thank you.

    • #14
  15. Jon Gabriel, Ed. Contributor
    Jon Gabriel, Ed.
    @jon

    Manny (View Comment):

    May I ask? Where is the Russian Orthodox Church in this Ukraine invasion? Have they made a statement? Are they supporting Putin and the invasion or are they against it? They have an obligation to make a statement concerning the morality of this action, whether supportive of Putin or against. I have not seen anything from the Russian Church.

    I haven’t seen any comments by them.

    • #15
  16. DaveSchmidt Coolidge
    DaveSchmidt
    @DaveSchmidt

    Kamala Harris in Munich, what possibly could go wrong?

    • #16
  17. Franco Member
    Franco
    @Franco

    Jon Gabriel, Ed. (View Comment):

    Franco (View Comment):

    DrewInWisconsin, Oik (View Comment):

    I honestly have a hard time caring about what happens in (or to) Ukraine while America is rapidly becoming a tyrannical dictatorship. (To say nothing of America’s hat.)

     

    It’s typical of the GOPe (which Jon may or may not be a member). They care about borders (in other countries) they care about freedom (everywhere else excluding Canada ) and our pundits and journos expose tyranny (everywhere else).

    I’m not GOP, let alone GOPe. I care a great deal about geopolitics and military matters as I always have, and comment extensively on Russia, Ukraine, and the authoritarianism in Canada. And living in Arizona, I care a great deal about securing our border, thank you.

    Thank you for this comment, and I honestly don’t know where anyone is really ‘coming from’ hence my probing. In this world of crude labels we all must suffer through, but otherwise we then can refine as Ricochet is a great forum to flesh-out.

    I suppose I’m commenting on the focus, in the fundamental sense that we have much to deal with on the domestic front.

    As to Ukraine – US relations, There are factors involved, channels of connection, many financial, with a history of lending a country US money and then requiring them as a condition to hire their political operatives as a method of payment.  We wage workers took a while to see the new pattern. That the system was rigged so that you just got paid a lot of money after you left your position. What a concept! 

    You get a giant book deal for a tome few buy and clearly loses money for the publishing companies, which are owned coincidentally by giant media corporations. That’s just one channel.

     

    There are several nefarious actors and  sub-groups, including legitimately armed Neo-nazis by anyone’s definition fighting the Russians. It is beyond complicated. 

    Please share your sources in your posts for reference. You get your information from somewhere like the rest of us. But it’s hard to care about these disputes at this point. So soon after the Afghanistan debacle. I do not want to be involved in this. At all. Not with this administration, our corrupt and politically charged intel We must question what we ourselves know by open conversation rather than act like these strange diversions are legitimate. 

     

     

    • #17
  18. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    Manny (View Comment):

    May I ask? Where is the Russian Orthodox Church in this Ukraine invasion? Have they made a statement? Are they supporting Putin and the invasion or are they against it? They have an obligation to make a statement concerning the morality of this action, whether supportive of Putin or against. I have not seen anything from the Russian Church.

    I’m pretty sure they want the Ukrainian Uniate church back. 

    • #18
  19. Instugator Thatcher
    Instugator
    @Instugator

    My assessment is that it will happen right after the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics.

    • #19
  20. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    Whether or not Russia invades Ukraine is not the important thing. The important thing is whether Putin gets a Ukrainian government that is to his liking. An invasion is just one way to accomplish that. The threat of invasion can work, too.

    • #20
  21. BDB Inactive
    BDB
    @BDB

    Jon Gabriel, Ed.: Vice President Kamala Harris is currently in Munich for Saturday peace talks and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is scheduled to attend. Many US and NATO officials, along with several Ukraine politicians, are urging him to remain in his own country due to the worsening situation.

    There is so much wrong even just in this.

    I thought the Munich memes were a JOKE.  Has nobody an ear for this?

    VP Harris.  ’nuff said.  HANH HANH HANH — I’m speakinh…

    VP Harris vs whom?  Putin!  BWaahaahaaaaa!  Well, when your only tool is a Biden, every problem looks like a pocalypse.

    Oh, and having the leader of the ACTUAL country in question not attend at the urging of his what, parents?  If that conference goes and he doesn;t attend, he should be turned out of office.  I mean who’s in charge?  Oh, that’s right — the Big Guy, father of the bagman, or at least the crowd who operate his limbs.  SON OF A BITCH, THEY FIRED HIM HAW HAW HAW.

    I no longer even have an opinion.  Obviously Russia is making trouble.  How and why — that is the mechanism for this to deliver desired results — eludes me unless it’s just so obvious.  Russia wants what, concessions?  Territory?  Russo-Slavic nationhood increasingly reified in nation-state borders?  Dachas by the beach? An Easement to Sevastopol bases?  Is it just a probe?  An economic cattle-prod?  <– I had rejected this before — I’m warming up to it.

    Somebody *reportedly* put some artillery shells into two schools.  The one thing that makes no sense is if Russia did exactly that on purpose.  Hard to do on accident.  So it seems to me that either those schools were operating in another capacity, or it wasn’t the Russians.  Or maybe it *was* the Russians, playing an even smarter game of guess-the-flag.

    At this point, I hardly believe a single thing that comes out of this.  I’ll believe that when Bernard Shaw hides under a desk, something is scaring him.  Not a bad idea.  But I won;t believe anybody’s assessment of what’s actually going on until later.

    This whole thing is becoming a Gish gallop, appropriately enough, of horsepoop.  I certainly cannot keep up.

     

    • #21
  22. Instugator Thatcher
    Instugator
    @Instugator

    So, when I was deployed last I came across an interesting tool to show me what is happening in an area I cared about.

    It is called LiveUAMap and it shows activity almost as it occurs.

    Look at Canada.liveuamap.com

    Or Ukraine.liveuamap.com to see the extent of activities.

     

     

     

     

     

    • #22
  23. Jim McConnell Member
    Jim McConnell
    @JimMcConnell

    Instugator (View Comment):

    So, when I was deployed last I came across an interesting tool to show me what is happening in an area I cared about.

    It is called LiveUAMap and it shows activity almost as it occurs.

    Look at Canada.liveuamap.com

    Or Ukraine.liveuamap.com to see the extent of activities.

     

     

     

     

     

    Thanks for the sources.

    • #23
  24. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    Instugator (View Comment):

    So, when I was deployed last I came across an interesting tool to show me what is happening in an area I cared about.

    It is called LiveUAMap and it shows activity almost as it occurs.

    Look at Canada.liveuamap.com

    Or Ukraine.liveuamap.com to see the extent of activities.

    Thanks!

    • #24
  25. Jon Gabriel, Ed. Contributor
    Jon Gabriel, Ed.
    @jon

    Franco (View Comment):

    There are several nefarious actors and  sub-groups, including legitimately armed Neo-nazis by anyone’s definition fighting the Russians. It is beyond complicated. 

    Please share your sources in your posts for reference. You get your information from somewhere like the rest of us. But it’s hard to care about these disputes at this point. So soon after the Afghanistan debacle. I do not want to be involved in this. At all. Not with this administration, our corrupt and politically charged intel We must question what we ourselves know by open conversation rather than act like these strange diversions are legitimate. 

    I’ve been following so many intel accounts online, but a good aggregator is ELINT which compiles detailed geolocation and satellite shots of troop movements. And I TOTALLY agree with you, Franco, that the US should not, never, nuh-uh, no way, jump into this mess. My podcast ~3 weeks ago features Gray Connolly and we were in complete agreement on that point. Ukraine and Russia have a 1,000-year history and this fight has to do with that history and not the US or NATO. In my view, NATO should have been disbanded once the Soviet Union collapsed. Barring that, we shouldn’t have moved any further east than Poland. All NATO’s meddling in the east makes war more likely, not less.

    Another point: If Putin disappeared tomorrow, nearly any leader who replaced him would be doing the same thing. Again, this isn’t about DC or the US, but about Russia and Ukraine.

    • #25
  26. BDB Inactive
    BDB
    @BDB

    Jon Gabriel, Ed. (View Comment):

    Franco (View Comment):

    There are several nefarious actors and sub-groups, including legitimately armed Neo-nazis by anyone’s definition fighting the Russians. It is beyond complicated.

    Please share your sources in your posts for reference. You get your information from somewhere like the rest of us. But it’s hard to care about these disputes at this point. So soon after the Afghanistan debacle. I do not want to be involved in this. At all. Not with this administration, our corrupt and politically charged intel We must question what we ourselves know by open conversation rather than act like these strange diversions are legitimate.

    I’ve been following so many intel accounts online, but a good aggregator is ELINT which compiles detailed geolocation and satellite shots of troop movements. And I TOTALLY agree with you, Franco, that the US should not, never, nuh-uh, no way, jump into this mess. My podcast ~3 weeks ago features Gray Connolly and we were in complete agreement on that point. Ukraine and Russia have a 1,000-year history and this fight has to do with that history and not the US or NATO. In my view, NATO should have been disbanded once the Soviet Union collapsed. Barring that, we shouldn’t have moved any further east than Poland. All NATO’s meddling in the east makes war more likely, not less.

    Another point: If Putin disappeared tomorrow, nearly any leader who replaced him would be doing the same thing. Again, this isn’t about DC or the US, but about Russia and Ukraine.

    And we are out of the business of winning anything anywhere until we win our fight to free our own country.  QED.

    • #26
  27. Skyler Coolidge
    Skyler
    @Skyler

    Jon Gabriel, Ed. (View Comment):
    And I TOTALLY agree with you, Franco, that the US should not, never, nuh-uh, no way, jump into this mess.

    I don’t disagree, but I’m betting the Ukraine is REALLY wishing that they didn’t trust us by giving up their nukes with assurances that we’d take care of them.

    The lesson is, never cede power willingly.

    • #27
  28. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    Instugator (View Comment):

    So, when I was deployed last I came across an interesting tool to show me what is happening in an area I cared about.

    It is called LiveUAMap and it shows activity almost as it occurs.

    Look at Canada.liveuamap.com

    Or Ukraine.liveuamap.com to see the extent of activities.

     

     

     

     

     

    That is pretty cool.

    • #28
  29. Bryan G. Stephens Thatcher
    Bryan G. Stephens
    @BryanGStephens

    Jon Gabriel, Ed. (View Comment):
    Another point: If Putin disappeared tomorrow, nearly any leader who replaced him would be doing the same thing. Again, this isn’t about DC or the US, but about Russia and Ukraine.

    Yes.

    We really can’t do much .

    • #29
  30. Front Seat Cat Member
    Front Seat Cat
    @FrontSeatCat

    “Vice President Kamala Harris is currently in Munich for Saturday peace talks and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is scheduled to attend. Many US and NATO officials, along with several Ukraine politicians, are urging him to remain in his own country due to the worsening situation.”     

    I have full confidence that Kamala Harris will work wonders as our representative in Munich – she has done an amazing job on her other assignments as VP, like border control and illegal immigration, and let’s see…..what else was she put in charge of…..it was something big and she did a great job there too, so great it slipped my mind, as well as her crime record in San Francisco.  What a safe and thriving city it is now thanks to her.  Yes we are in good hands….

    • #30
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