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Things That Make Me Say “Hmm…”
Dots that need connecting, and things that make me say, “Hmm…”
1) The seeming overreaction to Trump 45 asking about Biden’s possibly corrupt involvement in Ukraine (i.e., Shrieking followed by impeachment).
2) Hunter Biden’s gravy train in Ukraine.
3) Weirdly reckless continual escalation of the war in Ukraine by Biden, et al.
4) All the missing money sent to Ukraine.
5) Trump 47 calling for new elections.
6) Trump 47 treating Zelensky like a serious problem.
7) Trump 47 negotiating with Russia without (apparently) consulting with Zelensky.
I have no idea what to think about any of these things, but something about it all doesn’t add up. Everyone is starting to scream about the Trump administration’s negotiations with Russia and suggesting it’s unheard of; it’s improper; etc.
I think it’s probably safe to assume that everyone at the level of Trump/Putin/Zelensky knows more about the real causes and pressure points in the Ukraine War than the rest of us. I’ve seen this at a mini scale just in medium-sized businesses, where all the employees think they know things, but they really have no idea what the CEO is informed about and dealing with. That has to be true in this situation and by many multiples over. Everyone is focused on the negotiations, but those negotiations are happening in a context — downstream from specific events. So why is almost no one talking about the context?
What is going on, exactly?
I have a theory. Total wild speculation. It may not be original to me. It goes like this:
What if Ukraine/Zelensky has some kind of information on the Bidens that totally compromised them? That’s not such a wild idea given the known history of the relationship. What if the left’s overreaction to Trump 45 nosing around is because this is widely known in some circles? And what if Ukraine used that compromising information as leverage over Biden during his time in office?
What if many of the people in Ukraine and Russia who died, ultimately died because Zelensky/Ukraine had something they were holding over Biden’s head? What if Zelensky et al. extorted Biden into responding in ways that they found profitable?
What if Trump knows this, and he’s just not publicizing it? Yet, at least. Maybe to protect sources or intel methods. 🤷♂️ Might that explain Trump’s call for elections? Could it explain why he’s acting like Zelensky is not a reliable partner at the negotiations?
It’s a dumb mistake on the part of the press to interpret Trump as just some kind of bumbling loose cannon. I have no idea whether he’s doing something that will work, but the only reasonable assumption to make is that he is acting in ways that take into account the information he actually has in his possession — he undoubtedly knows far more than the rest of us. And that includes the press and, even, anyone in Congress.
It’s possible that I’m crazy far off target. Maybe the press is right with their endlessly implying that Trump has a fondness for Putin. Maybe they’re right and I’m wrong. But so far, the press has been wrong about Trump pretty much every…single…time.
So I’m OK with the odds.
I don’t think any of us really knows half of what has gone on with that war.
Published in General
This is certain. But lots of people had blackmail material on the Bidens, so maybe it all kind of canceled out. Why it matters is that our collective political leadership is the largest criminal enterprise that ever existed and they know that snitches get stitches (or botches robberies in an alley), so the politicians circled the wagons to protect Biden and impeach Trump.
If it is purposeful, can it be a mistake? The strategy might not work in the end, but does that make it a mistake?
If it doesn’t work, doesn’t that mean it was a mistake?
Not necessarily. It may be the best strategy they have available in a losing war.
You are on the right trail. To view Zelensky as anything higher than a corrupt player is fooling yourself. That in itself might not be a final deciding factor but is something that has to be remembered throughout the process. Zelensky will be an obstruction to most settlement arrangements. Trump will go around him to get a framework just as he did in formulating the Abraham Accords. To hold the Ukrainian elections that have already been skipped is not unreasonable at all. If Zelensky was to be voted out by the people who are suffering the most from all of this, I am sure he will turn up somewhere like Florida in a mansion and 100plus million bank account. Assuming some other thug doesn’t “off” him first.
The real question remaining from all of the tangle we are in now is to stop the fighting with some firm boundaries (yes, no matter who loses a few acres). It is silly for any to talk of us playing favors with the Russians because the hard fact is that up to now they have not been a part of any of the so-called talks. They will have to a part of it unless you really want no real stop to this thing. Probably the most constructive thing that can happen to keep the Russians at bay from anymore territory grabs in the area is for the U.S. to be actively getting use of the rare earth minerals we are asking for. That will do more than all the saber-rattling from the forever war crowd here or the all talk and no show socialists of western Europe.
This deal has to be done from where we are now and not what should have been.
You start from the place knowing you don’t trust the Russians, you don’t trust Zelensky, you don’t trust the EU crowd and keep you back to the wall.
Amen!
One clue in this is realizing that Trump has often passed up opportunities to be critical of the former KGB agent Vladimir Putin. When Trump was on the Bill O’Reilly show about 10 years ago, Bill O’Reilly said that Putin is a killer. Trump’s response wasn’t, “Yes, Putin is a killer.” Instead, Trump said, “Are we so innocent?”
When Putin launched his full scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Trump called Putin’s action “genius.” Trump wants Putin’s friendship. Trump sees Putin as a brother, a fellow tough guy who hates journalists. Putin might have his journalist critics tossed out of windows and Trump might only wish he could do the same thing.
Some people delight in saying President Trump has no plan. It would not surprise me to find out that Trump is talking to Putin to move Russia away from China with economic incentives and he may have such plans for dealing with Ukraine once a peace accord is in place.
Oh come on, you can’t possibly believe that Trump might be smarter than Yarob!
If this is part of some strategy, why was it necessary for Trump to flat out lie and claim that Ukraine started the war?
I think this really boils down to Trump not liking Zelensky on some personal level. I don’t think it goes any deeper than that.
This represents a kind of mind-reading that is a bit of a cognitive trap I think. I don’t think we know what “Trump wants”. Or whether “Trump sees Putin as a brother”. Trump has written a book in the past that suggests, in part I believe, that there’s a time for buttering up someone you’re negotiating with. I have no idea what he’s actually doing but I think when you start with the assumption that you already know how he “sees”, what he “wants”, or what he “wishes”, it assumes a level of omniscience that I don’t think any of us possess. The point I was trying to make in this post, at least in part, is that the only thing we probably know for sure is that he’s operating with far more information that we have.
Trump’s involvement with Ukraine goes back a few years if I recall about a telephone call when he was President before in a White House filled with Ukraine supporting spies planted there by our own CIA and he wound up in an impeachment proceeding.
Based on what we have seen this first thirty days in other areas of government, my guess is that just as much preliminary work has gone toward how he will deal with Russia, Ukraine, and the EU.
Inconceivable.
Re “This deal has to be done …”
Why?
I don’t know what Trump thinks, but I’m for it. Also for tossed out of helicopters. I have a little list here . . .
OK, if you believe that Trump has little reason to care Zelensky you are right. It was the legit phone call to Zelensky that was at the center of the first Trump impeachment attempt. As the transcript of the call shows it was just what Trump said and it would have easy enough for Zelensky to do the right thing and say so loud and firm. Being who he is, he played both sides and didn’t. But all of that doesnt take away from what has happened since.
Russia is not going away at this point. The key was to not let it happen in the first place and between Biden, Zelensky and the EU that didn’t happen and Putin took the opportunity. Regardless of what could or should have done then and in the past three years, we will have to deal with the way things stand now. I suggest you read the thread on ToryWarWriter’s first post on returning to the site. If you disagree with him about Russia having “won” the war at this point, the fact remains that Ukraine is not going to “win” it either. That is the state of things on the ground and not dealing with that reality is only inviting more and more death that could be stopped.
I would also suggest that if one thinks that Trump worries much about which one on either likes him or not, you are misreading him badly. He is a results bottom line guy. His feelings about you have nothing to do with the results he is trying to get. He deals with the conditions on the ground relative to his goals. To think otherwise is to let your feelings shade things. I imagine that should be taken into account anytime you are playing poker and trading horse with him :)
Remember during the 2024 presidential campaign when Trump would say that Xi Jinping rules over 1 billion Chinese with an iron fist? Trump didn’t say this as a criticism, arguing that the Chinese people are deserving of human rights and periodic multi-party elections. Trump said that Xi Jinping rules China with an iron fist in an approving way as if this is how it should be done. When you remember that Trump reacted to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine with “genius,” you begin to get some insight into the way Trump thinks.
Trump thinks that a politician who steps down from office after losing an election is weak, but someone like Xi Jinping or Putin who don’t have to worry about elections are strong and Trump wants to be strong.
What is the treaty approval process in Ukraine? Is an ex-president’s signature enough? Does it require a parliamentary approval? A lasting treaty should start with legitimate signatories.
So, he thinks he is weak?
Lots to think about in this paragraph.
Those who favor continued military effort by Ukraine, allegedly led by Zelensky, will only be satisfied when America has troops on the ground in Ukraine because all know this is the only way Ukraine can prevail in this conflict. The EU is already making overtures couched in peacekeeping terms.
Trump appears to think about and is treating Zelensky as he did Slow Joe Biden, as a puppet figurehead with the power behind the scenes, with America’s involvement led by bureaucratic State Department and CIA officials.
Who gave the orders for this:noted by Medvedev Western interests have a majority stake in CPC and this attack was reportedly carried out by American furnished drones provided to Ukraine. I don’t think the Trump Administration ordered this or even was aware of it and I doubt if Zelensky was behind it since he has been otherwise occupied.
All of what is presented in opposition to Trump’s actions rarely, if ever, will go beyond Putin’s SMO of February 2022 historically for consideration of the causes of this conflict because it is mostly an embarrassment to America, NATO, and the EU in terms of the arguments.
Trump will settle this without direct military participation by America.
Very much hoping so.
America has 10+ million illegal aliens and lots of guns, so America can send troops without sending Americans. However, the people that want to send troops to Ukraine really like having illegal aliens in America.
I like a President who favors growth of economic prosperity over military conflict.
Seems fair, our illegal Mexicans against Russia’s North Koreans.