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Posts tagged as “President Biden”

Biden’s Riff on ‘Armageddon’ Shows Why His Ukraine Policy Falls Short

The President’s misplaced fear of “World War III” and “Armageddon” has seriously undermined his administration’s support for Ukraine.

Most foreign policy analysts who recognize the importance of ensuring that Ukraine prevails over Russia credit President Biden for his leadership. But the President’s remarks Thursday (Oct. 6, 2022) to Democratic Party donors helps to illustrate why Biden deserves significantly less credit than most analysts think.

While the President has been a steadfast supporter of Ukraine, he has been overly timid and tardy about arming Ukraine with long-range precision weapons—HIMARS, tanks, jets, drones, and fighting vehicles—that would allow the Ukrainians to defeat Russia and quickly end the war.

Ukraine Leads; Biden Follows. The President’s hand, moreover, has been forced by Ukrainian battlefield victories that Biden did not expect or anticipate. And so, each and every time the Ukrainians succeed in battle and either stymie or defeat the Russians, they have urgently requested more and better weaponry.

Biden then follows through, belatedly, with quantitatively more and qualitatively better armaments. It is almost impossible to say no, after all, to an ally who is winning and whose moral standing in battle is as laudatory and exemplary as the Ukrainians’.

But why has Biden been so timid and so tardy to arm Ukraine?

Because, as he essentially told party donors Thursday, he’s worried that if the Ukrainian military moves too far too fast, that could force Putin into a corner, so to speak, and the result could be “Armageddon,” by which Biden means Russia’s use of nuclear weapons.

Thus, Biden continued, “We’re trying to figure out: ‘What is Putin’s off-ramp? Where does he get off? Where does he find a way out?'”

This has been Biden’s approach to Ukraine all along—from prior to the Russian invasion, when he pulled U.S. military advisers out of the country, to early in the conflict, when he said no to a “no-fly zone” and ruled out sending military jets to Ukraine.

Self-Deterrence. Biden, in fact, has been more clear and emphatic about what his administration will not do (ostensibly to prevent “World War III”) than in what it will do to ensure a Ukrainian win.

Eliot Cohen calls this “self-deterrence,” and it has been self-defeating. It signals a lack of will and resolve and it surely has emboldened Putin.

The fear of “cornering Putin” and provoking “World War III” never made much sense. In truth, Putin has cornered himself by his intransigence and insistence on erasing Ukraine as a sovereign and independent country.

The West can either stop Putin or appease him. There is no middle ground that allows him to “save face.” Putin, after all, has no interest in “saving face.” He is interested in conquering Ukraine.

As for World War III, what does that mean, exactly? The implication is that if the West is too supportive of Ukraine, it might find itself enmeshed in a difficult, multi-year conflict that engulfs all of Europe. But is that really a legitimate concern? And is it NATO or Russia that should fear a broader conflict?

The Russian military, after all, has shown itself to be utterly incompetent and incapable of defeating Ukrainian citizen soldiers. It would be quickly overwhelmed and defeated by a far superior conventional NATO military force.

Alternatively, the implication is that “World War III” would be a nuclear Armageddon that could result in worldwide destruction, and not just the destruction of Ukraine. But the rules of nuclear deterrence have not changed since the atomic bomb was developed to end World War II.

Deterrence. Any Russian nuclear strike on a NATO country means a devastating counter-nuclear strike on Russia by NATO.

That is a clearly understood by Putin and his generals. And it is why, from the advent of the Cold War in the late 1940s to the present, Russia has never launched a nuclear strike on a NATO country.

We have absolutely no reason to think that Russian thinking has suddenly changed; and that they are now suicidal and willing to risk the destruction of Moscow in order to subsume Ukraine.

Misplaced Fear. In short, the fear of “World War III” and a nuclear “Armageddon” is misplaced and counterproductive. Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Schloz, and others are using this fear as an excuse to delay arming Ukraine. But all this delay does is prolong the war and the deliberate Russian slaughter of innocent civilians.

So while it is good that Biden has stood by Ukraine, it would have been far better had he matched his pledge of support with more resolute and timely action. Yet even today, despite everything we know about Putin and Russia, Biden continues to look for ways to placate and appease the Russian dictator.

Too often, consequently, Biden is following and not leading.

What the President should do, instead, is look for ways to ensure that Russia loses and is forced to withdraw from all of Ukraine. That is the only “off-ramp” for Putin and the only way to end this war.

The bottom line: credit Biden for standing by Ukraine. However, fault him for his misplaced fear of “World War III” and “Armageddon,” which have caused him to dither and delay on critically-needed military support for Ukraine.

The President deserves a B, not an A; one or two cheers, not three, for his foreign policy vis-a-vis Ukraine.

Feature photo credit: Salon/Getty Images courtesy of Salon.

Putin’s Nuclear Blackmail Gambit

The danger is less that Putin will use nukes and more that the West might be intimidated and back down because of Putin’s threat to use nukes.

Vladimir Putin doesn’t want to use a nuclear weapon to win a military victory in Ukraine, because he knows that won’t work. A nuclear strike makes no military sense and will not alter the course of the war.

Instead, Putin wants to use the threat of a nuclear strike to secure a political and territorial victory in Ukraine without having to further employ his inept and incapable military.

Putin hopes to intimidate the West into backing down and to force Ukraine to the bargaining table, where it will have to acquiesce in Russia’s sham annexation of five Ukrainian regions: Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and Crimea.

As the New York Times reports:

The revelation of the Ukraine conflict—that Russia’s conventional forces were poorly trained, unimaginative and ill-equipped—has made Mr. Putin all the more dependent on his unconventional weapons…

[However], the threat [to use a nuclear weapons] may be more effective than actually using [such] a weapon because the cost to Russia of breaking a 77-year taboo could be astronomically high.

Indeed, and so, the question for the United States and NATO is:

Will we allow Russian nuclear blackmail to succeed? Will we set a new international precedent that might makes right; and that bad men with nuclear weapons can force good men with a conscience to back down and surrender?

Fortunately for Ukraine and for humanity, it doesn’t look like that will be the case. President Biden and other NATO leaders have been steadfast in their refusal to be cowed and intimidated by Russian nuclear threats and bluster.

  • President Biden: We “are not going to be intimidated by Putin and his reckless words and threats. He’s not going to scare us… We’re going to continue to provide military equipment, so that Ukraine can defend itself and its territory and its freedom…”
  • French President Emmanuel Macron: “France expresses its firm opposition [to Russian threats and Russian annexation of Ukrainian territory. We] will continue to stand by Ukraine in order to deal with Russian aggression and to enable Ukraine to recover its full sovereignty across its entire territory.”
  • German Chancellor Olaf Schloz: “The sham referendums carried out by Putin in the illegally occupied areas of Ukraine are worthless. They violate international law. Germany will never recognise the so-called results. I assured [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky of this in a phone call yesterday.”
  • British Prime Minister Liz Truss: “We will not hesitate to take further action, including imposing more sanctions to cripple Putin’s war machine. We will ensure he loses this illegal war.”

These assurances are important, critical, and welcome: because if Putin’s nuclear blackmail gambit succeeds in forcing the West to back down, it will give license to further nuclear blackmail by other bad actors and incentivize them to acquire nuclear weapons. The results could be catastrophic.

Now is the time and Ukraine is the place to draw a clear red line. The use of nuclear weapons cannot and will not be tolerated. Any Russian use of nukes will be met with a catastrophic consequences for Russia. Then and only then might we prevent the unthinkable from ever happening while securing a real and lasting peace.

President Biden and other NATO leaders clearly recognize this. So, too, should the Russian dictator, Putin. The West, sir, ain’t bluffing.

Feature photo credit: U.S. President Joe Biden (L) and British Prime Minister Liz Truss (R), courtesy of The Independent.

President Biden Is Getting His Comeuppance for His Politically Sinful ‘Soul of the Nation’ Speech

By drawing attention to himself and his failed policies just when the GOP was imploding over Trump, Biden risks snatching defeat from the jaws of victory in the 2022 midterms.

Abraham Lincoln famously said: “You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.”

President Biden is fooling no one, except maybe himself. Consequently, he is getting what he deserves. He is getting his just deserts. He is getting his comeuppance.

How so? By taking the spotlight off of Trump and drawing attention to himself and his dismal record as president, Biden is paving the way for GOP Senate and House victories in November.

Biden’s Barren Political Soul. The site was Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Sept. 1, 2022. There, Biden pretended to deliver a statesman-like, non-partisan presidential address about the “soul of the nation” and the fate of American democracy.

In truth, Biden delivered a rankly partisan campaign speech designed to demonize his Republican opponents and motivate his Democratic base, while using young enlisted Marines as political campaign props. 

Biden may have motivated hardline “progressives,” but they are going to vote Democrat anyway, just as they did in 2020 when Biden kept a low profile, hid in his basement, and let Trump become the issue.

Not any more. An emboldened Biden has decided to become the Democratic point man who takes the fight to the Republicans.

Problem is: Biden’s slash-and-burn rhetorical attacks have drawn the righteous ire of Republicans and even the disapproval of liberal reporters and editorialists at CNN and the Washington Post.

Consequently, this time, Biden and the Dems may not sleepwalk their way to an easy victory as they did in 2020. This time, they may have to fight it out in the political arena and on substantive issues of public policy, not Trump’s noxious and repugnant personality.

But given the state of the economy, that’s easier said than done.

Dem Policy Disaster. Biden and the Dems’ wild and reckless spending schemes, coupled with their war on U.S. energy producers, have ignited the worst inflation in 40 years. Gas prices reached a record high before declining and a recession is looming.

China, meanwhile, threatens Taiwan; Russia is waging war on Ukraine; and Iran and North Korea are on the brink of deploying nuclear weapons.

Is it any surprise, then, that Biden’s approval rating is a mere 43 percent and has been mired in the low 40s for some time now?

GOP political strategist Karl Rove notes that “President Trump’s average at this same point in 2018 was 40.3%. Republicans lost 42 House seats that November.

“Does a roughly 2- [or 3]-point difference between Mr. Biden’s approval now and Mr. Trump’s then mean Democrats can turn defeat into a historic victory?” Rove asks. Color me—and Rove—skeptical.

The bottom line: by drawing attention to himself and his disastrous record as President, Biden may have sown the seeds of Democratic defeat come November. And for that, he has no one to blame but himself.

Feature photo credit: Biden delivering his “soul of the nation” speech Sept. 1, 2022, at Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, courtesy of the New York Times.

Biden’s Meek Response Jeopardizes the Safety of Supreme Court Justices

To prevent a violent calamity, the President needs to demand that thuggish left-wing protesters stand down or be prosecuted.

If one or more of our Supreme Court Justices is attacked, injured, or God-forbid, assassinated, it will be because President Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and Congressional Democrats failed to forthrightly condemn, while sometimes implicitly encouraging, the thuggish behavior of “progressive” agitators, who have targeted the Court’s conservative justices for harassment and intimidation.

That may sound harsh and hyperbolic, but unfortunately—and alarmingly—it is true.

As we noted yesterday, far-left radicals have published the home addresses of six “extremist justices” whom they have placed in their political crosshairs. And Biden, Pelosi, and Schumer have raised nary a peep of concern, let alone outrage and condemnation.

Meek Words. Oh, to be sure, after being criticized for not condemning the thuggish protesters, Biden finally and belatedly sent out his press secretary, Jen Paski, to issue a meek, pro forma call  for “peaceful protests.”

But as The Dispatch’s Stephens Hayes points out, this was a box-checking exercise— “putting out a statement to put out a statement.” Notably absent was a clear, full-throated denunciation of the agitators’ intimations of threats and violence.

And make no mistake: that’s what we’re dealing with. As National Review’s Rich Lowry observes:

These weren’t run-of-the-mill protests. No one doubts that demonstrations have an important role in showing popular support for, or passion around, a given cause. No, these protests were—and were meant to be—threatening.

There’s no reason to go to the homes of the justices unless it is to send the message that people outraged by their prospective decision know where they and their families live. In other words, to the justice who dares say that Roe and Casey have no constitutional basis: Beware.

“We hate to say this,” warns the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board, “but some abortion fanatic could decide to commit an act of violence to stop a 5-4 ruling. It’s an awful thought, but we live in fanatical times.”

Political Violence. Indeed, and that’s what makes these threats so ominous and real: that, in recent years, we have seen venomous leftists violently assault Constitutional officeholders.

Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky), for instance, was badly beaten up outside of his home in a wholly unprovoked, violent assault by an angry left-wing partisan. Rep. Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) suffered life-threatening injuries during a Congressional baseball game after a man with a pathological hatred of Republicans opened fire on him and other GOP lawmakers.

The Senate, consequently, has approved a measure that provides security for the families of all nine justices. “The risk is real,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) told CBS News.

Yet instead of recognizing this risk and confronting this threat, Speaker Pelosi has championed the thuggish protesters for “channel[ing] their righteous anger into meaningful action: [by] planning to march and mobilize and make their voices heard.

This is the same Nancy Pelosi who has hyperventilated incessantly about the “threat to our democracy” from the “January 6 insurrection.”

The January 6 riot was bad and President Trump should ave been been impeached and convicted because of it, but it was no insurrection, and our democracy was never in jeopardy.

The legitimacy of the Supreme Court, by contrast, is being viciously attacked and, as a result, the lives of several Supreme Court justices are now in jeopardy.

President Biden needs to step up and speak out before it’s too late—before some left-wing goon decides to take it upon himself to “save democracy” from five or six “extremist justices.”

Speaking out against these fascist agitators is the right thing to do—especially for a president who promised, in his Inaugural Address, to bring us together to “fight the common foes we face: anger, resentment, hatred, extremism, lawlessness, violence…

“I ask every American to join me in this cause,” Mr. Biden declared, because “we have learned again that democracy is precious. Democracy is fragile.”

Yes, it is. Which is why, at this particular moment in our nation’s history, we need presidential leadership: to help avert a violent calamity that would destroy the people’s faith in our institutions and rub raw the wounds of division.

Yet the President is missing in action. If Mr. Biden meant what he said in his Inaugural Address, then he will speak out now—clearly, forcefully, and with conviction—and insist that the thuggish left-wing agitators stand down or be prosecuted.

History is calling and the fate of our democracy is at stake.

Feature photo credit: Screenshot of radical agitators protesting outside the home of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, courtesy of a tweet from Douglas K. Blair.

Threats Against the Supreme Court Show Biden Democrats Are Hypocrites and Frauds

By Biden’s illogic, the assault on the Capitol was an assault on democracy, but the assault on the Supreme Court is the essence of democracy. 

Political hypocrisy is nothing new, but President Biden and Congressional Democrats have been especially two-faced, and on things that really matter, such as assaults on our political institutions and the integrity of our democracy.

Biden, of course, came into office promising to restore “unity.”

“We can see each other not as adversaries but as neighbors,” he piously intoned in his Inaugural Address. “We can treat each other with dignity and respect.

We can join forces, stop the shouting, and lower the temperature. For without unity, there is no peace, only bitterness and fury. No progress, only exhausting outrage.

True words these. Yet when, this past week, “progressive” Democrats launched a brazen assault on the Supreme Court for its apparent decision to overturn a false and fabricated Constitutional right to abortion, Biden was silent and accommodating of the political arsonists and assailants.

Here, bitterness, fury, and exhausting outrage are understandable and completely permissible. And, far from lowering the temperature, we instead should turn up the heat until our entire Constitutional order (or at least the judiciary) burns to the ground.

Targeting the Justices. Think I’m exaggerating? Think again. Angry, “progressive” agitators have published the home addresses of six “extremist justices” whom they have targeted for harassment.

Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has charged the Court with composing a “monstrous draft decision” that “assaults” the Constitution.

“We gotta be a menace to our enemies, and our enemies is anybody that’s attacking our reproductive freedom.,” declared one angry protester.

As a result of this incendiary rhetoric, notes the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board, “a violent act by a fanatic can’t be ruled out… Federal law,” it adds, “makes it a crime to threaten federal judges, and that includes threats of vigilantism.”

But instead of calling for calm and understanding, the President has been solicitous of the “progressive” or radical left. “The president’s view,” explained White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki

is that there’s a lot of passion, a lot of fear, a lot of sadness from many, many people across this country about what they saw in that leaked document [aka the draft Supreme Court opinion].

We obviously want people’s privacy to be respected. We want people to protest peacefully if they want to protest. That is certainly what the president’s view would be.

January 6 Riot. Of course, President Trump, too, made the obligatory, pro forma nod to a “peaceful protest” January 6, 2021.

And of course, Mr. Biden and Congressional Democrats never called for understanding the passion, fear, and sadness of the January 6 protesters who instigated a riot on the steps of the U.S. Capitol.

Instead, they have said ad nauseam that the January 6 riot—which, by their definition, includes the events that led up to January 6—was an “insurrection” that “threatened our democracy.”

In other words, the assault on the Capitol was an assault on democracy, but the assault on the Supreme Court is the essence of democracy. Heads we win; tails our political opponents lose.

Everybody’s equal but some are more equal than others. Some are worthy and some are, as Hillary Clinton infamously put it during the 2016 presidential campaign, “deplorable” and unworthy.

Feature photo credit: Screenshot of President Biden speaking to reporters, May 3, 2022, courtesy of CNBC.