Talk about the ultimate example of “dumb and dumber.”
Our self-anointed master deal-maker, President Donald Trump, gave away the store when he told Vladimir Putin at the get-go that he could keep the land he seized in Ukraine as part of a Trumpian peace deal. With that concession in hand, Putin did not decrease the hostilities against Ukraine; he ramped up his aggression to expand the seized territory. In effect, Trump created an incentive for Putin to stall the peace talks and expand the Russian perimeter.
Trump’s negotiating blunder was just plain dumb. Putin respects only force and power.
Even dumber, Vice President J.D. Vance has said they will walk away from the negotiations and involvement in the Ukraine war if Putin doesn’t settle on a cease-fire and truce.
The Ukraine conflict is “not our war,” said the guy who never made sergeant in this four years in the U.S. Marine Corps.
So, let me get this right. If the Russian butcher plays “rope-a-dope,” and stretches out the high-level talks, the U.S. will cut off its flow of arms, munitions and funds to Ukraine.
So what was going through Putin’s mind in response to the ham-handed negotiating posture of Trump and Vance: “Hmmm, why should I let Trump and Vance pose for Nobel prize portraits? They might just go away. I’ll string them along and ramp up the attacks on the Ukraine army and its civilians. I am in a no-lose situation.”
That’s exactly what’s happened. His preparation for his recent two-hour conversation with Trump was to launch the biggest drone attack of the war.
No one knows what the hell Trump is going to do next. He has tried a tantrum: “Vladimir, STOP!” He has tried the threat of greater sanctions on Russia before backing off. He has dangled more deals between the U.S. and Russia, even though Russia has a relatively small economy. It’s a lousy customer. Trump has let it be known that he is frustrated with Putin and Zelensky.
But they don’t care about his antics or his alleged deal-making acumen. They care about the realities on the battlefield.
In contrast, Poland, which knows the Russian barbarians all too well, is taking the opposite tack. Its Prime Minister Donald Tusk has nationalized all of his country’s manpower into the military and is constructing a concrete hedgehog barrier and minefield along its entire 500-mile border with Russia and Belarus. Poland dubs its new line of defense the “East Shield.” Poland learned the hard way at the end of WWII about occupation by its barbaric neighbor to the east. It will never let it happen again.
If Trump and Vance are “dumb and dumber,” then the Republicans in the U.S. Congress, including the seven GOP representatives from Wisconsin, are the “dumbest.”
For only 4% of the U.S. defense budget — with no American boots on the ground — the Ukrainians have used American weapons, munitions and intelligence to bring the huge Russian army to a stalemate. The numbers are not exactly known, but Russia has lost several hundred thousand soldiers, its flagship naval vessel and thousands of destroyed war machines.
In addition, its economy is in shambles with soaring interest rates that harm its citizens.
Our support of the incredible Ukrainian warriors, has inflicted enormous damage on our greatest enemy.
The Republicans in Congress were once hawks on Russian aggression. They are not even doves. They are AWOL, the equivalent of deserters.
As for Trump’s diplomatic skills, the would-be emperor has no clothes.
Final note: If the U.S. abandons Ukraine, it will amount to a Putin victory, unless Europe steps up to fill the void left by Trump.
