Bwahahahahahahaha!
I swear, I thought about this possibility but would have had to edit a whole lot to include it in the earlier post and was way too lazy for that. Also, I’m slow enough as it is. But anyway, what a difference a day makes, huh?
I did wonder if Putin was stupid enough to capitalize on the reduced intelligence that Ukraine was getting. Trump had made it crystal clear he wasn’t taking sides. The smart move was to play it cool while Trump and Zelenskyy argued. Taking advantage of the opening undermines Trump, not Zelenskyy. Putin used to be sharper than this.
Not anymore, I guess.
Oh, you hadn’t heard? Russia pounded the heck out of Ukraine since they no longer had the heads up on the bombers taking off. The US can see that but Europe can’t usually. It helps when you have an insane number of satellites in orbit. Anyway, Trump playing hardball with Zelenskyy was not an invitation and Putin has really stepped in it.
Trump is talking about further sanctions on Russia.
No, no, the sanctions if they even happen aren’t the important part. Putin stabbed Trump in the back. Trump wants that peace deal and he can’t get it if Putin is just playing games. Attacking Ukraine while Trump was making a point made Trump look bad and worse, told the world just how unserious Putin is about peace.
Zelenskyy should send Putin a thank you card. All the heat is on Russia now. Zelenskyy’s chances of getting this mess to blow over just went up astronomically.
I know, the media isn’t covering it much. Big nonsurprise there. But media coverage isn’t the big thing – Trump’s reaction is. Look, the reason Democrats, world leaders and the Lamestream Media think Trump is unpredictable is because they all are so used to reading tea leaves that just listening to what the man says is impossible for them. Trump is non committal when he isn’t ready to reveal his cards but once he makes a definite statement, he plans to back it up.
Trump directly stated multiple times he wants a peace deal to end the war, period.
Part of why he got so irritated with Zelenskyy is because he saw Zelenskyy’s efforts as obstruction, not negotiating. Frankly, Trump is a New York boy, born and bred, and a lot more likely to read Zelenskyy’s Ukrainian directness more correctly than this little Southern girl so for all I know he is right. Or not. All that matters is that Trump thought Zelenskyy was part of the problem so he decided to play a lot rougher to get Zelenskyy back in line.
Historians can figure out if Trump was right or not. The important part is that Trump’s actions really were aimed at the peace deal he wants and not merely personal animus with Zelenskyy. The deal, not the bruhaha, was all that Trump really cared about.
That was when Putin should have laid low and let the dust fly. Instead he saw an opportunity to take advantage of Trump’s actions. BIG MISTAKE!
You can’t say you’re really interested in peace when you are bombing civilians. Doesn’t work that way. Worse, Trump spent considerable political capital creating an open path to negotiations for Putin – that was why he didn’t condemn Putin or talk trash about Russia. Trump was pouring out a bit of honey for Putin’s fly.
Putin decided to backstab Trump for his efforts.
To be sorta fair, it was a huge temptation. The better Russia is positioned going into negotiations, the more goodies they are likely to get. Using the Ukrainian vulnerability to damage Ukraine was the logical choice. Stupid, but logical.
Because Trump was NOT setting Ukraine up – he was demonstrating his resolve to Zelenskyy. Putin isn’t exactly good at the good faith sort of thing so it’s little wonder he didn’t get the memo, but still.
International relations are rarely chess games of any number of dimensions. They are usually a game of Pick Up Sticks played with those plastic monkeys from Barrel of Monkeys. Whatever game you’re playing, throwing the board at Trump is beyond the pale stupid.
Sorry, those of you who want Trump to abandon Ukraine. Any chance of that went bye-bye thanks to Bad Vlad. Zelenskyy might have been an ass, but that tiff at the White House was nothing compared to using Trump’s good will against him.
Yes, that’s a bit of what Putin did. You can’t actually negotiate with anyone with no trust at all. Trump trusted Putin enough to give an opening he had no intention of Russia using. Putin isn’t that stupid, he knew he was betraying Trump’s trust. It’ll be the last time because Trump will never give him the chance again. Putin could have played statesman and used the opportunity to look like he really did want to work with Trump for a peace deal.
But Putin didn’t do that.
The Oval Office Meltdown will blow over – Zelenskyy was already making the right overtures – and so will the bombing aftermath. The media will forget.
Trump won’t.
