45 thoughts on “SOTU Bounce”

  1. He was asked by reporters if he is afraid of dying in the war. “I’m an alive person, like any human being,” he said. “And if a person is not afraid of losing his life, or the lives of his children, there is something unwell about that person.”
    As president, he added, “I simply do not have the right” to be afraid.

    Bink, thanks for catching that and sharing it

    from the same excellent article in Zelensky Hosts News Conference, Addressing Negotiations With Russia – The New York Times (nytimes.com) another quote

    Of the conflict and what he described as reports the Russian army did not intend to repatriate its war dead to avoid stirring antiwar sentiment at home, he said, “this is a nightmare. I cannot even imagine the type of man who would plan such acts.”
    Many of the Russian soldiers were 18- and 19-year-olds, said Mr. Zelensky, who is 45. He noted that the soldiers are about the age of his own daughter and “could be my children.” He added: “They will die in uniforms because of decisions made by men in suits.”

     

    going down for sure in the history books:

    “I simply do not have the right” to be afraid.

    and

    “They will die in uniforms because of decisions made by men in suits.”

  2. Does nuclear risk mean America stays sidelined as Ukraine bleeds? | The Seattle Times

    The courageous people of Ukraine have put the Russian tyrant, Vladimir Putin, on notice that they will fight long and hard to resist his unprovoked invasion of their country. And their unanticipated resilience has presented a challenge for the United States and Europe: How far are Western democracies willing to go to stop Putin’s vicious aggression?
    […]
    Bon Jovi guitarist and “Sopranos” cast member Stevie Van Zandt sent out a tweet that asks the kind of “common man” question that is on many minds. “What happens if we destroy the Russian convoy and the forces encircling the cities with air strikes or drones,” he asks. “Up front. What exactly does Russia do about it?”
    The answer is the same one that drove foreign policy throughout the Cold War: We do not know what the Russians would do, but direct confrontation of that kind could escalate into a nuclear war and, so, must be avoided.
    For close to 75 years, that policy has seemed more than prudent. ….
    […]

    …. Is NATO not already in a state of belligerence with Putin? Have we pushed too far toward direct confrontation already, or not far enough?

    If we are truly willing to risk a nuclear war to stop theoretical Russian aggression against little Estonia, Stevie Van Zandt and 44 million Ukrainians are not wrong to wonder why we so insistently avoid that risk when merciless invaders are, right now, at the gates of Kyiv.

  4. Senate invited to speak with Zelensky Saturday | TheHill

    Senators have been invited to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky via Zoom on Saturday, a Senate aide confirmed to The Hill.  

    The meeting, which would take place on Saturday morning, would be the first time the full Senate has been able to speak with Zelensky since Russian President Vladimir Putin began his invasion of Ukraine late last month.  

    The meeting comes as lawmakers are working to pass billions in new aid for Ukraine and gives Zelensky the chance to pitch members of Congress directly on what his country needs as it fights back against the Russian invasion. Though Putin has faced setbacks, Russia still has a military advantage over Ukraine and has been attacking multiple key cities.  

    [continues]

  5. BTW, a wiki tidbit on Volodymyr who has proven to be more than just a TV star turned president (ronnie and donnie pale in comparison):

    At the age of 16, he passed the Test of English as a Foreign Language and received an education grant to study in Israel, but his father did not allow him to go. He later earned a law degree from the Kryvyi Rih Institute of Economics, then a department of Kyiv National Economic University and now part of Kryvyi Rih National University, but did not go on to work in the legal field

  7. So are we, and I am referring to the US and our NATO allies trying to avoid a full scale ground war in the buffer countries between Russia and our NSTO allies or are we trying to avoid the possibility that Putin is unhinged enough to let fly a nuc or two to keep us from preventing his acquisition ambitions?  At this point it’s hard to tell. Hard to play chess if only part of the board is visible 

  8. pogo, a little nuc here and a little nuc there in our direction to divert US attention while he grabs as much as he can in his neighborhood is probably their fear.    

  9. John Bolton: Putin was ‘waiting’ for possible US withdrawal from NATO | TheHill

    Bolton, during a Washington Post Live event, was asked about his memoir, in which he claimed that Trump wanted to leave the military alliance in 2018. The newspaper’s Opinions Editor-at-Large Michael Duffy asked him how close Trump was to withdrawing the United States from NATO.

    “Yeah, I had my heart in my throat at that NATO meeting. I didn’t know what the president would do. He called me up to his seat seconds before he gave his speech. And I said, ‘Look, go right up to the line, but don’t go over it’,” Bolton replied.

    “I sat back down, I had no idea what he’d do. I thought he’d put his foot over it, but at least he didn’t withdraw then,” he continued. “In a second Trump term, I think he may well have withdrawn from NATO, and I think Putin was waiting for that.”

  10. Once you realize that he was a tool of Russia everything he does and did makes perfect sense.  

    But his followers…….they’re a whole different kettle of fish.

  14. Burger King and McDonalds not joining western companies leaving Russia. They should get hassled for that. No more Whoppers or Big Macs might convince Russians something is wrong.

  15. why couldn’t zelensky/ukraine declare a no-fly zone themselves over their country and enforce it with the required fighter jets & pilots purchased/contracted from a non-nato country like Israel?

  16. Ian Bremmer, president and founder of Eurasia Group, joins “CBS Saturday MorniIan Bremmer, president and founder of Eurasia Group, joins “CBS Saturday Morning” to discuss why he thinks Russia and Putin will succeed from a military perspective in Ukraine but emerge from that win seriously damaged on the world stage.ng” to discuss why he thinks Russia and Putin will succeed from a military perspective in Ukraine but emerge from that win seriously damaged on the world stage.
    https://www.cbsnews.com/video/global-uncertainty-as-war-in-ukraine-escalates/#x

  17. Ever since they turned the tide at Stalingrad , it’s been a pillar of the Russian playbook to stand off and rocket and shell the crap out of a target till it quits.   They did it to the capitals of Chechnya, and Georgia, and again to Aleppo in  Syria .  
    They are perfectly happy to win a pile of rubble, if that’s what it takes. 
    The item up thread about them not sending their dead back to Russia.  I wondered about that as well.
    The idea of burying them  anywhere but home is crazy, but sending them back  to their families …………….. That’s a sanction of a whole different order. 
     
     

  18. The magnitude of change that KGB agent Putin has caused so far, and thoughts of how much more will happen, is stunning.  For Germany was it more than the thought of the return of the soviets that caused a complete dump of post WWII and 1989 cooperation with Russia rather than say no?  Could it have been a few words from President Biden telling EU and the world that KGB agent Putin must be stopped – now?  Russia has been attacking and nibbling on countries for decades, but Germany did not act.  Right now the only country of note, outside of China, has told KGB agent Putin to shove it is India.  I would not be surprised if India does start to change on Russia.  Will China?

  19. Thought experiment  –
    Another reason to hate nuclear power,  they are a tool of war  now. 
    It’s one thing to bomb a “power plant” , it’s another to hit the nuke ones. .  We crack that egg and it’s a gift that keeps on giving for 25,000 years. 
    That big shed the Russians took over , and all that junk  sitting on the coast in Japan are  going to be deadly for another  25,000 years. 
     
     

  21. Fast food …….
    Little wonder they are sticking for now , their cheap beef has done more to chainsaw the Amazon than anyone one industry  in the world .  And in the bargain we all are fatter , and sicker. 

  22. What Ukraine is asking for is the old soviet era planes from Former Soviet east Europe. So we sell our new NATO planes to Poland, Poland sells their used outdated soviet planes to Ukraine, we finance the sale to Poland they finance the sale to Ukraine. We aren’t giving the Ukrainians any aid we are just being arms dealers.
    Jack 

  23. Air Power –
    The age of the $100 Million dollar jet, weapons, and pilot  is dead as boot. 
    Remember if war does one thing besides kill people , it drives innovation. 
    Somewhere people are working on cheap little drones that fly into your face and explode .
    Trust me , their are people living on coffee  working in this field. 

  24. Jack –
     
    Sounds logical  until we  ask the question –
    Who’s going to fly against  modern Russian fighters , that bombed the crap out of Syria , in old Russian hardware ? 
    And where are they going to fly from  ? 
    Although , given the Russian planning so far, there ain’t much Anti – Airforce  weapons on the ground there now. 
    It’s a Devil’s  game we’re in . And the Kraines  have no wings. 

  25. That’s the point , all these wars Putin has fought , he never had to deal with his air power  being shot down or having his air bases  bombed . 

  26. And the world rolled over  ……….. 
     
    There was a Black Sea trading post the traders  of Genoa ran at a place called Kaffa .  East of the Crimea .
    A swarm of God knows who laid siege to them , after awhile the attackers  began to die . To solve that body problem they tossed them over the walls into the city. 
    The attackers retreated  , the  Italian traders beat feet back to Genoa. 
    Their ships  made port in the beginning of 1347 .
    The world rolled over .
     

  27. Life is good when you get a new Twitter follower.  Taking a look at his profile is lives in united state, his pictures are very nice, but the lettering on the plaque behind him in a couple shots sure looks like Russian Cyrillic script.   He, or rather the person, is nice looking, twentyish, the kind of guy people might like to know.  Of course the GRU or SVR would not be the same person. 
     
    For those who might have been following my life with the KGB/GRU/SVR trying to mess it up.  Nowadays they do it electronically trying to hack my email (personal and federal) rather than tailing (following me) and breakin of my house and vehicles. After a break when President Obama tossed them out in 2016 they had mostly given up on me and used my stuff for training.  The last four days the bas#)$#@$ have started up on me again.  At first it was a few more attempts per day, now they are ramped up.  KGB agent Putin, FU. (just in case they are reading here)

  28. Those tiny ships  landing at  Genoa changed the world.  We all know  that wars have done the same thing. 
    My God my world is gone. 
    I remember I was in a tire shop with my uncle Monk in Dallas, and  on over the radio came out this  ….  This was my world .
     

  29.  
    I am convinced Putin is doing everything he can to lure NATO into a shooting war.
    —G Conway

    He’s not doing everything he can. Yet. But he will, as this gets worse for him.
    —Tom Nichols

  32. Thanks, Sturge, for the Johnson/Beard debate posted in yesterday’s thread.  Watched and enjoyed it👍

  33. All this pressure around him is working on his inter circle , it’s dawning on them it’s a bridge too far. 
    The Ukraine  is size of Texas. 
    Clearly more than they can chew. 
     
    He is doomed . 

  36. For some odd reason I’ve had 2 McDonald’s lunches this year.  Maybe cause it’s a half mile from the shop. Prior to those it’s been at least 10 years without.  Looking at another 10 now.

  38. i like how she called Johnson’s monologue a “very Tory view of ancient history”, dude is so racist

  39. Sturgeone – I had a MickieD this year last year too.  Before that I had a few because they were the only place open in a disaster zone.  Generators make money if you plan ahead for a disaster.
     
    KGB agent Putin is not concerned about blood.  He is from a “wet unit”.  He is even more narcissistic than SFB, he as even less empathy to anything.  He is a dictator where the orange rind is not.  No competition as KGB agent Putin is proving himself dictator.

  40. good idea proffered by chicago trib reporter ron grossman

    Ukrainians deserve to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize (bangordailynews.com)

    Anyone with access to the news and a moral sense knows who is responsible for the unfolding tragedy in Ukraine. Yet realistically many of those confronting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s tanks won’t survive their heroic effort. So instead of waiting for history’s verdict, this is the moment to thank the Ukrainians for coming to freedom’s defense by nominating them for the Nobel Peace Prize.
    […]
    Clearly, the Ukrainian resistance has awakened our collective moral sense. It’s no longer fashionable to dismiss civilian war casualties with a wave of the hand and a disclaimer: “That’s just politics.” Or to put profits ahead of saying “No!” to murderous dictators.
    Predicting history’s next twist or turn is risky business. But I have a gut feeling — fortified with prayer — that the era of accepting dictators as an unpleasant fact of life is drawing to a close.
    Let us mark it with a Nobel Peace Prize. The citation could read something like: “To the Ukrainians of 2022. For reminding us that while dictators mouth the shibboleths of democracy, their real vocabulary is a pack of lies. For unhesitatingly shedding their own blood in freedom’s cause. For asserting the principle that the earth does not belong to kings or tyrants. And for demonstrating in their trenches that workaday folks have an inalienable right to shape their destiny.”

    BTW google “nominate zelensky for nobel” or something similar and see folks suggesting and signing petitions

  42. I have the occasional McD when I’m traveling to this or that court. Generally a breakfast sandwich. Am fine with getting my on the run food from somewhere else. Burger King? Almost never. Losing my business won’t hurt either but I’ll feel better a bit knowing I’m not helping their bottom line. 

    I’m wondering what happens when Putin has Ukraine in his pocket and goes after the unaffiliated countries between the NATO countries and Russia and we’ve run out of economic sanctions. Do we stand by and watch? What’re the next moves in this poker/chess game?

  43. OM – I saw”American Utopia” live tonight.  It’s a great show.   It’s a little weird being in vacation right now.  Peace rally/war protest in the afternoon. Broadest show at night. 

    There’s a song in the show called, “Bullet.” It’s a really well-constructed song and the way it’s presented visually is astonishing. It’s not an uplifting song, so I think it gets overlooked.

    You can watch the whole show; Spike Lee filmed it. It’s everywhere.

  44. Will Russians still have money to buy McDonald’s and Coca Cola for very long? Yeah, a boycott here could help.  

    Blinken kind of ticked me off. He said cutting off Russian gas and oil would increase gas prices here and Americans would suffer. What about Ukrainians actually suffering the loss of life as they know it…or life?
    We are not the greatest generation.

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