Leadership 101: Truth Telling

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Author: patd

“But I don’t want to go among mad people," Alice remarked. "Oh, you can’t help that," said the Cat: "we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad." "How do you know I’m mad?" said Alice. "You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn’t have come here.” ― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

44 thoughts on “Leadership 101: Truth Telling”

  1. ‘toon and op ed by Pulitzer prize winning cartoonist David Horsey

    A stark contrast in leadership | The Seattle Times

    The livestreamed speech to Congress delivered by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy this week set up a stark contrast in leadership.
    On the screen was the Ukrainian actor-turned-politician who has inspired his country and the world with courageous, defiant leadership in the face of a massive Russian invasion aimed at his overthrow and assassination. Zelenskyy is being hailed as a 21st century Winston Churchill.
    In the audience were many Republican senators and House members, politicians-turned-jellyfish, who have shamed themselves and their party with their prevaricating, cowardly obeisance to Donald Trump and his mendacious assault on American democracy. They are being condemned as 21st century quislings.
    Zelenskyy has reason to fear, beginning with missiles and bombs raining down on his capital city, yet he stands resolute. Republicans in Congress – apart from a few brave truth-tellers, such as Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney and Washington Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler – are such timorous sissies that they would rather perpetuate Trump’s Big Lie than risk facing a primary challenge from one of the twice-impeached ex-president’s minions.
    In the global struggle to defend democracy, perhaps Zelenskyy looks larger-than-life to Americans because so many of our own political figures look so very small.

  2. Bill recaps the top stories of the week, including the American public’s fawning over Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

  3. speaking of the man, this from today’s message to his fellow citizens


    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, speaking from a street in Kyiv, urges Moscow to engage in peace negotiations, warning that “Russia’s costs will be so high that you will not be able to rise again for several generations.”

    click here for the entire speech

    [ENGLISH AUDIO] Zelensky’s Address: March 19th, 2022 Amongst other things, President Zelensky references the current situation in the war for Ukrainian freedom against the Russian conquest. He discusses some recent developments in Ukrainian economic policy, and details future plans for the economic development of wartime and post-war Ukraine. He discusses the situation in some Key Ukrainian cities, and mentions the theatre in Mariupol. In addition, he mentions by name those military officers who were awarded some of the nations highest honors. President Zelensky official address with: SPOKEN ENGLISH audio ENGLISH subtitles [All English language audio read from English subtitles or transcripts provided by official Zelensky government publications, with sparse additional translation.]

     

  4. yesterday 2 presidents from a different time stand together — seems like eons ago things like this were normal when it came to standing up for democracy

    March 18 (UPI) — Former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush together visited a Ukrainian church in Chicago on Friday in a bipartisan show of support for the country amid the Russian invasion.
    Clinton and Bush each laid a bouquet of sunflowers outside of the Saints Volodymyr and Olha Ukrainian Catholic Church in the city’s Ukrainian Village neighborhood, according to a video message shared by each of the former presidents to social media.
    “America stands united with the people of Ukraine in their fight for freedom and against oppression,” Bush and Clinton wrote in identical statements after the visit.
    A member of the church, who was not identified in the video, said that the yellow flowers wrapped in blue ribbon — matching the colors of the Ukrainian flag — represent “the struggle for freedom.”
    “Blue for sky, yellow for wheat, as Ukraine is the breadbasket of Europe and now Ukraine is the citadel of fighting for freedom,” the man said.
    The former presidents also each wore yellow ribbons on the lapels of their jackets as another show of support, the video shows.
    “Two former presidents of the United States arrived to our cathedral to express support for Ukraine,” the church saidin a statement. “Thank you, President Bush and President Clinton.”
    Beyond the Ukrainian Village neighborhood, Chicago has numerous ties to the European country. The city is home to more than 54,000 people with Ukrainian ancestry and houses one of the country’s consulates in the United States. It is also a sister city o Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine.
    Both Clinton and Bush built ties with Ukraine after the country’s independence from the Soviet Union was recognized by former President George H.W. Bush in 1991.
    [continues]

  5. Thoughts and prayers won’t take out Russian artillery.  Send Z what he needs. Poland is probably next.  Best to force an actual negotiation.  What’s to negotiate, though?   Russia attacked without actual provocation.  The only negotiation should be how Russia is going to pay to rebuild Ukraine, and, how Pootin will be punished for war crimes. 

  6. https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/18/politics/madison-cawthorn-republican-reaction/index.html

    “Cawthorn’s latest comments have put GOP leaders in an awkward spot — just as they’re trying to show a unified front against Russia and paint President Joe Biden as weak against Russian President Vladimir Putin.”

    “The North Carolina Republican infuriated members of his own party this week for calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a “thug” and the Ukrainian government “incredibly evil”…”

    “Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the head of the House GOP’s campaign committee, called Cawthorn’s remarks “unfortunate.”

    ~unfortunate ~

    “I think that there are people in the Republican Party who seem to be enamored with autocrats like Putin. I think it’s disgraceful,” said Rep. Liz Cheney, a Wyoming Republican on the outs with her conference over her vocal criticism of Trump. “I think that when you have people like Madison Cawthorn, Marjorie Taylor Greene, others like the former President, who have complimented Putin, particularly at this moment, when we’re seeing that he’s a war criminal, we’re seeing the brutality — there’s no excuse for people being confused about which side we should be on.”

    At least Liz gets it.

  7. Cawthorn and Green. Two fuggin morons who even a few Republicans realize are morons. And it takes something big for Republicans to see moron.

  9. Good morning all.

    Patd – That Horsey cartoon is too close to be comfortable.  I keep trying to believe there are still some sane Republicans left, but ones such as Cawthorn and MTG make it very difficult. 

     

  11. comrades Murdock & co., the tucker and sean?

    Russian foreign minister praises Fox News coverage of war in Ukraine | Ukraine | The Guardian

    Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, has praised Fox News for its coverage, appearing on the Russian state-controlled RT network to hail the right-leaning US cable channel, whose primetime host Tucker Carlson has played down the invasion.

    “We know the manners and the tricks that are being used by the western countries to manipulate media, we understood long ago that there is no such thing as an independent western media,” said Lavrov, speaking in English in a studio interview on Friday.

    “If you take the United States, only Fox News is trying to present some alternative point of view,” he said.

    […]

    “But when you watch other channels, read the social networks and internet platforms, when the acting president was blocked and this censorship continues in a very big way … Whenever something is happening by the way of mass protest, mass demonstrations – which they don’t like – they immediately call it domestic terrorism.

    “So it’s a war, and it’s a war which involves the methods of information terrorism,” he said.

    [continues]

     

    Did he just say “War”?  i tho’t mother didn’t allow the W-word to be spoken and that it is against law?  

  12. Elon Musk sent Starlink satellite Internet service to Ukraine. It seems to be helping. – The Washington Post

    […]
    When war broke out in Ukraine, the country faced threats of Russian cyberattacks and shelling that had the potential to take down the Internet, making it necessary to develop a backup plan. So the country’s minister of digital transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, tweeted a direct plea to Musk urging him to send help. Musk replied just hours later: “Starlink service is now active in Ukraine. More terminals en route.”
    Ukraine has already received thousands of antennas from Musk’s companies and European allies, which has proved “very effective,” Fedorov said in an interview with The Washington Post Friday.
    “The quality of the link is excellent,” Fedorov said through a translator, using a Starlink connection from an undisclosed location. “We are using thousands, in the area of thousands, of terminals with new shipments arriving every other day.”
    The use of Starlink as a stopgap measure for citizens and the government to stay connected during an invasion is a major test of the relatively new technology, experts say, and could have widespread implications for the future of war. Internet has become an essential tool for communication, staying informed and even powering weapons.
    […]
    Musk responded to a request for comment on his efforts with Starlink and past efforts, telling The Post to give his regards “to your puppet master Besos😘😘.” (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Post.) Musk did not respond to a follow-up request specifically on his work with Starlink in Ukraine.

    [continues]

  15. Just don’t see this ending until Putin is gone

    He’ll settle for Crimea.   He is going to punish Ukraine for a while for resisting.  If he waits too long to settle, he won’t even get Crimea, and if Ukraine keeps attriting Russian forces he might get ousted, so he has incentive to settle, soon

  17. Zelenskyy very deftly threading the diplomatic needle by making concessions on NATO yet demanding Turkey help establish 3rd party security guarantees.  Just amazing leadership from him

    ok✌️🇺🇦

  19. PBS is running an ad for a film on Molly Ivins: “Texas has always been the laboratory for bad, national government.” 

    It airs on the 28th here; check your local listings.

  20. I’m hoping he gets so paranoid that he retreats to his bunker and pulls an Adolf, ridding us of him all by himself.  His ego is too big for that.  It’s time for someone who sees that he’s destroying Russia to do the deed. 

  21. Craig, Bink
    Right now, Putin looks secure. He has purged any possible problems. This can drag on a long time especially if NATO keeps in the background. Right now, it looks as if NATO is only going to give enough support to Ukraine for them to die. Russia has proved that they are a willing partner in the death of Ukraine.
     
    Jack

  22. BiD
    Remember what it took to get Adolph into that bunker.
    We won’t even take the responsibility for sending Polish jets to Ukraine.
    Jack

  24. Notice that Ukrainian diplomats don’t insult Putin directly because they have to negotiate with him.  They’ll only say “Putin alone can end this war”.  Otherwise they ascribe atrocities to the “Russian Federation”.
     
    Leave it to the pros

  25. https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/19/politics/joe-biden-vladimir-putin-personal-history/index.html

    “Whenever they’d speak, Biden would interrupt Putin as the Russian President launched into complaints that American officials see as a whataboutism tactic designed to distract and undermine.”

    “Biden has often told a story of a meeting with Putin at the Kremlin in 2011, when he was vice president, and telling the Russian leader, “I’m looking in your eyes and don’t think you have a soul”

    “This week Biden ratcheted up his rhetoric by calling the Russian President a “war criminal,” a “murderous dictator” and a “pure thug.”

    “Biden has deliberately worked with allies abroad to deny the Russian leader the one-on-one, Washington vs. Moscow dynamic that the President and his aides think Putin wants. Publicly and privately talking about the war as a fight for freedom and democracy, Biden has left other leaders to speak with Putin.”

  27. Binks comment about Turkey and BiD’s post about Biden denying Putin the status he wants as a world leader make for some interesting thoughts.
    Rather than being treated as a world power Putin is forced to deal with a third-rate regional power.
    This isn’t by accident.
    Jack

  28. What if the whole ukraine gambit is just a ruse, a clumsy awkward inept feint meant to draw in the enemy.

  29. I know we got a first class soldiery……how are we fixed for Generals?
    If this thing starts to burn it’s going to burn fast.

  30. Fox news still broadcasting to all the Armed Forces everywhere?   What’s up wit dat, you reckon…….

  31. Sturgeone – If someone wants to get a feel for how things are going, a drive by the Pentagon is a good indicator.  If there are cars in the parking lots on Saturday or Sunday, something is happening. Also, a check on military leave if you know anyone in the military. If leave is reduced or stopped or allowed but don’t leave the area, something is happening.
     
    I will reiterate what went out last month by the USDA.  Keep an amount of cash on hand in case the ATM systems are down or credit/debit card system is down.  Never let you vehicle go below a half of a tank of fuel. Keep food and water on hand.  Something I use on my boats when not on shore power are a couple of butane burners.  About $25-30 and fuel canisters available about six dollars/six pack.  A Coleman stove and propane is good too.  I also keep portable VHF radios around, when they are not on a boat, and a radio powered by winding a crank.

  33. China is the answer.  Xi can “talk” him down — one way or another — if he sees it’s in China’s interest.

  35. I don’t buy his nuke bluff

    Fortunately, the State Dpt. does.  It’s the only reason Putin operates with impunity.
     
    i defer to Fiona Hill who believes he is willing to escalate with nukes, and appreciated her remarking that he has already employed radioactive weaponry with polonium poisonings in the UK, the use of which irradiated entire neighborhoods in London

    Fucking guy shelled a nuclear power-plant, how much evidence you need?

  36. It’s the only reason Putin operates with impunity.

    Time to stop running scared of his bull shit. Even if he ordered Armageddon, which he’s not, his generals will shoot him in the head.

  37. Putin is neither crazy nor stupid, he made 2 miscalculations:
     
    1. resolve of the Ukrainian people and Zelenskyy 
     
    2. the influence of social media, because he’s old

    if anything he’s a megalomaniacal sociopath, if we have to put a label on it

  38. Right now, Putin is trying to wait out the attention-span of the fickle West.  He wins if we all stop paying attention

  41. ⚡️Mariupol council: Russian occupiers forcibly move thousands of Mariupol residents to Russia. The civilians were allegedly taken to camps where Russians checked their phones and documents and then forcibly moved some of them to remote cities in Russia.

    “Under the Statute of the International Criminal Court, “the deportation or transfer [by the Occupying Power] of all or parts of the population of the occupied territory within this territory” constitutes a war crime in international armed conflicts.”

  42. https://www.texastribune.org/2022/03/17/texas-border-mission-leadership/

    “Less than 72 hours after Gov. Greg Abbott replaced the Texas National Guard’s top general, two more top officials from the agency have suddenly stepped down, signaling a wide-ranging shakeup amid heavy criticism of the governor’s controversial border mission.”

    “Over the past year, Texas officials have deployed thousands of troops and dedicated billions of dollars to stem an increase in migrants crossing the Texas-Mexico border. But the operation has been mired in controversy as National Guard troops have called it a disaster. Several service members tied to the mission have also died by suicide, leading to calls for an investigation from congressional Democrats.”

    “Abbott has mostly ignored the criticism in public, saying his critics are “playing politics” over the suicides tied to the mission.”

    “A leaked survey in February of members of one of the six Operation Lone Star units found widespread skepticism and frustration with the mission.”

    “We are disposable in the eyes of top leaders, from the governor on down,” one survey respondent said. “The leadership failures of this mission will be a case study for military leaders for years to come.”

  43. OK.  War crimes have been committed.  What’s going to happen to Pootin, his generals, and, his troops? 

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