Kyiv, Ukraine–Let’s take a look at the not too distant past, where in a news conference, Russia’s Vladimir Putin has been given the go-ahead to invade Ukraine by President Joe Biden.
The vice president said that he did not expect Russia to launch an all-out war, but he expected Russia to invade Ukraine. If Putin were to launch a full-scale invasion, he would pay a hefty price. He did not specify what that price would be.
Putin has not yet decided whether to move in, but Biden said he expects him to do so. Biden did not promise the US or its European allies any assistance or relief for Ukraine.
The Russians have already invaded Georgia and continue to control the country’s key interests. They also control the Crimean peninsula and forced it into annexation during the Obama administration.
Now back to the present, and guess what came true?
Faced with withering criticism over its Ukraine failures, the Biden White House now describes Russian dictator Vladimir Putin as “mentally deranged.” Democrats used this playbook when they portrayed President Trump. Meanwhile, on the mental agility front, Biden is a stand-up comedian’s dream.
As a matter of fact, Putin acted logically. In the wake of communism’s collapse, he was determined to rebuild the Russian empire. So Putin waited for Trump’s years to pass because he logically measured Trump and knew not to mess with him.
He also assessed Biden and Blinken, witnessed the Afghanistan evacuation, and concluded that the United States is now governed by buffoons. To avoid personally and publicly insulting Biden, Putin waited one calendar year before invading Ukraine.
When the Olympics ended on January 21, Putin waited just a few extra weeks so as not to be involved in a bloody conflict during the brief week when the world was at peace and when anti-Russian protests could be seen daily on international television.
The execution was logical.
In the conflict sparked by Russian forces, President Biden has already declared that neither NATO nor U.S. military forces would participate. It is simply too dangerous to escalate, especially when you consider the volatile threats made by Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding the use of nuclear weapons.
That is exactly what Putin and the Ukraine are aligning themselves with now. Putin decided, very wisely, that when Trump was president, he shouldn’t mess with him.
Maybe he saw Trump as strong and tough. I’ll personally admit that there is a sense of craziness, irrationality, uncontrolled temper, and instability around Donald Trump.
A Putin, a Kim Jong-un, a Xi Jinping never messed with Trump. But ruthless tyrants and bloodthirsty dictators everywhere understand survival and self-preservation. Experienced murderers of that ilk crouch in ambush rather than take the initiative.
They think: Reagan will pass, and we’ll eventually see a sexually deviant Clinton poaching women while Bin Laden’s in the CIA’s crosshairs. Gee Dub scares us, but Obama will be salsa dancing while ISIS blows up an airport in Europe. The time then will be right to strike if we are patient.
Even earlier, Khrushchev incorrectly thought that JFK’s neatly combed hair and other superficialities would make him an easy target, even though he never would have risked a confrontation with Nixon on the Cuban peninsula.
Even though Kennedy proved stronger than expected, his very election induced the confrontation that otherwise would not have been launched.
Carter was correctly assessed by the Ayatollah as a wimp. As soon as Reagan arrived, Iran released and freed all hostages.
Both ISIS and Putin correctly perceived Obama as a cavalier and pretender. While Trump was in charge, even the worst dictators backed off; Qasem Soleimani read Trump differently, and he left little else behind but a ring finger.
With a feeble and effete Joe Biden, both because of his nearly half-century of public failures and partly due to health, age, and cognitive limitations not under his control, he invites Putin aggression, Chinese economic and military dominance, and the return of North Korea’s Kim Jong-un,.
That is the price people pay when they treat presidential elections cavalierly: a world up-ended, jobs lost, an economy ruined, energy resources wasted, racial divisions elevated, national security jeopardized, public education in free-fall, thousands more murdered in inner cities, a border in chaos, and who knows what else the cards have in store for us.
We are collectively about to find out.
“Gummy Bear Caught in a Gummy Bear Trap” by Zak Greant is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0