Tag Archives: Ukraine

WE ARE ALL UKRAINIANS

When the cowards come for you they will come with tanks, missiles and overwhelming force. They will jail or torture you for daring to speak the truth. They will shoot your neighbors from rooftops as you attempt to bury your dead. They will bomb and shell your homes into rubble, then sift through the twisted steel and crumbling concrete lest anyone come out alive.

At night, when you are all alone and waiting for the cowards to rain hellfire on your world, or break down your door, you will tremble as you’ve never trembled in your life. You will look at your frightened family and realize how fragile is the world and the dreams you were foolish enough to believe in. Any hope or plans you nurtured for your children’s future will be crushed like ants beneath the bloodstained boots of these cowardly murderers.

When the cowards break down your door and rudely snatch your sons from your arms you will fight like you’ve never fought before. You will struggle against all odds to keep them alive and free. You will struggle in vain to safeguard the only treasure worth defending with your dying breath.

When the cowards kill your children—your wives, husbands and brothers—you will feel more alone than you’ve ever felt before. And you will wonder how it could be that no one who witnessed the brutal killing spree had come to your defense. You will marvel how the possession of nuclear weapons turns humane and powerful nations into inconstant and powerless straw dogs. 

And in the darkness of your nights, you will question why your pleas to God and humanity fell on deaf ears. Why your plaintive cries for rescue were like embers from a fire that only rose to vanish into the darkening sky. 

When the cowards come for you they will come with tanks and overwhelming force. And they will kill with defiant impunity; raining down destruction in front of a world that can only stare in frozen disbelief. A world that sadly must learn once again that each death of a defenseless civilian not only strengthens the cowards but diminishes the cowardly onlookers.

Look not upon the victims of Ukraine, friends, lest you see yourselves. Then, all you have to do is sit silent and wait. 

Sooner or later the cowards will come for you.

TRUMP AND TRUMPER TAGTEAM THE UKRAINE

It’s a kindness to Donald Trump to view his extortion of Ukraine as a quid pro quo.Too much of Trump’s thuglike behavior, not to mention Ukraine’s existential angst, is omitted with that descriptor. 

Quid pro quo ordinarily implies both parties enjoy a parity of gain, while the deal being offered by Trump and Trumper—Donny and Rudy—was Ukraine’s very survival. A survival only put in jeopardy to make the country’s leaders more malleable to digging up dirt on the Bidens.

This is where things get funny. Donny and Rudy split up. Rudy to Europe where amongst other places, he ended up visiting Kiev in Ukraine. 

Centerpiece of the U.S.A.’s
“Shadow Diplomacy,”‘ manufactured in Kiev and controlled by Trump sidekick,
Rudy Giuliani

Meanwhile back in Washington, Donny was playing a chess game of sorts, directing a rumor campaign against the ambassador to Ukraine, who apparently was too straitlaced to countenance the strong-arm tactics Trump and Trumper were planning to deploy.

Cut back to Rudy. As part of his plan against the ambassador, he arranged for two associates (natives of Eastern Europe) to donate Russian oligarch money to a Republican Congressman from Texas, who coincidentally soon complained to the State Department about the straitlaced ambassador.

Only a clown could laugh his way through the mess created by Trump and Trumper. Two-handed, they virtually helped destroy America’s reputation as an honest broker and loyal friend on the world stage. Ukraine is our friend and strategic ally; why else would we give them $ 391 million?

The Bidens

What have we just said to Ukraine and the rest of the world with the President’s self-serving behavior?

“This is how America honors our agreements with friends.”

It goes beyond sanity to weigh the potential gains against potential losses Trump and Trumper risked with their stupid, conspiracy-addled games.

One has to ask, “What did they think they had to gain?” And then the most important question of all, “At what price?”

Yeah, sure, they might have dug up valuable dirt to use against Joe Biden. Valuable only should he manage to outrun his age, his son’s ugly business dealings, his foot-in-the-mouth tendency or the dozen other candidates running against him.

And at what price, Mr. President?

Dumb and Dumber, too, Giuliani’s associates arrested at the airport.

Impeachment is the fog horn that alerts the nation to one of its most perilous dangers. It’s not only America’s stature and reputation they imperiled with their selfish, childish behavior, but the integrity of the Office of the Presidency will forever be damaged in some ineffable way.

All to help Trump and Trumper hold onto the White House so they can continue to spread their lovable antics and zaniness around the world for four more years? God help us, no!

But back to my question.

Quid pro quo? Does that convey the fear felt by an entire population living under the threat and shadow of the Soviet Army? I think not.

Mario Puzo would know it for what it was. In the Mafia jungle he wrote about, the fear of death or destruction was the ultimate weapon. The ultimate bargaining chip. 

“Make him an offer he can’t refuse,” was the refrain and it was totally undeniable. 

Nobody wants to die. 

Nobody wants their loved ones to die.

Not even Trump and Trumper.

ONE NATION UNDER TRUMP

America The (Once) Beautiful

Has there ever been a time in our history when the moral fabric that undergirds America’s laws and behavior has been so shredded that it represents an immediate threat to the republic’s survival?

If not, then that time has arrived. 

Today.

Under President Donald J. Trump.

The Existential Threat himself.

Trump is not merely a rogue president, or a half-demented billionaire run amuck with the playground toys of the presidency. He is a clear and present danger whose actions and words repeatedly challenge the principles of justice, ethics and humanity this country was founded upon. 

Under Trump, America is no longer one nation indivisible, but one nation totally divided. Under Trump, neighbor is encouraged to hate and fear neighbor, branches of the government no longer work together, and the Truth has become so twisted and tormented it is most often unrecognizable.

Can’t help but wonder what
they’re plotting…?

Under Trump there is no transparency or honoring of tradition to explain any of his aberrant behavior. Should we be surprised that the same man who colluded with Russia, a de facto enemy, to steal the 2016 election, is the very President who used military aid to extort the Ukraine to dig up dirt on a political rival? A Ukraine so weak and under threat by Russia that its very existence could hang in the balance?

Under Trump, Republicans appear to have abandoned their values, their commitment to national security and their ability to recognize or speak the truth. 

Under Trump, none of the ordinary safeguards of the two-party political system appear to be in place. Rather than serve the nation that pays their salaries, Trump’s political sycophants give their allegiance to Trump in the same way Mafia soldiers serve their Don. 

The Great Seal of Ukraine
(Not a shithole country!)

In light of the events of the last two days, it is sadly obvious that the Departments of State and Justice have become rogue arms of our government. Where one appears to have dived head first into the attempt to bully the Ukraine at the expense of our National Security, the other is totally focused on protecting a President whose every word and deed seems to defy our laws and Constitution.

And now both departments have drawn their wagons in a circle around the White House.

Hang on, Nelly!

And now, under Trump, these forces battle to hold onto the levers of power they were never worthy of in the first place. And Trump will never release those levers, no matter what happens.

If he goes down, he’ll try to take all of us with him. Count on it!

And what about us? 

Like children caught in the crossfire, we are left to watch—shocked, frightened and frozen—as the United States government under Trump, undergoes a psychotic breakdown, and attempts, against all rational belief, to turn a lie into the truth, and a country into a nation of dullards too stupid to know the difference.

Under Trump, we are all in danger. 

Especially those of us who don’t know it.

TRUMP SENDS OUT FOR CHINESE.

“Hello, Xi Jinping’s Chinese Garden. Order for pick up or delivery, please?”

“Delivery.”

“And what is name?”

“And what is name?”

“Donald The President.”

“Donald The President? President of what?”

“Of the United States, you moron! What are you, a Fake News reporter? I’ll tell you when to ask questions. And when you have a question, I want you to raise your hand.” 

“Raise hand? On phone? Why?”

“Again with the questions! Why does everyone want to question me? I guess there’s nobody else worth questioning. That’s because I give great answers. Best answers anywhere. Everyone says so.”

“Are you ready to order, Mr. President?”

“Yes, I’m ordering from your take out menu. (calling to someone in the room) Rudy, Mike, Billy…what do you guys want? (murmurs rise in the distance) Really? (into the phone) Are you ready?”

“Fire away!”

“Just remember, if you take notes of this call, you have to burn them when we’re through.”

“Sure, always burn notes. Only way Chinese Communist restaurant stay in business. What is order, please?”

“First, we want three orders of Shit-on-Biden, extra spicy.”

“Large size or small?”

“Super-size! Can I get those with photos?”

Shit-on-Biden, extra spicy.

“Three order, Shit-on-Biden with photos! You want photos showing Biden fooling around with Chinese women, maybe, or mongrel dogs? Perfect for casual slander or dedicated destruction of reputation. Today’s special: fake photos of Joe Biden naked or in underwear?”

“What kind of underwear?”

Looking good, Joe!

“Tighty-whitey.”

“We’ll take a dozen of both.  Can I get poster sized blow-ups?”

“Of course. Is very popular item on menu.” 

“You know, I just realized something, Xi. This a beautiful phone call. Don’t you think? Simply beautiful. If Lindsey Graham were here kissing my derriere, he’d damn well agree.”

(silence)

“Next I’d like three orders of Sweet-and-Sour-Bullshit; the kind despots order when they’re winning a trade war.”

“Three order Sweet-and-Sour-Bullshit. With or without beansprouts?”

“Beansprouts? I don’t give a shit about beansprouts. Are you making a joke?”

“Beansprouts! I don’t give a shit about beansprouts.”

“No, no. Sorry, no joke. Also, no beansprouts.”

“Okay, now this is important, I want you to send the bill for our order to the Department of the Treasury, attention Stevie M.”

“Department of Treasury?”

“Did you just ask another question?” 

“Sorry, you not see, I first raise hand.” 

“You sure you’re not working with Crooked Hillary or her skirt-chasing husband? Or perhaps Adam Schiff is wire-tapping this phone call…?”

“Xi Jinping have one more question, Mr. President.”

“I can tell your hand is raised, so ask away.”

“What happen if Treasury Department refuse pay bill?” 

Then send it to Present Zelensky in Kiev. I believe that’s located in Ukraine. If it hasn’t already been moved to Russia.”

“Zelensky is also President?”

President of a shithole country.

“Yeah, but of a shithole country.”

But what if Zelensky tell me ‘no,’ just like Treasury Department?”

“If Zelensky says no, tell him I’ll be sending him those Javelin missiles he asked for. And very soon!

“Oh, and don’t forget the fortune cookies.”

From Donald With Love.

Republicans Struck Blind By Sudden Exposure To The Truth.

Six Republicans on their way
to a strategy meeting at Fox News.

Something unusual happened last week, and continues to afflict a majority of the nation’s Republican office-holders. I am not speaking about the release of notes from Donald Trump’s July 25th phone conversation with Ukraine’s president. Nor am I referencing the release of the whistleblower’s report the very next day.

“Thank you, Godfather.”

Quite simply—and defying any logical explanation—the mass of Republicans in Washington has been struck blind, all at once, all seemingly by the same toxic agent, namely The Truth. After releasing phone transcript notes that, in concert with the whistleblower’s complaint, show incontrovertibly that President Volodymyr Zelensky was given an offer he could not refuse. Not if he wished his small sovereign nation to survive.

The offer: find me dirt on Joe Biden or risk losing all military aid voted by Congress. Nearly $400 million crucial to Ukraine’s survival. Aid that was absolutely critical to their defense against ongoing Russian aggression.

(At this point in our post, one can almost hear the haunting musical strains from “The Godfather” soundtrack playing in the background.)

Not since “Day of the Triffids,” a sci-fi movie in which the entire planet’s population was struck blind, has widespread blindness struck with such surprising ferocity. And for those Republicans not blinded by the sudden revelations of this past week, there arose a mass inability to comprehend or evaluate obvious criminal acts or statements made by President Trump.

Typical Russian defender of Donald Trump (not the dog).

The Republican Blindness and Feigned Stupidity Syndrome appears to render Republicans incapable of defending anything of real value—the Constitution, their fellow lawmakers, government institutions, America’s elections, National Security, honest whistleblowers, Muslims, Mexicans, members of the intelligence community, institutional civility, or anyone cruelly attacked by an infantile president.

An infantile president, it should be mentioned, whose ego is so large the Ukraine would sit in its shadow. 

Which is just another way of describing exactly what happened last week.