"I don't think the Vice President of the United States saying this is your crisis when you have the Russian bear which they all have history with standing over there that's in violation of a sovereign nation and the UN charter."- Rahm Emmanuel last night on Real Time
Look, if it looks like a traitor, talks like a traitor and acts like a traitor then all things considered it must be a traitor. Such is the conclusion after watching the spectacle in the Oval Office yesterday with Traitor Trump and sidekick Vance taking turns berating Volodymyr Zelenskiy. As for the Trumper maggots - like the pussified Lindsey Graham - who want to blame Zelensky, it pays to know that he didn't start the exchange. Also, as today's lead WSJ editorial ('Putin Wins An Oval Office Spectacle', p. A14 ) notes:
"Was he supposed to tolerate an extended public denigration of the Ukarinian people, who have been fighting a war for survival for three years. So it s bewildering to see Trump's allies defending this debacle as some show of American strength."
Indeed, it is nothing of the kind. But rather capitulation to an enemy aggressor in Putin and trying to make Volodymyr Zelenskiy feel guilty for not being willing to spitshine Putin's boots - like Trump is all too ready to do. Well yeah, because it has to be clear to the most plodding intellect that we have a Russian asset in control of our nation and ready to feed it into the Russkie woodchipper to appease Putin's ambitions
That yesterday's Oval Office debacle was a debased exercise in Trump's ego and narcissism has by now become apparent. Expecting a judicious and rational exchange the Ukrainian president was instead at the receiving end of a barrage of lies, insults, gaslighting, and personal attacks while having to listen to the orange traitor endlessly spouting lies about Biden while extolling Putin. And imbeciles want to say there never really was a Russian conspiracy that put Trump in office back in 2016. Go back and watch that farce from yesterday and tell me with a straight face Putin's not getting everything he wanted in grooming Trump, 'Manchurian candidate' style, to do his bidding.
One moment in particular
epitomized Trump’s fact-challenged yet boisterous approach to mediating a deal
to end the war — and seemed to set things off.
After Zelensky talked about how Russia annexed Crimea from
Ukraine in 2014 with little Western intervention, Trump cut in and tried and
correct him. He then gave up on that angle and berated
Other bigger lies emerged which Lawrence O'Donnell actually ripped to shreds in his Last Word Thursday night. Namely that Biden did not give $318 b in money to Ukraine. He delivered $118 b in weapons, which the Ukrainians have used to stay afloat.
It was a minor detail in the exchanges, but also a striking one and a potential turning point. Here was Trump confidently (yet wrongly) trying to correct the leader of another country about when a portion of his own country was taken over by force. And then you had Vance trying to rescue the point. (Certain fallout from the Russian annexation did linger into 2015, but the main event was in early 2014.)
Zelensky certainly risked raising Trump’s ire and having him take an even more antagonistic approach toward helping Ukraine than he already has. But that doesn't mean he was guilty of an "unforced error"- according to one FOX News babbler- because he didn't suck up to Trump.
And, sure enough, Trump posted on Truth Social that he had “determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for Peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations. I don’t want advantage, I want PEACE. He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace.”
Trump has some chutzpah ringing up this load of baloney. In fact it is Dotard Donnie Trump who has disrespected the United States of America by allying himself with a thug like Putin and using the Oval Office as a venue to advance Putin's goals. And no, there is no abiding peace included. Not unless it's on Putin's terms which is what Trump and Vance were jockying for.
Speaking of which who invited Vance to stick his beak into the exchange at which point bedlam was unleashed. In the words of the WSJ editorial;
"The nosedive began with an odd interjection from JD Vance, who appeared t be defending Trump's diplomacy, which Mr. Zelensky hadn't challenged. Vance then unloaded on Mr. Zelensky that he was disrespectful, "low on manpower" and gives Ukraine visitor's a "propaganda tour".
But Zelensky understands, unlike Trump or Vance, that Peace can only be feasible when subjugation to Putin is not demanded. That means the U.S. not allying itself with the knaves and bad guys. To quote Fareed Zakaria last night on Bill Maher: "Why would any European ally trust us after seeing the deplorable treatment of Zelensky?"
Why indeed?
But given we know now Trump is a Russian asset and such demands are implicit and he will kow tow to Putin every step of the way and call it a "great deal". That is how far from reality this demented looneytune is - or as former security specialist John Bolton put it, he has "a head full of mush".
See Also:
And:
by Robert Reich | March 1, 2025 - 6:32am | permalink
— from Robert Reich's Substack
Friends,
If you were shocked and disgusted by the scene in the Oval Office today, with Trump and Vance belittling and berating President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, you’re not alone. Fourteen Democratic governors have released a joint statement condemning what occurred:
“Donald Trump and JD Vance used the sacred Oval Office to berate President Zelensky for not trusting Vladimir Putin’s word. Americans must protect our strong democratic values on the world stage instead of undermining President Zelensky’s work to fight for his nation and the freedom of his people after being invaded by Russia.”
They speak for much of America.
And:
by David Badash | March 1, 2025 - 6:25am | permalink
President Donald Trump’s MAGA supporters in the U.S. are cheering his Oval Office ambush of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, declaring they are “proud” of Trump and Vice President JD Vance.
But across the globe, world leaders swiftly reaffirmed their support for President Zelenskyy, his country, and Ukraine’s fight to defend its sovereignty and democracy against Russia’s illegal invasion—making clear their allegiance is with him and his country, effectively icing out Donald Trump and the U.S.
Meanwhile, at home, some Americans—perhaps already weary just weeks into Trump’s presidency—are voicing their belief that the President of the United States is behaving like, and may very well be, a witting or unwitting “Russian asset.”
The Atlantic’s Anne Applebaum, who has written numerous books on the Soviet Union and authoritarianism, framed Friday’s events for MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace:
“I think all of Ukraine’s allies, and all of not just Europeans who have a border with Russia or who are near Russia, but Europeans who understand that Russia has coordinated sabotage attacks across the continent engages in sometimes daily cyber attacks on different kinds of institutions, infrastructure all over Europe, whose country, whose propagandists constantly threaten Europe and constantly repeat threats to bomb or even nuke European cities, I think everybody felt today a kind of chill understanding that this was a very different United States.”
‘RUSSIAN ASSET’?
Several notable Americans made public their thoughts after Friday’s Oval Office attack that the President of the United States might, knowingly or not, be a “Russian asset.”
Noted political scientist, The Atlantic’s Dr. Norman Ornstein, concluded, “Not that we had a bunch doubt before, but Donald Trump is a Russian asset.” He later wrote, “This is one of the saddest days for America in my lifetime.”
Former Tea Party Republican congressman turned podcaster and political commentator, Joe Walsh, wrote: “I said two weeks ago on @CNN that Donald Trump is a Russian asset. I stand by that. The entire world should now know that this is the scary truth.”
Political commentator and SiriusXM host Dean Obeidallah added, “We officially have a Russian asset in the White House in Trump. Period.”
Cheri Jacobus, the political strategist, pundit, and frequent cable news guest, wrote: “Trump is a war criminal. A traitor. A Russian asset since the 1980’s. There is now no doubt.”
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