Is anyone home? Where is everybody? Where's Joe Biden? Where's Antony Blinken? What have they been doing other than taking photos of themselves sitting at a table looking as if they're doing something? Well, they're not doing anything. They sat and Russia invaded Ukraine.
Russian forces are on a "peacekeeping" mission. Moscow recognized two would-be separatist republics and rolled into Eastern Ukraine shortly thereafter. The line Russian President Vladimir Putin has drawn is clear. "Ukraine is ours, and you're too weak to stop us."
For the most part, Putin's right. There’s been a lot of talk and no action. Where have I seen this movie before? Oh, it was that disastrous franchised story called Syria. It's "red lines" all over again, and this time, Joe Biden is helming the ship. That means we're all going to crash…again.
It's Obama 2.0. I know some of you know this already. Sadly, in some ways, President Obama looks competent compared to Mr. Biden. Yet, it's the same old playbook here—and everyone knows it. That's what is sad about both incidents. The Obama-Biden team thought it was winning the chess game when it was being outplayed and outmaneuvered at every turn. Why? The opposition already knew its moves. Worse, the team probably thought a two-pair beat a flush in this poker game.
Obama said a red line would be the deployment of chemical weapons in Syria. Well, that happened. Nothing came from the Obama administration. Nothing. Just like how nothing happened when Russia annexed Crimea. The United States gave some speeches, but Russia is still in Crimea, and Bashar al-Assad is still president of Syria. They won. Obama lost.
Now, Biden is trying to play Mr. Toughguy in Ukraine and he can't. It's as bad a miscast as Daryl Hannah in "Wall Street." He can't play the part. Putin knows this. I can only imagine what those calls were like. Putin hears a weak, soft-spoken, and confused president trying to invoke some vestige of strength but can't. Half this country hates Biden and rightfully so. The Europeans' faith in him as some foreign policy wonk was shattered with our shambolic exit from Afghanistan. America is rudderless abroad. We're on the run again, and Joe Oatmeal is lost in all of this. He can’t keep up. He’s too slow, stupid, and weak to take on the Russians, which is why Putin was able to declare the two separatist republics independent states which they will recognize and deploy their forces forthwith. Biden slapped some sanctions. Oh no, the already uber-wealthy Russian oligarchs that run the country must be trembling.
There was no press conference when it was reported that Russian troops were in Ukraine. Why? Should the Europeans know that Joey B has their back, condemn the actions of Putin, and get the allies together to prepare for the worst? At the very least prepare for possible rescue operations and evacuations. I don’t care what this White House says—if Americans are trapped, we’re getting them out this time. They can’t afford to have two incidents where they just abandoned our citizens in harm’s way.
I hope that’s happening now, but I doubt it. Joe can’t stay up that late. Old man needs his sleep because he’ll be totally braindead if he doesn’t rest. Even with 17 hours of sleep, he’s 35 percent functional.
This is Joe Biden’s red line moment, and he might wait until Putin’s tanks are on the Rhine before he does something. The line runs right down Biden. He’s been bifurcated strategically. Russia knows it can push him and the West around because they have become weak. The US is at the helm of NATO and Biden is an absolute wreck.
You know what, I take it back. There are no red lines. No, the Russians can draw all over Biden like a coloring book. If I were Putin, I’d keep pressing. He's already deployed 100,000-plus troops at the border, entered the eastern part of Ukraine, conducted a nuclear missile test before the invasion, and declared the two separatist republics independent states—that he owns—and all Biden could do was sissy slap him with some sanctions.
He can see the weakness from the presidential palace. He’ll keep going forward, maybe not in massive chunks, but in a series of body checks that will inch him closer to a full-blown takeover.
President Biden, wake up and do something. And getting up for ice cream doesn't count.