President Bone Spurs' Oval Office Histrionics Against Zelenskyy More Disgusting With Each Passing Day
But Russia and Republicans are thrilled!
Fallout continues from the embarrassing shitshow that was the Zelenskyy/Bone Spurs meeting on Friday, with the whole western world disgusted by the display, and only Russia and Republicans happy with Trump’s eagerness to invite an ally at war to visit, then insult and abandon them. Unfettered access to Ukraine plus the US alienating every country in the Western world, why, that’s sure a lot of sugar on Daddy Pooty’s tea-cakes!
Republicans thought it was genius, of course, and loved that Trump, Vance and Marjorie Taylor Greene’s bloaty-faced boyfriend harangued Volodymyr Zelenskyy about his outfit; that Vance and Trump lied over and over that Zelenskyy had never said “thank you” to the US; and that Zelenskyy left with no deal. NO DEAL is clearly some kind of big-brain 4D dealmaking, ergo Trump is a genius!
“We have a president who’s willing to do anything to bring about world peace,” gushed Sean Duffy’s wife on “Fox & Friends.” “Man, if he doesn’t get the Nobel Peace Prize after this, that thing means nothing.” Read a bunch of more Republican HEE HAW, HE PUTTIN’ ‘MURICA FIRST, EFF YOU ZUHLINSKY suck-up quotes from Delululand if you want. Or better yet, don’t!
Outside of the Russo-Republican bubble, in the real world, support for Zelenskyy has poured in. Zelenskyy met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and representatives of 15 countries and NATO on Sunday to work up a Putin-repelling plan without the US in it. Starmer pledged to put “boots on the ground” if necessary, and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said the European plan was “basically turning Ukraine into a steel porcupine that is indigestible for potential invaders.” Poetic!
Norway is also reportedly considering tapping into its $1.7 trillion sovereign wealth fund to support Ukraine, and the UK now also says it will provide a $2.84 billion loan backed by frozen Russian assets, on top of a $50 billion loan the G7 approved in October. ($20 billion of that is supposed to come from the US, assuming we’re still good for it, but who knows anymore.) And the UK also announced a new export deal to sell Ukraine 5,000 air defense missiles.
Norwegian marine fuel company Haltbakk Bunkers has announced it will stop fueling up US military forces in Norway, and any American ships docking in Norwegian ports. Said the company in a now-deleted Facebook post,
We have today been witnesses to the biggest shitshow ever presented "live on tv" by the current American president and his vice president. Huge credit to the president of Ukraine restraining himself and for keeping calm even though USA fa put on a backstabbing tv show. It made us sick. Short and sweet. As a result, we have decided to immediate STOP as fuel provider to American forces in Norway and their ships calling Norwegian ports.
"No Fuel to Americans!"
We encourage all Norwegians and Europeans to follow our example. SLAVA UKRAINA
Trump was invited on Friday to a state visit to the UK, including the prospect of tea and some of those little crustless cucumber sandwiches with King Charles, but was apparently too busy golfing to respond.
Meanwhile last weekend in Sugarbush, Vermont, where JD Vance was already trying to go on vacation six weeks into the job, protestors lined the streets to demand he GO SKI IN RUSSIA, forcing him to leave the resort for an “undisclosed location” before he could even make it down the bunny slope or get a plate of red-flannel hash.
So that’s fun, and people should do that every time Vance or Trump attempts to find a moment of peace.
It sounds like Trump had sincerely expected Zelenskyy to sign his shitty proffered “minerals deal,” and then brag about it in a spectacle that Reuters and the Associated Press couldn’t get into but Russian media agency TASS could.
Except Zelenskyy is not an idiot, and the deal is not much of a deal at all. The Center for Strategic and International Studies breaks it down in more detail, but the main rub is Trump wanted Ukraine to use its mineral resources to repay the United States $500 billion in military aid that the Trump administration says it already provided, putting it in a “reconstruction investment fund” with joint US and Ukraine ownership. But, for one thing, the US has not spent $500 billion on Ukraine, not even half of that. And 90 percent of what the US has spent did not go directly to Ukraine, but to the US, to buy new weapons to replace the old ones we gave them, and to train Ukrainians to use the equipment.
And in exchange for that “deal,” Ukraine would have gotten no future security assurances, not even a pledge for a ceasefire or continuing military or financial support. The “deal” would require private-sector companies to do this mineral-mining, because the US government is not in the mine-building business. But without security assurances, why would anyone want to invest in building mines that are going to get continually bombed by Russia?
But Trump Truth-Socialed that he thinks somebody will!
By negotiating a mineral deal, Trump ensures that Americans will be involved in Ukraine’s mining industry. This prevents Russia from launching an invasion, because attacking Ukraine would mean endangering American lives— something that would force the United States to respond. […] once US companies have mining operations in Ukraine, Putin will be unable to attack without triggering massive international consequences.
Step right up to be human shields, geologists! Hey, didn’t the invasion three years ago already force the US to respond because that is what the US already agreed to do in the case of Russian aggression?
Conveniently, many of the alleged minerals also happen to be in the areas that Russia is disputing. But allegedly, because the area has not been geologically surveyed since at least 30 to 60 years ago, back in the days of the old Soviet Union. Even if some mining company was willing to get to work tomorrow, it could still take decades to survey the land and get a mine and mineral refinery up and running; then, assuming that the titanium, lithium and etc. are actually there, Ukraine would get half of the profit. Also $500 billion is an insane number, when the entire global rare earth minerals market is worth only about $4 to $12 billion. And any profit to Ukraine would be after paying off that bonkers amount, and after its share of mining expenses. Like the deal where TLC went platinum 11 times and was still so in debt to their record company that they had to declare bankruptcy!
Still, Zelenskyy is diplomatically not completely refusing a deal. He wants a ceasefire, at least, backed up by some kind of assurance from the US that it will follow the security agreement it already made to defend Ukraine, because a Pooty deal is not worth the туалетная-paper it’s pooped on. And the US’s word is now not worth much either, it seems. Tweeted Zelenskyy:
We are ready to sign the minerals agreement, and it will be the first step toward security guarantees. But it’s not enough, and we need more than just that. A ceasefire without security guarantees is dangerous for Ukraine.
It’s also worth noting that Ukraine is not losing as badly as Russia is, despite what Moscow and Washington would like us to think. Vance mouthed off about Ukraine’s defense having “problems,” but Russia has suffered somewhere between three to 10 times as many fatalities since 2022, depending on whose estimates you believe (neither side will release official estimates). Russia is importing confused North Korean soldiers who can’t read or speak Russian and have no combat experience, and zapping Russian men at nightclubs and bus stops with Tasers to force them to join the army. Not signs of strength, or a war with ongoing popular support at home. All he has to do is get out of there, and it’s no more sanctions, frozen assets returned. The war is entirely a self-made Putin problem.
AND OH HEY REMEMBER THE TIME TRUMP TRIED TO EXTORT ZELENSKYY TO LIE AND MAKE UP THINGS ABOUT JOE AND HUNTER BIDEN? There was a whole impeachment about it.
The Washington Post has forgotten, and published an op-ed entitled “Zelensky must mend the breach with Trump — or resign.” So much for when Jeff Bezos told the staff that op-eds would now only be about “free markets and personal liberties,” not even a week ago.
Anyway, great negotiating there, Art O’Deal! The US humiliated on the international stage, cowering to Putin, and all for nothing except the tongue-bathing from Fox that he was going to get no matter what anyway.
Can you believe it’s only been 42 days?
[Salon / Center for Strategic and International Studies / CNN / WSJ gift link / The Insider]
And yes again look at Murc's Law. A devastating foreign policy failure of this scope (including pissing off all our allies) would have a Democratic administration beset with resignations.
But all these people stay on board because they know there can never be actual consequences. The transnational criminal enterprise runs the Executive Branch, which does law enforcement. And all the Russian assets know, their chosen party can stay in power as long as Americans allow them to in service of their prejudices and sometimes even clout.
Please remember, this shitshow is not because of the economy. It's because there are a lot of bigots in the USA and they're happy to sell out the entire world just as long as they can make life worse for the vulnerable minorities they hate.
President Klan Robe and Jizzy Divan are doing their actual job...it's selling out the USA, killing as many people as possible and helping those with money loot the remains.
Bright side: Assuming we ever have Presidential elections again, Rubio is permanently off the short-list for GOP candidates. The image of him literally trying to sink through that couch while mentally dissociating is the kryptonite his remaining political career deserves.