Ukraine War Good For Biden?

DISCLAIMER
“Let me preface this post by stating unequivocally that I’m not picking sides in this conflict, there is blame on both sides, Ukraine, and Russia. Unfortunately living in the West and having been taught very little world history, very few of us “armchair quarterbacks” are able to comment on it with any depth of understanding. There will be no winners in this, as the loss of life will negate any ideological or territorial wins. In the interest of the Ukrainian and Russian citizens specifically and the world community, the best way forward is to strive ardently to negotiate a peace deal. Both Ukraine and Russian cannot do this alone, world leaders have to step forward at this crucial time and work to make this happen.”

MY POST

Well, our left of center friends are at it again, they’ve found a new fear porn gold mind, Ukraine. Don’t believe me, check out all the headlines and chatter, it’s dominating the news cycle. So how do you gin up fear, simple, spout “thermo nuclear global war over and over again” which achieves the goal of frightening a lot of people and making them extremely nervous. So why would the media do this, well on the surface the answer seems like child’s play, eyeballs & ratings and clicks, sure that certainly doesn’t hurt, but hang with me here as I drop a couple of other possibilities.

I think it’s important that we start my first quoting Rham Emanuel (democrat insider & power broker) who said, “you never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it’s an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.” Now if we’ve learned anything over the past two years it’s that this mantra has been the gospel for elected civil servants at every level in virtually all western democracies. These left of center regimes have done things they could only have imagined in their wildest dreams.

First off, I think it goes without saying, but PLEASE DON’T let this Ukraine story make you anxious and/or fearful. Just think back over the past two years, don’t the headlines sound “eerily” familiar to the early Covid headlines. You know, thinks like, “Should we be worried about COVID?” Now it’s “Should we be worried about Ukraine?” How do I know they’re using the same playbook, easy, just question the narrative and you’ll be met with the same “don’t you care about all the people who are dying?” Come on folks we’ve seen this before, in fact we’ve lived it over the past two years. So while it’s important to pay attention to world events and be up on things, please don’t get obsessed with it and let it get you down. That’s what they want, remember these folks need you to be in fear in order for them to push through their ideology.

Now not sure if any of you have seen “Wag the Dog” but if you haven’t it’s well worth the watch. The president is caught making advances on an underage girl inside the Oval Office, less than two weeks before the election. Conrad Brean (Robert DeNiro), a top spin doctor, is brought in by presidential aide Winifred Ames to take the public's attention away from the scandal. He decides to construct a fictional war in Albania, hoping the media will concentrate on this instead. Brean contacts Hollywood producer Stanley Motss (Dustin Hoffman) to create the war, complete with a theme song and fake film footage of a sympathy arousing orphan. The hoax is initially successful, with the president quickly gaining ground in the polls. FIRST OFF I’m not suggesting that the Ukraine conflict is a Wag the Dog farce (resulting in lots of injury to Ukranians) manufactured to help U.S. Democrats hold Congress and reverse Biden’s cratering poll numbers. Even they’re not cleaver and cunning enough to come with that, but they’re certainly cleaver and cunning to heed Rham Emanuel’s words and take full advantage of it. So, by now you’re probably wondering, “what’s the thing that Democrat’s might have thought they couldn’t’ do before?” How about, resurrect Joe Biden’s presidency and their hopes in the midterms.

Of course, like any theory, you want to see some evidence and proof, I agree, me too. Check out this headline from yesterday’s New York Magazine: “Did Putin Accidentally Reboot Biden’s Presidency?”

In the tagline just below a picture of Joe Biden doing his best to look presidential, it say’s “Joe Biden doesn’t seem so sleepy in addressing Russia’s aggression in Ukraine

As you unpack the article, pay attention to the second paragraph, as it says:

“Perceptions of Biden’s handling of world affairs took a big hit after the messy U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, and they haven’t recovered … Putin’s war does give Biden a chance to change perceptions of his supposedly weak leadership, particularly if he takes full advantage of a State of the Union address likely to be widely watched and discussed in the days ahead.”

Only the media could muse out loud how Biden may be able to take full advantage of death and mayhem on the other side of the world. In fact, the fine folks at New York Magazine even say the quiet part out loud:

“Americans overwhelmingly want Ukrainian independence to survive, but without U.S. troop involvement. If that appears to be happening, even temporarily, Biden will almost certainly get some of the credit, particularly from the Democrats whose support for him has been lagging lately, and from the independents, who turned sour on his presidency some time ago.”

Silver lining huh? The war can help Biden save the base and scrape up some independents, in fact he doesn’t really have to mean it, he can basically “fake it” with “temporary appearances.” And for the most delicious part of it all, it just might undermine Republicans:

“It’s also possible that the ill-disguised and sometimes openly expressed MAGA admiration for Putin could undermine the recent revival of fortunes for Republicans, who at best seem divided and irresolute over what is happening in Ukraine.”

Now for all of you who believed that Trump was a stooge of Putin and Russia, if that were the case he wouldn’t have authorize the killing of over 100 Russian special forces in Syria in 2018, I’m thinking if you’re best buddies with Putin, doing that doesn’t exactly endear you to him, just saying. Here is the link to the story https://www.businessinsider.com/us-military-killed-hundreds-of-russians-syria-trump-administration-confirms-2018-4?op=1

So, for their Christmas wish the folks at New York Magazine are wishing for the following, Republicans back Putin which will cause them to suffer politically. However, I’m not seeing anybody backing Putin. This “war” makes zero sense to anybody, except of course maybe democrat strategists. The article goes on to explain where they got the idea by describing a political boost president Carter got from talking tough about the Iranian hostage situation during the primaries, which supposedly helped him repel Ted Kennedy’s challenge:

“[Carter’s] ‘Rose Garden Strategy’ of exemplifying national unity and executive leadership worked wonders: His job-approval rating leaped to 58 percent by the end of January 1980, and he routed Kennedy in the early primaries, all but ensuring his renomination. … It’s possible something of the same dynamics could benefit Joe Biden.”

Now for those of you who’re too young to remember, Jimmy Carter, nice man, but terrible president. Up until Biden, President Carter, was not held in high regard by both sides of the aisle, however Biden may have helped him with that. Carter was a disaster, a one term president, he presided over massive inflation and almost wrecked the economy, sounds kind of familiar, no? He badly mis-handled the hostage situation which cost him re-election, he employed a lead from behind philosophy before Obama ever mainstreamed the phrase. Some would argue that Carter maybe the worst modern president. NOT exactly a poster child for what leadership looks like.

The article lays it’s cards on the table, spelling out the devious strategy, they hope that Biden and his handlers will adopt:

“If [Biden] can reintroduce himself to a pessimistic and distracted public sick of COVID-19 and fearful of inflation as a bloodied but unbowed leader exhibiting the kind of principles his predecessor (still the de facto leader of the opposition) so notably lacks, Biden could look strong, not sleepy. That would represent still another miscalculation by Putin, who now seems to be the stumbling, erratic president in the news.”

Not sure about you but when I think of Joe Biden, my first impressions are not “principled” nor someone who is “bloodied but unbowed?” More like “deceitful and hunched over.” Not sure what “ace up his sleeve” Biden may have which he hopes to use against Putin, it would have to be a “game changer” if his handlers are hoping to cast him as the “hero who’s bloodied but unbowed?”

Now I know a one off story isn’t exactly compelling evidence, well how about a few more. Seems like the Pravda acolytes were busy making very similar points, coincidence, me thinks not! Almost make you wonder if someone was “writing” this for all of them to regurgitate, huh?

Bloomberg:

Headline: “How Ukraine Changes Biden’s State of the Union Speech”:

Subhead: “No one would have wished for this opportunity for a reset, but the president should seize it.”

“No one would have wished for this opportunity for a reset, but the president should seize it … The assault on Ukraine doesn’t just give Biden another chance to reinvent his presidency; it also makes the need for that reinvention indisputable. Starting now, he should do what he promised, and try to bring the country together around widely shared goals.”

LA Times: “The State Of The Union Is Anxious, But Annual Speech To Congress Offers Biden An Opportunity”:

“With broad bipartisan support in the U.S. coalescing behind Ukraine in its fight against Russia, the war represents Biden’s best chance to garner strong applause from both sides of the House chamber … Russia’s war in Ukraine offers Biden an opportunity … to convince Americans of the importance of a united transatlantic alliance and to emphasize that he brought allies together to stand against Putin’s assault … It’s a key moment to take the stage as the global leader who is going to halt authoritarianism by building up our armed forces.”

Washington Post (Jennifer Rubin): “Opinion: Quick! Rewrite the State of the Union.”:

“Biden needs a very different State of the Union. Instead of defending remarkable domestic progress, with foreign policy relegated to the back end of the speech, he needs to flip the order and build the speech around a historic moment when the United States is leading a worldwide coalition in defense of freedom … Thanks to months of planning and careful diplomacy, President Biden put together the most impressive and unified alliance since World War II to oppose Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion … This is the most effective response to Russian aggression since the Berlin Airlift. Biden should take credit.”

Now I’m not a clairvoyant if I were I’d pick the winning numbers on the lotto every week, but I’m thinking “when I see a bird that quacks like a duck, walks like a duck, has feathers and webbed feet and associates with ducks - I’m certainly goes to assume that he IS a duck.”

In closing I hope I’m wrong and for the sake of the Ukrainian and Russian people Biden and those who surround him will not simply use this as a political opportunity, offering only empty rhetoric and platitudes. I for one am fine with him doing something meaningful, which gets both sides to the table and ultimately results in a peace deal and for that he can take a few victory laps, I would even cheer him on while he was doing it!