Sorry Zelenskyy... but we are not a real superpower, we just play one on television!
Zelensky calls for establishment of no-fly zone and harsher Russian sanctions in call with US lawmakersUkrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky called on the United States for assistance in establishing a no-fly zone over Ukraine during a Zoom call with US lawmakers, according to a person familiar with the session.
Zelensky asked US senators for greater sanctions on Russia, including on energy, and for more military assistance directed to Ukrainian forces. He thanked the US for the support it has delivered so far, but his overall message was that his country needs more help as it strains against Russia's invasion.
Another senator on the call said that Zelensky advocated for banning Russian oil imports, suspending all commercial transactions — like Visa and Mastercard — and implored the lawmakers to help Ukraine get more planes that Ukrainian pilots are trained in and can fly. He said they would do the fighting and flying, but he needs the aircraft.
33 comments:
DBiden's Supreme Court nominee blasted for approving of 'murder'President 'has proven once again that he is clueless when it comes to morality'
By WND Staff
Published March 5, 2022 at 11:26am
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The American Life League on Friday blasted Joe Biden, who says he is a faithful Catholic, for being "clueless" about morality.
And his nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, Ketanji Brown Jackson, is guilty of approving of "murdering an innocent person," the group said.
Biden announced Jackson's nomination just days ago, fulfilling a campaign promise that he would use racist and sexist standards to pick a candidate.
He had said he would eliminate all candidates unless they were black and women, and Jackson met those two essential requirements.
TRENDING: Gassing up
But the American Life League's president, Judie Brown, cited the problems with the nominee to replace Justice Stephen Breyer, a leftist who is retiring.
"The president of the United States has proven once again that he is not only clueless when it comes to morality and the law but committed to reshaping the justice system so that it is unjust in the treatment of society's most vulnerable members," she said in a statement emailed to WND.
Scott we are a super power nation.
"his country needs more help as it strains against Russia's invasion."
But just like during the Cuban Missile crisis, we avoided a nuclear war.
President Biden has done a pretty good job so far. He has United NATO allies in an unprecedented ways.
This is going to take weeks, and Putin is losing his mind about it.
I have faith in his ability to navigate to end it peacefully.
Did you see that one of the biggest oil prices in Russia said publicly that Putin should end it peacefully.
Ft
Zelensky reminded the group that a no-fly zone was his top priority but that he wanted more aircraft if that was not possible.
Ben Sasse, a Republican senator, said a no-fly zone would mean sending US pilots into combat against Russia in a “battle between nuclear powers that could spiral out of control quickly.” But he said Washington should supply Ukraine with aircraft, helicopters and drones.
“Let’s resupply Ukraine’s air force today and keep the Ghosts of Kyiv in the skies,” Sasse said, referring to unconfirmed stories of a Ukrainian pilot who had downed several Russian planes.
A senior US defence official on Friday said the Pentagon had provided Ukraine with $240mn in military assistance from the $350mn President Joe Biden recently approved. She said the remaining $110mn would likely arrive in Ukraine over the next week and that the administration was working with Congress to secure more funds
The Congress has to provide the money Monday
Nonsense
Sorry Zelenskyy... but we are not a real superpower, we just play one on television
We have the most powerful militarily on earth.
But starting World War Three is not the only way to act
.
With what Putin is doing, how do you figure we would be starting it? We're the good guys. Sometimes we must stand up for good reasons.
I wish that we could come together, like during soars Yahoo era when we united with President Bush...unfortunately Trump is still in power.
28 minutes ago
Visa, Mastercard suspend all operations in Russia
Financial services giants Visa and Mastercard announced Saturday that it is suspending all operations in Russia.
The announcements came just hours after Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged U.S. lawmakers to go further on its sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, specifically calling for Visa and Mastercard to suspend operations in Russia.
"For more than a week, the world has watched the shocking and devastating events resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine," Mastercard said in a statement. "Our colleagues, our customers and our partners have been affected in ways that most of us could not imagine."
"It's with all of this in mind ... we have decided to suspend our network services in Russia," they added.
"Once complete, all transactions initiated with Visa cards issued in Russia will no longer work outside the country and any Visa cards issued by financial institutions outside of Russia will no longer work within the Russian Federation," the company said.
“We are compelled to act following Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, and the unacceptable events that we have witnessed,” Al Kelly, the company's CEO and chairman, said in a statement. “We regret the impact this will have on our valued colleagues, and on the clients, partners, merchants and cardholders we serve in Russia."
"This war and the ongoing threat to peace and stability demand we respond in line with our values," Kelly added.
--Spectrum News' Justin Tasolides
33 minutes ago
'Do not retreat, do not give up': Zelenskyy urges his citizens to keep up their resistance against Russia
In an address posted to social media on Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged Ukrainians to keep up their resistance against Russian forces.
"Ukrainians: In all of our cities, where the enemy invaded, go on the offensive," he said. "Go out on the streets. We need to fight every time we have an opportunity."
Zelenskyy praised all of his people who are aiding the country, from "every doctor who saved lives" to "teachers and educators who do not leave children," saying "We all withstood the blow" and pledging that "We will all rebuild our state together."
"Ukraine, which we know, love, protect and will not give up to any enemy," Zelenskyy said, before lauding praise on protesters in the city of Kherson, which is occupied by Russian forces.
"It is a special heroism to protest when your city is occupied," he said. "Even temporarily. When you don't have a weapon and in response you receive gunshots, and you don't run. When you don't have armor, and an armored personnel carrier is coming at you, and you do not move aside."
"That is why the occupation is temporary," he continued. "It is artificial."
"Our people, our Ukrainians: Do not retreat, do not give up, do not stop the resistance," Zelenskyy said.
"They scream at occupants to go home, like the Russian battleship, pushing the occupants out of our territory," he added. "Every meter of our Ukrainian land reclaimed by protest is a step forward, a step toward victory.”
"As in Kherson, as in Berdyansk, as in Melitopol, as in Konotop, you need to go out and drive this evil out of our cities," he continued. "To prevent the creation of new [Donetsk People's Republic] and [Luhansk People's Republic], where normal life is simply impossible. Only slavery. Only on the knees."
"Donbas! Remember what they said about you: Nobody puts Donbas on its knees!" he added. "And no one will be able to do that. Everyone in Donetsk and Luhansk knows these words, they were often repeated."
Speaking to the people in the Donbas region, where the Donetsk and Luhansk regions -- recognized by Russia as independent, separatist states -- are located, Zelenskyy said: "Today is the time! We appeal to all people in the temporarily occupied territory. To all who hear us, whose memory has not been erased by propaganda, whose eyes have not been closed by fear, whose soul has not been mutilated by cynicism: Fight for your rights, fight for your freedom. For Ukraine."
--Spectrum News' Justin Tasolides
wish that we could come together, like during soars Yahoo era when we united with President Bush 78% or higher approval rating
This is a smart move, and I hope they do the same thing in Cuba!!!
“Senior U.S. officials are traveling to Venezuela on Saturday to meet with the government of President Nicolás Maduro, as the Biden administration steps up efforts to separate Russia from its remaining international allies amid a widening standoff over Ukraine,” the New York Times reports.
“The trip is the highest-level visit by Washington officials to Caracas, Venezuela’s capital, in years.”
Roger is a walking talking point.
No.original thought.
MyballsMarch 5, 2022 at 5:04 PM
With what Putin is doing, how do you figure we would be starting it? We're the good guys. Sometimes we must stand up for good reasons."
Bingo.
Biden has lead NATO into not sending troops or establishing a no fly zone.
That is not being strong.
Biden had told Putin going into Ukraine is ok.
Now that Putin did , the left here is outraged.
Roger is consistent, everyone is crazy, but him.
This is why they are going to Venezuelan LA Times today!
They are doing well!
MEXICO CITY —
Facing condemnation from most of the world and stiff sanctions from Europe and the United States, Russia appears increasingly isolated as its president presses on with his invasion of Ukraine.
But Vladimir Putin has found some measure of support in Latin America from the authoritarian governments of Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua.
In a televised speech this week, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro denounced U.S. sanctions against Russia as a “crime” against its people and said that he had just spoken with Putin and noted “serenity, wisdom and moral conviction.”
In an effort reminiscent of the Cold War, when Latin America was an ideological battleground for the Soviet Union and the United States, Russia has been trying to expand its influence in the region for more than a decade.
Bingo.
Biden has lead NATO into not sending troops or establishing a no fly zone. Because it would have started the next Word War
That is being strong.
Biden send boys hat in hand to beg Venezuela for oil.
Yet, keeps the chains of American oil production in chains.
"the next Word War"
Good we avoid that disaster.
Roger, just yesterday you said Biden is not leading NATO Now he is.
Come on man.
Were is Joe's plan , he said he had one, did he forget where it is?
Lol @ Alky
Biden's "popularity".
Flush
Awwwe alky put your post back up.
I am not done laughing @ U.
Although the Russian have not yet attacked any NATO allies, I really wish the nation could unite behind the President, in the most dangerous situation since World War Two.
And again, too many Republicans are scared of Trump. And unless something extremely bad happens, our President Biden has a difficult task. I'm not buying into the Sleepy Joe Biden bullshit Mr Scott Johnson.
He actually listens to people who don't always agree with him. You know that Trump refused to read the daily intelligence briefings. The problem with that is because he had zero experience in matters like that...
We have the most powerful militarily on earth. And Vladimir Putin is losing his mind. He has United NATO.
But starting World War Three is not the only way to act.
He's not afraid of doing things that hurt his popularity. Very few Presidents have done that.
Not political
Why the cavalry isn't coming to Ukraine's side
Opinion by Marcus Mabry, CNN
Mar 4, 2022
Editor's Note: Marcus Mabry is the Senior Vice President of Content Strategy and Global Programming at CNN Digital Worldwide. He is the former Edward R. Murrow Press Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, former president of the Overseas Press Club and the author of "Twice as Good: Condoleezza Rice and Her Path to Power." The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own. View more opinion at CNN.
(CNN) - The world is aghast at the horror taking place in Ukraine. Urban centers are being attacked. Civilians, including children, are being killed. All of it seemingly because Russian dictator Vladimir Putin decided he could swallow up a neighboring country.
Millions around the world watch, outraged, and ask, "Are we just going to let this happen? Is the world allowing a large, powerful country to swallow up a smaller, weaker one?" And so many people can't believe the world is allowing it to happen. But we are. And we usually have.
In fact, it has long been considered "sound" foreign policy. One of the central reasons offered by its defenders: Calculating which negative outcomes are undesirable yet not existential for the outside world (Ukraine potentially falling to Russia) and which are worth going to war over (a NATO member being attacked) has kept much worse outcomes from occurring, like World War III.
The practitioners of foreign affairs -- the women and men who decide how their nations will interact with the world -- know this reality as "realpolitik." It is the dry-eyed (and some might say coldhearted) practice of global politics as a logical game of means-ends calculations.
Because no country's power or influence is infinite, nation-states must determine what are their crucial, even existential, interests and what are not. They must also decide what risks they are willing to take to accomplish what goals, and what risks are too great.
If Machiavelli and Otto von Bismarck are often proffered as two fathers of realpolitik, the Cold War is perhaps the greatest endorsement of its wisdom. As the thinking goes: Despite a "twilight struggle" between the superpowers and their many proxy conflicts and close calls, like the Cuban missile crisis, they never allowed confrontation to escalate to a direct conflict, or worse.
They acted "rationally" given the stakes and the circumstances of who had power and interest were on the globe. So the US and its allies let Moscow have its sphere of influence in the Soviet Union, which included Ukraine, and the Eastern Bloc, which included Poland and other countries that after the end of the Cold War joined NATO.
And it "worked," in that sense. There was no nuclear war. No WW III. No annihilation of humanity. Yes, millions were oppressed by Soviet communism. But realpolitik is not, strictly speaking, concerned with that. It is a world Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden grew up in.
But we have never had to watch realpolitik unfold in real time on 24/7 social media in a world of ubiquitous camera phones. And it complicates matters, especially for world leaders, like Biden and Putin. It makes the cruelty of traditional power politics transparent and ubiquitous.
To put the current state of international affairs in the most terribly brutal realpolitik terms: Is Ukraine worth the possibility of involving the United States and Russia, two nuclear powers that could destroy human life on earth, in a shooting war? And are the risks to their citizens and the world worth keeping Putin out of Ukraine?
.
These questions do not consider the morality of allowing a smaller country to be swallowed by a larger one, or a democratic one to be crushed by an authoritarian one. But that is the whole point of realpolitik.
Recognizing that considerations not connected to calculations of relative power -- like morality or ideology -- can lead nation-states into actions that actually threaten their power and even their existence, realpolitik seeks to remove those considerations, or at least to place them in a rational hierarchy.
This is why Joe Biden has repeatedly said the United States will not send troops to Ukraine. This is why the United States actually removed its troops who were engaged in training from Ukraine once it knew Russia was coming.
Some critics have lamented that Biden signaled to Putin that the United States would not intervene directly militarily in Ukraine. He did signal it. And that was the point. To let his adversary know clearly how far he can go, and where the line is.
And the line is NATO. Article 5 of NATO -- the central pillar of the trans-Atlantic alliance -- says an attack on any member will be treated as an attack on all members.
Ukraine is not a member of NATO. Its neighbors Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania are. If Russia attacks any of them, the United States and the other 29 members of NATO are obligated by Article 5 to consider it an attack on themselves and to defend that member state.
That is a dangerous trip wire. Putin knows this. And Biden and the leaders of NATO are hoping that knowledge will keep Putin from going farther than Ukraine.
Of course, the US and other nations are not sitting idly by and doing nothing.
Sanctions are powerful. They are short of military confrontation, but they can bite. Russia is even suggesting it will treat them as acts of aggression. Moreover, non-state-actors like business, sports, arts and cultural institutions can take actions too. And they are.
Still, the limits of realpolitik are manifest.
Morally, of course. Watching the Russian war of choice imposed on Ukraine is difficult. Watching children die just because Putin decided to invade is terrible.
An even graver shortcoming is successful realpolitik relies on your opponent being rational. There is increasing speculation among some American Putin experts, including Russia expert and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and the French President that Putin may not be completely rational, and it does appear to be only that, as far as we know, speculation.
Terrorists, such as Al Qaeda or US domestic terrorists, are not rational actors either.
They also are not nation-states, so they have no land you can threaten and relatively few economic interests you can attack. So realpolitik is limited in its ability to help leaders calculate what moves and countermoves will lead to what consequences. And that is the greatest danger of all.
TM & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc.
A WarnerMedia Company.
All Rights Reserved
This is Rogers 7th
"in the most dangerous situation"
Chicken shit afraid of his own shadow.
I get the idea that it isn't necessarily Biden alone, but the nations of NATO who think establishing no fly zones at this could cause Putin to launch a major war in Europe.
Perhaps Ch is not aware of that?
So Joe is not leading , but, following, again.
Ok, Wind blown political weather vane Roger.
The Iran Nuclear Deal is Being Threatened by Russian Demands
“Fresh demands from Russia threatened to derail talks to restore the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, as Moscow said it wanted written guarantees that Ukraine-related sanctions won’t prevent it from trading broadly with Tehran under a revived pact,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The demands, made by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday, came as Western and Iranian officials said they were near to reaching a deal to restore the nuclear pact, which lifted most international sanctions on Iran in exchange for tight but temporary restrictions on Tehran’s nuclear programs.”
U.S. Officials Travel to Venezuela
“Senior U.S. officials are traveling to Venezuela today to meet with the government of President Nicolás Maduro, as the Biden administration steps up efforts to separate Russia from its remaining international allies amid a widening standoff over Ukraine,” the New York Times reports.
“The trip is the highest-level visit by Washington officials to Caracas, Venezuela’s capital, in years.”
U.S. and Ukrainian Diplomats Meet at the Border
“A line of refugees streaming into Poland behind them, the top American and Ukrainian diplomats met at Ukraine’s border on Saturday in a brief but extraordinary encounter to assess what additional support and protection the United States might deliver to address Russia’s invasion, which appeared certain to continue,” the New York Times reports.
U.S. Intelligence Re-Evaluates Putin’s Mindset
5:00 pm EST
“The White House effort to design a strategy to confront Russia over its invasion of Ukraine is linked to an urgent re-examination by intelligence agencies of President Vladimir Putin’s mental state,” the New York Times reports.
“The debate is over whether his ambitions and appetite for risk have been altered by two years of Covid isolation, or by a sense that this may be his best moment to rebuild Russia’s sphere of influence and secure his legacy. Or both.
“Throughout the pandemic, Mr. Putin has retreated into an intricate cocoon of social distancing — though he allowed life in Russia to essentially return to normal. The Federal Protective Service, Russia’s answer to the Secret Service, built a virus-free bubble around Mr. Putin that far outstrips the protective measures taken by many of his foreign counterparts.”
State Department Approves Special Russian Flight
“The State Department said it approved a flight from Russia to the United States so the Russian government could pick up United Nations mission personnel whom the American government has expelled, accusing them of spying,” the Washington Post reports.
Axios: How Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is changing air travel.
Israeli Leader Meets with Putin
“Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Saturday as the crisis in Ukraine deepened,” the Washington Post reports.
“The country has walked a diplomatic tightrope in its response to the war. Israeli officials have voiced support for Ukraine, whose president — Volodymyr Zelensky — is the only other Jewish head of state in the world. They have called Ukraine a liberal democratic ally.
“But mindful that Russia backs the Syrian regime on Israel’s northern border, Israel is concerned about provoking Moscow. Russia has also unofficially permitted Israel to carry out strikes targeting weapons transfers to Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Shiite group in Lebanon.”
New York Times:
“Israel is in a unique position to potentially barter a deal, or at least pass messages between Western allies, Russia and Ukraine, given its alliance with the United States, its quiet cooperation with Russia in Syria and its shared cultural ties to Ukraine.”
Putin Threatens Ukraine with Loss of Statehood
“As his troops continued to run into stiff resistance in Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin delivered an ominous message to Ukrainians on Saturday, telling government leaders they might lose their statehood and likening the withering sanctions imposed on his country to a declaration of war,” the New York Times reports.
Said Putin:
“The current leadership needs to understand that if they continue doing what they are doing, they risk the future of Ukrainian statehood.”
AND OF COURSE, FAR EARLIER TODAY:
Limited Cease-Fire Collapses In Ukraine
“An agreement between Russia and Ukraine on evacuating civilians from the besieged cities of Mariupol and Volnovakha collapsed on Saturday, as Kyiv accused Moscow of violating the agreed-to cease-fire and resuming its attacks on residential areas,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
IT WAS A SHAM FROM THE FIRST.
U.S. Basketball Player Detained In Russia
“WNBA player Brittney Griner is being detained in Russia after customs officials said they found hashish oil in her luggage at an airport near Moscow in February,” ESPN reports.
The Russians released a video of a traveler at the airport who appeared to be Griner going through security.
Putin's war against Ukraine is thus not only a calamity in its own right. It is also a sign of what is to come across the globe in the years ahead.
I think Venezuela will push back against Russia, because they have a huge oil fields. If we negotiate with them, they will follow the money.
Biden has lead NATO into not sending troops or establishing a no fly zone. Because it would have started the next Word War. Ch doesn't care about anyone else but himself.
That is very weak.
That is being strong.
Some of you forgot that The United States of America is the longest lasting free nation in history.
What are the risks to their citizens and the world worth keeping Putin out of Ukraine?
Saving the world from fascism or a new World war is worth the risk.
James and to remind me. The Israelis might negotiate the agreement to end this.
“Israel is in a unique position to potentially barter a deal, or at least pass messages between Western allies, Russia and Ukraine, given its alliance with the United States, its quiet cooperation with Russia in Syria and its shared cultural ties to Ukraine.”
Biden Administration theme song
went home with the waitress, the way I always do
How was I to know, she was with the Russians, too?
… I was gambling in Havana, I took a little risk
Send lawyers, guns and money, dad, get me out of this, ha
… I'm the innocent bystander
Somehow I got stuck between the rock and a hard place
And I'm down on my luck, yes I'm down on my luck
Well, I'm down on my luck
… And I'm hiding in Honduras
I'm a desperate man
Send lawyers, guns, and money
The shit has hit the fan
… Alright, send lawyers, guns, and money
Huh, yeah
Send lawyers, guns, and money
Uh
Send lawyers, guns, and money
Hey
Send lawyers, guns, and money
Oo, yeah
Yeah
Yeah
Joe has faith in many Nation States to product oil, just not America.
Live from New York, it's Saturday Night Live.
https://youtu.be/Vc9dlPlOH3Y
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