Democrats hope they pull off the same feat in 2024, demonizing former President Donald Trump as a dictator, looking get revenge should he win back the White House. Painting Trump as a dictator-in-chief, seeking to destroy American democracy, is the only strategy left for Democrats now that Covid-19 and George Floyd are in the rearview mirror. Going back to Covid or race won’t play the same way again this time around. Doing a good job of demonizing Trump to American voters in 2020, little did anyone know what they’d face just three years into Biden’s first term. Dealing with runaway inflation, forcing the Federal Reserve Board to hike interest rates has hurt many consumers trying to buy big ticket items like cars and real estate. Voters had no idea the Biden would commit the U.S. to a war with the Kremlin, damaging U.S. foreign policy and national security.
Democrats and Republicans in Congress have gone along with Biden’s proxy war against the Kremlin, telling the public that Ukraine and the U.S. would degrade the Russianmilitary to the point it could no longer wage war. Since the 2022 war began, Russia has seized over 20% of Ukraine’s sovereign territory, including its strategic Black Sea ports. Ukraine’s 45-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky said with U.S. cash-and-arms he would drive all Russian troops off Ukrainian soil. Putin has only gained territory, proving Zelensky’s strategy not realistic, despite promising a 2023 counteroffensive that would make up for all the lost ground. Most military experts see the Ukraine War as a frozen conflict, a stalemate, with both sides dug in with neither side making much progress. Putin said today at a virtual G20 conference in New Delhi, that he’s open to peace talks.
Zelensky and Biden have rejected every peace plan offered by numerous countries over the last year. Zelensky says there can be no peace talks unless Putin removes all his troops from Ukraine and pays reparations for his illegal war. Yet Zelensky and Biden have found that the war against the Kremlin has not produced results. Putin offered to settle the conflict in March 2022, only one month after the invasion, but Zelensky opted for war, telling his people he would fight to the last drop of blood. Zelensky and Biden badly miscalculated, resulting in thousands of civilians and military deaths, driving millions of Ukrainians into exile, all because both opted for war over peace talks. Zelensky and nBiden insist on conditions for peace talks, leaving the present state of war. Biden was told by his former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Miley there’s no military solution to Ukraine.
Zelensky has tried to sell the U.S. Congress and European Union [EU] on how bankrupt and war-torn Ukraine defends European democracy. Biden bought into Zelensky ruse knowing full-well that NATO defends European democracy. Imagine the lunacy of Zelensky selling the West that Ukraine has commissioned itself with the task of defending European democracy? Ukraine is now completely dependent on the U.S. and NATO to pay its government salaries and the war. Putin said today via Zoom call with Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi that he was open to peace talks, admitting that neither country benefits from the war. Narenda and Chinese President Xi Jinping put forward peace plans, all rejected by Zelsnsky and Biden. How much more infrastructure damage and carnage can Ukraine take without setting the country back generations by avoiding peace talks?
Zelensky and Biden have no real plan for ending the Ukraine War, talking in platitudes about Russian leaving Ukrainian soil. But Russia was in Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk before the Feb. 24, 2022 war, and will remain there indefinitely without neutral peace talks. Zelensky knew there were real consequences to the Feb. 22, 2014 Maiden Revolution, where a CIA-backed coup toppled the Kremlin backed government of Viktor Yanukovych. Putin responded by annexing Crimea to protect his Black Sea naval base. Zelensky had no intent of driving Russia out of Crimea until Biden continued to supply more lethal weapons. Now Putin sees the Ukraine War as between the Kremlin and Washington, not primarily Kiev. Putin’s determination in Ukraine relates to his view that the collective West is trying to bankrupt Russia and drive him from power.
Biden and Zelensky should heed Putin’s overture on Zoom to Narenda Modi today, lamenting the fact that the Ukraine War has many unintended consequences for Russia and Ukraine. Biden has staked out his reelection campaign to keep the war going indefinitely. Voters have a real choice between he and Trump, with Trump saying he would end the war in 24 hours. Biden has spent over $100 billion in taxpayer money, fueling the worst inflation in 40 years, all to back a proxy war against the Kremlin. Voters get a real choice in 2024, deciding between perpetual war and high inflation over peace and economic prosperity. Biden has made every effort to deny that the Ukraine War had anything to do with worldwide fuel shortages, skyrocketing prices and inflation around the globe. Putin wants to settle the war but wants Biden to respect Russian national security and stop arming Ukraine.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
