I have never been more ashamed of
being an American in my lifetime than while I was watching President Trump and
Vice President Vance’s treatment of Ukrainian President Zelensky.
Zelensky is a pillar of strength, a
source of inspiration and courage for a people besieged by a military power who
invaded their country; kidnapped children; bombs churches, schools and
hospitals, logging in a death toll of 12,605 Ukrainian citizens in addition to
43,000 soldiers.
Zelensky is a symbol of Ukrainian
pride and resilience that has managed to hold the Russian tanks to the eastern perimeter
of their republic in a stunning setback for Russian dictator Putin who expected
to overrun Ukrainian soldiers and successfully plant their flag of conquest
along the Ukrainian-Polish border within three weeks, but after three years they
have not only been unable to advance past Ukraine’s southeastern elbow, they
were pushed back from three provinces they had once occupied and had to retreat
from their advance on Ukraine’s capital.
Zelensky, and all Ukrainian people,
are heroes.
Trump doesn’t see it that way. He
calls the popularly elected Zelensky a dictator while Zelensky is desperately
fighting to preserve his people’s freedoms as well as their sovereignty from
the insatiable appetite of the former KGB chief made imperialist dictator. And
on February 28, in front of the world, he gave it his best shot at bullying and
intimidating Zelensky while his toady JD Vance rushed in to give Zelensky a
good kick while Trump held Zelensky down.
Trump was disrespectful to
Zelensky, making allegations with an angry scowl, a pointed finger and a
scathing tone. Every time Zelensky diplomatically attempted to respond, Trump would
cut him off. Trump chastised Zelensky for gambling with the start of WWIII –
clearly shifting responsibility for such a risk away from Putin who, not satisfied
with already having stolen Crimea from Ukraine, decided he wanted all of that
nation and threatened to use nuclear weapons if any country dared to militarily
help Ukraine. Under Trump’s thinking, Poland started WWII.
In short, Trump was advancing Putin’s
narrative of the war.
In the process, Trump was disrespectful
to democracy, American values and American history. America fought to defend
European democracies against the darkness of fascism. Went to battle to defend
South Korea. Fought to protect tiny Kuwait from a ruthless dictator in Iraq. Yet,
for the first time, the United States is siding with the oppressors. The US is not
only turning its back on the underdog whose crimes are apparently wanting to
build upon the democratic foundation they established when they chased Russian
stooge Viktor Yanukovych from office in 2014 as well as their return to
independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, the US is turning its back on
Europe who sees Zelensky fighting for all Europe and who fears Russian
expansion.
Of course, the Narcissist-in-Chief
says it was Zelensky who is disrespectful. Vance said the same. Vance even
accused Zelensky of not once saying “thank you” to Trump – even though Zelensky
had in fact thanked both Trump and America earlier. Vance leaned forward saying
Zelensky is failing to be grateful to Trump when Trump is the one with a
proposal to end the war…A proposal that would force Ukraine to accept Putin’s
terms of allowing Putin to not only annex the occupied territory, but also cede
the provinces Russia once held and would give Trump half of Ukraine’s mineral
resources. That’s not a peace settlement, that’s more akin to Stalin and Hitler
carving up Poland.
Trump later fumed that it will be
impossible to get a peace deal that includes Zelensky because Zelensky “hates”
Putin. “It’s very hard for me to make a deal with that kind of hate.”
So, we have a president insensitive
to the reasonable feelings of hate one might have towards a foreign dictator
who is seizing your land, slaughtered your people and kidnapped your children
to indoctrinate them inside Russia. We have a president who thinks it is unreasonable
for the victim of a war to have a seat at the negotiating table and who will
not sign a peace treaty that has no concessions from the invading party, much
less forfeits their land, their people and their mineral resources.
What is the fallout from Trump’s
posture? Every democratic European
nation has denounced him. Norway’s fuel supplier refuses to provide fuel to
American ships and submarines. Europe now recognizes they can no longer rely on
the US as an ally. Leaders such as Germany’s new Chancellor have made it clear
that if there would be war with Russia, Europe will be on their own and must
create a stronger defense, which means proliferation of nuclear arms.
Trump not only shamed Americans, he
has alienated us from our allies and our position as a world leader. He has
made the world more dangerous.
Perhaps we'll rise up ourselves and have our own AmericaMaidan and pull Putin's other stooges out of office just like the Ukrainians did to Yanukovich.
ReplyDeleteThere's no hiding it now. All of them are traitors, and they always have been. I only hope we can do it before NATO collapses.
Beautifully written post, David. And by that, I mean "yup. This" -- It's a strong summary of the problems he's created. I wonder, are you planning on doing a follow-up since it appears that France is warming up to being Europe's new "nuclear umbrella"?
ReplyDelete