Chip Bok for January 21, 2022

Trump was on his knees kissing Putin’s backside, so, in compensation, Bok is claiming that Biden isn’t strong enough. Just more alternative facts.

One more Traitorpublican who roots for Putin against the US President.

Yep. I knew the RWingers would be all over this one. Because in almost two hours of speaking, this error — and yeah, it was a real mistake — is the only (ahem) non-minor one he made.

Baghdad Bok jumps all over Biden for misspeaking, yet was silent when the Last Occupant was writing love letters.

Pink lines?

letsgobrandon

Chip its all about who draws the lines. You don’t care if a bunch of “Americans against America” try to overthrow our election as long as they have red hats. Try caring about crossing lines here at home.

If someone asks you, who is the most ignorant editorial cartoonist, show them this cartoon.

Joe is weak. Obama was weak. God help us all! Speak softly and carry a big stick. Joe has a twig.

Republicans would like nothing better than to blame a new war on Joe.. and are taunting him to do it.

Sorry, Mr. Bok. We have no national interest. We shouldn’t waste our blood and money. If Europe is uspet, they can boycott Russia’s oil.

And yet, unwise as it was, Mr. Biden’s original remark was reality-based: Even as Russian President Vladimir Putin masses troops on Ukraine’s borders and threatens to invade, European governments remain divided over how to respond if he does. Crucially, there is no consensus on how much aggression by Russia would, or should, trigger the massive sanctions the West has threatened — as Mr. Biden essentially admitted. The allies are not even on the same page as to deterrence itself. At the tough-minded end of the spectrum, Britain is supplying antitank weapons, accompanied by military advisers, to Kyiv. Washington and Ukraine’s neighbors in Eastern Europe are in sync. By contrast, Germany, deeply conflicted because of its links to Russia through a major natural gas pipeline, has balked at arms supply. President Emmanuel Macron of France muddied diplomatic waters further by telling the European Parliament on Wednesday that Europeans should "coordinate“ with the Biden administration on policy toward Russia, but also "conduct their own dialogue.”

The upshot is that Mr. Putin has managed to evoke division among the NATO members without firing a shot. This can only tempt him to see how much more he could sow by an actual attack. In a speech Thursday, Antony Blinken, Mr. Biden’s secretary of state, refocused attention on the real cause of this crisis — Russia’s blatant violation of international norms. One by one, Mr. Blinken ticked off agreements dating back to 1975 that Russia had signed, and with which its current threats toward Ukraine are completely inconsistent. He warned of the destabilization that could radiate globally if Mr. Putin continues to redraw international borders by force. Looking ahead to his meeting with Russia’s foreign minister on Friday, Mr. Blinken said diplomacy still has a chance — but there was warranted pessimism in his voice.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/01/20/bidens-misstep-ukraine-was-telling-truth/

From our perspective, Biden does seem to be waffling and we’d really like it if her were much more decisive. But, Biden probably doesn’t want to tip his hand with Putin, but wants to leave the Russian dictator in the lurch to know just where Biden stands. With the Biden State Department working in the background, they just might be able to help us avoid real bloodshed in the region. They may even be working on an intermediary, as I have suggested in these pages, to bring the adversaries together.

Also, I wonder about Putin’s commitment toward all out war. So far, he has supported militia action in eastern Ukraine and allowed some of his troops, dressed up like the militia groups, to perform war on his behalf. True he is massing a large contingent of his army at the Ukraine/Russia border but is he preparing for invasion, or just applying the screws to the government of Ukraine and NATO?

Many see Biden as being like his moniker, Sleepy Joe, engaged in a kind of boring brinkmanship. But, better a boring, oh so boring, ho-hum brinkmanship that keeps us from the throes of war, than the war we all know we don’t want.

Bok is quite the geopolitical expert! Remember his response when the Fraudster- and COVID-Denier-in-Chief unilaterally pulled the U.S. out of the Iran Nuclear Agreement….

Let us not forget who created the situation allowing Russia to feel in position to act this way. (I refer in this indirect way to the previous administration).

To walk back a statement, is like trying to UN-RING a bell that has been RUNG!

Great strip, Chip. Biden is scary.

Here’s the thing. President Biden is trying to get through this situation without WWIII starting because of it.

It’s been pointed out, much as Russia (Putin) likes holding over the EU’s head that he controls a large gas supply to them. That gas supply equals about 45% of Russia’s GDP. So, if he cuts off the gas, he also cuts off a large chunk of his economy.

Here’s to no WWIII. Here’s to finding a way to get Crimea back to Ukraine, as it’s part of their country, not Russia’s.

The Russians invaded Budapest @ Christmas of ’56. Ike had drafted me in July, ’55 & I was in Bavaria. Kept my attention!

That’s not what he said.

I wonder which side Repubs are on?