Posted on by

The Morning Report 3/4/22

Good morning, kids. The weekend is here and things are getting hot in the Ukraine — literally.

A fire broke out at the Zaporizhzhia power plant in Ukraine as Russian forces bombard the facility, leading Ukrainian officials to claim that the threat is “10 times larger than Chernobyl.”

“Russian army is firing from all sides upon Zaporizhzhia NPP, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe,” Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted on Thursday evening. “Fire has already broke out. If it blows up, it will be 10 times larger than Chornobyl! Russians must IMMEDIATELY cease the fire, allow firefighters, establish a security zone!”

This is the kind of thing that worries me vis a vis the situation getting out of hand and going supercritical, pun absolutely intended. But you’ll be relieved to know that responsible, cooler heads are prevailing amongst our leadership.

Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham called for the assassination of Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday.

“Is there a Brutus in Russia? Is there a more successful Colonel Stauffenberg in the Russian military?” the senator wrote on Twitter. “The only way this ends is for somebody in Russia to take this guy out. You would be doing your country — and the world — a great service.

“The only people who can fix this are the Russian people. Easy to say, hard to do,” he continued. “Unless you want to live in darkness for the rest of your life, be isolated from the rest of the world in abject poverty, and live in darkness you need to step up to the plate.”

Well, at least he didn’t call for the CIA or SEAL Team 6 to do the wet work, so I guess that’s something. Funny. As Bogie said about Wilmer Cook in The Maltese Falcon “the cheaper the crook the gaudier the patter.” Unreal. Vladimir Putin, who has now gotten himself into a quagmire and whose own state of mind is being questioned, has absolute jerks over here calling for him to be taken out. Recall that Lindsay, the phony faygele, was wetting himself while exhorting the DC cops to open fire on unarmed American citizens who dared offend his sensibilities on 1/6/21. Right now, a Brutus over here ought to rip Lindsay’s arms out of their sockets and beat Sean Hannity to death with them — rhetorically speaking of course. Right now, we have a situation that is at or very near the point of spiraling out of control. It’s bad enough that on our side of the coin we have a demented vegetable in the Oval Office being controlled by manifestly irresponsible ideologues and out of touch apparatchiks in Foggy Bottom, Langley and the Pentagon. That is, when they can control the mush coming out of his spittle-flecked cake-hole. I mean, which is worse; that his stating Putin could insert “just the tip” into Ukraine was a malaprop or an intentional green light? 

That said, what worries me is that the longer this drags on without Ukraine crying uncle (Joe) or Putin seizing the strategic assets and territory that effectively captures the country, the more desperate he will get. The safest bet for him would be to be happy with the capture of Kherson and the Donbas, declare victory, withdraw from everywhere else and lick your wounds. Of course, will the world lift all sanctions now that the rhetoric of Putin being Hitler has flooded the airwaves? Can Biden and the rest of the world do that without further flushing their credibility down the shitter after “two weeks” (about 99 in real time) to flatten society? No, they can’t. And Putin is not going to let the ruble disintegrate without a reaction.

But that’s at a strategic level. The Ukrainians reportedly took out a big Russian general. What’s to stop the Red Army version of General Jack D. Ripper going rogue and lighting off a suitcase nuke on Kyev? Or firing a MRBM on Incirlik Air Base in Turkey? That’s why I was hard on the Beaver, er, Lindsay. We are in a pickle right now thanks to Obama, Biden and Clinton. The longer this goes on, the more likely we are going to get our hair mussed.

In successful systems, bad news flows to the top. In unsuccessful systems, underlings make sure it doesn’t reach their superiors because they don’t want to look bad.

In really unsuccessful systems, superiors make clear to their underlings that they don’t want to hear the bad news. I think that’s what’s happened to Putin. I saw a video being passed around by pro-Putin trolls on the Web that showed him riding in limos and walking around to the tune of gangsta rap, but it didn’t make him look powerful so much as isolated.

Now things haven’t gone according to plan, and there doesn’t appear to be a plan B because Putin never seriously considered the possibility of failure. Russia is isolated diplomatically and economically to an unprecedented degree, while it flounders militarily.

This doesn’t make Putin less dangerous necessarily — in some ways it makes him more so — but it does mean that he’s unlikely to behave in a clearheaded or objectively reasonable fashion.

Here in the United States, meanwhile, we have leadership problems of our own. [So-called quote-unquote “president”] Joe Biden managed to stumble his way through an uninspired State of the Union address in which he confused Ukrainians and Iranians, but he has shown no signs of being capable of the kind of leadership we need. (Unlike the Germans, he’s not even rethinking his dumb energy policies, which need to be changed to promote energy independence and weaken Putin further.) . . .

. . . Meanwhile, another big player, China, isn’t much more impressive. President Xi Jinping, while younger than Biden and Pelosi at a sprightly 69, is in a tenuous position at home. China’s zero-COVID policy has failed and the public resents it, a real-estate collapse looms even as other businesses teeter financially — and Xi’s power hangs by a thread as he faces challengers who don’t like his one-man state or his saber-rattling abroad . . .

. . . Only in Europe do we see, surprisingly, glimmers of more sensible behavior, as fear of a Russian invasion concentrates the minds of leaders there.

The truth is, throughout the past two years of [Chinese] COVID panic, we’ve seen that the world’s leadership class isn’t up to the task. Now, facing a major diplomatic crisis, we have to hope it will do better. Hope and maybe pray a little.

Yes indeed, Glenn Reynolds. Around the globe. TOP. Men. Meanwhile, it’s funny in a sick, twisted way that Joey Soft-Serve confused Iranians and Ukrainians. But it’s not funny for a number of reasons. And in fact, it might be quite revelatory, because while we weren’t looking . . .

A senior Russian official announced on Thursday that a new nuclear deal with Iran will be announced within 24 to 48 hours, signaling the Biden [junta’s} continued reliance on and cooperation with Moscow even as it wages a full-scale war in Ukraine.

Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s ambassador for Iran negotiations, made the announcement in a video now circulating on social media. Ulyanov also said that he does not see the deal falling apart as a result of Russia’s war, and that the two issues remain separate.

The terms of the deal remain unknown as the Biden [junta] has sought to cut Congress out of the deal and prevent it from performing its legally mandated oversight. Under the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015, Congress must give its approval of any new agreement with Iran. While the Biden administration has promised to follow this law, Congress has not been presented with details of the deal or been asked to approve it before the United States signs.

Hallelujah! At long last, a victory for the Biden junta – – wait a second. Aren’t we a red nether hair’s breadth from sending US combat troops into Ukraine? Aren’t we sanctioning the Russians out the wazoo because of Putin’s Hitler-ish behavior? How could that be happening while at the same time we’re working with them to give Iran the green light to build nukes?

So, okay. Some crazy Ivan or worse, crazy Vladimir, gave the go ahead to shell a Ukrainian nuke plant and risk Chernobyl times 100. If this treaty goes ahead – and it will go ahead because Valerie Jarrett, Ron Klain and Barack Obama couldn’t care fuck-all for the now defunct US Constitution – the real action is going to be in and around the Persian Gulf.

It’s insane. The one Achilles heel of Putin is oil, and we have a junta in power that is hell bent on literally sending America back into the dark ages by destroying our fossil fuel industry. Yet, at the same time, the blowback of $110 a barrel crude and $7.00 a gallon gas – and rising – has forced them not to back down from the insane green nightmare but to allow as the article reads “Sanctioned Russian ships ferrying illicit Iranian crude oil in new sanctions-busting scheme” and insist on our buying our oil from Iran.

1 – Fuel Putin’s war machine while publicly having the vapors
2 – Buy Iranian oil to keep the peons in flyover country happy AND green light their nukes
3 – Completely impoverish America
4 – ???
5 – Profit!!!

High prices are by design, and they don’t care if it hurts your family, your job, your food supply, or your ability to move freely about the country as long as their windmills and Chinese-made solar panels operate your cars and planes.

Don’t ask questions.

The timing is spectacularly bad. Democrat authoritarians have begun removing mandates and lockdowns because the political science has changed and Leftist politicians are being hurt in public opinion polls. But these autocrats have re-imposed another kind of lockdown. They’re making gas so expensive you won’t be able to go anywhere.

Doubt me?

The Republican Party’s RNC Research highlighted three key Democrats spouting off on energy policy and they said the quiet part out loud, as the saying goes. Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Remember when Joe Biden’s Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm laughed when asked what she would do about gas prices hovering at $2.89? . . .

. . . This is the plan.

As the old saying goes, “you can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs.” If you’re wondering, we’re the eggs. They’ll still be able to take private jets to Davos and Aspen and parts in between to do the “people’s business.” Just to clarify, we’re not “the people,” either. They’re the people.

And she’s not the only one.

On Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, born 81-years-ago when gas was 18 cents per gallon, decreed she was opposed to importing Russian energy. Even as Biden has grossly increased Russian energy imports, Pelosi is now all for cutting them off and continuing the Biden [junta] policy of halting drilling on public lands. This has reduced supply and increased prices for everything: meat, produce, bread.

So, Nancy’s reaction is, “Let them eat cake.”

There’s an old saying: Man plans and G-d laughs. All it takes is one crazy Ivan, or even crazier bastard in the West Wing, to miscalculate and the best laid plans of Putin, Biden/Jarret, Xi, Khamenei, Soros et al will go up like Hiroshima.

And in the immortal words of General Buck Turgidson, “Suge! Don’t forget to say your prayers.”

Have a good weekend. AND . . . if you can, please consider hitting Ace’s and my tip jar? It helps keep the lights on and is truly appreciated. 

The End of America: 100 Days That Shook the World available here.

ABOVE THE FOLD, BREAKING, NOTEWORTHY

  • “Taiwan, Xi Jinping, and America’s year of danger.” The Gathering Typhoon
  • “The federal student data system embedded in this bill is only one conference committee away from [so-called quote-unquote “president”] Biden signing it into law.” Almost-Law College Transparency Act Would Build Another National Surveillance System
  • Julie Kelly: “When half the country has lost its sense of pity for fellow citizens, and the ruling class reserves pity only for themselves and faraway lands, what can be left of American civilization?” A Country Without Pity
  • “Western diplomats should be burning the midnight oil now, searching for ways to bring this conflict to a speedy halt and to fashion a final agreement acceptable, if not pleasing, to the parties. They should be restraining, not encouraging, the uninformed and overheated rhetoric.” (start with ripping out Sean Hannity’s vocal chords, rhetorically speaking – jjs)Stop The Momentum Pushing Us Toward World War III
  • Daniel Greenfield: “A tough choice between Muslim Europe and Muslim Russia.” Islam is the Only Winner in the Ukraine War

RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR

* * * * * 

* * * * * 

  • Glenn Reynolds: “Only in Europe do we see, surprisingly, glimmers of more sensible behavior, as fear of a Russian invasion concentrates the minds of leaders there. The truth is, throughout the past two years of [Chinese] COVID panic, we’ve seen that the world’s leadership class isn’t up to the task. Now, facing a major diplomatic crisis, we have to hope it will do better. Hope and maybe pray a little.” The World’s Weak Leadership Isn’t Up to the Ukraine Crisis
  • “Recollections from the thawing of the Cold War as things now begin to heat up.” When I Met Putin
  • “Megalomaniac tyrants with excellent propaganda capabilities always run the risk of believing their own lies.” Cleanly Washed Russian Brains
  • “‘Attitude tests’ labeled ‘silly and counterproductive.'” Backlash Over Munich Orchestra Conductor Being Fired For Failure to Denounce Putin
  • “There is no moral equivalence between Ukraine and Russia, but neither country is Nazi Germany.” Everyone is Hitler
  • “The economic burden of the West’s penalties against Russia will grow worse over time.”War By Sanctions
  • Sebastian Gorka: “As conservatives who fought against the scourge of communism and the Soviet Union, what is the best response now that the Cold War has been replaced with a hot war?” The Right Response to the War in Ukraine
  • Oleg Atbashian (The People’s Cube): “Russia can’t beat the Azov battalion fighters on the battlefield, so it uses propaganda to libel them as Nazis.” About Those “Neo-Nazis” in Ukraine . . .

CIVIL WAR 2.0: LEFTIST PERSECUTIONS, CAPITOL HILL BLACK WEDNESDAY PROTEST AFTERMATH, DEMOCRAT PUTSCH, AMERICAN DISSOLUTION 

AMERICA, AND THE WORLD, IMPRISONED: CHINESE CORONAVIRUS FICTIONS AND FACTS

THE ECONOMY, STUPID

EDUCATION, AND WHAT PASSES FOR IT

THE 2020 ELECTION HEIST AND AFTERMATH

OFFICIAL DEMOCRAT PARTY/LEFTIST-ENDORSED ANTI-SEMITISM, ANTI-CHRISTIANITY

OTHER DEMOCRAT, LEFTIST AND RINO SCANDALS, MESHUGAS, CHUTZPOCRISY 

POLITICS

SUPREME COURT VACANCY

FIRST AMENDMENT ISSUES, CENSORSHIP, FAKE NEWS, MEDIA, BIG BROTHER TECH

ABORTION

SECOND AMENDMENT

FOREIGN AFFAIRS, INTERNATIONAL

DEFENSE, MILITARY, SECURITY AFFAIRS

HEALTH AND HEALTH CARE

  • “The deal follows an earlier settlement that was appealed by eight states and Washington D.C. They agreed to sign on after the Sackler family — who owns the company — agreed to more money and accepted other terms, including an apology. The family would, in exchange, be protected from civil lawsuits.” Purdue Pharma, States Reach New Opioid Settlement
  • “The sad state of America’s declining healthcare system.” John Stossel Video: Woke Medicine

RED-GREENS, CLIMATE CHANGE HOAX, JUNK SCIENCE, LYSENKOISM

  • “Claiming that reducing PM-2.5 emissions from industrial sources will have this magically profitable effect on the American economy is a nothing but a scam. . . If the politicians and regulators who piously claim that ‘they follow the science’ truly did, you’d think they would admit that.” OUT: Ozone; IN: Particulate Matter
  • “Musk has called out Biden in the past for his favoritism of the unionized GM and Ford.” Elon Musk Trolls Joe Biden on Twitter, and It Is Epic

ACTUAL SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY 

  • “Russian engines are used on two American rockets, ULA’s Atlas-5 and Northrop Grumman’s Antares. The Atlas-4 however is being phased out, and has already received all the engines it needs for all of that rocket’s remaining flights. ULA plans to replace it with its new Vulcan rocket, using Blue Origin’s (long delayed) BE-4 engine.” Russia Blocks Future Rocket Engine Sales to US
  • “Those officials also said that losing Russia as a launch option will be a ‘serious blow’ to South Korea’s entire space effort. I find that puzzling. There are plenty of other rocket companies now available. Why South Korea feels a need to depend on Russia seems short-sighted.” Launch of Two South Korean Satellites Threatened by Russia’s Ukraine War
  • “Why Elon Musk’s SpaceX is an underrated strategic national asset for the U.S.—and NASA deserves some credit.” To the Moon and Stars

FEMINAZISM, TRANSGENDER PSYCHOSIS, HOMOSEXUALIZATION, WAR ON MASCULINITY/NORMALCY

CULTURE WARS, NATIONAL SUICIDE

HITHER & YON 

NOTE: The opinions expressed in the links may or may not reflect my own. I include them because of their relevance to the discussion of a particular issue.