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Robert Golden's avatar

Russian influence and aggression had been checked to a large degree prior to Trump. Since Trump it has effectively spread throughout the world, including the United States, the Middle East from Afghanistan to Libya and other parts of Africa. During this same four year period Trump undermined NATO, alienated China, neglected Africa, betrayed the Kurds, proved agreements this country made weren't worth the paper they were written on, and last but not least Trump put Russia and Saudi Arabia (OPEC +1) in control of the global oil price, with American Big Oil complicity and without the ability to see past the tip of his own nose:

https://www.chicagotribune.com/columns/steve-chapman/ct-column-trump-oil-deal-gas-pricesi-chapman-20200415-iwwn3cpegngo5krsm6tfdycqvy-story.html

There would have never been a Russian invasion of the rest of Ukraine had it not been for Trump's appeasement and bolstering of Russia without regard to our own geopolitical interests and those of our Allies. Adding 10 trillion of new debt + a10 trillion Fed backstop, an Insurrection, and divided government were the cherries on Putin's cake.

Trump promised the 2017 Tax Law would pay for itself, make everyone rich except it would hurt people like him, and would also cause unrealistically high high economic growth sufficient to eliminate the entire Fed debt and deficits within eight years. However, not a penny was spent on debt reduction and nothing on addressing our most critical challenges: Infrastructure and Climate Change. Instead, Federal debt financing was devoted to making the wealthiest Americans, and their 90% ownership of American's corporate wealth wealthier. Before the Pandemic, most economists were predicting a recession as the economy slowed, after the still ongoing wealth profusion realized by a scant group of very wealthy Americans.

Under President Biden we're attempting to address the consequences of Trump's domestic and foreign policies, which never articulated the values we hold dear:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/democracy-post/wp/2017/02/17/the-two-words-donald-trump-cant-bring-himself-to-say/

Not only did Trump weaken our leadership by undercutting our values, he also produced fours years of gross deferred maintenance and corruption. President Biden deserves a lot of credit for rising to the occasion and attempting to right our course despite political gridlock and prior festering neglect. We have observed Putin's voracious expansionist appetite and barbarism up close through the lens of the Ukrainians. Trump termed this as Putin's "genius." At the same time, we have seen Biden masterfully restoring our alliances while realigning and addressing our domestic challenges. There couldn't be a more important time to defend Ukraine, curtail Russian aggression, lead the world away from the disaster of a wider war, and remind everyone that representative democracy is the only path to universal freedom and liberty.

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alis's avatar

I would not have dreamed in February that President Zelensky would be able to come here (or anywhere) in December. Anything is possible, including enough support from the right to keep this promise to his brave country.

The Crimea reaction in 2014 was a folly. President Obama was trying to work-out getting rid of nukes with Putin the whole time he was in office. Biden was not making the decisions back then, but he's learned and knows the right thing to do now.

Zelensky may be 5'7'', but he's a goddamn giant compared to that psychopath Putin!

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