In today’s excerpt from the full 150 minute podcast with Mark, we focus on the geopolitics of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, historical ties and the key question of what does Putin want and how does it end?
Meanwhile. President Zelenskyy gave a passionate speech to U.S. lawmakers March 16 and reiterated his request to create a no-fly zone over Ukraine while harnessing images of Pearl Harbor, Martin Luther King and 9/11. Lawmakers can clap and cheer and be in awe of a man who is literally the epidemy of leadership in the face of certain defeat, but our realistic options are limited beyond Russian sanctions. As we discussed yesterday, the longer the war continues, the larger the global food crisis and a desperate Putin may well be a more dangerous Putin. To date, attacks on Kyiv have intensified.
In response to Zelenskyy, President Biden said:
The American people are answering President Zelensky's call for more help, more weapons for Ukraine, more tools to fight Russian aggression.
What's at stake here are the principles that the United States and the united nations across the world stand for. It's about freedom. It's about the right of people to determine their own future.
With an additional $800 million in military equipment, including 800 anti-aircraft systems, it amounts to giving a bucket of water to a drowning man and while personally, I have every sympathy for the Ukrainians plight, half measures likely just prolong the suffering.
Nonetheless, Ukraine is providing a nice diversion from the challenges at home, including cover for $4.30/gallon gas prices, but the hard truth is the United States is limited in what it can do without declaring war on Russia and starting World War III, staged between two nuclear powers.
Meanwhile, at home, the word “you’re a traitor” is becoming the new “you’re racist…” I highly recommend reading this piece from Glenn Greenwald.
HTOYC- Mark Rossano on the Russian-Ukrainian conflict