Election-year campaigns are called the “silly season” because that’s when normally irrational politicians go completely over-the-top bonkers.
There’s an election later this year, and we must be in silly season now. Case in point: Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), a friend of Trump, who is one of Putin’s best friends. I’m gonna have a make-believe dialogue with her, using real quotes.
Ernst: “We want to make sure that an invasion doesn’t happen.”
Me: How you gonna do that? Everyone wants to know.
Ernst: “And that’s why I think diplomacy is very important at this point.”
Me: What do you think Biden and Blinken have been doing the last several weeks?
Ernst: “So far, with this administration, we have seen a doctrine of appeasement.”
Me: I can’t stop laughing. Given you and Trump, and Trump and Putin.
Ernst: “What we can say is that we need to be very aggressive in pushing back against President Putin, whether that’s in the form of sanctions, expulsion from the Swiss banking system certainly, sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, all of these actions need to be put in place, as well as continuing to equip our Ukrainian friends with not only defensive capabilities but also offensive weapons.”
Me: Biden is pushing very aggressive sanctions. But the Swiss banking system is beyond his control — and also yours, Ms. Ernst. Switzerland isn’t a NATO member. Its foreign policy is officially neutral. Any sanctions it imposes on Russia will be its own, and at its own discretion. What happens to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline is up to German regulators, but in general, Germany is not participating in the proposed sanctions against Russia, and Biden can’t make them — neither can you.
Me: Biden is doing everything that can be done, including shipping arms to Ukraine, short of sending U.S. combat troops to Ukraine. He has promised a swift and severe response. Your calling that “appeasement” is just plain silly.
Ernst: “We know that if he’s able to go into Ukraine, and there’s very little pushback from the United States or from NATO, it allows him to move into other countries in Eastern Europe.”
Me: Biden is preparing to send 8,500 U.S. troops to neighboring countries. U.S. and NATO forces are moving closer to Europe’s eastern border. That’s not exactly “very little pushback.” You’re being silly. But hey, your party has an election to win. Or maybe I should say, an election to lose.
Me: Looks like we’re in the silly season now.
Read story here.
Related: Mike Pompeo, Trump’s secretary of state, appears to praise Putin in this CNN video — and potentially signals to Putin that a second Trump administration would lift sanctions imposed by Biden for invading Ukraine, according to a commentator in the video. Watch it here.