The Same Old Vladimir Putin
Donald Trump never admits he's ever been wrong about anything. His narcissistic personality won't allow him to, most likely, but no matter what the psychological reason behind it is, Trump infamously never admits a mistake. This weekend he came about as close to admitting being wrong as he ever has, which was remarkable enough.
Trump has long admired Russian leader Vladimir Putin, since Putin runs his country exactly the way Trump wants to run America -- with an iron fist, squashing all dissent swiftly and brutally, and never having to answer to anyone for any of it. Trump's Putin-envy (or even Putin-love) has been downright embarrassing to watch over the years, but it has been effective in morphing a good part of the Republican Party away from their traditional stance that Russia is always and always will be an adversarial enemy of this country (see: the Cold War, Ronald Reagan, etc.). But perhaps all of that is about to change, now that the scales are falling from Trump's eyes? One can only hope....
Trump promised, out on the campaign trail, that ending the war of aggression Russia launched (by invading Ukraine) would be so easy he would have it taken care of his first day in office -- or perhaps he'd even manage to do so before he got into office. He figured he'd make a couple of phone calls and that would be that. This was either a gigantic lie or just Trump being monumentally delusional (take your pick). It's been over four months since Trump's first day in office, and the war keeps raging while a ceasefire (to say nothing of actual peace and an end to the war) look further off than ever. The reason for this is patently obvious, as anyone without a fawning adoration for Putin can plainly see -- because Putin is the only person on Earth who could indeed end the war in a single day, by ending his invasion/land grab. But Putin has no intention of doing so.
Donald Trump seems to finally be waking up to this basic fact. Trump tried to get a ceasefire in place so he could claim he was the world's best negotiator and worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize (or as Trump repeatedly puts it, the "Noble" Peace Prize). This effort, predictably, failed. Putin keeps right on attacking Ukraine, no matter what Trump says to him. So this weekend, Trump threw a hissy fit on his social media platform:
I've always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him. He has gone absolutely CRAZY! He is needlessly killing a lot of people, and I'm not just talking about soldiers. Missiles and drones are being shot into Cities [sic] in Ukraine, for no reason whatsoever. I've always said that he wants ALL of Ukraine, not just a piece of it, and maybe that's proving to be right, but if he does, it will lead to the downfall of Russia!
Trump continued with random insults for the leader of Ukraine and Joe Biden, just for good measure (because of course he did). He spoke further of the subject to reporters, later in the day:
I'm not happy with what Putin's doing. He's killing a lot of people and I don't know what the hell happened to Putin. We're in the middle of talking and he's shooting rockets into Kyiv and other cities. I don't like it at all. I'm surprised, I'm very surprised.
Donald Trump is the only one who is "surprised" by any of this, since being at war means launching attacks, and Vladimir Putin has been doing so ever since he started the war in the first place. Nothing "happened" to Putin at all.
This was pointed out by none other than the Fox News chief political analyst Brit Hume (who, in a first for us, provided the quote we used as today's headline):
[Donald] Trump "has always had a very odd conception of Vladimir Putin," [Brit] Hume said. "I think he's thought that he and Putin could be kind of friends and partners, and could make deals together." Trump has for years talked about his admiration for his counterpart.
"I don't know what the president's talking about," Hume continued. "This is the way Putin has always been. He's always been a particularly brutal dictator, willing to take whatever measures he thought necessary to advance his interest, whatever he thought he could get away with."
Hume added: "He's the same old Vladimir Putin."
Perhaps this newfound recognition of the basic reality of Vladimir Putin will lead Trump to actually attempting to use some leverage against him? So far, Trump hasn't even attempted to threaten Russia in any way -- it was even one of the few countries in the world that didn't get hit with a tariff on "Liberation Day" (or since). Europe wants to hit Russia with the most severe sanctions possible, but so far Trump hasn't joined or supported this effort at all. And even while he was calling Putin "CRAZY," Trump hasn't issued any threat towards Russia (which is decidedly odd, seeing as how Trump issues dire threats at the drop of a hat, towards anyone who isn't doing exactly what Trump wants them to do).
The Wall Street Journal has had enough of the inaction. It just published an editorial titled: "Time For A GOP Senate Revolt On Sanctions Against Putin," where their editorial board called for the Senate to pass a bipartisan bill from Senators Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal, which would slap a jaw-dropping 500 percent tariff on all products imported into the U.S. from any country that buys Russian oil or gas. This is Russia's biggest vulnerability, since energy sales are how the country makes most of its money. Like Hume, the Journal didn't pull their punches in denigrating Trump's view of Putin:
Mr. Trump may be the only person in the world still surprised by how Mr. Putin is behaving. The Russian is the same man he's been for two decades, bent on reconstituting as much of the Soviet empire as he can get away with....
Trump and his advisers fancy themselves steely-eyed realists on foreign policy. But on Mr. Putin they are starry-eyed idealists, mouthing "peace" as if they can make it happen by wishing it were so.
Brit Hume and the Wall Street Journal cannot be brushed aside as some sort of lefty commies with "Trump Derangement Syndrome." That shoe just doesn't fit. And maybe there are enough Republicans left in the Senate who have had enough of watching the leader of their party constantly kowtowing to the leader of Russia on the world stage. It certainly would send a clear message if the Senate did pass such a bill -- especially with a veto-proof margin (no matter what then happened to it over in the House).
Donald Trump likes to style himself as a "tough guy." He loves the image. It's also probably a big reason why he loves Putin (and other dictators) so much as well -- because deep down inside he knows that they are the real deal, while he is not. Perhaps if goaded by his own party in the Senate, Trump would start actually behaving like a tough guy with Putin? It's certainly worth a try, now that Trump has apparently just woken up to the reality that everyone else has known all along.
Putin hasn't changed. Nothing "happened" to him. He's the same old Putin he's always been. But maybe Donald Trump can change? Now that he's gotten as close as he's ever been to admitting that he's been wrong all along about Putin, a window of opportunity seems to have opened. But Trump's got to actually do something, not just fire off irate tweets in the middle of the night. He would have to actually stand up to Putin and start threatening some actual sanctions -- and then he'd have to follow through if Putin didn't budge. None of that has happened yet, and there's no guarantee that any of it will actually happen. But at least now there seems to be at least a chance of it happening, which is a big step in the right direction.
-- Chris Weigant
Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant
their editorial board called for the Senate to pass a bipartisan bill from Senators Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal, which would slap a jaw-dropping 500 percent tariff on all products imported into the U.S. from any country that buys Russian oil or gas.
Miss Lindsey said I have coordinated with the White House on the Russia sanctions bill since its inception. and if Mr. Putin continues to play games, the Senate will act.
VladP must be thrilled. He knows an empty threat when he sees one. The senate will act! LOL. Why does Fat Donny need a bill? To make sure it never happens? He just waves his magic wand at everybody else, but he's Putin's bitch.
BTW - 500%? If we're going with cartoonish numbers, why not 10,000%?
as long as we're entertaining imaginary realities, why not kill two horrible policies with one stone? 50% tariffs on any country who buys Russian goods, zero percent for those countries who don't, and gather a coalition of allies to do the same.
I think the kill two birds in this situation is OPEC+ flooding the market with oil. They have already agreed to increase production for June but if ramped up even more they could kill any of Trump's "Drill baby Drill" policies as none would be profitable if oil is low and Putin can't fund his war machine at a certain price point.
Can I just note that the first three posts on this column are diverse in viewpoint, interesting in their details, and relevant to Chris's writing?
For myself, I'll suggest that the idea of Trump actually learning that he has been wrong about Putin, and might actually take realistic action to hamper Putin's Ukraine war, is absurd on the face of it.
Trump is about bluster, bragging, and (when the opposition is weak enough) bullying. Putin is not weak enough -- being the leader of a sovereign state not dependent on US trade -- and so bullying is out.
Is there a "chance" of Trump taking effective action against Russia on the Ukraine issue, as Chris suggests? Yes, I suppose. There is always a "chance" of anything, even if the odds are reckoned as one in ten^200. But those aren't betting odds.
This is wishful thinking, that takes empty and frustrated Trumpian rhetoric seriously.
Vlad's mocking response:
‘Putin doesn’t realize… he’s playing with fire!’ — Trump’s message leaves little room for misinterpretation until he posts the opposite tomorrow morning - posted on Elon's Hellscape Twitter thingy by RT
It's almost as if Putin is giving the orange one an order.
We hold these truths to be self-evident:
Donald Trump never admits he's ever been wrong about anything. His narcissistic personality won't allow him to, most likely, but no matter what the psychological reason behind it is, Trump infamously never admits a mistake.
AND
TACO: Trump Always Chickens Out
No president in the history of America has ever flip-flopped more frequently or more predictably than Donald Jumpy Trump.
He figured he'd make a couple of phone calls and that would be that. This was either a gigantic lie or just Trump being monumentally delusional (take your pick).
Oh, I believe it is definitely both, as Trump repeats his own obvious intentional deceptions so frequently that he comes to believe his own bullshit. The buffoon genuinely thought he and Putin had a "great relationship" not realizing he's actually always been nothing if not Putin's bitch puppet.
The reason for this is patently obvious, as anyone without a fawning adoration for Putin can plainly see -- because Putin is the only person on Earth who could indeed end the war in a single day, by ending his invasion/land grab. But Putin has no intention of doing so.
Indeed we knew this because "grandpa in his bunker" verifiably only ever offered terms consistent with the absolute and total appeasement of Russia, which (as we know) was never an option because it has failed miserably and consistently throughout history.
BashiBazouk [3] -
That's already happening...
-CW
John M from Ct. [4] -
yeah, it's a longshot, I admit...
I avoided the whole "bully" theme in this article... about how bullies back down when confronted themselves... but it is indeed in the back of my mind... I just thought I'd be hopeful, that's all.
-CW
Kick [6] -
OK, I like the "TACO" thing, gotta admit...
:-)
-CW
I also tried to avoid bringing Neville Chamberlain's name up... sigh...
-CW
ok, attempting a marathon comments-answering thing again... from last monday...
nypoet22 [13] --
I had a cassette (through Columbia House, if I recall correctly) of "Darkness At The Edge Of Town," but never really got into Springsteen much after that.
I do remember when Better Days came out, though...
-CW
nypoet22 [20] --
OK, touché!
-CW
nypoet22 [25] --
Hah! yeah, teenage lust is impenetrable (so to speak... heh...)
-CW
ok, Tuesday...
(sigh)
ok, y'all are right.
I am tired of this.
I am changing Michale's password until next Monday. Let's see what a week without him is like, shall we?
-CW
I only made it to Tuesday...
I would *really* like to read comments again where people actually *comment* on stuff, so this drastic action was necessary to see it we can return to those halcyon days.
I dunno if he's as bad as Don got, but he's bad enough for me to want him gone, and that's good enough for now.
Anybody out there who wants to speak up in his defense, this is your last opportunity...
-CW
maybe I'll get to other comments later on, but I am ready to just go to sleep, at this point...
sorry...
-CW
John From Censornati
1
VladP must be thrilled. He knows an empty threat when he sees one. The senate will act! LOL. Why does Fat Donny need a bill? To make sure it never happens? He just waves his magic wand at everybody else, but he's Putin's bitch.
I know, right!? Who needs a stinkin' bill when Trump can just unilaterally set tariff rates and have Bessent and Lutnick include the requisite language via that correspondence being sent out *checks calendar* any day now:
So there you go! How much time could it take to add a simple paragraph in those letters about the 500% for doing oily business with Russia tariff? Oh, wait. Is that a 500% tariff in addition to the Trump-chosen tariff or in lieu of that!?
Well, not to worry; we'll for sure all know any day now when those letters go out. It'll be like Oprah all over again: You get a tariff and you get a tariff; everybody gets a tariff!
BTW - 500%? If we're going with cartoonish numbers, why not 10,000%?
Exactly! But not to worry because that Senate bill actually does call for the raising of said 500% tariff by an additional 500% every 90 days in which a country does not comply with Trump's demands... so essentially you're looking at *consults calculator* 1,000% global tariffs in a relatively short period of time, which you can be 10,000% certain will be going out in those letters to the humans and penguins any day now. :)
I see that we are all AHD up in here....
When I arrived here a long time back (still on Huff Po) I discovered quickly that Mike was not here to have honest debate, it readily became apparent that if you back him into a logic corner in a round room his only recourse is personal attack, and degradation of your life journey.
When I surfaced his old forum "chats" it was less about the lascivious posts contained therein ( and I agree with Bashi and NYP that no weight can be attributed... but it can be fun to yank the donkeys tail...) and more about illustrating the playbook that Mike has run for over thirty years.
Just look at the structure of his comments, be they from here, AHD, or other places. They all have the common structure of having usually two people he can call allies that he can go "gosh it's not me, it's all them" and those allies will support his bad behavior, then let's just incorporate the ALL CAPS and the BWAHAAAAA crap, Don't forget the miles of bold text and LETS PUT IT ALL TOGETHER JUST TO HELP CONVERSATIONS ALONG. Followed by endless personal attacks and doing whatever it takes to make a place so toxic that it runs the risk of being shut down (read fair use violations) or just no one wants to spend time here.
I'm not here to tell you what you should do with Mike... but FWIW I no longer recommend your site to younger people as Mike regularly fails the AITA test. It's one thing to have an honest discussion, it's completely another when Mike just wants to be the AITR.
I think the question is for you to answer, do you want a healthy commentariat where new people want to come in and engage ( when is the last time a new commenter got added?), or do you want to protect the one guy who makes it so toxic you don't want to engage with your readers.
I know what Mike is rooting for...
In the meantime I will not be returning as a regular... I've been DOGE'd... so I have more pressing things to think about.
wow, blast from the past!
[15][16] Chris,
Now that you've deported the illegal TDS chatbot troll to El Salvador, I do hope you'll leave it there. There are plenty of other sites where it can play stupid, tedious Pwn The Libs games. You are NOT harming it. On the other hand, it was intentionally degrading your website.
I am genuinely optimistic about the future of your site. Please don't allow it to become a MAGA dumpster again.
Chris. WTF will it take for you to red card cho’mo’s ass?
I'm not here to tell you what you should do with Mike... but FWIW I no longer recommend your site to younger people as Mike regularly fails the AITA test. It's one thing to have an honest discussion, it's completely another when Mike just wants to be the AITR.
I think the question is for you to answer, do you want a healthy commentariat where new people want to come in and engage ( when is the last time a new commenter got added?), or do you want to protect the one guy who makes it so toxic you don't want to engage with your readers.
I know what Mike is rooting for...
Dude, like millions you want Trump to just go away and leave us alone. But you are unwilling to do the same to your own personal Trump. What the fuck? Grow a pair!
And don’t think the toxicity down here dissipates just because you announce another yellow card. It’s kind of like Trump’s tariffs — here today, gone tomorrow…who knows about Thursday?
CW-
You kind of created a monster by praising Michale in his cat thread without reading any comments from days before or after where he was really getting his jerk on. I think he took that as permission to crank the jerk to 11. You gave him rope, maybe inadvertently, and boy howdy did he hang himself... I'm good with your decision.
In the infinite wisdom of Nelson Muntz:
Haw-haw!
MtnCaddy,
CW did not say that he would allow it back next Monday. He said Let's see what a week without him is like, shall we?
He doesn't need to grow a pair. Honestly, that doesn't even make sense. He needs to let go. How about we all work on giving him a reason to do so? Have you got anything to say about The Same Old Vladimir Putin?
@cw,
I disagree with those like gt or jfc who think it's ALWAYS been that way, but at the moment michale is definitely being an abject jerk, as you've defined the term. I wouldn't let him back in at the moment, because he seems to think of this comments section as a "field of battle" (his words), his problem behavior as "the game" (his word), and has expressed no desire to change that basic premise.
I would like to have people here who could debate honestly from a range of conservative perspectives and could sincerely challenge some of our views, but that's clearly not what he's doing. right now it's just a mix of cheerleading, spamming, trolling, plagiarizing and cat pictures. as much as it saddens me to say, perhaps it's just time to break ties and move on.
JL
because of our history, my wish would be for him to have a way to post something once in a while, but only if you've approved the post prior to it being allowed in this forum.
@jfc,
Putin is who he's always been, a Soviet trying to bring back the USSR's glory days. Ukraine's independence from the Russian sphere of influence was something he never intended to tolerate. even back in 2004 when the orange revolution occurred, vlad was already saber-rattling and planning to "take back" what he felt had been unjustly taken from him.
JL
JL [26, 27],
Good idea. Extreme moderation for just one member of Weigantia shouldn't be too burdensome for Chris.
Then it will be interesting to see how the rest of you handle viewpoints that are different from you own. Ahem.
[15] CW
I recommend you alter his email slightly, too, to close the "Forgot my password" route.
Good luck, gt ...
I am in a similar situation. Maybe by the time we get back to better financial positions, Weigantia will be a better place.
[19] goode trickle
Best wishes for landing on your feet, whether it be back in the job you've just been relieved of or in a new adventure.
I call bullshit on the delusion that letting cho’mo post occasionally isn’t going to return us to square one!
Death penalty!
[26][28] nypoet22
Please note that my calls for the TDS chatbot troll to be 86ed are recent. It's true that I've never seen any reason to allow it to stay, but whatever. It's just way out of control now. It shouldn't be allowed to turn this site into a MAGA dump. I can't support that financially and I'd like to contribute to the new improved site.
As far as I'm concerned, it hasn't changed (just like Putin!). It's revealed itself completely as the illiterate racist that it is.
[24] BashiBazouk
I think he took that as permission to crank the jerk to 11.
That is exactly what happened. It even posted something to that effect. It said that it was contrary to who CW is to deport, so it was going to do what it pleased. I'm paraphrasing. I'm not about to search through the excrement.
I’m telling y’all we gotta get some REAL Conservatives down here in Weigantia. The ones that can point out my bullshirt as needed, in a spirit of genuine grown up discourse and thus help me refine my Liberalness.
IMO Chris’s writing style doesn’t repel thoughtful Conservative and Libertarian type readers and that plus a now detoxified Weigantia and who knows?
[29] LizM
Will a song make you feel better?
What you had and what you lost
They're all memories in the wind
Those Days Go By and we all start again
JFC,
A great song ALWAYS makes me feel better.
Unfortunately, most YouTube songs that have been uploaded since the late nineties/early 2000s has indubitably been pitch-"corrected", thereby turning great natural human-generated vocals of great singers into computer-generated voices that have been unnaturally calibrated to A440Hz standard tuning, equal temperament. And, this goes especially for officially uploaded music. Which makes me very, very sad.
It's one of the reasons why there won't be any more CW Sunday Night Music Festival and Dance Party evenings. It has all become too damned depressing for this authentic music lover.
So sorry, goode trickle. Best of luck.
goode trickle
19
I've been DOGE'd... so I have more pressing things to think about.
So good to see you but so sorry to hear that. Living through the DOGE era myself and knowing the multiple ways with which it is being experienced, I sincerely hope you had some kind of choice in the matter. I know that you know they're not saving any money in what they're doing, and they're definitely not in the business of saving lives.
Please come back and stick around when you're able. At the very least, please do surface again and let us know how you're doing. I am not above begging, if required.
Elizabeth Miller
31
I am in a similar situation.
Well, expletive; sorry to hear that, Canada.
Maybe by the time we get back to better financial positions, Weigantia will be a better place.
It's a better place with you and GT in it. I did see you sneak in and comment on a couple old threads (like you used to give us grief for doing), and it tickled my funny bone.
Apologies again for that ridiculous 51st state bullshit and our stupid current administration. We need your perspective here, Canada, even if it is just to give us grief about the stupid things our country is doing to yours... which I cannot say I'm sorry enough for that.
Get back here when you can, please.
John From Censornati
34
It shouldn't be allowed to turn this site into a MAGA dump. I can't support that financially and I'd like to contribute to the new improved site.
I'm going to piggyback on John (not to be confused with the other John) here to say that *thinking how to say this nicely* well, I can't figure out a way to say it nicely so I'm going to just second what he said. :)
JFC
25
I think Putin hasn’t changed a lick and I’ll take Trump’s words about this or anything else seriously when I see actions. My best guess is Trump keeps shielding Russia from tariffs and shut up about Ukraine. Trump is mainly talking to the base here, anyways.