Tag: Speech

Biden’s Fond Farewell

Last night Biden took a lap around the nation in an attempt to put some sort of brave face on his administration…..my opinion….he failed.

President Biden bid farewell to the nation on Wednesday evening, taking pride in US achievements while warning of threats to “the idea of America”—including attacks on democratic institutions, misinformation spread by social media, and the rise of an oligarchy that concentrates money and power in the hands of a few Americans. One of the threats, he said, should be dealt with by amending the Constitution to say no president should have immunity for crimes committed while in office, the AP reports. After 50 years in public office—and listing accomplishments, dangers, and potential solutions—Biden closed his final address as president with, “Now it’s your turn to stand guard.”

As he spoke from the Oval Office of the White House with first lady Jill Biden in the room, the president committed to a peaceful transfer of power next week, giving the example of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire announced earlier in the day. “This plan was developed and negotiated by my team, and will be largely implemented by the incoming administration,” Biden said, per the Washington Post, adding that he told his team to keep President-elect Trump’s informed of the agreement, “because that’s how it should be.”

Acknowledging Dwight Eisenhower’s farewell address that warned of the rise of a military-industrial complex, Biden said, “I’m equally concerned about the potential rise of a tech-industrial complex.” Some of the world’s wealthiest people, including the titans of technology, have lined up behind Trump, per the AP. Biden warned of “dangerous consequences” if the “abuse of power” by the few goes unchecked. He also called for imposing 18-year term limits for Supreme Court justices.

“Farewell addresses are challenging, because they aim to put the capstone on an era at a time when most of the country has already moved on to the next one,” author Robert Schlesinger said. In leaving Wednesday night, Biden expressed “my eternal thanks to you, the American people,” as well as to his wife and family, members of his administration, service members, and Vice President Kamala Harris. He said he still believes “in the idea for which this nation stands.”

If he wanted to truly shine a light on the dangers then he should have pointed to the Lobbyists and special interests that are destroying this country.

He pointed to many things that are a danger and yet if these were known the whole time why did he and the Dems do very little to correct the problems?

Let’s not mince words here….while the nation may be safer the rest of the world is on fire thanks to Biden and Dems policies…..

Let’s look at the real legacy…..

A key measure of any U.S. president’s success is the ability or good fortune to leave his successor with a better international situation than the one he inherited.  Donald Trump inherited a relatively stable situation from Barack Obama, but his chaotic and unstable leadership did no favors for Joe Biden.  Trump now inherits a broad pattern of disorder in Europe, the Middle East, and the Indo-Pacific, and has named a national security team that seems destined to make all of these issues worse.

Sadly, Joe Biden is leaving the presidency with no awareness of his shortcomings.  He has charged Sudan with genocidal policies, but refuses to acknowledge his complicity with regard to Israeli genocidal policies.  Recently, Biden announced an additional $8 billion in fighter jets, attack helicopters, and artillery to an Israel that relies almost solely on sophisticated U.S. weaponry inappropriate for the terrain and the targets that Israel is facing.  Biden’s national security team ignored Israel’s right-wing attempts to undermine the rule of law, although the importance of the rule of law was Biden’s major campaign volley against Trump.

https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/01/14/the-dangers-of-bidens-legacy-and-trumps-inheritance/

Biden is not leaving office with the world in better shape….

As President Biden’s term approaches its end, the US and several parts of the rest of the world are significantly worse off than they were when he took office. While the president is frequently lauded by members of the foreign policy establishment as a successful foreign policy leader, his tenure has been marked for the most part by deepening US involvement in foreign conflicts that show no signs of ending anytime soon. US policies under Biden have served only to stoke destabilizing conflict, and the president has shown no inclination to bring any of the wars currently backed by Washington to an end. Biden’s presidency showed the world just how extensive the rot in US foreign policy is, and most other nations will not soon forget what restored American “leadership” wrought.

Biden ran on the promise of ending America’s forever wars, but after the withdrawal from Afghanistan he then spent most of his presidency going out of his way to involve US in conflicts where no vital American interests were at stake. The risk of great power conflict has also risen under Biden as he has pursued a China policy of containment and rivalry that the US can ill afford while US-Russian relations have sunk to new lows over Ukraine. In the Middle East, Biden has enabled Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza, backed their invasion of Lebanon, and supported their attacks on Iran. He has helped Israel sow chaos across the region, and he committed the US to a new open-ended and illegal war in Yemen. The president’s extreme ideological attachment to Israel led him to pursue an indefensible policy of unconditional support that has fueled the slaughter of civilians and created one of the worst man-made famines in modern times.

https://original.antiwar.com/Daniel_Larison/2024/10/31/bidens-destructive-legacy/

Let’s be honest Biden’s legacy will be one of making nothing better and assisting in a world on fire by arming those that would do the most harm.

Do I really mean that?

As the sun sets on Joe Biden’s presidency, the Commander-in-Chief and his top staffers are using their final moments in power to convince the American people that we live in a safer and more stable world.

“The United States is winning the worldwide competition compared to four years ago,” Biden declared Monday. “America is stronger. Our alliances are stronger, our adversaries and competitors are weaker.”

The claims that America is winning and strong are as laughable as when the mainstream media repeatedly attempted to convince the American people that Biden is as “sharp as a tack.”

Americans have witnessed Joe Biden’s physical and cognitive decline over the past four years, which perfectly personifies the American empire. Rather than becoming stronger, the treasury and arms depots were exhausted for the benefit of Ukraine and Israel. America is bankrupt; economic prosperity is increasingly elusive for the average citizen and enjoyed only by an exclusive class with access to government power.

https://original.antiwar.com/kyle_anzalone/2025/01/15/joe-bidens-legacy-waging-proxy-wars-spreading-terrorism-and-killing-diplomacy/

The world is on fire and Biden throws gasoline on it…..how does that make things better?

What say you?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Biden’s UN Farewell

Soon to be former president Joe Biden strolled up to the podium at the General Assembly of the United Nations to make his last speech as president.

And was it a bunch of crap!  (My thoughts included)

President Biden delivered his final address to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, and while he addressed international conflicts, he also spoke of his decision to withdraw from the 2024 race. Details from outlets including CNN, the New York Times, the AP, and the Guardian.

  • “Some things are more important than staying in power,” Biden told his fellow world leaders. “As much as I love the job, I love my country more. I decided, after 50 years of public service, it’s time for a new generation of leadership to take my nation forward.”

(Was not his intention he flub up a debate and had to walk down)

  • Biden said he has witnessed a “remarkable sweep of history” in his life and warned that “we’re in another inflection point in world history—for the choices we make today will determine our future for decades to come.” On the same theme, he sounded a note of optimism: “I know many look at the world today and see difficulties and react with despair, but I do not,” he said. “We are stronger than we think” when acting in unity.

(This is a loaded statement….well crafted to mean anything)

  • The president said the world “cannot look away” from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine or stop supporting the latter. “The good news is Putin’s war has failed at his core aim,” Biden said. “He set out to destroy Ukraine, but Ukraine is still free. He set out [to] weaken NATO, but NATO is bigger, stronger, more united than ever before.”

(But we can look away from the Middle East while Israel attacks and kills with impunity)(He claimed that he was working to bring a “greater measure of peace and stability to the Middle East” even though his administration continues to provide full-throated support for Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza and its escalations in Lebanon.  And that is so much chicken sh*t)

  • He also lamented the “bloody civil war” in Sudan, saying it had “unleashed one of the world’s worst humanitarian [crises].”

(Good one…when was the last time he brought this crisis up?)(In his address, Biden also called for countries to stop arming the opposing sides in the war in Sudan. “The world needs to stop arming the generals, to speak with one voice and tell them: Stop tearing your country apart. Stop blocking aid to the Sudanese people. End this war now,” he said.)(Good advice a shame he or anyone else in DC will take it)

For those interested this is a transcript of Biden speech to the UNGA….

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2024/09/24/remarks-by-president-biden-before-the-79th-session-of-the-united-nations-general-assembly-new-york-ny/

Anyone that follows international affairs will see the hypocrisy in this speech….I am sorry but his words ring hollow.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

“I Better Win…”

We all know what d/bag Trump is and he has a way with words….although few are sure what he is talking about most times….but recently at a rally he made some interesting remarks that has many people scratching their heads.

The rally was in Wisconsin and he made what seemed like a threat…..

Donald Trump made a claim at his rally on Saturday that had people worrying about what he meant.

Trump, who spoke in Mosinee, Wisconsin, was called out by CNN for a “lie” about transgender kids. But he also made another statement that caught the attention of political observers on social media, including actress Bette Midler.

“I better win or you’re gonna have problems like we’ve never had. We may have no country left,” Trump said at his weekend swing-state rally. “This may be our last election. You want to know the truth? People have said that. This could be our last election.”

(rawstory.com)

What did he mean by that verbal vomit?

Was it a threat?

Was it just Trump being Trump firing off his mouth before his brain was loaded?

Was it all just a bit of bolster?

What did he mean?

Any thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

“We Are Not At War”

I realize that politicians have a way of skirting the truth when it suits them…..but I really hate when these same politicians blow smoke up my butt…..and Biden did just that in a recent speech….

President Biden falsely claimed in an address to the nation that the US was not at war.

“I’m the first president in this century to report to the American people that the United States is not at war anywhere in the world,” the president said.

About a half hour before Biden delivered his address, US Central Command announced that it launched new strikes targeting the Houthis in Yemen. Since January, the US has carried out hundreds of strikes in Yemen as part of a new war that has not been authorized by Congress.

US naval commanders have described the fight against the Houthis in the Red Sea as the largest naval battle the US has been engaged in since World War II. Back in April, US military officials said the munitions used in the Red Sea and other bombings Biden ordered in Iraq and Syria since October 7 had cost the US about $1 billion.

The US has also been involved in combat operations against ISIS remnants in Iraq and Syria. Earlier this month, CENTCOM said it had been involved in 196 partnered operations in both countries in the first half of 2024. US troops deployed in Syria are not welcomed by the government, making it an illegal military occupation.

At the end of 2023 and the beginning of this year, the US was fighting Shia militias based in Iraq that began targeting US bases in response to the US support for the Israeli onslaught in Gaza. In January, three US troops were killed in a drone attack on Tower 22, a secretive base in Jordan near the Syrian border.

The US launched multiple rounds of airstrikes against the Shia militias, which are part of Iraq’s security forces. The bombings enraged the Iraqi government, which asked the US to withdraw, and now the two sides are negotiating the future of the US presence.

The US has also bombed Somalia multiple times this year to support the Mogadishu-based government against al-Shabaab. The US also launched an airstrike that it said targeted ISIS in Somalia back in May.

(antiwar.com)

But ‘we are not at war’…..I guess his definition of war is different from mine….but then that is what crooked politicians do….making up a reality and sell it to idiots.

Just on a whim I wanted to know how many American ships had been targeted and so far I found one…..there may be more but I found only a single incident.

I want to know why it falls on the US to police the shipping lanes when our flagged ships are not a major target.

Must we protect the whole goddamn world?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Biden: A Farewell

Last night our president went before the cameras to exp[lain his decision not to run for re-election….was a pretty straight up but boring speech.

For those that we watching the beginning of the Summer Olympics I offer up this post to let them know what they missed……and of course I will have to add my thoughts to the night’s offering of manure on a cracker.

President Biden delivered a solemn Oval Office address Wednesday that laid out in the clearest terms yet why he abandoned his reelection campaign. He wanted to send an unmistakable warning about Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump while anointing Vice President Kamala Harris as his natural successor, without invoking an overtly political tone that would have been out of step in the official setting of the White House. He was determined to show that he would not act like a lame-duck president, outlining an ambitious agenda that underscored his resolve to continue building on his legacy. Key takeaways from the AP:

  • He warned about Trump—without naming him: Biden did not mention Trump in his 10-minute Oval Office address, but he didn’t have to. The remarks were imbued with a deep sense of urgency about what the outgoing president saw as the stakes of the election. “Americans are going to have to choose between moving forward or backward, between hope and hate, between unity and division,” Biden said. “We have to decide—do we still believe in honesty, decency, respect, freedom, justice and democracy?” That last item—democracy—and defending it is “more important than any title,” Biden said.
  • A hefty to-do list for his final months: The president says he’s going to keep working over his final six months in office, and his to-do list was full of weighty issues. He said he’d work to end the war in Gaza and bring home the hostages; lower costs for families and defend personal freedoms; keep calling out “hate and extremism”; push to end gun violence; continue to work on his initiative to end cancer as we know it; and push for Supreme Court reforms.
  • He is willingly handing off power to a new generation: Biden finally understood what Democrats had been telling him—that it was time to hand off power to a younger generation—and he embraced it, calling for “fresh voices, yes, younger voices” in politics. “I’ve decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation. It’s the best way to unite our nation,” he said, even as he believed his presidency was deserving of a second term.
  • The tone and setting were solemn: Biden is not a stranger to the sober address, but he has used the formal trappings of an Oval Office address—a tool used by presidents in times of national crisis or to capture a key moment in history—sparsely, with Wednesday’s speech marking just the fourth time that he has sat behind the Resolute Desk to speak directly to the nation. His tone was solemn, the delivery careful and deliberate. He was surrounded by family and close aides.
  • Standout quote: “The great thing about America is here, kings and dictators do not rule—that people do,” Biden said as he closed his address. “History is in your hands. The power is in your hands. The idea of America lies in your hands.”
  • Biden made a subtle push for his vice president: In the official setting of the Oval Office, Biden steered clear of overt political talk. But he still praised Vice President Harris as “tough” and “capable,” and gave a not-so-subtle push to voters. “She’s been an incredible partner for her leadership, for our country,” he said. “Now the choice is up to you, the American people.”

His focus for the coming months are admirable but worthless….there is very little he can get done no matter noble they sound.

His big line….”The great thing about America is here, kings and dictators do not rule—that people do”….that one statement is so much bullsh*t…..money rules and we all know it …..so can we stop pretending the people matter?

Good bye Joe….it has been fun and it has been real but has not been real fun….let’s move on…..please.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Biden On D-Day

As usual the American president made his way to Normandy to celebrate the invasion and what has been called ‘the beginning of the end’……

An as usual the president stepped up to the sound system to make his speech.

President Biden marked the 80th anniversary of D-Day on Thursday by saying “we will not walk away” from the defense of Ukraine and allow Russia to threaten more of Europe. “To surrender to bullies, to bow down to dictators, is simply unthinkable,” he said during a ceremony at the American cemetery in Normandy. “If we were to do that, it means we’d be forgetting what happened here on these hallowed beaches.” D-Day was the largest amphibious assault in history, and Biden called it a “powerful illustration of how alliances, real alliances make us stronger,” the AP reports. He said that was “a lesson that I pray we Americans never forget.”

  • “The autocrats of the world are watching closely to see what happens in Ukraine,” Biden said, per the BBC. Ukraine, he said, “has been invaded by a tyrant,” he added, per CBS News.
  • Speaking about the American troops that stormed Normandy’s beaches on June 6, 1944, Biden said “let us be worthy of their sacrifice,” adding, per the AP: “We must remember that the fact that they were heroes here that day does not absolve us of what we have to do today. Democracy is never guaranteed. Every generation must preserve it, defend it, and fight for it. That’s the test of the ages.”
  • Ukrainian President Volodmyr Zelensky and his wife were applauded when they arrived at the event, the Guardian reports.
  • Before Biden’s remarks, French President Emmanuel Macron told US veterans that “you came here because the free world needed each and every one of you, and you answered the call,” per the AP. Macron awarded the Legion of Honor to several of them, and he kissed them on each cheek as he pinned on their medals. Biden followed with handshakes and embraces.
  • Earlier, Biden and first lady Jill Biden met with more than two dozen American veterans near Omaha Beach, where the fiercest D-Day fighting took place.
  • Biden told a veteran that “you saved the world.” The president led the audience in singing “Happy Birthday” to another. Steve Spielberg and Tom Hanks, the Hollywood heavyweights behind movies and television shows about World War II, were nearby. When Army veteran Robert Gibson approached, the first lady clutched his arm to help him stand next to the president as they shook hands. “Don’t get old,” the 100-year-old man from New Jersey joked to the 81-year-old president, who was a toddler on D-Day. The BBC notes that Biden “will likely be” the last US president to have been alive during the operation.
  • In an interview with the AP a few days ago, Gibson said he was “living on borrowed time” but wanted to see the beach again. He was in the second wave of troops that landed on Utah Beach on D-Day. “Terrible. Some of the young fellows never ever made it to the beach,” he said. “It was so bad that we had to run over [them] to get on the beach. That’s how bad it was.”

His words were excellent to the vets that made the long trip…but I have a problem with using comparisons….the day was about the men that stormed the beaches of Normandy….the speech should have been totally about that and the sacrifices made….I bet the vets could care less about Ukraine on this day.

The surrender thing was dumb…the US surrenders to bullies and autocrats….i e Saudi Arabia, Israel….the US surrenders to their cash and influence.

I am sorry but this speech should been about the day of the invasion….make your brownie points later.

So far I have not seen any mention to the vet that died on his way to Normandy…..so I shall do it….

An American veteran of World War II died after traveling to Europe to mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion by Allied troops, reports the New York Times. Robert Persichitti, 102, suffered a medical emergency on Friday while aboard a ship headed for Normandy, France, and died later at a hospital in Germany, reports WHEC 10, a TV station in his hometown of Rochester, New York. “He died peacefully, and he did not die alone,” said Richard Stewart, president of the vets’ group Honor Flight Rochester.

A friend traveling with him, Al DeCarlo, tells 13WHAM that the doctor treating him played Frank Sinatra, Persichitti’s favorite singer, on her phone for him as he died. Persichitti served in the Navy during the war, and he witnessed the iconic raising of the flag at Iwo Jima from the deck of his ship, the USS Eldorado. He served as a radioman on the ship in Okinawa and Guam as well as Iwo Jima, according to Stars and Stripes. Persichitti’s medical emergency was not specified, but he had a history of heart trouble.

May he now Rest In Peace and thank you for all you did for this country and the world.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Biden’s Speech–Pure Fecal Matter

I am sure that this most recent speech by6 Biden is to placate AIPAC and their money. He went before the audience and spewed crap.

Biden in an effort to keep money flowing made what has been called his ‘antisemitism’ speech.

President Biden on Tuesday condemned what he called “a ferocious surge of antisemitism in America and around the world.” His speech at a DC ceremony remembered victims of the Holocaust and referenced the ongoing pro-Palestinian protests at college campuses:

  • Ancient hatred: “We’re at risk of people not knowing the truth,” Biden said of the Holocaust, per the AP. “This hatred continues to lie deep in the hearts of too many people in the world.” He asked Americans to push back against an “ancient desire to wipe out the Jewish people off the face of the Earth.”
    Hamas: “People are already forgetting, are already forgetting that Hamas unleashed this terror,” Biden said of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. “It was Hamas that brutalized Israelis. It was Hamas that took and continues to hold hostages. I have not forgotten.”
  • Campuses: “On college campuses, Jewish students [have been] blocked, harassed, attacked, while walking to class,” Biden said, per Politico. “Antisemitism, antisemitic posters, slogans calling for the annihilation of Israel, the world’s only Jewish state. Too many people denying, downplaying, rationalizing, ignoring the horrors of the Holocaust and Oct. 7. … It is absolutely despicable, and it must stop.”
  • Campuses, II: “I understand people have strong beliefs and deep convictions about the world and America,” the president said, per the New York Times. But “there is no place on any campus in America, any place in America, for antisemitism or hate speech or threats of violence of any kind.”
  • Israel: “To the Jewish community, I want you to know: I see your fear, your hurt and your pain. Let me reassure you as your president, you’re not alone. You belong. You always have, and you always will. My commitment to the safety of the Jewish people, the security of Israel, and its right to exist as an independent Jewish state is ironclad, even when we disagree.”

Point one….yes there are some silly people that hate the Jews….I am nbot saying there is NO antisemitism just he is trying to link any action to the current situation on college campuses.

Point two….Yews HAMAS attacked Israel….but is that any different from the wandering bands of armed Israeli settlers that intimidate, destroy crops and homes and kill average West Bank Palestinians? (Of course not to worry the MSM will seldom report on these actions)

Point three….I am sure somewhere there has been some neo-Nazis that have harassed Jewish students….but if that is a wide occurrence where has the media been?   Where is Biden when students of color are harassed?

Point four….Not much to say other than electioneering plain simple.

Point five….Keep the money flowing and we will keep the support alive.

Biden’s uttering was pure bullshit…..he will say whatever AIPAC the money tells him to say…..keep in mind that Biden since 1999 has taken $4.2 million dollars from AIPAC….I would say it is money well spent.

This is nothing more that a made up ‘scare’….

I’ve been watching and thinking about the nationwide campus antiwar demonstrations in support of the suffering Palestinians of Gaza, and the appalling reaction to and “coverage” of those events. Something important needs to be addressed.

I won’t be concerned here with the violence committed by anyone, including the police, or by lesser misconduct, such as occupying and damaging buildings and other violations of university rules. It’s also irrelevant whether the demonstrations stand any chance of ending Israel’s onslaught or ending U.S. and university complicity in it, or whether most of the pro-peace demonstrators share a libertarian orientation. (Not likely.) All that is for another time.

I want to examine the overwhelming depiction of the demonstrations as nothing more than rank antisemitism – the blind hatred of all Jewish people because and only because they are – by birth, blood, belief, or practice – Jewish.

https://original.antiwar.com/srichman/2024/05/06/another-bogus-antisemitism-scare/

The media has help set up this bogus depiction.

Despite all the coverage of the protests over Israel’s war in Gaza, it can be remarkably difficult to understand what the players are actually saying. On social media, partisans on both sides cherry-pick extreme comments or incidents as a way to suggest that their opponents are comprehensively rotten. Others invoke broadly held values—free speech, peaceful protest, human rights—without explaining how they apply in specific circumstances. And many of the media stories have only worsened the confusion, by employing imprecise and euphemistic language that obscures more than it illuminates.

As a result, the American public remains badly informed about both the war itself and the movement against it, a dynamic that has steadily grown worse as campus protests—and the rate of (sometimes violent) arrests—has intensified. This lack of clarity may be especially damaging to people who both oppose Israel’s actions in Gaza and want to see long-term peace—a group long marginalized by Israel hawks and expansionists—but who may also find themselves surprised and troubled by the stated objectives of many of the groups leading the protests. And there is a growing risk, as the backlash to the protests grows both more violent and more litigious, that the extreme claims, demands for ideological purity, and rejection of nonviolence advanced by some of the protest leaders will undermine a movement that many liberals agree is morally urgent.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/05/israel-gaza-war-protest-movement/678303/

Is there antisemitism?

Of course there is and there is plenty of anti-black or Asian or pick a race and there will be some misinformed dullard that will hate them…..but the media and especially the president does not need to feed crap to the American people.

Enough said.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Tonight Is The Night

The big news for today, Tuesday, is that Biden will strut into the joint session of Congress and give his speech, State of the Union….I will watch and write my review tomorrow but for those that have better things to do then here is what is expected tonight…..

President Biden delivers his second State of the Union address Tuesday night, but don’t expect a raft of specific new policy proposals given the near impossibility of making them reality in a divided Congress, reports the AP. Instead, expect a speech offering Americans general reassurances that the nation is on the right track, particularly with the economy in regard to inflation and unemployment. Presidential historian Luke Nichter of Chapman University sees Biden’s No. 1 goal as being a “calming presence” for the country. Another crucial task will be making the case that he should run for re-election, even as many Democratic voters are skeptical about that.

“I think this is an impossible speech to give because it’s a speech that requires him to speak both about the state of the union as it is and the direction he hopes to lead it, which is about playing the role of statesman,” political scientist William Howell of the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy tells the Hill. “But it also is going to lay the groundwork for most likely his own run for office in 2024, which will call for him to be decidedly political and to cover all kinds of ground.” The war in Ukraine and China’s spy balloon are likely to surface as topics on the world front.

“(W)e’re told not to expect a red-meat, campaign-style speech,” per the Politico Playbook. “Instead, expect a traditional presidential call for unity—and a subtler pitch for steady leadership over partisan chaos as Washington heads into a high-stakes standoff over the debt limit and long-term fiscal planning.” The speech starts at 9pm Eastern, and notable guests include the mother of Tyre Nichols, the man who stopped a gunman at a California dance hall, and Bono.

This speech will probably be a yawn because there is very little Biden can say or promise that will be at all doable.

Stay tuned for the speech review tomorrow here on IST.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

MLK: From Vietnam To Ukraine

Yesterday was MLK, Jr Day, a Federal holiday, and I did not post this on his special day because I wanted people to remember him for his stellar work with civil rights and my post is about his antiwar stance.

As an antiwar activist his speeches on the cruelty of war were something I held dear.

In April 1967, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered an eloquent and stirring denunciation of the Vietnam war and US militarism. The speech titled “Beyond Vietnam” is relevant to today’s war in Ukraine.

In the speech at Riverside Church, King talked about how the US had supported France in trying to re-colonize Vietnam. He noted, “Before the end of the war we were meeting 80% of the French war costs.”

When France began to despair in the war, “We encouraged them with our huge financial and military supplies to continue the war.”

King went on to recall that after the French finally left Vietnam, the United States prevented implementation of the Geneva Accord which would have allowed Ho Chi Minh to unite the divided country. Instead, the US supported its preferred South Vietnamese dictator.

The U.S. has played a similar role in blocking compromise solutions and international agreements to the Ukraine conflict. Following Ukraine protests in February 2014, the European Union negotiated an agreement between President Yanukovich and the opposition to have early new elections. The attitude of lead US official Victoria Nuland was crystallized in her secretly recorded comment, “F*** the EU!.” Despite the agreement, a violent bloody coup led by ultra-nationalist Ukrainians was “midwifed”.

The ultra-nationalist coup government immediately started implementing policies hostile to the Russian speaking citizens of Ukraine. The coup and the new policies provoked the conflicts and resistance which have led to the situation today. The coup and policies were abhorred by a majority of Ukrainians, especially in eastern Ukraine. The Russian speaking Ukrainian citizens of Crimea voted overwhelmingly to secede from Ukraine and re-unify with Russia.

The Minsk Accords of 2014 and 2015 were intended to resolve the conflict by granting some autonomy to the the Russian speaking sections in the eastern Donbass but keeping them within Ukraine. Thanks to the admissions of two prominent former European leaders, Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande, we know that the West and their Ukrainian government puppet never intended to implement the Minsk Agreement.

Like the 1954 Geneva Accords regarding Vietnam, the 2014 and 2015 Minsk Agreements on Ukraine were never implemented because Washington did not want a compromise.

MLK: Beyond Vietnam to Ukraine

His words were not heeded in the 60s and they

are still falling on deaf ears.

History does have a way of repeating itself.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”