U.S. Leadership Fails Ukraine, Emboldens Russia

Russia's military is slaughtering Ukrainians by the hundreds. Bodies are piling up in makeshift graves. Russian missiles kill children, infants. Hospitals and maternity wards are targeted by the barbaric invaders. The brutal atrocities are on a level not witnessed in Europe since World War II. 

Americans are seeing televised images of the bloody massacre of innocent civilians. The grim footage is changing the public's view of the war. A new Monmouth University survey indicates more Americans believe the Biden Administration is not doing enough to help Ukraine.

The shift in public opinion has prompted President Biden to belatedly dispatch more arms and heavy artillery.  Last week Mr. Biden announced another $800 million in weapons and ammunition. However, by the time the weaponry arrives on the battlefield, Ukraine may have been destroyed and defeated.

Despite the aid, the president and former U.S. leaders deserve partial blame for the continuing horrific killing in Ukraine. For decades, American presidents sought diplomatic accommodation to appease Valdymir Putin. The Russian bully is not swayed by detente nor does he abide by agreements.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton famously presented the Russian ambassador with a plastic, red reset button to signal a new era of cooperation in 2009. The gesture generated Russian mockery instead of cooperation. There have been far worse policy mistakes for certain.   

President Barrack Obama and then VP Joe Biden were reluctant to confront Putin's public declaration that the dictator planned to reclaim lost territory once part of the Soviet Union.  When Russia invaded the Crimea region in 2014, the Ukraine government begged for arms, mortar and antitank missiles. 

In response, Secretary of State John Kerry announced an aid package of $16.4 million to be used to "buy basic items like blankets and clothing, along with counseling for traumatized civilians to help those who fled the fighting."  Mr. Obama stubbornly refused to provide weapons or lethal military gear.

Fact-checkers have tried to rewrite history by claiming Mr. Obama not only sent blankets, but weapons.  However, around $15 million in weaponry was not approved until Russia had already annexed Ukraine. Facts, not faux fact-checkers, confirm the arms arrived too late to stop the Russians. 

The weakness of U.S. allies was on full display during the Crimean crisis. European leaders, afraid of Russian retribution, watched from the sidelines, content to allow Putin to steal part of a sovereign country. Russian aggression was met with surrender by the United States and its allies.

In the run-up to the Ukraine invasion, Russia positioned tens of thousands of troops around Ukraine's eastern border. Last April the White House mulled over a $60 million weapons package for Ukraine, which included the much sought-after Javelin surface-to-air missiles. Mr. Biden punted the decision.

On October 27 of last year, National Intelligence director Avril Haines warned the White House that the Russian military was poised to attack by the end of January of this year.  Again Mr. Biden considered a new $200 million weapons commitment but concluded it would not deter Putin.

This dithering by the president persuaded Putin the U.S. would not support Ukraine.  Once an invasion appeared imminent, Mr. Biden made a series of statements that sent mixed signals.  He immediately proclaimed there would be "no boots on the ground" in Ukraine.  

Instead of confronting Putin, his words communicated reluctance to challenge  Russia. The president should have said "every option" is on the table if the Russians invade. He could have orchestrated a NATO military exercise on the European continent.  Putin may have had second thoughts.  

Mr. Biden made it clear he feared any direct confrontation with Russia.  After the war began, Mr. Biden ended a prepared speech with the off-the-cuff comment that Putin "cannot remain in power."  It showed a whiff of strength. The White House press secretary went into damage control.

The president's comment was walked back by Jen Psaki as she has done with so many of Mr. Biden's unscripted missteps.  In January before the invasion, the president assured that a "minor incursion" into Ukraine would not require the sort of response demanded by a major strike. 

After the baffling remark, Psaki quickly issued a statement than any Russian military invasion would be met with a swift response. Ukrainian officials rebuffed Mr. Biden's remark with this sharply worded response: "There is no minor, middle or major invasion.  An invasion is an invasion."

Putin may be a madman, but he only respects power.  When the president of the world's superpower has to be corrected by his press secretary, don't you think Putin took the measure of Mr. Biden?  Putin expected sanctions would follow, but he also recognized Mr. Biden was a feckless leader.

Biden defenders believe no amount of strong language would have mattered. Sadly,  the nation will never know. What should be clear is that Russia does not intend to stop its aggression with Ukraine.  It has its sights set on other so-called "breakaway" former Soviet vassals.  

There are lessons that Europe and America should have learned from World War II.  When a tyrant is left unchecked in the takeover of a single country, it just wets the appetite for further conquests.  If Russia is not stopped in Ukraine, the U.S. and its European allies may yet face a wider war.  

Hunter Biden Scandal May Ensnare The President

The curtain of media censorship cloaking L'Affaire Hunter Biden is finally being lifted.  For almost two years the legacy media ignored reports about the contents of Hunter's laptop after the New York Post broke the story in 2020.  Social media platforms banned any mention of the emails and videos.  

The Post's bombshell report detonated during the final weeks of the presidential election. Much like the Hillary Clinton email kerfuffle, the revelations threatened to derail the Biden presidential run. Democrats needed a way to discredit the politically embarrassing laptop discovery. 

Team Biden recruited 51 former U.S. Intelligence officials to label the New York Post story a classic example of Russian disinformation. The media dutifully repeated the lie. The truth is not one of those intelligence chiefs, including former CIA Director John Brennan, ever examined the laptop.

Despite the coverup, more media outlets authenticated the laptop belonged to Hunter.  Politico, Fox News and a handful of others exposed the contents, which painted a tawdry picture of Hunter and contained clues the president knew more than he has admitted publicly about his son's deals.

In March,  The New York Times and The Washington Post belatedly ran stories about the trove of documents on Hunter's foreign deals.  The Twin Temples of Babble downplayed the significance of the details and reported they found no evidence Joe Biden knew about his son's deals. 

Apparently, they didn't look. The propaganda organs for the Democrats patted themselves on the backs and buried the matter. The fact both outlets corroborated the laptop's authenticity may seem shocking, but the liberal indoctrination voices are signaling there will be no more laptop coverage. 

This is a strategy orchestrated by the White House to inoculate the president once Republicans take control of the House in the mid-terms. Likely-Speaker Mike McCarthy has promised to launch an investigation into Hunter's dealings.   

The president and his press secretary will claim it is old news.  The GOP is conducting a witch hunt. Nothing to see.  However, storm clouds are hovering over the Biden family. A federal grand jury is investigating Hunter over allegations of money laundering, fraud and foreign lobbying.

Delaware U.S. Attorney David C. Weiss leads the probe. His boss is the president's Attorney General Merrick Garland, who has demonstrated he marches to White House orders. As a result, expect Hunter to receive a slap on the wrist and a fine before the mid-terms.  Case closed.

In anticipation of such an outcome, about 100 House Republicans dispatched a letter to Garland urging him to appoint a special counsel to remove the appearance of undue influence. Democrats used this same justification for the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller to probe President Trump.

There is good reason for the GOP to suspect administration officials will stomp their feet on the scales of justice.  Hunter was under investigation by the Department of Justice for tax evasion for more than a year.  Last year he quietly paid $1 million in back taxes.   

The DOJ kept the probe under wraps.  There were no public details about how much Hunter owed.  Was this a partial settlement?  Did it include fines?  This is how justice works under the current Democrat administration. The Bidens are protected.  But those pesky laptop emails won't go away.  

Details of the emails are leaking every day suggesting the president not only was aware of his son's deals but may have used his influence to gain access for Hunter to the inner circles of business chieftains through his relationships with leaders in China and Ukraine.

Hunter's laptop contains a collection of incriminating documents and emails detailing schemes with foreign entities that doled out millions of dollars to gain access to then VP Joe Biden. Authenticated emails confirm Hunter's father attended dinners with foreign investors and business partners.

In addition, there are photographs of the president with Hunter's investors and partners.  The two jetted to China aboard Air Force Two where the president met with his son's business associates involved in deals to enrich Hunter. That's why the president's claims of "no knowledge "are ludicrous.

One email shows then VP Biden penned a letter of recommendation to Brown University on behalf of Hunter's Chinese business partner's son, Chris Li.  Hunter's firm Rosemont Seneca was at the time involved with Chinese investment firms Bohai Capital and BHR.

The Washington Post documented that the Communist Party-controlled CEFC energy giant paid $4.8 million to entities connected to Hunter over an 18 month period prior to Joe Biden's announcement that he was running for president.   Coincidence or influence peddling?

Another email on Hunter's laptop dispels the notion that Joe Biden was a bystander and not a participant in his son's business affairs.  In the 2017 email sent to a Washington office manager, Hunter asks to "have keys made for new office mates: Joe Biden, Jill Biden and Jim Biden."

Emails reveal that Hunter planned to also share the space with an "emissary" for the chairman of the Chinese energy company, CEFC. The so-called emissary represents Ye Jianming, the chairman of CEFC. Yet President Biden expects voters to believe he never spoke with Hunter about business deals.

Despite the mounting evidence, President Biden clings to his tattered, old answer on all subjects Hunter: 'I love my son and I knew nothing about this dealings and never spoke to him about the matter.'

Democrats often complain there are two systems of justice.  They actually are right.  There is one system for Democrats and one for Republicans. Powerful Democrats always manage to escape justice. Will this be another example?  Don't bet against it.