Observations

“Toward no crimes have men shown themselves so cold-bloodedly cruel as in punishing differences of opinion.” —James Russell Lowell (1819-1891)

“The whole country is seeing [Biden’s] mental cognitive issues on display for over a year now, and there’s really no question in most people’s minds that there’s something going on with him, that he’s not cognitively the same as he used to be and, in my mind, not fit to be our president right now. Every time he gets up and talks to the American people, it’s not just the American people that are watching him speak, it’s the whole world, and that’s part of what the problem is here. He looks tired, he looks weak, he looks confused, he’s incoherent, and it sends a message of weakness all over the world, and they’re seizing up on that.” —Congressman and former White House physician Ronny Jackson

“Putin is calling the West’s bluff. We’ve spent the decades since the end of the Cold War blowing out our national debt, destroying our energy independence, questioning why we ought to exist in the first place, and massaging China and Russia in order to minimize any conflict. What Russia and China are demonstrating is that challenging a global hegemony does not require you to be particularly strong. It just requires the hegemony to be weak, bloated, and self-obsessed.” —Ben Shapiro

“Even if they put up a good fight, Ukraine cannot win this war. They can’t. The gulf separating the capabilities between the two nations is wider than the Pacific. Ukraine has no way to counter Russian aircraft or missiles. They’re outmatched in men and heavy equipment. It’s only a matter of time before Russian tanks are rolling into the capital of Kyiv. … What do we do? What does Joe Biden do — and can he even do it? Biden has been wrong on every major foreign policy endeavor for the past 40 years. Afghanistan showed he’s still a terrible decision maker.” —Matt Vespa

“We import 595,000 barrels of oil per day from Russia. The Keystone XL pipeline would have produced 830,000 barrels per day. Relying on Russian oil is a choice. And it’s a stupid one.” —Congressman Dan Crenshaw

“Why does America even still fund the UN? Our tax dollars pay almost 30% of the budget for an organization that Russia and China have absolute veto power over.” —Greg Price

For the Record

“Secretary of State Antony Blinken prioritized giving us his music playlist via the U.S. State Department’s official Twitter page over the Christmas holidays just a few weeks ago — not once, but eight times — while the omicron variant was raging and Russia was amassing an estimated 190,000 troops along the Ukrainian border. Let that sink in. While Russia was bolstering its military forces preparing to invade Ukraine, America’s top diplomat was working on his Spotify playlist. Obviously, Blinken should’ve been implementing tough sanctions on Russia as a deterrent — before it invaded Ukraine — and taken other critical steps to rally NATO defense forces to avert war and/or prepare for the worst. But instead, we got Taylor Swift’s latest jam.” —Adriana Cohen

Non Compos Mentis Awards

“Ukraine, one way or the other, we’re going to resolve it ultimately over X number of years. But [the] climate crisis remains existential. … So it could be very tough for the climate agenda. There’s no question about it.” —climate czar John Kerry

“I’m concerned about Ukraine because of the people of Ukraine and because of the principles that are at risk. … [There will be] massive emissions consequences to the war. But equally importantly, you’re going to lose people’s focus. You’re going to lose certainly big country attention because they will be diverted. And I think it could have a damaging impact. … I hope President Putin will help us to stay on track with respect to what we need to do for the climate.” —John Kerry

Race Bait

“Right-wing doesn’t love Putin just because he is an authoritarian, tyrannical leader, they love him because he’s a WHITE authoritarian leader. Race has become more important than even nationality. They’ve turned on democracy and now even America, in favor of a white warlord.” —"The Young Turks" host Cenk Uygur

“Imagine when/if Republicans get power in 2024 — the massive global realignment. The US President actively helping Russia, Hungary, Poland, and other countries with far-right governments to promote violence, authoritarianism, and white Christian nationalism. Disaster.” —Daily Beast columnist Wajahat Ali

“I have come to expect very little from the Republican Party, to be blunt. I understand that they prefer autocracy. They want a white nationalist autocracy in the United States. They believe that white Christians are beleaguered and need to rule the United States without elections.” —MSNBC’s Joy Reid

Braying Jennies

“A lot of people in the GOP right now are buying this lie that [Donald Trump] would have solved the problem. He would’ve said, ‘Here. Here is Ukraine. Take it. And I’m gonna build a casino there any minute now.’” —"The View’s" Joy Behar

“I’m scared of what’s going to happen in Western Europe, too. You know, you just, you plan a trip. You want to go there, want to go to Italy for four years. I haven’t been able to make it because of the pandemic, and now this.” —Joy “Tone-Deaf” Behar

“I’m not surprised that [Republicans] really love the idea of this because it kind of sounds like, you know, they’re admiring a guy who rigs elections and is a son of macho leader and … it’s an all bright nation and … it’s a very, very Christian nation. And they are not good to LGBTQ people or people of any color. And it sounds kind of like … this is what they would like to bond with.” —"The View’s" Whoopi Goldberg

The Demos’ ChiCom Virus Pandemic Pivot

“New study shows that covid school closures affected cognitive and motor development in preschoolers. Learning loss is most pronounced in kids most at risk. We must focus on keeping kids in school and on closing educational disparities.” —CNN medical analyst Leana Wen, February 23, 2022

“In recent weeks, prominent economists, public health experts and commentators have argued that schools shouldn’t be closing because they aren’t major contributors to the surge in covid-19 cases. I disagree. With much of the United States engulfed in exponential virus spread and many hospitals already overwhelmed, most schools should close and stay closed through the winter.” —Leana Wen in The Washington Post, November 24, 2020

And Last…

“If you really want to compete with Russia and China to prevent the 21st Century from being dominated by a new axis of evil, you must first defeat the Church of Global Warming. As long as that’s the official state religion of the Western world, we haven’t got a prayer.” —John Hayward