A very talented statesman
Pompeo has a great deal of respect for the man who has ordered the invasion. Those are his words, not mine: “I have enormous respect for him.” Even though Pompeo says he saw the attack coming, he’s spent the lead-up lavishing praise on Vladimir Putin. In an interview last week, he called the Russian president “very savvy” and “very shrewd,” adding, “I consider him an elegantly sophisticated counterpart and one who is not reckless but has always done the math.” In January, he said, “He is a very talented statesman. He has lots of gifts … He knows how to use power. We should respect that.”
That’s held up well. Not reckless. Elegantly sophisticated. Very talented statesman. Lots of gifts.
Trump’s Ukraine policy was all over the place: He sent weapons to Ukraine, something that the Obama administration had refused to do. He also accepted Putin’s seizure of Crimea, and he infamously tried to withhold aid from the Ukrainian government in exchange for help in the presidential election, leading to his first impeachment.
And by “help in the presidential election” David A.Graham means “dirt on Biden.”
Yet at an event at Mar-A-Lago last night, Trump, like Pompeo, praised Putin’s strategic genius: “I mean, he’s taking over a country for $2 worth of sanctions. I’d say that’s pretty smart.”
And that’s definitely the right yardstick. Rights, sovereignty, borders, peace, truth, fairness, international law – none of that matters, it’s all about being smart and smashing the neighbors.
Tucker Carlson, another orthodox Trumpist and the dominant conservative pundit of the moment, is unreservedly pro-Putin. “Why do Democrats want you to hate Putin?” he asked Tuesday. “Has Putin shipped every middle class job in your town to Russia? Did he manufacture a worldwide pandemic that wrecked your business? Is he teaching your kids to embrace racial discrimination? Is he making fentanyl? Does he eat dogs?”
No, no, no, no, and you know what else? He’s not even a communist! Not even slightly! He’s just a thug! Isn’t that glorious? Don’t you just love him?
Some nostalgia: Some historical artifacts that include ole’ Vlad if anyone is of a mind
Trigger warning: This is an extremely painful pun.
https://farcornercafe.blogspot.com/2016/11/a-song-title-in-honor-of-those-who.html
This one made use of that topless horseman one
https://farcornercafe.blogspot.com/2017/01/dasvida-a-a-nia.html
Spoken like a true real estate maven.
And the money. Getting something for cheap, or exploiting for big bucks.
I have to admit, Tucker Carlson is such a buffoon that he makes me laugh. Every time I see a still photo of him with his OMG NO WAY look of surprise, I imagine that someone just explained to him that margarine and butter aren’t the same thing.
I do hope that Putin comes to as bad an end as other fascist leaders like Mussolini and Hitler so that those who praised him are eternally quoted and eternally damned.
Of course they like him! He’s an authoritarian, just like them, and lefties oppose him.