You nailed it. There are no "protagonists" in this shit show. All three (Trump, Vance, and Zelenskyy) need a reset. Zelenskyy continues to be badly advised (or he refuses to follow good advice and has poor instincts), Vance should not have inserted himself, and Trump should have risen above some of Zelenskyy's comments, which may be partially attributable to language issues (see Bret Baier interview for more examples). Hopefully, Secretary Marco Rubio and Ukraine's estimable ambassador to the US can fix this mess. It won't be easy.
I could be a deal maker. I could give Putin whatever he wants. Done deal. What do we need Donald for?
Doing a deal that ends the war in Ukraine is tough, I wouldn't know how to go about it.
But that's what Donald is good at, 4 dimensional chess, right?
Maybe so. But so far to me he has lied about Ukraine and it's president, after they have been in 3 years of war. Your telling me it is too much to understand what the Ukrainians have been going through? I guess it is too much. People nit picking at not being respected?
It DOES sound to me like a set up, they wanted Zelensky to explode and give them an excuse not to help Ukraine.
I want what's good for us and Ukraine no matter if it helps Trump. And I blame Biden for giving too little too late when it might have made a difference. And I blame the Democrats for making Ukraine a partisan issue. Politics should stop at the waters edge.
I could be wrong and Trump will find a way to make a deal that enables an independent Ukraine. I hope so.
Everything you say is true. The line I tried to walk in this piece is one in which we live in the real world where Donald Trump is himself. My fear is that yesterday's disaster empowers the very people who do not have America's best interests or values at heart. I also tried to channel the lessons I learned in government: Play the hand you have, not the hand you wish you had. Understand who has the most power, and do not lie to yourself that by words alone you can change that dynamic. This isn't a pretty picture, and I also want what's good for America and for Ukraine. I believe our interests intersect, and overlap. I'm not sure this is salvageable, but I hope so. Because Europe sure as hell isn't going to fill the breach.
I was raised to believe that both our national parties were bad, that there was no difference between them. I now think the opposite can be true and there is good in both. They need to work together. Easier said.
Good column, although a little long on the personality side of this. Only question I have is how long will it take Zelensky to understand that Europe is not going to present a plausible deterrent to Putin, whereas Trump does, even if we have to let Putin keep most of what he stole post-2022. Minerals deal is key.
I guess I think a lot of this is personality, especially for Zelensky. A shrewder leader would have pulled a Netanyahu and sucked it up, as Bibi did with Biden. But, point taken. :) Right now, Zelensky is in his fantasy-land moment, the warm glow of support from Europe. But at a certain moment, that support will need to be tangible, the UK will have to scrape up the money to buy arms -- from whom?, the Germans will have to raise their debt limit (how?), and the EU will have to do what it hasn't done in more than a century, fight to victory without America. Good luck. I hope for Ukraine's sake there is more to Europe than it appears.
You nailed it. There are no "protagonists" in this shit show. All three (Trump, Vance, and Zelenskyy) need a reset. Zelenskyy continues to be badly advised (or he refuses to follow good advice and has poor instincts), Vance should not have inserted himself, and Trump should have risen above some of Zelenskyy's comments, which may be partially attributable to language issues (see Bret Baier interview for more examples). Hopefully, Secretary Marco Rubio and Ukraine's estimable ambassador to the US can fix this mess. It won't be easy.
Trump is a deal maker. So he says.
I could be a deal maker. I could give Putin whatever he wants. Done deal. What do we need Donald for?
Doing a deal that ends the war in Ukraine is tough, I wouldn't know how to go about it.
But that's what Donald is good at, 4 dimensional chess, right?
Maybe so. But so far to me he has lied about Ukraine and it's president, after they have been in 3 years of war. Your telling me it is too much to understand what the Ukrainians have been going through? I guess it is too much. People nit picking at not being respected?
It DOES sound to me like a set up, they wanted Zelensky to explode and give them an excuse not to help Ukraine.
I want what's good for us and Ukraine no matter if it helps Trump. And I blame Biden for giving too little too late when it might have made a difference. And I blame the Democrats for making Ukraine a partisan issue. Politics should stop at the waters edge.
I could be wrong and Trump will find a way to make a deal that enables an independent Ukraine. I hope so.
Everything you say is true. The line I tried to walk in this piece is one in which we live in the real world where Donald Trump is himself. My fear is that yesterday's disaster empowers the very people who do not have America's best interests or values at heart. I also tried to channel the lessons I learned in government: Play the hand you have, not the hand you wish you had. Understand who has the most power, and do not lie to yourself that by words alone you can change that dynamic. This isn't a pretty picture, and I also want what's good for America and for Ukraine. I believe our interests intersect, and overlap. I'm not sure this is salvageable, but I hope so. Because Europe sure as hell isn't going to fill the breach.
I was raised to believe that both our national parties were bad, that there was no difference between them. I now think the opposite can be true and there is good in both. They need to work together. Easier said.
Good column, although a little long on the personality side of this. Only question I have is how long will it take Zelensky to understand that Europe is not going to present a plausible deterrent to Putin, whereas Trump does, even if we have to let Putin keep most of what he stole post-2022. Minerals deal is key.
I guess I think a lot of this is personality, especially for Zelensky. A shrewder leader would have pulled a Netanyahu and sucked it up, as Bibi did with Biden. But, point taken. :) Right now, Zelensky is in his fantasy-land moment, the warm glow of support from Europe. But at a certain moment, that support will need to be tangible, the UK will have to scrape up the money to buy arms -- from whom?, the Germans will have to raise their debt limit (how?), and the EU will have to do what it hasn't done in more than a century, fight to victory without America. Good luck. I hope for Ukraine's sake there is more to Europe than it appears.