Cometh the hour
By James Moore
Joe Biden, an American president, went to a war zone to show support for an ally and to reinforce the western alliance against Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Consider a couple of recent presidents on the matter of war. George W. Bush landed a commission to fly jet planes with the Texas National Guard because he didn’t want to go to Vietnam and end up like 56,000 of his generation, which is, to say, dead. Bush got into the guard because his daddy was a congressman and a rich oil man and a Republican operative. Somebody else’s kid died in W’s place; it’s that simple. The closest Georgie came to a Vietnamese was at a restaurant in Houston.
Let’s not overlook Trump, either, whose evasion of service was even less subtle than W’s. His rich daddy got a doctor to give Donny a prognosis of bone spurs, which meant he couldn’t be a ground pounder toting a gun because his footsies would hurt. He chased women, got access to his rich daddy’s money and contacts, and built a comfortable, faux life in New York City. The fact that he became president still redounds to the absurdity of the American political process. There has never been a more self-involved human, nor a less qualified person to lead this nation.
Then there’s Joe Biden. He reminds me of that line about how men don’t make history and history makes men. Too many people wrote him off because he was old and collegial. The general feeling was that he didn’t understand the politics of this day and he came from a senate of genteel relationships and handshakes. How could he lead a nation torn asunder by lies and a degree of partisanship that made any accomplishment seem impossible? But old Joe strikes me as a man for the moment. He has built a coalition of European nations to support Ukraine and has reassured the world the US will not, as Donald Trump wanted, leave NATO. We will honor our word and commitments. That’s what world leaders are seeing from Biden. And the fact that with the narrowest of political margins in congress, he has passed some of the most significant legislation of the modern era. The Republicans who bitched about the Infrastructure Act are now running home to their districts and trying to take credit for the projects they voted against.
Joe has pulled off wins that no one might have ever suspected. He held the country together during Covid and made certain there was money to support businesses that could no longer open their doors, and guaranteed access to vaccines for anyone who had enough sense to protect themselves from the virus by using modern medicine. Unemployment is at near-record lows and more people have jobs than at any point in American history. The guy has passed historic benefits expansion for vets exposed to toxic burn pits, protected marriage rights for LGBTQI and inter-racial couples, appointed the first African-American female to the Supreme Court, and there are now more people in this country on health care than ever before.
Maybe he’s not the ideal guy to run for re-election at age 80. But I suspect those other Democrats even remotely contemplating running against him in any kind of a primary are probably rethinking their futures. Joe Biden is a badass, and his trip to Ukraine in the midst of a war was just the latest example.
This article was originally published in Texas to the World and has been republished with permission.
James C. Moore is the New York Times bestselling author of “Bush’s Brain: How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush Presidential,” three other books on Bush and former Texas Governor Rick Perry, as well as two novels, and a biography entitled, “Give Back the Light,” on a famed eye surgeon and inventor. His newest book will be released mid- 2023. Mr. Moore has been honored with an Emmy from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for his documentary work and is a former TV news correspondent who has traveled extensively on every presidential campaign since 1976.
He has been a retained on-air political analyst for MSNBC and has appeared on Morning Edition on National Public Radio, NBC Nightly News, Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, CBS Evening News, CNN, Real Time with Bill Maher, and Hardball with Chris Matthews, among numerous other programs. Mr. Moore’s written political and media analyses have been published at CNN, Boston Globe, L.A. Times, Guardian of London, Sunday Independent of London, Salon, Financial Times of London, Huffington Post, and numerous other outlets. He also appeared as an expert on presidential politics in the highest-grossing documentary film of all time, Fahrenheit 911, (not related to the film’s producer Michael Moore).
His other honors include the Dartmouth College National Media Award for Economic Understanding, the Edward R. Murrow Award from the Radio Television News Directors’ Association, the Individual Broadcast Achievement Award from the Texas Headliners Foundation, and a Gold Medal for Script Writing from the Houston International Film Festival. He was frequently named best reporter in Texas by the AP, UPI, and the Houston Press Club. The film produced from his book “Bush’s Brain” premiered at The Cannes Film Festival prior to a successful 30-city theater run in the U.S.
Mr. Moore has reported on the major stories and historical events of our time, which have ranged from Iran-Contra to the Waco standoff, the Oklahoma City bombing, the border immigration crisis, and other headlining events. His journalism has put him in Cuba, Central America, Mexico, Australia, Canada, the UK, and most of Europe, interviewing figures as diverse as Fidel Castro and Willie Nelson. He has been writing about Texas politics, culture, and history since 1975, and continues with political opinion pieces for CNN and regularly at his Substack newsletter: “Texas to the World.”
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Steve Davis
Return to home pageBiden is just the type of American president with balls to put that putrid pathological maniac Puteen in his place. Niceties be damned, its time to bell the cat. Puteen, with the covert and overt support of that other dictator and autocrat Emperor Ping, plans to carve up the world to suit their murderous view of how the the people should be ruled in their own countries and the rest of their neighbourhoods, no matter how long and at what cost in death and destruction. Aiding and abetting them are those other tyrants, the mullahs of Teheran and the nut job in Pyongyang.
The Europeons have made the right choice, freedom rather than slavery under that mad bastard Puteen.
Imagine what Trump would have done, dropped his trousers bent over and let his master Puteen do him over like he did the last time they met in Helsinki, emerging red faced and walking like he had been done over with Russian precision.
Ah, yes. Donald “Captain Bone Spurs” Trump.
Few normal people in Europe need reminding of the threat that Putin has created and still does, versus too many of both faux left and right anti-imperialists in the Anglosphere whose base thinking means ‘enemy of my enemy is my friend’.
Embarrassingly, the latter’s talking points match those of Fox News, (K)GB News, Kremlin, (often Koch Network) think tank astroturfing with ageing academics e.g. Mearsheimer, their Freedom Caucus, GOP’s MTG and other authoritarian ultra conservatives.
old doddery joe has done well but, like with Albo and labor, murdoch doesn’t agree so wont write it.
ous est VPotus???
Did Joe Biden commit an act of war against fellow NATO member Germany or not? Cometh the truth about Nord Stream.
B Sullivan, that’s a good question, and it reminds us of the elephant in the room – the constant brinkmanship that edges us ever closer to nuclear war.
The supposed protection provided by the Mutually Assured Destruction concept always relied on both parties being rational actors. The West ceased to be rational when they destroyed Nordstream. That, to my mind, will be the true legacy of the Biden presidency.
Ponder these truths.
Slaughter of civilians in Bucha, rape of young girls and women, bombing of maternity hospitals, wholesale destruction of electricity infrastructure, kidnapping and transportation of minors to Russia, illegal adoption of those kidnapped children. Suppression of all dissident voices in Russia, mass arrests of protestors against putrid Puteen’s war, closing down of all opposition media.
Cometh judgement day: murderers and rapists.
And, no more energy blackmail using Nordstream.
Like I said Henry, the supposed protection provided by the Mutually Assured Destruction concept always relied on both parties being rational actors.
Your approval of the Nordstream bombing is telling.
Nordstream was being used by Puteen as a Trojan horse. About time someone, anyone ( no proof yet of who), blasted it out of existence.
No apologies, no regrets, just a lot of lipsmacking satisfaction.
And justice for the criminals is coming too.
S Davis.
So what is the rationale for invading and destroying an independent sovereign country ? Please enlighten. !!!
“Nordstream was being used by Puteen as a Trojan horse.”
Nordstream was being used by Russia to make bags of money for Russia AND Germany. And now Russia is making bags of money selling gas elsewhere, so who’s the loser?
I am constantly amazed at the inability of many people to prioritize concerns, to consider all possibilities and viewpoints, to look at the big picture.
Henry is fixated on alleged war crimes while those actors that he supports in this drama are edging us ever closer to a nuclear showdown. And he is determined to stay the course on this, no matter where it takes us, because he offers “No apologies, no regrets, just a lot of lipsmacking satisfaction.” Wow.
They hanged war criminals after WW2. Was that was too harsh ????
Perhaps some very “understanding’ Puteen apologists here would have advocated pardons ? After all what’s a few million victims of tyranny when there’s so much money to be made exporting oil and gas, albeit in blood stained containers. and those ever opportunistic buyers of cheap gas and oil must be relishing the fact since they wont be facing any day in the dock.
The other truth to remember is that freedom is not negotiable. Ever.
Here we are in Australia, expressing our thoughts and ideas, with no fear of retribution. Why not in Russia ?
Just ask the migrants and refugees, who climb mountains, swim oceans or sail in rubber dinghies, to get to Europe or America or Australia, why they don’t try to go to Russia, or China or Iran or N.Korea. The answers might embarrass you. On the other, embarrassment might be beyond your capability.
Henry, if you want to discuss things with me, stop the rant and the childish nicknames. I’m quite happy to respond to reasonable points.
Speaking of which, there was one reasonable question in your “comment”, – why don’t migrants try to go to Russia?
The fact is, they do.
And there’s actually an Aussie farming family that recently moved there, bought farming land, love the place and are doing well.
If not apologists then how best to address Puteen’s supporters ?
But that’s not the most critical point. Recognize tyranny and murder and the world will be better and safer place. Your responses are not what I think about.
Henry, “How best to address Putins supporters”?
Well a year or so ago you could have got Zilensky to confirm the promise made not to join NATO?
You could, at the same time, ask him to stop killing Ukrainians that were of Russsia origins living in the Eastern states and who were a bit peed off being told not to speak the language otherwise there would be stiff penalties.
You could have asked him to deliver on his promise to stop war in the Donbas back in 2014.
He failed to deliver on his promised KPI`s.
He may be a clever comedian but I dont see that he has any future in bringing peace to the country.
However, we may have all been fooled into thinking this was a Russian/Ukrainian conflict, while a more significant power is taking a gamble in its dying days.
Stand aside, all you plebs, the US dollar is under threat.
Henry Rodriigues,
How best to address apologists for the international and ecological terrorists who sabotaged the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline, that was also by the way an act of war against a member NATO country?
And why aren’t the ramifications of this act being addressed by our media? Why are they suppressing news of this clear and evidently state sponsored terrorism? Is it because the evidence of US involvement is so overwhelming? If they ignore it, just like they have ignored all of the provocation against Russia that has resulted in this conflict (i.e. the rationale that you so crave to understand why Russia has behaved as it has), then what atrocity against international law and peace can we expect the perpetrators to commit next?
D. Pritchard, S Davis…………………. A few salient and real facts, devoid of distortion and discoloration by Puteen and his virulent propaganda services and perpetuated by his loyal and zealous apologists..
. Not one attack on Russia or precious Puteen, was ever launched from the reported 800 Nato bases around the world especially those located in Europe. I repeat. not one single attack.
Ukraine, chose by democratic vote, to align itself and join Europe as a free nation deciding its own system of government, using a a recognizable and valid means to give its people the choice, No coercion, or threats or abductions or arrests in the night, or torture or kneecapping or rape or detention camps or penal colonies or murder. Unlike how governments are "elected" in Russia and public opinion is corrupted and presented as the will of the Russian people, assisted and helped by the massive brainwashing and sinister ever present shadow of the KGB, and these days the FSB. Bucha and the destruction of Ukraine and the slaughter of women children is real, not a figment of someone's imagination. Mariupol and now Bakhmut are evidence of war crimes and Puteen and his accomplices will pay. Defending a putrid tyrant is just as reprehensible as donning the uniform of his army.Accusation of the media of turning a blind eye…………… what about destroying the independent media altogether, as Putrid Puteen has done. Beating and jailing thousands of protestors on the streets of Moscow. Has anyone been subjected to that treatment in Ukraine or the USA or UK or Sydney. The ideological blindfolds must be very permanent and completely restrictive, for the apologists to ignore the bloodstained facts that they see everyday. Not long one person declared, that they are no good guys or bad guys in this conflict, except that he chose to brush over the fact that Putrid Puteen was fighting pregnant women and children. Looks like he is not alone in his blindness.I like to think that I live in a country which is generous, but not dumb.
When it comes to how our hard earned bucks are given away, then if its a worthy cause, OK.
But at the moment the star recipient Ukraine ( you cant go a few minutes without the latest update) rates as the most corrupt nation in Europe. Right at the bottom, bless my soul.
It hasnt changed much over the last few years.
Coming in at 32, wheras that evil nation Russia, which we all must sanction, is at 29 and that is mathematically very darned close.
Not much to choose between them when its corruption time, but we sure can pick a winner.
(But then WE have slipped quite a long way of late.)
DP:
“You could have asked him to deliver on his promise to stop war in the Donbas back in 2014.”
Zelenskyy became president in 2019. I find it difficult to understand how anything that occured iin Donbas prior to that is his responsibility.
Douglas, Henry referred to ideological blindfolds that are permanent and completely restrictive, so I thought you might be interested in this that I just came across.
James Rickard, a former advisor to the CIA and Pentagon on high level financial matters, wrote just this month in an article titled The Horrifying Endgame in Ukraine, “I’ve written extensively about two facets of the war in Ukraine that you don’t hear from legacy media in the United States or U.K. The first is that Russia is actually winning the war. U.S. outlets such as The New York Times (a channel for the State Department) and The Washington Post (a channel for the CIA) report endlessly about how Russian plans have failed, about how incompetent they are, about how the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) have pushed back Russians in the Donbass, and how NATO weapons such as U.S. Abrams tanks, U.K. Challenger tanks and German Leopard tanks will turn the tide against Russia soon. This is all nonsense. None of it is true.”
In his conclusion Rickard gave an assessment of Biden that is relevant to this article; “As Ukraine disappears under a massive Russian onslaught, the U.S. will grow increasingly desperate. Its credibility is on the line after committing so much money, materiel and moral weight to Ukraine’s defense. The Biden administration has essentially turned the war in Ukraine into an existential crisis for the U.S. and NATO, when it never should have been. Ukraine has never been a vital U.S. interest. But the war is existential for Russia, and won’t give up.”
So I guess the last word on Biden’s legacy is yet to be written.
Leefe, Thanks for the fact checking.
Its easy to click on Wiki and follow events.
I hope you will concede that Ukraine is far from a united country (west/east), the most corrupt nation in Europe, and they dont just sit arround in traditional costume singing “The hills are alive……”.
War is an automatic dispute resolution tool in this brutal part of the world.
While 800 US forces bases are not populated by guys sitting about knitting cardigans.
If 2 scrawny dogs are fighting over a bone in a yard 4 streets away, you can ignore it as just another scrap. Unless, of course, you have a motive to intervene.
Is Putin Hitler? A somewhat nuanced appraisal. As in everything, there are always two ends to a stick.
“I hope you will concede that Ukraine is far from a united country (west/east) … ”
No worse than many others, and how much of that division is due to deliberate stoking by Russia?
” … the most corrupt nation in Europe … ”
*cough, cough … errr, England’s Tory shenanigans have completely bypassed you, have they?
Whatever corruption there may be – and I do not pretend to be an expert on that – it certainly cannot be worse than in Russia. Yes, I know Russia is not in Europe, but it is the country whose invasion of Ukraine you apparently support, so they are hardly in a position to improve the situation if it is, in fact, as dire as you claim.
Leefe,
With all due respect it is you that did fact check. Now you tell me in 3 quotes that it is always Russia at fault.
Even if the evidence is not there.
I simply dont buy it.
Meanwhile Canguro has uncovered a gem.
Douglas:
The one thing we know for a fact is that Russia invaded Ukraine. That is indisputable. They – and you – can come out with whatever rationalisations and justifications you want, but Russian military invaded Ukrainian terriitory. Issues of treatment of ethnic Russians within various areas of Ukraine, or muscular chest-beating by NATO, or whatever other supposed problems can be dealt with via diplomatic channels. Invasion is not necessary, but that is what happened.
I keep seeing different arguments, different explanations, different takes on the history and the politics and there is no objective way to say which is the most accurate. But Russia invaded. Russia swung the first punch, they started the actual fiight so, yes, I consider them to be at fault.
leefe said “Russia swung the first punch, they started the actual fight so, yes, I consider them to be at fault.”
At the risk of sounding tedious, I’ll repeat a comment I made at the Energy Wars article.
Elbridge Colby, principal author of the 2018 US National Defense Strategy, wrote in his 2021 book The Strategy Of Denial:
“Few human moral intuitions are more deeply rooted than that the one who started it is the aggressor, and accordingly the one who presumptively owns a greater share of moral responsibility…Perhaps the clearest and sometimes the most important way of making sure China is seen this way (as aggressor) is simply by ensuring that it is the one to strike first.”
So given the lead role the US has assumed in the case of the Ukraine war, the question we all must ask ourselves is; did the US ensure that Russia was the one to strike first.