In the aftermath of a jaw-dropping Oval Office performance with President Volodymyr Zelensky playing the guest host going against West Wing leading men JD Vance and President Donald Trump, a one act play that may or may not have been staged and intensely choreographed (See Susan Rice’s opinion, one that is very compelling once considered.), there was no chance this country could get past “the Sunday Shows” without a “true crime-level” investigation of the scene and its perpetrators. As has been discussed in this column and elsewhere, Donald Trump and JD Vance made sure to get themselves up and gone from Washington well before Egg McMuffin time Saturday, never mind the later farmers’ market. Thus it was left to the understudies to take up the cause in all the usual places. When Reinforcement falls to the actual Speaker of the House, one knows we’re talking about a significant event. There are those people who believe the Speaker is the second most powerful person in the country. Mike Johnson showed up and – credit where due, managed to find a crack in the floor to chip even lower, effectively telling Zelensky to get his ass back here and obey Trump.
This is a bold move despite the fact that it surely does come on orders. These people have to know that they way over-played their hand on Friday. How do we know? Easy. Trump could have low-keyed the whole thing, been super vague but non-committal, hide the ball a bit, and the world would still be looking to the American lead on the subject. Instead, they went so hard, so far, so bizarrely, that nearly the entire world outside of the Volga River basin has run to back Ukraine at a level heretofore unseen. To the extent that American support is now gone, Zelensky may write a thank you note to the Trump White House as the E.U., Canada, Japan, and even perhaps South Korea, step in to fill the need at a greater level than that to be had under American aid. The trade off, of course, is that freed from having to worry about American money supporting the Ukrainian war effort, they are just as free to ignore Donald Trump and Mike Johnson’s opinion on the matter. US AID (Or “USAID” as the case may be) was never “free,” it came with expectation that the United States always had the last say on everything – thanks much.
All of that is clearly out the door. Zelensky need not spend another minute worrying about how he will get American support. Other world leaders have made certain to let him, and seem fine with aligning against the perceived Trump-Putin-Xi axis. So Mike Johnson’s threats sound a bit, well – weird. It is his job to come in and make this argument. We can’t be too harsh. It’s a certainty that he would’ve preferred to take in a kids’ Mardi Gras parade today with his family. But that wasn’t an option, and he laid out Zelensky’s choices with tremendous earnestness, if not moral clarity:
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Sunday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “needs to come to his senses and come back to the table in gratitude or someone else needs to lead the country” in order for Ukraine to continue pursuing a peace deal negotiated by the U.S.
To which President Zelensky, or – virtually every other president on earth, might simply respond with “Why?” To the extent that there is a possible peace deal, Zelensky, right or wrong, is clearly fine with leaving we Americans on the side of the road. Again, it looks almost “weird” in the presumption. Clearly Zelensky has chosen to move forward without us. What? Are we going to threaten to invade now if he doesn’t listen?
“President Trump is trying to get these two parties to a point of peace,” Johnson said during an interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” adding: “What President Zelenskyy did in the White House was effectively signal to us that he’s not ready for that yet, and I think that’s a great disappointment.”
Well, that’s up to Zelensky and the Ukrainian people, isn’t it? If the alternatives were that obvious, and American support that needed, the move would’ve already been made. If Zelensky misreads the situation, that’s his problem. But it’s beyond odd that Johnson is out acting as though there is some great overarching threat to Ukraine if “peace” isn’t obtained this week. (It is not “peace” if the two countries still fcking hate each other and still have troops in the contested areas, it’s merely a ceasefire). Clearly, if one simply looks at the lay of the land, both countries are left to continue putting soldiers and family through what has been called a “meatgrinder.”
One element of the war that is underreported or at least under appreciated is the fact that neither Putin nor Zelensky face significant political pressure to end the war. Shockingly, Russia has lost four times more personnel in this brief two-year war than the United States did throughout all of a decade-long Vietnam, with around 200,000 Russian dead. And yet, the Russian people purportedly still back Putin by 75% according to Grok (Propaganda and state controlled media surely helps). Meanwhile, Zelensky’s Ukraine has lost far fewer soldiers in 46,000 (A number very close to the 55,000 Americans killed in Vietnam), but has a much smaller population from which to draw. And yet, even with those losses, fully 80% of the Ukrainian people want the Russians out of their country before they even consider a peace plan. Indeed, “peace plans” in which Russia keeps a significant portion of Ukraine in accord with a predator-prey mentality are simply non-starters. Even if Zelensky agreed with Trump’s position, even if Zelensky wanted to assuage Mike Johnson, he wouldn’t be able to do so as Ukrainian President. The only threat to Zelensky’s presidency is the one that arises from doing exactly as Johnson says. Ukrainians will depose Zelensky if he signs on the Trump dotted line.
At this point, it looks like there are only two certainties, maybe three. The American government, by way of the Trump administration, is done supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia. There may be remaining tangential stuff that gets shoved along but the real support is gone. Next, our withdrawal leaves a vacuum regarding the “Leader of the free world,” or “Leader of the Democratic world” position. We now see the E.U., U.K., Canada, Japan, etc. now all stepping forward to collectively assume the job. It seems inconceivable that Europe would allow Russia to win this war. Last, it is hard to envision Putin being happy about all this. The “February Friday Fight” show devolved to a point where the world could quite rightly look at American involvement as effectively over, thus wrenching away nearly all American power to dictate terms! In walks the E.U. seemingly quite willing to support Zelensky at a new level and definitely want a seat at the table to dictate their own terms. That is not what Putin ordered up! He would’ve wanted this handled far more delicately, leaving American resolve vague enough such that the world still considered American-backing as necessary to Ukraine.
What a mess. The only thing of which I’m certain is that – try as Mike Johnson might, he is living in the 20th Century, the one in which the United States did dictate terms of any major settlement in any international matter, whether morally good or bad (See Kuwait, and see Pinochet’s Chile). This is the 21st Century and American power is waning. We have stepped aside and on US aid, and USAID. We are backing international pariahs, the invading Russians and the 9-11 supporting Saudis, among others, and into the breech we have Europe and, ironically, Canada stepping up. Zelensky no more needs Trump’s backing than he does Trudeau’s in that Trudeau represents the center of gravity in the “democratic opposition” the one that won’t allow Russia to win.
Crazy stuff. But not quite as crazy as Mike Johnson thinking he can resummon Zelensky to the White House to be forced to sign a deal drawn up on… the banks of a melting Volga River.
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Phuck that sanctimonious pissant cult member. Anyone who believes what he claims is a phucking self serving moron. Zelensky is a truth telling warrior. These phuckers might as well have Charles Manson as their leader. Good for Europe!
Don’t forget us Canadians.
PS – “…in this brief two-year war…” Jason, credibility…
They should admit Ukraine into NATO and kick out the US
You resign FIRST, Mikey. You have a spine like wet linguine and you’ll do anything for power. Have you even actually read the Gospels? There’s a bit called the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus tells his followers to.feed the hungry, clothe the naked–oh, and blessed are the peacemakers, which you and the Mango Musdolini most certainly are not. Not very Christian of you, Mikey.