We’ve seen a number of oddball things come out of Trump world the past few days. Melania has uncharacteristically emerged from the shadows to assure the world that Donald is a “family man”. Um…if their family life is so great, why do they live in different states? Asking for a friend. Now Melania’s appearance on Fox News Thursday can be explained as pimping her book, which she’s releasing a month before the election because a month after the election it will be used to line birdcages, most likely.
But this next oddball development really makes you wonder. Volodomyr Zelensky ostensibly wants an audience with Trump and sent him a fan letter. And it’s been proven true that the letter got sent and meeting set because Zelensky needs to make nice nice after Mike Johnson accused Zelensky of election interference and demanded that the Ukrainian president fire his ambassador to the U.S. That blew up yesterday. Let’s just start parsing through this one step at a time to see how Donald is seeing it.
Donald Trump Truth Social 04:01 PM EST 09/26/24 @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/dyLkLJoztk
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) September 26, 2024
the tweet ends, “You know I always speak with great respect about everything connected to you and that’s how it should be. I can be in New York on Friday, which would be a good time to meet. I believe it’s important for us to have a personal contact and to understand each other 100%. Let me know if you are in the city at that time — I would really like for our meeting to take place as part of our efforts to help us end this war in a just way.” Sincerely, Volodomyr
This is a real letter. But it has no business on social media, not that that ever deters Trump. Photos of military bases in Iran had no business on Twitter, either, but there they were. That’s the least of Zelensky’s problems right now. The Republicans are freezing him out because Trump is on the war path.
Mike Johnson went ballistics yesterday. “The facility was in a politically contested battleground state, was led by a top political surrogate for Kamala Harris, and failed to include a single Republican because — on purpose — no Republicans were invited,” the Louisiana Republican wrote. So now Trump is appeasing Vladimir Putin and peacocking for the base, two of his favorite things.
Trump lashed out at the Ukrainian leader on Wednesday, accusing him of refusing any negotiation with Russia and claiming Zelenskyy had cast “aspersions” about him. […]
The exchange marked an attempt by the Ukrainian leader to regain his footing after Trump and others expressed anger at Zelenskyy for focusing his diplomacy on Democratic politicians in the middle of the US election campaign. The furore erupted after the US announced another $8bn package of aid for Ukraine backed by Republicans.
The Republican backlash caused consternation in Kyiv, where Zelenskyy’s allies accused officials of bungling the US trip at a crucial moment for Ukraine, which has lost ground to Russian forces in the eastern Donbas region. A former Ukrainian official said: “It looks like the Republicans were looking for ways to create a scandal but we should have avoided giving them the opportunity.
The Republicans will still be strong in Washington. They can block everything.” Ukraine’s president earlier on Thursday expressed his gratitude to “Joe Biden, US Congress and both its parties, Republicans and Democrats, as well as the entire American people” for the fresh aid.
I see what Zelensky did here. He’s been at war for some time and being at war isn’t conducive to Miss Manners thinking — but on the other hand, now he’s kicked over the hornet’s nest. So he has to meet with Trump at Trump Tower tomorrow and go through some kind of a charade in order to clean up this mess.
A person close to Zelenskyy said the “optics” of his visit to Scranton looked bad in hindsight and blamed Ukraine’s ambassador for a “lapse of judgment”. But Arakhamia defended Markarova, calling her one of Ukraine’s most effective envoys. “Why would we fire her just because Speaker Johnson doesn’t like her? It was very rude, frankly.”
My heart goes out to Zelensky having to kow tow to Trump on Friday morning but let’s look at it this way: All Zelensky has to do is praise the manchild and eat crow for a little while. I predict that all you’ll hear out of Trump world tomorrow is how Zelensky worships Trump, wishes he could be Trump, calls Trump every day for advice. The truth of the matter is that Zelensky’s country is a major pawn in a struggle between Vladimir Putin (who may be ill and not long for this world. Those rumors are still out there) and the United States. And the United States could conceivably be back in the control of a lunatic man child. But fear not. Here’s all you need to know about how the Trump Tower meeting will go tomorrow.
If Harris ever said "I don't want to tell you" in response to literally anything, she would be burnt alive.
— Hammy 👑 (@_H_a_m_m_y) September 26, 2024
I predict Trump will make an ass out of himself. Just think about it. He’s losing in the polls, he’s got small rallies with people walking out and he thinks that he’s gotten a gift, the chance to play statesman and achieve peace between Russia and Ukraine. Nothing even close is going to happen. Trump knows it, but he’s still got to pretend he’s got answers.
Wait for tomorrow to be a complete farce. And the timing for a farce is a real gift, because in a few short days we have the game changing October 1 vice presidential debate. That’s what will be funny. We could be seeing a Trump/Vance one-two punch, with Trump flopping at Trump Tower tomorrow and then Vance falling on his face Tuesday. Stay tuned.
Knowing what we know about the “accidental” demise of Dickweasel Putin’s ( just look at those beady eyes) detractors by thinking they can fly from windows stories up on buildings and Geriatric Jeezuz’s adoration for said Dickweasel, if I were Zelenskyy I would insist the meeting occur in the lobby.
*nods*
Unfortunately Zelensky, whom I regard as a heroic figure, doesn’t understand U.S.politics. Admittedly, they are extremely hard to understand at the moment, and the media coverage makes it even harder. And it’s also understandable why he’s extremely nervous. But I see this as a tempest in a diplomatic teapot, with no real effect on the election except to make Trump look even worse. And the truth is, Trump’s not doing well.
Don’t for one second assume this election will be won by Harris until she’s declared the president-elect. There is tons of voter surpression and outright cheating in the works to hand it to Trump. Not to mention the electoral college issue. So far we seem to have been lucky and Trump/the GOP have telegraphed the punches so we are at least in a position to block them but you never know what might be out there they’ve managed to keep hidden. Not to mention the fact that there’s not only the rabid MAGAs but all those ‘Well, Trump is AWFUL and will do tons of horrible things to this country, democracy/the rule of law and lay waste to the free world BUT I think he cut my taxes’ assholes out there. I think of my parent’s generations and the sacrifices damned near every American made on the home front during WWII and look at what we’ve become. A nation of whiny, weak “f**k the common good – I only care about ME!” jerks who don’t deserve the country that was handed to us. Trump even getting a major Party nomination is proof of how selfish this country has become. And don’t forget, as astounding as it was that 62 million Americans voted for him in 2016 was over ten million MORE voted for him in 2020!
It IS possible and to a truly frightening degree that Trump might slime his way back into the WH. Zelenskyy I think knows this and he’d be a fool not to hedge his bets and try to make nice with Trump. Not that it’s likely to do any good but he has to try. And who knows? Pootie might up and die and while we might not get someone reasonable taking over in Russia it changes the dynamic some when it comes to ending the war in Ukraine. Zelenskyy knows as well as anyone else that a little ass kissing can go a long way with Trump. From where I sit he understands things here better than you think. Including how Trump is likely to overplay his hand touting how much Zelenskyy loves him and making himself look like a fool in the process.
Too true. from HCR’s substack today:
North Carolina’s State Board of Elections announced in a press release that over the past 20 months they have removed 747,000 voters from the state’s list of registered voters. Officials said these voters either had moved or were inactive because they had not voted in the past two federal elections. The state has 7.7 million registered voters. Trump must win North Carolina to have a plausible chance at victory in 2024, but the Robinson scandal will hurt Republican turnout. In 2020, Trump won the state by about 75,000 votes.
I hope people there can register same day as voting or the word is out that so many names have been purged! So many votes possibly at stake!
Amen! Exactly right – all of it! Thank you!
Apparently Ukraine’s president has not been paying very close attention to what the dems are saying should they take control of the senate-the filibuster is history. When that happens, a seismic shift will occur and it will tip left. When things that will benefit MOST Americans come to pass (vs. shit that benefits the 1%), when voting becomes a right guaranteed to ALL Americans, there will be less and less con/pubes/magats in congress/w.h./s.c. Get rid of those fuckers and this country has an actual chance to become great finally. And since it is very close to its demise, I suggest folks think real hard before they pull a lever for any ‘pube candidates.