Zelensky’s democratic rule in Ukraine anything but

Zelensky’s democratic rule in Ukraine anything but Volodymyr Zelensky sure has a bizarre way of practicing democracy in Ukraine. His presidential term ended May 20, but he decided to stay in office by cancelling presidential elections. He also cancelled elections for the Ukrainian Parliament Rada. How’d he do that? He declared martial law which, under the Ukraine Constitution, prohibits holding elections. Since most of Ukraine is not a war zone, martial law is unnecessary. To keep martial law in perpetuity, Zelensky has refused to negotiate peace with Russia, claiming the war will continue till he returns all Russian held land, including Crimea, to Ukraine. No end to war…no end to martial law, no elections. Pretty neat way to .stay in charge, especially since popular Ukrainian General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, whom Zelensky fired as military commander, would have clobbered Zelensky had he held elections But Volodymyr has gone further in his degrading democracy in Ukraine. He’s shut down Ukrainian churches presumed to be aligned with Russia, consolidated all media into one pro government platform and banned opposition political parties. Here in America, many progressives give undying support to Volodymyr Zelensky as the democratic Churchill of the 21st century representing a beacon of democracy. Zelensky appears to be following more in the footsteps of a failed 20th century painter with a funny mustache. Walt’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

 Biden’s Edsel…the food pier that can’t deliver food

When President Biden proposed at his March 7 State of the Union address to build a pier to deliver food to 2,300,000 starving Palestinians in Gaza, gullible Americans gushed ‘He cares.’

No he doesn't. What Biden should have said at SOTU was that he was ending all death weapons he furnishes Israel till they withdraw from Gaza, end their cruel, murderous blockade, and begin serious negotiations for a Palestinian state.

It took 70 days to build a functioning pier during which time hunger at starvation levels escalated dramatically. But at best, the pier could only provide a pittance of the nourishment needed to sustain starving Palestinians.

Yesterday US food deliveries to Palestinians went to zero. Several pier sections were damaged requiring repair before meager food supplies can again reach Gaza. A few days earlier, 4 vessels supporting the pier broke off in heavy seas. Turns out the pier can only be operated safely in a maximum of 3 foot wave and 15 MPH winds.

Previously, 3 US troops were injured operating the pier, also likely from rough seas.

Why doesn’t President Biden demand Israel simply open up the border crossings they close to starve out those pesky Palestinians? Like his refusal to stop sending death weapons for Israel to blow Palestinians to bits, Biden does nothing to prevent Israel from completing their acquiring Gaza free of Palestinians.

Like his failed food pier, Biden’s entire foreign policy in the Middle East is an Edsel. It may turn out to be the car in which Biden drives away from the White House next January 20 after losing reelection due to his flirtation with genocide.

 

To acknowledge genocide, Biden should spend day in Gaza

WALT ZLOTOW

MAY 29, 2024

Share

For 234 days, President Biden has been supporting and enabling Israel’s genocidal ethnic cleansing of 2,300,000 Palestinians in Gaza.

Walt’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Diplomatic support through public statements and vetoes of UN ceasefire resolutions is one thing. But his supply of tens of thousands of death weapons Israel uses to utterly destroy sustainable life in Gaza is a grotesque betrayal of moral and international law. It makes Biden’s government as guilty of genocide in Gaza as Netanyahu’s Israeli government.

Biden proudly calls his support of Israel’s destruction of Gaza “Ironclad.” When the International Criminal Court announced an arrest warrant for Netanyahu for war crimes, Biden denied Israel is committing war crimes, much less genocide.  

Official US policy under National Security Memorandum 20 requires regular reports to Congress that America is not sending death weapons to countries engaged in violation of international human rights laws. This year’s report greenlighted continued death weapons to Israel, essentially concluding ‘no human rights violations in Gaza, case closed.’

Cracks are beginning to erode administration support for US- Israeli genocide in Gaza. One State Dept. official and 3 diplomats have resigned over Biden’s genocidal policies. Linda Greenberg, a Jewish member of the Interior Dept. also resigned, stating Biden is exploiting Jews to support his Gaza policy.

Just yesterday Biden justified the horrific Israeli attack on a refugee tent camp in Rafah that killed 45, including 12 women, 8 kids and 3 elderly men. Biden’s excuse for Israeli blasting an Israeli designated ‘safe zone’ was that it also killed 2 Hamas fighters.

After 234 days of supporting/enabling Israeli genocide, Biden is not likely to change his murderous policy. It would be great if Biden could spend just one day visiting Gaza, watching kids and moms being obliterated by his bombs and experiencing hunger pains from no food. But he's soon holler cry, ‘Get me outta here, I've seen enough blood and guts for all my remaining days. Besides, I need a scrumptious 7 course White House dinner.’

Don’t expect for the president to take an all-expense paid fact finding trip to Gaza. He knows it would only require a one-way ticket.  

Walt’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Democrats ’24 Chicago Convention may make their ’68 version look like ‘A walk in Grant Park

Walt Zlotow

May 27, 2024

President Biden is facing 2 daunting dilemmas.


The first is moral. He knows full well he’s supporting and enabling Israel’s grotesque genocidal ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Gaza. Yet, for reasons known only to himself, Biden keeps sending the weapons of death to continue the destruction of an entire populous into its sixth month. He does nothing to end Israel’s blockade of food, water and medicine that are killing hundreds daily lucky enough to avoid Biden’s bombs. He has destroyed his public legacy as a statesman. He has destroyed his personal legacy as a human being. History will not be kind to Joe Biden.


His second dilemma is political and flows from his moral dilemma. His Democratic voting base is abandoning him over his genocidal policies. Over half (56%) oppose any more weapons of Palestinian destruction to Israel. He’s been stalked by anti genocide demonstrators whenever he appears in public. They even forced him to detour his usual route to the State of the Union Speech.
Anti genocide demonstrators will haunt Biden at every campaign stop all the way to Nov. 5. Two days ago. Demonstrators surrounded the Radio City Music Hall in New York City as President Joe Biden hosted a prominent campaign event featuring Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. Inside was worse as protestors disrupted the speeches.

But just wait till the Democratic Convention opens in Chicago August 19. Thousands of anti genocide protestors plan to descend upon Chi Town in what may be déjà vu of the anti Vietnam War protests of 56 years ago at the ’68 Democratic Convention. They are already confronting Mayor Brandon Johnson over his plans to force them to demonstrate on a small stretch 3 miles from the United Center convention site.


Somebody needs to sit Mayor Johnson down to watch video of that tumultuous time. With an understaffed police force unable to tamp down local crime, how does he expect to enforce what will certainly be unenforceable restrictions on free speech public demonstrations?


If President Biden does not pivot from enabling Israeli genocide before the Convention, he may be seeing his own version of déjà vu. He needs to watch video of a horrified Hubert Humphrey seeing his election go down in flames amid the chants of ‘The whole world is watching.’

Walt’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

 

Destroying Ukraine and Palestine a sorrowful legacy for Biden presidency

Destroying Ukraine and Palestine a sorrowful legacy for Biden presidency

Joe Biden may not get a second presidential term this November. That he’s down in the polls to an unhinged enemy of responsible democratic government does not bode well for his electability.

But if he is reelected, it will be hard for him to do more ndamage to humanity on the foreign stage than his murderous current term.

Ten months into his presidency Biden had an opportunity to end the deadly civil war in Ukraine between the ultra-nationalist pro-western Kyiv government and the Russian leaning Ukrainians in Donbas. Besides ending destruction of the latter, he could have negotiated Russia’s security concerns over Biden supported NATO membership for Ukraine. Instead, he told Russia that their security concerns were not even ‘on the table’, a diplomatic way of telling Russia to ‘go to hell.’

That precipitated the Russian invasion of February 24, 2022. Twenty-seven months later, Ukraine is on the brink of collapse with over a million of young Ukrainian men dead or fled to neighboring countries to avoid being killed in an unwinnable war. The Ukrainian economy is on US life support. Biden has squandered over $100 billion in weapons and economic aid with another $61 billion authorized that will do nothing to prevent Ukraine’s inevitable defeat.

All this death and destruction could have been avoided had Biden had simply used sensible diplomacy instead of the standard ‘We Win, You Lose’ mentality he’s practiced during his entire half century governmental career.

Ukraine will likely keep its majority pro west portion after the war ends through a negotiated settlement. The same may not be said for the Gaza portion of Palestine being systematically destroyed by Israel’s genocidal ethnic cleansing there, supported and enabled by President Joe Biden.

For 8 months now Biden has been supplying tens of billions in munitions to allow Israel to pulverize Gaza’s 139 square miles into rubble. Hospitals gone. Schools and universities gone. Housing gone. Tens of thousands dead. Ten thousand or more missing under the rubble collapsed on them by Biden’s 2,000 lb. bombs. Little food, water or medicine allowed in by Israeli government with nary a significant action by Biden to stop the carnage.

One cannot sugarcoat Biden’s policy of supporting and enabling Israel’s genocidal ethnic cleansing of 2,300,000 Palestinians in Gaza. It is American genocide in Gaza as surely as it is Israeli genocide there.

But the worst may be provoked by Biden’s destruction of 2 countries. US determination to avoid defeat of its proxy war in Ukraine has the potential to go nuclear. Biden is signaling that Ukraine can use long range US missiles to attack deep into Russia. That could be a tripwire that ignites nuclear war, either from mistake, accident, or rogue military action.

Should that occur, Biden won’t have to worry about historians chronicling his monstrous legacy of senseless destruction of Ukraine and Gaza he could have easily prevented. None will be left to write that legacy.