Now is the time to make clear that Trump, Vance, and Musk don't speak for all Americans. We stand with Ukraine. We condemn Russian aggression. We cannot trust Putin, and we can't trust Trump to do what's right in Europe.
I ordered my house-sized flag of Ukraine, last week, and it should be arriving any day now. But until then, I'll tell anyone who listens that I remain loyal to Ukraine, and that I condemn the lies, treachery, and bullying from the Trump administration last week.
It looks like I need a flag from Canada, too, and another one from Mexico, after the tariff wars. It's tragic when America turns on its friends. But it's happening in real time, and we have to protest.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been successfully holding Russia at bay for three years now, fighting off tanks with drones, fending off rockets and bombers with anti-air defense systems from the West, inflicting overwhelming casualties on the Russians while they continue to bomb, kidnap, rape and torture.
Can you blame Zelenskyy for asking for some kind of security guarantee before signing on to a peace process? He was willing to consider sharing the economic benefits of his country's minerals with the U.S., but now this looks like a shell game con with a hefty dose of extortion thrown in for good measure.
I can't explain what's going on in Ukraine nearly as well as Anne Applebaum, who talked about Ukraine and Europe generally with Bill Kristol just days before Trump and Vance ambushed Zelenskyy. See their conversation here: https://youtu.be/WsBKxgOFSLg?si=A2G7H3tIaoPzpAU6
And I can't respond better to the idiocy of the tariffs than the Canadian and Mexican leaders have:
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (insultingly called Governor Trudeau in a Trump tweet): https://youtu.be/wz_42pckM7w?si=uHwNhmXCOrIA6o02
Ontario Premier Doug Ford: https://youtu.be/TLjIcr-GsCI?si=j0aQ91Qda39nLUht
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum (You have to enable close captions and translation to English in this YouTube excerpt from Associated Press.) https://www.youtube.com/live/YY3rQRCg_6s?si=34VXKdPIYPT9ngBR
Maybe Trump followed through on the tariff threat to our allies to make us forget about his threats against Ukraine and canceling all military aid to the struggling democracy.
If so, count me undistracted.
Instead, it's just clear that one betrayal will follow another until Trump has destroyed the American way of government with its division of powers, our place in the college of nations, our free press, our legal system, and our economy – which now threatens to crater due to tariffs and the inflation a trade war will visit upon us.
If the Betrayer in Chief expects me to tune in for his address to Congress tonight, he should not hold his breath. My appetite for more lies, outrage, partisanship and betrayal is already exhausted this week, and it's only Tuesday afternoon.
And I will need my mental health and best rational critique skills for what follows tomorrow.
