Using mounted maps on easels in front of the Resolute Desk, Milley showed Russian troop positions and the Ukrainian terrain they intended to conquer. It was a plan of staggering audacity, one that could pose a direct threat to NATO’s eastern flank, or even destroy the post-World War II security architecture of Europe....As he absorbed the briefing, Biden, who had taken office promising to keep the country out of new wars, was determined that Putin must either be deterred or confronted, and that the United States must not act alone. Yet NATO was far from unified on how to deal with Moscow, and U.S. credibility was weak.....Months later, Milley still carried in his briefcase note cards encapsulating the U.S. interests and strategic objectives discussed at the October briefing. He could recite them off the top of his head.Problem: “How do you underwrite and enforce the rules-based international order” against a country with extraordinary nuclear capability, “without going to World War III?”No. 1: “Don’t have a kinetic conflict between the U.S. military and NATO with Russia.”No. 2: “Contain war inside the geographical boundaries of Ukraine.”No. 3: “Strengthen and maintain NATO unity.”No. 4: “Empower Ukraine and give them the means to fight.”Biden’s advisers were confident Ukraine would put up a fight.
By this point in our national relationship with Donald Trump, everyone who is not paid to pretend otherwise pretty much knows what he does and why....[Trump] does everything he does for one reason, which is that he wants to do it at the moment it occurs to him to want it; that simple flash of want, which chirps out at periodic intervals like the sounds a smoke detector makes when its battery is dying, justifies anything that he takes or tries simply by virtue of its existence. ...raw spite and aimless resentment and relentless self-centered entitlement...
Here's a ridiculous "take" on Biden's success:From stealing classified documents to wanting his top brass to behave more like Hitler's generals, this week has reminded us that Trump is and has been for years one of the top national security threats the US faces. https://t.co/MVgHcZZkR9
— David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf) August 9, 2022
I'm so sorry Biden doing good things for America is happening to you, Benjy. Our thoughts are with you in this difficult time.
— Molotovsky 🥀 (@GriffTheImpaler) August 16, 2022
Here's a little more fun:What have you done for me next week, is a hell of a bad take. https://t.co/GJh845BfqG
— William K. Wolfrum (@Wolfrum) August 16, 2022
And in response to CBC pearl-clutching:Look, were the Peterborough protestors fuckwads? Yes. But was it right for the mayor of Peterborough to come out and call them fuckwads, thereby normalizing politicians dismissing the concerns of people that are detached from reality and think rules don’t apply to them? Also yes.
— Aaron Hoyland (@aaronhoyland) August 17, 2022
They're back, baby!I remember when the entire Ottawa press gallery had to fetch themselves fainting couches when Scott Brison uttered the words “golden showers” in QP.
— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) August 18, 2022
The scrums afterward were embarrassing.
“Did you know what you were saying?!” they all shrieked. https://t.co/dXF4yyv01B
Sometimes you get a second chance at love #Zellers pic.twitter.com/vPUP09ETTy
— Brittlestar (@brittlestar) August 17, 2022