Sunday, March 2, 2025

Flotsam and Jetsam - "All Zelenskyy had to do was put on a tie, show up, smile, say thank you, sign the papers and have lunch"

There's so many digits being spilled on the Trump/Zelenskyy rift I'm having trouble sorting and ranking them, but here goes nothing: Stacy McCain says Zelenskyy Self-Destructed, So Why Are Media Acting Like Trump Is to Blame? Rapid Response 47 @RapidResponse47 "@ScottJenningsKY: "All Zelenskyy had to do today was put on a tie, show up, smile, say thank you, sign the papers, and have lunch. That's it — and he couldn't do that." The Washington Post's Josh Rogin: "I actually agree."" At RedState Bonchie wonders What the Heck Was Zelensky Thinking? , Bob Hoge thinks Stephen Miller Crushes It: Many 'Remarkable and Disturbing' Things Zelensky Said That Led to Epic Blowup and Ward Clark notes National Security Advisor Mike Waltz Weighs In on Zelensky's Miscalculation of Trump: Rapid Response 47 @RapidResponse47, ""It's not clear that Zelenskyy truly wants to stop the fighting. He came in, even though he was warned not to, determined to litigate all of that," says @MikeWaltz47. "This was the wrong approach, wrong time in history, and definitely the wrong president to try to do this." Brandon Morse at RedState VIP, The Approach Trump Had in the Zelensky Meeting Is One Democrats Can't Wrap Their Head Around. Matt Margolis at PJM, Stephen Miller Reveals What Triggered the Oval Office Showdown with Zelenskyy. Lack of appreciation. And It Looks As If the Media Missed the Real Story Behind Trump and Zelenskyy’s Tense Meeting. At Hat Hair, Dave Strom shares The Most Important Thing That the Zelenskyy Meeting Showed to Me "Europe sees us as the petulant child who deserves a scolding, when in fact they are freeloaders who act like 35-year-old manchilds living in their parents' basements lecturing their parents that they don't understand how important playing video games is," Zelensky and European Leaders Digging a Bigger Hole. Matt Vespa at TownHall thinks Treasury Secretary Bessent Had the Perfect Line for Zelensky's Trainwreck Visit to the White House: Rapid Response 47 @RapidResponse47 "@SecScottBessent on President Zelenskyy: “This is one of the biggest ‘own goals’ in diplomatic history.”" Hat Hair, True Dat: Miller on Zelensky's Oval Office Disaster: America@america "White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller: “President Trump defended Americans after YEARS of being fleeced and abused... American hearts swelled with overflowing pride today to watch Trump put Zelenskyy in his place.”" At Insty, ROGER KIMBALL: Zelensky goes to town. Victor Davis Hanson@VDHanson, "Ten bad takeaways from the Zelenskyy blow-up 1. Zelenskyy does not grasp—or deliberately ignores—the bitter truth: those with whom he feels most affinity (Western globalists, the American Left, the Europeans) have little power in 2025 to help him. . . ." From Althouse, "To Trump's team, it was three strikes — and now officially out of favor — for Zelensky," and "Body-language and behavioral expert Darren Stanton said he thought Zelensky appeared 'quite angry from the outset' and got 'caught up in his own ego.'" Phil Wegman at RCP, ‘Living in a Bubble’: How Zelensky Miscalculated Trump. At Fox, Ukraine ambassador's reaction to fiery Trump-Zelenskyy Oval Office clash goes viral "As shaky microphones hovered above the spatting leaders, Markarova lowered her head to her right hand and closed her eyes."

Sundance at CTH looks at the interview with Bret Baier, Zelenskyy Discusses Breakdown of White House Discussions – Nothing is Acceptable Unless USA Troops are Put Into Ukraine and Team Zelenskyy Has a “Security Guarantee” Plan to Recapture all Lost Ukraine Territory. Breitbart, Zelensky Refuses to Apologize After Outburst at Oval Office: ‘Not Sure We Did Something Bad’. Matt Vespa, Here's the Tweet That Perfectly Captured Zelensky's Interview on Fox News, Marc Thiessen @marcthiessen, "This @ZelenskyyUa interview with @bretbaier is like watching a drowning man who refuses to grab the life preserver he keeps getting thrown" Bonchie, Zelensky Goes on a Tweet Storm, and It's Likely Going to Make Things Much Worse. At ET, Zelenskyy Defends Oval Office Remarks, Stresses Need for Security Guarantees. David Sacks@DavidSacks, "WHY ZELENSKY CANNOT MAKE PEACE Zelensky’s meltdown in the Oval Office began over his refusal to accept a negotiated settlement to the war. Even the Vice President’s use of the word “diplomacy” provoked a heated response. So why can’t Zelensky make a peace deal? 1) He will lose power. Zelensky cancelled elections in Ukraine and remains in power through martial law. Despite what USAID propaganda polls may claim, Zelensky is unpopular in Ukraine and would likely lose a fair election. That could leave him vulnerable to retaliation from political opponents he has imprisoned or seized assets from. In short, Zelensky needs the war to justify his continued rule. . . "

Breitbart claims Democrats, Never Trumpers Inflated Zelensky’s Arrogance Before Oval Office Disaster. The Unsinkable Mollie Hemingway has more specific charges, Twitchy, Zelenskyy's Oval Office Debacle was a Set Up...By the Dems: Mollie Hemingway Brings the ReceiptsMollie@MZHemingway " . . .

Zelensky repeatedly declined opportunities to sign the deal in Kyiv and Munich, and requested the meeting at the White House. It later came out that Rice and Tony Blinken, Victoria Nuland, and Alexander Vindman may have been personally advising Zelensky to do this meeting in the way he did -- that they recommended him to be hostile and to try to goad Trump into blowing up. Even though he didn't, and even though Zelensky's actions horrified many normal Americans, the Obama team went on the airwaves to falsely characterize what happened.

I think their goal was to have a wonderful performance by Zelensky, an angry Trump appearing to scuttle the deal, and the support of the neocon portion of the GOP to start applying pressure on Trump to have US Troop commitments as part of the "security guarantee." It was a set-up, in Susan Rice's interesting choice of words.

Instead, Zelensky had one of the worst stage performances of his acting career, and Trump was statesmanlike (against all odds) throughout. Zelensky followed Team Obama's advice to be hostile to a tee, but it didn't land how they thought it would. Surprisingly, one of the most important aspects of it not working out might have been Lindsay Graham's reaction. Had he and other neocons thought Zelensky was being reasonable, Trump would be having to fight (even moreso) the neocon portion of the GOP in addition to Team Obama's dirty tricks. Even the "conservative" neocon pundits on TV last night were admitting Zelensky had royally messed up.

The Great Victor Davis Hanson has a video at Da Signal, Trump’s Righteous Criticism of Zelenskyy. At NewsMax, Trump Calls for 'Ceasefire Now' Between Russia and Ukraine. Don Surber has a REPRISE: Why conservatives oppose the war. At the European Conservative, Trump, Vance Shake Europe Awake From Liberal Dream. At Hat Hair, Smack-Talking Europe Steps in It With Baltic States. From the American Conservative, Trump Takes on the Blob in the Oval Office. "The meeting between Trump, Vance, and Zelensky is a great clarifying moment, the first time president Trump or any president has, in a dramatic way, said no to the Washington establishment consensus in foreign policy, or, more informally, the blob. The blob, as most know, always gets its way. Through well-funded think tanks, establishment journalists, the military–industrial complex and its many congressional supporters, tells us the proper way to think about foreign policy. Since the end of the Cold War, it has operated with no real opposition."

The Great VDH at Am Great, Who Caused the Counter-Revolution? "Trump’s first month is a shock treatment to decades of spending, open borders, and bureaucratic bloat—restoring what was lost while critics decry the cure more than the disease."

Theo Sparks, De-worming America ...............from Rico. "America has a bad case of the "worms." As the proverbial 'can of worms' is revealed bit-by-bit so does the de-worming of America progress. America owes Team Trump and DOGE a yuge debt of gratitude... now note that the "worms" are the only ones complaining about it!" At Twitchy, Elon Musk Puts George Soros and the Legacy Media on BLAST in New Conversation with Joe Rogan. Da Caller, ‘What They’re Doing Is Evil’: Musk Tells Rogan He Thinks Media Motivating Violence Against Him Like Trump. Althouse, "Until this week, government officials had resisted answering inquiries as to who was formally in charge of [DOGE], except to say that it was not Mr. Musk." "(Nor is Mr. Musk among its employees, the government said.) On Tuesday, a White House official said that Amy Gleason, a former health care investment executive, was serving as the acting administrator. . . . "Judge Appears Skeptical of Claims That Musk Isn’t Driving DOGE/The judge prodded government lawyers for additional clarity on Elon Musk’s role in a case that directly challenges the constitutionality of his operation and his part in the rapid reshaping of government" (NYT). At HuffPo, Democrats Are Searching For Ways To Rein In Elon Musk, "They don’t have many good options." Pirate's Cove has a Saturday Funny: Trump Trying To End Meaningful Government "Realistically, the cuts to spending and personnel that the Trump administration has imposed so far are drops in the bucket. The budget is almost $7 trillion. The “work”force is around 2.4 million. Getting rid of some has driven Democrats mad Trump administration sets out to create an America its people have never experienced ? one without a meaningful government. The U.S. government is attempting to dismantle itself."

From Power Line's Week in Pictures
The Guardian explores #AltGov: the secret network of federal workers resisting Doge from the inside. Cynical Publius @CynicalPublius "Mrs. Dr. Publius asked me to post something: Go watch the anti-MAGA/DOGE protests and infiltrated town halls. Notice anything? Where are the black people? They are not there because they are tired of being weaponized and used as human shields by rich white Democrats. . . ." Steve Moore at Hat Hair, Trump Is Right -- Fire Bad Federal Employees and Reward Good Ones. Pirate's Cove Trump Admin Fires Hundreds Of NOAA Climate Cultists. ET, Social Security Announces Significant Workforce Reductions. AP whines Social Security Administration could cut up to 50% of its workforce. Maryland, My Maryland, from the Balmer Sun, Gov. Wes Moore steps up help for fired federal workers, plans to hire them in state government. We're only running a $5 billion deficit. At Hat Hair, Salena Zito wonders Where Was '60 Minutes' When Rust Belt Jobs Were Cut? NewsMax, Education Dept. Offers $25K Buyout to Many Employees.

NewsBusters is shocked, shocked, USAID Granted $1M in Tax Dollars to George Soros’s Radical Global University. At WokeSpy, MTG Blows the Lid Off USAID as Democrat Slush Fund—Dem Rep Loses It and DOGE Finds Top Biden Aide Received Millions Through Shady Contract for “Migrant Housing.” TNP reports USAID Freeze Forces Closure of India’s First Transgender Clinics. Bummer, dudette. Campus Reform, Sen. Ted Cruz publishes database showing NSF spent $2 billion to promote DEI, ‘neo-Marxist class warfare propaganda’ 'Science' is dead, long live science. 

From LifeZette, Trump Reveals Who Biden Really Blames for 2024 Loss—Not Who You Think. Obama and Pelosi! And Tim Walz Melts Down: ‘Our Country Is Being Stolen by Fascists and Nazis!’ Tim Walz who? Twitchy, CBS News Makes It Clear Biden and Harris Were Lying When They Said the Open Border Wasn't Their Fault. Lincoln Brown at PJM finds it clear, Dems Fight for Fentanyl. Da Caller reports Judge Assigned To Hear DNC’s Lawsuit Against Trump Donated To Biden. From the Pop Times Jocelyn Benson Claims SAVE Act to Ensure Only U.S. Citizens Vote is “Dangerous”.

From Da Blaze, Liz Wheeler tells Glenn Beck about meat behind Epstein 'nothingburger,' fallout of White House embargo. Elon Musk@elonmusk "Imagine if you were suddenly appointed AG or head of the FBI. You were just thrown on a ship with a hostile crew. Until you appoint some new crew members and figure out the ropes, you can’t steer the ship effectively. It’s literally impossible." Quote Elon Musk
@elonmusk, "People don’t understand that you don’t get instant power here x.com/wallstreetmav/…" Keelhaul a few to get the point across. John Solomon at JTN reports FBI’s Patel says Trump 'honeypot' story not true, defends female agent. "Conservative media reported a whistleblower provided evidence the FBI under former Director James Comey ran a “honeypot” operation against Trump to try to entrap him as far back as 2015." MD Kittle at hopes Da Fed Patel’s FBI Could Shine Light On Nashville Trans School Shooter’s Manifesto. I missed this when it happened, Chuck Norton, Shocker: "Patriot Front" Disbands One Day After FBI Director Chris Wray Resigns. Hmmm. From the Pop Times, Gabbard Drops Bombshell: CIA Agents Using Media to Threaten National Security. "I have people within the intelligence community reaching out to me personally and directly saying, ‘Hey, you need to know about this.’"

Woke Spy, When Pardoned J6er Confronts Him: January 6’s Media Cop Fanone Erupts. At NewsMax, Boxes of Classified Documents Taken by FBI From Mar-a-Lago Returned: Trump. "They are being brought down to Florida and will someday be part of the Trump Presidential Library," he wrote, without clarifying if all the documents that had originally been kept in the boxes had also been returned."

Paul Sperry at RCW hears Critics Suspect a Softball Ethics Verdict Is Coming on Hunter Biden's Law License.

From ET, Leakers of ICE Operations Have Been Found, Will Be Fired, Noem Says "“I have found some leakers,” Noem said. “We are continuing to get more. They will be fired and there will be consequences.”" WokeSpy, Famed NYC Illegal Alien Shelter Shutting Down as New Arrival Numbers Plummet. Shawn Fleetwood at Da Fed, Youngkin Orders Virginia Police To Assist Trump Admin’s Deportation Operations. From the Peacock, ACLU sues Trump administration to halt immigrant transfers to Guantanamo. Defence Blog, Pentagon deploys Strykers to US-Mexico border. NewsMax, Hegseth Warns Mexico of Military Action Over Border. WSJ, Hegseth Warned of Military Action if Mexico Fails to Meet Trump’s Border Demands "Defense secretary’s closed-door comments have unnerved Mexican officials negotiating to avoid 25% tariffs."

The Free Bacon finds it ironic that the Bezos-Owned Washington Post Gives Readers a Guide on How To Boycott Bezos-Owned Amazon. 'If you do need to buy something, shop local. And if you can, take the day off from work.'

At RCD, CJCS, CNO Fired over DEI, Is the Marine Commandant Next? From the Washington Stand, Whistleblower: Biden Turned the NSA into ‘a Cult Hellbent on Pushing Gender Ideology.’ 

Oregon, My Oregon, Toni Airaksinen, wants you to Meet The University Nurse Who Refuses to Treat Jews, Calls Them “Vermin,” “Dogs” "“I would refuse to treat you. I don’t take care of animals. Dogs. Rats. Vermin of any kind" wrote Camesha Lynn Hart, RN at OHSU." From the College Fix, Professor sues U. Illinois, claims it discriminated against him as a ‘white male.’
WokeSpy hears James Carville Mock Americans Fighting for Women’s Sports: “These F**king Idiots.”  "And, you know, whenever this topic comes up, say, ‘Look, I’m sorry. I just don’t think a lot about track meets."

The Wombat has FMJRA 2.0: Return to Mediocrity ready and willing at The Other McCain.

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