Posted on 03/28/2022 6:24:35 AM PDT by ChicagoConservative27
Neocon and rabid anti-Trumper Bill Kristol has been getting torched on social media for comparing President Joe Biden’s dangerous call for a regime change in Russia to former President Ronald Reagan’s iconic “tear down this wall” speech.
“For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power,” Biden said of Russian leader Vladimir Putin during his speech in Poland.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
Inapt comparison.
Biden’s offhand comment at the end of a scripted and rehearsed speech was just another example of unfiltered Joe demonstrating precisely what Obama said about him (even before his senility set in): “Do not underestimate Joe’s capacity to screw things up.”
He said only part of the quiet part out loud: Putin is a dangerous man in control of forces armed with fearsome weapons and he needs to be removed from power to direct their use. The unsaid part was that it is up to the Russian people and political classes to realize this and act since Western efforts to subvert the government would trigger the lashing out everyone rightly fears.
By contrast, Reagan’s call to “tear down this wall” was an appeal for the leader of a very powerful but financially struggling nation state to a more peaceful and prosperous future through cooperation and integration with the West. To be sure, it was a call for a fundamental change. But it was not a call for the overthrow of the Soviet government or the replacement of Gorbachev. It was an appeal to turn away from confrontation and nuclear brinksmanship to something everyone should desire: peace and prosperity.
That the effort was disastrous because of its clumsy and corrupt implementation does not negate the necessity of making the needed change or the worthiness of honestly trying to make the effort.
Although Biden’s utterance has been described as a gaffe, I think that he was tutored to say that. It is likely an accurate paraphrasing of Victoria Nuland’s views.
Note that Bill Kristol was a cofounder of the neocon Project for the New American Century, PNAC, along with Robert Kagan.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_for_the_New_American_Century
Victoria Nuland, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, is married to Robert Kagan.
https://www.brookings.edu/opinions/the-politico-50-robert-kagan-and-victoria-nuland/
“Victoria Nuland and Robert Kagan fell in love “talking about democracy and the role of America in the world” on one of their first dates. It’s a shared passion that hasn’t faded over time.”
Biden profited from Ukraine the way it was - a piggy bank to launder US aid - for crying out loud. Trump was impeached for encouraging the Ukrainian president to look into corruption related to US officials.
It doesn’t taker a PhD to figure out the motivations at play here.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.