Moscow in the Morning

There's nothing quite like waking up in the morning and seeing your latest article in print: 'With just a few weeks left in 2021 President Biden’s poll numbers are abysmal. The Real Clear Politics aggregate of polls gives Biden an approval rating of 44%. The news gives little relief to the president. Overall, the Consumer Price Index shows inflation was up 6.8% in November. Prices for durable goods (cars, appliances, etc…) are up 14.9% and wholesale prices rose 9.8% over November of 2020. Compounding economic woes is the Covid Omicron variant which is raging across the United States. As of 14 November, the United States is averaging more than 117,000 Covid cases per day. Here in New Jersey, the state is averaging just over 4,000 new Covid cases a day, and the transmission rate stands at 1.26. Any number above 1.0 means the virus is spreading. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that the Omicron variant accounts for 13% of new Covid cases in New York and New Jersey...' On to Moscow.

We popped over to Russia Today and saw Moscow has sent a security proposal to NATO. Putin certainly has some chutzpah: 'The text delivered to the 30-member bloc focuses mainly on the movement of military personnel and material, including a promise that all signatories will not station their forces on European states that were not members of NATO in 1997. This excludes former Warsaw Pact members in Eastern Europe. Another article in the text includes a call not to place intermediate and short-range land-based missiles in the vicinity of each other’s territory.' 

That second part is certainly doable. That first part is a non-starter. NATO will deploy NATO forces anywhere it damn well pleases within NATO. Putin is basically trying to void NATO's post Cold War expansion. Inviting the Hungarians, Czechs, Slovaks and Poles was a good idea. Central Europe is NATO's natural boundry and bringing Poland in was just smart; just strike that idea from your head, Moscow.  But bringing the Baltics into NATO was foolish, and inviting Ukraine is madness. Look at the second letter in the acronym, geniuses. ATLANIC. What does Ukraine have to do with the Atlantic? NATO expansion is a fetish with the internationalist crowd. They love it, sexually. 

Overall, the Soviet, sorry Russian proposal seems like progress to this blog. Then again, our foreign policy is being run by Anthony Blinken, Jean Francois Kerry and of course, Joe. Joe's never, ever been right about anything on the foreign policy front. Ever. Maybe someone like Boris (who should resign for being an incompetent buffoon), can keep the US and NATO from being rolled or blundering into some sort of conflict. 

Below, your Friday Flag: