Leadership Vacuum

Although Ann Coulter is some years past her sell-by date, having veered from Trump is the Messiah to Never Trump in the meantime, her current take on Ukraine is representative of all too many on the right:

Until the war in Ukraine, the Democrats were facing midterms after having spent the previous two years mandating masks and an endless series of vaccinations — even for the vaccinated or previously infected.

, , , What could even Stalin’s media do with that record?

. . . By now, the media have whipped the public into such a frenzy over Ukraine that a majority of Americans want the U.S. to start shooting down Russian planes, starting World War III with nuclear armed power.

A small price to pay for Democratic dominance.

I'm not sure where to start with this. The media was reporting on the war for the first two weeks, when the narrative was universally about the 40-mile column about to close in on Kyiv. Once Ukraine began to demonstrate success, as far as I can tell without actually risking brain damage by watching the news shows, they've dropped most coverage -- the retired US general talking heads have all left YouTube, for instance. The 40-mile column has evaporated, and the farmers and gypsies are towing away the lighter weapons.

A web search on "russian advance stalled" brings up an unbelievable 2 million hits. As far as I can tell, nobody is actually whipping up war fever; they're too busy congratulating Dr Rachel Levine for getting Woman of the Year. A lot of thinkers on the right, though, agree with Coulter Biden is somehow going to hitchhike on President Zelensky to rescue the 2022 midterms. Someone ought to send them this meme and others like it:

Nobody is taking Biden's or Psaki's claims that he's been marshaling support for Ukraine behind the scenes seriously. He may be making a feeble effort to ride a Zelensky wave -- that is, as long as he doesn't actually have to do anything to ride it. Don't want to start World War III, after all. The public understands this fully, especially after the on again-off again-green light debacle over the Polish jet fighters.

The real issue right now is the public doesn't want Trump back; it doesn't want President Pence or President DeSantis; it badly wishes it could somehow hire President Zelensky. That guy has already made Putin look like a monkey. He'd finish the job on Biden too if it weren't for the fact that he can leverage the US congress to push Biden to send more aid. At least for now, Xi just isn't worth his time.

It's intriguing that in recent weeks, both Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney sent up trial balloons to see if there might be chances of them making another presidential bid. Those both fell with a thud, but the fact that they would even consider it is a reflection of how little actual leadership there is in this country right now. I don't rule out that we'll hear from Al "Release My Second Chakra" Gore next.

If I were Mike Pence, I'd be beating feet to the Ukraine-Polish border, maybe even paying a visit to Kyiv. That would boost the chances of any other prospects, too. If Biden himself were to do it, that could even boost his own chances -- the issue is first, that he's too lazy, second, that he'd find a way to say exactly the wrong thing. Best to keep him in Delaware.

Let's Go Brandon! Godspeed Zelensky! Glory to Ukraine!