During a Q&A session with the White House press corps on Monday, President Joe Biden was asked by Fox reporter Peter Doocy for details about how the United States military would respond to actions such as the use of chemical weapons by Russian forces, and he got resoundingly slapped down by the president.
Doocy asked Biden:
“When you said that a chemical weapon use by Russia would trigger a response in kind…”
The president corrected Doocy:
“It would trigger a significant response.”
The Fox correspondent then followed up:
“What does that mean?”
That’s when the president took Doocy to the woodshed:
“I’m not going to tell you. Why would I tell you? You’ve gotta be silly!”
Doocy:
“The world wants to know.”
But Biden was more than ready for that comeback:
“The world wants to know a lot of things. I’m not telling them what the response would be. Then Russia knows the response.”
President Biden gets extremely snippy over Peter Doocy's questions about his claim that Russia's use of chemical weapons will trigger "a response in kind."
Doocy: "What does that mean?"
Biden: "I’m not going to tell you. Why would I tell you? You have to be silly!" pic.twitter.com/yQOeXDzlcv
During World War II, there was a saying that every American learned by heart as part of the effort to make sure the country was victorious: Loose lips sink ships. In other words, be careful what you say, because you never know who might be listening, including the Axis powers.
It’d be nice to think that members of the United States Senate would still abide by such advice, but Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), in an effort to pretend he’s a tough guy for his constituents back home, has been repeatedly going on television and saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin needs to be killed.
On Twitter, Graham wrote:
“The only way this ends is for somebody in Russia to take this guy out. You would be doing your country – and the world – a great service.”
Is there a Brutus in Russia? Is there a more successful Colonel Stauffenberg in the Russian military?
The only way this ends is for somebody in Russia to take this guy out.
You would be doing your country – and the world – a great service.
While the vast majority of us would indeed celebrate if Putin suddenly dropped dead, Graham’s very specific calls for someone to bust a cap in the Russian tyrant are dangerous to the United States, according to experts.
In an enlightening article for USA Today, Grace Hauck notes that she spoke with Anthony Arend, co-founder of the Institute for International Law & Politics at Georgetown University, who told her:
“There are so many dangerous aspects to his [Graham’s] comments.
“It sets the possible precedent that others will be able to look at the United States and say, ‘Well, they’re advocating it. Why don’t we simply move to a foreign policy that more broadly incorporates assassinations or targeting regime leaders?'”
Nika Aleksejeva, a researcher with the Digital Forensic Research Lab at the Atlantic Council, says Graham’s ill-conceived remarks also help Russia paint the U.S. as some sort of rogue nation:
“It gives Russia a particular case to point at. These comments are qualified as calls to terror attacks. It opens opportunity for disinformation to be later created based on this particular event.”
If Putin is to be removed from office and punished for his invasion of Ukraine, according to Kathryn Sikkink of Harvard Kennedy School, that needs to be done by the government that replaces him:
“If you’ve had leaders who’ve committed crimes, you want the new government to be able to put those leaders on trial and hold them criminally accountable using due process for crimes they’ve committed. And if you find them guilty, to sentence them and imprison them.”
Lindsey needs to shut the hell up unless he plans to go to the Kremlin himself and take Putin out. Here’s betting he doesn’t have the cojones for that.
It’s a given that Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) is probably the loosest cannon in the entire U.S. Congress, but something she said Monday could well place her in the Moron Hall of Fame.
During an appearance on the extreme right-wing Real America’s Voice network, Greene said she was outraged that Vice President Kamala Harris isn’t in Kabul, Afghanistan, helping to evacuate Americans from the country. The only solution, Greene said, was to impeach Harris:
“For her to not speak out about this, for her not to fly over to Afghanistan to the Kabul airport is disgraceful, and unforgivable. She should be impeached as well. All of them are complicit in this. And they knew. They knew.”
This comes just a day after Greene demanded that President Joe Biden also be impeached for withdrawing American troops from Afghanistan, a move that was initiated under Greene’s lord and savior, Donald Trump.
Many want to impeach Biden but are hesitant bc they fear a Kamala presidency.
There’s nothing to fear. She’s worse in every way than Biden & Dems don’t like her. Expose her & expose the entire Democrat party for who they are.
Using Green’s blueprint, Biden and Harris would both be impeached and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi would become president. Clearly, the congresswoman from Georgia didn’t think this one through all the way. Provided, that is, she’s even capable of thought.
Twitter soon reminded Ms. Greene that she needs to learn to keep her mouth shut and stay off social media unless she wants even more mockery:
YOU should be impeached for trying to overthrow American democracy and install a dictator.
Here’s a better idea for Marjorie Taylor Greene: If you’re so concerned about Americans in Kabul, why don’t you fly over and help evacuate them? Probably because you’re too chickenshit and selfish to do anything for another human being.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki put Fox News reporter Peter Doocy in his place Monday when he attempted to suggest that the Biden administration is leaving Americans “stranded” in Afghanistan, despite the fact that the U.S. has already airlifted 40,000 Afghans and Americans out of the country so far.
After he let loose with his question/editorial comment, Psaki made it clear she wasn’t about to let Doocy use a question to spread lies, telling him:
“First of all I think it’s irresponsible to say ‘Americans are stranded.’ They are not. We are committed to bringing Americans who want to come home, home. We are in touch with them via phone, via text, via email, via any way that we can possibly reach Americans, to get them home if they want to return.
“No American is stranded.”
Doocy tried to push back on what Psaki said, but she immediately shot him down:
“I’m just calling you out for saying that we are stranding Americans in Afghanistan when we have been very clear that we are not leaving Americans who want to return home, we are going to bring them home and I think that’s important for the American public to hear and understand.”
Fox — along with right-wing “news” outlets Newmax and OAN — is looking for a way to attack the Biden administration anyway they can. They know his policies are popular with the American people, so they’re hoping to spread a lie that somehow Americans are being left behind in Afghanistan. They’re also conveniently neglecting to mention that the withdrawal began while failed, one-term former President Donald Trump was still in office.
Doocy was also pilloried on social media for his remarks:
Every morning, Doocy Lite wakes up, looks himself in the mirror & while slicking his hair back with palmfuls of pomade, he says to himself “Today is the day. Today, using my wily & clever expert journalism skills, I will trip her up.” But every single day ends up just like this.
For the next press conference, maybe Fox News can just send Wile E. Coyote and have him show off some of his wonderful wares directly from the Acme Corporation right before they explode and leave him picking up his teeth.
As if it wasn’t bad enough that failed, one-term former President Donald Trump repeatedly kowtowed to Russian President Vladimir Putin, it turns out that Russian hackers also managed to steal what is being called the “crown jewels” from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The Associated Press (AP) reports that hackers from Russia managed to steal emails from top officials in the DHS, which could have serious implications for U.S. national security:
“Suspected Russian hackers gained access to email accounts belonging to the Trump administration’s head of the Department of Homeland Security and members of the department’s cybersecurity staff whose jobs included hunting threats from foreign countries, The Associated Press has learned.
“The intelligence value of the hacking of then-acting Secretary Chad Wolf and his staff is not publicly known, but the symbolism is stark. Their accounts were accessed as part of what’s known as the SolarWinds intrusion, and it throws into question how the U.S. government can protect individuals, companies and institutions across the country if it can’t protect itself.”
The Biden administration is trying to decide exactly what sanctions to impose on Russia for the DHS hack, but based on the AP’s reporting, it seems fair to surmise the punishment will be severe.
Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) says targeting the DHS allowed Russia to have access to some of the most carefully guarded secrets in the world:
“The SolarWinds hack was a victory for our foreign adversaries, and a failure for DHS. We are talking about DHS’s crown jewels.”
Since Homeland Security is tasked with overseeing several important agencies — including the U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Customs Service, the Russian hack means Russian intelligence may have obtained information that could directly impact the security of the United States.
Though it remains unclear exactly how harsh the White House will choose to be with sanctions, it has already become clear to Russia that relations between the two nations will continue to be strained. When Biden was recently asked if he thought Putin was a “killer,” he quickly replied that he did.
Trump, on the other hand, tried to suggest there were many killers in the United States, trying to excuse Putin’s murderous actions.
One thing is certain: Russia and Putin will no longer be coddled by the American head of state. And based on their actions, they damn well shouldn’t be.
