And the kernel there is pretending things that are not true, the mark of an unserious country.
Nikki Haley is simply incoherent. She says we have to win this war, but without more financial assistance.
“I don’t think we need to put money in Ukraine,” Haley said last week before an audience in Iowa. ... “This is not a war about Ukraine, this is a war about freedom—and it’s one that we have to win,” Haley said. “If we win this war, this will send a message to China, it will send a message to Iran, it will send a message to North Korea, it will send a message to Russia. If we lose this war… they said Poland and the Baltics are next, and you’re looking at a world war.”
Ron DeSantis pretends Russia never invaded and simply has a territorial dispute with Ukraine.
“While the U.S. has many vital national interests—securing our borders, addressing the crisis of readiness within our military, achieving energy security and independence, and checking the economic, cultural, and military power of the Chinese Communist Party—becoming further entangled in a territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia is not one of them,” DeSantis told Fox News host Tucker Carlson this week.
And The Daily Beast isn't wrong about Donald Trump's position, who to this day touts the myth that he is some great deal-maker who can untie the Gordian Knot:
Former President Donald Trump has said he would have let Russia “take over” parts of Ukraine if he were still in the White House.
It is also the case that there is plenty of pretending on the other side, that the West wasn't responsible for the Ukrainian revolution of 2014 which ultimately provoked the current conflict.
Statesmen tell hard truths to their people. But none of ours seem capable of telling even the simple ones, including Joe Biden.
