Be Careful What You Wish For
“They Could Attack Any Day” — From the Mountain
Multiple times, every day, whether in print, on television, or on the radio the refrain is the same. “Russia could attack Ukraine any day.” One TV station claims Russia will attack by Wednesday. How do they know this?
Is it a slow news cycle here in the US? Certainly, it must be the reason for the daily repetition from our country’s media of the inevitability of war between Russia and Ukraine.
The media is not only declaring war is inevitable, but are picking dates for the start! To me, there seems to be a desire among the media for war to happen.
Our government promotes this with daily statements such as “war can break out at any time now”. Through these past few days, I have questioned “where’s Congress”? The silence has been deafening.
Congress Speechless?
There is a slight possibility that our representatives in Congress realize they may have to govern. It’s been a while so they may be concerned, out-of-practice.
Both the Right and Left have been relatively quiet. One would expect, with the expectation of war, the leaders from both Parties would at least be meeting with the President, then commenting.
On the Right:
- MTG is shockingly silent. This may be attributed to her realizing she embarrasses herself every time she speaks.
- Matt Gaetz has been quiet for a while, possibly consumed with thoughts of spending an extended vacation in prison. I’m just guessing.
- Lauren Boebert has Washington DC anxiously waiting for her to tweet that a Russian attack on Ukraine is a ploy by Democrats to draw attention away from Biden’s failures and attack the 2nd Amendment.
On the Left:
- Bernie is recuperating from his last rant. He was red as a beet. I’m waiting for him to take off a shoe and beat the table.
- Manchin is relaxing on his boat, chuckling at Bernie’s outbursts while he steers proposed legislation from doing harm to his family's coal business.
- AOC, since MTG has not attacked her for a few days, stays busy as she practices for a potential debate with MTG!
- Biden… he’s always quiet. Even when he speaks he whispers, which most everyone finds very disconcerting. Why does he do that? It’s frightening.
In the midst of this almost maddening quiet from Congress, there are questions.
- Why do the White House and the national media continue to push the scenario daily of war?
- Why is it necessary to state multiple times, daily, that Russia could attack any time?
- Is the point to unify the nation torn apart by the two political parties? Is this Biden’s idea of “working across the aisle” by bringing MAGA and ANTIFA together to shake hands in the face of a common enemy?
Don’t laugh.
Ukraine, Russia, and Foreign Media
News headlines from European media are in stark contrast to US media’s repetitive “any time now they will attack”.
- “Ukraine seeks a meeting with Russia within 48 hours” (WION — World English News)
- “Russia’s foreign minister calls for continued talks” (Reuters)
- “Ukraine seeks meeting with Russia next 48 hours” (BBC)
Ukraine’s national media Kyiv Post, today mentions that “Russia and Ukraine are talking”. Despite my attempts, nowhere did I find the aggressive dire warnings of impending death and destruction among European media.
Russia claims the US is stoking the fires of war with daily warnings of Russia’s imminent invasion of Ukraine. That’s hard to disagree with.
But stacking 100,000 troops, firing live ammo, on the Ukraine border while blocking Ukraine’s shipping routes at sea is a rather odd action to take in the name of peace.
Ukraine’s leaders claim everyone should stay calm. That’s like telling a guy on the way to a hanging “Don’t worry, they just want to test the rope. It’s all good.”
Biden’s daily warnings of war equate to “let’s go find stronger rope!”
Crazy stuff, right?
War-based Economy
The stark differences in headlines say a lot. In European media reports, the two countries negotiating. Not a mention here in US media of Russia’s foreign minister telling Putin to continue to negotiate.
Here in the US, the repeated refrain “Russia could attack any day” comes from all media and the White House.
Is it so crazy to wonder if the US wants a war? We are currently selling plenty of weapons to Ukraine and other European nations.
If I were Germany or Poland I’d be scratching my head and wondering also, and probably a bit worried.
There are 2 sides to the reaction of the US and media of course. There is the argument that we are a war-based economy, with which I tend to agree. Here’s a link to an article by Paul B. Farrell explaining this line of thinking.
There is also an excellent article and study offered at www.economicsandpeace.org regarding the effects of war upon our economy, including and since WWII.
Why would America want a war?
- The US economy is and has been a war-based economy for decades, which has proven to have short-term benefits with the GDP, unemployment, manufacturing, and taxes.
- Politically, it moves the public focus elsewhere, away from our problems here.
- The White House and Democrats are struggling to look good before the mid-term elections and need votes.
War would at least temporarily fix a number of things to some extent. The US economy thrives, specifically the military-industrial complex, on war. So who is the enemy? What is the end game?
“We have met the enemy and he is us.”
My own simple explanation is money and easy, short-term benefits are the end game.
As for “who’s the enemy?” … in the words of my buddy Pogo: “We have met the enemy and he is us.”
Again.
