Trump Doubles Down on Calling Putin "Smart," Gets Confused on Fox News: A Closer Look

Vindman: Trump Praising Putin’s ‘Genius’ Is 'Deeply Disturbing'

Self-obsessed Trump’s Putin praise is morally bankrupt

 https://nypost.com/2022/02/24/self-obsessed-trumps-putin-praise-is-morally-bankrupt/

Asked in a radio interview what had gone wrong that Putin recognized the independence of two Ukrainian breakaway regions on President Biden’s watch, Trump couldn’t muster one remotely appropriate sentiment.

He immediately cited “the rigged election” of 2020, an obsession of his that is so all-consuming, it makes Ahab look uninterested in the White Whale by comparison.

He characterized the recognition of the regions that Russian separatists claim as “wonderful” and “smart,” never mind that it was a transparently cynical step to create a pretext for war.

Biden faces another global crisis. This one resonates differently at home.

 https://www.politico.com/news/2022/02/24/biden-foreign-policy-doctrine-stress-test-00011385

Biden advisers and allies also recognize that, in contrast to the near-uniform chorus of criticism they encountered over ending the Afghan war, Republicans are badly fractured on how to approach the unfolding conflict in Ukraine — and how hard to come down on Putin.

There’s little confidence that a new era of competition with Russia will suddenly restore the country’s political center, or take the steam out of modern partisanship. But they argue that the Republicans who have been lauding Putin — everyone from Donald Trump to Fox News’ Tucker Carlson — are playing to a winnowing crowd and will find themselves increasingly out of step with the majority of Americans.

Donald Trump Praises 'Very Smart' Putin During Mar-a-Lago Fundraiser

 https://www.newsweek.com/trump-praise-putin-smart-war-ukraine-invasion-1682182

Video has emerged of Donald Trump again praising Vladimir Putin—just as the Russian president was launching his invasion of Ukraine.

At the Mar-a-Lago event, Trump mentioned the criticism he had received for those remarks, saying: "'Oh, Trump said Putin's smart.' I mean, he's taken over a country for $2 worth of sanctions. I'd say that's pretty smart.

"He's taking over a country, really a vast, vast location, a great piece of land with a lot of people and just walking right in."

The former president also boasted that he knows Putin "very well…almost as well as anybody in this room."

Trump, allies defend or deflect Putin’s invasion; was Romney right?

 https://www.foxnews.com/media/trump-allies-defend-putins-invasion-romney

Many GOP leaders, such as Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham, are backing President Biden in lining up NATO allies for imposing sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. Some are saying Biden hasn’t gone far enough – criticism that’s been fueled by the president’s decision to roll out only limited sanctions, apparently because the Russian military has entered only a couple of rebellious provinces so far.

Politico says "a vocal GOP minority on and off Capitol Hill — represented by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Fox News host Tucker Carlson and Ohio Senate candidate J.D. Vance, among others — has taken a third path, actively arguing against any U.S. involvement in the region while still dinging Biden. They argue that expanding the U.S. commitment to NATO is a mistake, and that the president should instead focus on countering China and securing America’s southern border."

I get the criticism of Biden. I get the argument that Ukraine shouldn’t be a top American priority. I don’t get the abandonment of the NATO alliance and indifference to a military takeover of what used to be a Soviet state. And I don’t get the praise for Putin, a man who jails and poisons his opponents and spewed all kinds of fabrications to justify his invasion, the second time in eight years he has attempted to seize a chunk of Ukraine – which he doesn’t even view as a legitimate country.

Republicans descend into foreign policy factionalism over Russia-Ukraine standoff

 https://www.politico.com/news/2022/02/23/republicans-foreign-policy-russia-ukraine-00010780

While Russia’s reinvasion of Ukraine this week stress-tests the Biden administration, it’s also forcing Republicans to confront their own divisions.

The GOP is all over the map politically, as Russian President Vladimir Putin tries to redraw his own boundaries. Former President Donald Trump privately has signaled a split with more isolationist voices from the MAGA wing of the party who have excused Russia’s aggression, who themselves are at odds with more establishment Republicans over how to confront Russian aggression, if at all.

Canada’s Trudeau Revokes Use of Emergency Powers

 https://www.wsj.com/articles/canadas-trudeau-revokes-use-of-emergency-powers-11645651455?mod=hp_lead_pos7

OTTAWA—In a surprise turnaround, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday said his government no longer required emergency powers to deal with protests against Covid-19 restrictions, amid mounting criticism from civil-liberties groups and some Canadian politicians that the use of those measures was an abuse of state power.

Russian invasion of Ukraine

 https://edition.cnn.com/europe/live-news/ukraine-russia-news-02-24-22-intl/index.html

The spokesman added that occupation was not the objective, echoing President Vladimir Putin's claims in a televised address earlier on Thursday.

“No one is talking about occupation, in this scenario that word is not applicable,” Peskov said. “This is a special operation. I do not think it's necessary for me to explain anything here, because the president himself gave exhaustive explanations.”

In his speech, Putin said he had decided "to conduct a special military operation ... to protect people who have been subjected to abuse and genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years," repeating a baseless claim about Ukraine's Russian-separatist-backed Donbas region.

Romney swipes Obama, Trump and Biden after Russia invades Ukraine: 'The '80s called and we didn't answer'

 https://www.foxnews.com/politics/romney-obama-trump-biden-russias-invade-ukraine-80s-called-didnt-answer

Sen. Mitt Romney laid the blame for Russia’s Wednesday night invasion of Ukraine at the policies of the three most recent U.S. presidents, Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

"Putin’s Ukraine invasion is the first time in 80 years that a great power has moved to conquer a sovereign nation. It is without justification, without provocation and without honor," Romney said in a statement.

Tucker Carlson Launches Biggest Defense of Vladimir Putin Yet

 https://www.newsweek.com/tucker-carlson-vladimir-putin-russia-ukraine-fox-news-1681740

Republican Representative Adam Kinzinger also criticized Carlson for his latest comments.

"In 35 seconds here, Tucker Carlson basically said: 'Putin isn't your enemy. Your fellow American is. This is beyond dangerous, to say the least, he tweeted.

The Reagan Administration and Lebanon, 1981–1984

 https://history.state.gov/milestones/1981-1988/lebanon

On October 23, suicide bombers attacked the barracks of the U.S. and French contingents of the MNF, killing 241 American servicemen. The administration believed that the bombings, like the attack on the U.S. Embassy in Beirut that April, were perpetrated by Shi‘i militants linked to Syria’s ally Iran. Reagan responded by adopting a tough policy championed by Shultz and McFarlane, now National Security Advisor. On October 28, he signed NSDD 111, which called for broadening strategic cooperation with Israel and Arab opponents of Syria, reducing Syrian influence over Lebanon’s Druze and Shi‘a, and expanded rules of engagement regarding naval and air support for the Lebanese Army.

Hungarian Revolution of 1956—A Summary

https://www.historyonthenet.com/hungarian-revolution-2

Eisenhower was president at a time, said Congressman Walter Judd, when the world was “filled with confusion,” when a third of its people had gained their independence, and a third had lost it. “No such convulsions have ever previously occurred in all of human history.” Yet for the majority of Americans, the Eisenhower years went by so calmly—at least until the Soviets shot down an American U-2 spy plane in 1960—that they did not realize what serious dangers had been overcome. Still, there was some criticism of Eisenhower’s foreign policy, particularly the U.S. response to the failed Hungarian Revolution of 1956.

Trump's Syria pullout, aiding Russia and Turkey, is when America stopped leading the world

 https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/trump-s-syria-pullout-aiding-russia-turkey-when-america-stopped-ncna1070551

Trump’s actions empowered American adversaries ranging from the Islamic State militant group to Iran, Russia, Turkey and the regime of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad and abandoned the local Syrian forces, especially Kurdish ones, who fought side by side with U.S. troops against ISIS. In defending his decision, Trump insisted America has nothing at stake in Syria and can let others handle an Islamic State insurgency.