{"id":5459,"date":"2022-03-28T09:13:42","date_gmt":"2022-03-28T13:13:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/?p=5459"},"modified":"2022-03-28T09:13:44","modified_gmt":"2022-03-28T13:13:44","slug":"the-gaffe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/03\/28\/the-gaffe\/","title":{"rendered":"The Gaffe"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Biden\u2019s Mouth<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Joe Biden \u2013 he\u2019s  legendary.  He\u2019s been \u201cgaffing\u201d, saying surprising and sometimes extraordinary things in the middle of more \u201cmundane\u201d moments, for decades.  Up until this week, the most famous Biden gaffe was the \u201chot mic\u201d whisper to then President Barack Obama at the passage of the Affordable Care Act: \u201cThis is a big f**king deal!!\u201d.  And there\u2019s even a \u201ctop ten\u201d list of Biden\u2019s gaffes, going back to 1987 (Time<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some critics claim that it\u2019s now some kind of dementia, a loss of control in the near-eighty year old man.  But the reality is, if this is dementia, then he\u2019s been demented for the last half-century.  And supporters recognize that Biden has struggled with a stuttering disability throughout his life, and sometimes in that struggle \u2013 things slip out.  Maybe they\u2019re right about \u201cslips\u201d, or maybe the gaffes are just a reflection of his inner thoughts.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Truth Speaks<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I think Biden is of sound mind, and knows full well what he\u2019s saying.\u00a0\u00a0He uses his \u201cgaffes\u201d to say the things he\u2019s \u201cnot supposed to say\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0The Affordable Care Act was a \u201cbig f**king deal\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0So this weekend in a dramatic speech in Warsaw, the President laid out the case for world democracies to stand up to Russia.\u00a0\u00a0He talked about the fate of the refugees now leaving Ukraine, and the terrible destruction of cities and civilians throughout that nation.\u00a0\u00a0And Biden ended by saying about Vladimir Putin, \u201c\u2026for God\u2019s sake, this man cannot remain in power\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You could feel the oxygen get sucked out of  seventh floor of the US State Department headquarters in Foggy Bottom.  The President of the United States violated one of the premier rules of diplomacy:  never call for \u201cregime change\u201d.  And there are good reasons for that.  Once you say the \u201cKing must die\u201d, then it\u2019s going to be even harder to negotiate a peace with that \u201cKing\u201d later on.  It\u2019s the reason we didn\u2019t bomb the Japanese Emperor\u2019s Palace in World War II.  If we killed the Emperor, who would have the authority to surrender to us?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Return to Normalcy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

And the world (outside of Ukraine) looks to an end to the conflict, and a return to normalcy when Russia is among the \u201ccivilized\u201d nations of the world.  Besides, Russian natural gas is a big part of the European economy.  How can we get back to normal if the leader of the free world, the President of the United States, calls for the removal of the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The question Joe Biden poses is a simple one.  When a world leader starts a war of conquest that has sent ten million people from their homes, destroyed cities, and ultimately will cause the deaths of a hundred thousand people or more; how do we go \u201cback to normal\u201d?  What price is going to be paid for the war crimes of the Russian invasion, by the man who is directly responsible for those acts? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even if Putin  withdrew his tanks and stopped his bombings today, does the world go \u201cback to normal\u201d tomorrow?  I hope not, and I hope that world doesn\u2019t think so either.  Joe Biden is speaking for us all when he says \u2013 \u201c\u2026this man cannot remain in power\u201d.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consequences<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This doesn\u2019t mean we are sending a cruise missile to destroy the Kremlin.  And it doesn\u2019t mean that the US President is calling for revolution in Russia.  But is does point out the obvious:  the world changed when the tanks went across the Ukrainian border and the first cruise missiles struck the Baba Yar Memorial in downtown Kyiv.  Being the leader of a major world power like Russia requires responsibility, and the actions that leader takes have consequences.  If the Russian people can\u2019t hold Putin to account for those actions, then the rest of the world must.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are already doing so.  The sanctions have wrecked the Russian economy.  The ruble was worth more than $.20 a few months ago, today it is worth less than a penny.  In the next several months, the last financial lifeline, the natural gas lines from Russia into Europe, will be replaced from US sources.  All of Russia will suffer for the singular decisions made by their authoritarian leader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Responsibility<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

President Biden, in his Warsaw \u201cgaffe\u201d, has put the responsibility directly where it belongs.  Vladimir Putin directed this invasion, and bears complete responsibility for the results.  If he is not held personally liable, then, in the end, the world somehow white washes the destruction and the death.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biden spoke for every common man in the civilized world when he said that Putin cannot remain in power.  He told Putin that he cannot use the veneer of \u201cdiplomatic immunity\u201d to commit war crimes.  And, in that brief phrase, he told the world that we cannot \u201cgo back to normal\u201d just because the shooting stops in Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that\u2019s no mistake, no gaffe.  It\u2019s a big deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ukraine Crisis<\/h4>\n\n\n\n