Because President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were not embarrassing our country enough as they attempt to stare down Russia...
Because President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were not embarrassing our country enough as they attempt to stare down Russian President Vladimir Putin amid heightened tensions over Ukraine, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi threw her hat in the ring this week and offered her own humiliating gaffe.
Gosh, it’s like our country is governed by the Three Stooges.
But with dentures.
Pelosi, the third-highest-ranking Democrat in the land, somehow managed to get Ukraine mixed up with Hungary despite the fact that a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine has been by far the most pressing issue facing leaders in Washington, D.C., for weeks.
The Associated Press reported Wednesday that Pelosi gave a news conference after returning from a diplomatic trip overseas to address the crisis.
The speaker defended Biden’s newly imposed sanctions against Russia and compared the Kremlin’s actions to its alleged interference in the 2016 election and, for good measure, Adolf Hitler’s pre-World War II invasion of Czechoslovakia, according to the New York Post.
Pelosi also offered reporters a brief lesson on Ukrainian geopolitics, only she appeared to totally forget which country, exactly, she was even talking about.
“Well, if you look at the map and you see Hungary, and you see how it is encircled — Russia, Belarus,” she paused dramatically, “Crimea, which they had taken over but, you know, it’s still a danger now to Ukraine.”
Ukraine, of course, is the country encircled by Russia and Belarus, and it’s clear that that is what she meant. And, of course, Hungary, while certainly impacted by the foreign policy crisis that Pelosi is supposed to be handling, is not, in fact, Ukraine.
Just so we’re clear.
This is a pretty embarrassing blunder from the elderly speaker, who at the advanced age of 81 makes 78-year-old Biden look like a spring chicken. Pelosi’s cruder critics often suggest the seasoned Democratic lawmaker hits the sauce before giving news conferences, as slurring and mumbling while addressing reporters has become her wont.
And I was just kidding, nothing and no one can make Biden look like a spring chicken. He is himself quite prone to mumbling, fumbling and forgetfulness while addressing reporters or giving speeches, as we were reminded exactly one day prior to Pelosi’s geographic gaffe.
On Tuesday, while announcing sanctions against Russia and attempting to sound resolute and intimidating, Biden had an easier time sounding drunk and half-asleep, as is his wont.
Now, Biden and Pelosi, bless their hearts, are aged leaders who have been in Washington for literal decades.
We certainly have our reservations about people leading the free world whose peers are typically much more content to spend their days puttering away in the garden or playing bridge with friends, but at the very least their age offers up an explanation as to why they can be so forgetful.
Fifty-seven-year-old Kamala Harris, meanwhile, can’t blame her age for her embarrassing display in Munich this week. She appeared ill-prepared, issued a series of vague responses to reporters’ questions and betrayed a highly concerning degree of ignorance of European history over the last several decades.
“I mean, listen, guys, we’re talking about the potential for war in Europe,” the eloquent veep stated when asked about the Ukraine crisis, according to the Post.
“Let’s really take a moment to understand the significance of what we’re talking about,” she continued. “It’s been over 70 years, and through those 70 years … there has been peace and security. We are talking about the real possibility of war in Europe.”
Seventy years of peace in Europe? Seriously?
Harris somehow missed every single military conflict in Europe during the entirety of her life, including dozens of revolutions, civil wars, coups, genocide and, of course, the rise and fall of some of the most tyrannical regimes the world has ever known.
What does it say about our nation’s preparedness to face off against the unblinkingly aggressive Putin-led Russia that our leaders can’t even get through simple public remarks without humiliating themselves?
Pelosi can’t even keep straight which country we’re talking about, Biden can barely get through a speech without sounding like he needs a nap, and Harris has apparently gone her entire life and ascended to one of the nation’s highest public offices without ever having paid attention to current events in Eastern Europe, apparently.
Does anyone think Putin is remotely intimidated by anything these people say or do?
I’m embarrassed as an American, sure, but my heart really goes out to the Ukrainian people. If they’re relying on the U.S. to stand up to Putin on their behalf, I hardly think they’re feeling very confident right now.
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