Depending on who you listen to, you’ll get a completely different reaction to Joe Biden’s speech at NATO addressing the Russian invasion of Ukraine. His sycophants will tell you it was not only “historic,” but that it surpassed Ronald Reagan’s famous “tear down this wall” speech. The gaffe at end is a big one. Biden may be mean to Putin, but consequences for millions are not necessary.
Tops Reagan’s 1987 “tear down this wall” speech. https://t.co/OEyfIKrGH1
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) March 26, 2022
Obviously, those who aren’t as partial to the president weren’t nearly as impressed. It was a long, boring speech that I felt was largely void of action and too generic. In response to the idea that it measured up to Ronald Reagan’s proclamation about the Berlin Wall, I’d suggest that we wouldn’t even remember that moment if the wall hadn’t been, you know, actually torn down. Biden is the top wholesaler, so words are not cheap.
Anybody can read from a teleprompter and give some hard talk before heading back to the Delaware beach. The test of Biden’s speech is not whether it sounded good (and it really didn’t), but if it actually leads to anything tangible–and I wouldn’t count on that.
But just in case anyone wants to accuse me of being a partisan for holding that opinion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has responded to the speech, and it wasn’t positive.
NBC: Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thinks Biden is “all talk” and lacks the courage to respond to Russia pic.twitter.com/2M4FxC0fSc
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 27, 2022
That’s the correct take, regardless of whether one personally thinks the US should be more involved in Ukraine at the moment. If Biden weren’t trying to present himself as a savior, “uniting’” the world against Russian aggression, then Zelensky’s critique might be out of bounds. But what Biden is doing is what he’s always done throughout his political career, which is to pretend he’s in the thick of the action when he’s actually just falsely pumping up his ego. We saw it with his lies about being arrested in South Africa, his lies about being part of the Civil Rights movement, and his lies about a black man named “Cornpop.”
Zelensky is desperate for help, and perhaps it’s not smart for the US to get directly involved in a war with Russia, but can you blame him for not suffering fools? I can’t imagine how frustrating it is for the Ukrainian president to see someone like Biden playing celebrity on the world stage and taking credit for things he didn’t even do, while refusing to take direct action.
Again, I’m not arguing one way or the other about what level the US should respond going forward in regards to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. People can agree on this issue in good faith, without one side being wrong. And there are many serious factors that must be considered when trying to challenge a nuclear power. Still, I completely agree with Zelensky that lofty speeches (and Biden’s was far from that) are not helpful at this point. Or, you should take action and not allow others to support your cause. Biden’s attempt to raise his own profile on the backs of dead Ukrainians is gross, and it’s not helping him back at home anyway.
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