Whatever Happened to ‘Armageddon’?
President Joe Biden speaks to media as he tours areas damaged by Hurricane Ian during a visit to Florida, in Fort Myers Beach, Fla., October 5, 2022. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)
https://www.nationalreview.com/the-morni...-to-armageddon/
By Jim Geraghty
October 18, 2022 9:43 AM


On the menu today: The short-attention-span theater of our modern media environment works in Joe Biden’s favor once again, as most people simply forget that a week and a half ago, the president warned that the world “faced the prospect of Armageddon.” Eleven days later, we can now be clear that Biden’s shocking comment wasn’t in response to some new intelligence or a subtle messaging to the Russians. It was just Joe being Joe, blurting out whatever is on his mind at any given moment, blindsiding the rest of the government and oblivious to the consequences. Meanwhile, the U.S. policy toward the Russian invasion appears to be to arm the Ukrainians piecemeal and hope for the best.

Hey, Weren’t We Facing ‘Armageddon’?

Eleven days ago, at a Democratic Party fundraiser at the home of the Murdochs, President Biden, out of the blue, warned that the world “faced the prospect of Armageddon” because of the potential Russian use of tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
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What is weirder: that Biden said it, or that in the eleven days since, Biden has offered only the briefest and most generic remarks on Russia and Ukraine?

Since then, Biden issued a written statement denouncing Russian missile attacks on civilians, signed on to a joint statement from the G-7, mentioned Ukraine in a written statement on World Food Day, issued a written statement on a United Nations vote condemning Russia’s attempts to annex territory, and said during a press gaggle that Russia’s attacks on civilian infrastructure are “. . . brutal. It’s just — it’s beyond the pale.”

At the closed-door, high-dollar fundraiser for House Democrats in Los Angeles, Biden briefly touched on the topic again: “Did any of you ever think you’d have a Russian leader, since the Cuban Missile Crisis, threatening the use of tactical nuclear weapons that would — could only kill three, four thousand people and be limited to make a point?”

It often seems as if Biden speaks more openly about his foreign policy at closed-door Democratic fundraisers than he does in his remarks to the country. Notice that the White House never released the full transcript of Biden’s remarks at the “Armageddon” fundraiser, but released the transcript of Biden’s remarks at another fundraiser earlier that day. Biden did not mention Russia or Ukraine in his remarks at that event.

You should also notice that we haven’t had any big presidential address to the country and the world about the stakes of this conflict. We’re not seeing any special briefings to Congress about nuclear escalation. The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, isn’t emulating her predecessor Adlai Stevenson, and confronting her Russian counterpart about how the country’s aggression and recklessness is bringing the world closer to nuclear confrontation. No demands of “Don’t wait for the translation,” or “I am prepared to wait for my answer until Hell freezes over.” The Biden administration authorized an additional $725 million dollars in security aid for Ukraine. But otherwise, it’s wartime business as usual.-- excerpt, rest at link above --

Quote: Sanguine wrote in post #1

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You should also notice that we haven’t had any big presidential address to the country and the world about the stakes of this conflict. We’re not seeing any special briefings to Congress about nuclear escalation. The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, isn’t emulating her predecessor Adlai Stevenson, and confronting her Russian counterpart about how the country’s aggression and recklessness is bringing the world closer to nuclear confrontation. No demands of “Don’t wait for the translation,” or “I am prepared to wait for my answer until Hell freezes over.” The Biden administration authorized an additional $725 million dollars in security aid for Ukraine. But otherwise, it’s wartime business as usual.

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