He feels the administration is doing better on Ukraine, but feels there's a lack of focus on the goal, which he said is for the Ukrainians "to win, to win, to defeat the Russians, the Russians to withdraw from the country." And, he thinks they're too focused on being green, causing us to ask others to ramp up oil production. He said "we were energy independent as late as 2019. "
We can be energy independent again. The administration needs to take the shackles off domestic production. We can meet our own needs, and we can export and help the Europeans as they wean themselves away from Russian oil and gas, which I think clearly now they realize is the best and safest path forward.
No one mentioned the ten-to-twenty thousand barrels of Russian crude oil and other products we've imported each month - for the past 20 years or so - or the last president asking OPEC to produce more oil, which he did in 2019. I wonder why?
McConnell says the administration "just can't seem to get their act together on the economy," but that's only part of why "the American people are so down on the president."
The economy, the precipitous withdrawal from Afghanistan, the domestic energy issue we've already been discussing, crime, problems in public education, this administration has really got its hands full and I think they're headed toward a pretty good beating in the fall election.
And if the Rs retake the majorities in the House and Senate, all those issues will be part of the agenda, as will increasing military spending; Biden's current request "doesn't even keep up with inflation." And, McConnell said, "We've got a war going on in Ukraine."
Well not really: the world has a war going on in Ukraine. All of NATO, all the EU, and most of the UN have skin in this game, too. The Rs complain about domestic spending; if we limit that, we should limit what we spend in Ukraine.
Ultimately, if they win, they'll work to make Biden the moderate he ran as. And even though there's bipartisan polling sentiment that we're headed in the wrong direction, McConnell has faith in us. We've hit rough spots before, he said, and we always figure out how to get back on track.
We are the most important country in the world, the freest country in the world, and let's remember that this Easter. We have a lot to be grateful for and thankful that we are in this wonderful, wonderful country.
Over in the CNN State of the Union classroom, Jake Tapper talked with National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. Here's the key piece of their discussion that Tapper carried over to his talk with Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Courage of her Convictions).
Sullivan said what we call the horrific acts the Russians have committed is "less important than the fact that these acts are cruel and criminal and wrong and evil and need to be responded to decisively." He outlined some of how we're doing that, before saying
And we will continue to take every step we possibly can to help the Ukrainians succeed on the battlefield and to improve their position at the negotiating table and to make the Russians pay also through increasing costs of sanctions for what they are doing to the people of Ukraine. (Emphasis added)Cheney was not satisfied with that. In her view, we shouldn't even be talking about Zelenskyy and negotiations.
We ought to be moving much faster, much more quickly recognizing that the Ukrainians now, given what they have been able to do and how long they have been able to fight and what they have been able to inflict upon the Russian forces, they need advanced weaponry.
She thinks we should consider both offensive and defensive military support, we should be ensuring shipping lanes in the Black Sea remain open, and we should be giving Zelenskyy "whatever he said he needs."
Hanging up her hawk wings and turning to the January 6th Committee, Cheney told Tapper no decision has been made on a referral of president Trump to the DOJ for criminal charges. It is, however
it's absolutely clear that what President Trump was doing, what a number of people around him were doing, that they knew it was unlawful. They did it anyway.
She called it a "massive and well-organized and well- planned effort," and pointed to the 'statement of offense', part of the plea deal with a leader of the Proud Boys, saying it "lays out in really chilling detail" about the planning, the violence, the rally, and, she said,
-- and, don't forget, Donald Trump tweeted out that message: Be there. Be wild."
The 'statement of offense' Cheney referenced is something we all should read. I encourage you to do that.
Denying a "dispute" on the committee, she said it's the "single most collaborative committee" she's been on, and expressed confidence that they'll come to agreement on "all of the issues we're facing." And, the mere fact that Ivanka Trump testified, without claiming executive privilege, made it clear how contemptuous Dan Scavino and Peter Navarro were in not cooperating.
Asked about politicians going to Eastern Europe and pledging to support another country's democracy, she said this about supporting our own.
But, if we don't stand for our Constitution, if we don't stand for democracy, if we don't stand for freedom, if we -- if we forget that our oath to our Constitution is an oath to a document, it's not an oath to an individual, we have got to always remember that, or our democracy is in peril.
And finally, a quick visit to Jon Karl, hosting This Week with George Stephanopoulos. This week's segment from Nate Silver at FiveThirtyEight was about Sarah Palin entering the race to replace the late Rep. Don Young, her getting Trump's endorsement, and her chances of winning.
Noting she's "an important figure historically," he said there are "reasons to be skeptical" about her chances. On the one hand, she's got "high name recognition and popularity" in the GOP.
A recent Economist/YouGov poll found 62% of Republicans nationally had a favorable view of Palin, compared to just 23% who had an unfavorable one. But within Alaska, she isn't all that popular. Although Palin was a well-liked governor, her approval rating before she left office was 56%.
Alaskans didn't like that she quit on the job in 2009 before serving out her term. In fact, her favorability rating in a poll last October was only 31%. She's also getting a late start on a race that is chock-full of other candidates, almost 50 of them, in fact.
Silver named several of her key rivals, including one who was in the race before Young's death, a former aide to Young, and an indigenous woman who served in the Trump administration. And, he said
Palin's polarizing image also won't help her given Alaska's new ranked choice voting system where the top four primary candidates advance and then voters rank order them in the general election. Palin's name recognition may help in the first round, but she could be overtaken later by other candidates,...
I don't know exactly what odds I'd put on Palin. It's safe to say her chances are above zero but below 50 percent. But, overall, I'm not really buying her comeback.
I'm not buying it either, but we'll have to see what happens in June.
In the meantime, here are highlights of her endorsing Trump back in 2016. And here's a reminder of how she tried to leverage her endorsement of Trump to raise funds so she could travel around the country in support of other candidates. Or, you know, just blow the money. Fun times - fun times, for sure.
See you around campus.
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