From The Hill, “Russia warned President Trump on Tuesday against seizing the Panama Canal, after he reiterated his intent to take control of the strategic waterway in his second inaugural address Monday. … Shchetinin reaffirmed Russia’s commitment to the neutrality of the critical trade route and said it expects both America and Panama to continue respecting that agreement.” Also from The Hill, “President Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin is “destroying Russia” with its nearly three-year war in Ukraine, adding he hopes the Kremlin leader is open to making a deal to end the conflict. ‘He should make a deal. I think he’s destroying Russia by not making a deal,’ Trump said to reporters Monday night after his return to the White House. He went on to say Russia is ‘going to be in big trouble’ and that ‘most people thought that war would have been over in one week.’ ‘He can’t be thrilled, he’s not doing so well,’ the president said about Putin. ‘Russia is bigger, they have more soldiers to lose, but that’s no way to run a country.’”
These are some interesting and out-of-character critiques coming from both sides. What’s the deal with Russia standing firm against Dictator Don’s ambitions in Panama and Dictator Don giving a verbal slap to Putin? I’m trying to make sense of this apparent failure for each to sing from the same songbook. Is this The Don! trying to feel out just how much slack he has in the leash held by Putin? Can he get away with peeping on Putin’s leg a little bit without being hit by a rolled-up newspaper? (We all know The Don! has a piss fetish.) My guess is that Dictator Don may no longer feel he needs to gain the admiration of other dictators because he has accomplished a takeover of America’s democracy in his own right. Whereas there was Russian meddling in 2016, by 2024, The Don! had done it all on his own with the MAGA moron movement. (To be clear and unlike other progressive idiots, I’m not one of those who believe Russia tampered with election machines in 2016; what they did do was conduct psychological warfare via social media, which poisoned people’s political judgment. Putin tried and succeeded. The fact that Russian tactics worked on the American population says more about us as a nation of f***tards than it does about the Russians. As for the 2024 election, Americans’ minds were still corrupted — no further intervention was necessary by outside actors.) Don’t get me wrong, Dictator Don still wants to be among the club of autocrats, but he’s joining on his own terms. Conquering land is probably a pre-requisition to do so in his mind. No more fawning for attention from Putin, Kim, or Xi. He will announce his arrival with a military blockade at the ports of the Panama Canal. Welcome to stupid America!