"Courage is fire, and bullying is smoke." ~ Benjamin Disraeli
Welp. America is now looked upon by the entire world as a bully. An abuser. And worse.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the Oval Office the other day, and it turned into the worst expression of bullying and abuse we have seen yet. By turning against Ukraine, Trump34 damaged our reputation and standing in the world.
The incident erased any doubt whatsoever that TЯUMP is Putie's bitch.
The meeting was arranged to discuss U.S. aid in exchange for rare earth mineral mining for the United States. Yes, Zelensky was willing to give up mineral rights for aid. He shouldn't have to do that in the first place. That's another story.
But what happened was tragic.
If you can stand to watch it, it's here, in full. Trigger warning: abuse, gaslighting.
The worst of the exchange is here:
How 'bout that ambush?
JD was toady Grover Dill to Shitler's Scut Farkus as they tried to intimidate Zelenksy.
There is so much wrong to this episode, it seems dumb to point it all out. Here we go.
The ambush was started by bright-bulb "reporter" Brian Glenn from right-wing Real America’s Voice, who asked Zelenksy why he wasn't wearing a suit. Watch JD Prince Smarming laugh at that crass and boneheaded question. Watch Secretary of State Marco Rubio try to disappear into the sofa's upholstery (the sofa itself was trying to disappear from JD's ass as well).
Watch that bit here:
The truth is, and a nuanced truth would not enter such a brain as Glenn's, nor The Melon Felon's, that Zelensky is showing solidarity with his brave soldiers who are on the fields fighting for their country. He is dressed as a soldier. Why should he not?
The exchange was escalated by SCROTUS. 100%. The media frames it as "contentious," "heated," "a shouting match," blah blah blah, as if it were two-sided. But Zelensky remained calm, dignified, and unflappable. Yes, he made counterpoints, but he was calm and intelligent as he spoke. He absolutely did not shout. He raised his voice enough to be try to be heard above the barrage of insults, barbs, and baits, but he did not shout.
No, the Traitor Tot started pointing his finger, getting red, and at multiple points he even put hands on President Zelensky. WTAF. It makes my blood boil that he put his hands on him. Watch in that second clip at 3:13 for the worst one.
In fact, watch the clip without the sound. Watch the body language and tell me who is being aggressive and who is being reasonable.
A few comments. Time stamp refers to the second, shorter clip.
"With respect" :19 No. JD. There is no respect.
"Litigate it in front of the American media"?? :19 WTAF? Zelensky was invited there. He was at their mercy, stuck in the chair. He was litigating nothing! Vance is gaslighting here.
"I've watched and seen the stories." :38 JD, watching YouTube videos is not visiting the front lines. Idiot!
"You've allowed yourself to be in a very bad position." 1:39 Classic abuser talk. Blaming the victim for what's been perpetrated against them. He's blaming Ukraine for the invasion by powerful Russia? Please!
"I'm not playing cards." "Yes you are playing cards. You are playing cards." 1:56 ummmm wha???
Mostly this is dominance, taking over the conversation. Gaslighting. Also, Zelensky may not fully understand the idiom of "holding the cards" or "playing your cards right." I don't rightly think TЯUMP does either. He's just throwing words up there and hoping by yelling that they'll stick.
"You're gambling with World War 3." 1:57 Is that a threat?
Again, blaming the victim for what may befall them if they don't get in line. He's also shifting the blame and setting up later "evidence" should the worst befall the victim.
"You should say thank you." 0:31, 2:13 Fuck you. He has said thank you at least 94 times:
Zelensky, thanking America, 94 times.
— Jay in Kyiv (@JayinKyiv) March 2, 2025
pic.twitter.com/PRUYaBmQIa
By demanding thanks, Prince Smarming is forcing gratitude from the abuser. He's insisting on ingratiation in order to assert dominance and shift the blame.
"If you didn't have our military equipment this war would have been over in two weeks." 3:15 Subjugation: The abuser is the only one who can save the victim.
I love how Zelensky pooh-poohs the notion. "Three days," he waves him off. "I heard it from Putin." Here we are three years later and Russia is not winning.
"No no no you've already said enough." "You've done a lot of talking." 2:41 Fuck you. He can't get a word in edgewise.
Assertion of dominance, gaslighting.
"I think it's good for the American people to see what's going on." 3:44 No, you are playing to one person: your Boss back in Moscow.
"You have to be thankful." 3:51 Thank you Sir may I have another? Is that the thanks you are going for, you bully?
The mocking at 4:05. I can feel my blood pressure rising. Abuse, abuse, abuse.
"Obama gave sheets." 4:46 Just weird and wrong and what the hell.
The litany of perceived enemies at 5:39. You can almost see his brain glitch and spin. Must..... spout.... every....talking point.... Hillary.... Hunter...Biden....Shifty Schiff....scam....witch... hunt...laptop....
And by the way, notice how he firmly put himself on Putin's team in that tirade when he said, "Let me tell you Putin went through a hell of a lot with me (emphasis mine). He went through a phony Witch Hunt where they used him..."
Putie was smiling at his little puppet the whole time.
"I've empowered you to be a tough guy and I don't think you'd be a tough guy without the United States." 6:40 The abuser is asserting his savior role. "You're nothing without me!"
"Great television." 7:17 That's what it's all about. That's what it's always ever about. You get your ratings, the world gets fucked.
In sum, the exchange was filled with classic abuse tactics: victim-blaming, gaslighting, insulting, demeaning, insisting on gratitude, turning it around to make the abuser be "owed" something.
It was just gross and triggering and disgusting. It's not what we are about.
After the disaster, Zelenksy was escorted out of the Whitewash House, their press conference cancelled, and the very relationship between the U.S. and Ukraine damaged and in question, as well as the relationship with Europe at large.
King Minus had the audacity to later again blame Zelensky, saying, "I have determined that President Zelensky is not ready for Peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations. I don’t want advantage, I want PEACE. He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace."
Peace being code for "surrender to the invaders."
Do not forget that the Mango Mussolini tried using him as a pawn once before. For lord's sake, he was impeached for trying to bully Zelensky into helping him in his political goals!
Felon47's relationships are purely transactional. His treatment of Zelenksy was simply to gain favor of his sweetie at the Kremlin.
Americans' Reaction
We're gutted.
What we wanted to see:
Joe Citizen took out an ad in the New York Times at his personal cost of $100,000.
New York Times Square:
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| AI image, but we're all feeling it. |
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| David Sipress |
Meanwhile over at the Washington Post...
I don't think the U.S. citizens truly understand the consequences of the U.S. turning its back on European allies.
The World's Reaction
Europe understands. Their memories of the horrors of WWII have not faded; the realities of Cold War threats from the U.S.S.R. are still fresh. As Zelensky said, we have a beautiful ocean between here and there. We don't understand the terror of an enemy aggressor at the back doorstep.
Europe was shocked and appalled at the meeting and rallied around Zelenksy and Ukraine. Even before the Oval Office fiasco, members of NATO met in an emergency meeting (without U.S. attendance) to talk about the alarming trend of The United States turning its back against Europe.
There were tons of messages in support of Ukraine and in condemnation for The Salmon Seditionist's behavior.
King Charles invited Zelensky for a visit, and the man known for the highest decorum and proper attire said nothing about the combat fatigues.
Lech Walesa, the Cold War hero leader of Poland's Solidarity movement, along with other heroes of the movement, wrote an open letter to the president. Below is the letter, and here is a NY Times piece about it.
After the US decision to suspend supplies to Ukraine, if the answer was in my gesture it would be "Let's do our part" not a step back. AMEN.This is the text we signed:Your Excellency Mr President,We watched the report of your conversation with the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenski with fear and distaste. We consider your expectations to show respect and gratitude for the material help provided by the United States fighting Russia to Ukraine insulting. Gratitude is due to the heroic Ukrainian soldiers who shed their blood in defense of the values of the free world. They have been dying on the frontline for more than 11 years in the name of these values and independence of their Homeland, which was attacked by Putin's Russia.We do not understand how the leader of a country that is the symbol of the free world cannot see it.Our panic was also caused by the fact that the atmosphere in the Oval Office during this conversation reminded us of one we remember well from Security Service interrogations and from the debate rooms in Communist courts.Prosecutors and judges at the behest of the all-powerful communist political police also explained to us that they hold all the cards and we hold none. They demanded us to stop our business, arguing that thousands of innocent people suffer because of us. They deprived us of our freedoms and civil rights because we refused to cooperate with the government and our gratitude. We are shocked that Mr. President Volodymyr Zelenski treated in the same way.The history of the 20th century shows that every time the United States wanted to keep its distance from democratic values and its European allies, it ended up being a threat to themselves. This was understood by President Woodrow Wilson, who decided to join the United States in World War I in 1917. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt understood this, deciding after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 that the war for the defense of America would be fought not only in the Pacific, but also in Europe, in alliance with the countries attacked by the Third Reich.We remember that without President Ronald Reagan and American financial commitment it would not have been possible to bring the collapse of the Soviet Union empire. President Reagan was aware that millions of enslaved people were suffering in Soviet Russia and the countries it conquered, including thousands of political prisoners who paid for their sacrifice in defense of democratic values with freedom. His greatness was m. in. on the fact that he without hesitation called the USSR the "Empire of Evil" and gave it a decisive fight. We won, and the statue of President Ronald Reagan stands today in Warsaw vis a vis of the US embassy.Mr. President, material aid - military and financial - cannot be equivalent to the blood shed in the name of independence and freedom of Ukraine, Europe, as well as the whole free world. Human life is priceless, its value cannot be measured with money. Gratitude is due to those who make the sacrifice of blood and freedom. It is obvious for us, the people of "Solidarity", former political prisoners of the communist regime serving Soviet Russia.We are calling for the United States to withdraw from the guarantees it made with the Great Britain in the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, which recorded a direct obligation to defend the intact borders of Ukraine in exchange for giving up its nuclear weapons resources. These guarantees are unconditional: there is no word about treating such aid as an economic exchange.Lech Wales, b. political prisoner, Solidarity leader, president of the Republic of Poland IIIMark Bailin, b. political prisoner, editor of independent publishing housesSevern Blumstein, b. political prisoner, member of the Workers' Defense CommitteeTeresa Bogucka, b. a political prisoner, activist of the democratic opposition and SolidarityGregory Bogut, b. political prisoner, activist of democratic opposition, independent publisherMark Borowik, b. political prisoner, independent publisherBogdan Borusewicz, b. political prisoner, leader of the underground Solidarity in GdanskZbigniew Bujak, b. political prisoner, leader of the underground Solidarity in WarsawWładysław Frasyniuk, b. political prisoner, leader of the underground Solidarity in WrocławAndrew Gintzburg, b. a political prisoner, activist of the underground SolidarityRichard Grabarczyk, b. a political prisoner, Solidarity activistAlexander Janiszewski, b. a political prisoner, Solidarity activistPeter Kapczy otrski, b. a political prisoner, activist of the democratic oppositionMark Kossakowski, b. political prisoner, independent publicistChristopher the King, b. a political prisoner , independence activistJaroslav Kurski, b. a political prisoner, activist of the democratic oppositionBarbara Swan, b. a political prisoner, activist of the underground SolidarityBogdan Lis, b. political prisoner, leader of the underground Solidarity in GdanskHenryk Majewski, b. a political prisoner, Solidarity activistAdam Michnik, b. political prisoner, activist of the democratic opposition, editor of independent publishing housesSlavomir Najniger, b. a political prisoner, activist of the underground SolidarityPeter the German , b. political prisoner, journalist, and printer of underground publishing houses,Stefan Konstanty Niesiołowski, b. a political prisoner , independence activistEdward Nowak, b. a political prisoner, activist of the underground SolidarityWojciech Onyszkiewicz, b. political prisoner, member of the Workers' Defence Committee, Solidarity activistAnthony Pawlak, b. a political prisoner, activist of the democratic opposition and underground SolidaritySylwia Poleska-Peryt, b. a political prisoner, activist of the democratic oppositionChristopher Push, b. a political prisoner, activist of the underground SolidarityRichard Push, b. a political prisoner, activist of the underground Solidarity,Jacek Rakowiecki, b. a political prisoner, activist of the underground SolidarityAndrew Severn, b. political prisoner, actor, director of the Polish Theater in WarsawWitold Sielewicz, b. political prisoner, printer of independent publishing housesHenryk Sikora, b. a political prisoner, Solidarity activistChristopher Siemien Krski, b. political prisoner, journalist, and printer of underground publishing housesGra ,yna Staniszewska, b. a political prisoner, leaders of Solidarity of the Beskids regionGeorge Degrees, b. a political prisoner, activist of the democratic oppositionJoanna Happy, b. political prisoner, editor of Solidarity underground pressLudwik Turko, b. a political prisoner, activist of the underground SolidarityMatthew Wierzbicki, b. political prisoner, printer and publicist of independent publishing houses
It was transparent that the televised meeting with Zelensky was a set-up. All for an audience of one: Vladimir Putin, who was watching it live-streamed by Russian state media TASS, who despite not being on the "official list" of media outlets, was right there, in the president's Oval Office, to beam it back to the boss.
I repeat: TASS media was there. AP and Reuters were not.
I read this analysis of the one-two punch from JD and Trumpty-Dumbty. It's apt.
Posted to Facebook by Todd Alcott.
What Vance did yesterday, in Hollywood terms, is called "The Stranger in the Room." Screenwriters, especially, are well aware of the role of The Stranger in the Room. The Stranger in the Room is anyone in a meeting who is just there "as a friend," someone who has no creative authority on, and no stake in, the project being discussed, anyone in the room who is a last-minute addition. Sometimes it's a 20-something intern, sometimes it's an executive from a sister office, sometimes it's someone from marketing, sometimes it's an older, more experienced producer who's lending a hand for a day.Example: I was once pitching a legacy reboot project to a legendary producer, a real lion of the industry. His 22-year-old daughter was also in the room. She interrupted my pitch to say "Right, but we don't want, like, any conflict in the movie."The purpose of The Stranger in the Room is to destroy the project. The Stranger in the Room is the one who, after the writer and producer and director have all agreed on the direction of the story, says "How will that play in China?" or "This sounds a lot like [movie X]" or "But isn't this movie really about love?"The Stranger in the Room is always, always there at the behest of the most powerful person in the room. Whether the Stranger understands it or not, they are acting on the behalf of the studio, and it is the studio's natural desire to say "no," because no one has ever gotten fired for saying "no," and Hollywood executives, more than anything else, spend their entire careers terrified they're going to lose their jobs for saying "yes."But they don't want to be disliked by creatives, so instead of saying "no," they bring in a friend, either a protege or an ally from another department, or just grab someone from the hallway, a producer on another project, and ask them to sit in on the meeting. They don't know what they're looking for, they hear a hundred pitches a day, they don't know what, if anything, will please their bosses, so they bring in an ally to get another viewpoint, any viewpoint, on the project, so that they can then say "no" without looking like an asshole. Instead, they can say "Yes, that's a good point, we have to keep in mind the China market," or "Yeah, this DOES sound a lot like [movie X] now that I hear it out loud," or "Yeah, what about love? We're forgetting all about love, why isn't your action movie pitch really about love?"And then, suddenly, the balance in the room shifts. Suddenly, a collaboration, a negotiation as it were, becomes an argument. Where, just moments earlier, everyone was agreeing on how awesome the project sounded, now, suddenly, the creatives are on one side and the suits are on the other, and the meeting becomes a power struggle, one the creatives can only lose, because the suits have the money and the creatives only have the art.So, in Hollywood terms, Zelenskyy was the writer/director/producer, Trump was studio executive terrified of losing his job, and Vance was the disinterested ally brought in to bring up some random point that would turn the negotiation into an argument that the writer/director/producer cannot possibly win. I'll leave it up to you to figure out who studio head is.
Lastly, some memes and cartoon commentary:
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| BabylonBros |
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| Clay Bennett |
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| Morton Morland |
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| Nick Anderson |
#RESIST!
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