Pre-holidays news roundup: Zelensky visits Washington & more
Ukraine's president could be seen reaching out to skeptical conservatives with references to Iran and patriotism in his speech to Congress.
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Welcome to this week's news round up for the Weekly Dystopia! This email will likely be the last post before Christmas. I hope all my readers have an opportunity to relax and enjoy the holidays.
Apologies for being sparse in content in recent days. I've been working on a longer piece on the relationship between the FBI and Twitter as revealed in the latest iteration of the Twitter Files, as well as indications the U.S government was priming social media companies to censor the Hunter Biden laptop story. I thought my article would be ready by now, but I still need a few more things before it’s complete. Stay tuned on that.
Washington, meanwhile, is abuzz over the visit by Volodymyr Zelensky and the $1.7 trillion omnibus package before Congress, which includes $45 billion in additional financial support for Ukraine as the war continues. Lots of opinions out there on whether that continued spending is justified, with a strong segment of conservatives balking at the additional support. Personally, I think the extra $45 billion is a paltry amount in the grand scheme of things and makes sense if the United States if wants to maintain its leadership role in the global order.
Zelensky, in his speech before a joint session of Congress last night, was I think specifically addressing the segment of conservatives against the additional money. There were lots of references to America, values and patriotism, as well as caution against an isolationist approach to world affairs.
One thing that stood out to me: Zelensky made a point to criticize Iran, which has been found to have been providing support for Russia with a supply of drones for use in the invasion of Ukraine:
“When Russia cannot reach our cities with its artillery, it tries to destroy them with missile attacks. Russia found an ally in this genocidal policy: Iran. Iranian deadly drones sent to Russia in the hundreds, became a threat to our critical infrastructure. That is how one terrorist has found the other. It is just a matter of time when they strike your other allies if we do not stop them now. We must do it.”
Iran continues to be a major villain for conservatives. Many of them would look upon Iran as more of an adversary than they would Russia. I could see Zelensky including that line in his speech to expand the concept of continued U.S. support for Ukraine as not just about the Russian invasion itself, but a way to contain Iran. That’s exactly how I would try to win over Trump-leaning conservatives.
One more thing on the $1.7 trillion spending bill: Elon Musk is using his increasingly high profile to draw attention to the degree of spending in the omnibus package, as demonstrated by his recent tweets asking everyone whether they think the proposed $1.7 trillion is justified.
I was prepared to give Musk props for lending his voice, but he ended up coming off as transparently self-promotional. Last night, Musk tweeted the "people have spoken" against the omnibus bill. The basis for this assertion was the poll of Twitter users, which found 71 percent are against the package. I don’t have to tell you that poll is completely unscientific.
By the way, if Musk's polls on Twitter were actionable, he would have stepped down as Twitter’s CEO. That's what he promised to do based on the result of another poll he posted earlier this week asking if he should give up the role. A majority was against him, but he's still there. Did anyone actually expect him to step down?
With that, here's a handful of under-the-radar news stories that have come to my attention....
HONG KONG TEACHERS MUST BE INFORMANTS IN LATEST CRACKDOWN: In the latest attempt by Beijing to wipe away completely Hong Kong's history of independence, teachers will soon be required to report "potential violations" of the city's laws against free speech to the authorities.
From Radio Free Asia:
Teachers also have a duty to "consciously safeguard national security, social order and public interest" and "cultivate in students a sense of belonging towards the country," the guidelines say.
They will be held responsible for anything they post to social media platforms, including content deemed "inauthentic or objectionable," they say, without specifying what that might mean.
NO EVIDENCE RUSSIA WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR NORD STORM ATTACK: With Europe's access to energy severely compromised during the Ukraine invasion, world leaders were quick to blame the attack in later September on the Nord Strom pipeline on Russia.
But months later, there's no conclusive evidence Russia was behind it after all, according to the Washington Post:
“There is no evidence at this point that Russia was behind the sabotage,” said one European official, echoing the assessment of 23 diplomatic and intelligence officials in nine countries interviewed in recent weeks.
Some went so far as to say they didn’t think Russia was responsible. Others who still consider Russia a prime suspect said positively attributing the attack — to any country — may be impossible.
BIDEN CAREFULLY CHANGES WORDS ON UKRAINE-RUSSIA COMPROMISE: Watching the joint news conference yesterday with Zelensky and President Biden, I noticed Biden changed his words ever so slightly when it came to the idea of Ukraine reaching a compromise with Russia.
Finding a compromise to end conflict is a goal the Biden administration is reportedly pursuing amid fears Western allies won't be willing to support Ukraine forever. After all, the global community has taken a punch by swearing off its access to Russia’s fuel. Biden has openly suggested the idea about Ukraine and Russia reaching a compromise, although Zelensky said he would never accept it.
But here's how Biden put it during the news conference:
And, President Velenskyy [sic] — Zelenskyy, you have made it clear he is open to pursuing a — well, let me put it this way: He’s not open, but you’re open to pursuing peace. You’re open to pursuing a just peace.
We also know that Putin has no intention — no intention of stopping this cruel war. And the United States is committed to ensuring that the brave Ukrainian people can continue — continue to defend their country against Russian aggression as long as it takes.
Notice the phrasing? This way, the idea of compromise is still out there, but the concept is a peace agreement. Instead of making it look like Ukraine making concessions on its territorial integrity, Zelensky would get to save face. Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, maintains his role as the villain whether a compromise is reached or not.
Also, by saying the United States will stand by Ukraine “as long as it takes,” Biden makes it look like any agreement would come from Zelensky without pressure from the United States. So the goal is still the same, but the stakes are much different with less of a potential for negative political fallout for Zelensky.
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