Our style is to have no style in this random nugget format. We think it, we write it.
- Yesterday was President’s Day, but today is President Biden’s day. Putin finally punched his dance ticket at the Ukrainian border. What will Joe have to say after saber-rattling about severe actions? Some European countries have acted already this AM with sanctions.
- Biden puffed his chest out and said during his campaign for President that Putin wanted nothing to do with old angry Joe. In fact, he said in 2019, “Putin knows that when I am President his days of tyranny and trying to intimidate the US and Eastern Europe are over.” Well, that didn’t age well as the kids say.
- Funny thing is, the last time Putin’s troops visited west of the Ukrainian border was when Biden was VP under Obama. Now he gets to huff and puff again. Hopefully, it’ll have some teeth in it and not some troops in it. Could you even find Ukraine on a map without an assist from Google? Be honest.
- Whatever he says let’s hope it’s better than what our multitasking VP and US and Ukraine border czar said on the weekend while in Europe.
Responding during a Euro press gaggle to whether or not the sanctions implied could deter Putin or if it was too late, Madame VP offered, “And within the context then of the fact that that window is still opening, altho-open, although it is absolutely narrowing-but within the context of a diplomatic path still being open, the deterrence effect, we believe, has merit.” We wish we were misquoting her, even if by a little bit. Maybe that worthless mask masked the message a smidgen? - MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell said last evening on-air that Biden has a lot of confidence and ego in his foreign policy and feels up to the task of the Putin test and gets defensive about his performance. Maybe that’s partially due to Robert Gates, the former defense secretary under Obama? He said a few years back that Biden has “been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades.”
- Let’s hope he gets it right this time. Remember, when Obama pulled the trigger on Osama Bin Laden, Biden voted thumbs down in the Situation Room on the decision. You wouldn’t want him making the heads/tails call in an NFL overtime game. He’s defensive about his defense policy, and you’d be playing defense right after the coin flip.
- Former WH Press Secretary and now CNN commenter, Joe Lockhart has confidence in Biden’s confidence.
“Whatever happens in Ukraine we shouldn’t underestimate the fact the United States has retaken the adult chair in the world,” Lockhart tweeted. “Biden has restored American leadership so damaged by Trump. The world needs us and we have a President who can and does lead.” Why doesn’t it feel like that to nearly 75% of polled US adults last week? - Speaking of coin flips, is Tulsi Gabbard, who ran for the 2019 Democratic Presidential Nominee, a Democrat? Or, is she an Independent? Or, is she, thankfully someone that blazes her own path? The four-term former US Rep from Hawaii is confirmed as a speaker this week at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Principals and actions speak louder than affiliations. Where is this all going? Only 2024 knows. Fox News is interested. She’s on the network a time or two each weeknight these days.
- And then there was one. Hawaii stands as the final state with a mask mandate, over two years after the start of the Chinese coronavirus pandemic. Every other state in the country has ended (some long ago) or announced plans to end their respective mask mandates in the very near future. What a waste of the fresh air that surrounds the islands. They’ll get wind of what’s right though, and soon. The trade winds are blowing and so are the 2022 midterm political winds.
- Soon, but not soon enough, we’ll forget words and phrases that dominated our lives for two years. Here are just a few, but also way too many. Social distancing. N95. Two weeks to flatten the curve. Spikes. Horse pills. Hydroxychloroquine. NIH. FDA. CDC. The new normal. Antivaxxer. Provaxx. Ivermectin. And the most absurd, we’re all in this, together. Correction, the most absurd, follow the science. Nugget 10 would not be possible without a shoutout to Dr. Anthony Fauci. Thanks, Tony.
As a reminder, today is 2/22/22. We cannot wait for 2:22 PM.