.@VP Harris just made the single most significant speech by an American leader in a global forum to prevent war since the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.
This is American leadership in action. @MSNBCweekends @LindseyReiser #munichsecurityconference pic.twitter.com/NTFu5f2cZJ
— Joel Rubin (@JoelMartinRubin) February 19, 2022
Vice President Harris is leading the U.S. delegation at the Munich Security Conference. In addition to bilateral meetings, she engaged with dozens of bipartisan members of Congress who agree that the United States remains committed to unity with our Allies. pic.twitter.com/4UpsccpwLj
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) February 19, 2022
I am so proud to have her as our Vice President and I hope to be able to say Madame President in 7-ish years.
Open thread
(OT, at Willow’s vet visit yesterday, the vet confirmed she’s probably a Maine Coon – either that or I’m raising a long-tailed Bobcat –here she is plotting with Trixie how to take over)
Baud
?
I hope she remembered to stare resolutely at Russia while she was there.
zhena gogolia
I wish I had time to watch but I’m mired in Dostoevsky.
Hope to catch it later after Notes from Underground.
MisterForkbeard
@Baud: It helps to look really constipated, IIRC. Actually being constipated is optional.
Baud
@MisterForkbeard:
She should eat more hard boiled eggs. That always clogs me up.
Another Scott
Thanks for this, TaMara. I’ll try to watch later.
WH.gov transcript
I have to think that the word “swift” is extremely intentional.
Cheers,
Scott.
Ken
@Another Scott: So which Republican Senator will be first to object to economic sanctions against Russia?
(Half-suspecting their actual reason would be that they’ve parked assets there. Yes, I know the Russian kleptocrats have spent a lot of effort getting their money out of the country, but these are Republicans we’re talking about.)
artem1s
Nice to see an administration that pays attention to the daily security briefings.
“See we told you
HillaryHarris would get us into a war”….Rose twitter in 4, 3, 2, 1….Mike E
The Cuban Missile Crisis came down to one Soviet sub commander who practically brig’d his No. 1 and the political officer to prevent a nuke tipped torpedo launch, the built-in safety requiring 3 keys. iirc it was after his death when the commander’s wife revealed his fervent wish to not go down as the monster who triggered WW3… I’m sure it wasn’t that simple but sometimes it takes one critical actor to be the safeguard against their superior’s recklessness/desperation.
Raoul Paste
It would be interesting to know whether Putin‘s allies are frantically trying to shield assets ASAP
The Thin Black Duke
It pisses me off that Biden has to run for a 2nd term because more than a few idiots on opposite sides of the political divide see Kamala Harris as the new Hillary Clinton.
Brachiator
@Raoul Paste:
There are Russian oligarchs who have been putting their money into safe havens for years. They may shed a tear over a few assets that they had not yet moved, but they will be very comfortable.
It might be interesting to see if the UK, for example, puts any restrictions on the wealthy Russians who live and invest there, or whether things will quietly continue as always, even if sanctions are put on Russia.
I wonder how much of this loot is invested in the US? Aside from the Russian purchase of Trump.
Mike E
@The Thin Black Duke: Also it’s no secret the repubs are relishing the fact that Biden has to run for a 2nd term as they know what a toll it takes on any candidate let alone a geriatric president, too.
artem1s
I’ve been wondering what the oligarchs and Russian mob bosses think of this corner Putin is painting himself/them into. the critical actor doesn’t always have to be motivated by moral obligation to make the right choice for the good of the many. lots of short term profitability with conflict and war but stability is more profitable in the long term and better for sustaining current assets and territories. US and NATO seizing assets in the US and EU is going to be really bad for business.
wouldn’t it be ironic if the result of Putin overstepping his ‘authority’ was a step toward fair elections in Russia and a hard backlash against the oligarch system? Isn’t that what Russia/Putin really fears will happen if Ukraine is allowed to pick their own leaders and make their own choices about the EU and NATO? that Russian citizens will demand the same rights the citizens of their vassal states have?
question is how long before the Russia mob and the oligarchs step in and demand a more stable administration?
Formerly EmperorofIceCream
My hope is that after the midterms Uncle Joe does 1 final act of supreme patriotism and resigns(health reasons?) so that MVP can be MP for 2 years. The battle is in the process of being joined. We need younger leadership and the VP represents the future. Future is almost now.
Ohio Mom
@Mike E: Maybe — if all goes well — and the two of them are re-elected, Biden will resign after a short while, leaving Harris as president.
That is the only way I can imagine our country getting a Democratic woman president, let alone one who isn’t white (I can imagine a Republican white woman president getting elected).
ETA: I see Formerly Emperor of ice Cream types faster than I do, got here first
Philbert
She should smile more. Or Less. Or when she does smile right, it’s too authentic. /s
Cameron
@The Thin Black Duke: I don’t know. I think she’d have a better shot after getting jumped on for four years than after getting jumped on for eight. They never let up – hell, they’re still not letting up – on Hillary.
debbie
Willow’s like half a Steve!
Wapiti
@artem1s: I’m not sure how Italy got control of their organized crime, but it wasn’t through the mob bosses’ efforts.
Aside, I wouldn’t mind having Democratic leadership in public discussions with Italian leadership/judges/prosecutors discussing how to get control back to the people.
artem1s
@Brachiator:
The Russian mob is heavily invested in this country. Not just capital assets, but human assets who will intervene on their behalf to grease the wheels of local government for them. The whole reason Putin interfered in 2016 was to get the sanctions lifted for invading Crimea. And the GOP was happy to help as was Comey and others who’d rather not lose their access to Russian power and money. If anything they probably have more assets in the US now because they have spent the last 5-10 years bailing out one bad investment after another to keep TFG afloat.
debbie
@Baud:
I heard reporting that Putin wasn’t attending. Were surrogates used?
Brachiator
@Philbert:
Well done!
For some people, a woman politician, especially a black woman politician, can never do anything quite right.
And this hate doesn’t just come from right wing fools. But it is goddam tiresome.
Starfish
@The Thin Black Duke: There are a bunch of men and women deep in their misogyny who are not going to allow her to be elected president.
We can’t ignore the misogynoir aspect of it, either.
We have to remember that a bunch of people funding campaigns are wealthy white men with very delicate feelings.
debbie
@Starfish:
Then it’s time those feelings were shredded.
Starfish
She repeatedly mentioned having a bipartisan delegation with her. Do we know who went with her?
artem1s
@Wapiti:
I’m not suggesting the mob bosses will help, just that they will eventually see Putin as a threat and intervene. Question is whether it will happen before the people decide they have had enough and want what Ukraine now has. it has happened before that the authoritarians didn’t act quickly enough and delayed a change in leadership until it was too late. Ceausescu comes to mind.
Mike E
@Ohio Mom: Heh, this very scenario happened on a recent tv series which I won’t spoil for those who are watching (you jackals be good now, you know who you are ?)
RaflW
@Ken: Lindsey Graham is going to find that the MAGA tiger by the tail that he’s been holding to for dear life is as likely to bite him as drag him across whatever finish line he envisions for himself.
That said, at least there are enough Republicans willing to go to Munich not to look like a US shitshow. The infighting with the GOP is going to erupt none the less.
Another Scott
@debbie: Nope, Putin’s government boycotted.
Cheers,
Scott.
Another Scott
@Starfish: A few people were mentioned in the “senior government official” briefing yesterday (at WH.gov). Lindsey, Whitehouse, and others were mentioned. Both Houses, both parties.
HTH a little.
Cheers,
Scott.
pluky
@Another Scott: At this level of diplo-speech EVERY word is intentional and carefully chosen.
RaflW
@Brachiator: I go back to William Gibson and his conception of The Klept, centered in post-jackpot London. One suspects that a significant real estate collapse would ripple thru London and radiate outwards (and also hit Toronto and other global elite cities) if there really were far-reaching sanctions on Oligarchs outside of Russia.
Amir Khalid
@debbie:
It doesn’t appear that there was a Russian delegation. That would have been really awkward for everyone.
Starfish
@debbie: How do we do that?
1) They have most of the money.
2) They have the leadership positions in the party.
3) They have the leadership positions in the press.
The generational shift is not going to happen until some money gets behind making it happen. I expect Gen X to be skipped mostly here. The Millennials are going to need a lot of money behind them because they carried so much debt.
I talked to some of them yesterday, and I was like, “Oh, I see why you need to burn it all down now.”
I was talking to women in tech who had finished college in the 2005-2009 period. They were all carrying college debt even though they are in lucrative tech jobs. Many have young children and had little access to child care in the pandemic. Some of their jobs had provided very little maternity leave (less than 12 weeks) with some or most of those being partially paid.
Remember, these women are in tech so should be getting good pay and benefits, and I was stunned.
Also, we expect it will cost us all about $200,000-$300,000 to put our kids through college, so we are holding back on buying houses with these obscene valuations.
Kirk Spencer
@Starfish: No, I think it’s more the misogyny.
My quiet reference point is 2016. One of several sources of data is Pew’s report.
Overall the difference between men and women voting for Clinton was 13%. For whites, the difference was 13%. For blacks, the difference was 17% – 3% of whom could not bring themselves to vote for her opponent instead.
Prior to that election I sat in a lunchroom at work (warehouse), and a couple of black men were going on about how while they couldn’t stand T, they just didn’t think the nation was ready yet for a female president.
It ain’t race, it’s gender. Barring something even more ridiculous than TFG, VP Harris will not be president unless she has to replace the president. And I’m not sanguine about her chances at re-election in that event.
dammit.
(edited to add link to Pew’s report)
Brachiator
@Another Scott:
Interesting. Maybe a little hopeful.
The US has got to show unity over this Ukraine issue.
Starfish
@Kirk Spencer: I think if Harris ran for election, some money would get behind her; but a lot of money would get behind some less qualified man.
Look at the focus on Buttigieg, both before and after the election. Before the election, there was a lot of curiosity about him as a candidate. Now, there are a lot of homophobic attacks on him from the right because they seem him as the real threat to stealing their voters.
debbie
@Starfish:
You expose them for the monsters they are. You loudly and consistently tear apart their pretty words and expose the rot and the treason in every sentence.
I’m done with empathy. Fuck these fucks. They’re destroying democracy and shredding our country.
Another Scott
@Brachiator: I found a list. Shaheen.senate.gov:
Cheers,
Scott.
Miss Bianca
@The Thin Black Duke: I always figured on Biden running for a second term.
debbie
@Another Scott:
@Amir Khalid:
Thanks to you both. I thought that’s what I’d heard very early this morning on BBB, but I haven’t heard NPR say the same thing.
I just hope Zelensky gets back home safely.
debbie
@Another Scott:
Leave it to Portman not to miss a free ride anywhere.
Starfish
@Another Scott: Tuberville and Ronnie Jackson are on this trip? What did everyone else do to deserve this punishment?
Another Scott
@debbie: There are indeed some surprising names in that list. It goes to show that there really are ways to work together on some issues even with people who are insane on too many topics. We need to keep that in mind, even as we work to elect people who agree with us.
Cheers,
Scott.
Ruckus
@The Thin Black Duke:
THIS. Absolutely this.
It is actually true though. She is strong. She is very smart. She is a very good speaker. She understands the world. She likes/believes in equality. She believes in the rule of fair laws and their enforcement. She leads by example, not by force.
I believe I could say that about either one of them.
Brachiator
@Kirk Spencer:
I wonder how many of these black men said that America was not ready for a black president back in 2007.
I also wonder how many of these guys did not vote at all, rather than vote for Trump.
In any event, people saw just how bad Trump actually was, and voted for Biden in 2020.
In California, Republicans doubled down on trying to push their odious beliefs, and became a minority party. They cannot win statewide elections.
On a national level, the GOP is doubling down on the same things that sank the California GOP.
I agree with you that there are people who are not ready for a woman president, or a black woman president.
But it is also true that Hillary Clinton won more popular votes than Trump. A lot of people were very ready for a female president. We just have to turn that into electoral votes.
Geminid
@Starfish: That is a big Congressional delegation at the Security Conference! According to ShaheenSenate.gov, Democratic Senators include Shaheen (NH), Whitehouse (RI), Durbin (IL), Warner (VA), Klobucher (MN), Murphy (CT) and Koons (DE).
Republican Senators are Graham (SC), Sasse (NE), Sullivan (AL), Ernst (IA), Portman (OH), and Tuberville (AL) for comic relief.
The delegation also includes Democratic Representatives Langevin (RI), Crow (CO), Malinowski (NJ), and Slotkin (MI); and Republicans Banks (IN), Carter (GA), and Jackson (TX). Yes, that Jackson.
Ruckus
@Brachiator:
It cost them, at best, pennies to purchase SFB. The currency that SFB trades in is bullshit. So in that issue the relative value for them was pocket change.
topclimber
@Kirk Spencer: And yet that woman with all her baggage won the popular presidential vote.
Brachiator
@Ruckus:
Makes you wonder how many other US politicians have been bought off by the Russians.
It’s well known that a number of UK politicians, especially Tories, are tight with Russian oligarchs.
Russians have invested in UK property, bought sports teams, etc.
Ruckus
@Miss Bianca:
I see this as a realistic concept, Biden running again.
However, he chose Harris as his running mate. He had choices, this is the one he made and I think there may be more to it than just who she is. He’s been in politics a very long time, 36 yrs as senator, 8 yrs as VP, now president, he’s 79 yrs old. I’m not so sure he’s going to run for a second term. And he’s a damn good president. I believe he chose Harris for his running mate for a reason. First, he felt comfortable that if necessary she could step in and take over. Second, that if she proved herself the leader he thinks she is, which she just did today, then enough of the country will see this as well. A small secret, I voted for Harris in the primary because I see this as well.
debbie
@Another Scott:
Absolutely. We must not do what the GOP chose to do; otherwise, both parties are broken.
Another Scott
Meanwhile, gradually and then suddenly… AndroidPolice:
Lots of things have the potential to change for the better very quickly. We have to keep working for progress.
Cheers,
Scott.
MagdaInBlack
@debbie: When she grows into those legs, she’ll be a full Steve !
She’s beautiful.
zhena gogolia
Thanks to my P/T exercises I got to watch the whole thing. She was fantastic, especially i the Q&A. HOW COULD WE FIND A MORE QUALIFIED PRESIDENT??? She is unbelievable.
debbie
@Another Scott:
So much for “secretly.” ?
Baud
@Another Scott:
Apple will turn all their text bubbles green, and they will cave.
@zhena gogolia:
I don’t know. On this blog, maybe.
zhena gogolia
Oh, TaMara, what an animal paradise you have there!
zhena gogolia
@Baud: Yeah, right. ?
zhena gogolia
She makes me proud to be an American.
Starfish
@Another Scott: I am so excited about this one for several reasons.
The growth opportunity that should be there with some of these jobs is not there. When you are a tech company, you really should be investing in your workers to train them in more lucrative skills if they want them.
We read this piece in the Washington Post last week about someone doing the Starbucks unionization, right?
Ruckus
@Brachiator:
Vlad is reported to be one of the richest people in the world. Putin’s Palace on the shore of the Black Sea is, is, is, hell I’m speechless it’s so over the top pompous, arrogant, obscene. Especially considering how a large portion of his country live. Russia has had tons of oligarchs for most of it’s history, people who live large, on the backs of others. (Notice the similarity to a number of the more conservative political side of the US – and other countries, I can think of one multi country family in the TV “news not news” business) These people live lives of luxury and pompous arrogance that no one deserves. Russia may have a history of them, but so do many other countries. And many people who have the skill levels of moldy toast seem to manage to have the ability to suck up to those like vlad who seems to like or at least tolerate them, like they do the rest of their holdings.
Villago Delenda Est
But…but…vagina! And too much melanin!
Wapiti
@RaflW: I think that sanctions on Russia would mostly hit the high to very high end of the housing markets. There just isn’t enough inventory to have it impact the middle and lower bits.
Villago Delenda Est
@Ruckus: Tumbrel rides. For the lot.
J R in WV
@Geminid:
Does Sen Tuberville need help with his seat belt on government aircraft? Seems that he would…!!
Ruckus
@Villago Delenda Est:
Pfffft….
Ruckus
@Villago Delenda Est:
I can’t actually disagree….
Ruckus
@J R in WV:
Do you think he understands what it’s for?
Skepticat
Tamara, I don’t know how to break it to you that those two already have taken over. And Maine coons think they’re dogs in any case. I miss mine every day.
J R in WV
@Ruckus:
Nope. Not unless he’s rear-ended someone on a recruiting trip. He wasn’t even a good football coach, really.
Ben Cisco, MSCIS Padawan
@zhena gogolia: Indeed she is. Biden chose well, and I will trust in whatever decision he makes in regards to running for re-election. Harris can do the job, the Divine 9 has her back, and the fascists/racists/misogynists can, both individually AND collectively, kiss my ass. I care not one Iota about easing their discomfort, about their lowered expectations for my people, for their beliefs that get reinforced by Fishsticks Geobbels every night. They need to LOSE, and get it shoved in their faces hard.
RaflW
@Another Scott: Ernst, Tuberville, Jackson, Issa?
Definitely sending different signals in their “home markets” than in Munich. Curious.
Another Scott
ObNotAllHeroesWearCapes, …
(via SenLouiseLucas)
Cheers,
Scott.
Jay C
Am I the only one with the thought that, perhaps, *Munich* was a sub-optimal choice for this Security Conference? I mean, it’s a good thing that it’s happening, but unfortunately, I think the term “Munich Conference” just has too many negative historical connotations.
And while I too, am quite impressed that VP Harris is taking point on US diplomatic efforts to manage the Ukraine crisis, I did note that her participation in the Conference (still less that she is leading the US delegation) has been (like Munich in general) widely ignored or downplayed in the MSM – just typical, I suppose, that when i did a Search for “Kamala Harris” at the Washington Post site, most of the articles (save one) were basically about how much of a “failure” she has been as VP
ETA: I see that the MSC was a pre-scheduled event seeming supposed to be devoted to climate-change issues. Still good that MVP is taking a lead
Jay C
@RaflW:
I think that list of Dems and GOPers was for a WH briefing on the Munich Conference, not the Conference itself. Though I think you’re quite right about the different messaging they are likely to be doing.
And BTW, WTF would let assclowns like Darrel Issa or Ronny Jackson into a serious FP briefing, anyway?
Brachiator
@Ruckus:
Putin is certainly a piece of work. His ego is risking much for the sake of territorial ambition.
pajaro
@zhena gogolia:
I just finished reading it last week for a book group.
Salty Sam
Hey, they dodged a bullet- could’ve included Louis Gohmert.
rikyrah
Willow ???
WereBear
Maine Coons rock!
Mary G
Isn’t this conference an ongoing, high level thing? ISTR the media coverage of every minute and the swooning for Dick Cheney’s steely-eyed.speeches about how the WOT win is right around the corner for real this time. Sunday shows using their whole hour.on it.
Google:
Geminid
@Salty Sam: Gohmert is probably busy campaigning for Texas Attorney General. The primary is March 1st.
eachother
The speech gave me a glad and proud after-effect.
VVP is behaving badly. I’m thinking last act of desperate, insecure looser. The cost of his demise may be incomprehensible. The epilogue though may be more of what we hoped for after the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union?
zhena gogolia
@pajaro: How’d you like it? (I actually don’t like it much, but it’s important!)
Formerly disgruntled in Oregon
@eachother: MVP (yaaay!) vs VVP (boooo!)
Redshift
@The Thin Black Duke:
They are always going to see any woman who aspires to be president as the new Hillary Clinton, because even Hillary Clinton wasn’t about Hillary Clinton. They just happened to get an early start on softening Hillary up because she got some real power as first lady, and didn’t pretend she wasn’t well-suited to it.
Fox is pumping out “disastrous vice presidency” propaganda for blatantly obvious reasons. (I mean, the idea that a vice presidency could be important enough to be disastrous is ludicrous on its face.) What we need is a counter-narrative so people who aren’t Fox-heads react to their code words (Solyndra! Russia hoax!) with confusion and dismiss them. Biden clearly understand that, and is giving Harris space to be presidential. We probably need to do more, but I’m not sure exactly what.
Redshift
@Mary G:
It is an annual thing, but this year is different because of the ongoing security situation, so it’s getting more attention. Russian diplomats ordinarily attend, but they refused to send anyone because (paraphrasing here) they complain everyone there is biased against them.
Yarrow
@Geminid: Early voting in Texas for the primaries is already underway – started Monday.
Redshift
@Jay C:
Nope, that’s for the conference itself.
PST
@Jay C: I think it’s favorable that the conference is in Munich. It makes it easy to draw the parallel between the excuses Hitler used in Czechoslovakia and the those Putin is working up in Ukraine for intervening to protect oppressed German/Russian speakers. It’s good to remember the degree to which Russian is following the script that last brought a major war to Europe. It is a reminder as well that appeasement of a megalomaniac is futile.
Geminid
@Jay C: I think the item at ShaheenSenator.gov indicated that all these members of Congress were in the Munich delegation. The Security Conference has all kinds of panels to occupy visiting dignitaries while the heavy hitters meet and do business. I like to think that they set up a special one for Senator Tuberville, on scrapbooking. Just give him a book with a lot of loose X’s and O’s. And a glue gun fixed on low heat, so he can’t hurt himself.
Ruckus
@Redshift:
At this point we can peal off stragglers and the not completely lost racists. All 200 of them. The world will change around them, it has gone far in my lifetime, and no I’m not saying it’s in any way done, it’s humanity, I doubt it will ever be completely done. But progress is possible, it has and is happening but it never goes in a smooth progression, it’s starts, stops, backups, disasters. But like time it moves on. And there are more of us than them. We all need to do better and work a bit more cohesively and it will move faster. But we all need to be aware of what needs to be done, President Biden is. He is a better president than I expected him to be, and I knew he’d be good. After the absolute fucking disaster of SFB and company, look where we are a year later. Damn, I’m impressed.
Ruckus
@Geminid:
First, why not? OK he’d likely burn the place down so sure.
Second, do you actually think he can read, I mean I know his previous work, but is it possible?
Third, who cares it tuberville.
Ruckus
@PST:
This.
trnc
@Ken:
Rand Paul is the safe bet.
debbie
@Geminid:
He’s exactly what Texas deserves. //
Subsole
@The Thin Black Duke:
Yep, thank Bernie for pipelining angry Ron Paul dudebroguytarians into the tent. Fucker made a steep climb damn-near vertical for the sake of his ego…
I’m not a socialist, but if I was, I’d really, really hate that worthless prick.
@Starfish: Ernst, Graham. Not sure who the other Quisling-caucus member was.
Subsole
@Brachiator:
I take your point…
But.
Did the California GOP rig the election infrastructure before they doubled down? Because the answer to that question may produce sone VERY divergent results…
Subsole
@Ben Cisco, MSCIS Padawan:
I just wanted to let you know I am borrowing “Fishsticks Goebbels”. Made me chuckle.
Subsole
@RaflW:
Are we SURE they’re there to help?
rikyrah
Nkem™️ (@nkem) tweeted at 7:49 AM on Sat, Feb 19, 2022:
President Biden was one of the best VPs we’ve ever had. I appreciate the fact that he’s determined to ensure that #MVP Harris is a better VP than he ever was. I have so much respect for him. I was wrong for doubting him in the primaries. He’s a good man.
(https://twitter.com/nkem/status/1495032900567379970?s=02)
Subsole
@Redshift:
Beating the everliving shit out of the Beltway until they start ACTUALLY telling both sides of the story would help…
Subsole
@debbie:
No the fuck he ain’t.
Geminid
@Subsole: Well, Goofy Gohmert won’t be Texas’ next Attorney General anyway. Neither will George P. Bush, Eva Guzman, or Ken Paxton. Former Galveston Mayor Joe Jaworski will be the Attorney General Texans deserve.
Geminid
@Geminid: The Times of Israel just put up an interesting article about a meeting today between Vice President Harris and Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz. There’s a nice picture of the two making a double handshake to emphasize their nations’ close relationship.
According to the Times article, the JCPOA is expected to be revived:
Gantz, a former Israeli Defense Force Chief of Staff who reminds me of Gene Hackman, said about today’s meeting:
Cheryl Rofer has been following the JCPOA talks on her Twitter feed and linking to longer articles on the subject.
Brachiator
@Subsole:
We will all face some difficult decisions if the GOP successfully rigs voting across the country.