I bet they start on time today because they won’t want to run late for the remarks to Congress this evening. We will soon see!
Plus, it says “we will begin shortly” so now I’m sure of it! //
by WaterGirl| 58 Comments
This post is in: Biden Administration in Action, War in Ukraine
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West of the Cascades
And they have to make sure to get Zelenskyy a snack and a caffeinated beverage before he heads down the street! Poor guy, addressing a joint session of Congress at what must feel about 3:30 am in his brain.
dmsilev
@West of the Cascades: The good news is that I’m sure whatever plane he flew on was far more comfortable than coach class on let’s say Spirit.
AxelFoley
Second!
(Is that still a thing?)
edit: Dammit! Ninja’d by dmsilev!
West of the Cascades
@dmsilev: I was happy to see he was on a US Air Force jet from Rzeszow to DC.
WaterGirl
@AxelFoley: I hope not!
WaterGirl
@West of the Cascades: Do we know that for sure?
trollhattan
@West of the Cascades: Bet it’s also his first night not sleeping in a bomb shelter since February. Hope he’s mastered napping (a skill I wish I had).
WaterGirl
started!
Layer8Problem
@West of the Cascades: Hopefully a comfy and well-appointed one. He mentioned in Letterman’s interview he looked forward to a beach and a beer, after his work was done. May that time be soon.
Torrey
Biden jumped right in without waiting for Zelenskyy to get his earphone in. I trust Zelenskyy’s English is good enough to keep track of what Biden is saying.
Amir Khalid
@Torrey:
From what I’ve seen and heard, Zelenskyy’s English is pretty good.
JoyceH
Slow down, Z! That poor translator!
Torrey
@Amir Khalid: Excellent, as I understand it. However, it is difficult to understand a foreign language, particularly when you can’t look at the speaker’s mouth. And Biden’s articulation is (for good reason) not always entirely the clearest, even for native speakers. That said, Zelenskyy is doing a good job of responding at the appropriate points, and in any case I suspect–or at least hope–the White House shared a copy of Biden’s speech ahead of time.
Dan B
@WaterGirl: Airlive.net reports that Zelenskyy was on a Boeing C-40B and that a NATO F15 accompanied it.
trollhattan
Early reviews for the trip are in, from Ukraine.
Needed to look up vatnik, and found this:
“A steadfast jingoistic follower of propaganda from the Russian government.”
Also a puffy jacket.
WaterGirl
Please don’t ask anything stupid.
zhena gogolia
@JoyceH: I can’t stand the translator. I had to stop listening. Okay now he’s speaking English.
Amir Khalid
@WaterGirl:
Amen to that.
Anoniminous
@WaterGirl:
“To dream the impossible dream ……………. “
zhena gogolia
Now I switched to another one and the interpreter is just as bad. I guess this is the result of Russia being the hegemonic language — there aren’t as many good Ukrainian interpreters.
Layer8Problem
@zhena gogolia: New translator. Any reason for that, I wonder?
zhena gogolia
@Layer8Problem: I’m confused as to whether this is the official White House interpreter? First I was on ABC and it was a woman, now I’m on the White House YouTube and it’s a guy who’s even worse. I’m going to have to just read about it later.
WaterGirl
Good question.
Layer8Problem
@zhena gogolia: I’m watching on MSNBC, and they switched from the woman to the man. All I can say is both seemed to have trouble.
WaterGirl
The female translator is back. Much better. I am on the White House feed that’s embedded up top.
trollhattan
“Is there a Doocy in the room?”
HumboldtBlue
“his answer is yes” hahahahahahahaha
zhena gogolia
Husband is practicing lectures so I can’t have audio on right now.
zhena gogolia
@HumboldtBlue: What was that in response to?
WaterGirl
@zhena gogolia: The question was something like: “Can we just give Ukraine everything they need right now to put an end to the war?”
Alison Rose
I forgot to move to the new thread, LOL. Yeah, the translators were a little rough, but Zelenskyy does speak pretty quickly in Ukrainian, so I guess that would be tough to keep up with. I did appreciate him bringing the jokes :)
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I was wondering what I had missed, thank
ETA: I will, however, let someone else have my vatnik martini
JoyceH
When the two presidents looked at one another and laughed like buddies, I thought about that Zelenskyy meeting with Trump and that Zelenskyy side-eye.
HumboldtBlue
@WaterGirl:
What she said.
Old School
@zhena gogolia:
“Can we give Ukraine all capabilities it needs and liberate all territories sooner rather than later?”
Biden gestures at Zelenskyy and says, “His answer is yes’.”
“I agree,” responds Zelenskyy.
West of the Cascades
@WaterGirl: Saw this post of his flight path on Twitter – https://twitter.com/JulianRoepcke/status/1605611453888831489 – also tracks with him stepping off a USA aircraft upon touchdown in the US (which looks the same as the aircraft in that flight tracker)
WaterGirl
@Dan B: I see the message there: ” Attack this plane and you are going to war with NATO.”
trollhattan
@JoyceH: With the many folks who parse Russian television, I’m interested in the clips the next couple of days. Pretty sure they can’t merely ignore the trip and especially, this briefing and presser. How do they turn it into “Zelensky and Biden seek Russia baby brains to gobble”?
WaterGirl
@zhena gogolia: The female translator was 1,000 times better than the male.
The male translator (or is it interpreter because it’s live?) sounded like a dullard.
The woman spoke forcefully as Zelensky did.
Apropos of nothing, I did cringe when President Biden pronounced Zelensky as Zelinsky.
zhena gogolia
@WaterGirl: It’s not a terrible mistake, IMO.
The proper pronunciation isn’t anything like anything we’re all saying.
WaterGirl
Washignton Post:
WaterGirl
Washington Post:
WaterGirl
Washington Post:
WaterGirl
Washignton Post:
WaterGirl
Washington Post:
NotMax
@zhena gogolia
Headphones? Earbuds? IEMs?
WaterGirl
Washington Post:
zhena gogolia
@NotMax: Oh, that would require knowing something about technology.
WaterGirl
@zhena gogolia: That’s a good point!
FelonyGovt
@JoyceH: In that photo with TFG, I also noticed how much younger Zelenskyy looked and how much the war has aged him. It’s heartbreaking (one of the many, many heartbreaking things about this war).
WaterGirl
@FelonyGovt: Yes, it really has. He has gone from looking young and boyish to a man. I also think he must spend a substantial amount of time bulking up and becoming physically strong.
There may come a time when he has to fight for his life and he is putting himself in the best possible position to come out of that on top and alive.
Alison Rose
@WaterGirl: In a recent interview, he joked about being ready to fight putin “tomorrow” and then said “it would be the last summit for the president of the russian federation.” I don’t usually dig cockiness like that, but in this case, I loved it :) As much as putin tries to portray himself as some martial arts wizard, we know Zelenskyy would wipe the floor with him.
Gin & Tonic
@Alison Rose: Pedant me says that “translator” is someone who sits in his/her office with a text in one language and turns it into another; “interpreter” is one who, in real time, takes what is said in one language and says it in another. That’s a different skill, and it is hard.
Alison Rose
@Gin & Tonic: You’re right, interpreter in the right word to use here.
Steve in the ATL
@Gin & Tonic: @Alison Rose: is Balloon Juice having technical difficulties? I’m supposed to get an alert whenever there is pedantry afoot!
HumboldtBlue
@Gin & Tonic:
Yup, I learned that lesson covering criminal court. I was speaking with the Spanish language interpreter and used the word “translator” and he patiently explained to me the difference between that and “interpreter” and there is a distinct difference.
Torrey
@WaterGirl: The pin/pen merger, as it’s called, i.e., the shift of the “bet” vowel towards the “bit” vowel before a nasal consonant is just a feature of some dialects, not a matter of carelessness or inattention. Biden probably doesn’t know he’s doing it.
Soprano2
My husband learned the difference between translator and interpreter in Vietnam, when the interpreter wasn’t saying exactly what he said to the South Vietnamese officers because of the class difference between them. Hubby had to have a talk with him about it.