First, I have to bring you up to speed. They finally deleted it, but the Vice President and her husband, who is Jewish, had to delete their Hanukkah tweet. The first Jewish Second Gentleman got the story wrong. He claimed it was a story of Jews hiding with just a few drops of oil to last them, but the oil lasted eight days.
Well, he got a small part right. The story is actually about the Jews taking back the temple, refusing to assimilate their culture into the pagan culture despite demands of the King, Antiochus IV Epiphanes. They reconsecrated their temple and only had a day’s supply of olive oil, which lasted until more could be procured. The story is not about Jews hiding, but being open and refusing to submit.
The VP and her husband just got the story wrong and had to delete the tweet.
Goodness. It’s not that it was malicious or anything. It’s that the White House comms team didn’t catch it — like they didn’t have anyone who realized that this wasn’t the story of Hanukkah. The White House and VP comms shop should avoid putting the Second Gentleman in that sort of embarrassing position and did not.
Now, I need to get to Ukraine funding, which is dead for now.
Several Republican Senators tell me they have become increasingly convinced over several months that Joe Biden wants to kill the funding. This explains his very slow roll to provide Ukraine the deliverables he previously promised them. Biden has repeatedly promised munitions and other supplies to Ukraine and then never actually sent them, or slow rolled it.
At this point, the Democrats could get the Ukraine funding they want, but they will have to compromise on border security, which they have no desire to do and which Joe Biden is not willing to do. The thinking from these Senators is that Joe Biden is using President Zelensky as a prop against the GOP. Biden will blame the GOP for a lack of funding and use that lack of funding to both blame the GOP for a strategic failure in Ukraine and force Zelensky to compromise on land.
It’s already increasingly talked about in foreign policy circles that Zelensky is intransigent on the need to compromise while the Germans, French, British, and Americans are more willing to see Ukraine formally give up Crimea and other eastern territories.
Saying, “Sorry, Congress won’t budge so we can’t supply you weapons,” will force Zelensky to make decisions he has otherwise refused to make. Biden gets what he actually wants while also using the GOP as scapegoats.
This really is not rocket science except, perhaps, for a team that cannot even properly vet holiday tweets for the VP’s husband. Democrats do not control the House and only have nominal control of the Senate. If you want Ukraine funding, you have to give the GOP border funding.
The press always talks about the need for the GOP to compromise. Now it is the Democrats’ turn, or perhaps the Senators are right and Biden is playing politics through policy disagreement.
I have believed for some time now that Biden is not running the country. It becomes more evident every day. There is a snake out there somewhere.
Probably put the funding for Israel in here as well. I suspect he is already in trouble with the antisemite left and this way he can pretend he is supporting Israel and blame Maga Republicans