August 18, 2025

NY Times headline reminds me of what we hear on so many cop shows. It also reminds me of how often TV cops don't say these words for the sake of drama.

 

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I was struck by the title of this article in The New York Times:

The article begins:

This time, when President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine arrives in the Oval Office, he will come with backup.

An array of European prime ministers and presidents are flying in for the meeting on Monday to make sure that a viable, defensible Ukraine survives whatever carving up of its territory is about to happen at the negotiating table.

But they are also there to make certain that the trans-Atlantic alliance emerges intact. President Trump’s instant reversal on the critical issue of obtaining a cease-fire before negotiating over land or security guarantees has left many of them shaken, and wondering whether Mr. Trump had once again been swayed by President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.

By most accounts, the European officials want to ensure that Mr. Trump has not pivoted too close to the Russian side, and does not try to strong-arm Mr. Zelensky into a deal that will ultimately sow the seeds of Ukraine’s dissolution. And they want to safeguard against the risk of the United States, the linchpin of European security since NATO’s creation in 1949, undermining that interest.

This reminded me of the TV cop show trope when a cop, sometimes alone and sometimes with a partner, is about to enter the house of a suspect they believe is dangerous.

When we watch the show we may say “call for backup you idiot or idiots. Sometimes one partner says it to another. 

For dramatic effect the cop, or pair of cops, never wait for backup. They always enter the house by themselves.

Officer Zelenskyy went into the criminals lair by himself the first time. We know what happened to him then.

Now he is being more than prudent. He is being damn smart. 

In fact, since he knows the nature of the threat and that the crime boss he’s about to confront has been laying in wait for him and has consulted with his international criminal counterpart, he is bringing his version of a SWAT team.

I say, good for him.

Addendum:

I was pleased that other media didn’t use the word “backup.” For example, the AP:

Excerpt:

KYIV (AP) — European and NATO leaders announced Sunday that they’ll be joining President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Washington for crucial talks with President Donald Trump, rallying around the Ukrainian leader after his exclusion from Trump’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The remarkable move — with one European leader after another announcing that they’ll be at Zelenskyy’s side when he travels to the White House on Monday — was an apparent effort to ensure that the meetinggoes better than the last one in February, when Trump berated the Ukrainian president in a heated Oval Office encounter.

This is how The Washington Post put it:

How’s that for a wishy-washy title?

The BBC focused on the day itself rather than the fact that Zelenskyy is being accompanied by other world leaders:

The worst title I saw was this from the UK edition of The Guardian.

It seems obvious to me that whoever wrote this insulting unserious title is patting themselves on the back thinking how fucken clever they are. In fact, it suggests that Zelenskyy is weak and not smart.

Afterthought:

If there’s any doubt that Trump has become an enemy, all Zelenskyy and the European leaders have to do is read this Trump Truth Social post:

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August 17, 2025

The woke jokes and belligerent bloviating won't save Trump from his disasters, let alone owning the catastrophe that will cost lives, by Hal M. Brown


 Trump doesn’t care about what’s in The Smithsonian. He’s just puking up another distraction. It’s an unfunny woke joke. It’s along the lines of his Kennedy Center Awards nonsense. It got a lot of coverage, much of it mocking his insatiable need for attention, but it was a distraction.

The distractions seemed to be meant to take public attention away from the Epstein matter, the bad jobs numbers, and the failure the tariffs, but that was two days ago. 

Right now they aren’t about a “mere” disaster, they are about a catastrophe which he wants you to ignore and desperately wants to go away. This, of course, is the Alaska meeting and the war in Ukraine. 

If he watches MSNBC, and he’s known to do this, he will see discussions about the failure of the Putin meeting and how he reacted:

How he reacted to news about the Putin meeting failing shows us how this got to him:

This one reeks of flop sweat:

Now the rubber is hitting the road. He has to achieve an end to the war. He has an extraordinary meeting tomorrow. Previously we expected Zelinskyy to be meeting with Trump alone. Now we learn he won’t be meeting with Trump by himself:

I don’t know whether Zelenskyy thought of this or not, but if he did it is brilliant. I hope the other seven world leaders fly in and join him in a caravan of limos driving up to the White House for the meeting. That would be some photo op even before they go inside. Trump probaly will have his minions in the meeting as he did the last time. Monday Zelenskyy will have his own heavy hitters. They aren’t just national leaders, but they also have their own armies.

Trump won’t end the war, because doing so would mean Ukraine giving up territory to Russia. He can’t allow this because Putin won’t let him. He knows this. This will all end up in a huge stamp on his presidential promise to end the war saying it was an epic fail (hence my illustration).

What Trump is likely to do is escalate the war he can control, at least to some extent. He thinks he can control it. This is his war against Amercian cities and to a lesser extent his war on woke.

The city war isn’t going as well as he hoped it would. Consider coverage like this:

He is counting on the active duty military to act as his SS, but whether they will do this remains to be determined. If you subscribe to The NY Times read what David French, a combat veteran himself, had to say about this here.

Excerpt:

Much of the commentary surrounding President Trump’s decision to deploy National Guard troops to Los Angeles and now Washington, D.C., has centered on its impact on American democracy. Do we want to live in a republic that puts military boots on city streets at the whim of a politician, rather than in response to an extraordinary need?

He concludes:

I don’t doubt that members of the military deployed in Washington will still try to show the way. A vast majority have far too much integrity, far too much discipline and far too much affection for their fellow Americans to become the kind of jackbooted oppressors you see in the worst militaries abroad. They’ll perform a misguided mission with honor.

When that mission is a vengeful, partisan deployment to American streets, however, it risks straining the social compact that binds a democracy to its military. The Army may want to hold the line, but Donald Trump does not, and few people can do more damage to our nation’s armed forces than a commander in chief who is consumed with rage and drunk with power.

This is my reaction to this:

Trump has his Devil eyes on Democratic cities. Some point out that the local courts will impede this, but let’s not forget that while Trump so far has been able to control his people with guns (and now may arm the soldiers in DC) cities also have their own people with guns. The New York City Police have about 33,000 sworn officers. 

Whether Trump thinks his dictatorial control has hardened to the extent he goes beyond making threats remains to be seen. Still, these threats provide a distraction.

As for the war on woke, while this gets media attention, when it comes right down to it outrageous as trying to rewrite American history it doesn’t matter all that much in the great scheme of things. I doubt Trump cares about woke, even when it comes to drag shows or trans people in sports. His rants are a performance for people who do care. I doubt that most of those who do care believe Trump care as much as they do if he cares at all.

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August 16, 2025

Real dictator dominates doddering desirous dictator from his disembarking plane to his leaving on a victory flight. By Hal M. Brown


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I could be wrong, but the photo shows the only time Putin touched the railing, very lightly at that, as he walked down the center of the airplane stairs without holding onto the railing.

I am sure he deliberately walked in a way to show his confidence and youth. In comparision (if I recall) Trump had a hand on the railing and watched every step lest he fall. (Holding onto stair railings is highly recommended for elderly people in articles about aging safely (article )

Then he walked in a serpentine fashion down the red carpet. I love how Peter Falk used that word in the movie “The In-Laws:” (Read article)

Here’s a video of the famous serpentine scene. 

Trump would probably claim he was walking the weave. This is how The Daily Beast put it:

This is from the UK Daily Express US:

This made the news all over the world. Below are some examples:

MSN

Watch Video: Trump struggles to walk straight as he treads the ... - MSN

During a high-stakes summit in Alaska, US President Donald Trump appeared unsteady while approaching Russian President Vladimir Putin. The meeting, aimed at discussing the Ukraine war, was called ...

Express

Donald Trump health fears as he 'staggers' to meet Putin | US | News ...

1 day agoDonald Trump walked slowly down the stairs and then appeared to 'stagger'.

BBC

Watch: Moment Trump and Putin meet in Alaska for Ukraine talks - BBC

1 day agoThis is the moment US President Trump and Russia's President Putin simultaneously disembarked their planesin Alaska to meet for talks about the Ukraine war.

Newsweek

Donald Trump Stumbles on Plane Stairs - Newsweek

Jun 9, 2025President Donald Trump stumbled as he walked up the stairs to board Air Force One on Sunday, quickly correcting himself.

The Independent

Trump rolls out the red carpet for Putin as leaders shake hands on ...

1 day agoPresident Donald Trump rolled out the red carpet for Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, greeting the leader warmly before they made the unusual move of departing together in the U.S ...

indy100

Video of Trump walking down stairs raises concern: "There is ... - indy100

Former President Donald Trump has been mocked by critics after a video of him walking down the stairs from his planehas been circulating on social media.As he descended the stairs, the 78-year-old can been seen holding onto the handrail where the press awaited him on the tarmac.From the clip, it's ...

Irish Star

Donald Trump 'intensely focused' as he struggles to walk down stairs in ...

Jun 17, 2024A video clip that shows ex-President Donald Trump, appearing to be fearful of taking a fall, cautiously negotiating his way down the steps of his private jet, prior to a campaign event last Saturday has gone viral online.

The Mirror

Donald Trump health fears intensify as he 'can't walk straight' at ...

1 day ago Donald Trump sparked fears when he touched down in Alaska to meet with Vladimir Putin - as he appeared to be struggling to walk in a straight line. The 79-year-old President is holding talks ...

Putin, who will view videos of this, knows he is dealing with a doddering old man who he can easily dominate.

Take my word for it that these are just some of the articles about this.

In all fairness, there was at least one article about Putin which suggested he was not well. This was also in the UK Express:

'I’m a body language expert – this is 1 giveaway from Trump summit that Putin's not well'

EXCLUSIVE: Vladimir Putin's "physical presentation" was notable, Darren Stanton pointed out, in particular his "laboured" walk from the plane.

The author noted signs that Putin might have been experiencing some pain, and he described how Trump tried to show dominance with his handshake and touching. As Trump was doing this, I suspect Putin, the former KGB agent, was thinking “Trump can play his dominance game, but I’m going to ÐµÐ±Ð°Ñ‚ÑŒ the guy.” This expert concluded as follows:

“From a power dynamic standpoint, Mr Putin appeared dominant. But the subtle cues, especially in his expressions and physical movement, indicate he is experiencing discomfort or health issues."

Update

This is from this article:

Excerpt:

“The first page in the printed packet disclosed the sequence of meetings for August 15, including the specific names of the rooms inside the base in Anchorage where they would take place. It also revealed that Trump intended to give Putin a ceremonial present,” the report states.

My comment:

What was the present? Was it a map of what used to be a country called Ukraine renamed West Russia with Kiev renamed Putingrad?

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NY Times headline reminds me of what we hear on so many cop shows. It also reminds me of how often TV cops don't say these words for the sake of drama.

  Read Previous Posts I was struck by the title of  this article  in The New York Times: The article begins: This time, when President Volod...