What Zelenskyy understands about Trump’s smarmy lickspittle that too many American elites did not
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I know we’re now on thread 4 on the disgrace at the White House today, but I wanted to highlight this exchange, which is at the end of the clip Rob posted:
This is absolutely infuriating. Just shameful, grubby, behavior from highly emotional Trump and sidekick Vance. A prime-time selling out of an ally and for what? To succor favor with the Kremlin?
[image or embed]— Jason "Red5" Lyall (@jaylyall.bsky.social) February 28, 2025 at 9:53 AM
I think that's exactly what they did. Vance's position has always been to say things about Ukraine and its war effort that no self-respecting Ukrainian can let go unanswered and then act outraged that there's pushback. He's a staggeringly dishonest person. https://t.co/ZP17RD3QA2— Sir Humphrey (@bdquinn) February 28, 2025
Needless to say, he has, to those of us who disagree that Trump and Vance actually embody the country:
Zelenky stood in front of the American government, in the seat of our democracy, and thanked our entire nation. Every farmer, teacher, engineer, nurse, and cop. Thanked us on behalf of his entire country. youtu.be/7gjwlCe5T6M?…
[image or embed]— Jonathan V. Last (@jvl.bsky.social) February 28, 2025 at 10:09 AM
But our president believes that "the state" is inseparable from his person. So none of that counted. Trump demands gratitude *personally*, to *him*. And any gratitude expressed to America when Trump was not its supreme leader isn't just worthless—he sees it as a betrayal.— Jonathan V. Last (@jvl.bsky.social) February 28, 2025 at 10:09 AM
Trump is a sui generis phenomenon, for better and mostly worse, and has always had a large number of detractors. But the creation of JD Vance is a very instructive story. There is nothing remotely likeable about him — a smarmy, smug Ivy League venture capitalist and authoritarian reactionary whose contempt for anyone less fortunate is palpable. And yet he was promoted for years as a Sensible, Reasonable Conservative and a Working Class Whisperer based on an awful book the editors and pundits promoting him either didn’t read or didn’t understand.
People who think (or pretend to think) that Zelenskyy would get a better deal if he would kiss the ass of the bullies who brought him in for a humiliation ritual are either falling for Vance’s obvious con or are outright collaborators:
Let's imagine a different scenario in which Zelenskyy eats his words, smiles and nods at Vance, and signs the deal. How is that world different?
I cannot emphasize enough that the deal itself is *bullshit*. It is not in isolation helpful to Ukraine. https://t.co/yriMA1fSoe— Robert Farley (@drfarls) February 28, 2025
In addition to everything else, imagine you can take Trump’s word that he will deliver promised money at the back end! I mean, if you really believe this you should be legally prohibited from owning sharp objects.