Glenn Greenwald and Tucker Carlson sit down and discuss the status of the current “war” in Ukraine.  The subject of the reality around the war comes as a consequence of several media outlets who have begun writing about the State Dept and CIA looking for an exit from World War Reddit.   WATCH:

According to sources who are speaking to NBC News, U.S. and EU officials are gently beginning to talk to Ukraine government officials about what steps might need to be taken to bring an end to the Ukraine-Russia war. Obviously, for those who do not pretend, we all know the decision to end this conflict comes down to the USA telling Ukraine President Zelenskyy to open peace talks with Russia.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr has once again cancelled elections within the nation, preferring to continue his rule by unilateral fiat.

A growing opposition movement to Zelenskyy is very visible, and the Ukraine President has refused to consider a need to negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

KYIV (Reuters) -Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy dismissed as irresponsible any notion of holding an election in wartime as talks have heated up recently whether Kyiv should be voting when under Russia’s assault.

Calling for unity to avoid pointless political discussion, Zelenskiy’s comments appeared to rule out any suggestion Ukraine should hold a vote to demonstrate its democratic credentials remain in good order.

[…] In his nightly video address, Zelenskiy said it was critical to concentrate on the military challenges facing Ukraine as it tries to push out Russian forces occupying nearly one-fifth of its land more than 20 months after launching their invasion.

“We all understand that now, in wartime, when there are many challenges, it is utterly irresponsible to engage in topics related to an election in such a frivolous manner,” he said. (read more)

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Much is being made of the New York Times/Siena poll of background states [Full Poll DATA HERE].  Indeed, the professional Democrats are apoplectic with the results, and the deeper you dig into the poll the worse it looks for Joe Biden.

(NYT) – Trump leads Biden in five of the six states — Pennsylvania, Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and Michigan — which would likely be enough to give him the 270 electoral votes needed to win. Biden leads in the sixth state, Wisconsin.  Trump leads by at least four percentage points in each of the other five states:

[NYT Article Link] – [ Crosstabs Link ]

Extending the results, if the election were held today, President Trump would win over 300 electoral votes.  However, lesser discussed is the structure of the race that is specific to MAGAnomics and President Trump.  Within the poll, President Trump is carrying the largest coalition of support amid black Democrats (22%) and Latinos (40%) in Republican history.  This is very unique to President Trump and not transferable to any other Republican candidate.

Within that reality, you find the reason for Politico [SEE HERE] and David Axelrod [SEE HERE] to sound the alarms.  “Not ‘bed-wetting,’” but legitimate concern, Axelrod wrote, as he simultaneously suggested that Joe Biden drop out of the race.  Axelrod says, “the stakes of miscalculation here are too dramatic to ignore. Only @JoeBiden can make this decision,” he continued. “If he continues to run, he will be the nominee of the Democratic Party. What he needs to decide is whether that is wise; whether it’s in HIS best interest or the country’s?”

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The timing here is just splendid.  According to multiple MSM sources, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds is scheduled to endorse Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for the 2024 GOP nomination.  The endorsement is scheduled to be announced tomorrow in Iowa.

This endorsement comes on the heels of a recent Morning Consult poll [SEE HERE] showing Governor Kim Reynolds is “America’s most unpopular governor.”😂🤣😂 How appropriate is that?!

[…] “Gov. Kim Reynolds (R-Iowa) is America’s most unpopular governor, with a 47% disapproval rating, up from 39% in the first quarter of 2023. Her unpopularity increased partly because of a surge in negative sentiment among independent and Republican voters during a year in which she signed a strict anti-abortion law and took a lashing from former President Donald Trump over her apparent closeness with Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.).” (link)

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First things first.  Did you notice the byline on the NBC report we discussed about U.S. and EU officials beginning talks with Ukraine about peace-talks to end the stalemate.  For those who didn’t notice, Kristen Welker was one of the reporters who wrote the article {NBC LINK}.  Then today, Zelenskyy appears on NBC Meet the Press, with Kristen Welker, to discuss the status of the Ukraine war and say there is no “stalemate.”  Funny, but not accidental, how that happens.

The full interview link is here (and below); however, during the interview Welker asked Zelenskyy about President Trump saying he would end the conflict within 24 hours.  Zelenskyy scoffs at the possibility and rejects that any peace negotiations could take place.  WATCH (3 mins): 

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I’m going to try and put the absurd nature (literally his World War Reddit disposition) of Volodymyr Zelenskyy over there on the side for a moment [that’s not easy], and accept his pronouncements are with what he genuinely believes, with the full weight and support of the U.S. State Dept/CIA to frame his reference.

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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, and Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi hold a joint press conference at the conclusion of their discussions. The video and transcript are below.

Overall, the Egyptians and Jordanians want a cessation of hostilities, an end to the bombing and Israeli war response against Hamas. In part, they appear motivated by concerns of regional instability; in part, they seem driven toward resolution because they do not want life-long radical Palestinian jihadists crossing into Egypt and Jordan; and in part it’s because their country was not attacked.

I find it interesting that none of the remarks in the group mention the influence of Iran at all.  The U.S. and Israel talk about the influence of Iran when speaking individually and together, but add an Arab country into the discussion and Iran is never brought up.

JORDAN – DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER SAFADI: Good evening to you all. I’ll start in Arabic and then I’ll switch to English if you don’t mind. So —

(Via interpreter) In the name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Gracious, I welcome Their Excellencies Sameh, Tony and the other colleagues, the foreign ministers of United Arab Emirates and Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and the secretary general of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, at this hardship – at this extremely difficult time, a time that reflects that – reflect our interest to protect our peoples from the destruction of war and to work together continuously to stop this disaster that erupted on the 7th of October and actually evolved into the war that Israel is waging against Gaza.

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The Florida DeSantis operation is based on political leverage to punish any GOP member who does not support the Florida governor.  As noted throughout his campaign, the people in control of the DeSantis operation have a vicious and vindictive GOPe streak in alignment with the character of their candidate.

It was reported earlier today [link], in advance of the GOP “Freedom Festival” convention, that seven Florida lawmakers were going to endorse President Donald Trump. Five of those endorsements are retractions from prior support of Ron DeSantis.  We can all be certain the attacks against Trump supporters by the DeSantis campaign are going to get much more vicious as the Iowa primary date gets closer.

FLORIDA – Seven more Republican Florida legislators are endorsing Donald Trump’s presidential campaign – including five defections from Ron DeSantis – underscoring the former president’s momentum and the subtle erosion of the governor’s influence in their home state.

The seven endorsements, unveiled Saturday at the Florida’s GOP’s “Freedom Summit” and shared first with The Messenger, follow Florida Sen. Rick Scott’s decision Thursday to back Trump and they come 10 days after one of DeSantis’s former top allies in the Florida Legislature, Rep. Randy Fine, defected to Trump.

[…] State Rep. Jessica Baker, who switched her endorsement from the governor to Trump, indicated she was following her constituents’ interests.

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All things considered, this is a positive first step and the first significant indication that Western propaganda around World War Reddit is failing.

According to sources who are speaking to NBC News, U.S. and EU officials are gently beginning to talk to Ukraine government officials about what steps might need to be taken to bring an end to the Ukraine-Russia war. Obviously, for those who do not pretend, we all know the decision to end this conflict comes down to the USA telling Ukraine President Zelenskyy to open peace talks with Russia.

The EU NATO alliance has recently started to show less interest in the maintenance of a U.S. proxy war against Russia, and more open public statements that the current status of a stalemate is unsustainable given the amount of money, hardware and political energy required to maintain it.

Additionally, Zelenskyy is running out of men to throw into the meat grinder; the troops and military leaders are actually defying his orders now.

Therefore, if the Biden administration (State Dept and CIA) concede to the reality, Zelenskyy will have no alternative except to talk to Russia about ending the conflict.

This is the baseline of non-pretending honesty that President Trump has been saying in his remarks about his ability to end the “killing and death” within 24 hours. The reality of the situation is not complex.

Ukraine pledges not to join NATO, the USA pledges not to use Ukraine as a proxy nation to conflict with Russia, the untrusting Russian government keeps part of Eastern Ukraine as a safety mechanism, and the war/bloodshed ends.

However, given the use of Ukraine as a financial mechanism for U.S. politicians to get rich, and given the financial stakes for multinationals like Blackrock, there are other financial considerations which will play out in the background of any potential peace talks. In the end, just like in the beginning, it’s all going to come down to money.

(Via NBC) – WASHINGTON — U.S. and European officials have begun quietly talking to the Ukrainian government about what possible peace negotiations with Russia might entail to end the war, according to one current senior U.S. official and one former senior U.S. official familiar with the discussions.

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The judge in the New York City case against Donald Trump and the Trump organization has transparently been a little goofy.  From the first day when he posed for the cameras, to the sketchy application of legal review within the case, Judge Arthur Engoron exhibits the classic traits of being weird and unstable.

There is a pattern amid the deployment of Lawfare that deserves some background context.  Whenever Lawfare is deployed there are always background characters who are seemingly needed to keep the bizarre interpretations of Lawfare tactics on track.

We saw this play out with Debra Katzenberg, Monica McLean and David Laufman controlling Kavanaugh accuser Christine Blasey-Ford.  We saw it again with Mary McCord playing the role in the background of the Trump Lawfare impeachment to guide Jerry Nadler and Adam Schiff.  We saw it again with Andrew Weissmann and Norm Eisen guiding Special Prosecutor Jack Smith from the backbench of Lawfare.  In each case the principal activity is guided by Lawfare ideologues who use position to influence.

In the Judge Engoron example, court clerk Allison Greenfield has been passing notes and instructions to Engoron as the case has progressed.  The activity has become so disconcerting that Trump’s lawyers have called it out in court as it happens {Breitbart Link}.  In response to the sunlight upon the visible activity, Judge Engoron has now expanded his gag order to prohibit Trump’s lawyers from drawing attention to the activity of Ms. Greenfield.

NEW YORK — The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s ongoing civil fraud trial issued another gag order on Friday — this time prohibiting all lawyers working on the trial from “from making any public statements, in or out of court, that refer to any confidential communications, in any form, between my staff and me.” (link)

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It’s an odd dynamic to watch the professional political left support extremism yet pretend not to support the violent outcomes of the extremists.

We saw this dynamic domestically with Occupy Wall Street violence; we saw this with the Ferguson violence; we saw this with the Baltimore violence; we saw this with Black Lives Matter violence; we see this dynamic with the Antifa violence, and we continue to see this dynamic unfold on the streets and college campuses with the pro-Hamas terror rallies and sympathetic politicians.

There is a lot of pretending needed in order to reconcile how the professional political left embraces violence, then claims to desire peace.  The easier approach is always to just accept things as they are, not as we would pretend them to be.  However, if you understand this confliction, then you can well imagine how Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must feel each time he talks to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.

Today, Secretary Blinken is back in Israel and gave remarks to the press after his meeting with Netanyahu.  There were actually some good questions raised during the press Q&A segment.  One question about the “ultimate goal and vision in the aftermath” was particularly interesting. WATCH:

[TRANSCRIPT] – SECRETARY BLINKEN: Good afternoon, everyone.

“Days after Hamas’s attack on October 7th, I came to Israel, followed soon thereafter by President Biden, to make clear that as long as the United States stands, Israel will never stand alone. Today, in my fourth visit to Israel since October 7th, I reiterated that in all my discussions – with Prime Minister Netanyahu, President Herzog, the security cabinet. I reiterated and made clear our support for Israel’s right to defend itself, indeed its obligation to defend itself. That includes through the additional assistance that we’ve worked with Congress and we’re working with Congress now to provide for Israel’s defense, as well as for urgent humanitarian needs in Gaza.

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