Picking up checks from congress along with some supplemental Christmas shopping likely a high priority.  Because, why not.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be in Washington DC on Wednesday to deliver a speech to a joint session of congress and visit with Joe Biden at the White House.

WASHINGTON DC – President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine intends to make a surprise visit to Washington on Wednesday, the first time the leader has left his war-torn country since Russia invaded 10 months ago.

Zelenskyy’s plans to address a joint session of Congress and at the White House as the Biden administration plans to announce the delivery of a Patriot missile battle system to help Ukraine with its air defenses, according to two people familiar with the plans but not authorized to publicly discuss them because of security concerns.

The trip is not certain to happen, the people cautioned. Zelenskyy was still in Ukraine on Tuesday evening, and there are concerns about his ability to leave his country and then return again.

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Olena Zelenska, wife of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, traveled to Paris France for a three-day visit December 12-14.  As reported by Le Monde, “Members of the Ukrainian government will also come, including Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, and several ministers in charge of reconstruction, including Yulia Svyrydenko (economy), Oleksandr Kubrakov (infrastructure) and German Galushchenko (energy).”

However, social media has erupted today after a “reliable store clerk” working on the ritzy Avenue Montaigne, has reported that Olena Zelenska went on a Christmas shopping spree spending €40,000 euros in an hour. (citation) Previously President Zelenskyy’s wife was received by French first lady Bridget Macron.

If the reporting is accurate, the spending spree comes at a bad time optically, as Mrs. Zelenska’s husband Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is simultaneously asking the European Union to provide more financial support for the embattled country.

Additionally, the Biden administration is trying to push congress to pass another $38 billion spending package for Ukraine to bring the total spent well over $100 billion.

Mrs. Zelenskyy Christmas shopping in glitzy Paris stores and dropping €40,000 while her husband bangs his tin cup isn’t exactly a good look.

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An interesting infographic from Will Geary [SOURCE] that gives context to the amount of money the United States is spending in Ukraine.

Each dot in the video represents $100,000.00 as outlined.

The source for the graphic data is the Center for Strategic and International Studies.  Just hit play:

Visualizing U.S. Aid to Ukraine from Will Geary on Vimeo.

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Given the background, it doesn’t come as a surprise.  Zelenskyy has previously made political opposition parties illegal and removed all media from Ukraine that is not state authorized.   However, the move to ban a Ukraine orthodox religion is still a considerable escalation into totalitarian extremes; all supported by the U.S. State Dept.

As Carlson notes in the latter part of his monologue, the insufferable propaganda has enmeshed the Ukrainian face of western government, “It’s just a grotesque post-modern psy-op, and anyone still falling for this is brain damaged.”  WATCH:

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Carlson is correct.  The Ukraine narrative has been a western, state department + CIA, designed operation from the outset.  On the backside it’s a political money laundering operation feeding defense contractors, corporations, western politicians, congress, political campaigns and DC think tanks.

Approximately two-thirds of the American electorate bought into the media promoted Ukraine construct, which, again is not surprising, considering that roughly 72% of healthy adult Americans lined up for an untested, experimental and sketchy COVID vaccine, the result of government advocacy and pressure.

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Comrade rebels, this is as fitting an attribution as one could make, given the state of international affairs.

Time Magazine has decreed their oft coveted “Person of The Year” award to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the world’s richest man as delivered by congress via U.S. taxpayers.

The actor-turned-president was bestowed the honor during an announcement on Wednesday by Time Magazine Editor-in-Chief Edward Felsenthal on the TODAY show.

The media outlet credits Zelenskyy’s courage, leadership and magnanimous stewardship of Ukraine’s defense, as well as victory in framing the international public image of the embattled nation.

(Via NPR) – […] “Whether one looks at this story of Ukraine with a sense of hope or a sense of fear, and the story is, of course, not fully written yet … Zelenskyy has really galvanized the world in a way we haven’t seen in decades,” Editor-in-Chief Edward Felsenthal said when revealing the news on the TODAY show.

The cover features a profile of Zelenskyy in his classic army-green sweater, surrounded by individual figures and crowds of protesters. They are interspersed with bright yellow sunflowers and blue-and-yellow Ukrainian flags. (read more)

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Sooner or later someone, if not Donald Trump, is going to have to start a second party.

Appearing on CBS with Margaret Brennan, incoming House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner walks through the priorities of the new HPSCI committee, to include that President Trump is horrible, Ukraine President Zelenskyy is awesome, Joe Biden is doing an awesome job and Ukraine needs more U.S. money and weapons.

If you listen closely, you might even catch the part where Mike Turner says he is working swimmingly with current HPSCI Chairman Adam Schiff and current Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner.  Yes, folks, you just cannot make this stuff up.  Ms. Brennan is absolutely smitten with Mr. Turner, he’s an acceptable republican.  WATCH:

[Transcript] – MARGARET BRENNAN: And we turn now to Ohio Congressman Mike Turner, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee. Congressman Turner, good to have you here in person.

REPRESENTATIVE MIKE TURNER: Thank you. Yes. It’s great to be here.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So just yesterday, the Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said that Russia was perhaps struggling to keep up with the amount of munitions that it’s using in this war in Ukraine, the cold weather is slowing combat. The Secretary of State, though, didn’t really give hope for diplomacy at this moment. Given what you know, when will this war end?

REP. TURNER: Well, the one thing that we know is that the- the gains that Ukraine is making are real, they’re real in the battlefield. They’re real in the support that they have around the world, they have with democracies on the floor of the United Nations, in condemning this aggression by Russia. But Ukraine really has to be the one that decides that if, when, and how negotiations are entered into, and at this point, you know, they’re battling for their country. They’re losing lives for democracy. President Zelenskyy says, I was just in Ukraine, just before the elections, he says openly, he understands that he’s the frontlines for democracy, and he’s fighting an authoritarian regime. And I think, you know, obviously, Russia has to reevaluate how they look at this conflict and how Putin looks at what he has started–

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Has anyone stopped to ask why the United States taxpayer is responsible for funding the government operations of Ukraine, to include the paychecks and pensions of Ukrainian government officials, or nah?

As Joe Biden and various Democrat and Republican leaders are gleefully willing to keep pushing U.S. taxpayer money into Ukraine, there does come a time when we have to start asking some questions about the disconnect in regard to the opinion of the American people.   Tucker Carlson noted this question last night.  WATCH:

Also, have you noticed a prominent Republican who has gone conveniently silent on this issue since he originally supported unlimited funding for Ukraine?  Yeah, Ron DeSantis, funny that.

Washington DC – […] The White House last week asked Congress for more than $37 billion in additional assistance for Ukraine amid Russia’s ongoing invasion. And while some Republicans say they’re supportive of the amount, many more have been cautious to take a position just yet.

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The Associated Press received a lot of international scorn for reporting incorrectly that Russia fired missiles into Poland {Backstory}.

As soon as the AP attributed the missile attack to Russia almost immediately other media outlets began promoting calls for a NATO led war against Russia.  Additionally, the G20 summit was taking place and various international leaders began discussing an article-5 convention against Russia.

However, the single source of the AP report was wrong, a senior U.S. intelligence official, if there actually was a source.   It was the Ukraine military who fired the missile into Poland, not Russia.

The Daily Beast notes today that the Associated Press has fired James LaPorta, the journalist who made the claim of Russian origin.

(Via Daily Beast) – The Associated Press scared much of the world last Tuesday when it alerted readers that “a senior U.S. intelligence official” said “Russian missiles crossed into NATO member Poland, killing two people.”

That report, which was widely cited across the internet and on cable news, was taken offline the following day and replaced with an editor’s note admitting the single source was wrong and that “subsequent reporting showed that the missiles were Russian-made and most likely fired by Ukraine in defense against a Russian attack.”

On Monday, the AP fired James LaPorta, the investigative reporter responsible for that story, Confider has learned.

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This is a great example of two dangerous dynamics. First, the intellectual dishonesty that is needed to believe that Russia would attack Poland. Second, the insufferable immediate response from U.S. and international media stenographers lusting for war, and the danger they represent.

After the media initially proclaimed a “pentagon spokesperson” reported that Russia fired two missiles into Poland, and then ran with that narrative with such ferocity that Polish President Duda requested an article-4 convention in preparation for a NATO war,… 24 hours later the NATO alliance says ‘whoops‘ it wasn’t a Russian missile, it was a Ukraine missile that landed in Poland.

(Politico) NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg chaired an emergency meeting of alliance ambassadors on Wednesday in Brussels to discuss the incident.

After the session, he said information so far suggests the missile that landed in Poland came from Ukrainian air defenses fighting off a massive Russian attack on Tuesday that saw the country pummelled by dozens of missiles that caused blackouts across Ukraine.

“We have no indication that this was the result of a deliberate attack,” he said. “And we have no indication that Russia is preparing offensive military actions against NATO. Our preliminary analysis suggests that the incident was likely caused by a Ukrainian air defense missile fired to defend Ukrainian territory against Russian cruise missile attacks.”

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It appears our friend Neil Oliver has the week off. So, we will visit another, albeit saltier, U.K. voice who is also grounded in pragmatic common sense.  Russell Brand recently discussed how “President Trump is Right” about the issues around the Ukraine war and the conflict with Russia.

Mr. Brand notes a few bold nuances that are mostly lost in the media conversation and uses his sarcastic humor to point out the current reality. WATCH:

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