Gabbard and Friends: Just Stop!

It was ten days ago when Boris Bondarev -- the Special Counsellor to the Russian Mission to the U.N. in Geneva -- resigned from his position, walked out and lit a fire that is still burning through the diplomatic world. 

The written statement that accompanied his resignation is stunning in every way. It honestly must be read in full to have any idea of what a bombshell it truly is.

Just one of the things that comes to mind as you read what Counsellor Bondarev had to say is that it reveals how completely clueless some of my progressive friends here in the States are when it comes to the war and why we’re where we are right now.

Tulsi Gabbard and others of her ilk have gone on at some length about how the eastward expansion of NATO since the dissolution of the Soviet Union essentially left Putin with no choice but to invade. Her tweet about how the Biden Administration and NATO could have prevented the invasion by forever barring Ukraine from membership and recognizing Russia's "legitimate security needs" received a shit-ton of push back from Twitter users who don't buy the Kremlin's talking points. And that's as it should be.

That assertion was garbage from the beginning and it’s so easy to see that such reasoning also dovetails perfectly with Putin’s dishonest and self-serving propaganda. One can draw no other conclusion after reading Mr Bondarev's candid and heartfelt assessment. He was, after all, a career diplomat and apologist for Mother Russia; Putin's bloody, unprovoked attack on Ukraine was simply a bridge too far for him.

Putin and Putin alone is responsible for the tragedy that is the Ukrainian-Russian War. It is turning out horribly for Ukrainians and the Ukrainian Nation and is and will be even worse for Russia. Comrade Vlad has truly swallowed the Porcupine here. (Not the best metaphor, actually. He’ll never get that spiny fellow all the way down.)

It’s maddening. It’s tragic. And it’s 100% Putin’s doing.




"Bulldog Ben" Basile

© 2022 Ben Lawrence Basile

The Struggle Against Rising Authoritarianism

It's no surprise that so much of the World's attention is focused on the war in Ukraine right now. It's a very big deal and it would be shocking if it were not receiving so much coverage and attention.

The Ukrainians continue to fare way better in their campaign to thwart putin's attempts to murder their Nation, snuff out their identity and culture and re-assimilate them than anyone could have predicted. It's the silver lining in the horribly dark cloud of rising Authoritarian and Nationalist movements everywhere. 

Although the outcome is far from clear, the Ukrainians have a good shot at thwarting putin and preserving their democracy.

There are a dozen Nations or more where ultra-nationalist movements and governments are threatening their citizens' liberties and trying to consolidate power. Power with none of that pesky "messiness" that comes with people choosing their leaders in free and fair elections. Turkey, Hungary and Brazil come to mind. 

And now France is looking very vulnerable to their own home-grown Nationalist and far-right movements. Marine Le Pen has tried hard to overhaul her party's extremist image and at this writing, stands a good chance to send France's Centrist Premier, Emmanuel Macron, home and institute a right-wing government in France.

Here in the US, trump's cult followers, White Supremacists and Neo-Fascists are gaining strength. The fight to preserve our democracy in the face of their assault is very daunting and we're losing ground, truth be told. 

These threats to democratic institutions in so many places are very serious, whether or not they're accompanied by an actual armed invasion. The crisis in Ukraine is merely the most tragic and sensational example of a widespread problem.

Sad to say, there are no easy solutions on the horizon for those of us who're are committed to the efforts to defend and preserve democracy.

There is only recommitting ourselves to the work. The work of truth-telling, of organizing, voting, community building, and staying engaged in the fight.

"Bulldog Ben" Basile

© 2022 Ben Lawrence Basile

Of War and the Leadership of Two Nations

I'm musing this morning on the subject of leadership, the leadership of  Nations, in particular, and how the contrast between Russia's Putin and Mr Zelensky of Ukraine couldn't be more stark.

Zelensky has proven by the way he’s comported himself in the office — and by the way he’s led Ukraine since the tanks started rolling — that he cares about the Ukrainian people and about their country and that he’s 100% committed to doing what must be done to lead them through this terrible, unjustified, once-in-a-generation crisis.

The fact that he spent most of his adult life as an entertainer does certainly make all of this highly unusual, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing. It just makes his leadership that much more extraordinary and worthy of respect.

Daddy Vladdy, on the other hand, has shown again and again that he puts his own welfare — and the welfare of his oligarchical buddies — over the welfare of the Russian State. And certainly over the welfare of the hapless troops he sent into harm’s way five weeks ago in his ill-fated attempt to destroy the Ukrainian Nation as it's constituted today and drag her back into Russia’s orbit.

The World — or at least the part of it that has always seen Putin for who and what he is — will always respect and admire a leader like Zelensky and loathe, despise and shun a “leader” like Putin.

"Bulldog Ben" Basile

© 2022 Ben Lawrence Basile

The facts are beyond dispute: he did it

Many of trump's delusional supporters are taking to the airwaves and social media to say that the Impeachment is a witch hunt. Saying that there's no proof, it's all made up, blah, blah, blah.

This is nothing new.

But here's where we really are: Dolt 45 acknowledged that he did indeed deliberately hold up the military aid for Ukraine to pressure President-elect Zelensky into starting a bogus investigation into Joe Biden, the man he believed would most likely be the Democratic nominee.

And it's crystal-clear to everyone who won't chug the Kool Aid that the courageous and patriotic members of the House laid out all the evidence and documented trump's treachery thoroughly and convincingly.

Trump's chief of staff Mick Mulvaney also plainly said the aid would only be released if they agreed to open the investigation and announce publicly that they had done so.

This, too, is on tape, on the record.

And although members of the trump cult are glossing over this, trump appointee Ambassador Gordon Sondland plainly affirmed this as well.

None of trump's sycophantic supporters in the Senate are denying any of this. They're just saying they're voting for an acquittal anyway.

And the entire country knows that if ANY President had ever done anything remotely like this they would have been disgraced, exiled from public service forever and impeached posthaste if they refused to resign.

But trump has done many things that his supporters have ignored, dismissed and/or covered up. Lots of things.

And now he has a blank check to keep on doing this kind of shit.

It's a disgrace. Trump supporters and enablers, your Emperor is standing there butt-naked in front of the country and the world and you are acting like nothing happened.

"Bulldog Ben" Basile

© 2020 Ben Lawrence Basile

Yes, the Army thinks Lt Col Vindman may need protection

It's stunning, isn't it?

The U.S. Army is doing an evaluation right now to see if it may be necessary to move Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman to an Army base.

To make sure he's safe.

Lt. Col. Vindman, the guy who was also on trump's now-infamous phone call with Volodymyr Zelensky, the President of Ukraine.

That call took place on April 21st.

The call where this poser, this thuggish clown tried to shake Zelensky down.

He had already put our military aid to Ukraine on hold. Something he had no authority to do, of course.

And Lt. Col. Vindman knew this was an egregious and disgusting abuse of Presidential power and something very much at odds with our long-time policy to Ukraine.

And so he knew he was duty-bound to report it.

And he did.

And he testified at length about the whole disgusting affair before the House Intelligence Committee.

And now we're not sure if we can keep him and his family safe.

It's stunning.

It's truly hard to wrap your mind around this brazen and disgusting abuse of power.

But it's the kind of thing that Adolph Twitler does on a daily basis.

Rethuglican sycophants, save me your lame explanations, rationalizations and excuses.

All of this--once again--makes it crystal-clear that Dolt 45 must be removed from office.

The health of our Republic demands it.




"Bulldog Ben" Basile

© 2019 Ben Lawrence Basile

Yes, trump would try to enlist a foreign government to...

Now that more facts are in, here's a brief follow-up to my last post:


To the surprise of no one, trump would--and did--try to enlist the help of a foreign government in his efforts to get a second term.

Because every day brings a fresh outrage, it's easy to think that Ukraine Gate is just the latest trump transgression and that it will blow over.

I don't think so.

I will admit that it's a bit too early to see how this will go.

It's a big and multi-faceted affair.

But it very well could be trump's undoing. Don't think that it can't.

If you'd like to get up-to-date on the latest, this article from NPR would be a good place to start.



"Bulldog Ben" Basile


© 2019 Ben Lawrence Basile