Drip, Drip, Drip

[Kathianne]

This is why the world is less secure:

https://hotair.com/david-strom/2024/07/12/nato-diplomats-it-was-awful-n3791705

I highly recommend going to site to see the videos and X comments:


NATO Diplomats: 'It Was Awful'DAVID STROM 12:00 PM | July 12, 2024



AP Photo/Andrew Harnik
As I have mentioned before, one of the news sources I like to check is the UK's Telegraph.


A "broadsheet" paper, meaning that it is part of the less boisterous, more staid media outlets. It leans right without being partisan, meaning that it doesn't shill for any side but simply presents the news from a center-right perspective.


I like checking it because, first, it covers US politics well, and second, it does so without the spin or coverups.


Case in point? The NATO summit.




Apparently, things weren't so comforting for NATO diplomats behind the scenes. Despite the Prime Ministers of the UK and Germany defending Biden in public, diplomats were ticked as you can imagine behind closed doors.


Biden was late, committed gaffes and stumbles, and reassured nobody that he could do the job as leader of the free world.


Georgia Meloni made international news when she was caught on camera rolling her eyes and making fun of Biden as the delegates waited an hour for Biden to finally show up to a meeting, and her colleagues clearly were sympathetic to her impatience.




But more worrisome was the substantive concerns the world leaders have.


Joe Biden’s gaffes have ruined months of hard work and undermined the Nato summit, diplomatic sources told The Telegraph.


On stage, Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz defended the president over a slip of the tongue in which he called Volodymyr Zelensky “President Putin”.


The US leader went on to call Kamala Harris “vice-president Trump”.


But roaming the corridors of the summit, aides were more frank in their verdict of the president’s performance.


“It was awful,” an official said, describing standing in the crowd as events unfurled.


The consensus amongst diplomats and officials who spoke to The Telegraph, and were granted anonymity to speak more freely, was that it took less than a minute to change the narrative of an entire summit.


The sources realised they would be forced to read about the gaffe on tomorrow’s front pages instead of stories of their successes.


The point of the summit was to present a united and strong front against Russia and China, both for international consumption but also to their domestic audiences, who are as restless in Europe as they are in the United States. Perhaps more so. Everybody wanted to come out looking good.


Instead the front page headlines were Biden's gaffes, which gave Putin and the Chinese ample room to make fun of NATO. Not what they wanted, to say the least.


There was also a sense of frustration that this moment would dominate questions put to other leaders in their final press conference before heading home.


Sir Keir Starmer was asked no fewer than three times if he thought President Biden was up to the task of running for a second term in the White House.


The Prime Minister said the US leader should be “given credit” for his work at the Nato summit, in defence of his ally.


He would’ve preferred to have been able to boast of his own achievements at the gathering instead of being the receiving end of diplomatically tricky questions.


The Telegraph even has a running sort of blog covering the political train wreck in the United States, further undermining Biden's attempt to use his foreign policy chops to bolster the impression that he is not a drooling idiot who nobody respects in the wider world.


It's not good when your allies are spending time wondering if and when your presidency collapses.


Here's the current top story on the blog:






They have a helpful timeline of their posts, and it's not encouraging if you are a Biden supporter.






Last night I commented on our shared live blog with Beege and Ed that I understood why Biden was leaning into foreign policy at a NATO summit, but pushing foreign policy to a domestic audience can't help Biden. Nobody cares. Perhaps they should, but Biden has done a terrible job on foreign policy anyway, and Americans are not obsessed with it the way that Elites are.


Now it's pretty clear that, while Biden insists that everybody outside the United States thinks he is Bismarck and Metternich, they actually think he is a character from "Dumb and Dumber" and a liability.


And while ordinary Americans probably don't care that much about what Georgia Meloni and Emmanuel Macron think, the elites sure do. And it is the Elites who provide the money and political muscle to keep his campaign alive.


That's the key problem Biden has right now, even more than Americans' doubts about him. The Elites want him gone.

[revelarts]

"...The point of the summit was to present a united and strong front against Russia and China, both for international consumption but also to their domestic audiences, who are as restless in Europe as they are in the United States. Perhaps more so. Everybody wanted to come out looking good.

Instead the front page headlines were Biden's gaffes, which gave Putin and the Chinese ample room to make fun of NATO. Not what they wanted, to say the least...."

Does anyone in the world really think that China and Russia haven't known about Biden's problems for a long, LONG time?
So which audience did the NATO summit really want to fool... I mean... impress with "headlines" in the western/world press?
What audience needed a good showing here, for whose benefit?

[Kathianne]

"...The point of the summit was to present a united and strong front against Russia and China, both for international consumption but also to their domestic audiences, who are as restless in Europe as they are in the United States. Perhaps more so. Everybody wanted to come out looking good.

Instead the front page headlines were Biden's gaffes, which gave Putin and the Chinese ample room to make fun of NATO. Not what they wanted, to say the least...."

Does anyone in the world really think that China and Russia haven't known about Biden's problems for a long, LONG time?
So which audience did the NATO summit really want to fool... I mean... impress with "headlines" in the western/world press?
What audience needed a good showing here, for whose benefit?

Surprised, no. China and Russia knowing? Of course. Doesn't change the dangerous position we're all in, with 'anyways ' in charge.

[Kathianne]

The Europeans get what the US elites were trying, unsuccessfully for those paying attention, to hide. Biden hasn't been 'there' for a long time.

https://www.politico.eu/article/joe-biden-stumble-mistakes-push-shocked-us-allies-european-diplomats-towards-donald-trump/

‘OMFG’: Biden’s mistakes push shocked US allies toward Trump Western diplomats are privately horrified by the President’s public gaffes and are working to build links with the Trump team ahead of November’s election.




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US-NATO-SUMMIT-DIPLOMACY-BIDEN
With his poll numbers already in decline, Joe Biden is under mounting pressure from his own supporters to step aside in favor of a younger candidate.
JULY 12, 2024 8:32 PM CET
BY STUART LAU, STEFAN BOSCIA, EMILIO CASALICCHIO, NETTE NÖSTLINGER AND TIM ROSS


For some of America’s allies, it’s time to bet on the other guy.


European diplomats and officials have described their shock at President Joe Biden’s faltering, error-strewn public performances and revealed they have already started reaching out to Donald Trump.


With his poll numbers already in decline, Biden is under mounting pressure from his own supporters to step aside in favor of a younger candidate like Vice President Kamala Harris to take on Trump at November’s presidential election.


First, there was Biden’s stumble at the presidential TV debate last month, in which he lost his train of thought, triggering a wave of soul-searching among Democrats and others who worry what a new Trump term will bring.


Then, on Thursday, came Biden’s long press conference at the close of the NATO summit in Washington, during which he insisted he was fit enough to serve another term and the best person to beat Trump. When Biden introduced Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy as “President Putin,” there was an audible gasp among Europeans in the room.

One of those present texted POLITICO: “OMFG.”


A second added: “The European leaders froze onstage, although they did their best to keep smiling and clapping. Nobody mentioned it with the Biden team afterward.”


Another senior European diplomat in D.C. said colleagues have been busy reaching out to those who are likely to join the Trump team for months — setting up meetings, attending the same events, and inviting Trump’s allies to dinner.


Asked if there’s any pressure back home not to do this due to Trump’s polarizing image, one diplomat said: “No. We would be failing our duty if we were not trying to build connections with his people now.”


The Trump outreach has accelerated, another diplomat said, and predates Biden’s latest gaffes. “It’s been going on for more than a year,” the person added. Key European officials have been addressing conservative think tanks in order to get the message on Ukraine across to the Trump-supporting audience, the person said.


The NATO summit marked the first meeting of Biden and new British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to reaffirm the so-called “special relationship” between the United Kingdom and the United States. Even Brits were shocked and dismayed by the president’s apparent frailty.


“It’s insane,” one British official said, giving a personal opinion. “All their messages at least to the election will be drowned out with coverage about his health and abilities. And it’s becoming a laughing stock around the world.”

“What will happen next?” the official asked. “Could he order an armed forces strike without meaning to and land himself in international court pleading some kind of mental disorder?”


Karen Pierce, Britain’s ambassador in Washington, has led outreach efforts with members of Trump’s team and senior MAGA Republicans.


The embassy has been a conduit between both major U.K. political parties and figures they believe will take part in a potential second Trump administration.


Senior British diplomats in Washington are now confident they have identified the right MAGA Republican strategists and representatives on Capitol Hill who actually have the ear of Trump.


A person close to Starmer’s Downing Street said the British embassy is far better prepared now than in 2016, when it made very little preparation for the possibility Trump would win the presidency.

“A great job has been done by Karen Pierce and her team,” the person said. “They have not repeated the mistakes of 2016.”


There is alarm, too, in Germany.


“It is now clear that Joe Biden sticking to his candidacy will only help Trump,” said Roderich Kiesewetter, a prominent Christian Democrat lawmaker on the Foreign Affairs Committee in Berlin. “It can only be hoped that the Democrats will find a way for Joe Biden to withdraw while saving face and that Kamala Harris, for example, will become the Democrats’ frontrunner.”


“I am concerned about the domestic political divide in the United States and the potential impact of Donald Trump’s election victory on transatlantic security and democratic institutions in the U.S.,” Kiesewetter said.

[Gunny]

This is why the world is less secure:

https://hotair.com/david-strom/2024/07/12/nato-diplomats-it-was-awful-n3791705

I highly recommend going to site to see the videos and X comments:More appearance than substantive. We, the People of the US, look REALLY stupid, as exemplified by the person we chose to represent us to the World.

As far as substance goes? We're no worse off now that we were 3 1/2 years ago leadership-wise. The same clowns pulling is strings then, as many suspected, are the same clowns pulling them now. Nothing I have seen military-wise has been outside the box. Basic response doctrine was created long ago so that all the fools have to do is choose from a list of scenarios and responses. That'll go only so far.

As far as we here at home are concerned? I wouldn't care if this guy was clear-eyed, articulate, and could do back flips on the stage. He and his policies suck.

What keeps edging in on my periphery is the thought that there seems to be little concern and/or mention of just WHO is running this clusterf*ck called the Biden Admin? I find it concerning that not only can a puppet be used to shove unpopular/unwise/stupid policy down our throats, but the basic fact that the system itself can run our lives without head (literally and figuratively).

[Kathianne]

More appearance than substantive. We, the People of the US, look REALLY stupid, as exemplified by the person we chose to represent us to the World.

As far as substance goes? We're no worse off now that we were 3 1/2 years ago leadership-wise. The same clowns pulling is strings then, as many suspected, are the same clowns pulling them now. Nothing I have seen military-wise has been outside the box. Basic response doctrine was created long ago so that all the fools have to do is choose from a list of scenarios and responses. That'll go only so far.

As far as we here at home are concerned? I wouldn't care if this guy was clear-eyed, articulate, and could do back flips on the stage. He and his policies suck.

What keeps edging in on my periphery is the thought that there seems to be little concern and/or mention of just WHO is running this clusterf*ck called the Biden Admin? I find it concerning that not only can a puppet be used to shove unpopular/unwise/stupid policy down our throats, but the basic fact that the system itself can run our lives without head (literally and figuratively).
While I don't agree with the far right regarding Ukraine, I do agree with Trump that Biden's Afghanistan withdrawal and his comments as Russia was amassing weapons on the border were the impetus of the invasion.

Same with China's hyper aggression in South China Sea to a degree. China has a plan on total Asian dominance, regardless of whom is President of US. Biden though, left a door for an early speed up of their plans. Indeed, as Biden is flailing China is rushing to get some moves underway before we have a changing of the guard.

I've no doubt about our military plans, first choices and contingencies, but the best case is not to need them. Biden has made that pretty much a dream.

[Kathianne]

More appearance than substantive. We, the People of the US, look REALLY stupid, as exemplified by the person we chose to represent us to the World.

As far as substance goes? We're no worse off now that we were 3 1/2 years ago leadership-wise. The same clowns pulling is strings then, as many suspected, are the same clowns pulling them now. Nothing I have seen military-wise has been outside the box. Basic response doctrine was created long ago so that all the fools have to do is choose from a list of scenarios and responses. That'll go only so far.

As far as we here at home are concerned? I wouldn't care if this guy was clear-eyed, articulate, and could do back flips on the stage. He and his policies suck.

What keeps edging in on my periphery is the thought that there seems to be little concern and/or mention of just WHO is running this clusterf*ck called the Biden Admin? I find it concerning that not only can a puppet be used to shove unpopular/unwise/stupid policy down our throats, but the basic fact that the system itself can run our lives without head (literally and figuratively).

You're not alone:

https://www.foxnews.com/media/voter-breaks-silence-after-biden-campaign-staffer-tried-end-interview-critical-president-chilling


Voter breaks silence after Biden campaign staffer tried to end interview critical of the president: 'Chilling'Stephen Stubbs says the interaction 'shocked' his conscience
By Ashley Carnahan Fox News
Published July 13, 2024 8:00am EDT




'Going to stop this right now': Voter says Biden campaign staffer tried to end interview critical of president
Nevada attorney Stephen Stubbs tells Fox News Digital how a Biden campaign staffer tried to shut down his conversation with a New York Times reporter after he criticized President Biden.


A voter who criticized President Biden is speaking out about his encounter with a Biden campaign staffer after he said she tried to shut down his interview with a New York Times reporter.


Stephen Stubbs, a First Amendment attorney from Henderson, Nevada, told Fox News Digital in an interview that he was invited to attend a June 28 campaign event at the East Las Vegas Community Center featuring Vice President Kamala Harris.


Stubbs said he initially wanted to attend the Harris event to hear how the administration planned to deal with inflation, but in the wake of Biden’s performance at the CNN Presidential Debate, he wanted to hear what she would say regarding questions about Biden’s mental acuity.




"Everybody was talking about the debate the night before. Everybody was. And everybody was concerned. There were a few people that were vocal and saying, we have to move forward with what we have, so let's not talk negatively. But 90% of the people were critical of Joe Biden and [were] very, very worried," he recalled.


Staffers wearing Biden-Harris shirts at the event went around "strongly hinting" that people shouldn’t say anything negative about the president at a Biden event, according to Stubbs.


He said he was sitting outside eating his tacos and ice cream and happened to sit next to the chairwoman of the Democratic Party in Nevada, who was approached a few minutes later by New York Times politics fellow Simon Levien for an interview.

Stubbs said he began talking to Levien, who then asked him what he thought about the debate the night before.

A Biden staffer who was following Levien around took out her phone and began recording their conversation. "That in itself was kind of intimidating," Stubbs told Fox News Digital.


He said he began questioning why Biden couldn’t articulate for 90 minutes at the debate what he’s doing daily as president.


"I'm concerned about who's running the country right now. And I said, from what I saw last night, Biden should step down and Kamala Harris [who] was elected the vice president, that is her job, she should fulfill the rest of his term. And when I said that, the staffer said, I'm going to stop this right now. This is a Biden event. I'm sorry, but I'm going to stop this. She tried to stop it," Stubbs explained.


"Now, to the New York Times’ credit, they turned to her and said, no. I'm continuing with this interview, but the whole time she was giving me, like, daggers. Just daggers. Like, how dare you talk negatively about Biden to the New York Times."


Levien identified the staffer as Clio Calvo-Platero, deputy communications director for the Biden campaign in Nevada.


Calvo-Platero twice tried to end interviews with voters who were critical of Biden: once with Democratic voter Amy Nelson and the other with Stubbs, according to a vice presidential pool report from Levien.


The Biden campaign did not respond to Fox News Digital's requests for comment about the incident.


Stubbs, who describes himself as a constitutionalist, said he’s a registered Democrat who voted third-party in the 2020 election because he wasn’t happy with either Trump or Biden.

He said his interaction with Calvo-Platero "shocked" his conscience. "I didn’t appreciate it," he added. "She is the one that ordered us; it wasn't a request; she ordered us to stop talking. That was chilling."


Stubbs told Fox News Digital he’s an undecided voter heading into November. He has issues with both Trump and Biden and likens the choice to "chlamydia" or "gonorrhea."

"Neither one is a good choice," he said. "I'm begging someone to give me a reason not to vote for Trump."


The Nevada native added that he likes Biden’s Supreme Court pick, Justice Kentanji Brown Jackson, the administration’s environmental policies and its support for unions and unionized workers.


As for Trump, Stubbs said he takes issue with his "pro-police militarization and selling weapons of war to police departments."


Inflation is the most important issue for him heading into November because it’s hurting his family and adult children "deeply."


Economy tops list of issues for voters in Pennsylvania: Bryan LlenasVideo
Stubbs said his final concern about Biden is that he’s being kept in a "bubble."


"He's not hearing feedback from real Americans, right? Look, I am not convinced that Biden has the mental acuity to do the job today. I think the responsible thing for him to do is to say, for the good of the country, I'm going to put myself aside and any ego I might have, step down and Mrs. Harris is going to finish out my term. It's not very long, right? And you know what? Give her a shot," he told Fox News Digital.


"My problem is, is that if Biden stays in the race, we don't really know who Trump is running against. It's a person behind a curtain. We don't know who's making the analysis and the decisions because Biden doesn't have the mental acuity," Stubbs continued.

"The curtain has to be open. We have to know what is going on, who is running the country. That's the first thing I asked that reporter. Who is running the country? We need to know."


The White House has repeatedly said Biden had a bad night during the debate, citing a cold and jetlag and insists that he is the one making decisions. Biden himself insists he is up for his duties as president and is the candidate best suited to defeat former President Trump in November.