White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki recently blamed Vladimir Putin and his invasion of Ukraine for the meteoric rise in gasoline prices and inflation in general. The compliant news media, of course, immediately jumped in with articles, reports and talk shows picking up the mantle to explain how Putin was responsible for all ills.
It’s all BUNK!
When Joe Biden and his administration, on Day 1, declared his war on U.S. energy production, taking about 2 million barrels per day off the world market and making the U.S. dependent on foreign sources, he caused an immediate disruption in world markets and a rise in world prices. This rise in prices was immediately seen at the pump long before Ukraine but it also had other, massive, unintended consequences.
One of these was that Russia, therefore Putin, became richer overnight. And Putin is not one to use such a windfall to improve the lot of his people. No, funding the military to enable his expansionist adventurism is much more his style.
When Biden, subsequently, executed his humiliating and disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, Putin understandably concluded that the U.S. was now a weakened player on the world stage and would provide little to no opposition to his desires on Ukraine. This conclusion was then reinforced as he built a massive troop concentration on Ukraine’s borders with no substantive reaction from Biden.
So, yes, Putin invaded Ukraine and should be condemned for that and his crimes. But when it comes to providing the funding and the encouragement to do so, all roads lead to Biden!
Paige Weaver
Valencia
