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~The Beltway rumour is that, on his flight to DC, Zelenskyyyy was telephoned by Victoria Nuland, She-Wolf of the Donbass, plus Susan Rice and Anthony Blinken and advised to get tough with Trump. If true, that's gotta be the worst episode of "Phone-a-Friend" since the plucky little Ukrainian started playing Who Wants to Be a Billionaire (in Euros)? For all you nuanced diplomatists out there, there is now a rather arcane dispute as to whether Z called the Vice President of the United States a "bitch" or merely interjected "f**king hell":
The Ukrainian ambassador seemed to be the only member of Z's delegation who grasped how badly things were degenerating: the cameras captured her at one point with her head in her hands. The President booted the guy from the White House and gave the Ukrainian's lunch to the Oval Office interns. I have always found the American vernacular "oh, the guy totally ate my lunch" incredibly lame, but, if Trump is now proposing to make it literal, I wish he'd started with Keir Starmer. Fortunately, America's wanker media could be relied upon to agree that, when it comes to Z vs T, "the world" sides with Ukraine.
By "world opinion", Mr Astor means not China, India, South Africa, Brazil or Saudi Arabia, but the Prime Minister of Luxembourg:
From the blissful ignorance of a California congressman:
Er, in your extensive researches into World War Two, did you ever happen to come across a photograph of, say, the Yalta summit?
Still, if Luxembourgish prime ministers are going through one of their periodic butch phases, I prefer the words of Mr Frieden's predecessor, Jacques Poos, who a third-of-a-century back, as Yugoslavia was disintegrating, told the Yanks to butt out and declared "The hour of Europe has come!" He was right, kind of: shortly thereafter, Bosnian Serbs began tying Continental peacekeepers to trees.
Mr Frieden, like many other politicians and geopolitical experts, has failed to grasp the essential dynamic of yesterday's meeting - which is very simple:
Zelenskyyyy needs Trump far more than Trump needs Zelenskyyyy.
Without the Americans, Ukraine is in Jacques Poos territory: The hour of Europe has come. And how's that likely to go?
Victoria Nuland may still be on board, but her fellow World War Three cheerleader, Lindsey Graham, a man whom the Government of Ukraine inducted into the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, is heading for the exits:
As LBJ would say, if I've lost Lindsey, I've lost ...well, give me a minute, it'll come to me ...er, virtue-signalling doofuses who think if you post the Ukrainian flag as your Twitter avatar, the war is as good as won?
The war cannot be won. Ukraine is flush with western money and Nato weaponry, but, as JD Vance was obliged to point out, it has a massive lack of Ukrainians. If prolonging an unwinnable war will only accelerate your deathbed demography, then it's time to negotiate. And having Trump on board for that would be helpful.
But as Rumsfeld said: "You go to war with the army that you have." And now Zelenskyyyy will be going to war with the Prime Minister of Luxembourg and Ursula von der Leyen. The hour of Europe has come! The President of Ukraine was so oblivious to reality that, to be honest, I felt a bit sorry for him. It's not 2022 anymore:
So he's Ilsa in Casablanca: I've put that dress away. When the Germans march out, I'll wear it again.
And then, just as in the original, the American tells the European freedom fighter (Luc Frieden): "You know what? You can have her."
UPDATE! from the US Secretary of State:
~In this eighth year of The Mark Steyn Club, we're very appreciative of all those who signed up in our first flush and are still eager to be here as we cruise on towards our first decade. We thank you all. For more information on the Club, see here.