A Meeting of Mental Cases

PUTIN AND TRUMP are, in a real sense, "two peas in a pod". In terms of their positions of power, personalities, and current predicaments, they have much in common. Authoritatarian rulers with the requisite massive egos, both of them are career criminals who would and perhaps will be in deep legal trouble if they ever leave office alive. But, of course, they won't. The world might be a great deal better off if they get to Alaska, have a couple of drinks and a very good time, and decide, by mutual agreement, to resign, remain in Alaska, and to spend their remaining years in seclusion, hidden from the public, doing whatever they want, harming no one. The world should be so lucky... Trump's reason for attending the "summit" meeting, what he wants to get out of it, is obvious and has been for awhile. Trump wants to broker a cease fire and ultimately a peact treaty between Russia and Ukraine, and, above all else, he wants credit for it, the world's gratitude and adulation, a Nobel Peace Prize, the whole works. Just yesterday he was sitting in the Oval Office, with the camera pointed at him, just the way he likes it, talking about his incredible achievement of allegedly having stopped six wars within the past month..or did he say last week? Whatever it was, it was, of course, an outright lie. Evidently he has indeed been in contact, through his administration, with representatives of several countries where wars are ongoing, and discussed the possibility of peace between them, with them. Beyond this, nobody really knows precisely what, if anything, the self described stable genius has accomplished. Nor is it entirely clear precisly what role, if any, Trump has actually played in bringing about a cessation of hostilities, anywhere on Earth. Trump the American carnival barker wants to take our minds off the "Epstein files" (remember them?), and put our malleable, manipulatable little minds directly on his heroic feat of bringing peace to the entire world. Trump will happily endorse a peace plan which favors Russia and is acceptable to Putin, meaning, Don the Con will be more than happy to sign over Ukrainiian land to Russia. He and Putin will arrive at a cease fire proposal and perhaps a peae agreement perfectly acceptable to both of them - but not nearly as acceptable to a certain President Zelenskyy - remember him? Russia will accept no cease fire or treaty in which they don't get to retain possession of at least some small part of the Ukrainian territory currently under Russian conquest and control. We know that for certain. Putin will not go home empty handed. Similarly, President Zelenskyy will not sign a peace treaty unless Russia returns to Ukraine all the territory, every last square inch, that it took form them in the invasion and war. And for this attitude, who among us could possibly blame him? Putin and Trump will argue that this position is unrealistic, that Ukraine should be prepared to cede at least some territory to Russia, in the east, perhaps, where many Russians live, as the reasonable and expected price to pay for ending the war and having guaranteed peace forevermore.. Putin might be willing to keep less land in Ukraine than he currntly controls, but, how much less? Not much, of that we can be assured. Putin and Trump will accomplish nothing, and falsely, piously claim to have had a "productive" meeting. They will keep "gaslighting" Ukraine, as we like to say, with their ludicrous claim that Russia is not entirely responsible for the war. Just like nearly everything else that the twin titans of tyranny say, it will be a total and complete lie.