Jewish Bubba: Zelensky

Showing posts with label Zelensky. Show all posts

Friday, February 28, 2025

What Makes Our Vice President Vance Tick?

Nadene Goldfoot

In meeting, Vance interrupted Zelensky and yelled that he should say THANK YOU !

What stands out I notice in reading about Vance are many facts, but one in example is that Vance is the third-youngest vice president in U.S. history, as well as the first millennial to hold the office. To my 90 year old mind, this is something that may have caused his uncalled-for-interruption in the peace meeting that took place with Trump and Zelensky that I watched today, Friday, February 28, 2025, on YouTube. Evidently he had a typical broken childhood full of problems with parents, something so many have lived through today.

I found this most interesting. Though educated as a lawyer, he got involved with book writing and movie-making:

In June 2016, Harper published Vance's book, Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis. The memoir recounts the Appalachian culture and socioeconomic problems of Vance's small-town upbringing. Hillbilly Elegy was on The New York Times Best Seller list in 2016 and 2017. The Times listed it among "6 Books to Help Understand Trump's Win", and Vance was profiled in The Washington Post, which called him "the voice of the Rust Belt".

Also as a DVD movie

Hillbilly Elegy's success helped propel Vance into contact with social elites, and he began writing a column for The New York Times. Vance later said that his interactions with social elites from this time, particularly their perceived disdain for "the people he grew up with", helped shape his later views.

James David Vance (born James Donald Bowman;August 2, 1984) Senate Official Portrait. ONLY 40 years old

Vance has lots of appeal for people Trump loves. Trump's two eldest sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, advocated for their father to choose Vance. Several media and industry figures are said to have lobbied for Vance to be on the presidential ticket, including Elon Musk, David O. Sacks, Tucker Carlson, and Peter Thiel, who first introduced Trump to Vance in 2021 The Heritage Foundation, which drafted Project 2025, privately advocated for Vance to be Trump's vice-presidential pick.

In 2021 on Fox News he said, ""we are effectively run in this country via the Democrats, via our corporate oligarchs, by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they've made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable too." His thing evidently is to really say outlandish things!

Vance wrote in his memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, that he was raised in a low-income family by his single mother and grandmother. In 2013, Vance met Usha Chilukuri while both were students at Yale Law School. In 2014, they married in Kentucky, in an interfaith marriage ceremony, as she is Hindu and he is Christian. Their wedding included a Bible reading by Vance's "best friend", Jamil Jivani, and the bride and groom were blessed by a Hindu pandit.

^{He opposes continued American military aid to Ukraine during the ongoing Russian invasion and prefers a negotiated peace.}

In August 2019, Vance was baptized and confirmed in the Catholic Church in a ceremony at St. Gertrude Priory in Cincinnati, Ohio. He chose Augustine of Hippo as his confirmation saint. Vance said he converted because he "became persuaded over time that Catholicism was true [...] and Augustine gave me a way to understand Christian faith in a strongly intellectual way", further describing Catholic theology's alignment with his political views. Vance was influenced to convert to Catholicism by Peter Thiel ."

Politico said o Vance: KYIV — J.D. Vance has a lot to say about Ukraine, which is why Kyiv froze when Donald Trump chose the Ohio senator to be his running mate on Monday.

Vance adjusts a fallen sign during a campaign rally in Middletown, Ohio, in July 2021. There, he announced that he would be running for the US Senate seat being left by retiring Sen. Rob Portman

Just after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Vance, then a candidate for U.S. Senate, said: "I gotta be honest with you, I don't really care what happens to Ukraine one way or another."

Starting from those first days of fighting, Vance has seized on Ukraine as one of his signature foreign policy issues. His isolationist position differentiates him from more conventional Republicans and also cements his ties with Trump's MAGA adherents.

MAGA movement, nativist political movement that emerged in the United States during the 2016 presidential campaign of its putative leader, Donald Trump. Its name is derived from Trump’s 2016 campaign slogan “Make America Great Again,” which became a rallying cry for many Trump supporters during his candidacy, his first term as president (2017–21), and beyond.

Resource:

https://www.politico.eu/article/jd-vance-europe-russia-ukraine-donald-trump-kyiv-vp-pick-policy-us-elections-ohio-aid-war/

https://www.britannica.com/topic/MAGA-movement

So This Was A Peace Meeting?

Nadene Goldfoot

Get ready, debaters; this is what you should not do. Just watch CNN's presentation of Trump, Vance and Zelensky in their meeting seen today, Friday, the last day of February, the 28th!!! This is how one of the viewers saw the three men discuss the dire situation Zelensky is in with Russia; with a President who trusts the word of Russia only because he hasn't blown that trust YET with Trump. Zelensky was telling how how many times that trust was broken with himself.

It was down to Zelensky explaining how Putin's Russia had been taking over Ukraine, including his explanation of dates and places, and all of a sudden Vance interrupted and quickly berating Zelensky for not saying THANK YOU to Trump for all of the USA's help.

Zelensky could not get a word in. Trump yelled and yelled along with Vance at Zelensky.

It all happened very fast. This is my memory of something just a few minutes ago of my 90 1/2 year old mind. Oy Vey!

Further, already others have commented.
Mr. Vance told Mr. Zelensky that it was “disrespectful” for him to come to the Oval Office and make his case in front of the news media, while Mr. Trump told the Ukrainian leader, “You’re not really in a good position right now.” Mr. Trump added, “You’re gambling with World War III.”

PS: "Forward mentioned this: So was this about performative acts of gratitude, or something else? A week ago, remember, the Trump administration demanded that Israel vote against a U.N. resolution holding Russia responsible for the war. Israel complied, joining the dubious company of North Korea, Belarus, Hungary and Russia. The spectacle of a Jewish nation being forced into a kind of historical revisionism — as Jews around the world fight a constant battle against the forces of Holocaust denial — made the episode even more painful." My comment is that I am shocked! We all know that Russia invaded, and no one has good reason in invading another's country. That's no peaceful discussion about any situation!!!

Update: Whatever happened to lunch? Was Zelensky kicked out without the promised meal?

Resource:

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/02/28/us/trump-news

https://www.forbes.com/sites/mollybohannon/2025/02/28/trump-zelenskyy-vance-face-off-in-oval-office-shouting-match-heres-everything-they-said/ Excellent with written wording of each.

Sunday, February 23, 2025

Netanyahu's Break Away From Israeli Deep State

Nadene Goldfoot

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with Ron Dermer (center), strategic affairs minister, and Danny Danon, ambassador to the United Nations, at Blair House in Washington, D.C., Feb. 3, 2025. Credit: Israeli mission to the United Nations

The Israeli deep state has been taking its orders from the U.S. foreign policy establishment for years. That has been the Democrats with men like Presidents Clinton, Obama and Biden. They have had no love for PM Netanyahu who has been of a stronger mind and challenge to them. I've heard from a Portland lawyer Democrat how much he "hates" Netanyahu, and he has known nothing about him except that's the consensus of the people he draws information from.

Netanyahu’s recent decision was to appoint Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer as the head of the ceasefire/hostage negotiations instead of the heads of the intelligence services, thought to be a seismic move against the Israeli deep state,

Ronald Dermer (Hebrew: רון דרמר‎, born April 16, 1971) is an American-born Israeli political consultant and diplomat serving as the Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs since 2022. He served as the Israeli Ambassador to the United States from 2013 to 2021. He's 54 years old.

Dermer has a big in with President Donald Trump. In 1993, Dermer graduated magna cum laude from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with concentrations in Finance and Management. Of course, this is Trump's Alma Mater. Donald and Ronald should have much in common.

While there, he was a member of the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity and a founding member of the Jewish Heritage Program run by Rabbi Menachem Schmidt. At a 2014 Wharton School alumni dinner, Dermer said in a speech that he chose to attend the school after reading Donald J. Trump's book The Art of the Deal.

Danny Danon (Hebrew: דני דנון, born 8 May 1971) is an Israeli politician and diplomat. A member of the Likud party, he served in the Knesset from 2009 to 2015 and from 2022 to 2024. He's 54, too and a month younger than Ronald, but he's considered a 'right-wing thorn in Netanyahu's side," Danon challenged Benjamin Netanyahu for the party's leadership in 2007 and 2014. He was ultimately fired by Netanyahu for criticizing the Prime Minister's willingness to accept a proposed ceasefire. Danon became Israel's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in 2015, and made history in 2016 by being the first Israeli elected chair of the UN's Legal Committee.

On 15 July 2014, Danon was dismissed as Deputy Minister of Defense position by Prime Minister Netanyahu after publicly criticizing his conduct and his willingness to accept a truce with Hamas during Operation Protective Edge.Danon slammed supporters of General Assembly Resolution ES-10/19, which declared the status of Jerusalem as Israel's capital "null and void." In a speech, he referred to supporters of the resolution as "puppets pulled by the strings of the Palestinian puppet masters," comparing them to "marionettes forced to dance while the Palestinian leadership looks on with glee."

Danny sounds pretty tough to me, even tougher than Netanyahu! He really on the right and a good deal more like a well-read Trump! Would he be considered as being part of Israel's Deep State? In his own book, the comment: Danny Danon has been a vocal opponent of disengaging in the Gaza Strip and West bank, and transforming the stalemate "two state/one state" dialogue to include regional partners, at times standing in direct opposition to his own party's leadership. A well-known and frequent speaker in the global arena, he is the rising voice for a fresh movement toward nationalism among the generation of Israelis currently coming to power. Here, Danon shares this vision with the world. It is a bold and uncompromising stance in the face of attacks on Israel's sovereignty by other Middle Eastern nations as the United States sends mixed signals of support to further its own goals in the region.

Danon dissects the missteps and wrong turns that Israel's politicians have taken in the past by working to appease the United States and not offend their neighbors, instead of prioritizing their nation's own viability. With electrifying zeal, he tackles the challenges Israel faces today to undo what he sees as a consequence brought on by years of acquiescence to US policy. Danon believes "US pressure on Israel is hurting Israel and will do nothing to advance peace".

Looks to me like Netanyahu is finally going along with Danny's idea and that Danny has wanted to break away from the Israeli Deep State ideology all along.

Here's where Trump and Zelensky met in Paris to press Ukraine's case

President Emmanuel Macron of France poses with President-elect Donald J. Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine ahead of a trilateral meeting at the Élysée Palace in Paris.Credit...James Hill for The New York Times

The latest revelation is that Trump dislikes Zelensky very much, and this has been going on for a long time. After Zelensky said Trump was in a "disinformation space", Trump called Zelensky a "dictator" - a remark condemned by Kyiv's allies.

The two have traded barbs in the past, but Zelensky has usually tried to toe a diplomatic line with Trump.being he represents the USA. Zelensky is the 1st Jewish leader of any country other than Israel. Ironically, Ukraine was the toughest of the USSR states towards Jews; doing a lot of helping of Nazis during WWII. Zelensky, a TV comedian, won the hearts and minds of the Ukrainians when he played the part on TV of Ukraine's leader. I think he's doing fantastically well considering he isn't an educated politician but going on his gut instincts, I imagine.

Resource:

https://www.jns.org/trump-and-the-israeli-deep-state/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Dermer

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyj3j2r25wo

Tuesday, November 19, 2024

Jews Relating History of Ukraine to Russia

Nadene Goldfoot

Russia is still at it, trying to claim part of Ukraine as their own land. Ukraine had an interesting birth. A part of Scythia in antiquity, Ukraine was largely settled by Greuthungi, Getae, Goths, and Huns in the Migration Period, while southern parts of Ukraine were previously colonized by Greeks and then Romans. In the Early Middle Ages it was also a site of early Slavic expansion.

Ukraine has been part of Russia for centuries, and its history is marked by periods of Russian rule and periods of relative independence:

Jews immigrated to the Ukraine in waves from Khazaria, the Calliphate, and Byzantium between the 9th and 12th centuries.

In 14th and 15th centuries, majority of Ukrainian territories became part of Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Ruthenia and Samogitia, while Galicia and Zakarpattia came under Polish and Hungarian rule.

Jews came from Central Europe to Ukraine in the 14th to 15th centuries, and from Poland in the 15th to 17th centuries. Several massacres of Jews took place there during the Chmielnicki and Haidamak uprisings of the 17th to 18th centuries.

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Kingdom of Poland

In 1708, Russia gains control of eastern Ukraine after the Battle of Poltava, which crushed the Swedish army led by King Charles XII.
By 1764–1781, Catherine the Great incorporates much of central Ukraine into the Russian Empire, abolishing the Cossack Hetmanate. Then, in 1795, after the fall of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the western part of present-day Ukraine is split between Russia and Austria-Hungary.
Notice, Ukraine is orange (6)
In 1922 The Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic (U.S.S.R.) is established.The Soviet Empire was made up of 15 Soviet Socialist Republics: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belorussia (now Belarus), Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kirgiziya (now Kyrgyzstan), Latvia, Lithuania, Moldavia (now Moldova), Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
The Soviet Union had eight leaders; first being Lenin, during its existence from 1922 to 1991. Unlike countries in which a president or prime minister is the designated head of state, the leaders of the USSR mostly assumed power by becoming the head of the Soviet Union’s Communist Party, in addition to any other roles they may have taken on along the way.
The Soviet government in the 1920's promoted Jewish settlement in the Ukraine with funds of the American Joint Distribution Committee, in the regions of Kalinindorf, Zlatopol, and Stalindodrf: and by 1930, there were 90,000 Jewish agriculturists there.
Jewish economy and culture suffered under Soviet rule. About half of Soviet Russia's 3 million Jews lived there before World War II, but under Nazi rule the Jewish people who had not fled to Russia were wiped out by the Germans and Ukrainians in 1941 to 1942.
Ukrainians were especially hard on Jews during WWII by aiding and abetting with the Nazis.
First General Assembly in Odessa of the "Zionist Land Workers in Syria & the Holy Land," 1890 (National Photo Collection of Israel); still from video of Volodymir Zelensky and administration officials in Kyiv, released on Facebook Feb. 25, 2022.
Zelenskyy has positioned himself as an anti-establishment and anti-corruption figure. As president, he has been a proponent of e-government and of unity between the Ukrainian- and Russian-speaking parts of the country's population. His communication style makes extensive use of social media, particularly Instagram. His party won a landslide victory in the snap legislative election held shortly after his inauguration as president.
Volodymyr Zelensky has gone from a TV personality playing their president to the actual President of Ukraine! That TV president was just what they needed!
As for being Jewish, Grandfather Semyon's father and three brothers were killed in the Holocaust. In March 2022, Zelenskyy said that his great-grandparents had been killed after German troops burned their home to the ground during a massacre. His grandmother survived World War II after leaving Kryvyi Rih in an evacuation of Jews to Almaty, Kazakhstan, and returned to Ukraine after the war.Zelensky's father, Oleksandr Zelenskyy, is a professor and computer scientist and the head of the Department of Cybernetics and Computing Hardware at the Kryvyi Rih State University of Economics and Technology; his mother, Rymma Zelenska, is a retired engineer. His grandfather, Semyon Zelenskyy [uk], served as an infantryman, reaching the rank of colonel in the Red Army (in the 57th Guards Motor Rifle Division) during World War II;
As much of the world expresses sorrow and solidarity with the Ukrainian people—and admiration for its president, Volodymyr Zelensky today—the ironies of history abound. To students of Jewish history, it is a source of near incredulity that the same recurrent site of mass violence against Jews—from the Khmielnitsky massacres of the mid-seventeenth century to the brutal killing fields during and after World War I to the bloodlands soiled by Nazi murderers in Operation Barbarossa in 1941—is home to a fledgling democracy and an unlikely and inspiring Jewish president. And yet, Ukraine, like history itself, is multidimensiona.
How Russia often mis-interprets situations. During the World War, Jews were often accused of sympathizing with Germany and often persecuted. Pogroms were unleashed throughout the Russian Civil War, perpetrated by virtually every competing faction, from Polish and Ukrainian nationalists to the Red and White Armies.
31,071 civilian Jews were killed during documented pogroms throughout the former Russian Empire; the number of Jewish orphans exceeded 300,000. A majority of pogroms in Ukraine during 1918–1920 were perpetrated by the Ukrainian nationalists, miscellaneous bands and anti-Communist forces.
Jewish mothers would mar their sons somehow to keep them out of the army which started taking the boys as children. They were put on the front lines and died first. This was reason enough to seek out immigrating to America! By 1924 America's door shut down to Jews.
It was also home at one time to the world’s largest population of Jews and the place of extraordinary Jewish cultural vitality from Poltava in the east to Lviv in the west, not to mention the jewel of Odessa in the south.
By 1970 the Jewish population was officially put at 777,126 and at 484,129 in 1989.
Here we are in 2024 with Biden giving the green light to Ukraine to shoot longer-range missiles into Russia in response to their attacks. This could lead to a world war. Biden will be stepping down by January and Trump will start serving his 4 years as President. Biden, a Democrat that lost, has seen how more militant the USA is by the Republican win. Biden’s shift in policy added an uncertain, new factor to the conflict on the eve of the 1,000-day milestone since Russia began its full-scale invasion in 2022. The USA is a NATO country.