After decades of ignoring Russian aggression and Chinese human rights abuses, while refusing to invest in infrastructure and insisting on exporting 'US democracy' which has frankly been a disaster in every case since WWII, and the exposure of massive weaknesses of the US on every level but vaccine development, Biden has few choices. We'll never catch up in the 5G space, our public health infrastructure is in ruins, our physical infrastructure is crumbling before our eyes, corporate greed has led to massive outsourcing where massive cyber weaknesses have been easy to exploit. Every GOP administration since Reagan has led us into financial doom loops that Democratic administrations are left to repair. The GOP under Trump learned that they could win - not by doing anything to help citizens or allies - but by driving the 'socialist' narrative and stoking cultural biases. The US should have the most advanced health, education, infrastructure, and cyber security in the world, and instead we have frittered away trillions on pointless wars, and enhancing the status of corporations and the 1%. Biden has few cards to play...a malicious opposition party bent on his downfall, an impotent Democratic party, allies reliant on Russian oil and Chinese trade, and a media that seems unable to grapple with the dangers before our eyes. I'm still in shock that MSNBC gave Putin a worldwide platform in the form of a 1:1 interview to spew his propaganda. I don't think anything will be gained by Biden's meeting with Putin, but we've sunk so low, I'm not convinced that we have anything to lose.
We know Biden isn't going to give Putin any oxygen via a joint broadcast, but he's determined to give him an in person direct message- all of which I'm sure former Russian diplomats had a hand in conveying to him. But, what's most concerning are the cyber space issues that congressional leaders don't seem to be taking seriously enough. What's more unsettling to me is that "The U.S. domestic terror group The Base, Rinaldo Nazarro, now resides in Russia, and has surfaced on social media recently, promoting training courses in Oregon and North Carolina this summer." These issues are never going away, and I believe Biden knows this and wants to present a strong, forceful stance to Vlad. I hope our cyber security communities can thwart and deter them and show them that we are better at this 'game' than they are.
Thank you for this very informative post. I do worry that there have been too many "dry runs" and that the next attack will be catastrophic. I apologize if this has been asked before and possibly off topic, but do you think QAnon is something generated out of Russia? Why is it so hard to track down this source of disinformation?
I agree with most of what you say. However, I do think it's good for Biden to meet with Putin, if only to counteract that horrible image of Trump looking like a beaten puppy on a leash.
Excellent points. Here's the other point: Russia has perpetrated tens of thousands of acts of war against NATO's 30 members -- and continues to be at war with Ukraine -- and little if anything changed after the meeting. https://dianefrancis.substack.com/p/putin-punks-nato
After decades of ignoring Russian aggression and Chinese human rights abuses, while refusing to invest in infrastructure and insisting on exporting 'US democracy' which has frankly been a disaster in every case since WWII, and the exposure of massive weaknesses of the US on every level but vaccine development, Biden has few choices. We'll never catch up in the 5G space, our public health infrastructure is in ruins, our physical infrastructure is crumbling before our eyes, corporate greed has led to massive outsourcing where massive cyber weaknesses have been easy to exploit. Every GOP administration since Reagan has led us into financial doom loops that Democratic administrations are left to repair. The GOP under Trump learned that they could win - not by doing anything to help citizens or allies - but by driving the 'socialist' narrative and stoking cultural biases. The US should have the most advanced health, education, infrastructure, and cyber security in the world, and instead we have frittered away trillions on pointless wars, and enhancing the status of corporations and the 1%. Biden has few cards to play...a malicious opposition party bent on his downfall, an impotent Democratic party, allies reliant on Russian oil and Chinese trade, and a media that seems unable to grapple with the dangers before our eyes. I'm still in shock that MSNBC gave Putin a worldwide platform in the form of a 1:1 interview to spew his propaganda. I don't think anything will be gained by Biden's meeting with Putin, but we've sunk so low, I'm not convinced that we have anything to lose.
After decades of ignoring Russian aggression and Chinese human rights abuses, while refusing to invest in infrastructure and insisting on exporting 'US democracy' which has frankly been a disaster in every case since WWII, and the exposure of massive weaknesses of the US on every level but vaccine development, Biden has few choices. We'll never catch up in the 5G space, our public health infrastructure is in ruins, our physical infrastructure is crumbling before our eyes, corporate greed has led to massive outsourcing where massive cyber weaknesses have been easy to exploit. Every GOP administration since Reagan has led us into financial doom loops that Democratic administrations are left to repair. The GOP under Trump learned that they could win - not by doing anything to help citizens or allies - but by driving the 'socialist' narrative and stoking cultural biases. The US should have the most advanced health, education, infrastructure, and cyber security in the world, and instead we have frittered away trillions on pointless wars, and enhancing the status of corporations and the 1%. Biden has few cards to play...a malicious opposition party bent on his downfall, an impotent Democratic party, allies reliant on Russian oil and Chinese trade, and a media that seems unable to grapple with the dangers before our eyes. I'm still in shock that MSNBC gave Putin a worldwide platform in the form of a 1:1 interview to spew his propaganda. I don't think anything will be gained by Biden's meeting with Putin, but we've sunk so low, I'm not convinced that we have anything to lose.
We know Biden isn't going to give Putin any oxygen via a joint broadcast, but he's determined to give him an in person direct message- all of which I'm sure former Russian diplomats had a hand in conveying to him. But, what's most concerning are the cyber space issues that congressional leaders don't seem to be taking seriously enough. What's more unsettling to me is that "The U.S. domestic terror group The Base, Rinaldo Nazarro, now resides in Russia, and has surfaced on social media recently, promoting training courses in Oregon and North Carolina this summer." These issues are never going away, and I believe Biden knows this and wants to present a strong, forceful stance to Vlad. I hope our cyber security communities can thwart and deter them and show them that we are better at this 'game' than they are.
Thank you for this very informative post. I do worry that there have been too many "dry runs" and that the next attack will be catastrophic. I apologize if this has been asked before and possibly off topic, but do you think QAnon is something generated out of Russia? Why is it so hard to track down this source of disinformation?
i think the HBO special got it right
I will look it up, thanks!
I agree with most of what you say. However, I do think it's good for Biden to meet with Putin, if only to counteract that horrible image of Trump looking like a beaten puppy on a leash.
Excellent points. Here's the other point: Russia has perpetrated tens of thousands of acts of war against NATO's 30 members -- and continues to be at war with Ukraine -- and little if anything changed after the meeting. https://dianefrancis.substack.com/p/putin-punks-nato
After decades of ignoring Russian aggression and Chinese human rights abuses, while refusing to invest in infrastructure and insisting on exporting 'US democracy' which has frankly been a disaster in every case since WWII, and the exposure of massive weaknesses of the US on every level but vaccine development, Biden has few choices. We'll never catch up in the 5G space, our public health infrastructure is in ruins, our physical infrastructure is crumbling before our eyes, corporate greed has led to massive outsourcing where massive cyber weaknesses have been easy to exploit. Every GOP administration since Reagan has led us into financial doom loops that Democratic administrations are left to repair. The GOP under Trump learned that they could win - not by doing anything to help citizens or allies - but by driving the 'socialist' narrative and stoking cultural biases. The US should have the most advanced health, education, infrastructure, and cyber security in the world, and instead we have frittered away trillions on pointless wars, and enhancing the status of corporations and the 1%. Biden has few cards to play...a malicious opposition party bent on his downfall, an impotent Democratic party, allies reliant on Russian oil and Chinese trade, and a media that seems unable to grapple with the dangers before our eyes. I'm still in shock that MSNBC gave Putin a worldwide platform in the form of a 1:1 interview to spew his propaganda. I don't think anything will be gained by Biden's meeting with Putin, but we've sunk so low, I'm not convinced that we have anything to lose.