#1,048: Pouter Pigeon: The Art of the Kneel

Hope your week has provided you and yours with a few tranquil moments away from all the Sturm und Drang (German for “storm and stress”) of the disaster that was/is Alaska. Up until his departure for the summit, POTUS pledged that any peace between Russia and Ukraine had to be preceded by a cease fire. Indeed, in the days and weeks preceding his meeting with pale clothing moth (the literal translation of Putin’s KGB nickname) IT swore on a stack of Tolstoy’s War and Peace that without an immediate cessation of hostilities, Russia would face “severe consequences.” By the time he landed just outside of Anchorage, those two words had been stricken from his vocabulary.

In less than 24 hours, he had broken from a strategy agreed to with European allies for a cease fire, to adopting Putin’s preference for pursuing a sweeping peace agreement based on Ukraine’s ceding unconquered territory to Russia. And mind you, this wouldn’t be a swap; the Ukraine doesn’t occupy a single verst of Russian territory. Unless you forgot, it was Russia who attacked the land of Sholem Aleichem . . . not vice versa.

Unless one is a clone of The Who’s “Tommy” (e.g. “deaf dumb and blind”), one cannot give POTUS a grade above F+ for his summit with Vlad: about the only positive thing one can say is that when he left Alaska, it was still the 49th State of the Union. Goodness knows, it was just about the only thing he did not cede. In terms of how IT deals with Putin, it has long been the case that the farther away he is from him geographically, the more chest-thumpingly bellicose he sounds; but then, the closer he gets to him in physical reality (like on a tarmac, sharing a ride in The Beast, watching a military flyover or sitting opposite him behind closed doors), the more politically pliant he becomes. In other words, he morphs from being Mr. Art-of- the-Deal, into Comrade Art-of-the-Kneel.

The summit in Alaska had an eerie Neville Chamberlain-like quality about it, although Anchorage can’t hold a candle to Berchtesgaden in terms of physical quaintness. The choice of venue was significant: there are few places outside of Russia where Vlad can go without being arrested . . . I mean, ever since the man was indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court, he is subject to arrest in at least 125 countries around the world. But to invite him to Alaska, have that U.S. Air Force flyover, give him a red-carpet reception, a hardy handshake and a lift in The Beast . . . and then permit him to speak before POTUS at the post-meeting presser, is more than a שאַנדע (shanda . . . that’s Yiddish for shame or disgrace); it is an out-and-out פאַרלעגנהייט (farlegn’heyt . . . embarrassment. About the only thing missing was IT mouthing the words "peace for our time.” Appeasement is appeasement. Kneeling is kneeling.

(A brief digression: You might have wondered what, who and why the use of the term Pouter Pigeon in this week’s title means. Simply speaking, Pouter Pigeons are ornamental breeds of the rock dove, valued for their very unique appearance. There are countless varieties of them. Many ornithologists believe they were bred for a single purpose: to dazzle the eye of the beholder. The largest of them are about 16 inches high. They come in many colors and are likely descendants of the wild rock pigeon. Charles Darwin wrote about how distinct this breed was way back in 1868. What distinguishes all of them - regardless of size or color - is the nature of their crop: when excited, they throw out their chest and actually get a pouty look. In his novel Between Two Worlds, (the second of his 11 historical novels in the “Lanny Budd” series written between 1940 and 1953), author Upton Sinclair wrote about Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, whose nickname was “Blessed Little Pouter Pigeon.” The Fascist leader was wont to thrust out both his chin and chest when making a point, and then talk on and on and on . . . sort of like you-know-who. And so, I’ve decided to append yet another nickname to #47: Pouter Pigeon; partly for his preferred public posture, and partly for his fascistic tendencies. Now, back to The Art of the Kneel. )

From Anchorage, Pouter Pigeon headed back to the people’s gilded palace, awaiting the arrival of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. I cannot imagine what must have been going through POTUS’s muddled mind. on the flight back home. Perhaps “I’m one step closer to Putin . . . what-a-guy!” Or maybe, “Oops. Did I just lose the Nobel Peace Prize?” For a man who left D.C. proclaiming the need for an immediate cease-fire before even considering what any future security arrangement might entail, to one returning home with the belief that there is no need for a cease-fire and to just get on with the final next step, he sure would need to rehearse his best Pouter Pigeon punim. I wonder how much sleep he got the night before his meeting with President Zelenskyy and 7 deeply pro-Ukraine European leaders. I wonder if he dreamt about the last time the Ukrainian President had a confab with him in the Oval; about how V.P. Vontz and far-right reporter Brian Glenn repeatedly chided him for not “suiting up,” and how he treated the more diminutive man like a petulant child . . . going so far as to bring the tete-a-tete to an early, hasty ending. At that visit, he accused Zelenskyy of not showing enough gratitude for all that he - the Pouter Pigeon - had been doing on Ukraine’s behalf. It must have been a listless night.

It’s obvious that his last visit was on the mind of Zelenskyy as well. This time, his mode of attire was quite a bit more presidential, and he began by thanking POTUS for arranging the meeting with himself and 7 European leaders (United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, President of the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte). All the leaders treated their host with respect, but nonetheless stood firm in their belief that a cease-fire was essential before any further discussion. Some differences did break through. Chancellor Merz of Germany argued for a cease-fire to be put in place before further negotiations with Russia, but was somewhat rebuffed by the Pouter Pigeon. Then too, President Macron of France suggested he was skeptical that Putin was dealing in good faith. “I am not convinced that President Putin also wants peace,” he told reporters at a news conference.

All the participants appeared to agree with a plan to arrange direct talks between Mr. Zelensky and Mr. Putin (a “Trifab” in Pouter Pigeon’s lingo) while other issues are worked out, such as the precise nature of the security guarantees for Ukraine, and what if any territory Ukraine might be willing to cede. During the meeting, POTUS went to call Putin in order to bring him up to date. In boxing terms, that call was a “low blow” - against the rules of battle.

It is still unclear if Vlad would directly participate in talks with the Ukrainian president. When asked by the press whether the U .S. would send American troops to Ukraine as part of any peacekeeping effort, he did not answer the question directly, but said that the U.S. would “help them out.” “We’ll be involved,” Pouter Pigeon said.

Within hours after the meeting at the White House, Russia launched hundreds of drones and missiles, targeting energy and transport infrastructure into the industrial city of Kremenchuk in central Ukraine’s Poltava region. As of this writing, POTUS has yet to issue a statement about the renewed attack that left more than 1,400 residences and more than 100 businesses without power. Instead, he has been more fully engaged in sending individual states’ national guard troops to police some of the nation’s largest cities; arguing that he will do everything in his power to eliminate voting by mail (something which he himself has been doing for years); and blaming former President Biden for Russia’s initial attack on Ukraine more than 3 years ago. (We can assume that he either does not remember - or ever knew in the first place - that Russia has been trying to reassemble the former Soviet Union for more than a decade . . . including prime land in the Ukraine. He may not understand or fear Putin’s expansionist intentions; Europe does . . . which is why they so strongly back the Ukrainian cause).

Pouter Pigeon’s attention to all t these other issues are, of course, intended to keep public attention away from the ongoing debacle concerning release of the Epstein files . . . which could be a political IED in his path.

A suggestion Mr. President: quit dreaming about receiving that Nobel Peace Prize. It simply ain’t gonna happen; no way, no how. Hey, if Teddy Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama could win one, why not you? Among the thousands of reasons we could give, there’s only one that matters:

Teddy, Woodrow, Jimmy and Barack stood tall in their approach to the future. You are far, far more comfortable kneeling down.