General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsJust a note about history.
The fact that President Joe went to Ukraine despite the threat posed by Putin's missiles was incredibly brave. When Nazi V2 Rockets were raining down on England, starting in 1944, President Roosevelt didn't visit that country. Wisely.
President Joe, a heroic American.
Tetrachloride
(7,813 posts)President Biden has moved beyond brave. Hes at a higher plane.
republianmushroom
(13,454 posts)Srkdqltr
(6,224 posts)Apples and oranges.
kairos12
(12,841 posts)He was in worse health in 1945 and he traveled all the way to Yalta.
Srkdqltr
(6,224 posts)kairos12
(12,841 posts)BlackSkimmer
(51,308 posts)Not going to quibble about this kind of thing.
One can call to mind several leaders who made perilous journeys, throughout history and in riskier conditions.
Srkdqltr
(6,224 posts)Both did what had to be done when needed.
BlackSkimmer
(51,308 posts)Is this something that really is important?
Good on Joe for going, but I'm not comparing him to any of the leaders who traveled in much less safe times.
LetMyPeopleVote
(144,886 posts)I do not want to see the GOP try to claim that President Biden is too old for the job and that he lacks guts. This trip to Kiev took a great deal of courage. No president has gone to an active war zone without substantial military support.
I am so proud of President Biden
Link to tweet
https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/bidens-secret-trip-to-kyiv-took-guts/
The New York Times reports that after a trans-Atlantic flight to Poland, Mr. Biden crossed the border by train, traveling for nearly 10 hours to Kyiv as other American officials have in recent months.....
The Times reports that Biden slipped out of Washington in the dark of night without notice in the early hours of Sunday morning on the East Coast: Just a few reporters sworn to secrecy and deprived of their telephones were brought with him, along with Jake Sullivan, the presidents national security adviser; Jen OMalley Dillon, his deputy chief of staff; and Annie Tomasini, the director of Oval Office operations.
The moment reminds me not so much of Presidents Bush, Obama, and Trump flying unannounced to Iraq or Afghanistan, but of President Roosevelts wartime travels across the Atlantic. Make no mistake, there was risk involved in this trip. Traveling to the capital of a nation fighting a shooting war with a great power, the U.S. had no way to choreograph with exactitude the circumstances of his travel or arrival. Neither the U.S. nor Ukraine has total control of the airspace. Neither the U.S. nor Ukraine could guarantee Bidens security on the ground.....
The president of the United States was inside the Russian WEZ the weapons engagement zone the entire trip. For that Joe Biden should receive credit.
Americans are allowed to disagree in good faith about what comes next should the U.S. stand for a Ukraine whole and free no matter how long it takes to eject the Kremlins army, or is it in the American interest to urge the Ukrainians to accept a peace that doesnt include all of its antebellum territory? but no one should be under any illusion about the power of an American president going into a war zone to extend a hand to a beleaguered people and offer unwavering support.
Symbolism and morale matter to a nation at war. Indeed, as Napoleon said, the moral is to the physical as three to one.