Besides blaming Biden for the rise in gasoline prices (which is false), right wing media is now howling about how the US has increased its imports of Russian oil in recent years.  We have indeed increased our imports of Russian oil, but most of it is actually not crude oil, but unfinished component products for making gasoline and diesel.  Why?  Interesting you should ask – imports of Russian oil and products increased when Venezuelan crude and products were banned by a US president.  Biden, you ask?  Nope – TFG.  In 2019.  At the time strongman Nicolas Maduro had seized the presidency of Venezuela after the election, and TFG’s handlers saw an opportunity to connect Democrats with “leftists” in Venezuela, attracting votes from a growing population of Venezuelans in Florida, and banned imports of the country’s crude and products.  All that accomplished was drive Maduro into the arms of Putin, AND forced US refiners to increase Russian imports to replace the lost Venezuelan product and keep supply of motor fuels flowing into US markets.

Since the war in Ukraine started, the Noise Machine has been howling about how Biden is responsible for rising prices and “increasing dependence” on Russian crude, which is all bullshit.  Even at it’s peak, Russian product has only made up about 4% to 8% of total imports into the US, and only about 2% of US consumption.  This is all a tempest in a teapot trying to blame the Biden administration for the price and demand crunches that exist through no direct actions of Biden, or any other president, for that matter.

The global energy markets are made up of millions of players in every energy consuming state.  The US government does not control US production which is controlled by private companies navigating shifting sands of economies, investors, and consumers.  Today, the Washington Post published a really good explainer of how gasoline prices are determined and worth the time of anyone not familiar with how the oil and gas industry actually works.

I don’t have to recount the thousands of times that all but a tiny handful of GOP politicians have praised, looked the other way, made excuses for or lied about the despicable and illegal conduct of TFG.  Goofballs, weirdos and Fox News talking heads called sensible public health policy “tyranny”, comparing wearing masks and getting vaccines to the Nazi run gas chambers during the holocaust.  Said goofballs also did the bidding of TFG  and attacked the US Capitol to stop the lawful certification of the presidential election.  Since the attack, every conservative talking head and politician have twisted themselves into pretzels downplaying the insurrection or trying to justify it because of the tyranny of a free and fair election that their guy lost.

Then comes the guy TFG loves, Vlad Putin.  Doing what TFG only dreams of, Putin completely controls the levers of power in Russia and its zone of influence, having destroyed the constitution that Boris Yeltsin pushed through to make Russia a democracy.  He decided that Ukraine, which has been an independent democracy since 1991 when the Soviet Union finally collapsed, was actually his in his fever dream of rebuilding the Soviet Union.  Violating a whole book full of international laws, Putin launched a full scale invasion of Ukraine last week, expecting the same tepid response of 2014 when he annexed Crimea and succeeded while Europe looked the other way and the US responded with limited sanctions (that Trump undid as one of his first acts in office).  TFG stayed in character this last week lavishing praise on Putin, followed by sycophants at Fox Noise, and the TFG wing of the GOP.

And then, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky stood up, took off his suit, donned olive drab, declared he was not surrendering, and started rallying his people. When offered an evacuation by the US, he declined, saying, “I need ammunition, not a ride.”  Following his lead, thousands of Ukrainians have volunteered to defend their homeland, and even expat Ukrainians are returning to fight.  They’ve built barricades, made Molotov cocktails, taken up arms, and have steadfastly resisted the onslaught.

After witnessing Zelensky’s courage and the response of his people, the international community has responded in a way unseen since 911.  The EU banned Russian aircraft in their airspace; the US, with cooperation of allies, implemented sanctions on Putin and his henchmen, even including denying some Russian banks access to the SWIFT international payments system, which I believe hasn’t been done before and threatens to cripple the Russian economy.  Hundreds of thousands of Russians in large cities around the country, risking arrest and detention, publicly protested against Putin.  The EU offered to finance weapons into Ukraine, and then Fedex and UPS announced that they were halting all shipments into and out of Russia. Shortly after, BP announced that it was exiting its 20%, $14 billion position in Rosneft, the Russian national oil company.  Boom. In less than a week, Putin was isolated and now a pariah in global political and industry circles with few exceptions.  Even Putin ass-kisser Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has announced that he is “neutral” about the attack on Ukraine.

The pressure on Putin is now so great that, after putting his nuclear assets on alert, he asked for talks with Ukraine through the president of Belarus.  So far the talks are said to be arranged on the border between Ukraine and Belarus, a Russian satellite state.  There are no real hopes for progress, but with Putin raising the specter of nuclear war, he is clearly on his heels.

This is how you deal with a despot.  When they threaten unlawful actions, you don’t appease.  You kick them in the groin and poke them in the eye.  This is not only how you deal with Putin, you do the same thing with shitbags like TFG, Bolsanaro, Kim Jong Un, and other despots around the world.  They rule with fear; they’re bullies.  When overpowered, they run.

There is a lesson being taught the world by the people of Ukraine.  I’m just hoping that many people, including TFG appeasers, are learning it.