TERRY MOSHER
TOP OF THE TOWN – The difference between Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin couldn’t be starker. Biden is the nice guy with a tough guy’s confidence and Putin is 45‑ a deadly and horrific bully with no morals – coated with false class. In high school terms, Biden leads the school’s top clique and is the student body president and Putin, with a smirk, is in the school’s broiler room plotting to slash tires of teachers’ cars in the parking lot. Biden appears to be very naïve and Putin gives off an impressive of naiveté but behind that is a cold-calculating killer. These two met up again (they met before when Biden was Vice President and Putin was the Russian Prime Minister) Wednesday (June 16) in Geneva for a summit of leaders. They held separate press conferences after meeting for about three hours and they revealed what each other are all about. Putin, who went into a press conference first, put on a show. He loves the limelight and is very comfortable performing for the media. He can lie and spread misinformation better than 45, which is saying something. There is the bull in the China Shop approach 45 uses and then there is Putin’s coolness, his smoothness. Both are birds of the same feather, but they approach their cons differently. I got the impression after listening to Putin and then Biden that nothing really got done. They just passed any decision on a variety of topics down to their hired help in future meetings. On major differences, like cyber shenanigans, my feeling is nothing will ever get done to stop the Russians from interfering or hacking into our institutions and elections. Biden thinks world opinion and counter attacks will stop the Russians. I don’t think so. You know, life in the spiritual sense comes down to a four-letter word, love. Life in a worldly layman’s sense comes down to a five-letter word, Money. You change habits and criminal acts by going after the money. You have heard the expression “follow the money” over and over these last four years as it relates to the criminality of 45 and there is good reason for that: Money dictates everything in our worldly life. Money is 45’s God. He idolizes it. Putin is no different. There is a reason why 45 likes Putin. The Russian president-dictator is loaded. The richest man in the world isn’t Amazon’s Jeff Bezos or LMH chief Bernard Arnault, but Putin. According to former Russian chess grandmaster and political activist Garry Kasparov, Putin has his hands on an estimated$1 trillion. There is way to get to Putin. Attack the economy.The Russian economy is about half the size of California’s and it’s dependent on oil and gas exports. That’s why it’s important for Putin to get the Nord Stream 2 pipeline being built under the Baltic Sea finished. It’s nearly there. When completed the pipeline will allow Russia to export gas to Western Europe. Critics worry the pipeline will allow Russia to increase its influence over Europe, especially Germany. The Russians could decrease or increase the flow depending how Putin feels. Putin, in a sense, would be the school kid in the broiler room plotting to slash tires. Only his “slashing tires” would be economically disruptive to Europe. Two, though, can play this game, Biden hinted in his press conference. He said the U.S. is capable of cyber attacks on the pipeline if Putin’s cyber attackers continue their dangerous game of attacking us. Beyond that, however, the key to reigning in Putin is to hit him in the wallet. He’s supported by oligarchs and if the United States can sanction them it would harm Putin. Or attack Putin’s money accounts, wherever they may be. Anyway, this summit was more of a farce than a place to settle issues and stabilize the world. These two guys know each other well and this was more a PR move by them. Putin got to dance his way in front of a world-wide audience in his press conference, showing the world how nice he is in front of cameras (not so nice away from them) and Biden got to show the world in his press conference that despite his naiveté he has a solid understanding that it will take more than words to solve problems between them. So we’ll see, he pointed out. Yes, we will see. I just hope the wait isn’t long. That’s if for day. Stay safe.
Be well pal.
Be careful out there.
Have a great day.
You are loved.