Where Are We Are This Week 5/26/23
The Monaco Grand Prix, Ron DeSantis enters the race, and Ukraine takes to the skies.
It’s too easy to become sequestered. For me, it is anyways. It’s not my first inclination to fill up my social calendar with dates and events, and for anyone who tries to plan something with me, you understand.
I think, though, as our society has become increasingly atomized despite the advent of social media and its supposed ‘interconnectedness’, it’s become more and more important to socialize.
I’ve said this before, but, the way we change the condition we’re in is person by person. I used to think that meant you had to change someone’s mind, but it’s really simpler than that. We only have to share with each other.
That’s how a community is built, not by unanimous agreement, but by understanding. If you’re able to understand your friend’s position and them yours, then the odds of one of you shifting your stance are greatly increased.
Not only that but by taking those risks, you allow for a chance to better understand yourself. You can watch as your ideas play, and lose, and win against others. We’re not our ideas, we’re something else, something greater. And that’s what we’re here to find out.
My skin is sort of brownish
Pinkish yellowish white.
My eyes are greyish bluish green,
But I'm told they look orange in the night.
My hair is reddish blondish brown,
But it's silver when it's wet.
And all the colors I am inside
Have not been invented yet.
- Shel Silverstein, Where the Sidewalk EndsIt’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s F-16s!
Only months after promising that Ukraine forces wouldn’t be getting their hands on the much-coveted F-16 fighter jet, Biden is relenting on his proclamation.
This week, it was announced that the United States would begin training Ukrainian fighter pilots on how to operate the ‘Fighting Falcon’ continuing the trend of Biden making promises he refuses to keep. First, it was javelin missile systems, then tanks, and now, fighter jets. It’s a shame no one in Washington knows the phrase “no take-backsies.”
I believe I predicted this a few months ago when President Biden drew his line in the sand - but I’m too lazy to pour through previous installments to confirm that belief. And like all lines in the sand that are drawn optimistically at low tide, this one, too, has washed away only a few hours later.
It’s hard to understand whether or not this was the Biden Administration’s plan all along, or if it’s a genuine about-face. Not that either of the two is materially different though, the trajectory is unmistakable. On a long enough timeline, Zelenskyy and Ukraine get whatever they ask for from NATO which makes one wonder if it is, indeed, the tail wagging the dog.
Technically, it’s the Netherlands and Britain who will be gifting the airplanes to the war-torn nation but since they are of American origin, they aren’t allowed to be transferred without explicit American consent. Thus, continues to the merry-go-round of materiel from the shores of the United States through Europe and the Near East. Lockheed Martin will have no problems replacing the holes in our NATO allies’ inventory, I’m sure.
Why does this matter? And why do I insist on updating you all on the Russian-Ukrainian conflict? Well, to put it simply: when the Archduke of Austria, Franz Ferdinand, was assassinated, no one thought, “Here comes World War I!”
What started out as a revolutionary power struggle between Bosnia and Herzegovina and their conquerors, Austria, eventually turned into the Great War, a conflict that would incur 40 million casualties in just under five years’ time. Did the Bosnian assassins realize what they were doing would have political ramifications well beyond the freedom of their countrymen? Or course not. Even as Germany and Russia backed opposing sides in the domestic conflict, no one could have foreseen what was to come.
And yet, here we are. Russia has repeatedly warned the West of what it considers to be redline offenses - the Kremlin has rattled its nuclear sabre in response to each new phase of equipment supplies while the West continues to poke the bear, undeterred.
Putin has repeatedly warned the West and Ukraine to not cross the line that he has drawn; then, when NATO impudently strides over it, Russia takes one step back and says, “But you shall not cross this line!”
Calling your enemy’s bluff is all well and good until it’s a bluff no more. To quote Mike Tyson, “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.”
As if Afghanistan and Iraq weren’t recent enough examples, this is mission creep at its finest. After Ukraine attempted to assassinate Putin a few weeks ago, and with this week’s invasion of the Russian border town, Belgorod, it seems these types of incursions are now features, not bugs. Biden was originally concerned that supplying F-16s to Ukraine would lead to escalation as he feared, as most did, that Zelenskyy would use them to attack Russia’s interior.
So, what is the objective now? At first it was beat back the Russians and preserve Ukrainian democracy. Now, is it to take back Crimea? Or destabilize the whole region? Before you know it, we’ll have troops on the ground undergoing a ‘nation building’ project in Saint Petersburg.
As of now, it is only Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine who are actively involved in the conflict, but it seems as if it’s only a matter of time before the list of belligerents grows. The question isn’t whether which side has the tactical nous to emerge victorious from the war, but who has the wisdom to stop the drip before it becomes a flood.
Ronny with a chance of meatballs
Get out the popcorn, hun; Ron DeSantis declared his intention to run for President.
The problem DeSantis has, and really every other GOP hopeful, is they’re just not as pithy as the Orange Man. I don’t really have a dog in the fight between the Florida Governor and Donald Trump, but I just can’t resist calling the former Meatball Ron.
Making fun of Trump for his hair, his tan, or his teeny tiny hands just isn’t as fun as calling DeSantis by whatever latest epithet for him the former President has contrived. It’s nonsense, and that’s what makes it irresistible. By Trump unironically being himself, he points out the absurdity of our national body politic.
For instance: in a recent press release, the Trump team called his closest competition by the wrong name, Rob DeSantis. Now, be honest, you don’t want to go back to calling him boring old Ron do you?
All jokes aside, DeSantis has a tricky race to run, and it’s not entirely unlike the challenges that beset Ted Cruz and the gang in 2016. Trump maintains an unmovable, unshakable base inside the Republican party that no candidate, or amount of debate, or lack thereof, will pry their votes away from the former president.
Last time I checked, Trump was polling over 50% of likely GOP primary voters. So that leaves less than half of the constituency for the likes of Nikki Haley, Tim Scott, DeSantis, Vivek (have you seen him play tennis?!), Asa Hutchinson, and whatever other conservative who’s dreaming of grandeur to fight over.
DeSantis announced his campaign via a failed Twitter Spaces event with new darling of the right, Elon Musk. Not only was the event a technical disaster - Twitter was crashing for nearly half an hour before it got underway - but it sort of turned into a procession of conservatives fawning over Musk and his social media company. What was supposed to be the culmination of one of the more highly anticipated events of the political calendar ended up doubling as a lukewarm ad for Twitter - and the richest person in the world.
It doesn’t appear to be the most auspicious of starts for the Florida Governor but it’s early, and there will be plenty of time for him to kick his campaign into high gear. DeSantis has turned Florida from purple to deep red in his time in charge, and he will be seeking to parlay that success into national victory.
Interestingly, DeSantis will be running against Trump to his right. He’s equally as embattled in the culture war (online or otherwise) as the ex-president but has received criticism from Trump on his handling of social programs and Disney in recent months. Trump is doing his best to not answer the question of whether or not he’d support a national six-week abortion ban - as we saw in the CNN townhall - similar to the bill DeSantis signed into law last month.
So, as Trump frames himself to DeSantis’s left, it obscures the picture of the rest of the party. Garnering the available votes from the more conservative wing of the party and the more classically liberal will be what it takes to form a coalition strong enough to take down the former president. Doing so without engaging in Trumpian histrionics will be quite the political challenge for DeSantis.
Trump remains the benchmark by which all other GOP candidates will be measured, and it remains to be seen what appetite the average Republican voter has for a more conservative, less erratic, (less entertaining), nominee. The internal positioning of the corporate Republican candidates will be fascinating as they cozy up or distance themselves from Trump, and stake their claim as the most moderate or most conservative candidate.
While Democrats have hedged their bets on the lame horse that is President Biden, for better or worse, Republicans will be jockeying for the support of whichever cadre of voters will ultimately decide the direction of the party.
Monaco Grand Prix
And the F1 season continues in the beautiful, luxurious Monte-Carlo.
For the first part of the F1 season, they have spent it mostly in the Middle East; places like Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, and Bahrain, and then forded their way across a continent and an ocean to Miami.
Both sets of places make the events slightly less enjoyable than they otherwise would, with the dubious condition of human rights in the Middle East, and the starstruck, vapid, excess that has become uniquely American.
The Miami Grand Prix was nauseating, as it was last year upon its inception. The organizers and television producers made the event much more about who was in attendance than the race itself and this year was no different; much fuss was made about an original ‘composition’ by Will.i.am. and driver introductions by LL Cool J. What year is it?
The Miami Grand Prix continued the American tendency to elevate our culture (if you can call it that) over the traditions we let set foot on our shores. I remember watching the paltry PowerPoint presentation the US had submitted in an unsuccessful bid to host the 2018 World Cup where it just showed photos of football stadiums.
Stadium by stadium, they wiped and dissolved on screen showing their muddied 50-yard lines. Whoever had put together the presentation hadn’t even bothered to remove the Cleveland Browns or Washington Redskins logos from the images. It was a disappointing effort to say the least.
The Miami Grand Prix was really no different. The circuit was built in and around the parking lot of the Miami Dolphins stadium, and the paddock - the place where all the teams have their quarters - was placed inside the Hard Rock Stadium. They even built a fake marina. In America, all other sports must bow at the altar of football. I wish people weren’t so bored by baseball.
But on to Europe, we go! The Monaco Grand Prix is the pinnacle of the sport - maybe not in the race itself, but in the history and culture of the event. You won’t find the same sort of self-conscious, fame-addled celebrity in Monte Carlo. No, their elites are far too wealthy for that sort of pandering.
What you will see, however, is the convergence of engineering prowess and design in the form of a visceral, roaring, combustion engine screaming through the tight corridors of an old European city at 180 mph. If that’s not the best, one-line pitch for you to tune in this weekend, call me Nancy.
F1 is and hopefully will remain, an unapologetic display of wealth, prosperity, and excellence. The Monaco Grand Prix is still an event that holds all of the magic and allure that it once did; there’s not an ugly thing in sight and hardly resembles the trappings of mundane modernity. From the hotels and yachts and the fans to the drivers, the whole weekend exudes elegance.
It’s a reminder that we once engaged in pursuits solely for the sake of their artistry and charm; that by performing the absurd, we may articulate that certain ineffableness inside of us all. For those of us who search for it, there’s still beauty in this world.
To a better next week.
Cheers,
~ Nancy FDA