President Joe Biden, while visiting Poland on March 26, 2022, said the Russian leader Putin ‘cannot remain in power.’ The White House press staff seem to be trying to soften the blow, by clarifying that Biden was not calling for regime change in Russia. However, Biden’s unscripted comment is one that finally rings true. It is certainly a magnificent change from the former American president who licks Putin’s boots to this day.
On March 28, 2022 Biden said he was “not walking anything back” after his weekend remarks about Russian President Vladimir Putin put the White House on defense. Biden said “I was expressing moral outrage, and I make no apologies for it.”
When pressed on whether his comments would effect diplomacy with Russia, Biden pushed the blame on Putin, noting that the Russian leader’s “escalatory efforts” are what “complicates things.” The president brushed off assumptions that his comments could be taken by Putin as an escalatory step.
“I don’t care what [Putin] thinks,” Biden said. “This is a guy who goes to the beat of his own drummer. And the idea that he is going to do something outrageous because I called him for what he was and what he’s doing, I think, is just not rational.”
Catholic priest Dwight Longenecker put it quite simply, “First we overlook evil. Then we permit evil, then we legalize evil, then we promote evil, then we celebrate evil, then we persecute those who still call it evil.”
Tip toeing to avoid upsetting a maniacal autocrat and setting up some sanctions is not enough. Lets face it, some take pleasure in the idea that a bully on the world stage should be bitch slapped.