The Stories Behind the Stories
Please become a voluntary paying subscriber to this newsletter today:
Or, if you want to support this newsletter and my independent journalism without subscribing, you can contribute any amount via:
• PayPal. markhalperinnyc@gmail.com
• Venmo. Mark-Halperin-4 (telephone number ends in x3226)
• Zelle. markhalperinnyc@gmail.com
* Buy me a cocktail (at Dumbo prices….), tax and server tip included, by clicking here.
* Buy me a cup of coffee (or a week’s worth) by clicking here.
You can also send an email to markhalperintalk@gmail.com and ask how you can send a WWoN gratuity by check.
Any and all amounts welcome and fully voluntary!!
Thank you for your support.
Mark
****
Here are three stories in which are embedded massive implications that might not necessarily be popping out for you at first glance:
1. THE UNITED STATES IS NOW TAKING MANY STEPS TO AID UKRAINE THAT PREVIOUSLY WERE CAST AS RISKING WWIII.
Per the Washington Post:
The Biden administration, meanwhile, has vastly expanded the types of weapons it will provide to the Ukrainian military, with the next phase of the conflict expected to include large clashes in the open fields of the Donbas region. An additional $800 million in security assistance will for the first time include anti-personnel mines, long-range artillery, armored vehicles and radar defense equipment. And the top U.S. commander in Europe and his staff are developing training for Ukrainian forces that will take place on the continent and teach the soldiers about weapons new to the country’s arsenal, a senior U.S. defense official said Thursday.
Separately, the Post also reports:
Russia this week sent a formal diplomatic note to the United States warning that U.S. and NATO shipments of the “most sensitive” weapons systems to Ukraine were “adding fuel” to the conflict there and could bring “unpredictable consequences.”
The diplomatic démarche, a copy of which was reviewed by The Washington Post, came as President Biden approved a dramatic expansion in the scope of weapons being provided to Ukraine, an $800 million package including 155 mm Howitzers — a serious upgrade in long-range artillery to match Russian systems — coastal defense drones and armored vehicles, as well as additional portable anti-air and antitank weapons and millions of rounds of ammunition….
“What the Russians are telling us privately is precisely what we’ve been telling the world publicly — that the massive amount of assistance that we’ve been providing our Ukrainian partners is proving extraordinarily effective,” said a senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity about the sensitive diplomatic document.
Big implication: Congressional and other critics who have said Team Biden is not doing enough to help Zelensky are going to be a bit more muted.
Bigger implication: If Putin is half as crazy, desperate, and cornered as he is portrayed, he now has every pretext he needs to take the sort of provocative step (attack a NATO country, use a tactical nuke) that we have all feared.
****
2. PRESIDENT BIDEN FRIDAY MORNING ANNOUNCED THE NOMINATION OF A “MODERATE” FOR A SENIOR FED SLOT.
Big implication: The White House personnel shop fast-tracked (by DC standards) getting a replacement pick for Sarah Bloom Raskin because, well, the Fed is going to have to save the American economy and, thus, needs to be firing on all cylinders; let’s see if the Senate fast tracks confirmation.
Bigger implication: If this isn’t a one-off, it suggests the Biden administration’s penchant for letting the progressive wing of the party call the shots when it comes to key economic appointments might be wavering some.
****
3. A MAJOR PENDING DEPARTURE FROM TEAM BIDEN FORESHADOWS A PARADIGM SHIFT.
Another Washington Post item:
Gina McCarthy, the White House national climate adviser, is preparing to leave her post coordinating the Biden administration’s domestic climate agenda, according to three people familiar with her plans.
Big implication: Current (and future?) players on the administration’s green team have a chance now to carve up and claim parts of McCarthy’s vast influence.
Bigger implication: Between this and the decampments of Jen Psaki and Jeffrey Zients, the demise of Ron Klain’s masterful staving off of mass departures from across the exhausted senior ranks of the executive branch means everyone (including the president himself) is now going to be doing what a lot of annoyed managers do – spend an enormous amount of time on HR issues (begging folks to stay through the war/pandemic/midterms, tending to the concerns and anxieties of staffers whose bosses have quit, trying to cajole new folks into vacant jobs, etc).