It has been one after another of these recently:

And in the final analysis, they all seem intended to turn our attention away from these:

The first big fish tales to draw our attention had to do with Donald Trump’s insistence that Canada and the Danish island of Greenland should be annexed to the United States. But, to his surprise and dismay, both Canada and Denmark refused to relinquish their sovereign territories.

And the Epstein Files were still there.

So he next turned to Venezuela, blowing up suspected drug-smuggling boats in international waters, threatening to invade the country, and finally kidnapping the president, Nicolas Maduro, and spiriting him away to the U.S. to stand trial.

But the Epstein scandal wouldn’t go away.

So he expanded his horizons, threw caution to the wind, and — against all advice and logic to the contrary — invaded Iran. Claiming they were building nukes (again, despite all intel saying otherwise), he blockaded the Strait of Hormuz, which had long been wide open, creating worldwide economic havoc; swore to the American people that Iran was sure to capitulate within two weeks at most; and launched a war with no plan and no end game. It has now been three months, Iran is still there, the Strait is still closed, and . . .

. . . the ghost of Jeffrey Epstein continues to haunt him.

Next on Trump’s bucket list was Cuba. He cut off their oil supply, severely worsening an already dire economic crisis, then said he needed to rescue the Cuban people from themselves. He has also filed charges against 94-year-old Raul Castro for something that happened 30 years ago when he (Castro) wasn’t even in charge. This most recent distraction has yet to play itself out, and in the meantime . . . do I have to say it? . . .

. . . the Epstein files haven’t gone anywhere.

But, as serious a matter as this international pedophilia scandal is . . . and as fervently as I want to see every guilty party held to account . . . an even more immediate situation continues unabated, even accelerated, as Vladimir Putin relentlessly increases his devastating attacks on the civilian population and infrastructure of Ukraine. While claiming, with a straight face, that he only targets military and military-related installations, the evidence clearly says otherwise:

And all of Trump’s red herrings continue to draw attention, not only from the Epstein Files, but also from the ongoing conflagration in Ukraine.

By all accounts, Russia is gradually losing its war of attrition against Ukraine. But it’s not over yet, and Putin continues his punishing attacks, taking the lives of more and more innocent people, destroying historic landmarks and civilian property, and illegally occupying territory that does not, never did, and never should belong to him.

Now, after more than four years of indescribable horror, the allies that have so faithfully supported Kyiv in its defense against Putin’s murderous regime are growing weary — not because they have lost interest, but because there is simply too much else to deal with in the daily insanity that Donald Trump has brought down upon the earth.

It is truly almost too much to bear. But we cannot give up the fight against tyranny, whichever side of the world it comes from. And we cannot give up on Ukraine, both for its own sake and for the future of the rest of Europe.

The world’s democratic forces are big enough and strong enough to take on Jeffrey Epstein’s co-conspirators and Vladimir Putin at the same time. We must not let Trump’s endless school of red herrings — or, as they say in Russia, “distracting maneuvers” — be the cause of Ukraine’s downfall.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
5/25/26