Biden says Putin can’t remain in power.
This seems like a very stupid thing for the president of the US to be saying.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/russia-ukraine-march26-2022-1.6398710
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It was a stupid off-the-cuff comment. Hopefully it won’t be taken seriously. He will have some crow to eat.
“After his remarks, a White House official clarified Biden’s comments, saying that the president meant Putin should not have power outside of Russia”
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This is not his first gaffe on this trip. The White House staff has had to “clarify” his comments several times.
Wait a second… Joe Biden made a gaffe???
$\textcolor{red}{\text{Shocking!!! }}$
$\textcolor{red}{\text{No one could have ever seen that coming. }}$
I vaguely recall being chastised for pointing out, around 2018 or so when it was starting to look like he was going to run, that a significant weakness of his was his propensity for gaffes. So… 
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As gaffes go, this one was pretty bad, though. I’m happy to overlook 100 “57 states” comments, but threatening the leader of a major world power is on a different level.
Anyway, I’m glad the White House walked it back.
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I’m a big fan of the statement.
I, for one, am sick and tired of this language of politics…literally being politically correct. A lot of Americans think Putin has to go. A lot of people around the world agree. So what exactly is wrong with saying out loud what everyone is thinking?
I come from the school of thought that says if you cannot talk about it, then your group will never fix it. Biden did not say he was going to bomb the Kremlin, or send in the Navy Seals. He said what many truly believe.
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Putin has started a war because he believes the country of Ukraine shouldn’t exist, something he has explicitly stated. Biden has stated Putin shouldn’t be in charge of a country where he has complete control of government, the media and public discourse. The Russians respond by saying its up to Russians to select their leader. I guess having nukes gives you license to be hypocritical.
He said the quiet part out loud. Consider the consequences of Putin believing we have a goal of removing him. Also consider the past US regime change wars, and how every other war criminal despot might behave. Consider whether every other country should have the right to change another country’s leader or government.
Not that we would shed a tear if Russians decided to allow him to be prosecuted for war crimes, but that’s not too likely.
You walk a fine line about what kind of assistance you will give Ukraine to avoid escalation, and then you shoot something like this from the hip. Definitely a gaffe of major proportion.
Putin already believes the West is out to get him. It’s a central theme of the propaganda
No one is talking about invading Russia, and it’s a stretch to think that is implicit in “the gaffe”.
The Russian people will have to take some degree of responsibility for the devastation of Ukraine, and I sure hope they identify Putin as the primary actor. If they want to forgive and keep him, then so be it. That choice will have consequences.
Have you considered the end result of the conflict if Putin is the one we have to appease?
If it is a central theme of the propaganda, why feed into it, why give it any credence?
No one was talking about invading Russia, but is putting a condition on the negotiations that Russia must change leaders something palatable to Putin? Sure, that remark wasn’t formal or anything like that, but it is inflammatory.
To what degree do you suppose Putin will not have to be appeased? As things are, he is the one who will have to be appeased.
Short of us invading Russia, i see no alternative to living with Putin for the foreseeable future.
And i don’t want to go to war with Russia.
I agree it is a major gaffe. Putin has long felt that the “Yanks” are trying to instigate a revolution in Russia to replace him and this feeds nicely into Putin’s narrative to his domestic audience. I expect Biden’s quote has been featured extensively on Russian tv.
So state your assessment of what would be palpable to Putin.
I don’t see anything remotely possible on that front. Putin has positioned himself as a great leader. No way that works if he “loses” to Ukraine. And a draw is as good as a loss here.
Russian history sheds some interesting features of regime change. It has happened many times. It’s never because “the people” voted the old regime out of office. That is not the Russian way. Sometimes the old leader just sort of dies, sometimes he is in exile in France or Switzerland, sometimes he just disappears from all public view.
Today, no one with power is going to try and convince Putin to alter course. That is suicide. But it is possible to stage a coup. That is the Russian way. To remain in power, Putin needs powerful support. In the military, in the FSB, and of course in the oligarchy. We shall see if that support can persist with the debacle of the special operation in Ukraine. I have my doubts.
We all know this. It’s clear that Putin the Great will never be the same. He will escalate the tactic of reducing Ukraine to rubble. It is awful. But it doesn’t seem possible for the Russian military to subdue the entire Ukraine. The losses are already unsustainable. The writing is on the wall. Putin exit is most likely a dacha on the Black Sea and a very quiet retirement.
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Who says insurers can’t move quickly
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And this is why we can’t have nice things.
A month ago I was chatting w a colleague who thought it was absurd how “sensitive” things had gotten (related to the “ok” hand signal being used by white supremacists and the Nebraska mascot being remodeled to remove that). But here’s another example I guess. What entity wants to have its brand associated w that shit?
Swiss city renames itself to Urich
Zelenskyy renames himself to Yelenskiy to show solidarity with the Ukrainian people.
I don’t have an idea of what other items Putin views as minimum requirements, but “I stay in power” is a non-negotiable. I don’t see him retiring on the Black Sea or anywhere else.
His life would be in danger if he retires now. He’s all in I’m pretty sure. Win or nukes.