Tuesday, July 11

I'll say this for Zelensky...

Gotta give the guy credit:  he's a tough negotiator. 

He gets to go to these things wearing comfortable clothes -- begrudgingly seeks concessions even to attend, it seems -- while everybody else is stuck in formal wear/ dresses suits and ties.  He's good like that.  

He should be at the table negotiating on behalf of his people.  I wish NATO could somehow push him to help end the war:  negotiating the fate of his country and countrymen with the Russians instead of his allies.  I mean, we'll be at his back -- advisers galore, I am sure -- but at the table not on the battlefield, painstakingly seeking concessions from Russia while begrudgingly giving in on those battles he cannot currently win (like immediate NATO membership)...

Best Footware at the Conference = winner:  V. Zelensky (Pool photo by Yves Herman)
Most handsome: the clapping guy in the two-toned blue looking down next to the pink-tie guy.  Runner up? Mrs. Macron (I kid!)


He's shown us in the past year and almost 1/2 that is where his skills excel:  in extracting concessions from those he is negotiating with in return for promises of action by his united people on the path to peace.

That's what it's all about.  Leadership.  Winning.  

Not continually fighting the same battles and trudging the same ground at such a high cost to others.

Get on with Life already.  Zelensky himself is comparatively young (45), with so much life potentially ahead if only he makes wise choices now, with his allies (us) following his lead.  "You can't always get what you want, but if you'd try sometime, you might find, you'll get what you need..."  

He needs peace over there.  Like, yesterday...