Kevin Dellicker for U.S. Congress

It almost seems unsportsmanlike to pile on President Joe Biden after yet another gaffe. But this isn’t a game, and the President isn’t here to entertain us. The world is on the brink of another European war.

In Wednesday’s press conference, Biden said the American response to a likely Russian invasion of Ukraine depends on whether it’s just a “minor incursion.”

Predictably, pundits and politicians declared that Biden just gave Russian President Vladimir Putin the “green light” to attack. The government in Kyiv perceived it that way, and the people of Ukraine must feel betrayed and defenseless.

Biden’s comments certainly were unwise, but the pundits are only partly correct. The green light to Putin was given years ago, as Washington elites selfishly employed Russia as nothing more than a talking point to score political points, failing to think through the consequences of their antics. In the process, they have prevented any meaningful diplomacy with Putin for years, and contributed to Russia’s isolation from the West.

I’ve written about this before. During the early years of the Trump presidency, the U. S. needed to engage Russia to build trust and confront mutual challenges, like terrorism, trade, and China.

But when President Trump tried to do that, his opponents lost their minds. Democrats screamed that Trump was colluding with the enemy. His private conversations were leaked to the newspapers. And the press gleefully reported every “salacious” allegation, even after they realized they were false.

Biden and the Democrats made Putin poison, a national bogeyman lurking around every corner. Eventually, Trump could no longer even mention Putin’s name without making headlines.

So today, Biden must sleep in the bed he and his fellow Democrats have made. The result is a crisis.

I haven’t spoken to a single person in the Lehigh Valley who thinks we should send our sons and daughters to fight and die in Ukraine against the Russians. Most other Americans don’t think we should either.

Putin already understands this, whether Joe Biden announced it or not. And, he also knows that western powers offered a manageable response to his annexation of Crimea and ongoing proxy war in the Donbas region.

So, what recourse do we have to counter the latest Russian threat to Ukraine?

We have yet to apply the full power of American diplomacy. So far, we can’t even get NATO to agree on what to do. Without buy-in from our European allies, American options are limited.

The U.S. could step-up arms sales to Ukraine and offer more American military assistance. But, as we’ve seen in Afghanistan, our military equipment can easily end up in the hands of our adversaries, and half-measures as a “show-of-force” are nothing more than public relations.

Economic sanctions could have a significant impact, but the Nord Stream 2 pipeline is complicating matters. That’s the pipeline that will deliver natural gas direct to Germany from Russia. Biden acquiesced to its construction soon after taking office, making Europe more dependent upon Russia for its energy needs.

Putin hasn’t invaded Ukraine yet, and there is hope for a peaceful solution. We still have formidable options to counter Russian aggression besides placing American troops in harm’s way. But Biden’s handlers must keep him away from the microphones, so he doesn’t telegraph our plans. And the U.S. and Europe must act quickly with a unified response.

Eventually, the U. S. needs to find a way to coexist with a Russian nation that feels threatened and isolated by western powers. That can’t happen if American foreign policy elites keep likening Putin to Stalin and comparing Russia to the Soviet Union. This isn’t the 20^th century, and we aren’t fighting the Cold War.

But there is a world power that truly endangers American democracy, and it’s not Russia. It’s China.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) espouses a totalitarian ideology that’s incompatible with our democratic ideals. It has plans to spread its autocratic governing model around the world. And it’s rapidly building the diplomatic, economic, and military capabilities to genuinely threaten our way of life.

America remains the most powerful nation on earth. But we can’t fight everybody all at once.

Putin is acting like a bully to his neighbors and only will respect a tough response.

But, as we react to his aggression against Ukraine, we cannot take our eyes off China, a far bigger threat to our national security.

An alliance of Russia and China united against America is a development we would do well to avoid, if we can still help it.

Sincerely,