Dear Commons Community,

In her column yesterday, Maureen Dowd weighed in on the “sickening spectacle” of a meeting between Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday.  Entitled, “Trump is Rootin for Putin,” she reviews the meeting as “the man (Trump) who tried to upend democracy by bullying the man (Zelenskyy) who is fighting for democracy.”

She added that “it was shocking to see Trump parrot the view of Vladimir Putin, a murderous tyrant who wants to swallow Ukraine in a fit of nostalgia for the Soviet Union.”

She concluded Trump is nothing more than a “truckler” to Putin!

Her entire column is below.

Tony

The New York Times

Trump Is Rootin’ for Putin

March 1, 2025

By Maureen Dowd

Opinion Columnist

It was a sickening spectacle: the man who tried to upend democracy bullying the man who is fighting for democracy.

The air seemed to turn flame red as the TV stars-turned-pols sat side by side in elegant yellow armchairs and had the wildest dust-up ever televised from the Oval Office.

“This is going to be great television — I will say that,” President Trump noted. The Ukrainian ambassador, Oksana Markarova, hung her head in her hands.

It looked like a setup. Vice President JD Vance, a malign presence who has said he does not care a fig about Ukraine, chided Volodymyr Zelensky for not being grateful enough to America, i.e. Trump.

“Have you said, ‘Thank you’ once this entire meeting?” Vance pressed Zelensky, who has thanked America over and over.

Trump barked at Zelensky, “You’re gambling with World War III” and wagged a finger at him: “You’ve got to be more thankful because, let me tell you, you don’t have the cards. With us, you have the cards, but without us, you don’t have any cards.”

Pretty rich for a draft dodger to lecture a man whose name has become synonymous with wartime bravery. (Trump once said that avoiding sexually transmitted diseases was his personal “Vietnam.”)

When a reporter asked what would happen if Russia broke the cease-fire again, Trump snapped, “What if anything? What if a bomb drops on your head right now?”

The bust of Churchill so beloved by Trump watched over the three men as they sparred. Can you imagine F.D.R. petulantly ordering Churchill to be more thankful? Can you imagine Churchill’s chilly disdain for Trump’s protection-racket demand for Ukraine’s minerals.

As though this weren’t enough humiliation, a member of the president’s new handpicked press pool, Brian Glenn of the right-wing Real America’s Voice, asked Zelensky, “Why don’t you wear a suit?” And then, “Do you own a suit?”

(He was echoing Trump, who mocked Zelensky when he arrived, saying “Ooh, you’re all dressed up.” The Ukrainian president had on black pants, top and boots, similar to what Elon Musk wears at the White House.)

Even though we should be used to it by now, it was still shocking to see Trump parrot the view of Vladimir Putin, a murderous tyrant who wants to swallow Ukraine in a fit of nostalgia for the Soviet Union. Trump insisted that they were fellow victims.

“Let me tell you, Putin went through a hell of a lot with me,” Trump said, as though they were Army buddies. “He went through a phony witch hunt where they used him and Russia, Russia, Russia, Russia.” U.S. intelligence agencies found that Russia meddled in the 2016 election on Trump’s behalf.

“You see the hatred he’s got for Putin,” Trump said of Zelensky. “It’s very tough for me to make a deal with that kind of hate.”

The president doesn’t understand why Zelensky is not happy with Putin for invading the smaller country and beating the bejesus out of it, for decimating a generation of young Ukrainian soldiers, for breaking cease-fires and committing war crimes.

Zelensky deserves our thanks. He has endured so much, keeping the David versus Goliath dream alive, exposing the weakness of the Russian military and basically taking it on the chin for the rest of Europe to keep Putin from gobbling up more territory.

But instead of being gracious, Trump booted Zelensky out of the White House, leaving the hero’s lunch on a tray in the hall, torpedoing his existential fight to save his battered country and Ukrainian lives.

Republican lickspittles like Lindsey Graham and Jim Banks praised Trump and trashed Zelensky while Russian leaders rejoiced. “The insolent pig finally got a proper slap down in the Oval Office,” said Dmitri Medvedev, the former Russian president and Putin toady.

A cascade of gobsmacked Western leaders wrapped Zelensky in a warm online embrace. “Today, it became clear that the free world needs a new leader,” said Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s top diplomat. France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, posted, “Il y a un agresseur: la Russie.”

European leaders had tried to guide Trump in the days before Zelensky arrived, but Trump is wedded to his demented dream of a troika of strongmen — himself, Putin and Xi Jinping — astride the world.

Macron and Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain came to Washington, humoring Trump. Starmer grandly delivered a cream envelope with an “unprecedented” invitation from King Charles III for a second state visit, perhaps to Balmoral.

A real king soothing the ego of a hooligan who thinks he’s a king.

All the flattery did not soften up Trump. It puffed him up. Everyone is so obsequious around Trump that he now gets huffy at the least pushback. He can make any claim, no matter how outrageous — that Ukraine started the war with Russia, that Zelensky is a “dictator.” But if anyone points out that he is wrong, he blows a gasket.

After Trump flew off to Mar-a-Lago, Zelensky did an interview with Bret Baier on Fox News. He did not apologize when Baier asked him if he should. “I can’t, you know, change our Ukrainian attitude to Russia,” he said, adding that Putin wants to “kill us.”

He said the meeting came a cropper because he talked honestly about the need for security guarantees. “We just want to recognize the reality, the real situation.” He added that everybody is “afraid that Putin will come back tomorrow.”

Trump does not do well with reality; he tries to impose his own on the rest of us.

Zelensky said that Trump told him he wanted to be in “the middle” of the negotiations. But the Ukrainian president demurred: “I want really him to be more at our side” because “the war began when Russia brought this war to our country.” About Ukrainians, he said: “They just want to hear that America on our side and America will stay with us, not with Russians.”

Seems simple. Unless Trump’s art of the deal is all about truckling to Putin.

Dear Commons Coimmunity,

European leaders have rallied behind Volodymyr Zelensky after Donald Trump’s ugly exchange on Friday with the Ukrainian president in the White House.

The leaders of Germany, France, Spain, Poland, the Netherlands, and  more than a  dozen other countries were among those who posted social media messages backing Ukraine – with Zelensky responding directly to each one to thank them for their support.  As reported by the BBC.

The Ukrainian president arrived in London to attend a summit hosted by UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer who “retains unwavering support for Ukraine”, Downing Street said.

It comes after extraordinary scenes in the Oval Office on Friday as US President Trump clashed with Zelensky, telling him to make a deal with Russia “or we are out”.

At one point, Trump told Zelensky he was not thankful enough for US military and political support during Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s invasion, and that he was “gambling with World War Three”.

As a flurry of supportive messages for Ukraine were posted by European leaders following the row – along with posts from the prime ministers of Canada, Australia and New Zealand – Zelensky replied to each one: “Thank you for your support.”

French President Emmanuel Macron posted: “There is an aggressor: Russia. There is a victim: Ukraine. We were right to help Ukraine and sanction Russia three years ago – and to keep doing so.”

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said the Netherlands supports Ukraine “now more than ever”, adding: “We want a lasting peace and an end to the war of aggression started by Russia. For Ukraine and its people, and for Europe.”

Germany’s outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz wrote that “no one wants peace more than the citizens of Ukraine”, with his replacement-in-waiting Friedrich Merz adding that “we stand with Ukraine” and “we must never confuse aggressor and victim in this terrible war”.

Germany’s foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said the “unspeakable” row resembled a “bad dream” and “underlined that a new age of infamy has begun”.

She said she would “wholeheartedly push” for measures that could help Ukraine “withstand Russia’s aggression even if the US withdraws support, so that it can achieve a just peace and not a capitulation”.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said: “Ukraine, Spain stands with you,” while his Polish counterpart Donald Tusk wrote: “Dear [Zelensky], dear Ukrainian friends, you are not alone.”

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada “will continue to stand with Ukraine and Ukrainians in achieving a just and lasting peace”.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese posted that his country had “proudly supported the brave people of Ukraine in their struggle to defend their sovereignty against the brutality of Russian aggression and in support of international law”.

European Union chiefs Antonio Costa and Ursula von der Leyen assured Zelensky in a joint statement that he was “never alone”.

“We will continue working with you for a just and lasting peace,” they said.

Poland’s Tusk and France’s Macron were among those posting messages of support to Zelensky

There were also supportive messages for Ukraine from political leaders in Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Moldova, Romania, Sweden and Slovenia.

On Saturday, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte told the BBC he had spoken with Zelensky twice following the White House meeting.

He said he was “not at liberty to say what was discussed” but shared that he told Zelensky “we have to respect” what Trump has done for Ukraine so far.

He said Zelensky must “find a way” to restore his relationship with his US counterpart.

Zelensky left the White House early following his row with Trump – but afterwards thanked the US president on social media for his support, saying: “Ukraine needs just and lasting peace, and we are working exactly for that.”

Writing on messenger app Telegram on Saturday, Zelensky said it was “very important for us that Ukraine is heard and that no one forgets about it, neither during the war nor after”.

“It is important for people in Ukraine to know that they are not alone, that their interests are represented in every country, in every corner of the world,” he added.

The Western world is standing with Ukraine regardless of the Trump and Vance debacle!

Tony

Andrew Cuomo

Dear Commons Community,

Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced yesterday that he is running for mayor of New York City, relaunching his political career.

In a 17-minute video, Cuomo pitched himself as an accomplished moderate who can save a city he described as threatening and “out of control,” and is capable of navigating the delicate balance between working with Republican President Donald Trump and fighting him, when necessary.

“I am not saying this is going to be easy. It won’t be easy, but I know we can turn the city around, and I believe I can help,” he said.

The Democrat is expected to mount a formidable campaign, despite entering the race deeply wounded by a scandal that forced his resignation as governor in 2021.

He takes on a large field of primary opponents with low name recognition plus an incumbent, Mayor Eric Adams, who — for now — remains under indictment on federal corruption charges and under scrutiny from critics who question his independence from Trump.

Cuomo brings fundraising prowess, a record of accomplishments over three terms as governor and potential support among moderate voters who helped propel Adams to office.

Yet it is unclear whether voters are willing to give Cuomo another chance following his remarkable downfall, when he went from being hailed for his leadership during the onslaught of COVID-19 to being castigated for his behavior with women and questioned about his pandemic response.

In his campaign video, Cuomo acknowledged past “mistakes” but did not directly address the harassment allegations.  As reported by The Associated Press.

“Did I always do everything right in my years of government service? Of course not,” he said. “Would I do some things differently knowing what I know now — certainly. Did I make mistakes, some painfully? Definitely, and I believe I learned from them and that I am a better person for it, and I hope to show that every day.”

Adams, caught on a city street by a Politico reporter Saturday, welcomed Cuomo to the race.

“Come one, come all. Everybody should put their position forward,” Adams said. “I have a great record to run on. We look forward to the campaign.”

Plotting a comeback

Cuomo had been circling a return to politics for years while his lawyers and political consultants kept trying to discredit his accusers.

At least 11 women credibly accused him of harassment that included unwanted kissing and touching and remarks about their looks and sex lives, according to a report released by New York’s attorney general. One aide filed a criminal complaint accusing Cuomo of grabbing her breast when they were alone in the governor’s mansion.

Cuomo denied the sexual assault allegation, which a prosecutor ultimately dropped, citing a lack of enough proof to get a conviction.

Cuomo, 67, said he did not intentionally mistreat women and had simply fallen behind the times of what was considered appropriate workplace conduct.

Taxpayers spent millions of dollars defending him and his aides against lawsuits related to the allegations.

The first woman to publicly accuse Cuomo of harassment, Lindsey Boylan, wrote in an essay published in Vanity Fair on Saturday that New York “deserves better.”

She said that rather than repent and atone, Cuomo has waged a “vengeful” legal campaign against his accusers.

“While the women who worked for and with Cuomo may no longer be subject to inappropriate behavior, misconduct, or sexual harassment, some of us remain the victims of what could be interpreted as an ongoing campaign that weaponizes the legal system as a tactic for retribution,” Boylan wrote.

She added that even though she never sued Cuomo, she has spent $1.5 million on lawyers to respond to subpoenas in his other cases.

A crowded Democratic primary

There are already several candidates vying to beat Adams in June.

Among them are city Comptroller Brad Lander, state Sen. Zellnor Myrie, state Sen. Jessica Ramos, state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani and former city Comptroller Scott Stringer, who was a front-runner in the mayor’s race four years ago until a woman accused him of groping and kissing her without her consent 20 years earlier.

In a statement, Ramos called Cuomo a “corrupt bully” who “brings nothing to this race but baggage.”

Myrie said New York shouldn’t be forced to relive “the Andrew Cuomo show.”

“We deserve better than selfish leaders who spent decades in office putting their desire for power above New Yorkers’ needs,” Myrie said.

Adams is a vulnerable incumbent

The mayor is facing a tempest over the U.S. Justice Department’s extraordinary effort to end the criminal case against him over the objection of the prosecutors who brought the charges.

An indictment said Adams accepted luxury travel perks and illegal campaign contributions from people who wanted to buy his influence, including a Turkish official and other foreign nationals.

After Trump took office, a top Justice Department official ordered prosecutors to dismiss the charges so Adams could focus on assisting the president’s immigration agenda, while leaving open the possibility that charges could be refiled after the election.

The dynamic led critics to claim that Adams struck a deal to help Trump’s immigration crackdown in exchange for legal salvation.

Adams has strongly denied such an arrangement, while resisting intense pressure to step down. Some of his top deputies announced plans to resign in protest.

Long rise to power, quick fall

Cuomo started in politics working for his father, former Gov. Mario Cuomo, and later became U.S. housing secretary under President Bill Clinton and New York attorney general before being elected governor in 2010.

His star power was highest during the pandemic, when his televised daily briefings attracted admirers who saw him as a steady hand during a frightening time. The briefings led to a more than $5 million book deal to write “American Crisis: Leadership Lessons From the Covid-19 Pandemic.”

But women began coming forward in late 2020 and early 2021 to accuse Cuomo of misconduct, and he faced a potential impeachment before stepping down. A state ethics panel concluded that he improperly used taxpayer resources to prepare and edit his book.

Questions about COVID-19 in nursing homes

Cuomo was further damaged by allegations that his administration unintentionally contributed to a wave of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes by initially barring them from refusing to readmit virus patients discharged from hospitals.

The governor said the allegations were baseless, but his administration was found to have substantially undercounted nursing home deaths as it sought to deflect criticism.

Cuomo still has a significant campaign war chest that, technically, he could draw on. But the process of transferring state donations to a city committee would be complicated and require each donor to sign off, a potentially burdensome effort.

As incumbent Mayor Eric Adams has indicated, Cuomo is welcome to the race!

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

Yesterday’s White House meeting with Donald Trump, JD Vance and Volodymyr Zelenskyy was a disaster for all involved (see video below).  Trump and Vance tried to bully  Zelenskyy into surrendering to Russia’s Vladimir Putin.  Zelenskyy would have none of it and walked away from any agreement that failed to guarantee American support against Putin’s transgressions and duplicity. Trump and Vance retaliated by talking down to Zelenskyy and saying he was not thankful enough for what the United States had done for his country .  (As an aside, CNN reported that Zelenskyy has publicly thanked the US thirty-one times in the past four years.)

Dear Commons Community,

Houston Chronicle

The Houston Chronicle reported yesterday that  the Texas A&M University System is set to acquire one of the highest-performing AI supercomputers for $45 million from World Wide Technologies Inc.  The purchase is expected to triple the university’s supercomputing capacity. It will put the Texas school on the map as the holder of one of the highest-operating AI supercomputers of any university in North America, according to the press release.

“This investment will triple our computing capacity, which will support the A& M System’s growing research initiatives, particularly in areas such as machine learning, generative AI applications, graphics rendering and scientific simulations,” the university’s Chancellor John Sharp said.

Sharp said the university plans to use this supercomputer to contribute to Texas’s economic growth and technological advancements.

The model is the NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD with DGX H200 systems. It is part of a $45 million agreement with World Wide Technologies Inc., a NVIDIA channel partner.

Other universities have made moves to acquire the world’s top supercomputers with the evolution of AI, including the University of Florida, which spent $24 million on an advanced supercomputer. The University of Chicago also recently opened its exascale supercomputer to researchers.

With AI quickly deepening its hold on society, universities have been calculating how to stay ahead of the curve. Just last year, the University of Texas at San Antonio opened a new college for AI, data science and computing.

While AI could lead to slight decreases in the number of jobs in fields such as sales, there are expected to be increases in employment in software publishing, computing infrastructure providers and more over the next decade, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Software development is expected to be the 12th fastest growing individual overall in the next decade, the Bureau of Labor reported.

Congratulations to Texas A&M!

Tony