White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, February 16: “Our position on Nord Stream 2 has been very clear, and it remains unchanged. President Biden has made clear that Nord Stream 2 is a bad deal. It’s a bad deal because it divides Europe, it exposes Ukraine and Central Europe to Russia — Russian manipulation, and because it goes against Europe’s own stated energy and security goals.”
The Corner, April 15: “White House actions [against Russia] announced today strangely omitted congressionally mandated sanctions against the major Russia-Germany gas pipeline Nord Stream 2… Does Joe Biden really want to stop Nord Stream 2? Does he want to stop it particularly badly? If so, he’s got an odd way of showing it, by not sanctioning companies working on the pipeline, and rarely if ever mentioning the issue.”
Axios, today: “The Biden administration will waive sanctions on the corporate entity and CEO overseeing the construction of Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline into Germany, according to two sources briefed on the decision… The decision indicates the Biden administration is not willing to compromise its relationship with Germany over this pipeline, and underscores the difficulties President Biden faces in matching actions to rhetoric on a tougher approach to Russia.”
So a bunch of Russians can shut down our pipelines, but we can’t shut down construction of theirs.
Maybe Joe Biden’s clear opposition to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline is like his promise to not hold children in detention centers, his promise to send out $2,000 stimulus checks, his promise to establish a national commission on policing, or to not raise taxes on anyone making less than $400,000, or to punish the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, or his promise to end the use of standardized testing in schools…
Maybe Joe Biden just makes a lot of promises to a lot of people that he isn’t all that committed to keeping.
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