April 22nd, 2022: More Aid for Ukraine, Mask Mandates, and Florida vs. Disney

No end to the fighting — or suffering — as Russia’s war on Ukraine enters its third month.

Here at home — Florida’s Governor takes on his state’s biggest employer

And — as interest rates rise, the red-hot housing market shows signs of cooling off.

I’m Paul Brandus — you’re listening to West Wing Reports— it’s Friday, April 22d.

The Russians tried and failed to take Kyiv — the Ukrainian capital — now they’re regrouped and are trying to seize territory in Eastern Ukraine — in a region called the Donbass — where fighting has gone on for nearly a decade. But it’s far bigger and far more intense now of course. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby:

Kirby adds like they did with Kyiv — the Ukrainian defenders appear to ve holding their own — and then some:

One thing that’s surely helping is all the American and allied weaponry flowing into Ukraine. President Biden this week said even more is on the way.

Now, there’s no question that all of this American and allied aid is inflicting large-scale damage on Russian forces, though by now, it’s certainly clear that the Russians have inflicted damage upon themselves with their lack of planning, disorganization, logistical incompetence, un-encrypted communications — and a top-down command and control system that puts troops in the field at a tactical disadvantage,

And yet, the Russians have still been able to rain hell upon Ukrainian targets — including the indiscriminate, unrelenting and deliberate targeting of civilians.

One specific objective of Moscow is a place you probably never heard of a few weeks ago but now today: Mario-pull, the strategic port city that Vladimir Putin has been bombing for weeks. As we were putting this show together, it still looked like the Ukrainians were hanging on — but just barely.

Biden was asked about the besieged city

Regardless of what the status is at this moment — Secretary of State Blinken warns of a grim aftermath whenever the siege of Mario-pull ends:

The State Department by the way, may designate Russia a state sponsor of terrorism — adding it to a small list that includes North Korea, Iran, Syria and Cuba.

In Russia, meantime, they’ve tested a new missile — Putin went on TV to warn the world to quote — think twice — about doing more to help Ukraine, or threaten Russia itself. For all his bluster however — Russian defense officials admitted the missile is a long way from actually being operational.

Now to events here at home — to mask or not to mask — that’s the question after a Trump-appointed judge tossed out mask mandates on public transportation. Airlines are cheering, some passengers are too. But others — like former White House covid advisor Andy Slavitt — say decisions should be based NOT on ideology — but data.

What is the latest data? The last week the U-S has averaged 38-thousand new cases — and 325 deaths — a day. The total death toll now — 990-thousand — the million mark is near. There’ll be a lot of news coverage once that sad milestone is reached.

Signs that the red-hot real estate market may be leveling off. Existing-home sales fell two-point-seven percent in March from the month before — and four-and-a-half percent from a YEAR before. This as interest rates keep rising — the average 30-year mortgage is now five-point 11 percent the highest in eleven years,

As for prices — 375-grand — that’s the median right now — Median means half are worth more than that, half less. That data from the National Association of Realtors.

Gasoline’s four-12 a gallon — Triple-A says that’s the average nationwide price for regular. That’s down thirteen cents over the past month. Keep in mind, gasoline typically moves higher as the peak summer driving season approaches.

If you’ve ever been to a Disney theme park, you know they like to call it the happiest place on earth. It’s probably not so happy these days — the entertainment is locked in a battle with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Have you been following this?

Florida lawmakers passed, and DeSantis — he’s a Republican — he signed a bill that limits discussion in public schools on sexual orientation and gender identity. Disney objected to that — so now lawmakers passed another bill for DeSantisto sign that takes away big tax breaks for Disney — this was one of those issues that went pretty much down party lines with Republicans backing their GOP governor, and Democrats opposing. DeSantis — by the way — is in his first term — and is already being talked about as a presidential contender — but that may depend — in fact, probably WILL depend — on what one of the Sunshine State’s more prominent citizens does — Donald Trump.

Speaking of Trump — there’s a new book about the January 6th attack on the Capitol — and it includes some pretty damning quotes about him — from then-senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell AND House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

The book’s called “This Shall Not Pass” — authors Jonathan Martin and Alex Burns of the New York Times — gave some of the details on CNN: The first speaker here is Martin:

The key point here from Burns — the country — remains in danger.

On that disturbing note — let’s move on for now anyway — and hear about ANOTHER Evergreen podcast — that I know you'll enjoy”

Time now to open up the West Wing Reports archives — and see what made history this week in the past:

1793 — George Washington said America would remain neutral — as tensions between Britain and France rose. The president — was wary of foreign entanglements. IN his farewell address when he later retired, he warned against what he called permanent alliances.

1980 — Disaster in the Desert — A raid to rescue American hostages in Iran - failed when two helicopters went down in the Iranian desert with engine trouble. Another crashed into a C-130; eight U.S. service members were killed. President Jimmy Carter spoke to the nation:

The botched Iran raid was a major humiliation for Carter. In the wake of the mission’s failure, Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, who warned the president against the mission, made good on his threat to resign. Carter’s re-election big in 1980 was crushed in a landslide by Ronald Reagan.

And 1994 — Richard Nixon died. He was the 37th president, serving between 1969-74. In 1968, Nixon promised to “bring us together” as a nation. But Watergate helped tear it apart; he became the only president to resign. Although Nixon is remembered for Watergate, he had notable successes both at home and abroad. He reached out to China, embarked on “détente” with the Soviet Union and ended the Vietnam war.

At home, Nixon exempted nine million low-income citizens from paying taxes, while raising them on the rich. He fought for tougher workplace safety standards, sharply boosted Social Security benefits, created the Environmental Protection Agency and fought for cleaner air and water.

Want more history? Check out my books on Amazon — I’ll sign ‘em for you too — just shoot me an email: [email protected].

And need a speaker for your event? I do that too — current events, economics, analysis — history — I connect the dots — would love to hear from you.

Speaking of books — I’ll send you one — IF you download my new app — it’s called — West Wing Reports — available in the Apple and Android stores — just download it on your phone or tablet — there’s a button called “What’s on your mind?” All you do is push, talk and send. That’s it. Leave a comment — and your name goes into a drawing for any of my books — your choice.

I like to end each week with a quote — something you might find thoughtful: This week: it’s from Richard Nixon:

Only if you have been in the deepest valley, can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain.

Think about it.

That’s all for this week. Here’s my email again — [email protected].

West Wing Reports is a production of Evergreen Podcasts.

Special thanks to CSPAN for the audio clips.

Our producer and sound designer and engineer: Noah Foutz

Executive producers: Michael D’Aleoia and Gerardo Orlando.