Ignoring the East Palestine Crisis, Biden Travels to Kyiv
Exuding cold indifference toward the crisis in East Palestine, Joe Biden has instead chosen to visit Ukraine and Zelensky to affirm U.S. support and to announce additional aid to Ukraine.
Sporting a tie that displayed the colors of the Ukrainian flag (blue and yellow), U.S. President Joe Biden made a surprise visit to the capital city of Kyiv on Monday to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials, assuring the Ukrainian head of state of “unwavering” American support for their war cause. Additionally, Biden announced nearly $500 million in new military aid for Ukraine.
“As we approach the anniversary of Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine,” Biden wrote Monday on Twitter, “I'm in Kyiv today to meet with President Zelenskyy and reaffirm our unwavering commitment to Ukraine’s democracy, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.”
“It’s good to be back in Kyiv,” said the eighty-year-old president. “I thought it was critical that there not be any doubt, none whatsoever, about U.S. support for Ukraine in the war.”
Compiled with Biden’s recent visit to Ukraine, the Biden administration, more specifically, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, issued thinly veiled threats to its other geopolitical adversary in Beijing, warning of “serious consequences” should the Chinese Communist Party start arming the Russian war effort — as if the Russian armed forces aren’t efficiently supplied regarding military equipment and arms.
While the Biden administration incessantly stresses the need to support Ukraine and defend its “territorial integrity,” American citizens and American interests are left behind, blotted out amidst the shadow of the war machines’ interests of empire, control, and coercion. As Biden sends billions to Ukraine and shoots down $12 hobby balloons using $400,000 missiles, ordinary Americans are left in the dark without proper assistance. Most notably, the residents of East Palestine, Ohio.
East Palestine
On February 3rd, a massive and catastrophic train derailment occurred in East Palestine, Ohio, in which nearly forty cars derailed, eleven of which carried numerous toxic and dangerous chemicals. The crash induced an immense fire, spewing many toxic chemicals into the atmosphere and surrounding area, notably affecting the air local residents breathe in and the viability and safety of the water in the nearby areas.
Two days later, on February 5th, due to a fear that a great explosion was likely to occur as a result of the derailment and the ensuing fire, officials ordered all residents to evacuate. According to officials, the reasoning behind the evacuation was for crews to conduct a controlled burn of the toxic chemicals. Releasing a harmful and volatile chemical known as vinyl chloride into the air, the controlled burn created a mushroom cloud-like appearance. Apparently, two days after the burn, residents were told the area was safe by government officials and that they were allowed to return home.
According to the CDC, vinyl chloride is a harmful and dangerous man-made chemical that is known to cause headaches, irritation, dizziness, liver damage, and cancer. Other hazardous chemicals carried on the train include ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, ethylhexyl acrylate, and isobutylene, all of which can cause numerous health problems and complications.
East Palestine citizens have every right and are within reason to question why authorities orchestrated a controlled burn of thousands of gallons of a deadly chemical like vinyl chloride into the surrounding air, which is known to be detrimental to not only animal health but also human health as well. Meanwhile, the EPA laughably declares the water and air safe for local residents. Local residents, too, question whether or not that is accurate. State and federal officials, led by the EPA, declare that people are “safe” to return to normal life in the small town of East Palestine, Ohio, disingenuously claiming they would allow their own families to return to a situation like this even though vivid evidence to the contrary suggests they are completely wrong and are lying to the faces of East Palestinians.
The damage caused to local animals is astounding, and many expect the situation to deteriorate. Thousands upon thousands of fish and other aquatic life have died since the derailment, either floating to the surface of the water lifelessly or descending to the bottom of local creeks. Additionally, numerous animals, such as chickens and foxes, have been reported dead, along with domestic pets.
Clear evidence has shown that the waterways in East Palestine are clearly contaminated and imbued with chemicals from the train crash. In one telling case, Ohio’s newly elected Senator JD Vance (R-OH) dragged a stick through one of the local creeks. The aftermath blatantly showed the presence of chemicals in the water. As shown here by Vance:
The East Palestine debacle showcases a sharp divide between the American people and their government. Rather than visit the residents of East Palestine first, Biden has instead chosen to visit his puppet Zelensky in Kyiv first. Rather than assist the needs of the American people (not that government “help” would actually help), Biden preferred to assuage the concerns of the dictatorial regime in Kyiv, as Ukraine is worryied that American support is slowly eroding.
It is worth noting that on Wednesday, former President Donald Trump took the time to visit East Palestine, meet with residents, and observe the site of the devastating train derailment. Adding to that, Trump bought food and supplies for the fire department, police department, and citizens of East Palestine. Whatever you may think of Trump, it’s hard to deny that this was a generous and kind act.
In response to Biden visiting Ukraine instead of East Palestine, the mayor of East Palestine, Trent Conaway, rightly labeled the visit as “the biggest slap in the face.” "That tells you right now he doesn’t care about us. He can send every agency he wants to, but I found out this morning that he was in Ukraine giving millions of dollars away to people over there and not to us,” Conaway said.
While the Biden administration is busy expanding the empire and courting direct and unnecessary conflict with both Russia and China, the citizens of East Palestine face an uncertain future in terms of their livelihood, health, and future. They are rightly infuriated with the government’s response and deserve answers.
In truth, the Biden administration doesn’t care about the catastrophe in East Palestine. They would much rather continually pour billions into their proxy war in Ukraine to greedily prolong the conflict. With inflamed tensions rising between Washington and Moscow, now more than ever is the time to step back, pursue peace, and put Americans first for once. Sadly, the Biden administration does not look like it will deviate from its destructive path toward a potential world war anytime soon.
I liked your article. It’s true this Administration has no interest in protecting the American citizen , our food supply or our environment. I wonder if our military realizes we are sending a lot of our military weaponry to Ukraine and leaving the United States with a major shortage of protection for us, the citizens of the U.S.. I haven’t heard anything about replenishing it. Also our Strategic Oil Reserves, down to our lowest levels since the 80’s. This Ukraine war will be never ending. This is not a coincidence. This Administration is doing everything it can to weaken our Nation. Wake up people!!
"Exuding cold indifference..." indeed. The Ukraine project isn't going too well at the moment, and they're not about to let a bunch of Palestinians hijack the news cycle with a mere sideshow. Although "train wreck with catastrophic consequences" is a perfect description of the entire Biden team and their progress on every front so far.
Gotta have your priorities, and pleasing the CFR network sponsors is always the top priority. Those include Lockheed, Boeing, Raytheon, Northorp, BlackRock, JPMorgan, Goldman, and Pfizer to name a few. CFR members on the Biden team include the secretaries of State, Treasury, Defense, Commerce and Homeland Security. Also the CIA director, Fed chairman, Chief of Staff, and dozens more.