White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki faced the usual barrage of questions on Tuesday during her daily press conference. And the most outstanding came when one of the reporters asked her how she felt about Russia’s Foreign Ministry sanctioning both her and President Joe Biden and blocking them from traveling to Mother Russia.
Psaki responded with her wry wit to the question, noting that President Biden is a “junior,” so any Russian sanctions against “Joe Biden” would have to go to the cemetery where his father lies. The Business Insider wrote:
‘I would first note that President Biden is a junior so they may have sanctioned his dad may he rest in peace.’
It appears that after we sanctioned Putin and his country for his horrendous crimes against the Ukrainian people, Putin childishly tried to get even. Secretary Psaki also joked that none of the people it blocked have Russian “bank accounts:”
‘The second piece I would say is that it won’t surprise any of you that none of us are planning tourist trips to Russia, none of us have bank accounts that we will be able to access, so we will forge ahead.’
In truth, the Russian sanctions have no teeth. It appeared that none of the sanctioned ones had any financial dealings in Russia. And traveling to Russia was not on any of their agendas.
But the United States was not alone in its sanctioning. The Russian President also received sanctions from the European Union and the United Kingdom. Conversely, the sanctions on Russia, its oligarchs, and Putin have already been doing serious damage to its economy.
Russia said its sanctions are a response to the American sanctions, CNN reported:
‘[E]xtremely Russophobic course taken by the current US Administration, which, in a desperate attempt to maintain American hegemony, has relied, discarding all decency, on the frontal constricting of Russia.’
It appeared that the Russians could be defaulting on their debt as a result of these sanctions. If so, the default would have been the first time in over 100 years.
Time will tell.
Three White Lions is Gloria Christie’s new serialized book available in episodes on Amazon. Go to Kindle Vella and insert her name. She also writes for the liberal online newspaper The Bipartisan Report. Gloria Christie Report her newsletter for people on the go. Written in her own unique style with a twist of humor in a briefer version of Bipartisan Report. Christie’s Mueller Report Adventures In Bite-Sizes a real-life compelling spy mystery. Find her here on Facebook.
