When the going gets tough for politicians, the politicians do what they do best: Declare success smack in the face of a resounding defeat.
Today, Ukraine’s Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk resigned, accusing the president’s party of plunging the war-scarred and recession-ravaged country into an “artificially created crisis”.
In response, US vice-president Joseph Biden’s office congratulated the Ukrainian government for a job well done.
In a surreal story difficult for even The Onion to make up, please consider Ukraine’s Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk Resigns.
Ukraine’s prime minister tendered his resignation late on Sunday afternoon, accusing the president’s party of plunging the war-scarred and recession-ravaged country into an “artificially created” crisis.
“The country’s political crisis was unleashed artificially . . . the desire to change one person blinded politicians and paralysed their will for real change,” Mr Yatseniuk said on Sunday, adding that his formal resignation letter would be submitted to parliament on Tuesday.
In a statement, US vice-president Joseph Biden’s office said that, in a phone conversation with Mr Yatseniuk on Sunday, he: “congratulated the government of Ukraine on its accomplishments over the past two years, in particular on the strides it has made on difficult but necessary economic reforms, the signature of the European Union association agreement, and the work it has done to increase energy independence”.
In a Financial Times interview earlier this year, Mr Yatseniuk complained of being “stabbed in the back” after he faced relentless criticism from presidential MPs over unpopular austerity measures that were parts of a $40bn international lifeline from the International Monetary Fund and other global institutions. Efforts to shift blame for the raising of utility tariffs, for example, on to his political grouping had dented his popularity, fuelled political infighting and derailed the IMF-led programme.
Without directly naming Mr Poroshenko’s party and other increasingly hostile political groups ushered into power following the 2014 pro-EU “Maidan” revolution, he said: “Authors of the crisis themselves fell hostage to the situation along with all of us — the government, society and the country.”
Well Done!
Yes indeed, that is quite the job well done. This accomplishment is just one in an extremely long list of Obama administration accomplishments. Unfortunately, I can only remember one (a deal with Iran that I agree with but most don’t).
I need to ask Biden to refresh my memory.
Meanwhile, a quick perusal of my own blog turns up another recent success that I somehow forget about.
For details, please consider Ukraine About to Break Apart! Transcarpathia Region “Demands” Autonomy From Kiev.
Mike “Mish” Shedlock
