By Stu Tarlowe
By first deliberately relinquishing and now refusing to re-establish the energy independence the U.S. enjoyed under Pres. Trump (and thereby perpetuating U.S. and world dependence on Russian oil), the U.S is, in effect, bankrolling Putin’s military adventurism.
The way the U.S. under Joe Biden is conducting itself regarding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine reminds me of a character in literary fiction and pop culture. That character is Milo Minderbinder, from Joseph Heller’s 1961 novel Catch-22. For those who may not have read the book but remember the 1970 movie, Milo was the character played by Jon Voight.
Milo is the quintessential example of playing both sides of a war. He is an American Army Air Corps officer, but his “side hustle” is operating M&M Enterprises, a black market “syndicate” that does business all over the world, using the planes from his own squadron to trade in goods and services ranging from fresh eggs to prostitutes to Egyptian cotton (and when stuck with a glut of cotton, Milo tries to sell it covered in chocolate).
