Against all odds, Ukraine has decided to fight and been somewhat successful, although there are certainly those insisting Russia isn’t really hitting them with everything they have. The next few days will prove to be interesting, particularly because things have gotten a tad bit scarier.

Sunday background briefing with senior U.S. defense official winding down.

Up front, official acknowledges reports that Putin has put his nuclear forces on alert and said that it is “not only an unnecessary step for him to take, but an escalatory one.”

— Dan Lamothe (@DanLamothe) February 27, 2022

But a legitimate question for Americans is just what exactly has been the role of the Biden administration, either in trying to broker a coalition to push back against Putin’s aggressions as Press Secretary Jen Psaki has insisted has happened, or in working to slow Russia advances by economically weakening them, as Psaki also insists has happened.

PETER DOOCY: "[Biden] says the sanctions are gonna take…about a month. Do you guys think the people in Ukraine have about a month?"

PSAKI, condescendingly: "Peter, let me just take a step back and explain to everyone how diplomacy works." pic.twitter.com/nf1jPsHonT

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) February 25, 2022

This is from the White House release announcing sanctions — which many have pointed out didn’t intially include the fuel sector.

Putin’s threatening actions and now his unprovoked aggression toward Ukraine are being met with an unprecedented level of multilateral cooperation. The United States welcomes the commitments by Australia, Canada, the European Union, Japan, and the United Kingdom that they will also take similarly forceful actions to hold Russia accountable – demonstrating the strength of our partnerships and deepening the impact on Russia more than any action we could have taken alone. This follows our joint action earlier this week to impose a first tranche of severe sanctions on Russia.

But the early reporting on that first tranche of sanctions was decidedly less obsequious.

The sanctions targeted a pair of Russian banks, VEB.RF and Promsvyazbank as well as three members of Russia’s elite with close ties to the Kremlin. The penalties also sought to freeze future purchases of Russian sovereign debt.

Yet the sanctions hardly amounted to the precedent-shattering, economy-crippling measures the U.S. and its partners long telegraphed if Russian troops were to roll across the border.

White House officials spent Tuesday afternoon trying to defend the measured approach, as questions swirled over whether their response would be enough to deter the Kremlin from mounting a bigger assault. Moscow has denied it plans to invade Ukraine and Putin has said he does not currently plan to send forces — he has called them “peacekeepers” — into the breakaway areas of eastern Ukraine, although the treaties he signed with the separatist leaders allow him to do so and build Russian bases.

By Wednesday, the Biden admin added the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to the list of sanctions, rather hilariously because Texas Sen. Ted Cruz spent six months trying to block Biden appointments due to the administration’s refusal to sanction the pipeline after entering office — something that arguably might have staved off the Russian invasion of Ukraine to begin with.

So the big talk coming from the Biden administration doesn’t really match the weak response. And it makes one wonder just what the hell the administration is doing — or hopes to accomplish — as regards Russia and Ukraine. Also, and I admit to hard bias here, it’s exceedingly difficult to the believe Biden brokered the cooperation between nations to enact sanctions. But I suppose in very strange times, anything is possible. Would love to hear more about that from the partners and allies.

I talk about all of this on the show today, as well as offer my thoughts on the surpsingly deep “Dog” (trailer below). Oh and Joy Behar’s embarrassing lack of tact and self-awareness also makes an appearance.

Tune in below.

The show lives on Spotify and you can also find me at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, FCB Radio’s Spreaker, and Deezer.