Ever so predictably, our discretionary adventure in Ukraine has gotten us into this dire situation.

President Joe Biden issued a warning about a potential nuclear “Armageddon” at a fundraiser for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee on Thursday evening, saying, “We have not faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis.”

If we had let Americans vote on whether they were willing to risk the instant annihilation of everyone they love and care for in order to get into the middle of a territorial dispute Obama declared to be unworthy of our involvement in 2014-16, 90% of us would have voted Fuck No! But there was no meaningful discussion of the dangers of getting involved militarily. Not in our news media and not on the streets. When organizations refuse to discuss costs and benefits, when they refuse to conduct pre-mortems, they become stupid. That is exactly what our “leadership” has proven itself to be. And even if we survive this nuclear risk, Biden has shown himself to be over his head on energy issues related to Ukraine, another completely foreseeable risk many months ago.

Jeffrey Sachs adds his commentary: