International
Goodbye to Joe Biden, and Whoever Was President the Last Four Years

From Racket News
By Matt Taibbi
The “Invisible Presidency” is an all-time criminal, and must not be allowed to flee
I saw His Majesty myself about half past twelve o’clock. His conversation was so hurried, and, though not unconnected or irrational, so unlike his ordinary manner that I certainly should not have thought it proper to have taken his signature or his pleasure to any Act.
— Spencer Perceval, Chancellor of the Exchequer, in an 1810 letter about King George III
King George III went mad as a March hare, talking until he foamed at the mouth, writing 400-word sentences, threatening to “befoul himself,” holding conversations with imaginary people, and insisting he had power to reanimate the dead. Contemporary notes often describe him “in restraint” and “lost in reverie.” His last, worst phase began in 1810, his 50th in power, a jubilee year requiring constant public appearances. The Last King of America by Andrew Roberts shows it can be done:
No fewer than 650 public events — parades, receptions, luncheons, bonfires, firework displays, illuminations and the like — took place in England alone; there were many more across the rest of the United Kingdom and in the empire beyond.
Joe Biden said goodbye to America Wednesday night. The most controversial part of an otherwise weirdly half-assed address (maybe his writers have stopped caring?) was a warning. “Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence,” he said, a “tech industrial complex” that “literally threatens our entire democracy.”
Biden always loved the word “literally.” He’s been misusing it for decades, from “we literally can’t survive” four more years of Bush policy, to the 2008 election winner having an opportunity “literally to change the direction of the world,” to Barack Obama’s story being “literally incredible,” to saying he’s “literally rebuilding our entire nation,” and on and on. With Bidenterms like look, here’s the deal, let me tell you, I promise you, and C’mon, Biden says “literally” often enough to make “Word Crimes” singer Weird Al Yankovic want to “literally smack a crowbar upside your stupid head.” Here, it’s at least a sign that Biden might have added to the speech on his own.
Most all Biden speeches are acknowledged (Lincoln, Obama) or unacknowledged (Neil Kinnock, John Kennedy) homages to other politicians. This last one Biden attempt at an Eisenhower impersonation is backward. We’re warned about an “oligarchy,” which Webster’s defines as “a government in which a small group exercises control especially for corrupt and selfish purposes.” He tries to tag disobedient billionaires like Elon Musk, Marc Andreessen and Mark Zuckerberg (as opposed to Reid Hoffman, Bill and Melinda Gates, Steven Schwartzman, etc.) as this new oligarchy, but there’s one even closer to home, which Biden later in the speech referenced:
In the years ahead… it is going to be up to the president, the presidency, the congress, the courts, the free press and the American people… I still believe in the idea for which this nation stands… Now it’s your turn to stand guard.
Biden’s possibly ad-libbed distinction between “president” and “presidency” was the most inspired line of his political career. America just went through four years in which the public was conned into viewing two stories as one. The first was about Joe Biden the human being, a disintegrating flesh-and-blood patsy, conscripted to such a miserably slapstick public regimen that it was impossible not to feel sorry for him. The second was about the presidency, which for years now has been like the eponymous Claude Rains villain in The Invisible Man: an unseen monster.
For four years, while Buster Keatonesque videos of stumbling, tumbling Biden filled social media, just a handful of clues leaked about the ethereal “Presidency” running the American superpower. The latter existed separate from Biden and is scheduled to slither aside Monday. It exits on a bitter note, blaming an “avalanche of misinformation and disinformation” (not enough censorship) for its inability to be re-elected while strapped to a corpse. It hopes to get away unseen and probably will, as reporters prepare to chase the great baited hook that is Donald Trump. It’s too bad James Whale is dead, since this monster’s story will make a great horror movie someday.
Here are two sincere notes of farewell, to the hapless shrinking man Joe Biden, and to his more powerful partner, the “Presidency” :
conflict
Russia rejects offer to swap territory gained with Ukraine

Quick Hit:
The Kremlin has flatly rejected a proposal by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to swap Russian-held Ukrainian land for territory in Russia’s Kursk region controlled by Kyiv. Moscow insists it will not negotiate on its occupied land and has vowed to expel Ukrainian forces from Kursk.
Key Details:
- The Ukrainian president suggested exchanging parts of Kursk that Ukraine controls for unspecified Russian-occupied Ukrainian land.
- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declared the idea “impossible” and insisted Russia would never discuss swapping territory.
- Russian forces continue fighting to push Ukrainian troops out of Kursk, while Ukraine attempts to regain control of its own land.
Diving Deeper:
Russia has firmly rejected a proposed land swap suggested by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, dismissing any notion of trading occupied Ukrainian territory for parts of Russia’s Kursk region that Kyiv seized in a cross-border attack last year.
The idea, which Zelensky discussed with The Guardian, was aimed at finding a diplomatic path toward ending the war. “We will swap one territory for another,” Zelensky said, though he did not specify which Russian-occupied areas Ukraine would demand in return. He emphasized that every piece of Ukrainian land is important, declining to name any priorities.
Moscow’s response was swift and unequivocal. “This is impossible,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “Russia has never discussed and will not discuss the exchange of its territory.” He reaffirmed Russia’s determination to remove Ukrainian forces from Kursk, either by force or by expulsion.
Ukraine’s military made a surprise incursion into Kursk last August, securing pockets of land that Russian forces have been struggling to reclaim. President Vladimir Putin previously assured Russians that Ukrainian troops would be removed but declined to specify a timeline.
Currently, Russia occupies nearly 20% of Ukraine—more than 112,000 square kilometers—while Ukraine controls around 450 square kilometers of Kursk, according to battlefield maps.
Business
U.S. Seizes Fentanyl Shipment From Canada In Seattle, As Washington Pressures Ottawa on Crime Networks

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers have intercepted a shipment containing more than one pound of fentanyl from Canada, marking the latest sign of an accelerating crisis along the BC-Washington border. The fentanyl, concealed within a package believed to have originated in British Columbia, was discovered during a targeted enforcement operation at a Seattle shipping facility on February 6.
The package contained a brown, rock-like substance wrapped in plastic bags. Subsequent testing confirmed it was fentanyl, the synthetic opioid driving tens of thousands of overdose deaths in North America each year.
Area Port Director Rene Ortega, speaking about the seizure, underscored its broader implications. “Fentanyl is an extremely dangerous synthetic drug that continues to devastate communities across the United States,” Ortega said. “CBP remains committed to using every available tool to stop these lethal substances before they reach our streets.”
The latest seizure is part of an escalating pattern that has prompted increasingly aggressive responses from Washington. President Donald Trump has warned of sweeping tariffs in the coming weeks unless Ottawa delivers a credible, actionable plan to crack down on transnational crime networks driving fentanyl production. These networks—operating primarily out of British Columbia—are deeply entrenched with organized crime groups from China and Mexico.
The Bureau has reported extensively on Washington’s mounting frustration with Canada’s handling of the fentanyl crisis. BC Mayor Brad West, who has been in direct communication with senior U.S. officials, has described an urgent shift in tone from American law enforcement and intelligence agencies. In a high-level 2023 meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, West was briefed on just how seriously Washington views Canada’s role in the illicit drug trade.
“This is no longer just a Canadian domestic issue,” West told The Bureau. “Secretary Blinken made it clear that the Biden administration sees fentanyl as an existential threat. They’re building a global coalition and need Canada fully on board. If we don’t show real progress, the U.S. will protect itself by any means—tariffs or otherwise.”
Concerns extend beyond law enforcement. According to multiple sources with direct knowledge of U.S. intelligence assessments, American agencies have begun withholding key evidence from their Canadian counterparts, citing a lack of confidence that Ottawa will act on it. West confirmed that in his ongoing discussions with senior U.S. officials, they have voiced alarm over the level of access major figures in Asian organized crime appear to have within Canada’s political class.
“They’re basically asking, ‘What’s going on in Canada?’” West said.
The frustration is not new. For years, U.S. and international law enforcement agencies have sought to curb the transnational reach of organizations like Sam Gor, the powerful Asian organized crime syndicate that dominates much of the fentanyl precursor supply chain. But Canada’s response has been widely seen as inadequate. Critics argue that political sensitivities and reluctance to confront entrenched criminal networks have left Canadian law enforcement hamstrung.
The question now is whether Ottawa will take decisive action. Bringing forward measures as sweeping as a RICO-style anti-mafia statute or invoking the notwithstanding clause to bypass legal obstacles to tougher enforcement would represent a sharp departure from the status quo. Both approaches would require confronting entrenched political, legal and economic interests, as well as explaining why existing laws have failed to secure convictions against the most powerful actors in organized crime.
West believes the shifting geopolitical landscape may force Ottawa’s hand. Washington’s patience, he warns, ran thin years ago—and the U.S. is now signaling it will no longer wait.
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