Putin makes Biden a threat he must refuse; Joe taps America’s strategic mask reserve.

(Originally published Jan. 20 in “What in the World“) Biden has given a blinking amber light to Putin, saying he expects the Russian president to order an invasion of Ukraine, but offers the tepid warning that only the “severe” threat of sanctions stand in his way. His Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is scheduled to meet again with the Russians in Geneva today in an attempt to dissuade them, warned during a visit to Kyiv that Moscow is posed to launch an invasion on very short notice.

America’s powers of dissuasion aren’t very impressive. Blinken said the U.S. refuses to give the Russians the written response they have demanded to their security demands in Eastern Europe. Lots of demanding from Moscow to prevent an invasion. You get a sense of where this is all headed. You might want to reconsider that winter holiday in Odessa this year.

Biden, meanwhile, announced that his Administration is going to distribute 400 million N95 masks to the country through pharmacies and health centers. That’s a lot fewer than the 737 million reported yesterday and represents a drop in the bucket for what the country needs to help stanch the sky-high rate of new Omicron infections. But a precipitous decline in astronomical new infection numbers has led even rational observers like David Leonhardt at The New York Times to declare that Omciron is in retreat.

But Omicron—nor the rest of Team Covid—isn’t in retreat. We are. Saying otherwise is like a prisoner saying his captors are giving up because after confessing his torture sessions lightened up.

Large U.S. employers like Starbucks are being forced to drop vaccination and testing requirements for workers now that the U.S. Supreme Court blocked Biden’s vaccine mandate. And Bojo the Clown PM is easing Covid restrictions in response to a growing mutiny over revelations staff at 10 Downing enjoyed parties during lockdown, while Japan is imposing emergency restrictions against Omicron’s spread.

Again, because Omicron has already vanquished the United Kingdom (and long ago turned it into an ally in its quest for global conquest), the Brits have convinced themselves they have the virus licked. But it ain’t so. Here’s a snapshot of who’s winning in that battle against Covid.