Yeah, it wont be helpful. Overall I think Biden has done well so far, but there are things he could have done better. I dont waste too much time criticizing though,since overall the handling has been sane. At least he has taken the opportunity to reconsolidate the political unity of the Western Alliance, while very forcefully standing firm on Article 5. I shudder to image what would have happened under Trump, who would have vaccilated between waxing lovingly on the size of Putins schlong, and wondering aloud if the US should bother defending NATO members and probably saying things like they should do stuff on their own. Easy to see how some eastern countries might have already entred the war in that scenario, thinking they needed to act now since the US might not be there to back them up if Putin won in Ukraine and started eying the rest of the region.

I do worry that Biden's slips will make Putin... TOO nervous. Thats a danger as well, because it is patently obvious at this point that without excessive WMD usage the US military would easily manhandle the conventional forces Putin can array. Thus, in the event Putin decided that conflict with West was inevitable, the odds that things would immediately escalate are frighteningly high.

For who could be free when every other man's humour might domineer over him? - John Locke (2nd Treatise, sect 57)