In the case of the horrid criminal conduct of war in the Ukraine by Vlad Putin’s Russian army with stories of inhumane incidents all over the invaded country every day — Joe Biden is just speaking for reality and justice:

President Biden labels Putin's invasion of Ukraine a "genocide" for the first time:

"Your family budget, your ability to fill up your tank — none of it should hinge on whether a dictator declares war and commits genocide a half a world away." pic.twitter.com/RlOpN3OpMi

— The Recount (@therecount) April 12, 2022

Once again, Joe speaks his mind, this time the reality of Ukraine — via The Washington Post late this afternoon:

President Biden declared Tuesday that Russia was committing a “genocide” in Ukraine, a significant escalation of the president’s rhetoric and a notable shift that comes as U.S. officials have avoided using the term.

The comment initially came at an event in Menlo, Iowa, where Biden was decrying the effects of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine on gas and food prices.
“Your family budget, your ability to fill up your tank, none of it should hinge on whether a dictator declares war and commits genocide a half a world away,” Biden said.

He later told reporters he had intentionally used the word genocide in his speech, though he added that he would “let the lawyers decide internationally whether or not it qualifies.”
But he said, “It sure seems that way to me.”

Genocide is generally defined as an effort to destroy an entire nation or group.

“It’s become clearer and clearer that Putin is trying to wipe out the idea of being Ukrainian,” Biden said.
“The evidence is mounting. It looks different than last week. More evidence is coming out literally of the horrible things that the Russians have done in Ukraine.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky responded by tweeting, “True words of a true leader.”
He added, “Calling things by their names is essential to stand up to evil. We are grateful for US assistance provided so far and we urgently need more heavy weapons to prevent further Russian atrocities.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser, have both stopped short of describing Russia’s assault as a genocide in recent days.
“Based on what we have seen so far, we have seen atrocities,” Sullivan said last week.
“We have seen war crimes. We have not seen a level of systematic deprivation of life of the Ukrainian people to rise to the level of genocide.”

This is not the first time Biden has seemed to get ahead of his own White House in condemning Putin and the war in Ukraine.
He often appears torn between his desire to denounce the slaughter and the fact that certain terms have legal definitions that can trigger specific actions.

In mid-March, he called Putin a “war criminal” after weeks of avoiding the term and at a time when his administration was still determining whether that label officially applied.
He repeated the assertion earlier this month, after evidence emerged of a massacre in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, calling for an investigation to prepare for a war crimes trial.
“This guy is brutal, and what’s happening in Bucha is outrageous, and everyone’s seen it,” Biden told reporters at the time.

I hope the world jumps on this. Vlad needs to be in the dock at The Hague.
As of the witness once before:

Despite the calling a-spade-a-spade, here we are once again…

(Illustration above and out front: ‘Joe Biden,’ acrylic by Billy Jackson, and found here).