Not true at all Krebsie, it is in fact one of my news sources, it just doesn't happen to be the only one. It is but one of many and from all across the globe and all sides of the political spectrum. I just find l'm more well informed, capable of better judgements and embarras myself less when I don't lock myself into any of the many political echo chambers that are popular these days that do nothing but perpetuate stupidity, partisanship and division In truth, the primary source of my daily news intake is from the wire services and BBC. I'm sick of spin....from both sides
Surprised this hasn't come up before but when referencing international commitments, alliances and foreign obligations there is this and it's clearly in play here... Why care about Ukraine and the Budapest Memorandum | Brookings
Biden administration has asked for $12B to be appropriated to FEMA for the Hawaiian disaster. And $54B to be set aside for Ukraine. Would anyone be shocked to learn one day that Biden Inc. was getting kickbacks through one of the myriad of shell companies or LLCs that Hunter has set up from foreign aid like this?
One of the most effective "sanctions" that the US could impose would be the embargo of Russian energy exports. The US could economically cripple Russia if it resumed it's pre Biden energy output and replaced Russia as a supplier of oil and natural gas. Our withdrawal from energy exporters has enriched Putin. Once again the Green Zealots" subordinate everything to their mission to destroy US Big Oil and take over the US energy industry. But instead of instituting a policy that would enrich America, he insists on enriching the US arms cartel.
Another $1 Billion on its way to the Bank of Ukraine for the "war effort". If you can believe their own recently deposed foreign minister, the war effort costs $100 Million per day the way it is being conducted so don't put the check book away just yet.
What would Reagan do? His "Evil Empire" speech tells all.... "I urge you to beware the temptation of pride—the temptation of blithely declaring yourselves above it all and label both sides equally at fault, to ignore the facts of history and the aggressive impulses of an evil empire, to simply call the arms race a giant misunderstanding and thereby remove yourself from the struggle between right and wrong and good and evil." our stepping down from the perch of world leadership and ignoring the international obligations upon which we have pledged our support would be disastrous to our international standing and is the great prize that Putin and Xi seek are seeking. The logic that argues we turn our backs on 100 years of conservative foreign policy thought purely for partisan purposes is in our national interest escapes me. It is one of the most harmful, un-American and cowardly things I can conceive. When partisanship gets in the way of our national interests is where I draw the line....
I think one main difference is while the Afghan govt, after 20 years of support by US troops, immediately collapsed once the American pilots stopped their missions, the Ukrainians have not requested US armed forces and are fighting to the death for their freedom from Russian subservience. That so many people are willing to abandon them is unconscionable.
I seem to remember South Vietnam fighting for freedom from communist subservience. 58,000 lives later we got off the perch.
The last I looked the same anal cavities are leading this country. This money pit is on top of the hundreds of billions we pissed away on fraudulent covid relief. Explain why we make Putin's energy sales worth so much more by intentionally crippling our energy industry? We're funding both sides. Insanity.
Made even more unconscionable because it's purely in the name of partisanship, national interests be damned. Turning our back on allies seeking our assistance, ignoring foreign obligations to which we are a signatory and enabling authoritarian regimes to roll their armies across the European plain virtually unopposed is the opposite of Republican/Conservative dogma, it is purely partisan. These guys would oppose the cure for cancer and consign it to the waste bin of history if it was developed by an administration they didn't support but by God if their guy tries to overthrow the government by violent and fraudulent means and gets caught , it must for damn sure be prosecutorial misconduct.
47K American soldiers were killed in combat in Vietnam. Defense Casualty Analysis System Again, Ukraine has not asked for a single American soldier to fight on its behalf and, in contrast to the Afghan and S. Vietnamese governments, has proven it can defend itself quite well with military assistance but no foreign troops.
From your own cite TOTAL IN-THEATER DEATHS 58,220 38,224 2,586 14,844 2,566 And that doesn't scratch the surface of the lives taken by suicide, drug abuse, agent orange etc. You have no comment that we are in effect financing both sides in the war?
Oh the outrage and pointing out our foreign obligations. Where was this demand when we stood by and let Putin take Crimea from Ukraine? Oh right that wasn't a Republican/Conservative, it was Obama. Mr. line in sand himself. Ukraine was asking for arms and we were sending blankets at least that was the claim. Had we opposed Putin then, had we left Afghanistan properly, we may not have unleashed Putin on Ukraine. "These guys would oppose the cure for cancer and consign it to the waste bin of history if it was developed by an administration they didn't support" Anyone remember Dems not trusting the Covid vaccine because it was developed under Trump? Who in their right mind believes that a bunch of yahoos protesting as liberals do at the Capitol could "overthrow the government?" Seriously? You might need help.
My citation was done to highlight the difference between our aid to Vietnam vs. Ukraine. No American soldiers have died fighting the Russians in Ukraine and no American soldiers have been requested by Ukraine to fight on its behalf. Re your other point, my preference is American energy self sufficiency and not buying Russian exports.
We are all friends here and for the most part politically on the same page. I respect the opinions of the guys here that maybe we differ on this issue.
Gip, you're entitled to your own opinions of course, but you don't get to make up your own facts and in this case the facts simply further validate the stench of pure partisanship in the current response from the extreme right. In fact, the right/Republicans eviscerated the Obama admin over Crimea and rightly so. McCain, Boehner and Corker among others were outspoken in their criticism. "Treat him for what he is,” McCain said. “....it does mean treating him in the way that we understand an individual who believes in restoring the old Russian empire.” and Corker, “We do need to show long-term resolve. The comment that Secretary Kerry made is not helpful and again it shows a wishy washiness.” Imagine the outrage from the then Republican leaders had Putin rolled armored columns across the borders on their way to shelling maternity hospitals, regularly targeting civilian populations and filling mass graves with murdered innocents on their way. What has changed? The only change is now the administration is showing "resolve" and taking actions consistent with the positions advocated by the right in 2014. In that context, the current stance of the extreme right is clearly and shamefully partisan. I don't know about you, but I expect more from my former party. "Who in their right mind believes that a bunch of yahoos protesting as liberals do at the Capitol could "overthrow the government?" Seriously? You might need help." This is a good one....speaking of being removed from reality or needing help, the good news is you no longer need to get tied up in knots when describing the events of Jan 6, that has been done for you. Mercifully, multiple juries in multiple courtrooms in front of multiple judges, at least one of whom was appointed by Trump and is a card carrying member of the Federalist Society, have told us exactly what happened on Jan 6. Three separate groups of men, in three different proceedings were convicted by three separate juries of Seditious Conspiracy, to "oppose by force the lawful transfer of Presidential power." Sedition + Force = Insurrection. No further reason to wonder what happened on January 6, the facts have been made abundantly clear and as the people requested of them, several juries have told us....an Insurrection happened and nearly a dozen men have been convicted of such to date. The only real question remaining is when will the lead racketeer in this the most treasonous enterprise against our people in it's long history be held to account and for how long will he get locked up.
We have bridges in this country falling and a road system that needs to be modernized. We need money to do that but instead we send it to Ukraine because it makes us feel good. We need enforcement of our border, more officers, barriers and technology. We aren’t’ doing that but we’re sending billions to Ukraine. We need new ships to maintain superiority over the Chinese navy but we aren’t doing that. We’re sending billions to Ukraine. We need to replace the oil from our strategic reserve squandered by Biden. We aren’t doing that but we’re sending money to Ukraine. We spend over half a trillion dollars year to service our debt. We’ve looted the treasury so much in the past two years that our currency has been cheapened and it’s forced the Fed. To raise the cost of servicing that debt which is ultimately going to lead to a financial death spiral. But we keep sending billions to Ukraine. We’re sending enough arms to Ukraine to keep the war going. We don’t give them weapons to take the war to Russia. We don’t allow them to let the Russian citizenry taste the savagery that Putin wreaks on Ukraine. Meanwhile Putin finances his mercenaries and weapons with Russian energy sales that we inflate with our stupid energy policies. It’s perfect if you’re an American arms manufacturer. The war continues at a virtual stalemate and the innocent continue to die. We continue to feel good that we’re doing our part. As it was in Vietnam and Afghanistan, we spend treasure and in those cases lives, nothing is accomplished but we felt good doing it. Just this past few days Saudi Arabia and their petroleum ally Russia have announced production reductions starting the price of oil towards $100 a barrel. In concert with them the Biden administration just cancelled the remaining oil leases in ANWAR. Why do this? Why help Putin and the Saudis? Why? Because it makes those climate crazies that pull Biden’s puppet strings FEEL GOOD. They’re hurting Americans, they’re in the long run hurting Ukraine but that’s second to feeling good. My opposition to the policy that’s being used in Ukraine is not based on political belief but an honest opinion that what we’re doing is not in the best interest of our country and in the end will probably not be in the best interest of Ukraine.
Consider what is going on around the world while we are pumping untold dollars into Ukraine. China, Russia and North Korea are now expected to conduct war game exercises together. Saudi Arabia has us in the palm of their hand from an energy perspective. Biden has quietly drained our Strategic Oil Reserve down to dangerous levels in a childish attempt to stabilize prices at the pump. Our energy fate in the short erm lies in Saudi hands.