Last night, Hannity ran a 5-minute video clip of President Trump at a meeting of NATO leaders in Brussels. In the clip, Trump spared no words in his condemnation of the other NATO nations for not meeting their 2% defense spending requirement. You could just watch the Europeans squirm. It was wonderful. Similarly, Trump minced no words with Putin China's Xi, Kim Jong-un, or any other head of state when he felt that that head of state needed to be reminded that the United States' interests were those which he was sworn to defend. Everyone, it seems, got the memo.
Trump also backed up his words with actions when required to make his point. Yes, Syria was a botched affair, but Iran certainly got the point when we took out General Soleimani. Trump understands perfectly that for a nation's words to be believed, it may require action in certain specified occasions. Biden, as Obama before him, wanted the U.S. to be everyone's friend, even those nations who intend to dance on our graves.
In terms of direct involvement, very little. But in terms of making clear to Putin (and Xi, and Kim, and....), it had a lot to do with us. Like it or not, the U.S. has a role to play in doing what is needed short of war to make sure Putin stays in his lane.
Russia is a Third World economy with nuclear weapons. Its GDP is roughly that of Italy, and most of it involves the export of oil and natural gas. That the ex-KGB colonel who as KGB rezident (station chief) in East Germany in 1989 had to sit by helplessly as the Berlin Wall fell and East Germany melted away, closely followed by his losing his job when the USSR, and the KGB, went out of business, yearns for the return of a Russia which looks more like that to which he is accustomed, is of absolutely no concern to the rest of the world - so long as we don't somehow enable him to satisfy his wet dreams by meekly appeasing his expansionist desires.
But, but, but...we have transgenders in the military! Biden assured us that would make our military stronger than ever because it is now "inclusive" and represents everyone...why isn't Putin terrified of facing the "wrath of the wokes"?
Yes, that's sarcasm...our "woke" military isn't going to stop Russia...they're laughing at us. Our military leaders are too busy tiptoeing around worrying about offending someone by using the wrong pronoun, scared their military career might come to an abrupt end if they speak openly about their Christian faith, getting ready to go into combat against the "domestic terrorists" who want their local school board to stop sexualizing their children and calling white 5 year olds "oppressors", to have time to worry about actual military takeovers.
Of course, Biden's not worried about a cyber counterattack from Russia, since Biden gave Putin a list of infrastructure that Biden told him he'd better not attack.
You’ve got to give credit to Putin for playing the West and taking advantage of it’s innate weakness and Wokeness! Not only has he just swiped part of Ukraine without war (so far), he’s now gotten the African country of Mali to kick out Western allies and our military and invited the Russians in. The world sees our disarray and cannot trust the USA right now.
The wokes are going to realize they aren’t... important. The anti-patriots who protest and demand we recognize we’re on conquered land can shut up now.
The USSR's definition of peace was the absence of resistance. If only Ukraine, the US, EU would stop resisting Putin there would not be war. It's our fault.
The guy who kicks down your door is not the problem, he doesn't want any trouble. It's you and the police that cause violence.
The useful idiots are the dupes that believe the propaganda. They are useful to the Left, and they will be sacrificed so the next generation of progies can provide they believe more.
From Wikipedia: "In political jargon, a useful idiot is a derogatory term for a person perceived as propagandizing for a cause without fully comprehending the cause's goals, and who is cynically used by the cause's leaders." The phrase was attributed to Lenin, but not proven to have been his.
A lot of the wokesters ARE idiots, who don't realize, or worse yet think they can control, the radical Marxists who are the core of the Democrat Party today. They need to know that after a true Marxist takeover, the useful idiots lose any usefulness, and are thus discarded, often violently.
I just keep thinking (praying) that it can't get any worse. Every day he keeps proving me wrong. The global reset is marching on. The tyrants and the elitists will rule and the rest of us will serve.
Putin may be older, but he did a press conference, for an hour, without a teleprompter or notes. In other words, he still has his wits and brains about him. I am pretty confident you won't see the same at the upcoming State of the Union. Regretfully, under the present administration, few other countries have the respect for the USA that it once commanded. We now live in very dangerous times. Putin doesn't do gender or pronouns, he only understands strength. Meanwhile, your President does not even remember what he had for breakfast. BTW - I do love America. With the Goat Rodeo of Afghanistan, Biden destroyed much of the NATO trust - and now he will try to coordinate NATO...and, just a reminder, Ukraine is not a NATO country. It needs to meet criteria, such as being less corrupt, to even get close and estimates it is at least 20 years away.
Go back to 1990 when the Soviet Union collapsed. The Russians had stored a vast arsenal of nuclear weapons in Ukraine. They were now a nuclear power. The west offered protection in return for having the weapons decommissioned. The Russians want control of Ukraine for the same reasons the Germans did eighty years ago. Vast raw materials.
The world is a better place when Americans lead. We need to be energy self sufficient and do our manufacturing at home. We need to take a long haul approach like the Chinese. They work on 100 year plans. We can’t get past an election cycle. We need to start acting like more like Spartans and less like the woke pacifists we are becoming.
Perceived weakness stimulates tyrants. How many thousands of lessons do we need to see before it sinks in? In this case it's too late. But any future we want to see demands that we adjust accordingly.
Thank you for the historical perspective. With these clowns in the White House, I can foresee times very similar to those before Reagan technically ended the Cold War. Within history, there are valuable lessons. In today's world, the 'wokes' are more concerned with rewriting and revising the history books before even reading and learning from them in their original and factual form.
Biden in the White House has indeed emboldened Putin to make his move into Ukraine. I agree that threatening with sanctions will do little good. Putin knows that Biden and the Dems won't force him to behave.
Last night, Hannity ran a 5-minute video clip of President Trump at a meeting of NATO leaders in Brussels. In the clip, Trump spared no words in his condemnation of the other NATO nations for not meeting their 2% defense spending requirement. You could just watch the Europeans squirm. It was wonderful. Similarly, Trump minced no words with Putin China's Xi, Kim Jong-un, or any other head of state when he felt that that head of state needed to be reminded that the United States' interests were those which he was sworn to defend. Everyone, it seems, got the memo.
Trump also backed up his words with actions when required to make his point. Yes, Syria was a botched affair, but Iran certainly got the point when we took out General Soleimani. Trump understands perfectly that for a nation's words to be believed, it may require action in certain specified occasions. Biden, as Obama before him, wanted the U.S. to be everyone's friend, even those nations who intend to dance on our graves.
Alas, what does this have to do with us?
In terms of direct involvement, very little. But in terms of making clear to Putin (and Xi, and Kim, and....), it had a lot to do with us. Like it or not, the U.S. has a role to play in doing what is needed short of war to make sure Putin stays in his lane.
Russia is a Third World economy with nuclear weapons. Its GDP is roughly that of Italy, and most of it involves the export of oil and natural gas. That the ex-KGB colonel who as KGB rezident (station chief) in East Germany in 1989 had to sit by helplessly as the Berlin Wall fell and East Germany melted away, closely followed by his losing his job when the USSR, and the KGB, went out of business, yearns for the return of a Russia which looks more like that to which he is accustomed, is of absolutely no concern to the rest of the world - so long as we don't somehow enable him to satisfy his wet dreams by meekly appeasing his expansionist desires.
Excellent response and point of view. I have no rebuttal.
But, but, but...we have transgenders in the military! Biden assured us that would make our military stronger than ever because it is now "inclusive" and represents everyone...why isn't Putin terrified of facing the "wrath of the wokes"?
Yes, that's sarcasm...our "woke" military isn't going to stop Russia...they're laughing at us. Our military leaders are too busy tiptoeing around worrying about offending someone by using the wrong pronoun, scared their military career might come to an abrupt end if they speak openly about their Christian faith, getting ready to go into combat against the "domestic terrorists" who want their local school board to stop sexualizing their children and calling white 5 year olds "oppressors", to have time to worry about actual military takeovers.
Of course, Biden's not worried about a cyber counterattack from Russia, since Biden gave Putin a list of infrastructure that Biden told him he'd better not attack.
I personally, feel sooooo much safer.
You’ve got to give credit to Putin for playing the West and taking advantage of it’s innate weakness and Wokeness! Not only has he just swiped part of Ukraine without war (so far), he’s now gotten the African country of Mali to kick out Western allies and our military and invited the Russians in. The world sees our disarray and cannot trust the USA right now.
While I generally agree with Eric, I must correct his history: Putin's land grab in Georgia was in 2008, with George W. Bush in the White House.
The wokes are going to realize they aren’t... important. The anti-patriots who protest and demand we recognize we’re on conquered land can shut up now.
The USSR's definition of peace was the absence of resistance. If only Ukraine, the US, EU would stop resisting Putin there would not be war. It's our fault.
The guy who kicks down your door is not the problem, he doesn't want any trouble. It's you and the police that cause violence.
The Wokes are useful idiots.
The Democrats are useful idiots.
Liberalism kills.
I agree with your assessment of Wokes and Democrats - except your use of the word useful. I think they're useless.
Yuri Bezmenov
https://youtu.be/yErKTVdETpw
The useful idiots are the dupes that believe the propaganda. They are useful to the Left, and they will be sacrificed so the next generation of progies can provide they believe more.
From Wikipedia: "In political jargon, a useful idiot is a derogatory term for a person perceived as propagandizing for a cause without fully comprehending the cause's goals, and who is cynically used by the cause's leaders." The phrase was attributed to Lenin, but not proven to have been his.
A lot of the wokesters ARE idiots, who don't realize, or worse yet think they can control, the radical Marxists who are the core of the Democrat Party today. They need to know that after a true Marxist takeover, the useful idiots lose any usefulness, and are thus discarded, often violently.
I disagree that they are useless. I think the unfortunate question is "useful to whom?"
I just keep thinking (praying) that it can't get any worse. Every day he keeps proving me wrong. The global reset is marching on. The tyrants and the elitists will rule and the rest of us will serve.
Putin may be older, but he did a press conference, for an hour, without a teleprompter or notes. In other words, he still has his wits and brains about him. I am pretty confident you won't see the same at the upcoming State of the Union. Regretfully, under the present administration, few other countries have the respect for the USA that it once commanded. We now live in very dangerous times. Putin doesn't do gender or pronouns, he only understands strength. Meanwhile, your President does not even remember what he had for breakfast. BTW - I do love America. With the Goat Rodeo of Afghanistan, Biden destroyed much of the NATO trust - and now he will try to coordinate NATO...and, just a reminder, Ukraine is not a NATO country. It needs to meet criteria, such as being less corrupt, to even get close and estimates it is at least 20 years away.
Go back to 1990 when the Soviet Union collapsed. The Russians had stored a vast arsenal of nuclear weapons in Ukraine. They were now a nuclear power. The west offered protection in return for having the weapons decommissioned. The Russians want control of Ukraine for the same reasons the Germans did eighty years ago. Vast raw materials.
That and rich farmland. Georgia, Belarus, and Ukraine were the breadbasket of the old USSR. Among other things, Putin wants his food supply back.
Biden is compromised - Ukraine, Russia, China and who knows where else. Sad to say but this is the Manchurian Candidate playing out in real time.
A question for Democrats: "Who is acting more like a Russian asset, Trump or Biden?"
Exactly.
The world is a better place when Americans lead. We need to be energy self sufficient and do our manufacturing at home. We need to take a long haul approach like the Chinese. They work on 100 year plans. We can’t get past an election cycle. We need to start acting like more like Spartans and less like the woke pacifists we are becoming.
Perceived weakness stimulates tyrants. How many thousands of lessons do we need to see before it sinks in? In this case it's too late. But any future we want to see demands that we adjust accordingly.
Thank you for the historical perspective. With these clowns in the White House, I can foresee times very similar to those before Reagan technically ended the Cold War. Within history, there are valuable lessons. In today's world, the 'wokes' are more concerned with rewriting and revising the history books before even reading and learning from them in their original and factual form.
Grandpa Dementia!! 🤣🤣 Never heard that one. It fits!!
Biden in the White House has indeed emboldened Putin to make his move into Ukraine. I agree that threatening with sanctions will do little good. Putin knows that Biden and the Dems won't force him to behave.