Has anyone posted what the end game in Ukraine is? When the last Ukrainian is killed, there will still be one hundred Russians left. They are not going to take defeat. Is this all a ploy to start WW3?
I get the five bullet points that need to be answered concurrent to our funding of Ukraine. Fair enough. But I see no real attempt to define what an acceptable answer might comprise. It seems like they're just a laundry list of "reasons to not support Ukraine" thrown about as red herrings when there would still be the opposition even if these questions weren't in play.
Serious, good-faith questions deserve a serious answer. I'm not feeling the seriousness, though...
Contrast Zelensky's monetary appeals to those of present-day Israel...and indeed, going back to Golda Meir. But...if you're Jews, you lose. I am so disgusted with the obsession over the yellow and the blue that this WEF-lackey nation has become Pukraine to me.
As a retired Army officer who has been in combat - I still have one question that no one has answered. We keep on funding Ukraine - if it is to retake the territory lost to Russia then it's not ammunition, they need, but manpower. So WHY is the Ukrainian draft age 25? And that was just changed recently; down from 27. This is not Russian disinformation. If you are fighting for your existence as a nation - then you conscript men down to at least age 18 if not 16.
If someone can answer this question - let me know - because otherwise this stinks to high heaven.
That's the most reasonable answer because it's the only one I've heard. That being said, their demographics are in the toilet. If you look at the CIA World Fact Book - you will see that the median average age for men is 41.3 years, and the demographic pyramid shows a dearth of men between the ages 20-24. https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/ukraine/#people-and-society
Still, it's supposedly a fight for their survival.
After reading all of the comments I am more depressed, from your piece quite a large number only fixated on Trump, next Speaker Johnson. As for Johnson who exactly can you put in who will miraculously get ALL R's on board? Can convince the Senate to get on board? Already comments "he's a liar etc. Well, they all voted to support him when they voted 100% but they didn't, they couldn't wouldn't support him. MTG didn't get what she wanted so "throw him out". How can anyone function in that environment when you are already dealing with multiple egos & agendas? When did we become so self-righteous? The D's may not always agree with each other personnaly but they usually stick together and therefore get things done. We don't and don't. Yes, we need to fix our country but it took years to get to this point, decades really, and no magic bullet exists to instantly fix it. No one side, group, or person has all the answers, but if you can't listen with an open mind and realize there are hundreds of things out there about the players, countries, circumstances (that can change even as I'm writing this) that you don't know about and refuse to acknowledge we have no hope of fixing things. There are so many people behind the curtains everywhere though plenty in plain sight, plus facts change, circumstances change constantly. The Chinese probably invented the convoluted and varied connections used in playing the long game, could be why their country is still going. America also has convoluted connections but we don't really work together. People really are not seeing the big picture that we are all interconnected and that you just can't pull out from everything without consequences. and we want instant success especially our side, and being right about a certain thing (Border dangerous to us) is not a strategy and we should be able to work on more than one problem at a time. Ukraine is a mess we should have done the whole thing better but now world see us as weak and not just because of Biden. What we have done to Israel is unpardonable. Weak is a very bad survival policy. I don't want to waste money overseas BUT waste is the point. I still believe we cannot stand alone and we are losing if not allies at least not enemies for now and that takes money. We just need to be better at monitoring it and thinking of alternate ways as well. What's the phrase "there can be only One" I prefer that to be us or at least a stalemate so to speak. We are losing access to China & Russia in many countries now plus China here in our hemisphere. We need to stop talking in absolutes, fixating on one thing or way and focus on the big picture.
HERE’s ONE FOR HISTORY BUFFS THAT I BET YOU DIDN’T KNOW
History ALWAYS teaches us “what was”….and this one explains a lot !
In 1975, President Ford was left to manage the difficult ending of the Vietnam War. President Ford went to Congress for a relief package to allow American personnel and our allies to evacuate.
However, there was ONE US SENATOR who opposed any such support. The result was the embarrassing and hurried evacuation from the roof of the American embassy in Saigon.
This Senator reveled in the embarrassment and did everything he could to leverage it politically against Ford. Despite the efforts of this U.S. Senator--President Ford managed to rescue 1,500 South Vietnamese allies prior to the country's fall. Had President Ford not acted quickly, these people would have been targeted and slaughtered for their support for America . When they arrived in America , President Ford asked Congress for a package to assist these refugees to integrate into American society.
That SAME ultra-liberal SENATOR TORPEDOED ANY SUPPORT for these shell shocked, anti-communist, Americans and our helpers, the refugees.
Instead, President Ford had to recruit Christian organizations to offer assistance on a voluntary basis. As he did so, the Senator belittled those efforts. What kind of person would oppose President Ford's tireless work to do the right and humanitarian thing? Who would want to play politics with the well-being of innocent people who stood by America in the tragic Vietnam War?
There was more than one US Senator who voted against the final package. Biden said he opposed that military aid might be part of the package because it was a lost cause. Trouble with that rationale is that the contingency fund he did not like only might have been military aid and so what, should it have come to that, sometimes in retreat you have to fight your way out. His demeanor then is not unlike what he did in Afghanistan. We were on our way out but he turned it into a rout and aided the wrong side militarily.
One more thing Erick your asking me to trust my government to make the right decision on all of this. We’ll we’re they right on Covid how about FISA where the FBI lied and is allowed to spy on citizens without a warrant IRS agents will only go after the rich shall we go on? I’m just tired of being lied to by both sides just tell me the truth I will handle it.
This crap show has been coming for a long time,as a country I agree we can walk and chew gum at the same time but to ignore the amount of military age illegal men showing up at the border is going to have serious consequences. Also we are broke why don’t we sell Ukrainian war bonds like was done during the Second World War and see how well they sell then the US government can match at 100% then we can see how really committed people are to all this spending with no end in sight. If you don’t like that let’s reverse it and sell bonds to build a border wall and see what gets done first. If we continue to spend on Ukraine send bullets and equipment etc. no cash it will magically disappear into thin air
Thank you! Your precise assessment and analysis bring the country's problems ( most gravely serious) into a clear and coherent view.
When I watched Senator Lindsey Graham and Senator Richard Blumenthal discuss some of the country's urgent issues on Fox Sunday Morning, I knew that something was/is dangerously close to hitting the fan.
Tying anything to 'fixing' the border. The current administration just interprets giving phones to illegal immigrants as border protection. Anything that the Republicans that could get anything through the Senate would not be a solution in any shape or form and would be misinterpreted by Mayorkas and friends as status quo until he gets impeached again for not doing his job...
I agree in part. I do not want a crappy bill and enforcement will take a Republican administration (Trump, or more adroitly, DeSantis). I do not know where the filibuster or Senate rules or blind party loyalty plays in this for Democrats but there should have been a more aggressive political demeanor from Republicans (and people) to demand a stop to the invasion starting from day one with Biden. A lot of Democrat voters want the border closed to illegals. Surely a few Dems could have been corralled on this if the proverbial pitchforks were displayed.
Could it be some Republicans are nursing this as an issue for 2024. They did not want a full court press. I mean Biden/Dems supposedly solving the matter now would take away some of the urgency of voting for Republicans later. Of course any compromise with Democrat leadership would be crap. I am of the opinion a good bill could have been passed (the debate itself beneficial) and while Biden would not seriously enforce it he is still responsible for all the sequelae and his competence would remain a compelling issue. Word would go out, grifting days are numbered.
I am under no illusion that there are not weak sisters in the Republican lot on the matter. No doubt some of the House Republicans vote safely with a wink and a nod to the business interests wanting "compromise" that their interests will be protected in the Senate. Those interests consist of cheap labor, driving costs down profits up, perhaps the opportunity for off the books labor or directly subsidized labor but in all cases with the true costs shifted to citizen taxpayers.
Substantial welfare (princely by comparison to their native country) mandatory free education for their children (just present your child to the school) anchor baby opportunities, and more wages than they ever received back on the old sod, paying little in taxes in comparison to benefits received. Remember, corporations do not actually pay taxes, it is a cost that is passed on in order to maintain adequate return on investment. For corporations, their controlling manager/owners and politicians it is all about the law of concentrated gain and diffuse pain.
As for Erick's litany of pigeon holes for opposition to Ukraine aid -- how about the thought of follow the money trail as regards support -- it might subvert the implication that Johnson and others are all profiles in courage. I understand there are a lot of defense industries in Texas.
I get the same vibe with this column as I do with the Biden admin assertion that "we know what's best, you are better off than you think, and if you don't believe it you are a bunch of troglodytes."
Same but I imagined little blue and yellow flags waving in my head while reading it to match the "patriotic" fervor of that group on the House floor the other day.
Let me just briefly emphasize a couple of points….
- spot on with Charlottesville vs Columbia comments
-no willingness to fix border w/o introducing BS is so very serious . Chip is right!
- corruption with this aid is likely creating a bed of rot that will eventually spoil everything. It is impossible to effectively spend that much aid in such a short time. We do need boots on the ground to assist and administer with effective aid.
-this idea that $$ fix all problems won’t work. Foreign aid, education, loan assistance, etc are examples of “makes us feel good” spending.
MTG may be misguided, but in many respects she is spot on!
Joe Biden will say anything to get votes, facts be damned, truth be damned. In these days he gets away with this because the media except for Fox and a few others, will not call him out on this. They actively cover for him or make excuses for him. Gone are the days when he was driven off of a presidential run because he was caught plagiarizing. Biden hasn't changed but the standards for the media sure have. As for Biden I was not surprised by the whopper about his uncle being eaten by cannibals. I am surprised he did not say that he and Beau were also on that plane but they escaped by swimming through shark infested waters. If your going to lie, might as well lie big.
I kind of like Erick Erickson. There is a reason I am subscribed to his stack. But at the end of the day the above just reinforced the conclusion I drew from this weekend's events: the GOP is not effectively a conservative party anymore. Only massive electoral loss is going to fix it. I plan to do my small part toward that end this fall.
The GOP has a continuing responsibility to promote and enforce the Western alliance forged during post-WWII years and to vigorously oppose the Eastern Axis. Not supporting Ukraine makes no sense. Insist the Europeans fully fund their dense budgets and support Ukraine not just with their mouths. Trump was exactly right on insisting the Europeans ante up.
While supporting the supplemental for Israel it is very disappointing that the largest funding category was $9B for humanitarian assistance for Gaza. This is feeding and clothing your rabid terrorist opponents while letting their international supporters off the hook for providing this assistance so they can spend instead on even more terror.
Reducing government spending is essential and needs to come through domestic cuts. The GOP needs to implement through the appropriations process using regular order. Pass the appropriation bills, let the Senate then works its will, then go to Conference to reconcile. Get some spine.
The border issue needs to be resolved but won’t until someone else is sitting in the Oval.
The November election takes on ever increasing importance.
“• Congressman Darrell Issa (R., Calif.) said something arresting, about the bill to aid the Ukrainians: ‘We need to pass it before they’re all dead.’” https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/warmonger-traitor-nazi-etc/amp/
Has anyone posted what the end game in Ukraine is? When the last Ukrainian is killed, there will still be one hundred Russians left. They are not going to take defeat. Is this all a ploy to start WW3?
I get the five bullet points that need to be answered concurrent to our funding of Ukraine. Fair enough. But I see no real attempt to define what an acceptable answer might comprise. It seems like they're just a laundry list of "reasons to not support Ukraine" thrown about as red herrings when there would still be the opposition even if these questions weren't in play.
Serious, good-faith questions deserve a serious answer. I'm not feeling the seriousness, though...
Contrast Zelensky's monetary appeals to those of present-day Israel...and indeed, going back to Golda Meir. But...if you're Jews, you lose. I am so disgusted with the obsession over the yellow and the blue that this WEF-lackey nation has become Pukraine to me.
https://www.thefp.com/p/douglas-murray-remembering-golda-meir
As a retired Army officer who has been in combat - I still have one question that no one has answered. We keep on funding Ukraine - if it is to retake the territory lost to Russia then it's not ammunition, they need, but manpower. So WHY is the Ukrainian draft age 25? And that was just changed recently; down from 27. This is not Russian disinformation. If you are fighting for your existence as a nation - then you conscript men down to at least age 18 if not 16.
If someone can answer this question - let me know - because otherwise this stinks to high heaven.
The answer I heard was to make Ukrainian babies.
That's the most reasonable answer because it's the only one I've heard. That being said, their demographics are in the toilet. If you look at the CIA World Fact Book - you will see that the median average age for men is 41.3 years, and the demographic pyramid shows a dearth of men between the ages 20-24. https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/ukraine/#people-and-society
Still, it's supposedly a fight for their survival.
After reading all of the comments I am more depressed, from your piece quite a large number only fixated on Trump, next Speaker Johnson. As for Johnson who exactly can you put in who will miraculously get ALL R's on board? Can convince the Senate to get on board? Already comments "he's a liar etc. Well, they all voted to support him when they voted 100% but they didn't, they couldn't wouldn't support him. MTG didn't get what she wanted so "throw him out". How can anyone function in that environment when you are already dealing with multiple egos & agendas? When did we become so self-righteous? The D's may not always agree with each other personnaly but they usually stick together and therefore get things done. We don't and don't. Yes, we need to fix our country but it took years to get to this point, decades really, and no magic bullet exists to instantly fix it. No one side, group, or person has all the answers, but if you can't listen with an open mind and realize there are hundreds of things out there about the players, countries, circumstances (that can change even as I'm writing this) that you don't know about and refuse to acknowledge we have no hope of fixing things. There are so many people behind the curtains everywhere though plenty in plain sight, plus facts change, circumstances change constantly. The Chinese probably invented the convoluted and varied connections used in playing the long game, could be why their country is still going. America also has convoluted connections but we don't really work together. People really are not seeing the big picture that we are all interconnected and that you just can't pull out from everything without consequences. and we want instant success especially our side, and being right about a certain thing (Border dangerous to us) is not a strategy and we should be able to work on more than one problem at a time. Ukraine is a mess we should have done the whole thing better but now world see us as weak and not just because of Biden. What we have done to Israel is unpardonable. Weak is a very bad survival policy. I don't want to waste money overseas BUT waste is the point. I still believe we cannot stand alone and we are losing if not allies at least not enemies for now and that takes money. We just need to be better at monitoring it and thinking of alternate ways as well. What's the phrase "there can be only One" I prefer that to be us or at least a stalemate so to speak. We are losing access to China & Russia in many countries now plus China here in our hemisphere. We need to stop talking in absolutes, fixating on one thing or way and focus on the big picture.
HERE’s ONE FOR HISTORY BUFFS THAT I BET YOU DIDN’T KNOW
History ALWAYS teaches us “what was”….and this one explains a lot !
In 1975, President Ford was left to manage the difficult ending of the Vietnam War. President Ford went to Congress for a relief package to allow American personnel and our allies to evacuate.
However, there was ONE US SENATOR who opposed any such support. The result was the embarrassing and hurried evacuation from the roof of the American embassy in Saigon.
This Senator reveled in the embarrassment and did everything he could to leverage it politically against Ford. Despite the efforts of this U.S. Senator--President Ford managed to rescue 1,500 South Vietnamese allies prior to the country's fall. Had President Ford not acted quickly, these people would have been targeted and slaughtered for their support for America . When they arrived in America , President Ford asked Congress for a package to assist these refugees to integrate into American society.
That SAME ultra-liberal SENATOR TORPEDOED ANY SUPPORT for these shell shocked, anti-communist, Americans and our helpers, the refugees.
Instead, President Ford had to recruit Christian organizations to offer assistance on a voluntary basis. As he did so, the Senator belittled those efforts. What kind of person would oppose President Ford's tireless work to do the right and humanitarian thing? Who would want to play politics with the well-being of innocent people who stood by America in the tragic Vietnam War?
That SENATOR was JOE BIDEN !
NO REAL SURPRISE !
There was more than one US Senator who voted against the final package. Biden said he opposed that military aid might be part of the package because it was a lost cause. Trouble with that rationale is that the contingency fund he did not like only might have been military aid and so what, should it have come to that, sometimes in retreat you have to fight your way out. His demeanor then is not unlike what he did in Afghanistan. We were on our way out but he turned it into a rout and aided the wrong side militarily.
One more thing Erick your asking me to trust my government to make the right decision on all of this. We’ll we’re they right on Covid how about FISA where the FBI lied and is allowed to spy on citizens without a warrant IRS agents will only go after the rich shall we go on? I’m just tired of being lied to by both sides just tell me the truth I will handle it.
This crap show has been coming for a long time,as a country I agree we can walk and chew gum at the same time but to ignore the amount of military age illegal men showing up at the border is going to have serious consequences. Also we are broke why don’t we sell Ukrainian war bonds like was done during the Second World War and see how well they sell then the US government can match at 100% then we can see how really committed people are to all this spending with no end in sight. If you don’t like that let’s reverse it and sell bonds to build a border wall and see what gets done first. If we continue to spend on Ukraine send bullets and equipment etc. no cash it will magically disappear into thin air
Erick,
Thank you! Your precise assessment and analysis bring the country's problems ( most gravely serious) into a clear and coherent view.
When I watched Senator Lindsey Graham and Senator Richard Blumenthal discuss some of the country's urgent issues on Fox Sunday Morning, I knew that something was/is dangerously close to hitting the fan.
Peace to all
I do not think it was all that precise an assessment.
Tying anything to 'fixing' the border. The current administration just interprets giving phones to illegal immigrants as border protection. Anything that the Republicans that could get anything through the Senate would not be a solution in any shape or form and would be misinterpreted by Mayorkas and friends as status quo until he gets impeached again for not doing his job...
I agree in part. I do not want a crappy bill and enforcement will take a Republican administration (Trump, or more adroitly, DeSantis). I do not know where the filibuster or Senate rules or blind party loyalty plays in this for Democrats but there should have been a more aggressive political demeanor from Republicans (and people) to demand a stop to the invasion starting from day one with Biden. A lot of Democrat voters want the border closed to illegals. Surely a few Dems could have been corralled on this if the proverbial pitchforks were displayed.
Could it be some Republicans are nursing this as an issue for 2024. They did not want a full court press. I mean Biden/Dems supposedly solving the matter now would take away some of the urgency of voting for Republicans later. Of course any compromise with Democrat leadership would be crap. I am of the opinion a good bill could have been passed (the debate itself beneficial) and while Biden would not seriously enforce it he is still responsible for all the sequelae and his competence would remain a compelling issue. Word would go out, grifting days are numbered.
I am under no illusion that there are not weak sisters in the Republican lot on the matter. No doubt some of the House Republicans vote safely with a wink and a nod to the business interests wanting "compromise" that their interests will be protected in the Senate. Those interests consist of cheap labor, driving costs down profits up, perhaps the opportunity for off the books labor or directly subsidized labor but in all cases with the true costs shifted to citizen taxpayers.
Substantial welfare (princely by comparison to their native country) mandatory free education for their children (just present your child to the school) anchor baby opportunities, and more wages than they ever received back on the old sod, paying little in taxes in comparison to benefits received. Remember, corporations do not actually pay taxes, it is a cost that is passed on in order to maintain adequate return on investment. For corporations, their controlling manager/owners and politicians it is all about the law of concentrated gain and diffuse pain.
As for Erick's litany of pigeon holes for opposition to Ukraine aid -- how about the thought of follow the money trail as regards support -- it might subvert the implication that Johnson and others are all profiles in courage. I understand there are a lot of defense industries in Texas.
I get the same vibe with this column as I do with the Biden admin assertion that "we know what's best, you are better off than you think, and if you don't believe it you are a bunch of troglodytes."
Same but I imagined little blue and yellow flags waving in my head while reading it to match the "patriotic" fervor of that group on the House floor the other day.
Well, that was alot of words!
Let me just briefly emphasize a couple of points….
- spot on with Charlottesville vs Columbia comments
-no willingness to fix border w/o introducing BS is so very serious . Chip is right!
- corruption with this aid is likely creating a bed of rot that will eventually spoil everything. It is impossible to effectively spend that much aid in such a short time. We do need boots on the ground to assist and administer with effective aid.
-this idea that $$ fix all problems won’t work. Foreign aid, education, loan assistance, etc are examples of “makes us feel good” spending.
MTG may be misguided, but in many respects she is spot on!
Joe Biden will say anything to get votes, facts be damned, truth be damned. In these days he gets away with this because the media except for Fox and a few others, will not call him out on this. They actively cover for him or make excuses for him. Gone are the days when he was driven off of a presidential run because he was caught plagiarizing. Biden hasn't changed but the standards for the media sure have. As for Biden I was not surprised by the whopper about his uncle being eaten by cannibals. I am surprised he did not say that he and Beau were also on that plane but they escaped by swimming through shark infested waters. If your going to lie, might as well lie big.
I kind of like Erick Erickson. There is a reason I am subscribed to his stack. But at the end of the day the above just reinforced the conclusion I drew from this weekend's events: the GOP is not effectively a conservative party anymore. Only massive electoral loss is going to fix it. I plan to do my small part toward that end this fall.
The GOP has a continuing responsibility to promote and enforce the Western alliance forged during post-WWII years and to vigorously oppose the Eastern Axis. Not supporting Ukraine makes no sense. Insist the Europeans fully fund their dense budgets and support Ukraine not just with their mouths. Trump was exactly right on insisting the Europeans ante up.
While supporting the supplemental for Israel it is very disappointing that the largest funding category was $9B for humanitarian assistance for Gaza. This is feeding and clothing your rabid terrorist opponents while letting their international supporters off the hook for providing this assistance so they can spend instead on even more terror.
Reducing government spending is essential and needs to come through domestic cuts. The GOP needs to implement through the appropriations process using regular order. Pass the appropriation bills, let the Senate then works its will, then go to Conference to reconcile. Get some spine.
The border issue needs to be resolved but won’t until someone else is sitting in the Oval.
The November election takes on ever increasing importance.