[tennmountainman]

Both Ruzzia and YouCrayne are corrupt. It’s not our problem.
It’s Europe’s Problem.
I care about American Tax Dollars being sent to corrupt Ukraine.
No more money for Corrupt Ukraine!

[BroJoeK]

tennmountainman: "Both Ruzzia and YouCrayne are corrupt, corrupt, corrupt, corrupt,.
It’s not our problem.
It’s Europe’s Problem.
I care about American Tax Dollars being sent to corrupt, corrupt, corrupt, corrupt, Ukraine.
No more money for Corrupt, corrupt, corrupt, corrupt,Ukraine!"

I emphasized TMM's word "corrupt" because that is, historically, the magic word.
It is the single word used to defeat the US ten+ year long war to keep South Vietnam free of the North's Communist domination.

"Corrupt" was used first to drive Pres. Nixon from office, and then "corrupt" was used again to delay and reduce US military aid to South Vietnam.
The result was Vietnamese forces, with US aid, were unable to repeat their successful resistance to North Vietnamese invasion of 1968 (Tet) and 1972 (Easter Offensive).
In 1975, the lack of US aid caused the South Vietnamese to collapse in the face of the North's Spring Offensive.

So, that word, "corrupt" is a powerful magic word, with historically demonstrated potency to destroy nations that otherwise stood the tests of military combat.

In 1974, the word "corrupt" was weaponized by Democrats against Republicans, and you may well ask, "why?", when Democrats themselves patently care nothing about corruption -- it's the sea they swim in.
But Republicans do care because we are the party of good, clean, lawful government, and corruption is anathema to us.
So a credible claim of "corruption" will cause good Republicans to recoil in horror, and that is precisely how Democrats first deposed Pres. Nixon and then defeated South Vietnam.

Today, the old-time pro-Russia, counter-culture, hippy-chick, "make love not war" Democrats are now all dressed up in new MAGA costumes, but still wielding their old "corruption" weapon, in hopes they can repeat their successes of 1974 again in 2024.

"Yes, but...", they say: today, 50 years later, Vietnam is seen as both prosperous and stable, soooo... it's all good, right?
No, not so much, because after Saigon's fall:

1. ~3,000,000 of South Vietnam's 23 million population fled the country as refugees.

2. ~1,000,000 South Vietnamese were forced into North Vietnamese "reeducation" concentration camps.
   An unknown number of those were killed or disappeared.

3. ~4,000,000 unemployed South Vietnamese.

4. Confiscation of South Vietnamese private properties -- small farms, stores, businesses and even homes.
   The results included massive economic disruptions, poverty and repeated famines, which only began to improve after significant reforms in 1986.

Thus, we can see the powerful magic of the word "corrupt" to reduce a struggling, but imperfect, democratic government to absolute defeat, oppression, destitute economics and famine.

So, will the mere magic word, "corrupt" do to Ukraine what it did to South Vietnam?
That's hard to say, but consider this:

1. During the 1990s, Russia, Ukraine and Vietnam were all ranked the same and near the bottom, as among the world's most corrupt counties.

2. Today, Russia is still ranked as among the "most corrupt" (141st of 180).

3. Today, Ukraine has improved its corruption perceptions by one whole category to 104 of 180, and is clearly working hard on both corruption and democracy (91 of 167, equal to Mexico).

4. Today Vietnam has improved its corruption perceptions by two whole categories, to 83 of 180, and though still highly authoritarian (136 of 167) -- still as authoritarian as Russia (144 of 167) and China (148 of 167) -- Vietnam has become economically prosperous, stable, powerful and even friendly to the US.

5. So while "corruption" was the downfall of South Vietnam, significant improvements in corruption perceptions have contributed to today's Vietnam's successes.

6. Will that also help Ukraine defeat our US pro-Russians?

We'll see...