Posted on 01/10/2023 10:20:27 AM PST by John Semmens
Both President Biden and Congress have sent tens of billions of our tax dollars in the form of weapons, ammunition, and cash to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky to help save his regime from Russian invaders. While support for these outlays has come from both Democrats and Republicans, no clear benefit to our country can be detected.
Ostensibly, the claim is that we are trying to save Ukraine's democracy. But is Ukraine really a democracy? In the past week, Zelensky signed legislation that allows the Ukrainian government to censor news sites, control the flow of information to the Ukrainian people, and shut down news sites that are deemed insufficiently loyal to the government. Zelensky says "we were inspired by revelations that the US government has been doing the same thing."
US Secretary of State Tony Blinken cautioned against "drawing the wrong conclusion. Censoring the enemies of democracy--whether domestic or foreign--is sometimes necessary. Making our covert suppression of free speech public like Elon Musk has done has needlessly damaged America's image. Our credibility as a foe of Russian dictatorship has been undermined."
On the other hand, many members of Congress have accrued substantial profits from well-timed purchases of stock in corporations that manufacture the weapons we are providing to Ukraine. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore) got a 40% return on his investment in defense industry stocks. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene(R-Ga) got a 35% return. Blumenauer was irked that Greene also profited from these stocks. "She voted against aid to Ukraine," he complained. "It isn't fair that she should make almost money as I did since I had to help with the heavy lifting."
In related news, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) signed a bill raising state legislators' salaries by 30% to $142,000 per year. Income from other employment is also capped at $35,000 per year to discourage gainful employment. "We don't want them to work themselves to death," the Governor said. "Likewise, there are no limits on gifts from admirers, or investments because salaries are never enough to fulfill all the needs of the people's representatives."
If you missed any of the other Semi-News/Semi-Satire posts you can find them at...
https://www.gopbriefingroom.com/index.php/topic,488717.0.html
No.
For all the people who lined their pockets, it was well worth it.
Yes
1. This is akin to giving Czechoslovakia the chance to defend itself in 1938. it would have prevented WWII. By giving Ukraine the chance to fight Putin’s invasion, it prevents Putin from causing a wider conflict
2. China got spooked - the Taiwan conflict will be booted down the road or removed off the table completely (and the mainland will continue assimilating Taiwan economically)
3. Other countries who thought they could get away with military occupations of neighbors are thinking twice
4. The USA and NATO get to see how their weapons perform in real-world conditions
5. NATO is re-invigorated. Compare it today to what it was in January 2021.
6. Other NATO countries are now pulling their own weight
7. The pre-eminence of the USA is assured.
8. We’re saving money by heading off another forty-five year Cold War with Russia.
(I can’t tell anymore what’s sarcasm on FR)
The nice thing about having our domestic affairs in such fine order, morally and fiscally, is it frees us up to roam planet earth as world police, ensuring fair play and wholesome goodness to a grateful world. Just like in the old black and white movies.
Europeans are going to come to realize who destroyed Nord I and Nord II. And they’re going to be angry. And they’re going to ask Merkel what she was thinking when she handled Minsk II the way she did that is resulting in the destruction of Europe’s economy.
Here’s Merkel standing next to US puppet Zelensky, president of the former state of Ukraine, shaking uncontrollably.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nca3Z3-9K4c
Eventually as the situation deteriorates, Merkel is going to reveal Germany was blackmailed by the Americans.
“This is akin to giving Czechoslovakia the chance to defend itself in 1938.”
Czechoslovakia didn’t fight back against Germany in 1938. because they did not want to die for nothing. France and Britain had made it clear that they would not support Czechoslovakia if they chose to fight. Czechoslovakia would stand alone against Germany. The US had been providing them with financial assistance since 1914. Almost exactly like today with Putin, Germany demanded the “return” of the ethnic German population of Czechoslovakia—and the land on which it lived—to the German Reich. In late summer 1938, Hitler threatened to unleash a European war unless the Sudetenland View This Term in the Glossary was ceded to Germany. And nobody really cared because the land didn’t give much to anyone.
“Other countries who thought they could get away with military occupations of neighbors are thinking twice”
The Ukraine decided to separate from Russia in 1991. The Russian government was destroyed and the Soviet Union was no longer under their control and they want their lost lands back. This war is part of a war between the two factions that has been going on since 2014. It even spilled over into Poland and Moldova long before we started tossing serious American tax dollars for free to the Ukraine.
“The USA and NATO get to see how their weapons perform in real-world conditions”
Only four untested weapons were shipped, but only to Europe. They were sent as a possible defense if Russia goes beyond the Ukraine. They were FGM-148 Javelin missile, the Stryker Infantry Carrier Vehicle Dragoon, the Infantry Squad Vehicle, and a special prepared F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. None of these were destined for the Ukraine. Everything they have sent them has tested, used, and has previously been used. This is why our current inventories are draining.
“Other NATO countries are now pulling their own weight”
A good article on this is here:
https://carnegieeurope.eu/strategiceurope/87799
“The pre-eminence of the USA is assured.”
The definition of pre-eminence by the Oxford dictionary is”
“The fact of surpassing all others; superiority”
Actually Germany has sent more arms to the Ukraine than we have, we are still under the finger of Putin concerning over 10% of our natural gas and oil needs which doesn’t include our having to empty our reserves for the wrong reasons with no end of the tunnel on future oil exploration, our economy is a depression is disguise, and we have a government regime that is being laughed at all over the world in Biden’s dog and pony show.
I don’t see a lot of pre-eminence there. I see a lot of mishandling and lies. We might as well turn into a third world country just like our government is treating us like.
wy69
All fun & games, with a chance to tweak Putin’s nose, pose as “defenders” of the unique individualism of Ukraine, and also quietly refilling their own coffers here in the US.
It has been a “win-win” situation for the major players up to now. Just another “war without end”, in the manner of Afghanistan, with no exit strategy even envisioned.
You put it very well.
“Investment”?
What a weird way to describe spending money on a war.
Except you are getting your history precisely backwards. Corrupt western oligarchs pushing Hollywood morals, Marxist economics and totalitarian bureaucracy are the aggressors behind the coup in Ukraine that led to this conflict. And if the Russians lose we can expect more conflicts in the future as the globalist monoculture attempts to destroy all dissent.
Incorrect.
I live in Poland and have lived here since 2010. I can tell you that the west has little or nothing to do with the Ukrainians removing Yanukovych. Ordinary Ukrainians wanted a non corrupt, modern standard of living and not a dictatorship like Russia.
The Russians will lose.
And there is no globalist monoculture. Have you travelled to Central Europe or east asia or anywhere outside the USA?
Czechoslovakia wanted to fight.
Czechoslovakia was informed by Britain and France that it could either resist Nazi Germany alone or submit to the prescribed annexations. The Czechoslovak government, realizing the hopelessness of fighting the Nazis alone, reluctantly capitulated (30 September) and agreed to abide by the agreement. The settlement gave Germany the Sudetenland starting 10 October, and de facto control over the rest of Czechoslovakia as long as Hitler promised to go no further. On 30 September after some rest, Chamberlain went to Hitler’s apartment in the Prinzregentenstraße and asked him to sign a statement calling the Anglo-German Naval Agreement “symbolic of the desire of our two countries never to go to war with one another again.” After Hitler’s interpreter translated it for him, he happily agreed
The Czechoslovaks were dismayed with the Munich settlement. They were not invited to the conference, and felt they had been betrayed by the British and French governments. Many Czechs and Slovaks refer to the Munich Agreement as the Munich Diktat (Czech: Mnichovský diktát; Slovak: Mníchovský diktát). The phrase “Munich Betrayal” (Mnichovská zrada; Mníchovská zrada) is also used because the military alliance Czechoslovakia had with France proved useless. This was also reflected by the fact that especially the French government had expressed the view that Czechoslovakia would be considered as being responsible for any resulting European war should the Czechoslovak Republic defend herself with force against German incursions.
The Nobel laureate, Thomas Mann, took to pen and pulpit in defense of his surrogate homeland proclaiming his pride at being a Czechoslovak citizen and praising the republic’s achievements. He attacked a “Europe ready for slavery” writing that “The Czechoslovak people is ready to take up a fight for liberty and transcends its own fate” and “It is too late for the British government to save the peace. They have lost too many opportunities.”
“The Ukraine decided to separate from Russia in 1991”
That is false.
Ukrainians decided to separate from the Soviet union.
Ukraine had a separate UN seat since 1945.
“they want their lost lands back”
Except that Russia signed a treaty in 1994 not only recognizing Ukraine’s borders but also promising to safeguard them.
And they broke that promise.
That treaty was also ratified again in 2004.
And, by the time Putin invaded Ukraine in 2014, Crimea had been part of Ukraine for nearly 70 years.
“they want their lost lands back”
So then your statement
1. Finland should get back Karelia from Russia
2. China should get back the area around Vladivostok from Russia
3. The Circassians should get back their land around Sochi
“Czechoslovakia was informed by Britain and France that it could either resist Nazi Germany alone or submit to the prescribed annexations. The Czechoslovak government, realizing the hopelessness of fighting the Nazis alone, reluctantly capitulated (30 September) and agreed to abide by the agreement. The settlement gave Germany the Sudetenland starting 10 October, and de facto control over the rest of Czechoslovakia as long as Hitler promised to go no further.”
The choice to fight depends a lot on how much they were willing to lose. When the Checks chose to not do it alone, they sealed their fate. Hitler promising to stop at some point was accomplished a number off times. So anyone thinking he would be up to his word had to be a fool. Hitler was very consistent at telling someone anything and them not full filing the agreement.
It’s the same with Putin. He won’t stop at the Ukraine and will continue to go after the countries the Soviet gave up when they dissolved. And the bad part is that you can’t trust him not to go after surrounding countries to his gained losses. But that’s why the first one caused a world war.
wy69
“The Ukraine decided to separate from Russia in 1991”
That is false.
Depends on your definition of what was the Soviet Union and what was Russia. Russia was formed in 1613 with the coronation of Michael Romanov. The Soviet Union form of government wasn’t established until 1922 and was the first country to form a government based on the system known as Communism. So, it’s a matter of whether you determine the Ukraine separated from a country or a form of government that was dissolving in itself. The land didn’t change, the government theology did.
Post 1989, conditions in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union changed rapidly. Gorbachev’s decision to loosen the Soviet yoke on the countries of Eastern Europe created an independent, democratic momentum that led to the collapse of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, and then the overthrow of Communist rule throughout Eastern Europe. While Bush supported these independence movements, U.S. policy was reactive. Bush chose to let events unfold organically, careful not to do anything to worsen Gorbachev’s position.
With the policy review complete, and taking into account unfolding events in Europe, Bush met with Gorbachev at Malta in early December 1989. They laid the groundwork for finalizing START negotiations, completing the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty, and they discussed the rapid changes in Eastern Europe. Bush encouraged Gorbachev’s reform efforts, hoping that the Soviet leader would succeed in shifting the USSR toward a democratic system and a market oriented economy. So the separation of the two countries was just another link in the chain of keep away that has been played in that area of the world for centuries.
wy69
“...Putin invaded Ukraine in 2014...”
See a pattern here? Hitler did the same thing with promising to stop the aggression if he was to get a certain country or land mass. Apparently the truth was evadable for him as it is for Putin. This play for land and countries has been ongoing since the 1600’s. And the game hasn’t changed. You can’t tell your rulers without a scorecard.
wy69
“1. Finland should get back Karelia from Russia
2. China should get back the area around Vladivostok from Russia
3. The Circassians should get back their land around Sochi”
It depends on who gets a hair crosswise this week. China is busy with Taiwan again and Russia plays both sides of the street with wanting back land they had owned while at one point or more while not willing to give up what they got. What’s mine is mine and what’s yours is mine.
wy69
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