By that obnoxious bit you've self-identified as a condescending, haughty a-hole.
So be it, since I have found that the vast majority of Youkazoids are "missing something" and they use their Youkamania to fill in that blank; that hole in their psyche, whatever it may be.
Or maybe they are just fat, bored and unmotivated and rooting for their football/baseball/basketball team has lost its luster.
Who knows?
But something's definitely "off" about them. . ."
I am sorry to see that you seem now to have evolved from posting ridiculous arguments to babbling utter nonsense.
I must assume that's because you have nothing more serious to say.
That's too bad.
If you perceive a sense of "condescension", you can immediately eliminate that by first, acknowledging what I posted and second, giving it a serious response.
So far, I've seen neither of those from you, hence my effort to s-p-e-a-k * m-o-r-e * s-l-o-w-l-y.
Rocco DiPippo: "OK, now it's my turn: So, because Congress is pissing away trillions of dollars $100 billion of US taxpayers' hard earned cash is just a "rounding error."
What In The Eff. . ??!!"
Sure, to Democrats $100 billion is just chump-change, a rounding error when they are in the business of buying votes and fundamentally changing America into a "Democratic People's Republic".
There is always money, trillions of dollars, for Democrats' pet projects -- borrowed, of course, inflation injected into the US economy.
Also, to Republicans, $100 billion in a worthy cause is no problem, once all the Democrats' corruption is eliminated from the Federal budget.
So let me repeat the basic, fundamental truth here: it's not about the money.
Rocco DiPippo: "I'm going to cut to the chase: Are you or have you ever been a government drone, you know, one of those talentless, unmotivated hacks who slide into so-called "public service" because they can't make a go of anything on their own?"
Obviously, your mind is filled with ridiculous fantasies, and you need to ground yourself in facts.
Here's a fact: I did once work for the Federal government, 50 years ago, I served in the US Army and "stood guard" for three years in Germany, near the Fulda Gap, to stop the Old Soviets from doing in West Germany what they are now doing in Ukraine.
We were successful because we did not look weak enough to attack.
Rocco DiPippo: "only such parasitic dross, (who need not worry about what it takes to create actual wealth), would consider $100 billion, (actually we're now past $150 billion for Youcrayne) as a "rounding error," "
Here is the latest data I can find:
- "Of the $113 billion approved in 2022, about three-fifths ($67 billion) has been allocated toward defense needs and the remaining two-fifths ($46 billion) to nondefense concerns such as general Ukrainian government aid, economic support, and aid for refugee resettlement.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) provided cost estimates of the four funding packages at the time each was passed. In total, CBO estimated that $6.6 billion of the $113 billion would be spent in FY 2022 and another $37.7 billion in FY 2023.
Furthermore, CBO estimated more than half of the approved funds would be spent by the end of FY 2024 and more than three-fourths by the end of FY 2026.
To date, the Biden Administration has sent Ukraine roughly $26 billion of direct military aid, mainly in the form of military hardware, training, and supplies."
I'll repeat -- the real issue here is not the money, we have plenty of money to address every major legitimate issue, including homeless veterans, as soon as we can stop Democrats from p*ssing away $trillions on insane vote-buying schemes.
Why is that not obvious to you?
Rocco DiPippo: "And no, the real issue isn't "Democrat policies."
There are several huge issues which explain why America is insolvent and increasingly corrupt.
Don't have time to write a novel laying it out here but I'll give you a clue: A lack of dignity and virtue among huge numbers of Americans, especially concentrated in its political, "elite," entertainment and bureaucrat classes."
So, you just admitted what you claimed to deny -- it is Democrat policies which grow out of, as you identify, at least in part, "a lack of dignity and virtue among huge numbers of Americans"
Government spending is policy -- when you spend $trillions on insane vote-buying schemes, to the overall detriment of the country, rather than focusing money and laws where they can do the most good, that's Democrat policies causing problems they pretend to fix.
Rocco DiPippo: "The fact remains: ~$3.5 million per homeless vet would go very far in helping them get off the street and towards a better existence. "
I'll say it again: if Democrats wanted our homeless of the streets, they'd be off the streets tomorrow, it's not about the money.
Instead, Democrats are doing everything they can think of to increase the numbers of homeless, because that works for them politically.
Yes, it's cynical and evil to the core, but Democrats' political power is fundamentally based on such tactics.
If you can't grasp that, then you've been living overseas for too long.
Rocco DiPippo: "You said, Democrats could solve the homeless problem tomorrow, if they wanted to, yet in an earlier reply you said, in so many words, that it couldn't be solved for our homeless veterans.
OK, oh Master Of Logical Consistency. . ."
Well... first, go back and read again what I posted.
I said throwing all the money in the world at the homeless will not solve the problem so long as the real reasons are not addressed -- physical & mental illnesses, and/or drug addiction.
I said Democrats could solve the homeless problem tomorrow, if they wanted to, meaning, by addressing effectively the real problems, but they don't.
Instead, they pretend to be helpless and so adopt **policies** which only encourage addiction and dependence on government handouts.
Is that clear & consistent enough for you?
Rocco DiPippo: "And now, for the biggest howler I've read in months, crazy, but precisely in tune with corny, boilerplate Youkazoid sentimentalities: In the meantime, the last time we saw the genuine heroism of Ukrainians defending against Russian invaders -- ORCS -- was those firemen climbing steps in the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001."
Then there's something seriously wrong inside your own brain, and you need to figure that out, and fix it.
Rocco DiPippo: "The Youcraynians slugging it out with the Ruzzzziiiiaaaannnss have no bearing on my life, the lives of my family members and the lives of my friends and countrymen.
Period, end of story. "
And yet, in the very next sentence you admit there is a strong bearing on your well being at stake in Ukraine.
My argument is: that is far from the only matter at stake in Ukraine.
Rocco DiPippo: "The AMERICAN first responders who rushed into the Towers on 911 had a huge effect on me and everyone around me - they were brave Americans willing to risk their lives to save other Americans.
They are, and were, my countrymen.
Can you see the difference?"
No, they are exactly the same -- the brave Ukrainians willing to risk their lives to save other Ukrainians, they set an example of courage and self-sacrifice that we have arguably not seen since September 11, 2001.
If you are unable to see that, then I'm telling you there's something wrong inside your head, which you need to find and fix.
Rocco DiPippo: "two bordering nations in Africa slugging it out, blowing each other up and wrecking each other's shit.
It's a classic he said-she-said situation as to who provoked whom into throwing the first punch.
Nevertheless, there are brave soldiers on both sides some of whom engage in extraordinary acts of bravery and heroism.
Guess what, I still don't GAF enough to get involved and throw ~150 billion to prop up one side or the other in the conflict,"
Right, I understand your point, it's the same one made by others here, my good FRiend, jmacusa, for example, and similar to opinions expressed by public figures I respect, notably Tucker Carlson.
It is a legitimate and honorable argument, and, in my opinion, the only argument against aiding Ukraine that is.
But, sadly, it's also wrong, no matter who makes it, or how much I respect them.
And the reason is because Russia and Ukraine are not just two small countries in Africa, or even Armenia and Azerbaijan, whose border dispute sometimes escalates into outright warfare.
In those cases, we are relatively indifferent to the outcomes, and would only work seriously to facilitate peace negotiations.
But Russia and Ukraine are a very different matter, beginning here:
- They are numbers 1 and 2 in Europe in size.
- They are numbers 1 and 6 in Europe in population.
- They are numbers 2 and 10 in Europe in GDPs (PPP).
- Russia was said to be the world's number 2 military and is still number 1 in nuclear weapons.
- Russia is a major global revisionist power, meaning they want to change the American led world order to better suit them.
- Russia is also a proven serial empire builder by military conquest whose current position is roughly equivalent to that of Germany in 1939 having successfully invaded the Rhineland (Chechnya), Austria (Georgia), the Sudetenland (Ukraine 2014) and Chechia (Ukraine 2022?).
So, we must ask, which country will Vlad the Invader target next, Poland? - All of the Russian propaganda attempting to justify their invasions of Ukraine are pure lies and nonsense, and anyone tempted to believe a word of it is just deluding themselves, and for what reason?
The realities of it are not even remotely reflected in the jingoistic bullshit that Youkazoids freely employ as they "cheer their team on.""
We can certainly agree that war is terrible enough to be avoided in all but the most extreme circumstances.
But when a foreign nation invades your country, that is the most extreme circumstance possible, and then you have no choice except to fight for your very existence.
Ukrainians must fight for their very existence, and we should not turn a blind eye to their plight.
As for Russians, I'm certain they are as good as most human beings and so deserve the same respect and deference we'd give anybody else.
Until as armed soldiers, they cross the border into Ukraine, and then by definition of historical norms like "Just War" "jus ad bellum" and "jus in bello", they become pure evil, monsters, ORCS, who must die, or surrender or retreat the h*ll back to Russia.
There is no honest excuse or justification for what Vlad the Invader has ordered his fellow Russians to commit in Ukraine, and therefore we must be unequivocally on the side of Ukraine's national defense.
Anything else and we will soon see the world revert to wars among empire builders invading and annexing weaker neighbors.
That is what we fought two World Wars to end, and now we are going to just roll over and let it return?
No.