The problem is that the current administration is completely unwilling to cut any money from any of its pet projects like the 'Green New Deal' aka the questionably named 'Inflation Reduction Act' in order to pay for more military aid to Ukraine. We are simply too far in debt at this point to simply print more money to send it to Ukraine. I know...most of the aid is in the form of older munitions and equipment that we are sending from our existing inventories. But all of that materiel has to be replaced, usually with new versions that cost more than the equipment that we sent to Ukraine. 'Where's the money?' The House has been willing to carve out 'pay fors' from other departments. But the Senate and White House have been fiercely resisting this.
Exactly right. For anyone paying attention and for anyone with any depth of historical understanding support for Ukraine is an easy call. This populism is utter folly.
As someone who agrees with you on the vast majority of the technical merits of supporting Ukraine, supporting Israel, the need for NATO, opposing China, and securing our border...can I make a small request?
Stop insulting the Trump crowd.
I supported DeSantis. Haley is a tool of the establishment. She is not a conservative, she is a sell-out.
I don't like Trump. A lot. For pretty much all the same reasons you don't like him.
But I will vote for him. Because Biden has shown himself to be FAR worse in every respect.
And Guess what? Trump DIDN'T start any wars and would not have. He's Not an idiot and calling him one makes those who do look foolish, because the man wouldn't be where he is if he were an idiot. He's smarter than most of us, if lacking in many other qualities.
He's not a dictator. For that matter, when did REAL conservatives forget that the Constitution places authority over the Executive branch in the sole person of the President! Conservatives are supposed to want a WEAK federal government, with a STRONG President able to direct that government.
What we've had for the last 50 years is the OPPOSITE. A government of bureaucrats who feel they have the RIGHT to dictate to the American people.
If anyone in government doesn't like what the President orders them to do, they have exactly TWO ethical choices.
Resign, if they are unwilling to carry out those orders.
Or Shut the Fuck up and salute, about face, turn to and carry out the orders.
Anything else is 5th column un-American political insurgency.
And before you think I'm just some MAGA ranter, I'm a career civil servant and former Marine officer and I'm STILL in government today. I have to post and write in pseudo for fear my government will destroy me for wrongthink.
Biden and the democrats WILL destroy our Republic. We'll have no freedom of speech, we'll be so woke we won't be able to tell day from night, and we'll be so overrun with 3rd world illegal aliens living off the government that we'll cease to be able to meet our other requirements.
Trump will say rude things about people and piss off bureaucrats who think they should be able to dictate what should happen.
The Constitution provides 2 mechanisms for dealing with a bad president.
1) Impeachment. They tried that. It was a farce, it was unjustified, and YES, Biden DID pressure Ukraine to favor his son.
2) Elections.
So my request to you is simple.
Wake up, look at Trumps record versus the angry tweets, and realize that as much as we BOTH dislike him, there is ZERO chance our Republic survives another 4 years of Biden and is able to return to course.
So lay off the grudge, get back in formation, and help us preserve the Republic.
That might have sounded Angry. It's not. It's a desperate hope.
I think you are an excellent Patriot, whose instincts on many things are in the right direction.
But you, and many others, have let your pride and anger get in the way of cold logic. You've let your pride and faith in institutions blind you to the rot that has consumed those institutions from the inside.
Trump is an ASS but most of his voters are not.
If more people like you buried the hatchet, it'd be easier for his supporters to listen to people like you on the technical issues like Ukraine.
If you care about Ukraine. If you, like me, know that preventing a Russian victory is ESSENTIAL to our national security...
Then we NEED to be able to make that case to Trump voters and, like it or not, that ain't gonna happen if you keep insulting them and him and pretending he's the worst ever. He's not.
However much I dislike him (and it IS a lot), I'd still crawl a mile over shit-stained concertina wire to vote for him now that he is (essentially) the nominee, because Biden and the Dems ARE that bad.
Sir - thanks for the Article with which I whole-heartedly agree. I write not so much about the article as I do about some of the comments I've read, with which I disagree.
1. Some comments seem to blame Ukraine for the war, citing corruption as a reason to walk away? If we want to talk about corruption, Ukrainian corruption pales in comparison to our own. IMHO, the 3 MOST corrupt nations on earth are Russia, China, & the good ole USA! We have a Congress which regulates our financial system - people come into Congress as paupers and walk away as multi-millionaires. Heck, the Clintons came into office with a net worth of about $250K and only God knows how much they had when they left office? Paul Pelosi [not a member of Congress but married to one] made upwards of $20 million on a 'stock deal' when he purchased stock just a few weeks before its value suddenly increased.
2. Another thing people seem to forget is Ukraine actually had a PEACEFUL turnover of power in their last presidential election which put Zelensky in office. That's more than can be said for OUR last presidential election, n'est-ce pas??
3. Corruption in Ukraine? I say 'Physician heal thyself'! OR as the Bible says, "Don't worry about the speck in your brother's eye, take care of the 'log' in your eye.
1) The "Republican Party" candidate selection process is controlled by whoever shows up at the precinct caucuses and primary elections. In my experience in Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin, you don't need to be a "registered Republican", or have ever given one dollar to the party, or have ever volunteered or attended a Republican event to participate. All it will take to nominate Nikki Haley (or Dean Philips as the Democrat nominee, for that matter) is for enough of the majority of Americans who don't want to see a Trump/Biden election again to show up. Don't wait until the general election and then complain about the lousy choices, get involved now and bring you friends, neighbors and family if you can. Go to your precinct caucus or vote in your state's primary. It ain't over until it's over.
2) I don't completely agree that we are getting the government we Americans deserve. The McGovern-Fraser "reforms" of 1969 made the formal, organized (or, for Republicans, somewhat-organized) political parties powerless and irrelevant. The guys in the smoke-filled rooms usually considered what kind of candidate would appeal to the average citizen, thus the saying that our politics was played between the 40-yard lines. When the "grass roots" were handed the reins, the folks who showed up were and are often highly motivated about a single issue and ideologically more between the goal lines and the 10-yard line and the candidates often reflect that. I believe the average voter expects the political parties to provide qualified, capable and reasonable candidates but we have a system that is too frequently incapable of doing that. I doubt that the average American was more involved or better informed about the candidate selection process 60 years ago, but the system did mostly deliver better candidates to choose from.
As usual spot on Bryan. I find it fascinating (the word I use when positions are verifiably stupid) that the 10% in the House you refer to have no interest in effective governing and little interest in the National Security of this nation. Lets be clear the MAGA Republicans (note I do not use GOP, since it has disappeared from being a relevant political force) are:
Not fiscal conservatives. Despite their rhetoric, they enthusiastically supported adding $8T to the national debt when Traitor Trump was in office.
Have no interest in National Security. They supported Traitor Trumps quacking about leaving NATO which is an essential element of our security. Are blocking aid to Ukraine which is valiantly supporting the freedom of democracy, and are enthusiastically supporting the Russian Dictator via Traitor Trump as declared, but not valid members of the Party of Reagan.
Routinely declare Traitor Trump's legal problems are motivated by Democrats. The public record clearly indicates that he has broken the wide range of laws and the current Administration (I'm a registered Republican) has gone out of its way to firewall itself from the Judiciary proceedings that are the just enforcing the laws of this country.
Most despicable, the group of so called "Freedom Caucus" were active members in supporting the insurrection of the lawfully elected Government of this country. Whether you like this Administration's policies or not, they won. Traitor Trump knows they won. These Reps have chosen to violate their sworn oaths to the Constitution and aligned themselves to a clear Traitor to this Country. Very sad.
I'm out of choices as a Republican. I was a supporter of Chris Christi as one of 2 Republican candidates willing to uphold the Constitution of the Unites States. Now he is out. Niki Haley might be interesting except she has publicly declared she would Pardon a Triator to this country.
I will be force to support whoever stands against Traitor Trump.
"The clown-car that is our legislative branch federal government continues to serve up healthy heapings of failure, delivering unto the American people exactly what they want (and deserve)—good and hard. That last part—the “deserve” line—is a direct response to those I hear/read saying that the American people deserve better than the government they have. This is of course, merde, as we have EXACTLY what we deserve. We are a petulant, selfish, and irresponsible people, and we have put into political authority representatives who well-represent these virtues."
America has become that clown car up on blocks in the driveway with a dozen HOA citations under the windshield wipers. Let's do some MAGA, and I don't care who takes the reins as long as he is honest, upright and gets the job done. We aren't a reliable ally. There are bigger boogie men out there than Russia and China. Screw the kleptocrats in Ukraine and the freeloaders in Europe. We only act as enablers for them. Fix your own countries while we fix ours. You'll thank us when we get back to normal. My grandparents hail from Oklahoma in the late 1880's and parents from there in the 1920's. I want my America back. All assimilated, tidy, wholesome, united and strong.
“Irresponsible” and “fickle” are the key words here. All any other country can know about us for sure is that every four years all of their relationships with the US will most likely change. And that is in addition to flip-flops of a more frequent nature. As one of the habitual sheepdogs regarding my own family’s safety, I understand the urge to protect others. And I understand the diplomatic reasons for supporting Ukraine in its war. I also understand and follow General Powell’s dictum that before you go into something you need to have an exit strategy. That strategy was missing in Vietnam, in Afghanistan, in Iraq, and in Ukraine. I suspect it is also missing wrt the Taiwan. The problem with being the economic and military juggernaut the US has become is that we have no living memory of what defeat really looks and feels like. Frustration and embarrassment yes, losing, no. No country has ever been able to win every fight. We need to pick the fronts we are willing to defend (economic, military, etc.) and then fight for them like the third monkey trying to get onto the Ark.
The deplatforming thing is why I doubt there's any danger of Trump winning the election. I don't think Normies (including lots of people who have cast votes for Trump in the past) have a clue how deranged he has become since 2016.
The media wing of the Democrats will certainly tell voters all about it, but not until the primaries are over.
It will be enough to push Biden over the line with a "trust Biden's shadowy handlers to manage his senility and prevent Selina Meyer from doing much damage once he's gone" message.
I'm still hoping that something will happen to break the fever before then, but it's looking less and less likely.
Right on the money. I'm a pretty progressive Democrat and feel the border is out of control. I'm no fan of Texas' leadership but border states shouldn't be left holding the bag on this. A rational solution there might lead to the Ukrainian support we must provide.
Thank you for that input. One of my (many) opinions is that since the MSM, like all businesses, exist to make a profit, they have found it very useful to get the irresponsible kids in the crowd fighting amongst themselves as a way of increasing their viewership. I think that over the past several decades my own political positions have stayed fairly steady, but that the political stream has veered left. I would admit that to possibly be only be part of my internal justification, but the book “Pendulum” by Williams and Drew suggest otherwise. In any event, my social-conservative-libertarian-leaning self agrees with you on the border. We are sacrificing long term physical personal and national security in the name of seeming to be compassionate about the needs of others.
Yes, but proper, rational immigration is in our interest. Perhaps selfishly ( retired ), the imbalance between number of workers and number retired, would get worse. There are countries who check potential immigrants carefully, looking for expertise and potential contributions. From some religious perspectives, if we don't allow (some) humanitarian immigration we've turned our back on our values and will decline as a result.
That is all I have ever hoped for. The problem is that currently we see none of those rational immigration filters in place. In part because our immigration rules are being driven by executive orders rather than the process the Constitution used to demand. But that gets back to having an irresponsible Congress, doesn’t it?
Which gets back to Bryan's thought that we get what we deserve ( or elect). Now if the will of the majority of voters was actually reflected in electoral results, it might be different. Where are the whacko 10% in the House coming from and ( given their outsized clout) how many people actually elected them?
Our system is chock full of tail wagging the dog minority power. We could talk about Wyoming getting as many Senators as California. We could talk about the number 435 in the house dating back to the 1910 census ( never increased since). Don't get me started on the filibuster and a myriad of other "invented" rules that allow a distinct minority to control things. Tuberman and officer promotions, give me a freaking break.
I will have to disagree with you concerning the apportionment of senators and the electoral college, which I believe is tied to your comments. First, on senators. Originally, senators were elected/selected by state legislatures and governors. The 17th Amendment changed that to the direct election of senators by popular vote, which has led to massive cross-state line political pacs. We started with a republic in which the rights of minorities are protected, but have devolved into a democracy in which the majority can do whatever it wants. The Electoral College was an attempt to hold back that flood of populism by ensuring that even smaller populations have to be at least nominally heard. Bad enough as things are now, the nation would be a total basket case if only cities with large populations ran it. I give you NYC, LA, SFran, Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit, and DC as examples.
I'd argue that it's the majority's rights which often take a back seat. With the issues I mentioned above, along with gerrymandering and other gimmicks, small states have much more clout than their populations would justify. If we truly are simply a loose collaboration of 50 independent states then why not have the railroad gauge change at each state border and a whole host of other issues where states would have widely varying policies. This was settled in 1865.
Giving two Senators per state wasn't what many at the constitutional convention wanted, but when places like Delaware threatened to take their ball and go home, we wound up with equal representation in the Senate. As the population grows and collects in urban areas, we may wind up with 30 senators in 15 states representing 70% of the population and 70 senators in 35 states representing 30% of the population. This has been forecasted. If it came too pass you could have 30% of the population in mostly smaller, rural states running everything.
1) regarding the Euromaiden overthrowing a 'democratically elected government'.
The government that was overthrown was hardly democratic, and part of the reason is was overthrown is because it was SO corrupt and beholden to Russia at a time when most of the population wanted more distance from Russia and closer ties to Europe.
2) justifying the Russian invasion based on our weakness is morally abhorrent. I might advise my daughter that she shouldn't go out and get drunk while dressing skimpy, but that doesn't in ANY way reduce the guilt on a man who tries to rape her (just an example: my kids don't drink, don't party)
Yes, our current administration is horrible. That does NOT make Russia's invasion any less horrible or less of a threat to the western liberal order that, for all it's faults, is still FAR preferable to living under Putin or Xi.
3) as for your ideas on #3, you are playing a logical fallacy. Those problems and issues, which you are correct to point out, do NOT justify your response. The Chinese won't invade. They'll destroy our economy, and Americans will starve. You won't be fighting the Chinese with your SKS, you'll be fighting your neighbor over scraps. I want better for my kids.
See, I reject the idea that we have to bury our heads in the sand to do better.
I absolutely think the Biden administration is the worst, the most corrupt, the most feckless government in the history of the United States.
So let's fix that, but abandoning the rest of the world - that we helped create - to totalitarian aggression will only ensure that when they do finally come to us, we are on our own.
That might sound romantic, but trust me, it'll suck. You think your fellow countrymen still have the huevos to fight?
Maybe. But more likely they all become welfare dependent mushrooms as more and more we become a socialist state because we can't afford to maintain our standard of living and the world squeezes.
We have what we have because we won WWII and the Cold War.
We give up that position, and we will implode, just like every other empire.
It may happen eventually, heck it probably will. That is human history.
I used to quote Mencken, but he was also a die-hard Jew Hating bastard, so I've curbed my enthusiasm.
I support Ukraine. I support sending them every weapon we can that is not something we need to deter/fight China.
I do NOT support sending them financial aid, because Europe are the ones that will derive most of the benefit from a victorious Ukraine and Europe should bear that cost.
If we were serious about this, there is enough Russian money available frozen around the world to keep Ukraine armed for a decade.
Now, the border. The border is a massive issue. The Dems will NOT negotiate in good faith, and despite 80% of Americans wanting the border secure, the Dems want it wide open for 1 reason - the know those people will be dependent on government and will become democrat voters. It is a cold-hearted play for electoral permanent majority.
So, given that we know everyone pretty much wants to support Ukraine, I see NO problem with using it as leverage to force Biden to do what the American people want him to do.
Biden still has presidential drawdown authority if he wanted to use it. All this desperate "oh we need the money now" talk is just Dems trying to get leverage with the Senate to force the House to give up the game on the border.
If Biden had been really serious about supporting Ukraine, he'd have provided ATACMS and heavy armor 12 months earlier instead of allowing Russia to build massive fortifications first and then letting the Ukrainian piss away their best new strength using flawed US tactics designed for an army with air superiority.
Then again, if we had anyone other than the feckless Jake Sullivan as NSA, we wouldn't be in half these messes in the first place.
The problem is that the current administration is completely unwilling to cut any money from any of its pet projects like the 'Green New Deal' aka the questionably named 'Inflation Reduction Act' in order to pay for more military aid to Ukraine. We are simply too far in debt at this point to simply print more money to send it to Ukraine. I know...most of the aid is in the form of older munitions and equipment that we are sending from our existing inventories. But all of that materiel has to be replaced, usually with new versions that cost more than the equipment that we sent to Ukraine. 'Where's the money?' The House has been willing to carve out 'pay fors' from other departments. But the Senate and White House have been fiercely resisting this.
Exactly right. For anyone paying attention and for anyone with any depth of historical understanding support for Ukraine is an easy call. This populism is utter folly.
Bryan,
As someone who agrees with you on the vast majority of the technical merits of supporting Ukraine, supporting Israel, the need for NATO, opposing China, and securing our border...can I make a small request?
Stop insulting the Trump crowd.
I supported DeSantis. Haley is a tool of the establishment. She is not a conservative, she is a sell-out.
I don't like Trump. A lot. For pretty much all the same reasons you don't like him.
But I will vote for him. Because Biden has shown himself to be FAR worse in every respect.
And Guess what? Trump DIDN'T start any wars and would not have. He's Not an idiot and calling him one makes those who do look foolish, because the man wouldn't be where he is if he were an idiot. He's smarter than most of us, if lacking in many other qualities.
He's not a dictator. For that matter, when did REAL conservatives forget that the Constitution places authority over the Executive branch in the sole person of the President! Conservatives are supposed to want a WEAK federal government, with a STRONG President able to direct that government.
What we've had for the last 50 years is the OPPOSITE. A government of bureaucrats who feel they have the RIGHT to dictate to the American people.
If anyone in government doesn't like what the President orders them to do, they have exactly TWO ethical choices.
Resign, if they are unwilling to carry out those orders.
Or Shut the Fuck up and salute, about face, turn to and carry out the orders.
Anything else is 5th column un-American political insurgency.
And before you think I'm just some MAGA ranter, I'm a career civil servant and former Marine officer and I'm STILL in government today. I have to post and write in pseudo for fear my government will destroy me for wrongthink.
Biden and the democrats WILL destroy our Republic. We'll have no freedom of speech, we'll be so woke we won't be able to tell day from night, and we'll be so overrun with 3rd world illegal aliens living off the government that we'll cease to be able to meet our other requirements.
Trump will say rude things about people and piss off bureaucrats who think they should be able to dictate what should happen.
The Constitution provides 2 mechanisms for dealing with a bad president.
1) Impeachment. They tried that. It was a farce, it was unjustified, and YES, Biden DID pressure Ukraine to favor his son.
2) Elections.
So my request to you is simple.
Wake up, look at Trumps record versus the angry tweets, and realize that as much as we BOTH dislike him, there is ZERO chance our Republic survives another 4 years of Biden and is able to return to course.
So lay off the grudge, get back in formation, and help us preserve the Republic.
That might have sounded Angry. It's not. It's a desperate hope.
I think you are an excellent Patriot, whose instincts on many things are in the right direction.
But you, and many others, have let your pride and anger get in the way of cold logic. You've let your pride and faith in institutions blind you to the rot that has consumed those institutions from the inside.
Trump is an ASS but most of his voters are not.
If more people like you buried the hatchet, it'd be easier for his supporters to listen to people like you on the technical issues like Ukraine.
If you care about Ukraine. If you, like me, know that preventing a Russian victory is ESSENTIAL to our national security...
Then we NEED to be able to make that case to Trump voters and, like it or not, that ain't gonna happen if you keep insulting them and him and pretending he's the worst ever. He's not.
However much I dislike him (and it IS a lot), I'd still crawl a mile over shit-stained concertina wire to vote for him now that he is (essentially) the nominee, because Biden and the Dems ARE that bad.
And I've finally got my first articles up on my own substack
For your consideration, kind sir
https://open.substack.com/pub/barretttheprivateer/p/the-conservative-case-for-support?r=p4epx&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Sir - thanks for the Article with which I whole-heartedly agree. I write not so much about the article as I do about some of the comments I've read, with which I disagree.
1. Some comments seem to blame Ukraine for the war, citing corruption as a reason to walk away? If we want to talk about corruption, Ukrainian corruption pales in comparison to our own. IMHO, the 3 MOST corrupt nations on earth are Russia, China, & the good ole USA! We have a Congress which regulates our financial system - people come into Congress as paupers and walk away as multi-millionaires. Heck, the Clintons came into office with a net worth of about $250K and only God knows how much they had when they left office? Paul Pelosi [not a member of Congress but married to one] made upwards of $20 million on a 'stock deal' when he purchased stock just a few weeks before its value suddenly increased.
2. Another thing people seem to forget is Ukraine actually had a PEACEFUL turnover of power in their last presidential election which put Zelensky in office. That's more than can be said for OUR last presidential election, n'est-ce pas??
3. Corruption in Ukraine? I say 'Physician heal thyself'! OR as the Bible says, "Don't worry about the speck in your brother's eye, take care of the 'log' in your eye.
Bryan - thanks for this essay. Two things:
1) The "Republican Party" candidate selection process is controlled by whoever shows up at the precinct caucuses and primary elections. In my experience in Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin, you don't need to be a "registered Republican", or have ever given one dollar to the party, or have ever volunteered or attended a Republican event to participate. All it will take to nominate Nikki Haley (or Dean Philips as the Democrat nominee, for that matter) is for enough of the majority of Americans who don't want to see a Trump/Biden election again to show up. Don't wait until the general election and then complain about the lousy choices, get involved now and bring you friends, neighbors and family if you can. Go to your precinct caucus or vote in your state's primary. It ain't over until it's over.
2) I don't completely agree that we are getting the government we Americans deserve. The McGovern-Fraser "reforms" of 1969 made the formal, organized (or, for Republicans, somewhat-organized) political parties powerless and irrelevant. The guys in the smoke-filled rooms usually considered what kind of candidate would appeal to the average citizen, thus the saying that our politics was played between the 40-yard lines. When the "grass roots" were handed the reins, the folks who showed up were and are often highly motivated about a single issue and ideologically more between the goal lines and the 10-yard line and the candidates often reflect that. I believe the average voter expects the political parties to provide qualified, capable and reasonable candidates but we have a system that is too frequently incapable of doing that. I doubt that the average American was more involved or better informed about the candidate selection process 60 years ago, but the system did mostly deliver better candidates to choose from.
As usual spot on Bryan. I find it fascinating (the word I use when positions are verifiably stupid) that the 10% in the House you refer to have no interest in effective governing and little interest in the National Security of this nation. Lets be clear the MAGA Republicans (note I do not use GOP, since it has disappeared from being a relevant political force) are:
Not fiscal conservatives. Despite their rhetoric, they enthusiastically supported adding $8T to the national debt when Traitor Trump was in office.
Have no interest in National Security. They supported Traitor Trumps quacking about leaving NATO which is an essential element of our security. Are blocking aid to Ukraine which is valiantly supporting the freedom of democracy, and are enthusiastically supporting the Russian Dictator via Traitor Trump as declared, but not valid members of the Party of Reagan.
Routinely declare Traitor Trump's legal problems are motivated by Democrats. The public record clearly indicates that he has broken the wide range of laws and the current Administration (I'm a registered Republican) has gone out of its way to firewall itself from the Judiciary proceedings that are the just enforcing the laws of this country.
Most despicable, the group of so called "Freedom Caucus" were active members in supporting the insurrection of the lawfully elected Government of this country. Whether you like this Administration's policies or not, they won. Traitor Trump knows they won. These Reps have chosen to violate their sworn oaths to the Constitution and aligned themselves to a clear Traitor to this Country. Very sad.
I'm out of choices as a Republican. I was a supporter of Chris Christi as one of 2 Republican candidates willing to uphold the Constitution of the Unites States. Now he is out. Niki Haley might be interesting except she has publicly declared she would Pardon a Triator to this country.
I will be force to support whoever stands against Traitor Trump.
"The clown-car that is our legislative branch federal government continues to serve up healthy heapings of failure, delivering unto the American people exactly what they want (and deserve)—good and hard. That last part—the “deserve” line—is a direct response to those I hear/read saying that the American people deserve better than the government they have. This is of course, merde, as we have EXACTLY what we deserve. We are a petulant, selfish, and irresponsible people, and we have put into political authority representatives who well-represent these virtues."
1000% correct. We deserve this.
America has become that clown car up on blocks in the driveway with a dozen HOA citations under the windshield wipers. Let's do some MAGA, and I don't care who takes the reins as long as he is honest, upright and gets the job done. We aren't a reliable ally. There are bigger boogie men out there than Russia and China. Screw the kleptocrats in Ukraine and the freeloaders in Europe. We only act as enablers for them. Fix your own countries while we fix ours. You'll thank us when we get back to normal. My grandparents hail from Oklahoma in the late 1880's and parents from there in the 1920's. I want my America back. All assimilated, tidy, wholesome, united and strong.
HL Mencken agrees.
Glad you got the reference.
“Irresponsible” and “fickle” are the key words here. All any other country can know about us for sure is that every four years all of their relationships with the US will most likely change. And that is in addition to flip-flops of a more frequent nature. As one of the habitual sheepdogs regarding my own family’s safety, I understand the urge to protect others. And I understand the diplomatic reasons for supporting Ukraine in its war. I also understand and follow General Powell’s dictum that before you go into something you need to have an exit strategy. That strategy was missing in Vietnam, in Afghanistan, in Iraq, and in Ukraine. I suspect it is also missing wrt the Taiwan. The problem with being the economic and military juggernaut the US has become is that we have no living memory of what defeat really looks and feels like. Frustration and embarrassment yes, losing, no. No country has ever been able to win every fight. We need to pick the fronts we are willing to defend (economic, military, etc.) and then fight for them like the third monkey trying to get onto the Ark.
The deplatforming thing is why I doubt there's any danger of Trump winning the election. I don't think Normies (including lots of people who have cast votes for Trump in the past) have a clue how deranged he has become since 2016.
The media wing of the Democrats will certainly tell voters all about it, but not until the primaries are over.
It will be enough to push Biden over the line with a "trust Biden's shadowy handlers to manage his senility and prevent Selina Meyer from doing much damage once he's gone" message.
I'm still hoping that something will happen to break the fever before then, but it's looking less and less likely.
You are more confident than I.
Right on the money. I'm a pretty progressive Democrat and feel the border is out of control. I'm no fan of Texas' leadership but border states shouldn't be left holding the bag on this. A rational solution there might lead to the Ukrainian support we must provide.
Thank you for that input. One of my (many) opinions is that since the MSM, like all businesses, exist to make a profit, they have found it very useful to get the irresponsible kids in the crowd fighting amongst themselves as a way of increasing their viewership. I think that over the past several decades my own political positions have stayed fairly steady, but that the political stream has veered left. I would admit that to possibly be only be part of my internal justification, but the book “Pendulum” by Williams and Drew suggest otherwise. In any event, my social-conservative-libertarian-leaning self agrees with you on the border. We are sacrificing long term physical personal and national security in the name of seeming to be compassionate about the needs of others.
Yes, but proper, rational immigration is in our interest. Perhaps selfishly ( retired ), the imbalance between number of workers and number retired, would get worse. There are countries who check potential immigrants carefully, looking for expertise and potential contributions. From some religious perspectives, if we don't allow (some) humanitarian immigration we've turned our back on our values and will decline as a result.
That is all I have ever hoped for. The problem is that currently we see none of those rational immigration filters in place. In part because our immigration rules are being driven by executive orders rather than the process the Constitution used to demand. But that gets back to having an irresponsible Congress, doesn’t it?
Which gets back to Bryan's thought that we get what we deserve ( or elect). Now if the will of the majority of voters was actually reflected in electoral results, it might be different. Where are the whacko 10% in the House coming from and ( given their outsized clout) how many people actually elected them?
Our system is chock full of tail wagging the dog minority power. We could talk about Wyoming getting as many Senators as California. We could talk about the number 435 in the house dating back to the 1910 census ( never increased since). Don't get me started on the filibuster and a myriad of other "invented" rules that allow a distinct minority to control things. Tuberman and officer promotions, give me a freaking break.
I will have to disagree with you concerning the apportionment of senators and the electoral college, which I believe is tied to your comments. First, on senators. Originally, senators were elected/selected by state legislatures and governors. The 17th Amendment changed that to the direct election of senators by popular vote, which has led to massive cross-state line political pacs. We started with a republic in which the rights of minorities are protected, but have devolved into a democracy in which the majority can do whatever it wants. The Electoral College was an attempt to hold back that flood of populism by ensuring that even smaller populations have to be at least nominally heard. Bad enough as things are now, the nation would be a total basket case if only cities with large populations ran it. I give you NYC, LA, SFran, Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit, and DC as examples.
I'd argue that it's the majority's rights which often take a back seat. With the issues I mentioned above, along with gerrymandering and other gimmicks, small states have much more clout than their populations would justify. If we truly are simply a loose collaboration of 50 independent states then why not have the railroad gauge change at each state border and a whole host of other issues where states would have widely varying policies. This was settled in 1865.
Giving two Senators per state wasn't what many at the constitutional convention wanted, but when places like Delaware threatened to take their ball and go home, we wound up with equal representation in the Senate. As the population grows and collects in urban areas, we may wind up with 30 senators in 15 states representing 70% of the population and 70 senators in 35 states representing 30% of the population. This has been forecasted. If it came too pass you could have 30% of the population in mostly smaller, rural states running everything.
Respectfully disagree on a number of your points.
1) regarding the Euromaiden overthrowing a 'democratically elected government'.
The government that was overthrown was hardly democratic, and part of the reason is was overthrown is because it was SO corrupt and beholden to Russia at a time when most of the population wanted more distance from Russia and closer ties to Europe.
2) justifying the Russian invasion based on our weakness is morally abhorrent. I might advise my daughter that she shouldn't go out and get drunk while dressing skimpy, but that doesn't in ANY way reduce the guilt on a man who tries to rape her (just an example: my kids don't drink, don't party)
Yes, our current administration is horrible. That does NOT make Russia's invasion any less horrible or less of a threat to the western liberal order that, for all it's faults, is still FAR preferable to living under Putin or Xi.
3) as for your ideas on #3, you are playing a logical fallacy. Those problems and issues, which you are correct to point out, do NOT justify your response. The Chinese won't invade. They'll destroy our economy, and Americans will starve. You won't be fighting the Chinese with your SKS, you'll be fighting your neighbor over scraps. I want better for my kids.
See, I reject the idea that we have to bury our heads in the sand to do better.
I absolutely think the Biden administration is the worst, the most corrupt, the most feckless government in the history of the United States.
So let's fix that, but abandoning the rest of the world - that we helped create - to totalitarian aggression will only ensure that when they do finally come to us, we are on our own.
That might sound romantic, but trust me, it'll suck. You think your fellow countrymen still have the huevos to fight?
Maybe. But more likely they all become welfare dependent mushrooms as more and more we become a socialist state because we can't afford to maintain our standard of living and the world squeezes.
We have what we have because we won WWII and the Cold War.
We give up that position, and we will implode, just like every other empire.
It may happen eventually, heck it probably will. That is human history.
But not on my watch. Not if I can help it.
I used to quote Mencken, but he was also a die-hard Jew Hating bastard, so I've curbed my enthusiasm.
I support Ukraine. I support sending them every weapon we can that is not something we need to deter/fight China.
I do NOT support sending them financial aid, because Europe are the ones that will derive most of the benefit from a victorious Ukraine and Europe should bear that cost.
If we were serious about this, there is enough Russian money available frozen around the world to keep Ukraine armed for a decade.
Now, the border. The border is a massive issue. The Dems will NOT negotiate in good faith, and despite 80% of Americans wanting the border secure, the Dems want it wide open for 1 reason - the know those people will be dependent on government and will become democrat voters. It is a cold-hearted play for electoral permanent majority.
So, given that we know everyone pretty much wants to support Ukraine, I see NO problem with using it as leverage to force Biden to do what the American people want him to do.
Biden still has presidential drawdown authority if he wanted to use it. All this desperate "oh we need the money now" talk is just Dems trying to get leverage with the Senate to force the House to give up the game on the border.
If Biden had been really serious about supporting Ukraine, he'd have provided ATACMS and heavy armor 12 months earlier instead of allowing Russia to build massive fortifications first and then letting the Ukrainian piss away their best new strength using flawed US tactics designed for an army with air superiority.
Then again, if we had anyone other than the feckless Jake Sullivan as NSA, we wouldn't be in half these messes in the first place.