No one has yet explained why it matters to "U.S. strategic interests" which corruptocrat rules the Donbas, Putin or Zelensky. No one has yet explained why Russian expansion is an impending doom we must fear when Russia cannot even subdue the Ukraine. No one has yet explained why spending money and blood in an internecine Slavic war on the other side of the globe makes long term sense when both countries have been and remain in a demographic death spiral. Most ominously, no U.S. politician including Trump has observed that with a debt service load being the fastest growing part of federal expenditures now equal to the entire DoD budget, fighting our sovereign debt bomb is far more important than fighting foreign wars having nothing to do with us.
Couldn't agree more. Plus, "Putin bad" when Zelensky himself has cancelled political parties and elections, ended freedom of religion, jailed opponents doesn't really cut it. Yes, Putin is bad. I am glad you made the point about U.S. debt. That is crucial.
yes. I think the thought process of the neocons is the more resources Russia throws at Ukraine without making any meaningful gains, the less resources they have to use against American interests, ergo; Russia weakens itself.
And by extension, China because they have pledged no-limit support to Russia. I guess it could temporarily deter China from invading Taiwan. The more resources they waste on Ukraine the less they have to interfere with our interest .
Yes, if there is one lesson to be learned from history it's that it's vital we arm the Nazi warlords in the Ukraine because they are Europe's only hope.
Only neocons could believe China’s pledge of no-limit support to Russia. I’m pretty sure Russians remember the non-aggression pact with the Third Reich and how that turned out.
I think its actually worse than that. Often neo-cons have no thought process but do have the emotions of hate and anger. They are excited and feel powerful when we see videos of Russian tanks getting blown up.
Great points. For my part, I cannot fathom why defending Ukraine is the cause of the century for the left. The war actually started in 2014, if you recall. The Obama Administration refused to provide aid in the form of lethal weapons and this position persisted through the 2016 Democrat platform. But, after Clinton and the Dems FALSELY, maliciously painted Trump as a Russian "asset" suddenly the Ukraine became the "cause celebre" of the left (and the warmongers on the right, lest we forget).
Totally agree. Well said, John R. Jeffrey Sachs in his speech to the EU parliament, laid out his observations over the past several decades very eloquently in the 45 minute speech. It contains an excellent history refresher or lesson, as well as some harsh truths that we Americans, as well as the people of the EU, would be wise to take to heart. I don’t agree with all of his opinions, but the majority seemed sound to me.
And Putin is realistic enough to understand that an attack on any Western European nation would fail. He can only invade places where the standard of living is equivalent or perhaps just a bit superior to the average Russian. Opening the border with vastly better off nations, which an invasion essentially would accomplish, risks having the front line troops desert in what they'll see as the promised land. Language incompatibility might not be enough once those borschs have seem Paris.
I may on an island but part of me thinks Putin is using Zelensky to ALSO bleed the US dry financially. Keep the specter of combat alive so bleeding heart US sends money. And the Putin bad folks on the left are playing into his hands while super ironically being the ones giving him exactly what he wants more so than Trump. Art of war on steroids.
My only disagreement is that “we are a rich country.” No we are not. I’m not sure when the break is going to happen but it’s unavoidable when you’re 35T+ in debt. When you consider future obligations, it’s twice that.
I have come to the conclusion that Trump is right. Stop ALL foreign aid then look at each request to see if it really benefits us. I don't just buy things from Amazon to benefit Jeff, I only buy things I need. I want to see the reason that Transgender studies in Uganda will benefit us.
Its WHY Nov 5th occurred...COMMON SENSE. The neo Marxist DEM party and world globalist brethren STILL scramble to understand this odd thing called common sense, and have no idea HOW to compete against it now. Common sense is boring and there is little $$$ in it, but it's most often the right thing to DO!
Agree! It is only used by those who GET IT. Its always available to use so obviously CHOICE comes into play. The old saying "make good choices" always applies. The modern neo Marxist DEM party has thought they could rule on anti common sense and it's where they F*%ked UP! Unfortunately the existing RINOs within the new conservative we the people movement which occurred on Nov 5th STILL don't get it either
I've done enough travel worldwide and worked abroad for over a decade, and one big realization I had was how well off even our poor are compared to the rest of the world. My first awakening to this was in 1973 when I went to France to study for a year at age 24. What they perceived as middle class seemed on a par with our very much lower middle class or even our poor. And this was Europe! After that I spent a lot of time in the Middle East and Asia, and that was an even bigger awakening. In the U.S. we have it so much better overall than anywhere else on earth.
IINM, our unfunded liabilities are in excess of $100T. So future obligations are at least thrice, if not [whatever the word for four times is] our current $35T+ debt.
A debt denominated in currency that you can print is not a real debt.
As far as foreign debt, other countries have basically given the US massive amounts of actual stuff in exchange for some database entries. If push comes to shove, we have the stuff, and the database entries are just a few keystrokes away from being changed if the US decides it has no choice but to change them.
As far as "debt" like Social Security, the problem there is not money. The US can always just make your SS payment with newly printed dollars. The problem is production: someone has to produce the goods and services that SS recipients buy with their SS payments. I'm not saying that's not a potential issue--but it's not an issue that has anything to do with "debt". It has to do with how much we hamstring productivity in various ways.
Americans themselves are massively in debt via out of control credit card spending. Overextending in purchasing has become something too many people find acceptable.
Anyone who thinks the "mineral rights" deal is financial is not getting it. It's an economic tie that gives us the appearance of "skin in the game" with Putin, so he understands we're not walking away. It handcuffs us to Ukraine for the purpose of negotiations. Trump is playing chess, Zelenskyy is playing Candyland.
The first article I remember about minerals in Ukraine was from WaPo in 2022. The idea of a minerals deal pre-dates the Biden-Trump debate in 2024. Apparently it was a reasonable idea then, but from Trump it becomes transactional and dirty.
According to Alex Krainer, Zelensky flew to NYC to meet with Trump in September 2024 to hedge his bets re the election. And it was Zelensky who offered to Trump the deal of $500 billion for the U.S. on the minerals deal. If this is what happened, so much for “big bad Trump” trying to rip off poor little (corrupt) Ukraine.
You’re so right about conclusions drawn. There are days I read what the left is spewing and wonder what planet they’re living on.
Remember that Z met with Senator Chris Murphy before his meeting with Trump. Murphy suffers from advanced TDS & convinced ( ordered?) Z not to sign Trump’s deal. Even though Z had agreed to sign 2 previous times. So he reneged 3 times now. Mark Levin addressed this Sunday.
All he had to do was be polite. Nothing more, nothing less
But hey, it's hard to be polite when you haven't had blow for 45 minutes.
Hes a dead man walking. He just doesn't know it yet. Best case scenario is after the war ends he'll have to hold elections and he'll lose.
Its so patently obvious to me that he was tasked to prolong the war. For a variety of reasons, but mainly so the gravy train in The EU can continue and so he can keep doling out millions to the oligarchy in his country in order to keep power.
Where we got to see by their openly secret smiles to each other just how deeply they were in cahoots and how massively they were profiting by the whole situation.
The ledger shows that “officially” the US has given Zelenskyy around $130 billion. How much has been laundered through Ukraine by the insidious NGOs is probably many times that. Hell. Soros and his associated “Non-Governmental Organizations” have been embedded in Ukraine since the 1990s.
Based on the uncontainable smiles at that table, I wouldn't be surprised if it is many times that. It's the first time I saw Zelensky with his buddies. He was like a different man, their darling, loving his place among them. (Just thinking of Keir Starmer's concerned look from his meeting with Zelensky, totally duped).
How? How do we stop our own idiots from interfering? Logan Act? Legal teeth? A gulag in the desert? Sickening how we are so divided - but insanely not invested together for a more prosperous country! So weary of the setups…
How is this interference not breaking some law? I'm not talking about elected officials, but folks like Susan Rice, Victoria Nuland, Blinken, and Vidman, all of whom apparently "counseled" Zelenskyy before his visit to the White House.
Good question. I’m not sure of the actual logistics but in my mind, if I were Trump, once my team had a deal with Zelenskyy, I would have had him sign it right then and there. No need for a visit, media circus, lunch, or a ceremony. He should have signed right at the site of the meeting with our negotiators. The intervening time gave other parties a chance to get in his ear and blow up the deal. Don’t leave the site without a signed deal in writing. Isn’t that an unspoken rule of business dealing?
Ah, but the meeting was BEFORE the Oval Office meeting. Someone didn't warn Trump, or he knew but didn't believe Z would blow it all up - but he did. Even their ambassador could not believe her eyes. "Stupid is as stupid does", and this is inhumane to their countrymen and our budget.
That’s my point. There were two meetings that I know of that took place in other countries with Marco Rubio, Zelenskyy, and others. Apparently at the end of the last meeting, Zelenskyy agreed to sign the deal, but said he wanted to come to the US to do it, which was strange in my opinion. The US people should have insisted he sign right then. Days passed where I’m sure he talked to numerous people, and then when he arrived in the US, he had at least one meeting with Democrats before the Trump meeting. I think there was definitely some underhanded business going on. Sorry I wasn’t clear.
Now it appears that maybe, just maybe, Trump knew this may be the scenario at the WH, wanted the world to view it, and knew Zelenskyy would run to the UK for support. Who knows? Maybe Zelenskyy played right into Trump’s hand….?
Finally, someone addresses the somewhat reported cocaine use by Z & his close assistants. Until I ran across that, I was perplexed by his lack of a "presence" in the Oval Office kerfuffle ... just burbling along as if no one else was talking -- almost out of body in appearance!
Yes I agree, it’s not Zelensky‘s cluelessness. He had a task to accomplish: to walk out of the deal and embarrass Trump in public. The precise way he did it was not exactly artful, but I’m not sure what the alternative performance was. The stupidity and arrogance described by Alex can actually be attributed to the Obama neocons who are no better than the 1914 leadership playing at war game checkers.
I’ve been thinking this and have said it to a few people, but this is the first time I’ve heard someone else articulate it as well, and that’s surprising to me, because it seems very obvious. Thanks, Ryan. My comments keep getting moved to different places in the thread after I post them and it’s difficult to tell to whom my reply is directed. Apologies.
OUR massive blunder started with the 2014 Maidan coup and the war a senile "President" provoked in a part of the world that doesn't concern us. If we really cared about the Ukrainians, we wouldn't have allowed that half-pint hyena to bomb the Russian-speaking half of his country since 2014.
The Maidan Coup was only partially under the direction of Joey,. The Obama Biden administration was responsible for that decision. Additionally, the Russian speaking portion of the country was under constant attack by the Azov Battalion, pictured below.
Agreed. Giving away billions for nothing doesn't help the recipient, either, whether with charity or "war funding". If everything is free, nothing is appreciated. He (Z) clearly doesn't care about having no young men left at the end of this.
The lack of concern about his people is telling. He just cares about the money. For almost 4 years, the American money spigot was never shut off. Either he hasn't been paying attention to Trump or he underestimated him. Big mistake.
" trillions of dollars in American military spending" - And not just military. The world takes advantage of trillions in drug and health care research spending by not allowing market rates. We subsidize the world.
Putin took Crimea and how did that affect us here in the US? Obama just shrugged it off. The loss of the eastern districts to Russia will have the same nothing burger effect. Does anyone really think Putin wants a full scale war against NATO? Time to let Europe be Europe. By the way, the “rich” country owes $36 trillion.
I have a solution: Let's pull out of NATO and if Europe wants to fight WWIII on behalf of Ukraine, go for it. And we will just concern ourselves with our country.
Great post except for the one cheap shot sentence—a reflex, I suppose, for someone who once wrote for the New York Times and must tell his former co-workers after he's written a mostly Trump-supportive column, "see? the guy hasn't won me over too, I can still snark."
I refer to "as for Trump, he just wants to get through the press conference so he can get back to hanging with Elon Musk" with its oh-so-faint allusion to a man crush and at the very least to childishness.
One can see Trump's impatience growing throughout the presser because this was supposed to be a stock ceremonial matter: hold up the deal documents for the cameras, shake hands, smile, and then go to a **sumptuous lunch** As far as Trump was concerned he'd spent, I dunno, weeks getting this up to the signing ceremony and here was this guy refusing to sign on the dotted line (and lunch was waiting.) Trump is all about getting deals done. He screens out all other concerns and just heads for the "get it done" part. We like him for that.
There are three choices for Europe: peace, forever war or all out war, perhaps leading to WW3. Do we want another place where we spend trillions of dollars, countless lives and 20 years to replace the Taliban with the Taliban?
What you are missing is that putin's invasion was not unprovoked. Putin has actually shown restraint given what the nato war machines actions of the past 10 to 20 years.
Didn't cackles Kamala go to Europe and basically say that Ukraine was going to join NATO? If that happened Puting would have US nuclear missiles pointed at him. No leader would accept that.
Crazy how the HISTORIC aspects of the eastern aspects of the Ukraine and the land east of the Dnipro river which is the Donbas region. The Dnipro river was the original border between Russia and the Ukraine. Over 80% of those who live in the Donbas region are Russian. The original capital of Russia was Kyiv which is now the capital of the Ukraine. Complicated to say the least...
As one contributor on another blogpost dispute reprimanded me; the "Kyivan Rus" were the "original Russians" (the "Rus" meaning "men who row" - as in "rowing boats" - a reference to Norse Vikings who invaded what is now Kyiv by venturing down the rivers from the Baltic Sea in the 9th or 10th century, and they settled there). Somehow, those Vikings melted into the Slavic population and lost their Norse language? [clearly something that I need to research more in order to understand it.] Ergo, one argument is that those in Kyiv are, and have always been, Russian, regardless of any "pure" Slavic heritage vs. "mixed" Slavic and Norse heritage. Or have I been completely misled on this part of the argument?
Now, as I think I understand it, there is this "modern" dispute by those now in control of Ukraine to be "Ukrainians" despite a "somewhat?" common Slavic ancestry to the Russians in Moscow (whom, I have read, were also subjected to invasion by Norse Vikings by boat - and those Vikings also stopped speaking Norse languages in favor of the Slavic language of those they "conquered" in Moscow?). Or have I been misled here as well?
I find myself more than a little confused, and willing to learn more. Happy to have someone like you to point me to authoritative texts on the history of the region.
Jack...I'm WITH you on the deeper confusion of the region. Wish I had more knowing at this point, but I do not! Perhaps others here can help us delve to a deeper understanding. Just so much historical context to sift thru for sure! Interesting about the "men who row" reference!
I thought I was reading the NYT!! Again, informed readers prefer more objectivity having decades of privy to history at hand. Ukraine didn't happen in a vacuum! Just one morsel regarding ongoing provocations of Russia: In 1990, our SOS promised "not one inch closer" for NATO expansion. Prompted by special interests, over time NATO kept inching eastward, enabling its missiles, tanks, weapons, troops, and planes to edge closer & closer to Russia’s border -- the one "ask" Putin made NOT to happen. I am confident many more historical flashpoints in this matter will be raised in the ensuing responses.
And this was just tacky pedestrian MSM commentary: "As for Trump, he just wants to get through the press conference so he can get back to hanging with Elon Musk."
Now the UN is unable to continue operations because of the US pause in funding. We, the taxpayers of this country, have been funding every grifting organization in existence everywhere around the world…..and Biden had the f…king gall to give the citizens of North Carolina and Florida $700. Wake up people!
Why is no one asking for some accountability on the billions already wasted over there? Why are scores of Ukrainian oligarchs running around in obscenely luxurious ski towns dripping in furs and cash? What percentage of our “aid” is being spent on suppressing traditional religion and punishing priests, cancelling elections and consolidating all media into a single government voice? What the hell are we doing supporting a regime like this that just keeps its hand out for more? Fool me once, shame on you…etc.
No one has yet explained why it matters to "U.S. strategic interests" which corruptocrat rules the Donbas, Putin or Zelensky. No one has yet explained why Russian expansion is an impending doom we must fear when Russia cannot even subdue the Ukraine. No one has yet explained why spending money and blood in an internecine Slavic war on the other side of the globe makes long term sense when both countries have been and remain in a demographic death spiral. Most ominously, no U.S. politician including Trump has observed that with a debt service load being the fastest growing part of federal expenditures now equal to the entire DoD budget, fighting our sovereign debt bomb is far more important than fighting foreign wars having nothing to do with us.
Damn, John. Your comment should be pinned at the top. You just explained in one paragraph the reason this whole clusterfk around Ukraine is so insane.
Couldn't agree more. Plus, "Putin bad" when Zelensky himself has cancelled political parties and elections, ended freedom of religion, jailed opponents doesn't really cut it. Yes, Putin is bad. I am glad you made the point about U.S. debt. That is crucial.
Yes, have some free elections in Ukraine, then we'll talk!
yes. I think the thought process of the neocons is the more resources Russia throws at Ukraine without making any meaningful gains, the less resources they have to use against American interests, ergo; Russia weakens itself.
And by extension, China because they have pledged no-limit support to Russia. I guess it could temporarily deter China from invading Taiwan. The more resources they waste on Ukraine the less they have to interfere with our interest .
You may be right. Fight Russia to the last Ukrainian. They have indeed proven themselves to be that immoral.
indeed. it's amazing how stupid people are.
stupidity at scale becomes evil
Yes, if there is one lesson to be learned from history it's that it's vital we arm the Nazi warlords in the Ukraine because they are Europe's only hope.
yup. the most important and enigmatic lesson of history is that people forget it
^^THIS^^ This was meant for John Rogitz comment.
LOL. I'd expand that to say that supporting Comrade Z "for as long as it takes" is the Free World's only hope.
Only neocons could believe China’s pledge of no-limit support to Russia. I’m pretty sure Russians remember the non-aggression pact with the Third Reich and how that turned out.
I think its actually worse than that. Often neo-cons have no thought process but do have the emotions of hate and anger. They are excited and feel powerful when we see videos of Russian tanks getting blown up.
Wink. Wink. I think you're right. I just didn't feel like the blowback.
But what I'm saying is this would be their justification if they had time to think about it after getting called on the carpet.
Great points. For my part, I cannot fathom why defending Ukraine is the cause of the century for the left. The war actually started in 2014, if you recall. The Obama Administration refused to provide aid in the form of lethal weapons and this position persisted through the 2016 Democrat platform. But, after Clinton and the Dems FALSELY, maliciously painted Trump as a Russian "asset" suddenly the Ukraine became the "cause celebre" of the left (and the warmongers on the right, lest we forget).
Totally agree. Well said, John R. Jeffrey Sachs in his speech to the EU parliament, laid out his observations over the past several decades very eloquently in the 45 minute speech. It contains an excellent history refresher or lesson, as well as some harsh truths that we Americans, as well as the people of the EU, would be wise to take to heart. I don’t agree with all of his opinions, but the majority seemed sound to me.
You should charter a B-52 and load it with pamphlets, with your exact words, and drop them all over D.C.
Well met, man!
Exactly. NATO defines the perimeter which will mandate a world war if Putin crosses.
And Putin is realistic enough to understand that an attack on any Western European nation would fail. He can only invade places where the standard of living is equivalent or perhaps just a bit superior to the average Russian. Opening the border with vastly better off nations, which an invasion essentially would accomplish, risks having the front line troops desert in what they'll see as the promised land. Language incompatibility might not be enough once those borschs have seem Paris.
I may on an island but part of me thinks Putin is using Zelensky to ALSO bleed the US dry financially. Keep the specter of combat alive so bleeding heart US sends money. And the Putin bad folks on the left are playing into his hands while super ironically being the ones giving him exactly what he wants more so than Trump. Art of war on steroids.
Amen to that. You nailed it.
Actually, if he hasn't said it implicitly (and he may have), I believe Trump is acting like he completely understands this.
My only disagreement is that “we are a rich country.” No we are not. I’m not sure when the break is going to happen but it’s unavoidable when you’re 35T+ in debt. When you consider future obligations, it’s twice that.
"A rich country" that the entire f-ing world thinks we should we should subsidize or outright support.
And if we don't send money to them, they'll come here to get it.
Plus we have a bunch of power-drunk officials making policies about which the voters and TAXPAYERS were never asked and with which we may not agree.
This creeping globalism is going to bankrupt the US.
I have come to the conclusion that Trump is right. Stop ALL foreign aid then look at each request to see if it really benefits us. I don't just buy things from Amazon to benefit Jeff, I only buy things I need. I want to see the reason that Transgender studies in Uganda will benefit us.
Its WHY Nov 5th occurred...COMMON SENSE. The neo Marxist DEM party and world globalist brethren STILL scramble to understand this odd thing called common sense, and have no idea HOW to compete against it now. Common sense is boring and there is little $$$ in it, but it's most often the right thing to DO!
Common sense is not a guaranteed gene either. Brainpower does not indicate common sense is available.
Agree! It is only used by those who GET IT. Its always available to use so obviously CHOICE comes into play. The old saying "make good choices" always applies. The modern neo Marxist DEM party has thought they could rule on anti common sense and it's where they F*%ked UP! Unfortunately the existing RINOs within the new conservative we the people movement which occurred on Nov 5th STILL don't get it either
I agree, the US is not the world's piggy bank.
Agree. The deal was not mercenary. It was a return on the billions spent. And the rare earth minerals ARE strategic assets.
I came here to say the same. We are by no means a rich country.
the only distinction is we are not poor, just broke-dicks because the theft of our Plutocrats from the public.
i think Alex should've made that distinction
Relative to the WORLD as a whole. It is still the PLACE to be!
I've done enough travel worldwide and worked abroad for over a decade, and one big realization I had was how well off even our poor are compared to the rest of the world. My first awakening to this was in 1973 when I went to France to study for a year at age 24. What they perceived as middle class seemed on a par with our very much lower middle class or even our poor. And this was Europe! After that I spent a lot of time in the Middle East and Asia, and that was an even bigger awakening. In the U.S. we have it so much better overall than anywhere else on earth.
Exactly! If a person were $200,000 or more in debt he could not pay, would we consider him rich?
IINM, our unfunded liabilities are in excess of $100T. So future obligations are at least thrice, if not [whatever the word for four times is] our current $35T+ debt.
Quadruple. I'll go with quadruple. "Quice" would make more sense, after twice and thrice, IMO. Or "quadice".
Lol
A debt denominated in currency that you can print is not a real debt.
As far as foreign debt, other countries have basically given the US massive amounts of actual stuff in exchange for some database entries. If push comes to shove, we have the stuff, and the database entries are just a few keystrokes away from being changed if the US decides it has no choice but to change them.
As far as "debt" like Social Security, the problem there is not money. The US can always just make your SS payment with newly printed dollars. The problem is production: someone has to produce the goods and services that SS recipients buy with their SS payments. I'm not saying that's not a potential issue--but it's not an issue that has anything to do with "debt". It has to do with how much we hamstring productivity in various ways.
Yeah that jumped out at me too. We are massively indebted. We still for some reason have good credit ,but that is not the same as being rich.
Americans themselves are massively in debt via out of control credit card spending. Overextending in purchasing has become something too many people find acceptable.
Anyone who thinks the "mineral rights" deal is financial is not getting it. It's an economic tie that gives us the appearance of "skin in the game" with Putin, so he understands we're not walking away. It handcuffs us to Ukraine for the purpose of negotiations. Trump is playing chess, Zelenskyy is playing Candyland.
The first article I remember about minerals in Ukraine was from WaPo in 2022. The idea of a minerals deal pre-dates the Biden-Trump debate in 2024. Apparently it was a reasonable idea then, but from Trump it becomes transactional and dirty.
https://youtu.be/wYZf1z-yWjs
According to Alex Krainer, Zelensky flew to NYC to meet with Trump in September 2024 to hedge his bets re the election. And it was Zelensky who offered to Trump the deal of $500 billion for the U.S. on the minerals deal. If this is what happened, so much for “big bad Trump” trying to rip off poor little (corrupt) Ukraine.
You’re so right about conclusions drawn. There are days I read what the left is spewing and wonder what planet they’re living on.
Classic Neo Marxist DEM projection and narrative control. Fits them when in POWER, but opposite when NOT.
Remember that Z met with Senator Chris Murphy before his meeting with Trump. Murphy suffers from advanced TDS & convinced ( ordered?) Z not to sign Trump’s deal. Even though Z had agreed to sign 2 previous times. So he reneged 3 times now. Mark Levin addressed this Sunday.
More like a dog watching a game of chess....:)
Or a chicken watching a card trick.
Hahaha. Well played, friend!
The situations concerning this mineral deal is rather weird. https://youtu.be/tO7bhSRGhoI?si=WQq8NUNNUpd5M0cd
Such a nuanced under the radar reality few mention!
Just because we don't like Putin doesn't mean we have to like Zelensky. Both Hitler and Stalin were monsters. We were allied briefly with Stalin.
Yes. They give us false choices, which are just two sides of the same coin, but both end up with the results the overlords want
Yes. That’s one distinction the legacy media and some people don’t seem to grasp.
All he had to do was be polite. Nothing more, nothing less
But hey, it's hard to be polite when you haven't had blow for 45 minutes.
Hes a dead man walking. He just doesn't know it yet. Best case scenario is after the war ends he'll have to hold elections and he'll lose.
Its so patently obvious to me that he was tasked to prolong the war. For a variety of reasons, but mainly so the gravy train in The EU can continue and so he can keep doling out millions to the oligarchy in his country in order to keep power.
I suspect he was "tasked to prolong the war" by certain American neocons in a phone call on the plane ride over.
Indeed but it was also the minute he landed:
https://x.com/ChrisMurphyCT/status/1895508100595204115?s=19
Dems working hard for America.
..
Where we got to see by their openly secret smiles to each other just how deeply they were in cahoots and how massively they were profiting by the whole situation.
The ledger shows that “officially” the US has given Zelenskyy around $130 billion. How much has been laundered through Ukraine by the insidious NGOs is probably many times that. Hell. Soros and his associated “Non-Governmental Organizations” have been embedded in Ukraine since the 1990s.
59% is unaccounted for.
Zelensky even admits that
Based on the uncontainable smiles at that table, I wouldn't be surprised if it is many times that. It's the first time I saw Zelensky with his buddies. He was like a different man, their darling, loving his place among them. (Just thinking of Keir Starmer's concerned look from his meeting with Zelensky, totally duped).
How? How do we stop our own idiots from interfering? Logan Act? Legal teeth? A gulag in the desert? Sickening how we are so divided - but insanely not invested together for a more prosperous country! So weary of the setups…
How is this interference not breaking some law? I'm not talking about elected officials, but folks like Susan Rice, Victoria Nuland, Blinken, and Vidman, all of whom apparently "counseled" Zelenskyy before his visit to the White House.
I heard it was a violation of the Logan Act, but we've been hearing examples of this for years, and nothing happens. I agree with you.
Just looked up the Logan Act. Thanks.
Good question. I’m not sure of the actual logistics but in my mind, if I were Trump, once my team had a deal with Zelenskyy, I would have had him sign it right then and there. No need for a visit, media circus, lunch, or a ceremony. He should have signed right at the site of the meeting with our negotiators. The intervening time gave other parties a chance to get in his ear and blow up the deal. Don’t leave the site without a signed deal in writing. Isn’t that an unspoken rule of business dealing?
Ah, but the meeting was BEFORE the Oval Office meeting. Someone didn't warn Trump, or he knew but didn't believe Z would blow it all up - but he did. Even their ambassador could not believe her eyes. "Stupid is as stupid does", and this is inhumane to their countrymen and our budget.
That’s my point. There were two meetings that I know of that took place in other countries with Marco Rubio, Zelenskyy, and others. Apparently at the end of the last meeting, Zelenskyy agreed to sign the deal, but said he wanted to come to the US to do it, which was strange in my opinion. The US people should have insisted he sign right then. Days passed where I’m sure he talked to numerous people, and then when he arrived in the US, he had at least one meeting with Democrats before the Trump meeting. I think there was definitely some underhanded business going on. Sorry I wasn’t clear.
Now it appears that maybe, just maybe, Trump knew this may be the scenario at the WH, wanted the world to view it, and knew Zelenskyy would run to the UK for support. Who knows? Maybe Zelenskyy played right into Trump’s hand….?
Finally, someone addresses the somewhat reported cocaine use by Z & his close assistants. Until I ran across that, I was perplexed by his lack of a "presence" in the Oval Office kerfuffle ... just burbling along as if no one else was talking -- almost out of body in appearance!
Yes I agree, it’s not Zelensky‘s cluelessness. He had a task to accomplish: to walk out of the deal and embarrass Trump in public. The precise way he did it was not exactly artful, but I’m not sure what the alternative performance was. The stupidity and arrogance described by Alex can actually be attributed to the Obama neocons who are no better than the 1914 leadership playing at war game checkers.
How come nobody talks about our contribution to the Ukrainian grift machine?
Well as we're finding out with DOGE the entire world is one big crime scene.
We're in the beginning phases of history's most massive dragnet
I’ve been thinking this and have said it to a few people, but this is the first time I’ve heard someone else articulate it as well, and that’s surprising to me, because it seems very obvious. Thanks, Ryan. My comments keep getting moved to different places in the thread after I post them and it’s difficult to tell to whom my reply is directed. Apologies.
OUR massive blunder started with the 2014 Maidan coup and the war a senile "President" provoked in a part of the world that doesn't concern us. If we really cared about the Ukrainians, we wouldn't have allowed that half-pint hyena to bomb the Russian-speaking half of his country since 2014.
The Maidan Coup was only partially under the direction of Joey,. The Obama Biden administration was responsible for that decision. Additionally, the Russian speaking portion of the country was under constant attack by the Azov Battalion, pictured below.
I know. That was a "Vicky" Nuland operation. I should have been clearer about the different administrations.
oh, well, Trump grabbed Zelensky by his pu$$y.
I'm confused about the "we're a rich country, we can afford to write off billions of dollars for nothing". Really? Can we though?
Agreed. Giving away billions for nothing doesn't help the recipient, either, whether with charity or "war funding". If everything is free, nothing is appreciated. He (Z) clearly doesn't care about having no young men left at the end of this.
The lack of concern about his people is telling. He just cares about the money. For almost 4 years, the American money spigot was never shut off. Either he hasn't been paying attention to Trump or he underestimated him. Big mistake.
I think he cares about the money as you said, Louise, as well as the power, and his life.
" trillions of dollars in American military spending" - And not just military. The world takes advantage of trillions in drug and health care research spending by not allowing market rates. We subsidize the world.
Putin took Crimea and how did that affect us here in the US? Obama just shrugged it off. The loss of the eastern districts to Russia will have the same nothing burger effect. Does anyone really think Putin wants a full scale war against NATO? Time to let Europe be Europe. By the way, the “rich” country owes $36 trillion.
Exactly. Ukraine is just lines on a map that really never had a demos
I have a solution: Let's pull out of NATO and if Europe wants to fight WWIII on behalf of Ukraine, go for it. And we will just concern ourselves with our country.
And leave the damned United Nations, too.
Kick the other so-called diplomats out of NYC. Send 'em all to Brussels or Geneva.
Amen. It's shelf life has expired. It no longer serves its initial purpose and it definitely is working against our interests.
what's Putin going to do; blitzkrieg into the EU with an economy the size of Texas?
people are so stupid
Yep, Ryan, 30% of the public believes everything CNN tells them.
And even when they don't believe it they VOTE for it anyway because of how effective the TDS psyop is and was
Great post except for the one cheap shot sentence—a reflex, I suppose, for someone who once wrote for the New York Times and must tell his former co-workers after he's written a mostly Trump-supportive column, "see? the guy hasn't won me over too, I can still snark."
I refer to "as for Trump, he just wants to get through the press conference so he can get back to hanging with Elon Musk" with its oh-so-faint allusion to a man crush and at the very least to childishness.
One can see Trump's impatience growing throughout the presser because this was supposed to be a stock ceremonial matter: hold up the deal documents for the cameras, shake hands, smile, and then go to a **sumptuous lunch** As far as Trump was concerned he'd spent, I dunno, weeks getting this up to the signing ceremony and here was this guy refusing to sign on the dotted line (and lunch was waiting.) Trump is all about getting deals done. He screens out all other concerns and just heads for the "get it done" part. We like him for that.
Yes, I grimaced at that line of Alex’s too. Cheap shot and inaccurate, in my opinion, Stephanie.
Alex is funny sometimes (ATTENTION CITIZENS) but this line was meh. He tried. Ha
There are three choices for Europe: peace, forever war or all out war, perhaps leading to WW3. Do we want another place where we spend trillions of dollars, countless lives and 20 years to replace the Taliban with the Taliban?
Yes. But they've also chosen to make themselves irrelevant
What you are missing is that putin's invasion was not unprovoked. Putin has actually shown restraint given what the nato war machines actions of the past 10 to 20 years.
Didn't cackles Kamala go to Europe and basically say that Ukraine was going to join NATO? If that happened Puting would have US nuclear missiles pointed at him. No leader would accept that.
Crazy how the HISTORIC aspects of the eastern aspects of the Ukraine and the land east of the Dnipro river which is the Donbas region. The Dnipro river was the original border between Russia and the Ukraine. Over 80% of those who live in the Donbas region are Russian. The original capital of Russia was Kyiv which is now the capital of the Ukraine. Complicated to say the least...
As one contributor on another blogpost dispute reprimanded me; the "Kyivan Rus" were the "original Russians" (the "Rus" meaning "men who row" - as in "rowing boats" - a reference to Norse Vikings who invaded what is now Kyiv by venturing down the rivers from the Baltic Sea in the 9th or 10th century, and they settled there). Somehow, those Vikings melted into the Slavic population and lost their Norse language? [clearly something that I need to research more in order to understand it.] Ergo, one argument is that those in Kyiv are, and have always been, Russian, regardless of any "pure" Slavic heritage vs. "mixed" Slavic and Norse heritage. Or have I been completely misled on this part of the argument?
Now, as I think I understand it, there is this "modern" dispute by those now in control of Ukraine to be "Ukrainians" despite a "somewhat?" common Slavic ancestry to the Russians in Moscow (whom, I have read, were also subjected to invasion by Norse Vikings by boat - and those Vikings also stopped speaking Norse languages in favor of the Slavic language of those they "conquered" in Moscow?). Or have I been misled here as well?
I find myself more than a little confused, and willing to learn more. Happy to have someone like you to point me to authoritative texts on the history of the region.
Jack...I'm WITH you on the deeper confusion of the region. Wish I had more knowing at this point, but I do not! Perhaps others here can help us delve to a deeper understanding. Just so much historical context to sift thru for sure! Interesting about the "men who row" reference!
"We are a rich country." Really.
So if I was $3 million in debt, you would consider me a "rich" person?
Interesting how America is STILL the most desired place to live and more PEOPLE in this world covet USA citizenship, than most places in the world
I thought I was reading the NYT!! Again, informed readers prefer more objectivity having decades of privy to history at hand. Ukraine didn't happen in a vacuum! Just one morsel regarding ongoing provocations of Russia: In 1990, our SOS promised "not one inch closer" for NATO expansion. Prompted by special interests, over time NATO kept inching eastward, enabling its missiles, tanks, weapons, troops, and planes to edge closer & closer to Russia’s border -- the one "ask" Putin made NOT to happen. I am confident many more historical flashpoints in this matter will be raised in the ensuing responses.
And this was just tacky pedestrian MSM commentary: "As for Trump, he just wants to get through the press conference so he can get back to hanging with Elon Musk."
We have eyes that can see & ears that can hear.
Zelensky just believes all of the USAID funded news articles comparing him with Winston Churcill.
Now the UN is unable to continue operations because of the US pause in funding. We, the taxpayers of this country, have been funding every grifting organization in existence everywhere around the world…..and Biden had the f…king gall to give the citizens of North Carolina and Florida $700. Wake up people!
Why is no one asking for some accountability on the billions already wasted over there? Why are scores of Ukrainian oligarchs running around in obscenely luxurious ski towns dripping in furs and cash? What percentage of our “aid” is being spent on suppressing traditional religion and punishing priests, cancelling elections and consolidating all media into a single government voice? What the hell are we doing supporting a regime like this that just keeps its hand out for more? Fool me once, shame on you…etc.