Politics

[mdwest]

I think those are the Persians that would be focused more on eliminating Israel

 

[Altitude sickness]

I think Iran would do what they always do. Lay in the weeds and provoke train and fund. But not want to engage directly. So they would try to act neutral.

 

[Hunt anything]

I think Iran would do what they always do. Lay in the weeds and provoke train and fund. But not want to engage directly. So they would try to act neutral.

Plus if they did annihilate Israel their stated reason for hating us would be eliminated, their hatred of us seems to have always been our support of Israel. Of course they would probably come up another reason to hate us.

 

[Red Leg]

General Jack Keene has repeatedly said. The U.S. is no where close to fighting multiple theaters simultaneously. Also, We don’t have the heavy industry to ramp up quickly like we did for WWII.

Luckily the Northern European nations that just joined NATO are very well prepared and competent. It would take a huge world alliance to go against the latest axis. Russia, China, N. Korea.

Then while we are all fixated on Russia the Arabs and Persians would take the opportunity to wipe out Israel and come at the US

I’m typing this from my bunker

I think your first paragraph is exactly correct. How we get there, to my mind at least, is very different.

Xi cut his deal with Putin just before the invasion because he saw an opportunity to use a newly resurgent Russia to put enormous pressure on the West, and the US specifically, in Europe. That would provide him more strategic maneuver room in the Western Pacific as the US faced a true potential two-front threat - three if we count an abiding interest in the Middle East. Because we would not have the conventional capacity to deal with all of those threats, the chances of a diplomatically initiated strategic defeat in either or both of the primary theaters would go up dramatically. Such an unstable position would also inevitably raise the chances of the nuclear miscalculation many critics of our support of Ukraine point to now.

I am convinced that the means to end that truly threatening adversarial Axis is to stop it now before it is consummated atop the remains of Ukraine. At the moment, we can do that without going to war. The Ukrainian people decided that they would not again become subjects of the Russian empire. All they have asked for is the means to prevent it. We would be abject fools not to take them up on that request.

Finally, the US already has a powerful alliance formed to halt Xi and Putin's strategy in Europe. It is called NATO. It is far stronger today than it was in February 2022 and is growing stronger. It is doing so while also aiding Ukraine - an amount of aid that is a pittance from a budgetary perspective to every one of the member states and particularly the US.

As I have written here ad-nauseum, barring a Russian or Ukrainian collapse, and I believe the former remains a distinct possibility, this war will indeed end in negotiations. But negotiations can conclude in all sorts of settlements. It is absolutely achievable for this one to end with no perception of Russian victory.

 

[HookMeUpII]

Suited-up feds search Gracie Mansion after Eric Adams becomes first indicted NYC mayor

Nearly a dozen suited-up federal agents were spotted arriving at Adams’ mayoral home first thing Thursday — just hours after he became the first NYC mayor to be indicted in a federal pr…

nypost.com

As much as I don't like Adams, this more weaponizing of the DOJ. Coincidence he's an outspoken critic of the way the Biden/Harris admin is handling immigration? I think not.

 

[John Wasmuth]

Suited-up feds search Gracie Mansion after Eric Adams becomes first indicted NYC mayor

Nearly a dozen suited-up federal agents were spotted arriving at Adams’ mayoral home first thing Thursday — just hours after he became the first NYC mayor to be indicted in a federal pr…

nypost.com

As much as I don't like Adams, this more weaponizing of the DOJ. Coincidence he's an outspoken critic of the way the Biden/Harris admin is handling immigration? I think not.

Exactly.

 

[sgt_zim]

Suited-up feds search Gracie Mansion after Eric Adams becomes first indicted NYC mayor

Nearly a dozen suited-up federal agents were spotted arriving at Adams’ mayoral home first thing Thursday — just hours after he became the first NYC mayor to be indicted in a federal pr…

nypost.com

As much as I don't like Adams, this more weaponizing of the DOJ. Coincidence he's an outspoken critic of the way the Biden/Harris admin is handling immigration? I think not.

Yeah, seems like a warning shot to all the local dem pols across the country. "Stick with the script, or else."

 

[Red Leg]

Yeah, seems like a warning shot to all the local dem pols across the country. "Stick with the script, or else."

I suspect it is far more likely he is just another crook. The indictment will be unsealed today.

 

[HookMeUpII]

I suspect it is far more likely he is just another crook. The indictment will be unsealed today.

I definitely don't like the guy, and he probably is, but lets be serious. This is a little too "timely" for an indictment.

This is a ploy/plot to remove a liability. He's a moderate dem (compared to Deblasio) who is outspoken of the current admin; specifically on immigration.

I merely sit back and spectate these sort of things. I live outside NYC in NJ. I haven't been back since I proposed to my wife there in 2018. It's not the same city of the late 90's into the 2000's.

 

[HookMeUpII]

Yeah, seems like a warning shot to all the local dem pols across the country. "Stick with the script, or else."

Yup. And he is at the top. NYC mayor is essentially a governor. The power that position carries is on almost a state-level. This is definitely shots across the bow.

 

[mdwest]

Finally, the US already has a powerful alliance formed to halt Xi and Putin's strategy in Europe. It is called NATO. It is far stronger today than it was in February 2022 and is growing stronger. It is doing so while also aiding Ukraine - an amount of aid that is a pittance from a budgetary perspective to every one of the member states and particularly the US.

I think this is the single most important statement in the above post..

NATO nations are for the most part finally taking NATO seriously... and are contributing more now (not just financially, but also in terms of readying/training their troops, coordinating actions collectively, etc) that they have in a very, very long time...

There are still some hold outs/exceptions.. like the Canadians.. who have increased their spending on defense, but still fall very far short of its agreed NATO contributions (1.4%)... but for the most part most of the central and eastern European members are now meeting or exceeding the 2% commitment.. (again, there are a few exceptions.. but even those nations, like Canada, have at least increased their spend.. they just were so far behind to begin with, that I believe its going to take them a good bit of time to get to where they need to be.... and Ukraine gives them the motivation to do so)...

Poland is actually outspending the US (comparatively to GDP) and is contributing just under 4% to NATO.. Greece is at 3%.. Estonia is at 2.7%.. Romania and Hungary at 2.4%, etc..etc..etc..

This is for Mr. Putin an unfortunate consequence that Im guessing he did not count on when he chose to try to take a larger chunk of Ukraine again in 2022...

 

[Red Leg]

I think this is the single most important statement in the above post..

NATO nations are for the most part finally taking NATO seriously... and are contributing more now (not just financially, but also in terms of readying/training their troops, coordinating actions collectively, etc) that they have in a very, very long time...

There are still some hold outs/exceptions.. like the Canadians.. who have increased their spending on defense, but still fall very far short of its agreed NATO contributions (1.4%)... but for the most part most of the central and eastern European members are now meeting or exceeding the 2% commitment.. (again, there are a few exceptions.. but even those nations, like Canada, have at least increased their spend.. they just were so far behind to begin with, that I believe its going to take them a good bit of time to get to where they need to be.... and Ukraine gives them the motivation to do so)...

Poland is actually outspending the US (comparatively to GDP) and is contributing just under 4% to NATO.. Greece is at 3%.. Estonia is at 2.7%.. Romania and Hungary at 2.4%, etc..etc..etc..

This is for Mr. Putin an unfortunate consequence that Im guessing he did not count on when he chose to try to take a larger chunk of Ukraine again in 2022...

Not to mention a brand spanking new 800 mile long direct border with NATO (Finland) literally in marching distance of St. Petersburg and a lovely new NATO lake called the Baltic completely surrounded by alliance forces.

 

[Wishfulthinker580]

I don’t agree with Trump on Ukraine. I believe we should be supporting them and the argument to do so is ironclad.

That said, this is likely the most consequential election of our lifetime. Is the correct outcome in Ukraine worth sacrificing the future of the country for? This is the most radically left Democrat ticket in our history. This will likely end in negotiations. Say Russia gains some of but not all of Ukraine. With Trump at the helm we live to fight another day from a position of strength.

If Harris wins and they gain the House and keep the Senate what happens? They end the filibuster and do whatever they want? Pack the court, make new states/Senators. Fundamentally change our country? Is the trade off (implosion and speedy decline of the country) worth it? Geopolitical threats are going to continue to exist and there are those that want us to face those from a position of weakness?

The economy/markets would most likely crash the day after she won. Funny how the stock market is at record highs but consumer confidence is so low is it not? Not to mention the social/cultural decline and we all know that these are upstream from politics.

It’s unbelievable to me for anyone to consider voting for that woman. It must require some truly Olympian levels of mental gymnastics.

 

[Altitude sickness]

I think this is the single most important statement in the above post..

NATO nations are for the most part finally taking NATO seriously... and are contributing more now (not just financially, but also in terms of readying/training their troops, coordinating actions collectively, etc) that they have in a very, very long time...

There are still some hold outs/exceptions.. like the Canadians.. who have increased their spending on defense, but still fall very far short of its agreed NATO contributions (1.4%)... but for the most part most of the central and eastern European members are now meeting or exceeding the 2% commitment.. (again, there are a few exceptions.. but even those nations, like Canada, have at least increased their spend.. they just were so far behind to begin with, that I believe its going to take them a good bit of time to get to where they need to be.... and Ukraine gives them the motivation to do so)...

Poland is actually outspending the US (comparatively to GDP) and is contributing just under 4% to NATO.. Greece is at 3%.. Estonia is at 2.7%.. Romania and Hungary at 2.4%, etc..etc..etc..

This is for Mr. Putin an unfortunate consequence that Im guessing he did not count on when he chose to try to take a larger chunk of Ukraine again in 2022...

Maybe we should negotiate with Putin leave Ukraine and to donate a part of Canada and the Canadian prime minister to that cause. He would love to be under Socialist rule.

I’m joking,of course.

Well half joking. We have a country fighting for its life to get out from under communism. And one being led by a Socialist that wants to move towards Communism.

 

[sgt_zim]

I suspect it is far more likely he is just another crook. The indictment will be unsealed today.

They're pretty much all crooks. The only place you're going to find more corrupt politicians than Tammany Hall is our home state. So why Adams, and why now? At the very least, the timing is quite coincidental.

 

[John Wasmuth]

They're pretty much all crooks. The only place you're going to find more corrupt politicians than Tammany Hall is our home state. So why Adams, and why now? At the very least, the timing is quite coincidental.

Not towing the communist party line…….

 

[Hunt anything]

Not towing the communist party line…….

Looks like bribery and illegal campaign contributions on Adams.

 

[Altitude sickness]

In other words. What all politicians do.

 

[Graham Hunter]

Maybe we should negotiate with Putin leave Ukraine and to donate a part of Canada and the Canadian prime minister to that cause. He would love to be under Socialist rule.

I’m joking,of course.

Well half joking. We have a country fighting for its life to get out from under communism. And one being led by a Socialist that wants to move towards Communism.

Well not joking! Our Socialist/ Communist leader is done and on his way out. So I would be more worried if the US can get rid of their Socialist/ Communist Party. How confident are you that will happen?

 

[Wishfulthinker580]

Does anyone else wonder if China is holding off on Taiwan until they see if Trump gets in or not? Or is it solely because of them watching what’s going on in Ukraine? Or a mixture of both? We’ve already seen this administration fail to deter much of anything