Politics

[barryk]

Well I’m a Trump voter, I support Ukraine, and I believe that most I know feel the same. I know that is anecdotal, but I pray that it is a wider held position than you believe. Our interests extend beyond our borders!

I'm willing to support Ukraine also but why do we have to be so stupid about it? If I understand correctly, it sounds as if we don't have much of a clue as the accountability of these funds. what the hell?

 

[Lone Star Bluegrass]

Well said. I would like us to support Ukraine with military aid and a strategic plan to either beat Russia outright, or force them to the table on terms favorable to Ukraine.

Trump’s approach to Ukraine, and frankly his foreign policy in general, was my greatest misgiving in voting for him. His approach to date, with the exception of Israel, has been a simple projection of domestic policy. I truly hope that a more thoughtful and strategic approach will reveal itself soon.

I think a lot of “Ukraine skepticism” was a result of a combination of OIF/OEF hangover in the public psyche, coupled with a hearty mental vote of no confidence in the Biden administration to navigate a very tenuous situation.
The vitriol that followed—including on here—that if you don’t “support Ukraine” sufficiently enough, you’re a Putin stooge, you’re an isolationist, you have no concept of history, etc etc hasn’t changed any minds either. I really hate how everything has become EVENT, and your REACTION shows how you line up into one of two camps in society.

 

[Wheels]

What it looks like now is that Trump wants to make some quick end to the the Ukraine war and push all further commitment to accomplish that over to Europe..

Yes. That is what Trump campaigned on and shouldn't be a surprise.

What Europe wants to clarify is what Trump wants in Europe.. Will he ultimately pull America out of NATO..? Is he to pull out all US troops in Europe..? Or what..??

Trump was pretty clear about this in his first administration. He wants Europe to pull their weight with the NATO budget which is still not being met by most members. (Although this has improved). Trump has certainly insinuated that he may remove troops and NATO is on the table. Again, this should not be a shock to Europe.

If the US is pulling out militarily all together then we would like to know..then Europe will have to build up a new continental army to face off Russia..

Trump has encouraged Europe to build up their military since 2017. Why does Europe want to rely on American soldiers being in their midst. I would think Europe would want American soldiers out of Europe. Unless they just want a free lunch. What country doesn't want to be as self sufficient as possible in defense of themselves. The only times you see foreign troops in a country throughout history is when that nation has been conquered. Why wouldn't Europe and it's individual nations want to have their own army and not rely on someone else.

To give you an idea..they want to lift all sanctions off Russia and stop all military support to Ukraine.

They also want to pull Germany out of the EU.

Regarding the AFD. This sounds a lot like Trump's own position for America. Probably a reason Vance and the Trump administration feels an affiliation for AFD. Similar to Le Pen, and Meloni who are proud of their countries and don't care for the regulatory overreach of Brussels.

I skimmed through the English version of AFD's website. It looks similar to positions that Trump and the preponderance of the American populace stand for.

https://www.afd.de/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/2017-04-12_afd-grundsatzprogramm-englisch_web.pdf

It is shocking to see that both Musk and Vance attend meetings with AfD..

You mean like Merkel did in vocally favoring Clinton in the 2016 American presidential election over Trump. Or like the UK Labor Party did last fall in sending Labor Party members to America to actually campaign for Harris.

Maybe so..but unfortunately, these AfD politicians, under their well dressed apperance, they are nothing but neo-naziish thugs..

The NAZI party gained power by cracking down on free speech. Similar to what the EU and most member states are working to do more of right now. The AFD wants free speech. How do you suppress a populace if you allow them to freely express themselves, even in politics.

The Nazi acronym stands for National Socialist. Over recent decades many on the left have rebranded them as far right to disassociate as much as they can from them., while in actually they were self admitted far left nationalists. From afar, it seems the various coalitions of CDU, CSU, FDP, SPD are much closer aligned to socialism and AFD is the counter balance.

 

[Ed Lally]

I am not fine with the VA. I despise them. Saying that I despise abuse of power, inability to build a team, and failure to articulate a plan even more. Very poor

The VA has 440,000 employees. 1000 is .002% of the work force.

No. It is 0.227%.

 

[Beaufort]

Correct. The bill of rights was intended to codify the rights that exist for all humans. Everyone in the world has the right to free speech, bear arms, etc. what makes America great is our ruling document outlines their rights and attempts to raise that the government does infringe upon them. Others are not so lucky.

You may want to read up on your world history. Here are just some of the countries where the right to bear arms doesn’t exist; Brunei, Cambodia, Comoros, East Timor, Eritrea, Guinea-Bissau, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Nauru, North Korea, Palau, Solomon Islands, Somalia, and Vatican City.

 

[Beaufort]

Not wanting to be associated with the poorly vailed propaganda you were replying to, it seems the general consensus in Congress is Russian dead is in the 250k range, with probably double that in all other causalities.

I believe you mean “veiled”

 

[Beaufort]

What rights do you believe are given to you by the constitution? I believe the answer is zero, I concur with the founders that my rights exist with or without it, they are inherent to me. They wrote the Constitution to restrain the governments ability to infringe on those rights, not to grant them to me.

So what rights do you have that are not protected by the Constitution? Or is it just a coincidence that the Constitution covers the same exact rights that you believe are yours just by virtue of being alive?

 

[YancyW]

I believe you mean “veiled”

I sure did, although I think vailing is a lost norm we should bring back.

 

[Beaufort]

Really good opinion piece in the NYT of all places with respect to the certitude that many have that the 14th amendment applies to anyone born in this country of any parents of any legal standing.

https://archive.is/oELZQ

Yeah, I don’t think I’d lean on the bastion of liberalism for an interpretation of law. There are plenty of scholars who will argue that the 14th amendment was written to apply to the children, born in the US, of slaves. Here’s a quote directly from the National Archives - Passed by Congress June 13, 1866, and ratified July 9, 1868, the 14th Amendment extended liberties and rights granted by the Bill of Rights to formerly enslaved people.

Illegal immigrants are not formerly enslaved people.

 

[YancyW]

So what rights do you have that are not protected by the Constitution? Or is it just a coincidence that the Constitution covers the same exact rights that you believe are yours just by virtue of being alive?

Coming in pretty hot, are you looking for a debate on American Constitutional theory? A discussion of the natural right theory utilized by the founders? The writings of Publius as a guide to understanding the thought processes of the framers?

 

[WAB]

Yeah, I don’t think I’d lean on the bastion of liberalism for an interpretation of law. There are plenty of scholars who will argue that the 14th amendment was written to apply to the children, born in the US, of slaves. Here’s a quote directly from the National Archives - Passed by Congress June 13, 1866, and ratified July 9, 1868, the 14th Amendment extended liberties and rights granted by the Bill of Rights to formerly enslaved people.

Illegal immigrants are not formerly enslaved people.

Good grief, did you even read the article? You are agreeing with the author!

 

[Red Leg]

Yeah, I don’t think I’d lean on the bastion of liberalism for an interpretation of law. There are plenty of scholars who will argue that the 14th amendment was written to apply to the children, born in the US, of slaves. Here’s a quote directly from the National Archives - Passed by Congress June 13, 1866, and ratified July 9, 1868, the 14th Amendment extended liberties and rights granted by the Bill of Rights to formerly enslaved people.

Illegal immigrants are not formerly enslaved people.

Seriously!?! Read the bleeding article. I think you and I and the authors are in full agreement in believing the Trump administration may eventually prevail before the SCOTUS with regard to birthright citizenship.

 

[Red Leg]

Many of you that "support Ukraine", mean funding more killing and destruction. Support to Ukraine means peace. Wars end with compromise. Even in WW2 we did not kill all the Japanese. It ended with compromise. We have already "supported" Ukraine to death. Literally. ........FWB

The Germans surrendered unconditionally. You do know what that means? The only Japanese condition we allowed was that the emperor would remain. Otherwise their defeat was unconditional.

The Russo Ukraine war will indeed end in a negotiation because, unlike the US, neither side is strong enough to dictate peace from the steps of their opponent's capitol. Doesn't say much for Russia does it. My only fear is that my president will grant Putin a victory his minions could not achieve on the battlefield.

 

[Pondoro]

Yes. That is what Trump campaigned on and shouldn't be a surprise.




Trump was pretty clear about this in his first administration. He wants Europe to pull their weight with the NATO budget which is still not being met by most members. (Although this has improved). Trump has certainly insinuated that he may remove troops and NATO is on the table. Again, this should not be a shock to Europe.




Trump has encouraged Europe to build up their military since 2017. Why does Europe want to rely on American soldiers being in their midst. I would think Europe would want American soldiers out of Europe. Unless they just want a free lunch. What country doesn't want to be as self sufficient as possible in defense of themselves. The only times you see foreign troops in a country throughout history is when that nation has been conquered. Why wouldn't Europe and it's individual nations want to have their own army and not rely on someone else.



Regarding the AFD. This sounds a lot like Trump's own position for America. Probably a reason Vance and the Trump administration feels an affiliation for AFD. Similar to Le Pen, and Meloni who are proud of their countries and don't care for the regulatory overreach of Brussels.

I skimmed through the English version of AFD's website. It looks similar to positions that Trump and the preponderance of the American populace stand for.

https://www.afd.de/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/2017-04-12_afd-grundsatzprogramm-englisch_web.pdf

You mean like Merkel did in vocally favoring Clinton in the 2016 American presidential election over Trump. Or like the UK Labor Party did last fall in sending Labor Party members to America to actually campaign for Harris.



The NAZI party gained power by cracking down on free speech. Similar to what the EU and most member states are working to do more of right now. The AFD wants free speech. How do you suppress a populace if you allow them to freely express themselves, even in politics.

The Nazi acronym stands for National Socialist. Over recent decades many on the left have rebranded them as far right to disassociate as much as they can from them., while in actually they were self admitted far left nationalists. From afar, it seems the various coalitions of CDU, CSU, FDP, SPD are much closer aligned to socialism and AFD is the counter balance.

Well, there you have it..Trump and his administration is as right wing as AfD, Meloni and Victor Orban and Fidescz.. Lets see how this will play out in Europe.

I guess the long period of western Europe and the US being close allies in NATO is history.

 

[gbflyer]

Short of WW2, I am honestly curious which of the skirmishes that we as the US of A have meddled in have ended well? I was born in 1972 so I’m a kid to a lot of you. In my time, I’m not sure any.

 

[SaintPanzer]

This is new and interesting... Do you happen to know the specifics in their fascination with Russia?

Oh, I do, I do...

First point: There are many ethnic Russians who are German citizens. AfD gets a link there.

Then, of course, you have to ask yourself if the Russian Government still tries to influence German elections. If they do, ethnic links are a good entryway.

Of course, you also have to consider Ostolgie.

It might behoove many to ask a serious question: Just going back to the fall of the wall, many promises were made. The rising tide in this case has not lifted all boats, and those who have felt "betrayed" or left out are looking for an Alternative. Why does AfD even exist? Of course, if you're the "promise maker", your going in thesis may simply be to deny the problem even exists. You might even go as far as to refuse to speak with the alternative, as that gives legitimacy.

Are they right wing extremists? I haven't seen any Brownshirts. But I'm biased. Sarah Lister, in her official capacity of Assistant Secretary of the Army called me an extremist, and in 2009, DHS released a report saying I was a potential terrorist, and in 2021, it was just assumed I was a White Supremacist, so I accept these "official reports" with a grain of skepticism.

Curiously, no one is ever worried about left wing extremists.

 

[CJW]

Starmer says he's ready to put UK troops on the ground in Ukraine. I say give him a helmet and a gun.

PM 'ready' to put troops on ground in Ukraine to protect peace

Sir Keir Starmer said securing a lasting peace in Ukraine was "essential" to deter Vladimir Putin from future aggression.

www.yahoo.com

 

[CJW]

I can't imagine why people are going right.

 

[Certus]

I'm willing to support Ukraine also but why do we have to be so stupid about it? If I understand correctly, it sounds as if we don't have much of a clue as the accountability of these funds. what the hell?

A lot of rich people getting richer off of those funds.

 

[Tanks]

PS; I voted for Trump three times and support him in almost all of what he is doing. Sometimes his methods are however more like an axe than fine cuts of a sharp knife.

I heard the axe also hit the Park service and some in the hunting community are concerned about issuance of hunting licenses for outfitters.

I wonder if the axe also hit Fish and Wildlife, and whether it would impact issuance of import permits?