Politics

[Pondoro]

If your son or daughter were about to be drafted in Ukraine, would you take this imperfect, potentially temporary peace?

No..because we cannot give Putin what he wants..

 

[Lone Star Bluegrass]

Let me play devils advocate.

I would guess that Russia stipulated that the US not “call them Bad names” in front of the UN.

If I’m a mother of a 14 yr old boy in Ukraine and my son is looking at eventual inscription (draft) into the meat grinder.

I don’t care who says what words to the UN. I want the needless war to end.

She would knock the two sides heads together and say I don’t care how you two get along. Just do it !

And I’m sure it’s still not settled. There will be hiccups and possibly skirmishes. Breaking the cease fire agreement.

Maybe we should send in Joe Biden/ Blinken and have 3 more years of war.

Yes it is that simple. An imperfect peace or an imperfect war.

If he’s 14 he has 11 more years before he’s eligible for conscription in Ukraine.

 

[Altitude sickness]

For what it is worth, I am more worried about who replaces Putin and what their ambitions will be.

Yes, you should be concerned. Regime change by the US rarely turns out well.

everyone knew killing Saddam Hussein was a huge mistake and look what that got us.

It felt good for a short period. but that is the liberal mindset, all about feelings and virtuous self righteousness. not actually getting things done.

 

[Altitude sickness]

If he’s 14 he has 11 more years before he’s eligible for conscription in Ukraine.

I’m glad you’re optimistic that this is over and he will not have to serve in 11 years. but unfortunately, I think we know even with a potential cease-fire. does not mean it’s over.
This will most likely end similar to the Korean War

 

[skydiver386]

I think this is the biggest mistake Trump will ever make, and it will probably tarnish his reputation long after he leaves office.

I take the Russian propaganda that it's NATO's fault for expanding and that they feel threatened on their borders as pure Bovine Scatology. Russia has been an aggressive invader of every country on its borders throughout its history.

Russia went from the Tsar's to the Commissars and back again. To my mind they are an entire nation of weak minded vodka drinking morons who are all to happy to be ruled over by Dictators who slaughter them by the millions.

Ukraine has been forced to live under the yoke of its neighbor on and off again, and now it sees an opportunity to finally free itself from Russia forever. The Holodomor still lives in the minds of many in Ukraine, and they'll fight to the death to prevent it happening again.

Holodomor - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Rather than ensuring that the people of Ukrainian are free, we are rewarding Russia for its invasion.

 

[Red Leg]

Yes, you should be concerned. Regime change by the US rarely turns out well.

everyone knew killing Saddam Hussein was a huge mistake and look what that got us.

It felt good for a short period. but that is the liberal mindset, all about feelings and virtuous self righteousness. not actually getting things done.

What regime change?

 

[Altitude sickness]

I was agreeing with a post that stated he did not think removing Putin would be a good idea

 

[Red Leg]

I dunno, zelenski comes across as a begging little worm to me who’s always whining for more. Like a dog scratching at the door to be let in.

"Like a dog scratching to be let in." I am sure you have this all figured out, so perhaps you can share with us how you would go about defending your country against a more powerful adversary determined to destroy you.

The MAGA take on Zelensky remains beyond my comprehension. Trump doesn't like him so I won't like him either? The comments are always the same - sounds like a CNN broadcast where instead of anchors all the loyalists repeat the same thing - usually throwing in comments about his appearance and clothing as well.

This is a pretty accurate portrayal of another leader doing whatever was necessary to prevent his nation from being destroyed by a then more powerful adversary. His name was Winston Churchill. Perhaps he was deserving of contempt as well?

 

[Red Leg]

I was agreeing with a post that stated he did not think removing Putin would be a good idea

Got it. Easy to lose the thread here sometimes.

 

[Lone Star Bluegrass]

I’m glad you’re optimistic that this is over and he will not have to serve in 11 years. but unfortunately, I think we know even with a potential cease-fire. does not mean it’s over.
This will most likely end similar to the Korean War

It was more of a dig at their personnel policies. It’s hard to make the argument that they’re doing everything they can when they’re not. It’s like watching someone take an expensive vacation while they bitch about not being able to save any money.

 

[mdwest]

It would appear that USAID was funding more than half the staff at the largest LGBTQ+ organization in Europe... and now they are looking at laying of a substantial number of their staff because they cant continue on without US money...

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c36we3pnxy6o.amp

while we're not talking about a huge sum of money in the scope of things (it looks like they were getting about $250K a year on average for the last several years).. this is the sort of crap I wish the Fed Govt would spend more time and energy focusing on getting done quickly (pretty easy to look at the mission of this non profit, and the mission of the current administration, and determine that the two are not aligned.. and make a quick decision...)...

and then spend a little more time and do a little more due diligence on things like mass layoffs, Ukraine, etc. before pulling proverbial triggers..

if they needed a series of quick "wins" once the administration took office and as each secretary gets confirmed, things like this would have been more than enough I think to keep the MAGA loyalists happy (and even confirm for the American people at large just how screwed up the Biden administration was and how out of control the US govt in general has been for a very long time)..

Demonstrate success here and it would likely have made the harder tasks (like laying off thousands of people) easier and more palatable to the American people.. you would have gained their trust, proven value, and demonstrated a need..

 

[Lone Star Bluegrass]

Yes, I am sure he had it all figured out in advance - or maybe Zelensky did and he played Trump? Point of view tends to reinforce views rather than clarify them. Trump could have preached this as a win-win from day one rather than as a 500 billion dollar shakedown. Now, to many in the world - though never his unquestioning followers of course - he looks like he was bloviating. I again thank goodness for the presence of Kellogg in Kyiv for three days of hard constructive work.

But read the article and draw your own conclusions.

Please understand that I’m saying this impartially: everything Trump is doing is straight out of “The Art of the Deal.” Trump’s first offer (or public position), is going to be 4x what he’s willing to do.

Side note, one could probably make a small fortune translating his book if it’s not already in print in French, German, etc.

 

[Red Leg]

Please understand that I’m saying this impartially: everything Trump is doing is straight out of “The Art of the Deal.” Trump’s first offer (or public position), is going to be 4x what he’s willing to do.

Side note, one could probably make a small fortune translating his book if it’s not already in print in French, German, etc.

Be sure and get his ghost writer in on the deal. His name is Tony Swartz. He gets a full fifty percent of the royalties.

 

[gbflyer]

Excellent interview that may explain some of the method behind the madness. Can we have him for President please
Sorry if someone already put it up.

Secretary Rubio: Trump has had 'constant' engagement with Ukraine amid push to end war | Fox News Video

Secretary of State Marco Rubio sits down with Fox News' Brian Kilmeade to discuss the latest on the effort to end the war in Ukraine, the need for NATO allies to step up and top priorities under his leadership at the State Department.

www.foxnews.com

 

[Red Leg]

Excellent interview that may explain some of the method behind the madness. Can we have him for President please
Sorry if someone already put it up.

Secretary Rubio: Trump has had 'constant' engagement with Ukraine amid push to end war | Fox News Video

Secretary of State Marco Rubio sits down with Fox News' Brian Kilmeade to discuss the latest on the effort to end the war in Ukraine, the need for NATO allies to step up and top priorities under his leadership at the State Department.

www.foxnews.com

I watched it. Just superb. One feels like State is in n the hands of an adult. He did get 99 confirmation votes.

 

[mdwest]

Excellent interview that may explain some of the method behind the madness. Can we have him for President please
Sorry if someone already put it up.

Secretary Rubio: Trump has had 'constant' engagement with Ukraine amid push to end war | Fox News Video

Secretary of State Marco Rubio sits down with Fox News' Brian Kilmeade to discuss the latest on the effort to end the war in Ukraine, the need for NATO allies to step up and top priorities under his leadership at the State Department.

www.foxnews.com

I wasnt much of a Rubio fan when he last ran for POTUS in 2016... I didn't think he was "bad" per se... but I didn't think he was "ready" at that point either..

I think he's a very strong and capable player now though.. and may well be our best option in 2028..

It will be interesting to see how things play out over the next few years.. its easy to assume Vance will be anointed and is the next in line.. but Trump has already said that's not the case yet (hasn't said Vance wont be who he endorses.. but has been pretty clear that his endorsement isn't predetermined).. .

 

[Mark A Ouellette]

I wasnt much of a Rubio fan when he last ran for POTUS in 2016... I didn't think he was "bad" per se... but I didn't think he was "ready" at that point either..

I think he's a very strong and capable player now though.. and may well be our best option in 2028..

It will be interesting to see how things play out over the next few years.. its easy to assume Vance will be anointed and is the next in line.. but Trump has already said that's not the case yet (hasn't said Vance wont be who he endorses.. but has been pretty clear that his endorsement isn't predetermined).. .

Rubio, Vance, DeSantis, and maybe one or two others make a strong field of contenders for the Republican ticket in 2028! It's great to have a strong team to select the best from...

 

[WAB]

With Rubio, Vance, DeSantis and others, the future leadership of the Republican Party is incredible. The Dems are going to be hard pressed
to field a credible candidate.

 

[mdwest]

With Rubio, Vance, DeSantis and others, the future leadership of the Republican Party is incredible. The Dems are going to be hard pressed
to field a credible candidate.

Theyve always got Newsome or Whitmer.. can try Tim Waltz again if they are feeling froggy...

 

[Tundra Tiger]

If your son or daughter were about to be drafted in Ukraine, would you take this imperfect, potentially temporary peace?

A counterpoint: if a bigger, badder bully comes to MI and takes a part of your property, are you going to be happy when the rest of us stand around watching it happen and some of us are saying you're whining, and in the end he gets to keep what he has taken?