It's going to be a hard winter for Ukraine -- harder still if the U.S. Congress and the Biden Administration cannot get their act together. The way in which Republicans are working against the U.S. national interest, and in favor of a foreign dictator, should be the stuff of a bad spy novel, but it is not. If Ukraine goes down, Republican legislators will own a large share of the blame.
Putin is not burdened by such problems. He has a large, ill-trained army that he can sacrifice easily, sure in the knowledge that new cannon fodder is just a draft notice away. He has a weapons industry that is gearing up at a time when Ukraine is struggling to put the weapons it needs on the frontlines. He also has complete freedom of action. Everyone in Moscow fears him, and no one questions a strategy that is little more than open revanchism aimed at destroying a state and a people.
Americans ignore Putin at their own peril. He is a predator who is emboldened by weakness and who fears the appearance of weakness. Putin has to keep conquering to justify his own place of power in Russia. And if Ukraine falls, Putin will simply move on to his next target, again and again, until he is stopped.
Just before Putin invaded Ukraine, he was engaged in talks with French President Macron. When the subject of Ukraine's unwillingness to part with its territory came up, Putin quoted a song from Red Mold, a punk rock group that was very popular in St. Petersburg criminal circles, and fit Putin's own coarse tastes. And he did it in public, as if to taunt those who oppose him. He said: "Like it or not, it's going to happen, so sleep my beauty." (Нравится – не нравится, Спи, моя красавица.)
The song he quoted is about "Sleeping Beauty," except that the lady in question is dead, and someone going to make love to her anyway because she clearly has no choice in the matter. The full line he quoted from: "Cпит красавица в гробу, Я подкрался и e*y. Нравится – не нравится, Спи, моя красавица."
That's what Putin has in mind not just for Ukraine, but for all of Russia's growing list of enemies, including us. We should remember that.
Fully agree, except with this comment: "The bill stalled, however, when Republican senators tried to add amendments to the bill that would fundamentally change our immigration laws. As they probably already knew, these amendments were unacceptable to the Biden Administration and Democratic senators." One could just as well say that the bill stalled, however, when Democratic senators refused to compromise on immigration reforms needed to control the surge of migrants taking advantage of what has become a de facto "open border" policy on the southern border. The priority of getting substantial and sustained funding in place to continue the flow of more and better weapons to Ukraine is of such fundamental importance to the security interests of the United States that the Administration needs to push the Democratic senators to accept changes to the clearly flawed "asylum" policy. Let's get this done, let the Congress go home with a sense of accomplishment and give the Ukrainians a vitally important and welcome Christmas present.
This is not a surprise. It is almost predictable. In this gaggle of absurd Republicans in Congress so many of them have “associations” with Russian interests, it is stunning. From McConnell and Graham in the Senate as top of the heap down to the fool they just booted from the House Santos. The Trump base and their megaphones have been screaming for a year that this support for Ukraine is a waste and that Putin is not that bad. To link this aid to the border issue is also predictable and laughable. Trump created a mess there by not observing the legal process and Biden now has to clean it up. Granted, Biden should have done more and done it faster, but this a typical tactic.
Sorry to sound so overtly partisan, but we have been dancing around the take over of this segment of the Republican party by Russian interests since 2015. It is right in front of our eyes. It is going to walk away from a country fighting to keep its democracy, as fragile and flawed as it is, in place. This will embolden every dictator and wanna be in the world...
While the Middle East crisis is terrible and on the front burner, this situation will explode and burn for decades if we walk away from Ukraine...NATO is on the line...
It's going to be a hard winter for Ukraine -- harder still if the U.S. Congress and the Biden Administration cannot get their act together. The way in which Republicans are working against the U.S. national interest, and in favor of a foreign dictator, should be the stuff of a bad spy novel, but it is not. If Ukraine goes down, Republican legislators will own a large share of the blame.
Putin is not burdened by such problems. He has a large, ill-trained army that he can sacrifice easily, sure in the knowledge that new cannon fodder is just a draft notice away. He has a weapons industry that is gearing up at a time when Ukraine is struggling to put the weapons it needs on the frontlines. He also has complete freedom of action. Everyone in Moscow fears him, and no one questions a strategy that is little more than open revanchism aimed at destroying a state and a people.
Americans ignore Putin at their own peril. He is a predator who is emboldened by weakness and who fears the appearance of weakness. Putin has to keep conquering to justify his own place of power in Russia. And if Ukraine falls, Putin will simply move on to his next target, again and again, until he is stopped.
Just before Putin invaded Ukraine, he was engaged in talks with French President Macron. When the subject of Ukraine's unwillingness to part with its territory came up, Putin quoted a song from Red Mold, a punk rock group that was very popular in St. Petersburg criminal circles, and fit Putin's own coarse tastes. And he did it in public, as if to taunt those who oppose him. He said: "Like it or not, it's going to happen, so sleep my beauty." (Нравится – не нравится, Спи, моя красавица.)
The song he quoted is about "Sleeping Beauty," except that the lady in question is dead, and someone going to make love to her anyway because she clearly has no choice in the matter. The full line he quoted from: "Cпит красавица в гробу, Я подкрался и e*y. Нравится – не нравится, Спи, моя красавица."
That's what Putin has in mind not just for Ukraine, but for all of Russia's growing list of enemies, including us. We should remember that.
Fully agree, except with this comment: "The bill stalled, however, when Republican senators tried to add amendments to the bill that would fundamentally change our immigration laws. As they probably already knew, these amendments were unacceptable to the Biden Administration and Democratic senators." One could just as well say that the bill stalled, however, when Democratic senators refused to compromise on immigration reforms needed to control the surge of migrants taking advantage of what has become a de facto "open border" policy on the southern border. The priority of getting substantial and sustained funding in place to continue the flow of more and better weapons to Ukraine is of such fundamental importance to the security interests of the United States that the Administration needs to push the Democratic senators to accept changes to the clearly flawed "asylum" policy. Let's get this done, let the Congress go home with a sense of accomplishment and give the Ukrainians a vitally important and welcome Christmas present.
This is not a surprise. It is almost predictable. In this gaggle of absurd Republicans in Congress so many of them have “associations” with Russian interests, it is stunning. From McConnell and Graham in the Senate as top of the heap down to the fool they just booted from the House Santos. The Trump base and their megaphones have been screaming for a year that this support for Ukraine is a waste and that Putin is not that bad. To link this aid to the border issue is also predictable and laughable. Trump created a mess there by not observing the legal process and Biden now has to clean it up. Granted, Biden should have done more and done it faster, but this a typical tactic.
Sorry to sound so overtly partisan, but we have been dancing around the take over of this segment of the Republican party by Russian interests since 2015. It is right in front of our eyes. It is going to walk away from a country fighting to keep its democracy, as fragile and flawed as it is, in place. This will embolden every dictator and wanna be in the world...
While the Middle East crisis is terrible and on the front burner, this situation will explode and burn for decades if we walk away from Ukraine...NATO is on the line...