The republican minority will forever be remembered as traitors to democracy and freedom. No matter how they will try to spin it otherwise, history will show there shortsightedness and ignorance.
The republican minority will forever be remembered as traitors to democracy and freedom. No matter how they will try to spin it otherwise, history will show there shortsightedness and ignorance.
The way I see it is that trump is the perfect puppet for the power-mongers owning him. Fossil Fuel titans? Armaments titans? Billionaire wingnuts? He’s useful until he isn’t. Then another will step up to replace him. Amoral narcissists are coming out of the woodwork now that they know it’s okay, -and unaccountable.
I think ones like mtg and Lauren Boebert are both shortsighted, ignorant, and stupid. They are attention seekers who have no concept of governing. They help the robber barons get their way by making government dysfunctional. A dysfunctional system cannot hold the robber barons to account who are stealing from all the rest of us.
The truly evil people in all of this are the Republican who KNOW and privately acknowledge that Trump is an uninformed, dangerous maniac. The “true believers” will not be convinced otherwise as long as he keep venting THEIR frustration and anger. Just look at Ginny Thomas’s Jan 6 committee deposition. When pressed to explain why she continued to believe the election was stolen, despite the numerous court decisions and Republican officials’ declarations that there was no evidence of fraud, she said she simply stopped listening to the news. She had the narrative she wanted and wasn’t going to let facts get in the way. Childish, dishonest, and delusional... just like her husband.
Dave, don't forget that Ginni Thomas was paid a great deal of money to push her false narrative. Additionally, the fact that she was a member of a cult (something seldom mentioned) shows that she has been delusional for much of her life, and apparently her deprograming was unsuccessful.
Their news source is Fox Entertainment....and maybe a few other....I kind of remember,during the last election, that a Republican relative referred to Newmax! It seems the only decent people these days are Democrats.... there are very few of us in Indiana.
I used to live in northwest Ohio, 12 miles from the Indiana line. I learned not to discuss politics with ANYONE because I was way outnumbered by Republicans. Back in the 80's and 90's, the R's were less deplorable than today. However, they only believed in helping others just like them.
I wonder what traditional Republicans feel like watching these Keystone Kops upset the apple cart and commit treason. What happened to their cries of patriotism and nationalism? Is there not one brain cell of thought given to our diminishment on the world stage? One would think that they would be leaving the party in droves, but then again they consistently demonstrate a lack of critical thinking....
The roots of this current insanity are in that "traditional Republicanism" It was always an elitist White male club of wealthy people who thought that they should rule everyone else......
I have one such friend who I love. She hates trump but voted for him twice because she's filthy rich and wanted the tax cuts. Even she has drawn the line and will not vote for him under any circumstance. A friend's sister voted for him the first time but refused in 2020 because of his immorality...so yes, there are, but very few and far between....
I have two friends who voted for trump the first time because of Hilary’s emails. I said tofg is scarier than the emails. They were sorry in the end but too late!
People in Colorado and Georgia need to vote these two wing nuts OUT! Adam Frisch only lost by 500+ votes in Colorado in 2022, the D's to there need to show how crazy Boebert is and get more sane people to vote BLUE...and don't even get me started about Florida and Ohio!
Agreed. But in the meantime we need to call or email their offices to remind them they work for US and we are not interested in their faux-Christian hatred of women and people of color being foisted on us.
I just sent an email to Don Bacon asking him why he is abandoning our ally Ukraine and wishing him a Merry Christmas and a month-long vacation on our dime.
The working Americans don’t get the extra long time off during Thanksgiving and then turn around and get two weeks off for Christmas. Something is definitely wrong with the system. It’s totally unjust the American people.
Usually when there’s a job to get done you stay until the job is done I think we should lock them up till they get the job done without pay
I don’t think they really understand that “turning it over to trump” is actually turning it over to oligarchs.
I expect “they”( the oligarchs) all know each other, kind of like crooks all know each other. Elon musk for example is no American, he is a citizen of the world of oligarchs. And they think it belongs to them.
Totally correct. “Traitors”! And THEY would send “traitors “ to the death chambers!
Don’t sugar coat America, just because you don’t want to be angry or sad all the time. Talk straight.... do your homework, stop pretending ,and one day if we are lucky, we will see greed and power as a failure to humanity.
Their shortsightedness and ignorance relate to the inability to see what could happen to them when they are no longer useful. And, yes, they are traitors. Absolute scum.
Let us hope the deplorables are watching as well. And (for once) thinking a bit on it. Maybe they will be less inclined to vote in 2024, and help deliver the shellacking Republicans deserve. We desperately need that.
I guess if I were Biden and Ukraine was such a big deal, I would go ahead and negotiate to a positive outcome on the "border immigration" funding the Republicans are asking for in exchange for Ukraine funding.
Why not? Even Kathy Hochul, governor of NY, is asking for some kind of immigration reduction into NY. NY City has run out of housing for migrants. So have upstate NY hotels now. Even the bluest state in the nation is calling for some immigration action so why not consider doing something with the bill in Congress where the Pubs are asking for a trade of immigration funding for Ukraine funding?
With what seems to be an obvious need, at least temporarily, to reduce migration while states can come up with more housing and services, I would go ahead and sit down with Johnson, whether I like him or not, and work out a deal.
Because, Ukraine IS important enough to sit down across from Johnson and hold my nose and negotiate.
Biden is making a mistake this time. It won't be his first.
That would be having led the confirmation hearings of Clarence Thomas to full confirmation on the Supreme Court while ignoring key testimony that he was unfit for that job.
Mike S, you are speaking wisely and rationally. But my understanding is that Mike J, despite his external demeanor of calm reason, is a Christian nationalist extremist and unwilling to negotiate, forcing instead a “winner takes all” strategy intended, not to “fix the border,” but to denigrate Biden and the Dems. If any real negotiation were possible, I believe Biden and the Dems would be doing it.
"is a Christian nationalist extremist and unwilling to negotiate, forcing instead a “winner takes all” strategy intended, not to “fix the border,” but to denigrate Biden and the Dems."
We do not get to pick the people we have to work with in this life. I have sat across from managers who were completely insane in order to negotiate stuff for my own engineering teams. Did I want to sit across from a narcissistic white male whose entire thought process was consumed with himself? Absolutely not.
But, did I want to get a raise for my best software people? Absolutely yes.
Getting into the pig pen is something I don't mind doing if it results in getting out of the pig pen with a newly born pig.
Mike, I get the sense that Johnson will continue to balk at negotiation to the point where his offers include Biden’s resignation. Johnson is not interested in “the border” except as a Cat O Nine Tails used to whip up rancor in the knuckledragger base
I could not agree more!! I believe that it would be like the latest Hunter Biden issue: they want him charged, he is charged, and now Comer is claiming that charging him is protecting his father!!
I agree that even a clear public attempt possibly wasting time in negotiations is exactly the demonstration we need. I would like to see MJ (not Michael Jorden) be cornered every minute of the day by the press asking for details of his border/emigration plan. The more we push/pull him into the light the clearer our position publicly becomes. IMHO.
Don't forget that the belief system of someone like Mike Johnson has a deep seated hate for Biden because he is a Catholic. I grew up with people like that, they may now agree on abortion but they really hate Catholics.
As an non-theist, I believe that all Bible based religions are cults. They have ONE book they are supposed to follow. The Republicans in these cults (Catholic, Southern Baptists, etc) treat TFFG, SCOTUS, and their Congresscritters as if they are above God's laws, including the Ten Commandments. TFFG is a convicted rapist and yet, he is the leader of the Republican Party. Matt Goetz is a pedophile. The Texas Supreme Court just decided a woman cannot have a medically necessary abortion. And yet these faux-christian nationalists would rather die than vote for a Democrat.
Did not Biden request funds to help at the border almost immediately upon taking office? It has not been answered or even discussed by Republicans? It appears Republicans are duplicitous in these latest demands? Ukraine and the border are unrelated subjects. The immigration laws need ti be changed and Republicans will not participate or actually write legislation. Republicans stand by their only plan: governance by threat and obstruction.
We've known for decades that our immigration policy needed an rewrite and neither party since the 90's has got it done. We needed a comprehensiveness policy written and agreed upon long before the crazy minority was allowed to rule this country??
I'll respectfully disagree with you Julie. When Obama was president, the Democratic-led Senate passed an immigration reform bill (bipartisan) and it went to the Republican-led House and because the Speakers of the House determine what will get voted on, they blocked even voting on it because (I assume) Republicans who don't want to fix our immigration system (or attempt it to make it better) CHOSE NOT TO VOTE ON THE IMMIGRATION REFORM BILL PASSED IN THE US SENATE.
Barack Obama publicly said for years, "Put it it up for a vote!" There's video of this. He said he would sign it into law if it passed in the House.
Both Speakers, Boehner and Ryan would NOT put it up for a vote.
So, Democrats (& some Senate Republicans) have made honest efforts to fix this problem and Republican House leadership has blocked it and then without any credibility or accountability for it, then claim to this day that 'both sides' are to blame for our broken immigration system. No. We had an opportunity to fix or improve our immigration system and House Republicans failed, and continue to fail us.
Biden is trying to fix it with Republicans who don't want to fix this problem either.
Correct sir. Clearly the hold up is, as usual, republicans. If it ain’t obstruction they will not even discuss. They should be hounded until they write a bill. Democrats just are not very good at messaging.
I haven't looked it up, but I remember that George W Bush was interested in seeing immigration cleaned up and couldn't get it voted on...There was also a McCain -Kennedy bill earlier that passed one house. There have been attempts.
So, hello Joe, I hope you read this and we can start a conversation. I believe the "fix" to the immigration "problem" is to begin with replacing the Earned Income Tax with a National Consumption Tax where everyone is paying taxes according to what they spend, not Earn. This has a psychological effect and a great leverage. 2% could pay for "Medicare for all people" then people in jobs they hate aren't kept there because of the way our healthcare is "portioned out". 2% could pay for Social Security "security", 2% could pay for education pre-K through 14 grades. As soon as a child is old enough to buy a stick of candy for $1.00, they also begin paying for their own and everyone else's healthcare, social security and education.
After this NCT has been in place and working, the U.S. could ask the Ukrainians to "vote" to become the 51st State. If they say "no thanks" then the U.S. has an "out". If they "agree" we put military bases in strategic locations in the Ukraine and draw the borders for Mr. Putin., then start collecting NCT on their 5% growing economy. The same for Palestinians. We can not continue to be the "broker" for all of the "conflicts in the world. We should be inviting immigrants into the U.S.to "grow food for the word" , not send money. As a matter of fact the 1st country we ask should be Mexico.
Please see Joes reply below for my understanding of the point you make. Remember when Rubio and McConnell both filibustered their own bills because they thought Obama might get credit.
But Mike, how genuine is the gop trying to resolve the immigration problem. They affix it to the funding for Ukraine precisely because they DO NOT want to solve it. They need it as an issue for the 2024 campaign. The objective of the traitors in the gop is to break the government. They do not want things to work. It is performative theatre for them. Their colleagues in the gop that do support Ukraine funding have no spine to stand up for it. They are going along to get along with the traitors. This is not: Let’s Make A Deal.
Because what the tRUmpublican Party wants for our border violates domestic law, international law and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - just like the Texas abortion law!
Biden has moved toward Republican positions on the border and immigration. The fact is Johnson and all the people he carries water for don’t want a deal. They want Biden to adopt every single action they want and even then they will move the football and say it’s not enough. What Biden needs to do now is go national in his communication, explain what he is willing to do on the border and how it aligns with what the Republicans want while hammering on the theme that the Rethugs are selling out our own National Security with this outrageous stunt. I guarantee you that if the offices held by the respective Parties were reversed, the Republicans would be screaming to anyone who would listen how wrong this is
I am very proud of Biden and think he's accomplished amazing things. However, there do seem to be people who want him to literally look/act like the Democratic equivalent of those nutty Trump trading cards. You know, standing upon a mountain, looking like Rambo with fire shooting from his eyes. Nothing seems to be enough for some progressives.
By the way, the 3rd edition just came out. This is absolutely unreal!!
Most of what the R’s want in their immigration deal is to close off the border to all immigrants. Tucker Carlson speaks their language daily. “And, unrelenting stream of immigration. But, Why? Well,Joe Biden just said it, to change the racial mix of the country.” Certainly not in keeping with the White Nationalist vision that the Republicans have adopted for our country.
Yes, the "hysterical" voice of Tucker Carlson is one thing but the actual text of the proposal in front of Biden is another.
The Republicans are asking for money. The bill does not specify exactly how that money would be spent and, since this is America, probably almost none of it would actually be used to reduce border crossing.
Maybe some of it would go to hire a few new border security guards, not a bad thing given Hochul's request for help. Most of it will go into the pockets of corrupt Republicans so they can build swimming pools in their back yards to "fight climate change".
Like I said, if I were Biden, and Ukraine was important, I would sit down and negotiate on this one.
Biden sitting at the table with his fork in one hand a knife in the other with a grumpy face waiting to get exactly what he wants this time? This time that is a mistake.
In fact, many Americans, including Kathy Hochul at the moment, for some good reasons, wish to stem the migration from the southern border.
Do I wish we had mature adults on the Pub side who would, like adults, sit down and do a normal bill for immigration in conjunction with their Democratic partners in Congress? Sure.
But, we don't. We have a mess. But, we have to fund Ukraine. The only path to that outcome is through the rabble.
I agree with this strategy in theory and assume Dems have considered this. It would also take it off the table as a campaign issue (or lessen it somewhat). But I am assuming that the Rs would demand or are demanding something completely untenable (closing the border completely - even to asylum seekers) in order to make this an effective weapon.
"I am assuming that the Rs would demand or are demanding something completely untenable"
I grew up in Texas and, when I was a grad student at UT Austin, hiked the Big Bend area with some of my other grad student friends.
Having stood near the border and looked at the vastness of the Rio Grande valley, I can assure you that it is not possible to "close the border completely". The border of Texas is vast, desolate, and no border guards are present for huge swaths of land. Of course, those areas are not preferred crossing areas but, even when we were hiking (in 1985), we encountered many people crossing the border. I would be a little hesitant to do that hike today with Fentanyl components pouring across the border now. That was not happening then.
What can be done is to more effectively manage the crush at the normal border crossings.
Lastly, everyone should read Jared Diamond's immense book "Collapse". Especially the last Chapter.
He's not the only hysterical character to dominate our space by repeating the same BS over and over. That's the only way some needy-narcissists from the ignorant, otherwise ignored to evil get heard.
TFFG's border wall is as leaky as a sieve. It's been breached over 4000 times. I wish someone would take pictures right after a breach and then after the repairs. How much are we spending to fix this engineering disaster of a wall?
Also, Trump bragged about how many border agents he would hire and send to the wall.
He ended up with vacancies. In 2017 the top salary for border agents was about $55K/year. And that isn't the starting amount that was the top salary. Who in their right mind would uproot their family and move them to Bumfuck, TX and try to find a good paying job for their spouse and good schools for their kids? No wonder they couldn't hire anyone and they still can't.
I live about 90 miles from New Brunswick and yesterday I saw a BORDER PATROL car at the local police station. No idea why, but at least there are good schools and good jobs for life partners here. Can you imagine being a BP Agent and being transferred from say Seattle to Lordsburg, NM?
What a stupid system we have for hiring and compensating agents and their families.
The border wall is not only an engineering disaster, but also an environmental travesty, and a waste of funds.
Desperate people are going to do what they need to do to get into the U.S. Without effectively addressing the myriad of issues driving migration from Central & South America, they're going to keep coming.
I agree. Action is needed. Then obnoxious aspects of the GOP “plan” can be slow walked and not enforced. In 24 they can be changed. Meanwhile we find Ukraine
*Reply to Tucker... "Say Tucker, doesn't Mexico have some responsibility for the common border and other Central American countries ? What's up with that Mr. Talking head Tucker" ? ***edit > "Also, what good was the wall in Israel" ?
Why not negotiate? If you’re following the news you’ve seen that Biden and the Democrats are prepared to negotiate. But Republicans demand all or nothing.
Not sure you've been following. Biden has signaled willingness on the border, but the holdouts have stuck some poison pills in there, not on the money side, but on the policy and practice fronts; things that are not in alignment with American values nor international law. Why are they doing this? I believe they are purposely sabotaging the effort, because the only issue they still have high ground on is immigration. They can't afford to solve it or they will have nothing at all to motivate their voters.
Steph-one of the poison pills the R's wanted was to benefit the ultra rich by cutting back funding for the IRS so the oligarchs wouldn't have to pay their fair share of taxes.
Mike S ... What are the Republicans demanding, exactly? Mr Biden has said he would negotiate. He has before. Agreement gets reached and does the negotiation stand once it seemed agreed to or come back around? The headlines will merely read, "Biden refuses to negotiate," rather than his administration would not cave in on policies already agreed to in reconciliation or in principles fought hard for by his party and moderate Republicans who signed on to their passage. Wasn't this what happened with the CRs that got McCarthy in a knot with the Crazy 8? They connect a real need to the wheel on some foolish bicycle that has no axle.
Your suggestion is excellent and would be very effective classic politics. Maybe it's been going on behind the scenes and there will be a "breakthrough" today enabling passage before the children go out to recess.
Mike S. - President Biden has consistently stated that he's willing to negotiate. Mike J. and the extremist House Republicans state that their position is all or nothing. How can anyone negotiate with people taking an absolute stance?
Their are elements of the Republican immigration requirements that are acceptable to the president and to people like me - and I hope to you such as absolute denial of consideration or granting of asylum in contravention of both U.S. & international law. When I have a chance later today, I'll see if I can find more details about Republican's deliberate poison pill in the funding bill.
Biden refused to negotiate a cease fire in Ukraine and then vetoed a cease fire in Gaza. As far as I am concerned the list of his mistakes is very long and has turned off many people from the Democratic Party which would include most of my large family. The fact that HCR supports Biden’s warmongering and applauded the jobs weapons manufacturing will give us is just mind boggling. The PR that the war is going well is just that PR for Biden’s war. Don’t bother to slam or report me for my horrible anti war views. I will be letting my subscription lapse, my money is better spent with many other substack podcasters and journalists who focus on on things that would really impact people in our country, silly things like the environment and healthcare for all.
Environment and Heath are important, but beside the point here. Biden, despite your trolling, can and does multitask. So please don’t distract from your Putinphilia with “but what-abouts .” Biden is no more a ‘warmonger’ than was Jesus when his tossed over the usuerer’s tables. Both seek/sought justice, love and peace.
Biden’s war? The one in Ukraine? You seem to be serious. So. . .you suppose Ukraine needed any warmongers to urge them to fight back when they were invaded?
there might be more to what is happening with Israel than has been discussed here. Do you know an expert in foreign policy in that area who could give you answers?
Kathy, the photos/videos from Gaza tell you all you need to know. Bottom line, if Biden threatened to cut off military aid to Israel unless a ceasefire and massive influx of humanitarian aid overseen by the UN, rather than by Israeli occupiers, was instituted immediately, the genocide would end.
He won’t do this, so he is complicit. The world is watching, and America is hemorrhaging what little respect from the rest of the world we still have left. See the GA vote in the UN this week.
There has to be more to the situation that's guiding President Biden's decisions regarding US Dollars arming Israel. I don't think it's greed or oligarch pressure. We have no idea what the whole picture is by witnessing it through the media. This war has been going on for Generations!
How about if Hamas gave up the hostages. That would end the war. But NO! You prefer to read and watch reports and videos put out by a terrorist band of murderers.
I’ll be right there with you in a month or so, Nora. I subscribed because I thought Heather was drifting from historical connectivity to current events to more pundit-like government narrative commentary, and wanted to be able to comment.
Far too many commenters here have fallen into a tribal cult mentality every bit as dangerous as the GOP knuckleheads; sad thing is, their intelligence advantage over many in MAGA land hasn’t kept them from being blind to their allegiance to the lies of empire.
Good luck with that. More than 150 years after the last shot was fired, “Lost Cause” fanatics still argue that slavery was not the primary cause of the Civil War and that the southern secessionist weren’t fighting to preserve the “peculiar institution” which was the cornerstone of their economy. Today’s Trumpublican party is similarly disingenuous and will never concede that their cynical posturing endangered democracy and freedom here and around the world.
It seems to me that our failure to move on from the Civil War is complicated, but certainly sustained by political manipulators who have deployed it, along with the ennobling cover story, as a divide and rule wedge issue. Southern Democrats did so in my youth, and (Ironically) Republicans took over after Democrats expanded their party's integrity. Trump and his ilk are playing the race card and feeding the myth of lost Southern "liberty".
As far as slavery as a cornerstone of the Southern economy, it was, but I've never quite grasped how it became so endeared to the "working class". I seems to me that slave labor would just have depressed wages for those without the means to buy and maintain them.
Almost all Republicans of the past 50 or so years will forever be remembered as traitors to democracy and freedom. They didn’t just turn traitor when Trump arrived. They started long before him. They and the wealthy white christian elite men (including their organizations, the religions who support them, the corporations they own/are affiliated with, and media outlet buddies) who own Conservative Judges/Justices and Republican politicians laid the framework.
“A ‘better world’ bought by atrocities will be rotten at the core.” (Ilona Andrews)
America has a core of rottenness and evil because of the way it started. The descendants of the wealthy people who helped drive progress (in America and other countries) at the cost of the indigenous peoples, enslaved Africans, cruelly-used immigrants, and child labor are still at the top of the socioeconomic hierarchy doing everything they can to conserve their place. They still abuse. If we’re ever to change, they need to go.
Lisa, I am so with you about the core of rotten and it starting with the Natives of this country. So many atrocities including and not limited to placing Japanese-Americans in internment camps. It goes on and on….
Excellent post, Lisa. Seldom do the wealthy elite disappear even after so-called revolutions. These parasites almost always find a way to stay in power or the new elite is just a bad....I am thinking Russia and China here. I will have to take exception to the word progress because destroying the natural world as well is not progress.
They are in every country. They are above being citizens in any country because they own homes, politicians, and law enforcement in multiple countries.
So what can we do to get rid of them??? And are people in the Democratic Party wholly exempt? It seems to me that the Democrats are doing everything they can to eradicate these monstrous traitors but they seem to be multiplying!
___ the outstanding story of the day is that the Republican Party appears to have decided to undermine financial support for Ukraine’s war against Russia’s invasion. (Letter)
'Since Russia’s February 2022 invasion of his country, Zelensky has emerged as a lion of the geopolitical West, casting Ukraine’s resistance to Russian aggression as a fight for the defense of liberal democracies everywhere. But his entreaties for continued support from the United States and its European partners — both in terms of billions of dollars in tangible military aid as well as binding political commitments involving accession into blocs such as the European Union and NATO — are increasingly finding a less enthusiastic audience in Western capitals.'
'Orban, the E.U.’s preeminent illiberal demagogue, has also played the conspicuous role of the bloc’s leading Ukraine skeptic. As his neighbors rallied to Ukraine’s defense, Orban maintained a degree of distance, fueled in part by a close relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin; he reportedly told Putin during an October meeting in Beijing that he “never wanted to confront Russia.” He has balked at allowing the transit of arms to Kyiv and scoffed at fast-tracking Ukrainian membership in the European Union.'
“Hungary is a neighbor of Ukraine … we know exactly what is happening,” Orban told French publication Le Point last week. “Ukraine is known to be one of the most corrupt countries in the world. It’s a joke!”
'Zelensky, who is reckoning with his country’s flagging counteroffensive and
growing internal frustrations and political infighting, called on U.S. officials and lawmakers early this week in Washington in a desperate bid for aid. “It’s a matter of life and death for Ukraine,” a senior Zelensky aide told my colleagues. “Time is of the essence: That’s the message.”
'The Biden administration has warned that its allotted funding for Ukraine is petering out absent a new injection from Congress, where Republicans are stymieing an additional funding request in part to force through their desired package of immigration reforms. Congress has so far allocated a mammoth $111 billion for Ukraine, and the White House is seeking some $61 billion more. Lawmakers disperse for the holidays at the end of the week.'
“Public support for Ukraine has fallen steadily in recent months, and Republican lawmakers — particularly in the House of Representatives, where the party’s right flank has wielded outsize influence — have expressed a rapidly diminishing appetite for funding Ukraine’s war effort,” my colleagues reported. “A growing number of Republicans in both chambers have said in recent weeks that they will not approve Ukraine aid unless it comes with a major tightening of U.S. immigration policy.”
'Orban, meanwhile, may try to wield the threat of a Hungarian veto in Brussels over Ukraine in pursuit of his own agenda. He could be a disrupter later this week when E.U. leaders thrash out a new financing proposal of 50 billion euros for Ukraine. A significant tranche of E.U. funds for Budapest are frozen over rule-of-law concerns in Hungary, amid concerns about the quasi-autocratic takeover of the state by Orban and his ruling Fidesz party.'
'Orban may leverage his ability to thwart European support for Ukraine in order to release some of that cash. “He sees this as his last chance to have some influence and wants to show that he will give nothing for free,” Peter Kreko, the director of Political Capital, a Budapest-based research group, told the New York Times.'
'In Washington, where Orban is celebrated by a section of the Republican right, the Hungarian prime minister’s allies are also pushing to end U.S. military aid to Kyiv. According to a report in the Guardian, a number of Orban proxies appeared in a closed-door session at the right-wing Heritage Foundation, which has moved ideologically in recent years closer to the blood-and-soil nationalism espoused by former president (and Orban admirer) Donald Trump.'
'Heritage is “jettisoning the Reagan-era beliefs that first brought it glory to embrace the America First policies championed by former President Donald J. Trump—particularly when it comes to Ukraine,” wrote Jacob Heilbrunn of the National Interest. “Rather than support Ukraine’s struggle to oppose Russian domination, Heritage is actively seeking to undermine it.”
And it seems Budapest has its own transatlantic plan. “Orban is confident that the Ukraine aid will not pass in Congress,” a diplomatic source close to the Hungarian Embassy told the Guardian. “That is why he is trying to block assistance from the EU as well.”
'The current mood in Washington pits establishment Republicans against Trumpist hard-liners, who resent directing American taxpayer money to Ukraine (even though much of the funding is lining the pockets of U.S. arms companies). Orban has aggressively placed himself in the latter camp and, is in turn, hailed by the American right as an illiberal exemplar, a model for how to cement power through ceaseless culture war.'
'European politicians now fear a Magyar spanner in the works. “With the problems in the United States, where the fresh money is blocked, it’s quite crucial that we don’t have a double block against Ukraine,” outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte urged earlier this week.'
'In a joint letter to their American counterparts, more than 100 senior European
lawmakers pleaded to Congress to get Zelensky what he says his nation needs, no matter some of their justified reservations.'
“We hear the concerns expressed by our American friends. For years, American leaders, Democrats and Republicans, have asked Europeans to take more responsibility for their own security. We agree with this legitimate request,” the lawmakers, led by Benjamin Haddad, a centrist French parliamentarian, said in the letter. “Moreover, military spending has risen all across Europe,” they added. “American military aid however is critical and urgent.” (WAPO, Today’s WorldView by By Ishaan Tharoor with Sammy Westfall)
The point, Peter, is to draw the attention of Americans to Democracy and the survival of it in Ukraine, along with the survival of it as an independent country. Then, too, is the survival of the Ukrainian people. Nice historical nugget, Peter. How many who read it will remember the past but not attend to the importance of the supplemental package Biden is fighting for with its aid for UKRAINE IN NEED?
That “nice historical nugget” clearly went down well with many readers, Fern, while for me it was just a passing remark I regret because it distracted attention from my main concern, the survival of democracy IN AMERICA, where it is threatened by the gang of criminal racketeers who are now holding the country AND Ukraine AND the whole world to ransom when they should have been buried alive in maximum security jails long ago.
It is bloody obvious that we must all support Biden's priority concern to assist Ukraine and act to expose now those selling the country and its honor down the river, betraying all allies and dependents, above all betraying Ukraine in her hour of need.
It is well past time to steal a page from the Trump/Abbott/DeSantis playbook and put the traitors on a plane to Moscow, where they will be welcomed with open arms, plastered with medals and given plum jobs providing useful services to the regime. After all, Putin and his cronies have already shown delight with the GOP for supporting them and their war aims. But maybe these people would like to play Putin and bomb Canada… for pretending to be “different”.
Getting to the point, Peter, about the survival of Democracy -- the freedom of the people -- is always essential. Thank you for stating it as well as you did; it merits repeating with frequency on the forum and everywhere from early in the day and through the night,
Thank You Fern. Wish this article included evidence of Putin's influence$ over our Republican party. It is not just that our magate legislators "resent" our funds going to support Ukraine, they are essentially well paid to make sure the funds don't go to Ukraine.
Thanks. It was not my idea. I have to admit that I asked ChatGPT to come up with handles for Substack. My question:
"I need ideas for a handle for my Substack account. I am an Italian American man, retired public librarian, Democrat, professional genealogist, trumpet player, and golfer"
ChatGPT answers:
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I called mine this morning. I asked why they are handing over our government to Putin. I said a lot of things. I told the Trump ass kisser that I will work real hard so that she is never elected again. And I did ask if she would go to my next doctor appointment with me since she knows more about medicine than my doctors. I need her input. They didn't say a word. They never do.
William, I do email and call representatives, Biden, Harris, even Bobert and Taylor (with suggestions). Will keep doing this and sigh… am afraid it falls on deaf ears.
Republicans want power to control and a authoritarian government. I wouldn't say shortsightedness or ignorance. They just don't want Democracy to exist, no matter what the cost. Yess I agree they are traitors to the American people and this country. We must them out of office and continue to support Biden in 24.
I am reminded of Charles Lindbergh not because of his brave solo flight across the Atlantic, but for his infamy as a Nazi appeaser and provocateur for America First. The reputations of so many who appeased Trump have already been ruined. The legacy of the Republican Party will be one of traitors, cowards, and criminals.
Donald, while the minority will be remembered as traitors, the rest of the Congress Critters will be seen as complicit because their leader (TFG) doesn’t want Biden to be seen as a great leader worldwide.
Donald, I agree, history will show the shortsightedness and ignorance of the Republicans for being obstructionists. History may also similarly judge Biden who refuses to step aside now, at age 81.
Richard, of course history will judge him, and I believe quite favorably. Biden is the right person for the job, given this fraught moment we are in as a country and around the globe. One need only consider where we were prior to Jan 20, 2021, the precipice we all faced, and how much progress we have made to restore America's economy and luster.
If there were no Tromp running again in 2024, seeking to keep himself out of prison on promises that he will act as dictator to destroy Biden's impressive achievements, we wouldn't need a Joe Biden. But this, unfortunately, is where we are.
The republican minority will forever be remembered as traitors to democracy and freedom. No matter how they will try to spin it otherwise, history will show there shortsightedness and ignorance.
They are neither shortsighted nor ignorant. They are traitors. Taking down our democracy and turning it over to Trump is their goal. While we watch
The way I see it is that trump is the perfect puppet for the power-mongers owning him. Fossil Fuel titans? Armaments titans? Billionaire wingnuts? He’s useful until he isn’t. Then another will step up to replace him. Amoral narcissists are coming out of the woodwork now that they know it’s okay, -and unaccountable.
Well said.
😬
I think ones like mtg and Lauren Boebert are both shortsighted, ignorant, and stupid. They are attention seekers who have no concept of governing. They help the robber barons get their way by making government dysfunctional. A dysfunctional system cannot hold the robber barons to account who are stealing from all the rest of us.
The truly evil people in all of this are the Republican who KNOW and privately acknowledge that Trump is an uninformed, dangerous maniac. The “true believers” will not be convinced otherwise as long as he keep venting THEIR frustration and anger. Just look at Ginny Thomas’s Jan 6 committee deposition. When pressed to explain why she continued to believe the election was stolen, despite the numerous court decisions and Republican officials’ declarations that there was no evidence of fraud, she said she simply stopped listening to the news. She had the narrative she wanted and wasn’t going to let facts get in the way. Childish, dishonest, and delusional... just like her husband.
Dave, don't forget that Ginni Thomas was paid a great deal of money to push her false narrative. Additionally, the fact that she was a member of a cult (something seldom mentioned) shows that she has been delusional for much of her life, and apparently her deprograming was unsuccessful.
And I sure don't trust SCOTUS to do the right thing and follow the rule of law.
Ginny Thomas's attitude represents MAGA, full stop. She has the influence/money, they have the numbers/guns.
There is a lot of money to be made in the right wing. And some nice vacationing. It seems to reach the level of a criminal enterprise.
Precisely on point Patrick. We desperately need a "Sunlight Law" passed. Money is not free speech. It is a higher power megaphone or a taller soapbox.
Their news source is Fox Entertainment....and maybe a few other....I kind of remember,during the last election, that a Republican relative referred to Newmax! It seems the only decent people these days are Democrats.... there are very few of us in Indiana.
I used to live in northwest Ohio, 12 miles from the Indiana line. I learned not to discuss politics with ANYONE because I was way outnumbered by Republicans. Back in the 80's and 90's, the R's were less deplorable than today. However, they only believed in helping others just like them.
But the rest of us Dems from elsewhere feel your pain anyway.
And there are a lot others who follow GT train of thought. Saying ignorant, stupid and disloyal to democracy.
The robber barons have been back for awhile. Reagan loved the worse one, Rupert
I wonder what traditional Republicans feel like watching these Keystone Kops upset the apple cart and commit treason. What happened to their cries of patriotism and nationalism? Is there not one brain cell of thought given to our diminishment on the world stage? One would think that they would be leaving the party in droves, but then again they consistently demonstrate a lack of critical thinking....
The roots of this current insanity are in that "traditional Republicanism" It was always an elitist White male club of wealthy people who thought that they should rule everyone else......
Precisely why Black Republicans make my head spin....
Oxymoron
After Lincoln, they all lost their humanity!
Are there really any "traditional republicans" left? My father stopped voting for republicans in the 1960s.
I have one such friend who I love. She hates trump but voted for him twice because she's filthy rich and wanted the tax cuts. Even she has drawn the line and will not vote for him under any circumstance. A friend's sister voted for him the first time but refused in 2020 because of his immorality...so yes, there are, but very few and far between....
I have two friends who voted for trump the first time because of Hilary’s emails. I said tofg is scarier than the emails. They were sorry in the end but too late!
It is like a football or basketball game to them....they can't stand for their team to lose....because they are Republicans.
People in Colorado and Georgia need to vote these two wing nuts OUT! Adam Frisch only lost by 500+ votes in Colorado in 2022, the D's to there need to show how crazy Boebert is and get more sane people to vote BLUE...and don't even get me started about Florida and Ohio!
Agreed. But in the meantime we need to call or email their offices to remind them they work for US and we are not interested in their faux-Christian hatred of women and people of color being foisted on us.
I just sent an email to Don Bacon asking him why he is abandoning our ally Ukraine and wishing him a Merry Christmas and a month-long vacation on our dime.
The working Americans don’t get the extra long time off during Thanksgiving and then turn around and get two weeks off for Christmas. Something is definitely wrong with the system. It’s totally unjust the American people.
Usually when there’s a job to get done you stay until the job is done I think we should lock them up till they get the job done without pay
Ditto Jenn
Yes,of course you are right.They are aligning themselves with Putin and Russia which is traitorous imho.
Republiputins.
It reminds me of those that were supporting Hitler...that I am only discovering from reading, "Prequel". So shocking to this 80 year old women!
It’s unfbelievable. From this 76 years young woman.
I would identify them as terrorists who are holding us all hostage.
I don’t think they really understand that “turning it over to trump” is actually turning it over to oligarchs.
I expect “they”( the oligarchs) all know each other, kind of like crooks all know each other. Elon musk for example is no American, he is a citizen of the world of oligarchs. And they think it belongs to them.
While the lemmings applaud the kardashians.
SMFH
To Georgia girl,
Totally correct. “Traitors”! And THEY would send “traitors “ to the death chambers!
Don’t sugar coat America, just because you don’t want to be angry or sad all the time. Talk straight.... do your homework, stop pretending ,and one day if we are lucky, we will see greed and power as a failure to humanity.
Their shortsightedness and ignorance relate to the inability to see what could happen to them when they are no longer useful. And, yes, they are traitors. Absolute scum.
Let us hope the deplorables are watching as well. And (for once) thinking a bit on it. Maybe they will be less inclined to vote in 2024, and help deliver the shellacking Republicans deserve. We desperately need that.
We need to make sure they don't get to write the histories. DeSantis is sure trying.
J L,
I guess if I were Biden and Ukraine was such a big deal, I would go ahead and negotiate to a positive outcome on the "border immigration" funding the Republicans are asking for in exchange for Ukraine funding.
Why not? Even Kathy Hochul, governor of NY, is asking for some kind of immigration reduction into NY. NY City has run out of housing for migrants. So have upstate NY hotels now. Even the bluest state in the nation is calling for some immigration action so why not consider doing something with the bill in Congress where the Pubs are asking for a trade of immigration funding for Ukraine funding?
With what seems to be an obvious need, at least temporarily, to reduce migration while states can come up with more housing and services, I would go ahead and sit down with Johnson, whether I like him or not, and work out a deal.
Because, Ukraine IS important enough to sit down across from Johnson and hold my nose and negotiate.
Biden is making a mistake this time. It won't be his first.
That would be having led the confirmation hearings of Clarence Thomas to full confirmation on the Supreme Court while ignoring key testimony that he was unfit for that job.
Mike S, you are speaking wisely and rationally. But my understanding is that Mike J, despite his external demeanor of calm reason, is a Christian nationalist extremist and unwilling to negotiate, forcing instead a “winner takes all” strategy intended, not to “fix the border,” but to denigrate Biden and the Dems. If any real negotiation were possible, I believe Biden and the Dems would be doing it.
Maureen,
"is a Christian nationalist extremist and unwilling to negotiate, forcing instead a “winner takes all” strategy intended, not to “fix the border,” but to denigrate Biden and the Dems."
We do not get to pick the people we have to work with in this life. I have sat across from managers who were completely insane in order to negotiate stuff for my own engineering teams. Did I want to sit across from a narcissistic white male whose entire thought process was consumed with himself? Absolutely not.
But, did I want to get a raise for my best software people? Absolutely yes.
Getting into the pig pen is something I don't mind doing if it results in getting out of the pig pen with a newly born pig.
Mike, I get the sense that Johnson will continue to balk at negotiation to the point where his offers include Biden’s resignation. Johnson is not interested in “the border” except as a Cat O Nine Tails used to whip up rancor in the knuckledragger base
I could not agree more!! I believe that it would be like the latest Hunter Biden issue: they want him charged, he is charged, and now Comer is claiming that charging him is protecting his father!!
They are truly the dog that catches the bus.
I agree that even a clear public attempt possibly wasting time in negotiations is exactly the demonstration we need. I would like to see MJ (not Michael Jorden) be cornered every minute of the day by the press asking for details of his border/emigration plan. The more we push/pull him into the light the clearer our position publicly becomes. IMHO.
I agree, and I’d be astonished if Biden hasn’t done this and will continue to attempt negotiating.
And don't forget how they compromised on everything for McCarthy, and then still got blown up by the MAGAs at the 11th hour.
Don't forget that the belief system of someone like Mike Johnson has a deep seated hate for Biden because he is a Catholic. I grew up with people like that, they may now agree on abortion but they really hate Catholics.
As an non-theist, I believe that all Bible based religions are cults. They have ONE book they are supposed to follow. The Republicans in these cults (Catholic, Southern Baptists, etc) treat TFFG, SCOTUS, and their Congresscritters as if they are above God's laws, including the Ten Commandments. TFFG is a convicted rapist and yet, he is the leader of the Republican Party. Matt Goetz is a pedophile. The Texas Supreme Court just decided a woman cannot have a medically necessary abortion. And yet these faux-christian nationalists would rather die than vote for a Democrat.
They are attempting bipartisan negotiations, and yes, the aim is to obstruct Biden at any cost.
Did not Biden request funds to help at the border almost immediately upon taking office? It has not been answered or even discussed by Republicans? It appears Republicans are duplicitous in these latest demands? Ukraine and the border are unrelated subjects. The immigration laws need ti be changed and Republicans will not participate or actually write legislation. Republicans stand by their only plan: governance by threat and obstruction.
We've known for decades that our immigration policy needed an rewrite and neither party since the 90's has got it done. We needed a comprehensiveness policy written and agreed upon long before the crazy minority was allowed to rule this country??
I'll respectfully disagree with you Julie. When Obama was president, the Democratic-led Senate passed an immigration reform bill (bipartisan) and it went to the Republican-led House and because the Speakers of the House determine what will get voted on, they blocked even voting on it because (I assume) Republicans who don't want to fix our immigration system (or attempt it to make it better) CHOSE NOT TO VOTE ON THE IMMIGRATION REFORM BILL PASSED IN THE US SENATE.
Barack Obama publicly said for years, "Put it it up for a vote!" There's video of this. He said he would sign it into law if it passed in the House.
Both Speakers, Boehner and Ryan would NOT put it up for a vote.
So, Democrats (& some Senate Republicans) have made honest efforts to fix this problem and Republican House leadership has blocked it and then without any credibility or accountability for it, then claim to this day that 'both sides' are to blame for our broken immigration system. No. We had an opportunity to fix or improve our immigration system and House Republicans failed, and continue to fail us.
Biden is trying to fix it with Republicans who don't want to fix this problem either.
Correct sir. Clearly the hold up is, as usual, republicans. If it ain’t obstruction they will not even discuss. They should be hounded until they write a bill. Democrats just are not very good at messaging.
I haven't looked it up, but I remember that George W Bush was interested in seeing immigration cleaned up and couldn't get it voted on...There was also a McCain -Kennedy bill earlier that passed one house. There have been attempts.
So, hello Joe, I hope you read this and we can start a conversation. I believe the "fix" to the immigration "problem" is to begin with replacing the Earned Income Tax with a National Consumption Tax where everyone is paying taxes according to what they spend, not Earn. This has a psychological effect and a great leverage. 2% could pay for "Medicare for all people" then people in jobs they hate aren't kept there because of the way our healthcare is "portioned out". 2% could pay for Social Security "security", 2% could pay for education pre-K through 14 grades. As soon as a child is old enough to buy a stick of candy for $1.00, they also begin paying for their own and everyone else's healthcare, social security and education.
After this NCT has been in place and working, the U.S. could ask the Ukrainians to "vote" to become the 51st State. If they say "no thanks" then the U.S. has an "out". If they "agree" we put military bases in strategic locations in the Ukraine and draw the borders for Mr. Putin., then start collecting NCT on their 5% growing economy. The same for Palestinians. We can not continue to be the "broker" for all of the "conflicts in the world. We should be inviting immigrants into the U.S.to "grow food for the word" , not send money. As a matter of fact the 1st country we ask should be Mexico.
think about it.
Please see Joes reply below for my understanding of the point you make. Remember when Rubio and McConnell both filibustered their own bills because they thought Obama might get credit.
But Mike, how genuine is the gop trying to resolve the immigration problem. They affix it to the funding for Ukraine precisely because they DO NOT want to solve it. They need it as an issue for the 2024 campaign. The objective of the traitors in the gop is to break the government. They do not want things to work. It is performative theatre for them. Their colleagues in the gop that do support Ukraine funding have no spine to stand up for it. They are going along to get along with the traitors. This is not: Let’s Make A Deal.
Because what the tRUmpublican Party wants for our border violates domestic law, international law and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - just like the Texas abortion law!
Trumplican a better spelling.
This
Biden has moved toward Republican positions on the border and immigration. The fact is Johnson and all the people he carries water for don’t want a deal. They want Biden to adopt every single action they want and even then they will move the football and say it’s not enough. What Biden needs to do now is go national in his communication, explain what he is willing to do on the border and how it aligns with what the Republicans want while hammering on the theme that the Rethugs are selling out our own National Security with this outrageous stunt. I guarantee you that if the offices held by the respective Parties were reversed, the Republicans would be screaming to anyone who would listen how wrong this is
I imagine Joe regrets that as much as any of us. I recall making at least one mistake myself.
I am very proud of Biden and think he's accomplished amazing things. However, there do seem to be people who want him to literally look/act like the Democratic equivalent of those nutty Trump trading cards. You know, standing upon a mountain, looking like Rambo with fire shooting from his eyes. Nothing seems to be enough for some progressives.
By the way, the 3rd edition just came out. This is absolutely unreal!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Y5yoAyEikQ&t=330s
lol Jeri. Hey, me too, perhaps a time or so...
Most of what the R’s want in their immigration deal is to close off the border to all immigrants. Tucker Carlson speaks their language daily. “And, unrelenting stream of immigration. But, Why? Well,Joe Biden just said it, to change the racial mix of the country.” Certainly not in keeping with the White Nationalist vision that the Republicans have adopted for our country.
Yes, the "hysterical" voice of Tucker Carlson is one thing but the actual text of the proposal in front of Biden is another.
The Republicans are asking for money. The bill does not specify exactly how that money would be spent and, since this is America, probably almost none of it would actually be used to reduce border crossing.
Maybe some of it would go to hire a few new border security guards, not a bad thing given Hochul's request for help. Most of it will go into the pockets of corrupt Republicans so they can build swimming pools in their back yards to "fight climate change".
Like I said, if I were Biden, and Ukraine was important, I would sit down and negotiate on this one.
Biden sitting at the table with his fork in one hand a knife in the other with a grumpy face waiting to get exactly what he wants this time? This time that is a mistake.
In fact, many Americans, including Kathy Hochul at the moment, for some good reasons, wish to stem the migration from the southern border.
Do I wish we had mature adults on the Pub side who would, like adults, sit down and do a normal bill for immigration in conjunction with their Democratic partners in Congress? Sure.
But, we don't. We have a mess. But, we have to fund Ukraine. The only path to that outcome is through the rabble.
I agree with this strategy in theory and assume Dems have considered this. It would also take it off the table as a campaign issue (or lessen it somewhat). But I am assuming that the Rs would demand or are demanding something completely untenable (closing the border completely - even to asylum seekers) in order to make this an effective weapon.
"I am assuming that the Rs would demand or are demanding something completely untenable"
I grew up in Texas and, when I was a grad student at UT Austin, hiked the Big Bend area with some of my other grad student friends.
Having stood near the border and looked at the vastness of the Rio Grande valley, I can assure you that it is not possible to "close the border completely". The border of Texas is vast, desolate, and no border guards are present for huge swaths of land. Of course, those areas are not preferred crossing areas but, even when we were hiking (in 1985), we encountered many people crossing the border. I would be a little hesitant to do that hike today with Fentanyl components pouring across the border now. That was not happening then.
What can be done is to more effectively manage the crush at the normal border crossings.
Lastly, everyone should read Jared Diamond's immense book "Collapse". Especially the last Chapter.
He's not the only hysterical character to dominate our space by repeating the same BS over and over. That's the only way some needy-narcissists from the ignorant, otherwise ignored to evil get heard.
TFFG's border wall is as leaky as a sieve. It's been breached over 4000 times. I wish someone would take pictures right after a breach and then after the repairs. How much are we spending to fix this engineering disaster of a wall?
Also, Trump bragged about how many border agents he would hire and send to the wall.
https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-border-patrol-hiring-20190126-story.html
He ended up with vacancies. In 2017 the top salary for border agents was about $55K/year. And that isn't the starting amount that was the top salary. Who in their right mind would uproot their family and move them to Bumfuck, TX and try to find a good paying job for their spouse and good schools for their kids? No wonder they couldn't hire anyone and they still can't.
I live about 90 miles from New Brunswick and yesterday I saw a BORDER PATROL car at the local police station. No idea why, but at least there are good schools and good jobs for life partners here. Can you imagine being a BP Agent and being transferred from say Seattle to Lordsburg, NM?
What a stupid system we have for hiring and compensating agents and their families.
The border wall is not only an engineering disaster, but also an environmental travesty, and a waste of funds.
Desperate people are going to do what they need to do to get into the U.S. Without effectively addressing the myriad of issues driving migration from Central & South America, they're going to keep coming.
And don't forget that Border Patrol employees have to be bilingual!
Mike: From last night's PBS NewsHour...can listen or read the transcripts.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/zelenskyy-makes-his-case-to-congress-for-more-u-s-aid-in-ukraines-fight-against-russia
I agree. Action is needed. Then obnoxious aspects of the GOP “plan” can be slow walked and not enforced. In 24 they can be changed. Meanwhile we find Ukraine
*Reply to Tucker... "Say Tucker, doesn't Mexico have some responsibility for the common border and other Central American countries ? What's up with that Mr. Talking head Tucker" ? ***edit > "Also, what good was the wall in Israel" ?
Just think if he were to give them all they wanted only to watch them vote it down. Wanna bet that would happen? 🤔
McConnell did almost exactly that once.
See https://theweek.com/articles/469675/mitch-mcconnells-amazing-filibuster-bill
Why not negotiate? If you’re following the news you’ve seen that Biden and the Democrats are prepared to negotiate. But Republicans demand all or nothing.
Mike, I disagree on this.
Perhaps you've missed the remarks from other Republicans in both houses
it's their way or the highway
on immigration and they could care less about Ukraine
funding.
And yes, immigration reform is badly needed and the
Constitution delegates that
responsibility to Congress.
That's where the sticking
point is and Project 2025.
We do ourselves no favors
ignoring that manifesto. It
wasn't dreamed up overnight,
but has been in the works
for quite awhile. It is a well
laid out plan on how to destroy a government, ours.
Please don't forget that the
Republican CPac has been to
authoritarian Hungary twice.
They are a big financial arm
of the Republican party. And
this week, we have Orban's
trades in the People's House,
in closed door sessions with
Republicans. THAT should
bother you a great deal.
Victoria, I agree with all you share.
Matters of opinion 😉
Not sure you've been following. Biden has signaled willingness on the border, but the holdouts have stuck some poison pills in there, not on the money side, but on the policy and practice fronts; things that are not in alignment with American values nor international law. Why are they doing this? I believe they are purposely sabotaging the effort, because the only issue they still have high ground on is immigration. They can't afford to solve it or they will have nothing at all to motivate their voters.
Steph-one of the poison pills the R's wanted was to benefit the ultra rich by cutting back funding for the IRS so the oligarchs wouldn't have to pay their fair share of taxes.
Mike S ... What are the Republicans demanding, exactly? Mr Biden has said he would negotiate. He has before. Agreement gets reached and does the negotiation stand once it seemed agreed to or come back around? The headlines will merely read, "Biden refuses to negotiate," rather than his administration would not cave in on policies already agreed to in reconciliation or in principles fought hard for by his party and moderate Republicans who signed on to their passage. Wasn't this what happened with the CRs that got McCarthy in a knot with the Crazy 8? They connect a real need to the wheel on some foolish bicycle that has no axle.
Fred. Good points all.
Your suggestion is excellent and would be very effective classic politics. Maybe it's been going on behind the scenes and there will be a "breakthrough" today enabling passage before the children go out to recess.
Maybe I'll see a unicorn today too.
There is a big difference between donating your money and surrendering it at gunpoint.
Mike S. - President Biden has consistently stated that he's willing to negotiate. Mike J. and the extremist House Republicans state that their position is all or nothing. How can anyone negotiate with people taking an absolute stance?
Their are elements of the Republican immigration requirements that are acceptable to the president and to people like me - and I hope to you such as absolute denial of consideration or granting of asylum in contravention of both U.S. & international law. When I have a chance later today, I'll see if I can find more details about Republican's deliberate poison pill in the funding bill.
Good points all Judith. I am sure Biden is doing his best.
Biden refused to negotiate a cease fire in Ukraine and then vetoed a cease fire in Gaza. As far as I am concerned the list of his mistakes is very long and has turned off many people from the Democratic Party which would include most of my large family. The fact that HCR supports Biden’s warmongering and applauded the jobs weapons manufacturing will give us is just mind boggling. The PR that the war is going well is just that PR for Biden’s war. Don’t bother to slam or report me for my horrible anti war views. I will be letting my subscription lapse, my money is better spent with many other substack podcasters and journalists who focus on on things that would really impact people in our country, silly things like the environment and healthcare for all.
Environment and Heath are important, but beside the point here. Biden, despite your trolling, can and does multitask. So please don’t distract from your Putinphilia with “but what-abouts .” Biden is no more a ‘warmonger’ than was Jesus when his tossed over the usuerer’s tables. Both seek/sought justice, love and peace.
You’re the clueless MIC troll here, Les, and should be ashamed of yourself.
Biden’s war? The one in Ukraine? You seem to be serious. So. . .you suppose Ukraine needed any warmongers to urge them to fight back when they were invaded?
there might be more to what is happening with Israel than has been discussed here. Do you know an expert in foreign policy in that area who could give you answers?
Kathy, the photos/videos from Gaza tell you all you need to know. Bottom line, if Biden threatened to cut off military aid to Israel unless a ceasefire and massive influx of humanitarian aid overseen by the UN, rather than by Israeli occupiers, was instituted immediately, the genocide would end.
He won’t do this, so he is complicit. The world is watching, and America is hemorrhaging what little respect from the rest of the world we still have left. See the GA vote in the UN this week.
https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/gaza-is-deliberately-being-made-uninhabitable
There has to be more to the situation that's guiding President Biden's decisions regarding US Dollars arming Israel. I don't think it's greed or oligarch pressure. We have no idea what the whole picture is by witnessing it through the media. This war has been going on for Generations!
How about if Hamas gave up the hostages. That would end the war. But NO! You prefer to read and watch reports and videos put out by a terrorist band of murderers.
Nora. I understand but I think it is very difficult to find better reading than Prof Richardon’s.
I’ll be right there with you in a month or so, Nora. I subscribed because I thought Heather was drifting from historical connectivity to current events to more pundit-like government narrative commentary, and wanted to be able to comment.
Far too many commenters here have fallen into a tribal cult mentality every bit as dangerous as the GOP knuckleheads; sad thing is, their intelligence advantage over many in MAGA land hasn’t kept them from being blind to their allegiance to the lies of empire.
Good luck with that. More than 150 years after the last shot was fired, “Lost Cause” fanatics still argue that slavery was not the primary cause of the Civil War and that the southern secessionist weren’t fighting to preserve the “peculiar institution” which was the cornerstone of their economy. Today’s Trumpublican party is similarly disingenuous and will never concede that their cynical posturing endangered democracy and freedom here and around the world.
It seems to me that our failure to move on from the Civil War is complicated, but certainly sustained by political manipulators who have deployed it, along with the ennobling cover story, as a divide and rule wedge issue. Southern Democrats did so in my youth, and (Ironically) Republicans took over after Democrats expanded their party's integrity. Trump and his ilk are playing the race card and feeding the myth of lost Southern "liberty".
As far as slavery as a cornerstone of the Southern economy, it was, but I've never quite grasped how it became so endeared to the "working class". I seems to me that slave labor would just have depressed wages for those without the means to buy and maintain them.
Almost all Republicans of the past 50 or so years will forever be remembered as traitors to democracy and freedom. They didn’t just turn traitor when Trump arrived. They started long before him. They and the wealthy white christian elite men (including their organizations, the religions who support them, the corporations they own/are affiliated with, and media outlet buddies) who own Conservative Judges/Justices and Republican politicians laid the framework.
“A ‘better world’ bought by atrocities will be rotten at the core.” (Ilona Andrews)
America has a core of rottenness and evil because of the way it started. The descendants of the wealthy people who helped drive progress (in America and other countries) at the cost of the indigenous peoples, enslaved Africans, cruelly-used immigrants, and child labor are still at the top of the socioeconomic hierarchy doing everything they can to conserve their place. They still abuse. If we’re ever to change, they need to go.
Lisa, I am so with you about the core of rotten and it starting with the Natives of this country. So many atrocities including and not limited to placing Japanese-Americans in internment camps. It goes on and on….
Excellent post, Lisa. Seldom do the wealthy elite disappear even after so-called revolutions. These parasites almost always find a way to stay in power or the new elite is just a bad....I am thinking Russia and China here. I will have to take exception to the word progress because destroying the natural world as well is not progress.
They are in every country. They are above being citizens in any country because they own homes, politicians, and law enforcement in multiple countries.
Yes. And they ruin anywhere they are for locals.
So what can we do to get rid of them??? And are people in the Democratic Party wholly exempt? It seems to me that the Democrats are doing everything they can to eradicate these monstrous traitors but they seem to be multiplying!
Neuter them?
Good Idea!!!😒
😳😳
___ the outstanding story of the day is that the Republican Party appears to have decided to undermine financial support for Ukraine’s war against Russia’s invasion. (Letter)
'Since Russia’s February 2022 invasion of his country, Zelensky has emerged as a lion of the geopolitical West, casting Ukraine’s resistance to Russian aggression as a fight for the defense of liberal democracies everywhere. But his entreaties for continued support from the United States and its European partners — both in terms of billions of dollars in tangible military aid as well as binding political commitments involving accession into blocs such as the European Union and NATO — are increasingly finding a less enthusiastic audience in Western capitals.'
'Orban, the E.U.’s preeminent illiberal demagogue, has also played the conspicuous role of the bloc’s leading Ukraine skeptic. As his neighbors rallied to Ukraine’s defense, Orban maintained a degree of distance, fueled in part by a close relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin; he reportedly told Putin during an October meeting in Beijing that he “never wanted to confront Russia.” He has balked at allowing the transit of arms to Kyiv and scoffed at fast-tracking Ukrainian membership in the European Union.'
“Hungary is a neighbor of Ukraine … we know exactly what is happening,” Orban told French publication Le Point last week. “Ukraine is known to be one of the most corrupt countries in the world. It’s a joke!”
'Zelensky, who is reckoning with his country’s flagging counteroffensive and
growing internal frustrations and political infighting, called on U.S. officials and lawmakers early this week in Washington in a desperate bid for aid. “It’s a matter of life and death for Ukraine,” a senior Zelensky aide told my colleagues. “Time is of the essence: That’s the message.”
'The Biden administration has warned that its allotted funding for Ukraine is petering out absent a new injection from Congress, where Republicans are stymieing an additional funding request in part to force through their desired package of immigration reforms. Congress has so far allocated a mammoth $111 billion for Ukraine, and the White House is seeking some $61 billion more. Lawmakers disperse for the holidays at the end of the week.'
“Public support for Ukraine has fallen steadily in recent months, and Republican lawmakers — particularly in the House of Representatives, where the party’s right flank has wielded outsize influence — have expressed a rapidly diminishing appetite for funding Ukraine’s war effort,” my colleagues reported. “A growing number of Republicans in both chambers have said in recent weeks that they will not approve Ukraine aid unless it comes with a major tightening of U.S. immigration policy.”
'Orban, meanwhile, may try to wield the threat of a Hungarian veto in Brussels over Ukraine in pursuit of his own agenda. He could be a disrupter later this week when E.U. leaders thrash out a new financing proposal of 50 billion euros for Ukraine. A significant tranche of E.U. funds for Budapest are frozen over rule-of-law concerns in Hungary, amid concerns about the quasi-autocratic takeover of the state by Orban and his ruling Fidesz party.'
'Orban may leverage his ability to thwart European support for Ukraine in order to release some of that cash. “He sees this as his last chance to have some influence and wants to show that he will give nothing for free,” Peter Kreko, the director of Political Capital, a Budapest-based research group, told the New York Times.'
'In Washington, where Orban is celebrated by a section of the Republican right, the Hungarian prime minister’s allies are also pushing to end U.S. military aid to Kyiv. According to a report in the Guardian, a number of Orban proxies appeared in a closed-door session at the right-wing Heritage Foundation, which has moved ideologically in recent years closer to the blood-and-soil nationalism espoused by former president (and Orban admirer) Donald Trump.'
'Heritage is “jettisoning the Reagan-era beliefs that first brought it glory to embrace the America First policies championed by former President Donald J. Trump—particularly when it comes to Ukraine,” wrote Jacob Heilbrunn of the National Interest. “Rather than support Ukraine’s struggle to oppose Russian domination, Heritage is actively seeking to undermine it.”
And it seems Budapest has its own transatlantic plan. “Orban is confident that the Ukraine aid will not pass in Congress,” a diplomatic source close to the Hungarian Embassy told the Guardian. “That is why he is trying to block assistance from the EU as well.”
'The current mood in Washington pits establishment Republicans against Trumpist hard-liners, who resent directing American taxpayer money to Ukraine (even though much of the funding is lining the pockets of U.S. arms companies). Orban has aggressively placed himself in the latter camp and, is in turn, hailed by the American right as an illiberal exemplar, a model for how to cement power through ceaseless culture war.'
'European politicians now fear a Magyar spanner in the works. “With the problems in the United States, where the fresh money is blocked, it’s quite crucial that we don’t have a double block against Ukraine,” outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte urged earlier this week.'
'In a joint letter to their American counterparts, more than 100 senior European
lawmakers pleaded to Congress to get Zelensky what he says his nation needs, no matter some of their justified reservations.'
“We hear the concerns expressed by our American friends. For years, American leaders, Democrats and Republicans, have asked Europeans to take more responsibility for their own security. We agree with this legitimate request,” the lawmakers, led by Benjamin Haddad, a centrist French parliamentarian, said in the letter. “Moreover, military spending has risen all across Europe,” they added. “American military aid however is critical and urgent.” (WAPO, Today’s WorldView by By Ishaan Tharoor with Sammy Westfall)
Remember Churchill's words to Neville Chamberlain:
"YOU WERE GIVEN THE CHOICE BETWEEN WAR AND DISHONOUR. YOU CHOSE DISHONOUR, AND YOU WILL HAVE WAR."
The problem was/is: he chose dishonor, so WE will have war. That’s the price of foolish leadership.
The point, Peter, is to draw the attention of Americans to Democracy and the survival of it in Ukraine, along with the survival of it as an independent country. Then, too, is the survival of the Ukrainian people. Nice historical nugget, Peter. How many who read it will remember the past but not attend to the importance of the supplemental package Biden is fighting for with its aid for UKRAINE IN NEED?
That “nice historical nugget” clearly went down well with many readers, Fern, while for me it was just a passing remark I regret because it distracted attention from my main concern, the survival of democracy IN AMERICA, where it is threatened by the gang of criminal racketeers who are now holding the country AND Ukraine AND the whole world to ransom when they should have been buried alive in maximum security jails long ago.
It is bloody obvious that we must all support Biden's priority concern to assist Ukraine and act to expose now those selling the country and its honor down the river, betraying all allies and dependents, above all betraying Ukraine in her hour of need.
It is well past time to steal a page from the Trump/Abbott/DeSantis playbook and put the traitors on a plane to Moscow, where they will be welcomed with open arms, plastered with medals and given plum jobs providing useful services to the regime. After all, Putin and his cronies have already shown delight with the GOP for supporting them and their war aims. But maybe these people would like to play Putin and bomb Canada… for pretending to be “different”.
Getting to the point, Peter, about the survival of Democracy -- the freedom of the people -- is always essential. Thank you for stating it as well as you did; it merits repeating with frequency on the forum and everywhere from early in the day and through the night,
Thank You Fern. Wish this article included evidence of Putin's influence$ over our Republican party. It is not just that our magate legislators "resent" our funds going to support Ukraine, they are essentially well paid to make sure the funds don't go to Ukraine.
It is a Confederate States of America moment for this party.
For some time I was referring to the GOP as the GQP.
Perhaps we should shift to FOP. "Friends of Putin"
Or perhaps "Government Of Putin"
No GOP, no mo
Love your name.
Thanks. It was not my idea. I have to admit that I asked ChatGPT to come up with handles for Substack. My question:
"I need ideas for a handle for my Substack account. I am an Italian American man, retired public librarian, Democrat, professional genealogist, trumpet player, and golfer"
ChatGPT answers:
Creating a unique and memorable Substack handle that reflects your interests and background is important. Here are some ideas that incorporate elements of your identity as an Italian-American, retired public librarian, Democrat, professional genealogist, trumpet player, and golfer:
1. LibrarianLegacyDem
2. TrumpetTales
3. GolfingGenealogist
4. ItalianRootsRevealed
5. DemocratDeweyDecimal
6. JazzedGenealogy
7. SwingStateSleuth
8. LibrarianLore
9. ItalianAmericanEchoes
10. TeeTimeAncestry
11. TrumpetingTruths
12. GenealogyGreens
13. BlueNoteHistory
14. LibrarianLinks
15. ItalianHeritageHub
16. SwinginDems
17. GolferGenealogy
18. JazzedUpDemocrat
19. GenealogyMulligan
20. BellBookBallot
Feel free to mix and match these ideas or use them as inspiration to create a handle that best represents you and your interests on Substack.
You could have simply written those elements of your identity on strips of paper, put them in a bag, and randomly selected two of them!
GenealogyGreens sounds like a new salad ingredient. <g>
Could be a new salad bar product.
So do something about it. Get on the phone/ computer to your elected representatives and complain. Silence is compliance.
I called mine this morning. I asked why they are handing over our government to Putin. I said a lot of things. I told the Trump ass kisser that I will work real hard so that she is never elected again. And I did ask if she would go to my next doctor appointment with me since she knows more about medicine than my doctors. I need her input. They didn't say a word. They never do.
William, I do email and call representatives, Biden, Harris, even Bobert and Taylor (with suggestions). Will keep doing this and sigh… am afraid it falls on deaf ears.
My rep is bought and owned by Enbridge Oil.
We don’t have time for history to show them for who they are. We need it to happen right now - today.
Party over country. That’s the Republican motto, always. And, of course, other countries—Ukraine, Israel—count for nothing.
Republicans want power to control and a authoritarian government. I wouldn't say shortsightedness or ignorance. They just don't want Democracy to exist, no matter what the cost. Yess I agree they are traitors to the American people and this country. We must them out of office and continue to support Biden in 24.
The Republicans and their owners are dooming our young people to a world of war. We all know who to blame.
I am reminded of Charles Lindbergh not because of his brave solo flight across the Atlantic, but for his infamy as a Nazi appeaser and provocateur for America First. The reputations of so many who appeased Trump have already been ruined. The legacy of the Republican Party will be one of traitors, cowards, and criminals.
Nihilists. Like Lenin. Destroy the state. Replace it with dictatorship . .
Donald, while the minority will be remembered as traitors, the rest of the Congress Critters will be seen as complicit because their leader (TFG) doesn’t want Biden to be seen as a great leader worldwide.
Donald, I agree, history will show the shortsightedness and ignorance of the Republicans for being obstructionists. History may also similarly judge Biden who refuses to step aside now, at age 81.
Richard, of course history will judge him, and I believe quite favorably. Biden is the right person for the job, given this fraught moment we are in as a country and around the globe. One need only consider where we were prior to Jan 20, 2021, the precipice we all faced, and how much progress we have made to restore America's economy and luster.
If there were no Tromp running again in 2024, seeking to keep himself out of prison on promises that he will act as dictator to destroy Biden's impressive achievements, we wouldn't need a Joe Biden. But this, unfortunately, is where we are.
And arrogance