Putin said near the beginning of the Special Military Operation, after Ukraine—bowing to Neocon demands—backed out of their deal with Russia, that the longer the conflict lasted the tougher the peace terms would be. Of late we’ve seen increasing indications not only that there won’t be any ceasefire short of Ukrainian capitulation, but that Russia’s territorial demands will be maximalist. The most recent statement comes from Dmitry Medvedev, considered number two to Putin:
Your guess is as good as mine or the next guy's...but I guess that McCarthy thinks that in the coming days he'll bring and win a straight up/down vote on more Ukraine aid with a coalition of all the Dems in the House and enough Uniparty RINOs to easily constitute a majority.
That will make Matt Gaetz and friends profoundly unhappy since McCarthy will be sponsoring overwhelmingly Dem-backed legislation which at least half his caucus objects to. Hakeem Jeffries could do this. So who needs McCarthy? That's why Gaetz's next move is to try to take McCarthy out.
This seems to be a losing political move--the public is slowly but surely souring on the Ukraine project as surely as economic prospects sour. So who's giving Kev his directions?
But I forgot to acknowledge that Kev is in fact accountable to the small handfull of true conservatives who have the power to remove him...and today they did!
Upon hearing of Gaetz' challenge, McCarthy said, "Bring it on!"
My greatest fear, and its an informed fear, is that we will now double down on war with Russia. The internet, at least the part of it that I read and watch, is buzzing with the opinions of Col Macgregor, Judge Napolitano, Larry Johnson, Ray McGovern, Scott Ritter, Alexander Mercouris, and many more, that the Ukrainians have lost the war...that there is no way Ukraine can win. And I believe them. Even if Ukraine somehow finds materiel, and men, and technology and tactics, to win a battle or two, it cannot win the war because there is no circumstance where Russia will back away from its clearly stated requirements to end this conflict.
As a handful of readers here know, I have admitted in the past to a now-finished career as a corporate lawyer. During that career I had the occasional opportunity to watch the behavior of men (mostly men) in positions of great power who were accustomed to winning finding themselves in the disconcerting position of losing. I observed an unavoidable tendency among some of these men to reject losing (when losing was inevitable) and double down for the win. Maybe this strategy works in poker (sometimes) but in a quantitative world of men and money and power it often ends in greater disaster. In the case of Ukraine, if doubling down means that the US and the UK formally enter the war, as Grant Shapps suggests, the costs of this war, not only in treasure, but in avoidable human tragedy, and the risks of escalation, will multiply, probably exponentially.
I still have some hope that rumblings of discontent in Hungary and Poland and now Slovakia, as well as in the Freedom Caucus of the US House of Representatives, will provide a counter-balance to the double down strategy of the neocons in the UK and the US, but I am not optimistic.
The neocons will definitely escalate. The question is where. I was listening to the Duran boys yesterday and their take is that for the US neocons at least, Ukraine is now a political problem that has to be dealt with accordingly, rather than a military one. That means blaming it on Biden, getting rid of him, and therefore (they hope) sweeping the whole Ukraine thing under the carpet. Then, again according to the Alexes, the neocons can move on to their REAL target before US military influence is too degrade: China. As for the Brits, I fully expect them to carry digging themselves deeper into the Ukraine cesspit for a long time to go. We are a mighty empire after all and have to show those blasted Russkies who's the boss!
It’s hard to imagine today’s woke army actually fighting. Having been a real soldier what I see today is sickening. Many will be killed quickly if they are sent into action.
I read today that the Royal Navy in which I served is now celebrating Transgender perversion and telling sailors to express their pronouns. My son was also in but got out just in time a few years ago. The only up side of all this is, as you say, JK, that Woke armies have no chance of beating real opponents.
While there are undoubtedly competent elements in the US military, as a whole it appears to have been transformed into a social experiment first and foremost. Not good for war fighting.
Of course, Sunak attempted a walk back as soon as Shapps' comments hit the airwaves.
UK intelligence is just as dirty, if not more so, in the annointing of our resident in the WH. Not only does CIA need to be chopped, our relations w/MI6 need to be put under a new, transparent & strict 'rules based order.'
With over 98% of districts reporting, Smer is set to take 23.37% of the vote. Michal Šimečka’s Progressive Slovakia came second with 16.86%, followed closely by Peter Pellegrini’s Hlas with 15.03%.
The election’s outcome is likely to further fuel fears about Slovakia’s future foreign policy orientation. Fico has vowed to stop military aid to Ukraine, criticised sanctions targeting Russia and campaigned against LGBTQ+ rights. His rhetoric has raised concerns that Bratislava could join Viktor Orbán’s Hungary as a more Russia-friendly voice within the EU and NATO.
...
Still, the shape of Slovakia’s next government remains unclear and much will depend on complex coalition-building with smaller parties, including Hlas and Igor Matovič’s OĽaNO.
Don't forget the spate of forcible rapes by migrants on Swedish and German women and girls on New Year's Eve a few years ago. Haven't heard whether that's an ongoing issue.
That's an interesting inflection point for both Europe and America. When the government and law enforcers don't do their jobs, when do ordinary people step in? There are a lot of places where the normies are getting seriously angry about the deliberate refusal to enforce the laws.
If the globalists' aim was depopulation, they aren't doing very well. Millions of people being added to Russia, a nation that stands for everything the WEF hates.
Unfortunately, Russia pushes the clot shots and digital IDs, so not totally anti-WEF. Check out Edward Slavsquat's Substack; he's an American journalist living in Russia.
I thought at the time, from Putin's extremely fast reaction, that he must have had suspicions of a bioweapon. That was before I knew about the biolabs in Ukraine. But Putin knew.
Populist former prime minister Robert Fico’s Smer party has garnered over 23% of the vote, far ahead of its rival Progressive Slovakia, according to early results.
With nearly 92% of precincts counted, Progressive Slovakia is at 15.84% and Hlas at 15.39.
Nevertheless, counting continues, including in Bratislava, where Progressive Slovakia is leading.
A lot like Chicago. Complete with the increasing busloads of migrants. I’m hearing that just in time for the 2024 Democrat Party Convention next summer, migrant gangs will be battling for their own turf in the welcoming city. Gonna be fun times with mayor Brandon in charge. Buckle up.
Wait till those Dem convention goers travel down the Kennedy xpwy and see the construction projects underway all the while cursing under there breath with migrants looking for handouts at each entrance/exit ramp. LOL.
The Trudeau Nazi incident was a massive PR blow to the West. Up till then, it was easy to blame the Nazi-Ukraine connection on conspiracy theorists' misinformation. Now, that's going to be a bit tougher.
So which is it? Brietbart says the funding resolution passed with no Ukrainian aid, TGP
says that McCarthy cut a side deal with Schumer and McConnell to provide more money for the endless Ukrainian war.
Anyone have any insights?
Well, according to Breitbart, Big Kev has just "rolled" the Deep State with his fancy moves....
Your guess is as good as mine or the next guy's...but I guess that McCarthy thinks that in the coming days he'll bring and win a straight up/down vote on more Ukraine aid with a coalition of all the Dems in the House and enough Uniparty RINOs to easily constitute a majority.
That will make Matt Gaetz and friends profoundly unhappy since McCarthy will be sponsoring overwhelmingly Dem-backed legislation which at least half his caucus objects to. Hakeem Jeffries could do this. So who needs McCarthy? That's why Gaetz's next move is to try to take McCarthy out.
This seems to be a losing political move--the public is slowly but surely souring on the Ukraine project as surely as economic prospects sour. So who's giving Kev his directions?
His donors, the MIC.
The same folks who are running the Deep State?
Plus Kev isn't accountable to The People for 13 months...an eternity.
But I forgot to acknowledge that Kev is in fact accountable to the small handfull of true conservatives who have the power to remove him...and today they did!
Upon hearing of Gaetz' challenge, McCarthy said, "Bring it on!"
Gaetz replied, "I just did."
Gaetz 1 McCarthy 0. Game over.
Indeed. Using drug money to fund deep state ops--who woulda thunk it? No wonder I linked it.
Re who wants war w/ Russia more?
My greatest fear, and its an informed fear, is that we will now double down on war with Russia. The internet, at least the part of it that I read and watch, is buzzing with the opinions of Col Macgregor, Judge Napolitano, Larry Johnson, Ray McGovern, Scott Ritter, Alexander Mercouris, and many more, that the Ukrainians have lost the war...that there is no way Ukraine can win. And I believe them. Even if Ukraine somehow finds materiel, and men, and technology and tactics, to win a battle or two, it cannot win the war because there is no circumstance where Russia will back away from its clearly stated requirements to end this conflict.
As a handful of readers here know, I have admitted in the past to a now-finished career as a corporate lawyer. During that career I had the occasional opportunity to watch the behavior of men (mostly men) in positions of great power who were accustomed to winning finding themselves in the disconcerting position of losing. I observed an unavoidable tendency among some of these men to reject losing (when losing was inevitable) and double down for the win. Maybe this strategy works in poker (sometimes) but in a quantitative world of men and money and power it often ends in greater disaster. In the case of Ukraine, if doubling down means that the US and the UK formally enter the war, as Grant Shapps suggests, the costs of this war, not only in treasure, but in avoidable human tragedy, and the risks of escalation, will multiply, probably exponentially.
As Sundance said yesterday over on his page, there is a great deal of evidence that doubling down is the West's likely next move. https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2023/09/30/british-defense-secretary-states-they-are-putting-military-troops-into-ukraine/#more-251421. I would say that news from Russia that Putin is mobilizing substantially more troops underscores this growing reality. Russia knows what's likely coming.
I still have some hope that rumblings of discontent in Hungary and Poland and now Slovakia, as well as in the Freedom Caucus of the US House of Representatives, will provide a counter-balance to the double down strategy of the neocons in the UK and the US, but I am not optimistic.
I am afraid they cannot help themselves.
The neocons will definitely escalate. The question is where. I was listening to the Duran boys yesterday and their take is that for the US neocons at least, Ukraine is now a political problem that has to be dealt with accordingly, rather than a military one. That means blaming it on Biden, getting rid of him, and therefore (they hope) sweeping the whole Ukraine thing under the carpet. Then, again according to the Alexes, the neocons can move on to their REAL target before US military influence is too degrade: China. As for the Brits, I fully expect them to carry digging themselves deeper into the Ukraine cesspit for a long time to go. We are a mighty empire after all and have to show those blasted Russkies who's the boss!
Cass you've shared your wisdom as a former corporate lawyer many times in the past and I hope you will continue to do so. I enjoy your perspectives.
It’s hard to imagine today’s woke army actually fighting. Having been a real soldier what I see today is sickening. Many will be killed quickly if they are sent into action.
I read today that the Royal Navy in which I served is now celebrating Transgender perversion and telling sailors to express their pronouns. My son was also in but got out just in time a few years ago. The only up side of all this is, as you say, JK, that Woke armies have no chance of beating real opponents.
Yep. It's hard to enforce pronouns in the middle of a firefight.
While there are undoubtedly competent elements in the US military, as a whole it appears to have been transformed into a social experiment first and foremost. Not good for war fighting.
It's hard for me to tell who wants this war w/Russia more - UK or US?
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2023/09/30/grant-shapps-to-send-uk-troops-to-ukraine/
Of course, Sunak attempted a walk back as soon as Shapps' comments hit the airwaves.
UK intelligence is just as dirty, if not more so, in the annointing of our resident in the WH. Not only does CIA need to be chopped, our relations w/MI6 need to be put under a new, transparent & strict 'rules based order.'
Shapps is an out of control psychopath.
The Guardian:
With over 98% of districts reporting, Smer is set to take 23.37% of the vote. Michal Šimečka’s Progressive Slovakia came second with 16.86%, followed closely by Peter Pellegrini’s Hlas with 15.03%.
The election’s outcome is likely to further fuel fears about Slovakia’s future foreign policy orientation. Fico has vowed to stop military aid to Ukraine, criticised sanctions targeting Russia and campaigned against LGBTQ+ rights. His rhetoric has raised concerns that Bratislava could join Viktor Orbán’s Hungary as a more Russia-friendly voice within the EU and NATO.
...
Still, the shape of Slovakia’s next government remains unclear and much will depend on complex coalition-building with smaller parties, including Hlas and Igor Matovič’s OĽaNO.
Don't forget the spate of forcible rapes by migrants on Swedish and German women and girls on New Year's Eve a few years ago. Haven't heard whether that's an ongoing issue.
It is. There was an interesting story this past week about a 14 yr. old Swedish girl who enlisted 3 young men and they hanged her rapist.
That's an interesting inflection point for both Europe and America. When the government and law enforcers don't do their jobs, when do ordinary people step in? There are a lot of places where the normies are getting seriously angry about the deliberate refusal to enforce the laws.
If the globalists' aim was depopulation, they aren't doing very well. Millions of people being added to Russia, a nation that stands for everything the WEF hates.
Unfortunately, Russia pushes the clot shots and digital IDs, so not totally anti-WEF. Check out Edward Slavsquat's Substack; he's an American journalist living in Russia.
I'd heard that Russia developed its own Covid vaccine which was not mandatory. Guess I'll have to look & see what Slavsquat says as time permits.
I thought at the time, from Putin's extremely fast reaction, that he must have had suspicions of a bioweapon. That was before I knew about the biolabs in Ukraine. But Putin knew.
Yes, that is true, Claudia. No-one is completely blameless where the jab is concerned.
9m ago
21.54 EDT
Smer ahead with 90% of precincts counted
Populist former prime minister Robert Fico’s Smer party has garnered over 23% of the vote, far ahead of its rival Progressive Slovakia, according to early results.
With nearly 92% of precincts counted, Progressive Slovakia is at 15.84% and Hlas at 15.39.
Nevertheless, counting continues, including in Bratislava, where Progressive Slovakia is leading.
The Slovaks need to get on the ball here. Where's the drop boxes, suitcases under the counting tables, three week counts? Uncivilised brutes!
A lot like Chicago. Complete with the increasing busloads of migrants. I’m hearing that just in time for the 2024 Democrat Party Convention next summer, migrant gangs will be battling for their own turf in the welcoming city. Gonna be fun times with mayor Brandon in charge. Buckle up.
Wait till those Dem convention goers travel down the Kennedy xpwy and see the construction projects underway all the while cursing under there breath with migrants looking for handouts at each entrance/exit ramp. LOL.
Didn't the people of Chicago mostly vote for open borders? Seems only fair that they should be able to welcome the illegals they voted for.
But, but, but--we thought virtue signaling was consequence free!
Only if you live in the alternate universe that these people inhabit.
“Fantasy, first, last and always.”
that was a design feature not a flaw or bug.
The Trudeau Nazi incident was a massive PR blow to the West. Up till then, it was easy to blame the Nazi-Ukraine connection on conspiracy theorists' misinformation. Now, that's going to be a bit tougher.
Great to see that Andrews has gone. What a tyrant he was!
They could have just fulfilled their part of the Minsk II bargain.