No, Not Here. In Moscow and Beijing
“I Can’t Believe Our Good Luck”
That must be the phrase being repeated daily in the capitals of Russia and China. In just the first couple of weeks, the Republican administration has gone to a European security conference and first offered up everything the Russians could hope for out of Ukraine, with nothing demanded in turn. Our new not ready for prime time Defense Secretary was a one man disaster at the conference. He was clueless as to what the situation demanded. So much for American leadership.
This was followed by the equally unprepared Vice President who spoke not of unity or defense of Ukraine, but chastised NATO members for not coddling neo-Nazi parties and not letting more right wing propaganda go unchallenged.
As we found with Trump last time, the very core of NATO’s strength and existence are not only called into question but directly challenged. All this while simultaneously spreading chaos, division, and weakness at home.
Trump – the gift that keeps on giving – to our enemies.
The Impacts & Chaos Begin
We will talk more later on why the Musk-led destruction of government is wrong in process and intent, but for now just note that the effects of mass layoffs and agency shutdowns is starting to hurt in places that supported Trump but are much less likely to do so down the road. Jobs, services, economics are all crashing around the country in almost every sector of the economy. Inflation is on the rise.
Safety issues in everything from nuclear security to medical products are popping up everywhere. People around the world are literally starving and diey for lack of medicine. Pretty well no country respects us at this point, less more likes us. Trump looks increasingly like a pretend president that has no grip on what he has set loose on the country.
Who knows? If it gets bad enough in enough places, maybe a few Republicans in Congress will grow just enough courage to say, “Not on my watch.” I doubt it, but we will see.
Ukraine- Just Like Afghanistan
Remember Afghanistan? Trump made secret deals with the Taliban. Most of his own government and the government of Afghanistan had no input and no idea what was going on until the deal was done. Biden came into office at the very end of the agreed to American withdrawal, with no time left and nowhere near enough troops on the ground. Defeat, chaos, and thousands of supporters left behind.
Trump is setting up to do the same thing to Ukraine. In spite of very unclear statements that Ukraine will have a seat at the table, talks are already beginning with no Ukrainians present. Given the opportunity, the Republican administration will again sell out others for 30 pieces of silver. Another shameful part of our history awaits us. I would love to be wrong on this, but I don’t think I will be so lucky. The Ukrainians are a brave, noble people. They deserve so much better than this. So do we.
Call Out Republicans Not Just Trump, Musk
I read a good suggestion this week. While we correctly often rage against Trump, Vance, Musk, et al specficially, we should be calling out Republicans for what is happening. The Republican Congress and state parties are complete coconspirators in what is going on across the country. Call them out.
Midterm elections are right around the corner. People should be reminded daily of who empowers and supports the mess that this administration has already become. Real and deep damage is being done domestically and overseas. Real people are being deeply hurt and this will spread. Be clear in speaking out and calling out those who are collaborators and coconspirators. The Republicans own this.
The Continuing Resolution
Some real drama is about to hit the fan. In just a few weeks, the US Government will be broke, and could fail to honor our debt. Three times in the past the Democrats in the House saved the day by working with a handful of semi-moderate Republicans to pass continuing resolutions to fund the Government and pay our bills.
Now, under Trump’s direction and Speaker Johnson’s agreement, a continuing resolution is being put forward that is completely unacceptable. The debt will increase by huge, record amounts (Trump said that record for all of our history last time. Here we go again). A huge tax cut is included, almost 100% of it for the very wealthy. Huge cuts are included in both discretionary and obligated spending.
It is difficult to imagine one Democrat voting for anything like this. The Republicans are again trying to hold the honoring of our debt hostage to extreme demands. But this time they control the White House and both houses of Congress, so the responsibility is 100% theirs. If the government shuts down and we fail to honor out debts (more champagne in Beijing….), it will be the Republicans fault. The Democrats cannot save them from themselves this time around.
See you next week.
Bill Clontz
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