Politics

[Tundra Tiger]

How did appeasement work when dealing with Hitler? Does anyone really think that Putin is all that different, seriously?

Trump needs to try to be more like Roosevelt (Theodore) and less like Chamberlain, IMO.

 

[mdwest]

Bessent is a low key guy.. but don't let him fool you... he is a velociraptor.. an absolute apex predator in his field... once Lutnick gets confirmed as the commerce secretary, the Dems are going to be reeling far worse than they currently are... Trump has plans for Commerce and Treasury working closely together to achieve several of his economic policy objectives..

Throw some more Elon into that mix, and shit is going to get incredibly interesting incredibly fast..

And Lutnick is now confirmed..

No one is going to be talking about DOGE or Ukraine in another couple of weeks....

Between Lutnick and Bessent things are going to focus back on tariffs, embargos, sanctions, etc very, very soon...

Howard Lutnick confirmed as Trump's commerce secretary

The Senate confirmed Howard Lutnick on Tuesday to serve as President Donald Trump’s secretary of commerce.

www.foxnews.com

Those are two very, very, smart men, that are incredibly capable...

I predict much weeping and gnashing of teeth is going to follow shortly..

 

[Pondoro]

I never thought I would live to see an american President advocate russian propaganda..jeez..

 

[WAB]

I never thought I would live to see an american President advocate russian propaganda..jeez..

It is embarrassing in the extreme.

 

[Hunt anything]

Only the the northern states voted.

Point taken but there may have been confederate soldiers in Northern Territory but at that stage of the war probably not.
I’m just trying to clarify things, personally I think Zelinski has done an admirable job in everything he has faced.

 

[rigbymauser]

How did appeasement work when dealing with Hitler? Does anyone really think that Putin is all that different, seriously?

Trump needs to try to be more like Roosevelt (Theodore) and less like Chamberlain, IMO.

If I recall a movie based on historical events…Lord Chamberlain did recieve info Hitler was preparing for war against England while he was in Germany and England afterwards secretly started their warproduction.

We live in perculiar times with perculiar persons in charge who do and say perculiar things. Its so perculiar

 

[Pondoro]

Is it true that Hegseth has instructed Pentagon to cut your defence budget by 8% every year for the coming 5 years..? Washington Post..

 

[Red Leg]

Is it true that Hegseth has instructed Pentagon to cut your defence budget by 8% every year for the coming 5 years..? Washington Post..

Sadly yes, just popped - an absolute betrayal of Trump's promise to revitalize America's military. The US armed forces will not have seen such a collapse in budget since the end of WWII. It would make the "peace dividend" of the Clinton years look like a barista's tip. Unlike then, we now have accelerating threats from China with Russia seemingly about to get a big boost by this administration.

If this happens, by the end of this four-year term, US warfighting capability will have been gutted. I really am beginning believe Putin may be directing our military posture - or maybe it is that famed combat theoretician Elon Musk. There is a longer article on the Washington Post site but is firewalled.

There is a lot of excess structure that can be cut. But those are pennies in immediate return tending to be longer term realized savings. The only way a nearly 50% reduction can be achieved in five years is by the wholesale killing of programs and gutting combat force structure - ships, aircraft, combat platforms, squadrons, divisions, etc.

Hegseth Orders 8% Cuts to Defense Budget

"Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered senior leaders at the Pentagon and throughout the U.S. military to develop plans for cutting 8 percent from the defense budget in each of the next five years, a

politicalwire.com

 

[HuntingGold]

Jack Keane was just interviewed on Fox regarding the Ukraine situation. I found the interview to have been informative and spoke much to what has been discussed (argued) here over the last few pages. Too soon for the interview to have been uploaded. Perhaps someone can attach a link later today.

 

[CJW]

I never thought I would live to see an american President advocate russian propaganda..jeez..

I never thought I would live to see a Germany so relaxed about people being prosecuted for something as simple as calling someone a 'penis' online, but, here we are. Seems a bit of a backslide in history If you get my meaning.



BTW @Pondoro I notice you had no comment on this. Which are you more worried about, hate speech and the insulted rapist, muslim or this poor 15 yr old girl?

When German law gives more jail time for calling a convicted rapist a pig, than they give the convicted rapist; then yes I will say the German speech laws are out of control.

Hamburg Germany - A 15yo girl is drinking in the park with friends, she leaves her friends to go to the toilet and gets separated from her friends and lost; she is then attacked and raped by a "migrant" who then proceeds to contact other migrants via whatsapp and invite them to the park. All told this 15yo girl was raped by 9 "migrants" that evening.

German woman given harsher sentence than convicted rapist for calling him ‘disgraceful rapist pig’

Maja R. told the court she sent the message “without thinking twice” — a brave action for a country with notoriously strict defamation laws.

nypost.com

After the trial where a female judge gave no jailtime to any of the convicted rapists who used such brilliant legal defenses as "Yes I raped her, what man wouldn't want that?".

Later a 20yo nursing student sent the first rapist a text message calling him a PIG - and because of German speech laws, calling the "migrant" a pig was an insult to his Islamic faith and therefore a HATECRIME, so the 20yo German female was sent to jail for the weekend for hate speech......

9 Convicted rapist = NO JAIL TIME!

 

[Pondoro]

I never thought I would live to see a Germany so relaxed about people being prosecuted for something as simple as calling someone a 'penis' online, but, here we are. Seems a bit of a backslide in history If you get my meaning.



BTW @Pondoro I notice you had no comment on this. Which are you more worried about, hate speech and the insulted rapist, muslim or this poor 15 yr old girl?

I agree that this is nuts.. Maybe the german courts have become too leftist.. The germans have a political complex coming from the WW2 nazi time..

 

[Hunter4752001]

I think those citing 'appeasment' miss the point. When you look at the betrayal of Ukraine, the betrayal of Europe, white-anting NATO, trade wars with your closest traditional allies, threats to the territory of Greenland and Canada, the sacking of your nuclear weapons maintenence staff, and likely removal of sanctions against Russia, close friendships with Putin surogates such as Oban, the upsurge in Chinese agression in the Pacific etc. Trump is joining Russia, not appeasing it

 

[Doubleplay]

Trump's Truth post today is literally deranged. Not a single member of his national fan club will voice any concern. He truly has taken the Russian side.

Trump unleashes unhinged tirade against Ukrainian ‘dictator’ Zelensky

The outrageous Truth Social post accused Zelensky — not Russian leader Vladimir Putin — of refusing to hold elections as a way of remaining in power unlawfully

www.independent.co.uk

This is the actual Truth post. This is directly from my president this morning. It is insane, and nearly all of it absolutely false.

Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)

Think of it, a modestly successful comedian, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, talked the United States of America into spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a War that couldn’t be won, that never had to start, but a War that he, without the U.S. and “TRUMP,” will never be able to settle. The United...

truthsocial.com

What he said is absolutely hogwash.
As an American I'm embarrassed and afraid of the end result.

 

[gbflyer]

You guys like foreign press. Here’s one:

https://www.skynews.com.au/insights-and-analysis/china-is-the-end-game-trumpputin-rapprochement-a-bold-attempt-to-play-beijing-against-moscow/news-story/3a9a6dc16114c0aa927d50a96c65aadd?fbclid=IwY2xjawIjKcJleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHZBSl0OiCaEbUrB6Ld1yAMN20ixCM31az00KIXBvzSZ10abZiVyshNZ6Bg_aem_wCjOHLPRVzGREQc3CaM8sw

Just maybe they know what they’re doing?

 

[Alistair]

For my own part, it will be fascinating to read how historians describe the events of the last few months in 20 or 30 years, let alone in 100.

I have a suspicion that we are living in truly remarkable times; the beginning of the end of the US hegemony which has lasted for the best part of a century.

America no longer a reliable ally. America supporting Russia's ambitions to rebuild their empire. America actively pushing Europe to become a power in their own right, with all the rights and responsibilities that entails. America no longer the enabler of worldwide free trade. America alienating all its traditional friends and indeed (seemingly actively) pushing them towards China. America working to dismantle NATO and cutting back its own military.

It's hard to imagine a more effective strategy towards that goal. Short of threatening to invade a NATO member or something. Oh wait, Trump has already threatened Denmarks' sovereignty, not to mention implying the same towards Canada. Never mind then.

The plot twist of course is that the new world order might not just be the US and China. But also considers the EU! An organization that was not only willing, but eager, to remain a client state if only given the opportunity to do so might now end up as an independent regional power with a lukewarm at best relationship with the US. Not to mention a resurgent Russia. Crazy times.

I suspected that Trump would begin that slide, but to do so so quickly, so aggresively, and so ignorantly, is truly impressive. In this, he has perfectly met, if not exceeded, all of my expectations.

Ironic to think that the man espousing 'America first' will likely be the one to make sure that's no longer a reality... and that he will do so to the thunderous applause of the MAGA crowd.

 

[Neophyte]

The gnashing of teeth and wringing of hands in this forum is better entertainment than any soap opera.

 

[Red Leg]

The gnashing of teeth and wringing of hands in this forum is better entertainment than any soap opera.

Except it is deadly serious and not make believe.

 

[Red Leg]

For my own part, it will be fascinating to read how historians describe the events of the last few months in 20 or 30 years, let alone in 100.

I have a suspicion that we are living in truly remarkable times; the beginning of the end of the US hegemony which has lasted for the best part of a century.

America no longer a reliable ally. America supporting Russia's ambitions to rebuild their empire. America actively pushing Europe to become a power in their own right, with all the rights and responsibilities that entails. America no longer the enabler of worldwide free trade. America alienating all its traditional friends and indeed (seemingly actively) pushing them towards China. America working to dismantle NATO and cutting back its own military.

It's hard to imagine a more effective strategy towards that goal. Short of threatening to invade a NATO member or something. Oh wait, Trump has already threatened Denmarks' sovereignty, not to mention implying the same towards Canada. Never mind then.

The plot twist of course is that the new world order might not just be the US and China. But also considers the EU! An organization that was not only willing, but eager, to remain a client state if only given the opportunity to do so might now end up as an independent regional power with a lukewarm at best relationship with the US. Not to mention a resurgent Russia. Crazy times.

I suspected that Trump would begin that slide, but to do so so quickly, so aggresively, and so ignorantly, is truly impressive. In this, he has perfectly met, if not exceeded, all of my expectations.

Ironic to think that the man espousing 'America first' will likely be the one to make sure that's no longer a reality... and that he will do so to the thunderous applause of the MAGA crowd.

We will soon see if the republican senate can grow some stones.

 

[Alistair]

We will soon see if the republican senate can grow some stones.

Fair point. If they can curb the worst of Trumps... trumpiness then things may be salvageable.

For what it's worth though, this is the damage of only a few months. We've 3 and a bit more years of drama and uncertainty ahead. How long will other nations sit tight in the hopes he'll get better before they start taking damage mitigation steps of their own?

Russia is going to be emboldened for the duration now, even if Trump walks back what he's said, the die is cast and the damage is done.

If Europe do start worrying about nato and start distancing themselves from the US and building up military strength... that doesn't start or stop on a dime. Even if Trump become conciliatory, 80 odd years of trust and cooperation is easily lost, but hard to regain.

Same with all the tariff impacts, or the relations with Canada, or the conclusions being drawn from this Russia silliness in Beijing.

I think at this point the uncertainty is going to be enough to seriously damage relations for quite a while, even if Trump never speaks again.

 

[Wheels]

Good article written a couple of weeks after the Russian invasion dealing with some of the precursors of the war.

Before Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine, a Decade of Destabilization

By Jeff Carlson & Hans Mahncke Originally Published 3/4/22 As war rages in Ukraine following the invasion by Russia, the realities on the ground are difficult to assess—it’s estimated that thousands have been killed, including hundreds of civilians, and 2 million have been forced to flee their...

themarketswork.com