All_Pro_Bills

Some good points and things to contemplate. While we don't agree I appreciate the civility of our conversation. There are many grey areas and we have different perspectives. For me, this entire conflict never made any sense. I just don't see Ukraine as ever having any strategic value to the U.S. and for the life of me wonder why we ever got involved. Without the U.S. and Western Europe pushing for Ukrainian EU and NATO membership, removing an elected President in 2014 that opposed both, installing a more favorable government in his place, and heavily arming Ukraine this conflict would never have happened. There would not have been a Russian invasion. I don't see any value to our interests to participate in an exercise of isolating Russia which is now NATO's only mission. If Russia was to directly threaten us, our ability to respond is clearly superior to their abilities. But here we are. Its a mess we need to extricate ourselves from at the best possible terms. Given his temper tantrum and belligerent behavior, running off to Europe to curry favor and acquire their condemnations of the Trump administration, I'll be surprised if Zelensky lasts through the end of March. Either he's going to be deposed by a military tired of the conflict or on queue through some clandestine or other action of the US administration. He's an actor that believes the delusional he's actually the character he's playing. He'll soon retire in comfort at an Italian villa paid for by US taxpayer siphoned off our aid monies where he'll write a book or two on the conflict. The new guy will be more receptive to our interests which with a new administration, have changed since 2014. I don't see the European nations or their citizens having the ambition or desire to get directly involved in the conflict and little details like incurring casualties and deaths. After 80 years of pacifism, more or less letting America do all the heavy lifting, I'm guessing this dog won't hunt. British PM Starmer and other leaders talk a good game but that's likely all it is. And in the unlikely event they actually follow through and get their countries into this fight and incur lots of casualties I'm guessing their political careers will come to a screeching halt before long. Simply Zelensky can't survive without Washington's support and Europe can't defend itself without America either. They're both delusional if they think they're going to go it alone or defy Washington.

Its not all that black and white. This isn't some contest between the big bad Russians and Boy Scout Troop Europe. There are plenty of murderous, barbaric regimes Washington work with when the circumstances require that of us. Agencies like MI6 and the CIA are not handing out cookies and tooth brushes to widows and orphans in Africa. Look at all the US corporations set up in China to save a few pennies exploiting cheap and sometimes slave labor with their Chinese partners. What about the Saudi's. They're experts at publicly beheading executions of "criminals" Those ISIS chaps we supported to take over Syria. Islamic terrorists looking to create a Sharia state, watch and wait for it. We dealt with Russia after the break-up of the Soviet Union up until 2014 when Ukraine suddenly became important. When the Maidan coup was performed to remove an elected President that wouldn't play ball with the US and Western Europe over NATO and the EU. This all will be more closely examined by people with intimate knowledge of events. But it really got going after the Clinton campaign, along with FBI, Fusion GPS, and numerous political leaders along with media outlets manufactured and ran with the Russia hoax. Historians should have a field day creating the story of these times.

I couldn't agree with you more on the merits of that approach. But this scenario is all based on an assumption the European States are interested in reaching a peaceful settlement rather than continuing the war, escalating it by sending more weapons and their own troops to join the fighting, all with the express intent shared by Zelensky and European leaders of drawing American forces directly into the conflict though some invocation of NATO Article 5. I would say publicly let them go ahead and "own" the outcome but behind the scenes I would warn them that if their intentions are not genuine and they decide to directly engage in the conflict rather than pursue some negotiated settlement America will stop all monetary and all physical support, things like weapons, intelligence, and logistics, and withdraw from NATO and move our troops out of Europe. I might add, at this point in the process I don't trust Zelensky and the European leaders any more than I trust Putin.

To correct, the US casualty count in Vietnam was over 50,000. As for our money, the intent is to keep it at home and address our problem and issues. What many miss in these discussions that establish principles and objectives is there are two America's. America the Republic. And America the Empire. Much to the dismay of neocon and neoliberal advocates for the Empire, this administration is focused on the Republic. Voters from all kinds if disenfranchised groups tired of being ignored voted out the Empire and the special interests it serves. Like constant war. We spent all that blood and money on those wars because the pro-war forces were in charge. They're not in charge now.

Ironically, for everyone to understand the EO it will need to be printed in 10 different languages.

So you're negotiating strategy to reach a peace treaty is to demand an unconditional surrender from Russia? They would refuse to do that but might agree to that under certain conditions. They might agree to those terms if say European countries agree to remove all offensive weapons systems from their borders with Russia and then dissolve NATO. Because they'll insist that the existence of NATO as an offesnsive alliance is a threat to peace. And NATO would say no. The idea of a negotiation is for each party to give and get something of importance to them. You want them to withdraw but likely are wiling to conceded nothing in return. Or are you?

What's your solution? Impose terms on Russia, more or less a do-over you already know they will not except which leaves Ukraine fighting a war of attrition which Ukraine cannot win, and is not winning now. Leaving the only option for victory being direct US/NATO involvement which poses many risks. That's Plan A?

The European plan is meaningless without US support. The Rusians know they need to deal with the Americans. Zelensky and European leaders can dream up whatever plan they desire. They won't commit the needed resources without America's buy-in. Zelensky is pretty much finished. I wouldn't be surprised if some element in the military tired of the war, coups him out of office and makes the deal with Trump and Putin to end the war. With or without the rest of Europe's consent.

The bigger fantasy is Russia has aims to take over all of Europe. They've already demonstrated zero capability to pull that off. And can somebody explain what any of those countries have that anyone would want? They don't need more land, or resources, or people for starters. Put on your thinking cap and identify the prize here.

We still are the head. America is committed to freedom. Many of our European allies are not. They are lead by politicians seeking to maintain their power and outlaw criticism and freedoms like freedom of speech. They are afraid of their own citizens. Politicians in Germany are seeking to outlaw opposition parties. Because they are popular and threaten their power. In Romania the court canceled the results of the Presidential election vote because the wrong candidate won. In England criticism of the government can be hate speech. These tyrants want complete access to everyone's communications, including Americans. Without due proces or probable cause. There are other examples. This is not democracy. These are not leaders interested in freedom. This is tyranny. Why should we defend tyrants with blood and treasure against other tyrants? Who's to determine one tyrants is better or worse than another? In summary, it's our allies that have swayed away from the principals of democracy and freedom, not us.

I've pointed this out several times but the pro war crowd can't and won't see political actions as an extension or prelude to warfare. The way they see it, if I call you a lousy no good mofo douchebag that screws the neighbor's Cat while surfing child porn and you punch me in the face they believe you started the fight. When in reality you were provoked.

Doing everything a Russian agent would do except keeping his identity as a Russian agent a secret. Which in the espionage con game is the biggest no-no. You can't be an effective spy if every moron and idiot can figure out you're working for the other side.

The British Army consists of 30,000 active duty soldiers. Whether that size force would make any long term impact on the outcome is subject to debate. What the EU prefers is Americans on the ground.

I suspect its not over. My understanding is what they provided Bondi yesterday was already known. There's a lot more there. You, and others here, have a track record of consistently trusting the wrong people. Joe Biden's mentally competent, the laptops a fake, the Russians control our government. All nonsense. Let's all pretend a lot of high-profile individuals aren't being protected and we believe the story that Epstein killed himself in a cell where the video cameras in the cell of the jails most important prison weren't working and the 2 guard assigned to watching over this high profile inmate both claim they fell asleep on duty while nobody was disciplined for incompetence, dereliction of duty, or purposely looking the other way while a prisoner was murdered.

A solution to the strain issue perhaps? Biotech testing a "universal" flu strain treatment. you might need an account to view but its free. Disclosure, I own some shares. Cidara Therapeutics is leveraging its Cloudbreak platform to develop CD388 for universal influenza prophylaxis. Fortunately, they recently enrolled 5,000 subjects in its Phase 2b trial to assess CD388’s safety and efficacy. CD388 inhibits viral replication and activates the immune response, and its mechanism of action actually received the FDA’s Fast Track designation. https://seekingalpha.com/article/4756946-bullish-on-cidara-therapeutics-as-it-doubles-down-on-cd388-for-universal-flu-prevention

Its probably another one of those fake Lincoln Project marches. And you're assuming, without any evidence, they're Trump supporters.

I dislike corporate America too but I work for a large corporation that provides a generous salary and good benefits. The people doing the actual work are genuinely committed to doing a good job for their customers but my conclusion is most of senior management talks the game but what matters most to them is the quarterly numbers. They engage in a lot of business speak but the bottom line is what matters. If they don't hit the numbers then people are going to get let go. I think most government workers are there to do a good job too. I expect they have similar feelings about the people in charge, or maybe not? The problem is the Federal bureaucracy has grown into a 4th branch of government. Some organizations, like USAID are running their own policy and programs independent of the elected government. This can't be tolerated. There are other funky "arrangements" between government agencies and the industries they're supposed to regulate and oversee. And on top of this its apparent a lot of our tax dollars intended to provide support and assistance to people in need are really going to organizations that are purely political. Paying party members and political activists to sit on the bench in between election cycles. They don't work for the taxpayers but rather the party bosses. I could go on.

Jake's book is just stating the obvious which we saw with our own eyes and heard with our own ears while the press and the people around the President created a smoke screen to protect his Presidency from scrutiny. What I still would like to know is who exactly created the facade around protecting Joe and more importantly the identity of the person(s) actually performing the decision making duties of the President. Logically, with a President without the mental acuity to make decisions somebody else, somebody we didn't elect to that office, had to be making decisions. I expect nobody involved is in the mood to tell us how all that went down on a day-to-day basis. I've seen suggestions that Susan Rice, working in the White House, was directing traffic via directives from Obama and other former administration figures. But that is just rumor level talk for the moment.

Well those government workers and others living off the taxpayers should at least say thank you for providing them a free ride. And working for the government doesn't entitle anyone to lifetime employment. What is it the snarky liberal intellectuals tell people in the real world that are faced with hardships? "Learn to code" is it? Well there ya go.

Years ago I had a conversation with my brother who worked in the Federal government most of his life. He said the difference between my experience working in the private sector and a job in government is that if the private company is run poorly and inefficiently it will go out of business. If the government is run poorly and inefficiently they just raise taxes or borrow more money. I suspect this is more true today than it ever was before. Along with this most government workers are paid pretty well, get no/low cost health insurance, and defined pension plans for retirement. Add in lots of holidays. In the private sector we're dependent on health plans with high out of pocket expenses and high premiums and retirement dependent on how much we save in 401K and IRA accounts along with Social Security which we pay into all our lives. So not only do we pay for our own retirement we also pay for the retirement of the government workforce through high taxes at the Federal, State, and local levels.

Most libs have an extremely high opinion of themselves, beat their chests incessantly over their advanced degrees, boast of their superior intellect and life skills, their comparatively high incomes, and their clearly demonstrated high moral code and standards. As opposed to their belief MAGA and populists are hillbillies and rubes. Poorly educated and uninformed people, devoid of any morals or ethical standards of behavior. White rural drug addicts and unemployed living a subsistence level lifestyle on public assistance. Duped by the Orange Man to follow his edicts to the letter. This is what leftist/liberals believe or am I wrong? The reality is the majority of voters decided they're tired of being ruled and pushed around by a bunch of maniacs and mental patients that believe all kinds of fantasies and delusions. And as we've learned recently, pilfering the taxpayers to fund their fellow nutjobs 6-figure lifestyles. But that party appears to be over and hopefully they will suffer greatly as the reality they're useless takes hold.

Decent moral people? Like the politicians and other government officials that were running the money sucking operation that fleeced the taxpayers out of 100's of billions over the course of many years to accumulate multi-million dollar personal fortunes and fund various organizations that helped them maintain their power to facilitate the stealing of more and more? No thanks. I hope they're all tried, convicted, and sent off to prison as "convicted felons" for a long time.

Millions of Rubles? What's that come to? About 20 bucks!

With all these cuts I think it's a certainty there's going to be a recession in DC/Northern Virginia/Maryland. As for the rest of the country, probably. Only Biden's money pumping inflation splurge put it off. If you've got lots of investments in things like hi-flying technology stocks you might want to lighten up or prepare for some big losses.