Earlier today I wrote about the stalled talks over Ukraine aid. Republicans want border security measures in return for their support, and this morning it looked as though talks had broken down over their unwillingness to compromise.
I have an afternoon update on this. It's no longer that it "looks like" Republicans are unwilling to compromise. Sen. John Cornyn has just come out and said so:
“I think there’s a misunderstanding on the part of Senator Schumer and some of our Democratic friends,” Cornyn said. “This is not a traditional negotiation, where we expect to come up with a bipartisan compromise on the border. This is a price that has to be paid in order to get the supplemental.”
That's clear enough. As usual, the pretense here is that only Democrats care about passing legislation, so they have to pay a toll to be allowed to do so. It's remarkable how routinely they get away with this.
Not surprising, but disappointing. Good luck Ukraine! I’m sorry.
I would call the Reps. a POS, but I've worn that one out. There's simply no bottom to their disgusting behavior. I don't normally wish bad things on people, but I'm reconsidering that now regarding Republicans.
Conryn to Ukraine and thousands of Ukrainian soldiers (and the rest of Eastern Europe): "Drop Dead!"
At least this clarifies that the Republican Party is fully captured by Vladimir Putin, full stop. What a disgrace.
👍👍👍👍👍
You think Putin will stop at the Warsaw Pact?
Oh heck no!!!! Next Stops Finland and the Baltic states. Then on to Sweden.
How are democrats going to make the GOP pay for leaving Ukraine twisting in the wind? Is the Democratic Party helpless these days?
That's not how the Democrats roll. They don't want to tear now Republicans. They want to supply vitally needed support to Ukraine. The Reps simply have no bottom to their disgusting behavior. Tearing down things is what 3 year old's - I mean Republicans - do.
How are democrats going to make the GOP pay for leaving Ukraine twisting in the wind?
Unless a large number of American are prepared to vote for Democrats instead of Republicans over the latter's refusal to allow aid to Ukraine, and I am absolutely certain that no such bloc of voters exists, there isn't any way to make Republicans pay a price for this.
Welcome to a democracy.
Unless a large number of American are prepared to vote for Democrats instead of Republicans over the latter's refusal to allow aid to Ukraine, and I am absolutely certain that no such bloc of voters exists...
Elections are decided by the 10%-20% of Americans who don't only vote for one of the two parties. I think the odds that some of them may punish the GOP for this aren't zero, and, in a close election, the "bloc" of such voters need not be large. Remember: 99% of the political calculus employed by 99% of Republicans in Congress involves fortifying their ability to withstand primary challenges, not prevailing in general elections.
"How are democrats going to make the GOP pay for leaving Ukraine twisting in the wind? .."
The democrats may not care that much. The war seems stalemated, a little more money for Ukraine isn't going to change that. So the democrats could take Putin up on his recent suggestion that perhaps it is time to negotiate a settlement while blaming the republicans.
Putin suggesting negotiations is for me evidence that the Russian military is close to collapse. A rather small force of Ukrainians is now holding territory east of the Dnipro and the orcs haven’t been able to dislodge them.
Republicans open each party meeting with a singalong:,Whatever Puuutin wants (la la la), Puuuutin gets (la la la ). And little people, Putin owns you.
Wait for tomorrow's headlines:
* "Democrat Intransigence Dooms Aid for Israel, Ukraine"
* "Dems Refuse to Compromise, Telll Israel 'Drop Dead'"
* "No Longer the 'Adults in the Room'; Democrats Fail on Aid Package"
And, of course, less targeted (and missed!) headlines blaming a dysfunctional Congress.
It’s not pretense; Republicans don’t care about passing legislation. They’re perfectly satisfied to collect their salaries and conduct evidence-free investigations. The only legislation they actually care about is tax cuts for the rich, and they can’t pass that in this Congress.
I wonder how many Republicans will travel to Ukraine to tell Zelenskyy how profoundly they support his resistance to Russian aggression, and how much they regret that Democrat intransigence prevented them appopriating more aid.
Putin can smile now, confident it's only a matter of time before Zelenskyy flees his country or is arrested/assassinated, and a Moscow-friendly government sues for peace.
Well, none. They are pretty up front about their admiration for Putin.
The Supreme Court established, under President* Trump, that the president can declare an emergency and then transfer money appropriated by Congress for a different purpose to address the emergency.
So let's transfer money from Iowa to Ukraine to address the emergency. Maybe that will concentrate Grassley's mind.
Democrats should take to the airwaves to talk about how Republicans are using global threats as leverage to tackle their priorities, to the detriment of democracy.
So where is the TV news on this?
Never mind, I know. If they report it at all, it will be something like "Senate fails to agree on Ukraine funding."
This way, Biden can look like a failure for not stopping Putin. Trump can say that if he was president he would have ended that war in 5 minutes and that now the whole world is laughing at us. No journalist will challenge any of this bullshit.
No (person who plays the part of) journalist will challenge any of this bullshit.
FIFY.
"This is bad news for Joe Biden", Ch XXXIV
Biden IS a failure for not stopping Putin. He has been dragged into giving Ukraine the support it needed to win and now it won't happen because he dithered.
"For Liberty and Glory: Washington, Lafayette and Their Revolutions" by James R. Gaines is a joint biography which includes a discussion of the meaning of glory in that age. For both men it meant the reputation they would leave behind, and not the mere plaudits of the crowd of their own age.
In that sense, men like Cornyn and the rest of the GOP are nihilists. If Ukraine fails through lack of support, they will be damned throughout history, but what has history done for them? They're solipsists--when they die, the world will end.
Why SHOULD people care about what they're thought of after they are dead?
See? Republicans can talk out of both sides of their mouths -- one of the things Johnson learned from his predecessor.
Johnson's holding up Ukraine funding because he's not satisfied that Biden's been providing Ukraine weapons fast enough.
Got that?
Usually fascists want to help other fascists.
So Ukraine has lost the war.