December 22, 2022

"In blunt terms, Mr. Zelensky pleaded for more military assistance from the lawmakers, who are poised to approve $45 billion in additional aid by the end of the week..."

"... bringing the total over a year to nearly $100 billion. His message: Your support has kept President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia from overrunning our country. Now keep it coming. 'We have artillery, yes, thank you,' he said. 'We have it. Is it enough? Honestly, not really.' The money, he added, was not charity. 'It’s an investment,' he said. Mr. Zelensky’s visit to Washington — kept secret until the eve of his arrival for security reasons — was a dramatic show of confidence by Ukraine’s leader, who had not left his country since Mr. Putin began his assault 300 days ago."

From "U.S. Aid Is ‘Not Charity,’ Zelensky Tells Congress as a Lengthy War Looms/President Volodymyr Zelensky described military assistance for Ukraine as an investment in global security and democracy in the face of Russian aggression" (NYT).

There were "two hours of closed-door meetings with President Biden at the White House, where both men reaffirmed their determination to defend Ukraine against Russian forces."

"Standing side by side in the East Room with Ukraine’s flag hanging next to gleaming Christmas decorations...."

“So there can’t be any just peace in the war that was imposed on us,” [Zelensky said].

Mr. Biden pledged a united front with Mr. Zelensky, promising that “we will stay with you for as long as it takes.”

So we are committed to an endless war... with Russia?! 


Now, after rallying dozens of nations to oppose Russia’s invasion, Mr. Biden finds himself needing to hold that coalition together for longer than anyone inside the White House imagined at the start of the war....

Why didn't anyone inside the White House imagine endless war? Isn't endless war our specialty (up until the point when we disastrously give up and with draw)?

There is growing evidence that Americans in both parties are weary of the ongoing conflict. Some Democrats have been hearing from constituents who question the routine infusions of aid and are pressing Biden administration officials to say how they think the conflict will end — and when.

You want to ask the same people who couldn't imagine that it would last this long to say how they think it will end? 

We're at the inspirational stage:

“In two days we will celebrate Christmas, maybe candlelit, not because it’s more romantic, no, but because there will be no electricity....”

95 comments:

Owen said...

I imagine Biden offered similar assurances to the Afghanis. Right before he bailed.

But I won’t bother checking. Who cares any more?

Gahrie said...

I have been talking about how much the beginning of the 21st century resembles the beginning of the 20th century (gilded age leading into the Great Depression, rise of the Progressive movement, global pandemic, crippled president in office being used as a puppet, big city Democratic Party machine politics... and now we get to add blundering into a world war?

Stephanie A. Richer said...

I am just amazed at the ease in which Zelensky can pop over to address Congress as well as how convenient it is for people like Nancy Pelosi or Sean Penn to take a quick jaunt over there.

Out of curiosity, did Zelensky bring a spreadsheet or sumthin' to show how he has spent the monies given so far? Did anyone think to ask him to bring an accounting?

Lawnerd said...

My father was born in Ukraine and I have a soft spot for Ukrainians. But I’d really like for the US to push for a negotiated end to this conflict.

Gospace said...

Remember when Democrats laughed at the idea of Russia being part of The Axis of Evil? Now the Democrats have always been at war with Eastasia, uh, er- Russia, and supporters of the freedom loving Ukrainians. Or something like that.

If you voted for Biden because Trump- no, to hell with that- if you voted for Biden you voted for this. You are totally 100% responsible for it. Doesn’t matter if you voted for Biden because you loved Biden and the Democrats or voted for Biden because you thought Trump was rude, crude, and socially unacceptable. The war in Ukraine is your fault. Or is it the war against Russia?

Next up the ChiComs invading somewhere. They have eyes on Siberia, and the Russian army is occupied elsewhere. And not doing so hot. Invasion of Taiwan? Methinks they’re intelligent enough to realize they haven’t got the amphibious capability to succeed. The natives in Siberia are probably more genetically Asian than Russian. Would they welcome the Chinese coming to liberate them?

Big Mike said...

So we are committed to an endless war... with Russia?! [emphasis in the original]

Looks like it.

Why didn't anyone inside the White House imagine endless war?

Because everyone expected Ukraine to lose quickly? That’s my guess. An alternative explanation is that some did imagine it but Joe Biden, being Joe Biden, refused to listen to them. A third is that they did imagine it, but saw ways to skim off obscene amounts of money from the war going on and on and on.

You want to ask the same people who couldn't imagine that it would last this long to say how they think it will end?

Well, when you put it that way

rhhardin said...

It represents the value of equipment sent more than money to the pockets of the Ukrainians. The money goes to military equipment makers probably mostly in the US.

The ability of the West to outproduce Russia is the current edge for Ukraine.

Humperdink said...

Kissinger recently pushed for a negotiated settlement .... and was summarily vilified.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

We couldn’t mask up for as long as it took and we are going to “stay with you” for as long as it takes? And the masks we were told were literally about keeping people alive.

On the other hand, “Stay with you for as long as it takes” is a loaded statement.

rhhardin said...

As Zelensky said at the beginning when the US offered him asylum, I want ammunition, not transportation.

Leland said...

+1 to Owen at the top.

gilbar said...

Isn't endless war our specialty (up until the point when we disastrously give up and with draw)?

Makes you Wonder.. If the Ukraine has Thought about This. WHAT Happens to american allies?
Hillary Clinton: 'What Difference At This Point Does It Make?!'
As Owen said...
I imagine Biden offered similar assurances to the Afghanis. Right before he bailed.
But I won’t bother checking. Who cares any more?

retail lawyer said...

Does anybody wonder if Zelenski is blackmailing Biden? Ukraine is the most corrupt country in Europe and the playground of the Biden Crime Family, so maybe . . . People were so quick to opine that Trump was being blackmailed by Putin, with no evidence, but so reluctant with Biden with lots of evidence.

tim maguire said...

The US and Russia have a long history of screwing with each other in proxy wars and it's in the United States' interest to see somebody else degrade the Russian army, but it's serious and dangerous to come right out and say it like Biden is. It should be done more quietly, and through 3rd countries where possible.

tim maguire said...

Lawnerd said...I’d really like for the US to push for a negotiated end to this conflict

The problem is that a negotiated end is just another step towards the destruction of the Ukraine as a nation. Putin will not accept any settlement that doesn't include giving territory to Russia. That didn't satisfy them last time and we have no reason to think it would satisfy them this time.

Humperdink said...

Olena Zelensky's gift card has been replenished, just in time for Christmas.

wendybar said...

Where do you think the corrupt are getting their money laundered money from?? This is ridiculous. We are funding Ukraine, whilst an invasion is happening at our Southern border that the corrupt in Congress don't seem to care about.

stunned said...

I said it before and i say it again - fuck Ukraine, a country that, as we speak, or rather, as zelensky speaks at the wh, names the streets after nazi collaborators who shot their victims, pulled gold teeth from their mouth, melted the gold down and sold the alloy to enrich themselves. These pos have streets named in their honor in Ukraine of today. Ukraine and its heroes.

D.D. Driver said...

Sending massive checks directly from the U.S. taxpayers (future taxes paid by your children) to the defense industry is not "charity."

Noted.

We REALLY need to see how the CIA and DHS manipulated Twitter and the MSM to push us into poking our nose in this conflict. How much of what we believe to be true is accurate and how much are carefully curated "facts" served up by the spooks.

I hope this is the next topic for the Twitter files.

Wilbur said...

Are the Dems interested in the carbon footprint of the Ukraine armed forces? After all, isn't that the true existential crisis of our age?

wendybar said...

Meh...this trillion dollar tax payer funded bill is giving over a billion dollars to the liars that have lied to us and collected Pulitzers for their lies. WHY the hell are we funding a billion dollar monument to DC journalists, when we are being invaded, we can't afford food or gas, and we are funding Ukraine now?? Pissing away as much of our money as they can get their grubby little hands on.
These ASSHOLES in congress hate us. They are hated back, for obvious reasons. This is not going to end well. https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/12/massive-omnibus-bill-includes-funding-monuments-dc-journalists/

wendybar said...

Instead of a Ukraine flag, handcuffs should have been placed on this skunts wrists. She is a liar. SHE is at fault for 1/6. SHE belongs behind bars without due process like she is forcing American citizens who took selfies in the Capitol. https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/12/breaking-house-republicans-locate-emails-text-messages-implicating-pelosi-failed-jan-6-capitol-security-operation/

wendybar said...

Nancy Pelosi is a liar. SHE planned it all. https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2022/12/nancy_pelosis_failures_helped_create_the_capitol_kerfuffle_on_january_6.html

D.D. Driver said...

Nancy Pelosi is a liar. SHE planned it all.

And the Trumpers were her useful idiots. Your point?

Black Bellamy said...

I love how people who are up in arms about giving Ukraine money give absolutely two shits where the other 99% of the budget is going.

Dave Begley said...

For $100 billion, can’t we get a decent speech? Zelensky is no Churchill.

The Bidens get paid millions by Burisma so we can pay billions to Ukraine.

wendybar said...

Black Bellamy said...
I love how people who are up in arms about giving Ukraine money give absolutely two shits where the other 99% of the budget is going.

12/22/22, 5:50 AM

We know where it is going....INTO the pockets of the politically connected...AS USUAL. We ARE pissed about the whole debachle, but with traitors like Mitch McConnell in charge, did you really expect any change??

Enigma said...

Maybe Mr. Zelensky should check in with South Korea about the prospects for defeating a superpower war sponsor next door. Realpolitik demands realism.

Sincere question: Did Korea or Vietnam have a better outcome? One remains divided and the other is united. South Korea is a world leader in electronics and cars, while North Korea remains a leader in military oversight of farmers and kidnapping random women with submarines. Vietnam is progressing but remains internally divided.

Ukraine had many ethnic Russians inside the pre-war border, so guess the likely future course Mr. Z.

Mr Wibble said...

Everyone thought that the war would be over in a few days or weeks, so the US had no problem offering up pie-in-the-sky promises of support. After all, it's not like the conflict would have lasted long enough to actually require us to honor those promises.

I don't think Zelensky is blackmailing Biden or others. If anyone is threatening anything, I'd guess it's the eastern European members of NATO. They know that if Ukraine gets carved up, then they'll be next. They are also looking at this war as a test of NATOs ability to provide support in the event that they face Russian aggression. If the US, UK, Germany, and others aren't willing or able to endure the costs and hardships, then there's no value in remaining in NATO, and that would destroy the alliance.

gilbar said...

Black Bellamy said...
I love how people who are up in arms about giving Ukraine money give absolutely two shits where the other 99% of the budget is going.

What are you basing That on, BB? Can we assume that you're just pretending it to be so?
I, for One, care a LOT about the rest of the budget.. Particularly the Trillion Dollars for debt interest

Mr Wibble said...

Personally, I'm rooting for endless war, hopefully sucking in the US fully. The idiots who voted in this incompetent regime deserve to see their sons and daughters shipped home in body bags.

Humperdink said...

"I love how people who are up in arms about giving Ukraine money give absolutely two shits where the other 99% of the budget is going."

Wrong. That, and your math is off.

Howard (not that Howard) said...

Trust me, Black Bellamy, we absolutely give two shits. The myriad handouts to favored constituencies illustrate perfectly what whomever actually said: "When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will be the end of the republic."

That this "budget" is being written in the Senate is a travesty. Anyone who votes for Democrats for Congress is willfully participating in the destruction of America.

Richard said...

When Hitler ordered the remilitarization of the Rhineland in 1936, his senior officers knew they didn't have the combat power to actually do it if the French resisted. ("a single French platoon").
They'd have returned to Berlin and pitched Hitler.

RideSpaceMountain said...

Code Pink and other antiwar protestors are nowhere to be found. Where's the disruptions? The sit ins?

FUCKING COWARDS. HYPOCRITES.

BUMBLE BEE said...

We're living the democrat dream. Bought and paid for by NYT, WAPO and the Deep State. Confirmed... 87000 new hires. Just like Mr. Orwell wrote the script.
War mongering dems, never gets old.

BUMBLE BEE said...

Howard (not that Howard)... ParticipatED check yer watch. It's a matter of time now.

Misinforminimalism said...

As we reflect on the utter and complete failure to effect any meaningful change in Afghanistan after 20 years of war and "nation-building," are we allowed to ask, what are the American people getting for their $100,000,000,000 (and counting) "investmment"?

It's not about saving lives. Arming the Ukrainians (and whatever even less savory actors the Ukrainian arms dealers sell them to) certainly increases the death toll of the war. So it must be keeping Ukraine from losing? Why? What geopolitical shift would ensue from Russian victory that would have any lasting impact on American interests? Russia has proven itself to be a third-rate player on the world stage, militarily. There's no credible threat of Putin reanimating the USSR.

I'd like someone to make the case for this policy without using platitudes and ignoring history. As a former supporter of our wars in the Middle East, I'm theoretically persuadable. But there's no persuasion going on.

As I see it, this war is being done at the behest and for the benefit of the Deep State. That's a statement that only a year ago I would've only made mostly in jest. But now it's, to me, a dead-on certainty.

Howard said...

We are not about to send American boys 5 or 7 thousand miles away from home to do what Ukrainian boys ought to be doing for themselves.

Lyndon B. Biden

wendybar said...

Code Pink and the Pussy hat brigade only work when Republicans are in power. Obviously. The pussies are fine with pedophilia, and Joe Biden sexually assaulted Tara Reade and showered with his daughter. They don't care that Hunter screwed anything he could get his hands on. Notice "journalists" have "NO" interest in THOSE stories.

MikeR said...

"There is growing evidence that Americans in both parties are weary of the ongoing conflict." I see no such evidence. The leaders of both parties are gung-ho in support, and they are much more interested in satisfying the arm manufacturers.

Temujin said...

I'm so disgusted with our Government.
I have two visions:
One of Nancy Pelosi ripping up President Trump's State of the Union Address in front of the nation and the world. Scowling and displaying her loathing for both this country and the person leading it at that time.

And the other, of Nancy Pelosi and Kamala Harris, displaying the Ukrainian flag over the podium in our House, smiling broadly like they just gave the world a piece of cake and we were to be so glad that they did.

My disgust for both parties could not be higher than it is today, as they're about to pass another massive blundering spending bill that does much for the national security of other nations, but gives the middle finger to those of us living here. (PS- unless you are running an LGBTQ grift program).

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Putin didn’t count on the American people’s willingness to get into other peoples fights.

We just can’t say no and walk away.

wendybar said...

I am with you Temujin. I am sick of them all.

Kate said...

This is why I voted for Trump. Not specifically, obviously, but in general. This kind of deep state, military industrial complex, neocon world building BS was something he didn't do. Biden's history of a lifetime in Congress (without even counting his family's corruption) guaranteed he would be exactly the kind of potus that did this.

wendybar said...

They are ALL a bunch of LYING GRIFTERS. Nobody is paying attention to their lies anymore, anyways....(except "journalists" (activists))

"How dare Volodymyr Zelensky interrupt such an important defense of democracy by the Jan. 6 Committee! What sacrilege! It’s so typical of the Committee. They weren’t going to be able to get the attention they wanted because of everything else that was going on, so they put it off. They must have been boiling that Zelensky upstaged them."


https://redstate.com/nick-arama/2022/12/21/jan-6-committee-fails-again-and-proves-its-all-about-the-drama-with-latest-move-n677098

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

I'm on board with Kentucky losing Mitch McConnell.

Problem is - every 6 years - he is re-elected in a landslide.

What can be done?

tim in vermont said...

We immediately recognized the coup leaders in 2014 as the "legitimate" government of Ukraine and they have spent eight years in a civil war trying to solidify control over regions that do not want them. The SMO was just one more event in a series of escalations by both sides in that civil war, we arming one side, and Russia arming the other.

Why did we choose a government that led to civil war? What was our goal there? It certainly was not stability in Europe, or even peace in Ukraine, it was a continuation of the neocon dream of dismembering the Russian Federation.

tim in vermont said...

"I don't think Zelensky is blackmailing Biden or others."

He has the motive and the opportunity.

CWJ said...

"I am just amazed at the ease in which Zelensky can pop over to address Congress as well as how convenient it is for people like Nancy Pelosi or Sean Penn to take a quick jaunt over there."

In her years as a high school foreign exchange local coordinator, my wife supervised several Ukrainian students. She's still in touch with them, and their social media threads are just as full of selfies, clubbing and having fun as they were before the war. Indeed, the war and its impact barely get a mention, and then only from time to time. Having an admittedly narrow window to the "facts" on the ground is a valuable resource (corrective?) In evaluating the narrative being fed to us.

Mr Wibble said...

He has the motive and the opportunity.

Blackmail requires there to be a negative consequence of releasing it. There is nothing he could release that would in any way harm Biden.

Tina Trent said...

I sympathize with the Ukranians. But this drama of waggling flags in Congress is clownish, and Pelosi practically blowing Zelensky ignores important foreign policy and geopolitical realities which are far more nebulous.

Wag that tail any harder and the shit will be all over the Democrats. Young men in both parties are sick of being political war fodder, and it's a disgrace that a war effort fuelled by the ladies' club of the House doesn't have AOC and Harris' and Biden's daughters on the front lines too. Money where your mouth is, sweeties.

Robert Cook said...

"Out of curiosity, did Zelensky bring a spreadsheet or sumthin' to show how he has spent the monies given so far? Did anyone think to ask him to bring an accounting?"

You're asking of Zelensky something our own Pentagon is incapable of doing.

Robert Cook said...

"'Sending massive checks directly from the U.S. taxpayers (future taxes paid by your children) to the defense industry is not "charity.'

"Noted."


It is not charity; it is theft from the American people, the main revenue stream for the "defense" (sic) industry.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

21 Senate Republicans are voting for the Trillions in spending on OTHER nations' border security, and the ALL-Big SMILES war machine. (and other waste. Murkowski gets all sorts of goodies - gee we are all so shocked)

All 21 Republicans - all of those cretins need to be exposed and defeated. will they? probably not. Kentucky votes for Mitch in over-whelming numbers.
Perhaps its time to stop bitching and get out there and do something.

Big Mike said...

Does anybody wonder if Zelenski is blackmailing Biden?

Los of people.

Ukraine is the most corrupt country in Europe

@retail lawyer, you really need to travel more. It’s way up there, of course, but corruption is a way of life practically everywhere in Europe, and especially among former “republics” that were part of the old Soviet Union.

and the playground of the Biden Crime Family, so maybe . . .

True that.

People were so quick to opine that Trump was being blackmailed by Putin, with no evidence, but so reluctant with Biden with lots of evidence.

Also true, especially given that Joe Biden is on tape boasting about getting an investigation into corruption at Burisma Holdings Ltd squelched and the prosecutor fired at a time when his son Hunter was on Burisma’s board.

mikee said...

The US military was successful - in terms of holding territory - for as long as we wanted to remain in Vietnam, and South Vietnam fell only after the US military left. Same, really, for Afghanistan. In one conflict we faced political fanatic nationalists backed by the communists. In the other we faced religious fanatic nationalists backed by Islamists. What we did not do, or could not do, was change the local cultures to ones compatible with Western Civ thinking, values, ethics or behaviors strong enough to resist their conquest by the fanatics.

This proxy war can continue as long as we are willing to send war materials to Ukraine. They know what Russian domination is, and are willing to oppose it.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Well there was one candidate who actually was president for a short time who ran against the endless war monoparty in DC but no, we just had to get the lousiest senator ever to shuffle into the White House so the endless war bipartisans could start and feed another forever war. It was the most predictable thing ever. Yet even the I’m-for-boring crowd fell for it.

Now what?

Amadeus 48 said...

I have seen and heard this all before. We will spend five times as much money and stay ten years beyond anyone's beginning estimate--and then we will walk away at the end and our ally will collapse. See Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria. Remember, the Obama generals are not warriors. They are social workers with ribbons on their chests. Obama sacked all the warriors.

Lurker21 said...

I don't think most people are aware of what's in this latest stupid omnibus appropriations bill. The representatives themselves haven't read it. It's not a single identifiable target, but a massive bundle of little targets. It's also something of a joke. Here's a sample of what's in it.

Expressly prohibits Border Patrol funding from being used to improve border security…
While allocating $410 million towards border security for Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Tunisia and Oman
A “Ukrainian Independence Park” in Washington DC
$335 million to prepare for an influenza pandemic, including the use of surveillance tools.
$65 million to help ‘Pacific salmon’ populations (and those in charge of handling the money, we assume)
$3 million for ‘bee-friendly highways’ and another $5 million for the salmon
$575 million for “family planning” in areas where population growth “threatens biodiversity.”
$65 million in two programs for Senator Leahy and a federal building named for Nancy Pelosi
$3.6 million for the “Michelle Obama Trail”
$477k for “antiracist” training, $3 million for a LGBTQ+ museum in NYC, $1.2 million in “services for DACA recipients”
$524.4 million for the NIH to fight “structural racism”
$7.5 million to better understand “domestic radicalization” and $1 million for gun violence research
Gender programs in Pakistan and $200 million for Gender Equity
A 15% increase in the vaccine injury fund
$11.33 billion for the FBI, $1.75 billion for the ATF and $2.63 billion for US attorneys (all significant increases over the previous year)
$70 million for minority business development, an increase of $15 million from Fy22


You can say you're opposed to all that, but so what? It's an amorphous blob, like DC itself. Conservatives have been talking about those new IRS agents for months, without the rest of the country caring. Bee-friendly highways and the Michelle Obama Trail aren't going to rouse the sleeping majority either. It's no surprise that people focus on aid to Ukraine.


The German Army could say after the war that it would have overthrown Hitler if a French platoon had fought back against the Rhineland occupation, but are we really to take them seriously? They would have fought that platoon and taken back the Rhineland -- they were the German Army after all -- and it's anyone's guess how things would have gone from there.

rcocean said...

Why is Congress so full of disgusting clowns? Zero money to secure our Southern Border. %100 Billion to help secure Ukraine's border. Of course, a lot of that $100 billion is ending back in the pockets of the Congressmen's family and friends.

Notice that whenever Schumer, McCarthy, Pelosi, and McConnell all agree on something its bad for the average American. What horrible shits.

tim in vermont said...

It's kind of amazing to me how many Americans are crowing about how getting tens of thousands of Ukrainians killed because we are paranoid of Russia steamrollering Europe, despite all logic, on the premise that it's a bargain!

This is repeated heavily by Russian propagandists, you can be sure, "to the last Ukrainian" is a common refrain on their side.

tim in vermont said...

Ukraine is selling us the flower of their youth at ten cents on the dollar! Yipee!

wendybar said...

As Nancy and Kamala wave the Ukrainian flag in the halls of Congress, just remember, Nancy is the skunt who ripped up the State of the Union speech in front of the world, and is the one who refused the security for the Capitol which resulted in the imprisonment of Political Prisoners held in a gulag without trial for 2 going on 3 years. SHE needs to be subpoenaed for her part of the set up.

Mary Martha said...

The manipulation is so very obvious.

Ukraine doesn't celebrate Christmas in 2 days. They celebrate it on January 7 like most Orthodox.

Sure, there is a Catholic and Protestant minority, but January 7 is Christmas in Ukraine. My Ukrainian friends here I Chicago prefer it that way - getting all their gifts during the post-Christmas sales.

Charlie said...

We have a hot war going on between Ukraine and Russia and we just did a horribly lopsided prisoner swap with Russia that everyone thinks was wrongly done.

Why is nobody talking about Joe Biden's family's involvement and the possibility of blackmail? There is literally no discussion of it even being a possibility......except here at Althouse. Odd.

hombre said...

This is a lot more costly than Clinton's bombing of the Sudanese aspirin factory, but at least as distracting.

Michael K said...

The Uniparty, plus of course, the US DOD are all min for war with Russia. I wonder if Putin really is threatened with regime change he will go gotterdammerung, like Hitler?

Michael K said...


Blogger D.D. Driver said...

Nancy Pelosi is a liar. SHE planned it all.

And the Trumpers were her useful idiots. Your point?


Minus, of course, the band of FBI agents. I wonder which was the majority?

Yancey Ward said...

We should have been working towards a cease-fire in this madness for the last 10 months. This sort of thing could easily spiral into WWIII, and no one will win that war. Not all of this is Biden's fault- much of the fault can be laid at the feet of every President going back to 1991. What should have been done on the breakup of the Soviet Union would have been to redraw the borders to minimize the overlapping ethnic divides, and this wouldn't have been much of an issue since the borders being redrawn were drawn by the Soviets in the first place.

Here are the most likely scenarios going forward from this sorry state of affairs:

(1) A stalemate along the present lines, with thousands of Ukrainians and Russians dying every month, with far more Ukrainians than Russians.

(2) Russians gaining ground inch by inch for the next 2 years as the country becomes better mobilized to support the effort. Remember, this is still a mismatch unless NATO actively engages with direct conflict with the Russian military.

(3) Ukrainians gaining ground inch by inch as the Russians slowly lose the will to fight this war.

(4) Russian builds up the forces for an overwhelming offensive in the next 6 months that finally breaks the stalemate line and moves it further west, maybe even taking Kyiv, finally.

All four of these could easily allow us to blunder into WWIII, especially given the stupidity of the leaders on both sides of this conflict. If the Ukrainians start to really win, Putin could easily say to himself, "Fuck it all, let's nuke everyone." If the Russians begin to really win, Biden's puppet-masters might not be willing to suffer the humiliation either, and launch us into a NATO/Russia war that then leads to Putin saying to himself, "Fuck it all, let's nuke everyone."

Moondawggie said...

Dave Begley said: The Bidens get paid millions by Burisma so we can pay billions to Ukraine.

You nailed it, bro. A highly successful investment on Ukraine's part.

For the US taxpayer, maybe not so great.

Roger Sweeny said...

"“So there can’t be any just peace in the war that was imposed on us,”"

Well, then we are truly screwed. Time to admit that, so far at least, everyone is losing--and it's time to cut the losses. Better to have a peace settlement in 1915 than 1918.

D.D. Driver said...

"Minus, of course, the band of FBI agents. I wonder which was the majority?"

Useful idiots always see themselves as the victims. You were fucked over by 23andMe. The FBI just took advantage.

Joe Smith said...

'I love how people who are up in arms about giving Ukraine money give absolutely two shits where the other 99% of the budget is going.'

Some of us care quite a lot, but the topic of this post is money to Ukraine.

Apparently you have a reading comprehension deficiency.

Or maybe you're just not very bright...

rcocean said...

Zelensky is willing to care about christmas, when Uncle Santa Claus is giving him $48,000 million. Probably building another mansion in Switzerland.

Joe Smith said...

Russia has shown itself to be a third-world army at best.

There is no danger of them sweeping over Western Europe any time soon.

If the Ukrainians can't defend themselves without our money, then they don't deserve their country.

Rollo said...

I dug Volodimir's dirty sweater, but it would have been cooler if he came to Capitol Hill in a tank or armored personal carrier, like John Wayne coming to Harvard in the Seventies.

Big Mike said...

If you voted for Biden because Trump- no, to hell with that- if you voted for Biden you voted for this. You are totally 100% responsible for it.

@Gospace, as for me, I would include people who stuck their nose up in the air and declined to vote for either candidate on the grounds that Biden was a lying, incompetent, idiot but nonetheless pthinking Trump was icky.

wendybar said...

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...
Well there was one candidate who actually was president for a short time who ran against the endless war monoparty in DC but no, we just had to get the lousiest senator ever to shuffle into the White House so the endless war bipartisans could start and feed another forever war. It was the most predictable thing ever. Yet even the I’m-for-boring crowd fell for it.

Now what?

12/22/22, 9:21 AM

Their hatred of the man outweighs any logic they ever had. They were too blind to see.

Laughing Fox said...

Our hostess worries about an endless war with Russia. It's a reasonable worry. But I would like to see her worry about an endless effort to stop the use of fossil fuels (and nuclear reactors) and depend for our energy on windmills and solar panels with no adequate ways of storing their energy. Or maybe worry about building a poor non-taxpaying underclass of almost 50% of the population that is increasingly divorced from productive work and the emotional stability and economic rewards work offers.

These are the trends that are destroying our country, not our opposition to Russia's military expansion.

donald said...

Biden and Zelensky need to die. They are evil men catapulting us into a world war.

Jon Burack said...

Ann,

"with draw"? I wondered about this. But draw with what, I might ask?

Rusty said...

D.D. Driver said...
"Sending massive checks directly from the U.S. taxpayers (future taxes paid by your children) to the defense industry is not "charity."

Noted.

We REALLY need to see how the CIA and DHS manipulated Twitter and the MSM to push us into poking our nose in this conflict. How much of what we believe to be true is accurate and how much are carefully curated "facts" served up by the spooks.

I hope this is the next topic for the Twitter files."

The CIA and the DHA, huh. How about the Democrat party? This whole thing didn't have to happen. Biden,(his handlers) and the Democrat made it happen because Orange Man Bad reasons.

Sheridan said...

Declare Zelensky a US citizen and install him as Biden's VP. Nothing will change except the grift may be slightly reduced. No need then to launder money in Ukraine, just pocket it at the source.

n.n said...

The Slavic Spring on the heels of Afghan Spring, Libyan Spring, Syrian Spring, Egyptian Spring, Iraqui Spring, etc. Now, they care.

Howard said...

What's interesting is you people are so much more nutty than the Instapundit community whom by and large are strongly anti-Putin and pro-Ukraine.

Yancey Ward said...

So, Howard, when are shipping out for Ukraine?

Michael K said...


Blogger Howard said...

What's interesting is you people are so much more nutty than the Instapundit community whom by and large are strongly anti-Putin and pro-Ukraine.


Howard projects a lot and his partner and soul mate Inga is in full agreement.

Known Unknown said...

"I'm on board with Kentucky losing Mitch McConnell.

Problem is - every 6 years - he is re-elected in a landslide.

What can be done?"

He is 80 years old and Father Time is undefeated.

Achilles said...

Howard said...
What's interesting is you people are so much more nutty than the Instapundit community whom by and large are strongly anti-Putin and pro-Ukraine.

Howard obviously doesn't actually read the Instapundit comments. Or he is just being dishonest as usual.

It is actually quite amazing to watch Howard cheer the pullout of Afghanistan and then do a complete 180 calling for another endless war with Russia that he neither cares about nor ever plans on supporting himself in any way.

Howard will be cheering in 5-20 years when we abandon the Ukrainians and leave Ukraine a burned out husk with a dead generation.

His tiny little mind wont even understand what the problem is.

tim in vermont said...

I gotta hand it to you Howard, your stubborn refusal to use "who" and "whom" correctly has created a kind of style for you. It's right up there with "you people."

The Instapundit community is notable for its lower average IQ.

tim in vermont said...

"There is no danger of them sweeping over Western Europe any time soon."

We wanted this war because Russia is weak, not because it is strong. Ronald Reagan explained the dynamic back in the '80s.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Trump was impeached over Ukrainian war money. You don't -F with globalist war machine money.

The Biden's scored millions with Hunter's corrupt Barisma deals. Why do we owe anyone military aid? We don't.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Trump was impeached over ukrainian war money. You don't -F with globalist war machine money.

The Biden's scored millions with Hunter's corrupt Barisma deals. Why do we owe anyone military aid? We don't.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Trump was impeached over ukrainian war money. You don't -F with globalist war machine money.

The Biden's scored millions with Hunter's corrupt Barisma deals. Why do we owe anyone military aid? We don't.