Where are we now, with Ukraine?

I have said before that I look at Ukraine 2023 as England 1940. Except for it’s the first line of defense against a megalomaniac, instead of the last.

It’s that clear to me.
Ukraine has become Putin’s folly. I honestly believe that Putin felt Ukraine would fold within a month, the same way that Afghanistan did when the United States left.
Too many inexplicable things happened for it to be anything else.
That Ukraine has lasted as long as it has is due to the will and the fight of the Ukrainian people; the leadership of President Zelensky, and because Joe Biden is President of the United States.

The Republican Party is compromised. This is obvious to anyone who can see. They are lapdogs for Putin, beginning with Donald Trump.

Glasnost Gone (@GlasnostGone) posted at 3:06 PM on Tue, Dec 05, 2023:
Never thought I’d see the day when American politicians sold out democracy, sold out Europe – all for the sake of petty internal politics. Thank God these people weren’t in power during WW2, or we’d all be speaking German. While they squabble, Ukrainians are dying & Putin’s…
(https://x.com/GlasnostGone/status/1732144421318107351?t=bcm30BJxUQeH1yw4s9txKQ&s=03)

Someone else who sees that Ukraine is the beginning, not the end. And, why we need to support them.

Maria Avdeeva (@maria_avdv) posted at 1:12 PM on Wed, Dec 06, 2023:
‘If Putin takes Ukraine, he won’t stop there. It’s important to see the long run here. He’s going to keep going’

Once again, Biden is openly warning of the possibility that Putin will invade a NATO country if not stopped in Ukraine. What other arguments are needed?
(https://x.com/maria_avdv/status/1732478150120988687?t=rU-bu9UpbFpqOgJTeJaF8g&s=03)

Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) posted at 0:22 PM on Wed, Dec 06, 2023:
The United States announced a new package of weapons and equipment for Ukraine valued at up to $175 million.

We are grateful for your unwavering support. This is a great congratulation to our warriors on Armed Forces Day.

Capabilities provided in today’s package include air…
(https://x.com/DefenceU/status/1732465678160961555?t=uzzwr-EOabVq1mLi3CcOvg&s=03)

Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) posted at 1:08 PM on Wed, Dec 06, 2023:
Biden: “Congress needs to pass supplemental funding for Ukraine before they break for the holiday recess, simple as that… Republicans in Congress are willing to give Putin the greatest gift he could hope for and abandon our global leadership, not just Ukraine, but beyond that.”
(https://x.com/ChristopherJM/status/1732477191722619168?t=se6_yNONir5xg0GEefJe9w&s=03)

It’s not WE. It’s the Republicans.
And, they aren’t serious about ACTUAL Immigration Reform. They would never support ACTUAL Immigration Reform. This is right-wing garbage.

From WaPo:

“I just don’t think there’s any question that we are about to abandon Ukraine,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), one of the key negotiators on the border package. “When Vladimir Putin marches into Kyiv and into Europe, Republicans will have to live with the fact that our sons and daughters will be over fighting when Vladimir Putin marches into a NATO country. They will rue the day that they decided to play politics.”

This is an absolutely terrific explanation of the right-wing goals here, with this ‘closed border’ nonsense:

A comment left at Balloon Juice:

Tony Jay

DECEMBER 6, 2023 AT 2:24 PM

@Miss Bianca:

What the hell is a “completely closed border”? No legal immigration at all?

There was a conversation in the Late Night Thread on this topic in the context of Trumpy’s “Dictator for a Day” admission to a horrified Hannity. I said that basically a “completely closed border” is code for the extreme legal powers they’d have to give themselves to achieve anything close to what they say they want, and it’s those open-ended Emergency Act style powers they really want so they can do ‘other stuff’.

“‘Close The Border’ in the sense MAGAworld mean it would require granting wide-ranging extra-constitutional powers to deny anyone they like exit from or entry to the USA, which would include powers of search and seizure, powers to backtrack actual or potential violations of border security down the line to groups, organisations or individuals suspected of enabling, assisting or supporting efforts to ‘open the border’, powers to access private data records in pursuit of actual or potential border violations, as well as a massive increase in staffing for the bodies who would physically close the border, investigate actual or potential violations of border security and run the centres required to house border security violators…. So, yeah. On Day Two a President Trump would wake up with a couple of national paramilitary militias and the right to arrest, investigate, detain, intern, impound, annex, confiscate, and requisition anyone, anything or anywhere he wants within the USA’s borders. Technically he wouldn’t need to claim dictatorial powers, he’d already have them. How. Very. Clever.”

Shorter – It’s not about the Border. It’s about setting an unobtainable goal to justify unrestricted power to hurt the right people.

I don’t know if I believe this analysis of China vs. Russia, but, it’s interesting.