Republicans Are on the Verge of Delivering Putin a Big Christmas Gift

In a tense game of chicken, remarkable for its mix of petulance and audacity, congressional Republicans are threatening to halt U.S. aid to Ukraine—guaranteeing a Russian breakthrough and possible victory in that war—unless Democrats help pass a bill that all but locks down America’s Southern border.

If the impasse isn’t resolved by the end of next week, when Congress goes on recess until the new year, the Ukrainian army could run out of ammunition. President Joe Biden could resupply the arsenal from U.S. stockpiles without legislative approval, but the move would be temporary, and the signal sent—that Ukraine, and by implication other allies, can no longer count on U.S. support in a pinch—could be a holiday cork-popper for Russian President Vladimir Putin and all of our other adversaries.

reverendsteveii,

If the impasse isn’t resolved by the end of next week, when Congress goes on recess until the new year

You ever notice how many of these critical bills come up and the news is like “they have 25 minutes to negotiate before Congress goes on one of its biannual 5 month vacations”? Like, I know the theory is that they’re supposed to spend that time in their districts dealing with their constituents but by show of hands does anyone feel like their congressperson actually gives any sort of a wet shit about them or their district?

PriorityMotif,
@PriorityMotif@lemmy.world avatar

I’ve said it before. We need to make congress and the supreme court live in their respective buildings during their tenure, like a prison.

tinkeringidiot,

Too much “Republican = Russia” nonsense. Truth is that Republicans never gave a wet fart about Ukraine or Russia, and they see an opportunity here to put the White House over a barrel to score a big win before the election. All of Eastern Europe is just a bargaining chip to score domestic wins.

crackajack,

The right is sympathetic to Putin because he pays lip service to the religious, which endeared him to the right across the world. The Republican constituenrs like Putin so their representatives also had to kowtow.

You know, this made me realise that Putin had been sublime with propaganda war. His illiberal and lip service payment to religious conservatives endeared him to the right. Then, his “anti-imperialist”, anti-Western rhetoric also won him the left.

Putin is playing both sides with strings on them. This isn’t like the old days of Cold War when there was a well defined enemy to oppose. Modern Russia is a malleable entity that woos people of either political inclinations. This created a polarisation in the West and elsewhere which benefits Putin. He’s actually been pretty savvy.

Sanyanov,

That’s not the whole story.

His polarized past allowed him to let opposition fight itself.

His past as a KGB agent led many on the right-wing opposition to claim he is nothing but a relic of the Soviet era, and that his grip on power is a direct result of KGB past, and from that claim that we should not repeat rhe socialist turn or it will be like that forever.

His current leadership in a capitalist country, as well as anti-social policies he took, led many on the Left to claim he’s just the servant of the rich.

Thereby both sides of the opposition saw him as an evil…but at the same time they claimed that if the other side of opposition comes to power, it will be no better, if not worse. Divide and conquer.

spaceghoti,

Too much “Republican = Russia” nonsense.

I’m sorry that reality is uncomfortable for you. But it doesn’t change the truth.

brookings.edu/…/how-the-gop-became-the-party-of-p…

washingtonpost.com/…/how-republicans-moved-reagan…

www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/…/603088/

dallasnews.com/…/how-putin-s-oligarchs-funneled-m…

morningconsult.com/…/republicans-warming-russia-p…

businessinsider.com/kinzinger-republicans-who-sup…

washingtonpost.com/…/republicans-view-putin-more-…

politico.com/…/vladimir-putin-shouldnt-be-a-right…

RobertOwnageJunior,

I doesn’t matter why they are doing it, just that they are even considering it.

TheJims,

Nonsense. Pleasing Putin is just as important as pleasing Trump to republicans. In fact it’s their number one priority at this point.

SoleInvictus, (edited )
@SoleInvictus@lemmy.world avatar

This is what happens when you get locked into having only two major viable political parties. This shit is going to continue unless the American political system is reformed to allow multiple viable parties, for example with ranked-choice or approval voting.

Both parties Apparently just fucking Republicans will fight against this tooth and nail.

cheesebag,

Both parties

Sorry, but that’s not true at all.

Democrats have consistently been the ones to institute RCV in the US, including in North Carolina, until Republicans repealed it. Like it or not, if you want rights these days, you need to vote Democrat.

SoleInvictus,
@SoleInvictus@lemmy.world avatar

Dang, you’re right! Thanks for the fact check, I realize now I never questioned that concept, it was totally an assumption.

Here is a good article, plus a media bias check on the source. I was unable to find any mentions of Democrats actively fighting ranked choice voting (RCV).

19thnews.org/…/ranked-choice-voting-election-syst…

mediabiasfactcheck.com/the-19th-news/

EmpathicVagrant,

‘What is happening is not organic’

Daft_ish,

I hate Putin. I don’t want Ukrainians to suffer. At the same time America is not the world’s police.

spaceghoti,

It’s not like the US is supporting Ukraine alone. We just happen to have the best weapons, and a vested interest in containing Putin’s authoritarian ambitions. Providing material support to Ukraine without putting our own boots on the ground is a win all around.

One reason Putin went to such efforts to stop Clinton from winning here is because she knows who he is and was very effective at quietly neutralizing him. Now we’re dealing with his ambitions in action, and we’re not doing it alone.

oldbaldgrumpy,

If only the rest of the world could help save Ukraine from Russia and the evil Republicans…

Something_Complex,

The rest of the world doesn’t have a humongously big arsenal that they can donate the weapons from in order to buy more BC they aren’t the richest economy in the world. Even if the EU had enough between all the countries the lack of central gov really makes it harder

pete_the_cat,

There are a bunch of countries that have arsenals almost as big as the US. We aren’t the only ones that are able to help, we just love getting involved in other countries conflicts.

MutilationWave,

The US has more military power than the rest of the top 10 combined. What countries do you think rival the US in terms of military might?

Mirshe,

In fact, we have so much random bullshit laying around from previous wars that we ship it off to allied nations pretty regularly - then we STILL had so much that we started selling it to random police departments and mercenary outfits in the US with the stipulation that the DoD can just roll up and take it back if they really need it.

Maggoty,

I’m not sure you understand just how much ordnance the US keeps around.

fluxion,

EU is trying to pass $50 billion in aid but US Republicans aren’t the only politicians stroking Putin’s balls

crowlemo,

If only the US democrats and republicans hasn’t lobbied and pushed for this war to happen.

Oh I’m sorry. Forgot you can’t say that and we have to pretend Russia woke up one day and decided to invade… Sigh.

oldbaldgrumpy,

As an American I can say for sure I don’t give a shit about that war. There is no scenario at all that if situations were reversed we would get the sort of support we’ve given from anyone.

Semi-Hemi-Demigod,
Semi-Hemi-Demigod avatar

From Arsenal of Democracy to Arse of Democracy in 70 years

chitak166,

Eh, I don’t think Ukraine has a chance of winning without foreign troops.

LordCirais,

There are a lot of foreign troops volunteering there.

SCB,

While I, too, absolutely support NATO putting boots on the ground in Ukraine, it’s neither necessary nor going to happen.

psycho_driver,

I’m surprised stopping immigration is so high on the Republicants handlers lists right now, considering there’s not enough people willing to work menial jobs as-is and that doesn’t seem to be changing.

makyo,

The free market / capitalist part of the GOP is dead and gone. They don’t care about labor, the budget, spending, anything - they just care about getting power and keeping power. They also don’t really intend to do anything they claim to care about, it’s all just about fluffing up the base.

pastaq,

They found a loophole. They don’t need adults to do those jobs anymore. Unaccompanied minors aren’t turned away at the border and multiple states are removing child labor laws. Now we have unaccompanied immigrant children working fun time making cars in Ford and GM factories, Cheerios, and all sorts of other things for pennies, all here in the US.

MagicShel, (edited )

They aren’t working for Ford or GM. What the fuck with this? Even if the companies wanted to, the unions wouldn’t stand for it. I’m going to need a reputable source for this.

Edit: Or downvotes. That’s a perfectly reasonable way to respond to doubt and incredulity.

Maggoty,

Their example was a bit simplistic. They are working in the supply chain and several other, less unionized, industries like meat packing and processed food.

MagicShel,

What the OC said and this are not at all the same thing. You’re right. They’ll be in B2B companies and construction and food service. But what OC explicitly said was “in Ford and GM factories” and “making cars.”

It might be fair to say this of any big company who has B2B workers working in their factories. A lot of companies outsource janitorial services for example and could have kids in them. But a company like GM or Ford doesn’t want to get their hands dirty by directly hiring illegals, and the UAW would never stand for an outside company doing work the union could do.

Of all the defensible examples they could’ve used, those two are the least likely to be implicated. Hence my incredulity. If they have a beef with the auto industry or American automakers, this was the wrong thread to pull them out as the go to bad guy.

Maggoty,

Absolutely. I just wanted to provide better examples.

PsychedSy,

Who removed child labor laws?

Mirshe,

Illinois now allows children as young as 14 to work without parental approval.

PsychedSy,

Can you show me? Everything I see suggests a parent is required for the cert.

Daft_ish,

sarah huckabee sanders for one.

PsychedSy,

They just removed the requirement to get a permission slip from the government. They didn’t change anything else. Still the same regulations.

Maggoty,

The faction of Republicans that now firmly control the House have ties to Russia. Don’t forget all the stuff we’ve learned in the last 7 years. This isn’t good faith.

Haywire,

A victory that will solidify China and Russia and embolden them against Taiwan, moving us straight into WW3. A little deterrence could go a long way right now.

spider,

Yeah, we have to closely watch the dollars spent on this war, from the very same party that had no problem funding the Afghanistan and Iraq wars and letting them go on indefinitely…and the very same party that used to be so staunchly anti-Russia.

TurtleJoe,
@TurtleJoe@lemmy.world avatar

Russian State TV ran celebratory pieces when the House elected Johnson as speaker. He’s been in their pocket for a while.

Semi-Hemi-Demigod,
Semi-Hemi-Demigod avatar

Remember when a bunch of Republican senators had a secret meeting with Putin on the Fourth of July?

Kase,

I keep hearing about this. Where can I find more info?

Semi-Hemi-Demigod,
Semi-Hemi-Demigod avatar

I was wrong, it wasn't Putin

PatFussy,

Where is EU with their funding? Surely the threat of having a neighboring nation would sway into helping more right? Right?

Pretzilla,

Whataboutist says what?

PatFussy,

So its up to the US now to do fucking everything right. Thats the implication

spaceghoti,

The EU is sending a lot of support to Ukraine, but they’re not the military bullies we are.

sep,

The eu do not have the huge stockpiles of weapons and ammo that the US have. While they have promised aid for ukraine. That often needs to be built in factories first.

jman6495,

The EU (and it’s member states) have sent almost double the amount of funding the US has.

www.ifw-kiel.de/…/ukraine-support-tracker/

PatFussy,

Looks like they gotta suck it up and send more then dont they.

jman6495,

Yep, we will, because it is in our interest. It is also in the US’s interest, but unfortunately some are too short sighted to see this.

Sami_Uso,

Maybe Dems shouldn’t have tried to shoehorn Israel funding into that bill if they really gave a shit about Ukraine. Yes we all know Republicans are awful, I’m getting pretty tired of hearing how Dems are “the good guys”.

OldWoodFrame,

Israel was the way to get Republicans on board. Democrats would have absolutely done Ukraine by itself and they have many times. Republicans are the ones stopping it.

Sami_Uso,

I think it’s pretty clear that the Dems want to conflate the two issues.

aniki,

You bull for that bullshit or do you just like to play in shit?

Semi-Hemi-Demigod,
Semi-Hemi-Demigod avatar

Clearly it wasn’t the way because they’re not on board

OldWoodFrame,

Republicans aren’t on board because they want more. Every Republican in the House voted for the bill that sent funds to Israel and cut funding to the IRS, most Democrats voted against it. So Republicans want to fund Israel, Democrats want to fund Ukraine, compromise would be to fund both, right? But Republicans then demanded Conservative Southern border policy changes too, and that is why talks fell apart. That is where we stand now.

Semi-Hemi-Demigod,
Semi-Hemi-Demigod avatar

The lesson: Never trust Republicans

spaceghoti,

Are you assuming that Republicans are negotiating in good faith? That would be a mistake on your part.

Transcendant,

Republicans are scumbags. If you’re a republican reading this, ask yourself what it is about your brain that makes you support true evil.

Do you feel small inside? Like you didn’t get what you wanted from life, so now others should suffer?

spaceghoti,

The answer is that conservative thinking is driven by fear. It’s not that liberals don’t fear things, it’s that liberal thinking isn’t driven primarily by fear.

dvoraqs,

This is a stupid question, but what is connection of fear-based thinking and not surprising Ukraine or supporting Putin?

psycho_driver,

The fear is that a trans! woman might sneak up behind you at the urinal and sodomize you!

Semi-Hemi-Demigod,
Semi-Hemi-Demigod avatar

So Republican fears are just their deepest fantasies?

don,

Well when you put it that way, yes. Absolutely.

spaceghoti,

The Republican base is taught to fear. Fear liberals, fear diversity, fear whatever they’re told to fear. A generation ago they were told to fear Russia, so we opposed Russians with all our strength. They’re told the only salve for their fear is a strong leader.

Now, today, Putin presents himself as a strong leader and suddenly Russia is no longer to be feared but admired. So what that he wants to rebuild the Soviet Union by invading the nations around him? Trump says he’s a good guy, so obviously when he says he’s invading Ukraine for their own good he must be telling the truth.

They follow anyone who presents themselves as strong and confident because that allays their fears somewhat. And since their current leaders like Russia and don’t like Ukraine, that’s what they’re supporting.

Rapidcreek,

Biden has pulled off other victories in the past that we all thought were dead.

Let’s hope he can do it again.

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