Community Note
By Mitch Berg
Caught in passing from Rep. Murphy:
Cute. But it’s actually up to Democrats to show that Ukrainian aid is more important to them than closing the southern border of the US.
Glad we could settle that.
19 Responses to “Community Note”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
December 27th, 2023 at 6:08 am
I don’t understand, when you have the administration, senate, media, business and all major institutions on your side, it would be pretty silly to compromise.
December 27th, 2023 at 6:20 am
It’s not just that the money that could “close the border” is going elsewhere, it’s that [a]ccording to an August report by progressive left-leaning media watchdog organization Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting, President Biden’s Department of Homeland Security allocated $363 million to NGOs to assist illegal aliens once in the US
“Mass Migration Blueprints” Reveal NGOs “Carefully Planned” US Migrant Invasion
That is, [a] network of NGOs, or non-governmental organizations, seems to be playing a powerful role in coordinating the large-scale invasion of illegals at the US southern border
December 27th, 2023 at 8:06 am
I wonder who that tweet is aimed at? What is the constituency saying, “Forget the economy, to hell with the border, good riddence to Gaza, my Number One Concern is Donbas. Let’s Kick Russian Ass!!”
A decade ago, when Ukraine was bombing its own citizens in Donbas, nobody cared what the people of Donbas wanted. A year ago, we changed our Facebook pages to show how much we cared but nobody rushed to the recruiting stations to Enlist for Donbas. Are there really that many people who care enough to base their vote on it?
I suspect it’s part of the general drumbeat of blame. Ukraine. Climate Change. Crime. Gaza. It’s those darn Republicans, they’re to blame, focus your hate on them, cast your vote for us.
Sad part is . . . it works.
December 27th, 2023 at 11:38 am
Funny how he has the Gun Grabber virtue signal in his handle.
December 27th, 2023 at 4:17 pm
If the West wanted Ukraine to win this war, it would have already been won.
Just by providing a few updated weapons systems it made a huge difference.
HIMARS was a game changer.
Storm shadow missiles gave Ukraine the control of the Black Sea.
ATACMS in their first strike incapacitated 20 attack helicopters.
F16 have not even entered the battle.
So imagine for a second that the West put all of their might into this war, to teach Russia a lesson and make the East of Europe secure for more than a decade.
Imagine that instead of half-hearted support, the only limit was that no troops will participate, but instead of helping with an average of 0.4% of GDP in defense spending, European countries gave Ukraine 1% of GDP in aid. And the US instead of a 4% of its defence budget an 8%.
Imagine that more advance fighter jets than F16 are provided, imagine that black hawk helicopters are provided, imagine that ammunition for long-range missiles is tripled and Ukraine is allowed to strike military targets within Russia.
This war could be won in a year if the West was resolved to win this war.
The only problem has been, and continues to be, that the West is afraid of a striking victory where Putin is cornered, because they may fear he starts threatening with tactical nuclear wars or similar. It has been proven again and again that it is a bluff, but this indecision has been enough to allow Russia to continue with this conflict.
By providing quite a half-hearted support, the West almost wins this war. Russia was pushed back from Kyiv, from Kharkiv, and from Kherson. It also lost control of the Black Sea. And controls only 20% of Ukraine, much of which already controlled before the war through separatists and other proxies.
So the only question is, how much does the West wish to win this war.
December 27th, 2023 at 6:46 pm
The only problem… continues to be that The West as Emery presents it is solely comprised of the USA and its taxpayers. The question Emery won’t answer is how much debt are France, Germany, UK, the EU willing to take on to give Emery the solution he wants. Emery is happy to saddle the next couple generations of Americans with these financial obligations in order to bring his little adventure in Ukraine to a satisfactory conclusion.
December 28th, 2023 at 6:10 am
^^ I should summarize the pro-Russia line, to save the TASS Fan Club the effort:
• Russia is obviously winning – it’s over 650 days into a lightning offensive to subdue the entirety of Ukraine, holds no provincial capitals, has had to relocate its Black Sea fleet (having lost its flagship to a country with no navy), and holds ~ 17% of Ukraine. If this isn’t victory, what is?
• It is critical that peace is sought today, allowing Russia to hold what it has taken. To justify this, we should highlight all the wars America has started, and the territory it is occupying by force (zero – but that’s not the point). Calling for peace totally reflects a desire to avoid bloodshed, and is certainly nothing to do with Russia desperately trying to salvage something from its unprovoked attack on Ukraine, as well as establishing a landbridge to Ukraine. Remember, Russian and Ukrainians are one people – that’s why Russia continues to attack civilian infrastructure.
• The regions currently occupied by Russia are Russian-speaking and/or comprised of ethnic Russians. They therefore obviously belong to Russia. This is despite the fact that there are no data showing this to be the case – other than some hastily-organised referenda held at gunpoint, in which (miraculously) voters backed annexation by Russia. Coincidence? Absolutely!
• Ukraine simply must agree to neutrality. It is irrelevant how to protect Ukraine from aggression – we wouldn’t attack a neutral country. Remember, Russia’s history is one of peace – we have never started wars with countries much smaller than us because we thought it’d be an easy win (don’t ask Finland, Japan, Georgia, the Baltic states). Ukraine cannot join NATO – how about we have a non-NATO security guarantee, committing us to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity? We could meet up and sign it in Budapest. Trust us. Why would we ever renege on our agreement?
• We are just trying to liberate Ukraine from nazis – which explains why we are setting up puppet statelets in the territory we are occupying. Again, please don’t talk about how we “liberated” Eastern Europe between 1945 and the 1990s. Please also don’t bring up Molotov-Ribbentrop.
We cannot afford the blow to western credibility if we fail to win in Ukraine. By “afford”, I mean it will get crazy expensive for us in the long term as all our adversaries open various fronts and wait for us to get tired of it. If we say we are going to do whatever it takes, we better do it. Those who believe that Russia would not threaten other parts of Europe next, are dangerously naive.
December 28th, 2023 at 8:54 am
“if we fail to win in Ukraine”
You’ve already lost. Those of us paying attention see support for Ukraine for what it is, Military Industrial Complex grifting by politicians.
Russia is a paper tiger.
December 28th, 2023 at 11:30 am
The Emery Collective puts up Lesko Brandon’s GoFundMe plea as justification for more tithes. Won’t work. Nobody cares anymore.
Russia holds 17% of the country. Yes, the two break-away provinces. Exactly what they were green-lighted in the beginning, what they’ve always said they wanted. True, there were some early spoiling attacks on Ukraine military installations to degrade the ability to fight, but those were never about taking over the entire country, they were battlespace preparation (and worked quite well).
We cannot afford the “blow to Western credibility” if we FAIL to recognize that there is no way for the West to win in Ukraine. It was always a money-laundering operation running from Brandon to defense contractors to Democrat campaigns and their family corporations/foundations. Nobody – not even the neighboring countries – are willing to send their people to die for Ukraine. We shouldn’t either.
It’s over. We lost. Negotiate a surrender and move on.
December 28th, 2023 at 2:09 pm
Ukraine is punching way above its weight against an enemy that seeks to undermine the West at every opportunity (and meddles in its politics). We can be grateful for Ukrainian’s ingenuity, courage and sacrifice. It’s hard to imagine at this moment there are Ukrainians manning trenches in Winter. They deserve more support so they can land a devastating blow. Not providing planes, long-range missiles (which the Russians use) and the West not possessing a clear intention of defeating Russia in Ukraine is costing lives.
December 28th, 2023 at 2:46 pm
Emery, take a stab at honesty.
When you say The West you mean only the US taxpayers and their military industrial complex and attendant political graft system. No other “Western” country is sinking future generations of their citizens into $100s of billions of debt to in order to field test their current weapons systems.
December 28th, 2023 at 3:07 pm
My take here, given that Russia is responsible for horrendous atrocities in Syria, Georgia, Chechnya, and Africa in addition to Ukraine, that our choice here is to supply weapons for a fight along the Dnipro or risk having the fight move a few hundred miles to the west. Putina has telegraphed his intentions of trying to reconstitute the old Soviet Union, and we should take him seriously.
Same basic thing with immigration. We can either deal with it along the Rio Grande, or in Chicago. I’d like to do it at the former.
December 28th, 2023 at 3:28 pm
I have no objection to establishing an American Empire to hold the line against the Russian Empire, as long as we do it right, using 1st Century Rome as our model.
We can start with Germany. Disband the Bund and appoint a Governor to rule over the country, whose decisions are final. Place an American commander in charge of all military including nuclear weapons. And pay 10% tithe to The Big Guy for defending them from the Bad Ol Russians. I’m sure they’ll be happy to pay for a better Germany.
If we’re not going to do it right, then we shouldn’t do it at all. I have no interest in playing Sugar Daddy to the rest of the world, or getting sucked into “let’s you and him fight.”
December 28th, 2023 at 3:30 pm
Geez, can’t type worth a tanj.
Should be Bundestag, dummy. The Bund were Nazis in the 1930’s.
Although now that you mention it . . .
December 28th, 2023 at 4:05 pm
Emery & BB
bigman gets it.
If we’re going to behave as though Europe is a collection of provinces in our empire we need to protect then we should assert our dominance, annex the EU, levy taxes, install governors for the individual provinces(UK, France, Germany, Italy, etc), conscript troops from the provinces and wage a proper war. If not then we have no business there and the EU can see to their own defense.
December 28th, 2023 at 7:17 pm
the EU can see to their own defense
I don’t disagree, however, there are very few Europeans willing to fight and die for the EU, much less their own individual countries. Shit, they’re not even willing to spend the money necessary to create defense forces.
And why would they? Just look at what the EU is doing by importing MENA immigrants who then de-Westernize (aka barbarize) the countries in which they end up. The EU is literally promoting the destruction of Europe.
Just like the Bidens are promoting the destruction of the US.
December 31st, 2023 at 1:24 pm
Once upon a time, Korea was divided into two.
The South was reconstructed according to the western democratic model. The North was rebuilt along eastern autocratic lines, with Russian influence.
75 years later, South Korea is prosperous, free and one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world.
North Korea is an economic basket case, frequently sees famines and is one of the most oppressive societies in the world.
Any sane person offered the chance to live in North or South Korea would pick the south without hesitation.
That is why the Ukrainians are fighting tooth and nail against Russia’s illegal invasion.
The End.
January 1st, 2024 at 12:31 pm
No, it’s not The End, it’s The Middle. That’s what happens when you have an Armistice rather than a Surrender. And that’s why South Korea still has 30,000 US troops stationed there, 75 years after active shooting ended.
All those bases hiring local workers getting paid in US dollars is a $10 Billion per Year boon to their economy paid for by US taxpayers who thus cannot afford to complete The Wall to prevent our own invasion by outsiders.
The Emery Collective solution to Ukraine is another perpetual babystting job at endless expense. Why is Ukraine more important than the United States?
If not America First, then who?
January 2nd, 2024 at 1:05 pm
I have tried to maintain an open mind regarding this topic. I try to read a number of sources with whom I respect their opinions but disagree completely in this regards. One, streiff from RedState, is very good but a little too cheerleader-y for my taste. Jim Dunnigan from strategypage.com, on the other hand, is just that sort of dry, just-the-facts-ma’am resource that I like. I’ve known (of) Dunnigan since the 60s when he was the brains behind some of the truly great “war games” of that era (and I was just some punk in high school).
Anyway, you (any of you) might find this interesting. Unsustainable Russian Losses in Ukraine. A little taste.
Ukraine had 250,000 active-duty troops in early 2022 and within months had half a million more in the form of volunteers and conscripts. Normally Ukrainian troops receive a lot more training than their Russian counterparts but in the first months of the war plenty of untrained Ukrainians were used to halt the invasion. Since then, Ukrainian troops received more training and are now led by effective officers and NCOs in combat. Ukrainian troops don’t suffer from supply shortages and suffer absolutely and relatively fewer casualties than the Russians. Russian dead, missing and wounded too severely for further service are at least six times those of Ukraine’s, while the Russian population only outnumbers Ukraine’s by 3.5 to one. If this is a war of demographic attrition, Russia is losing.