Invest in New Mexico, not Ukraine

People devastated. Homes and businesses ruined. Animals dying. Rivers that may never recover.

But enough about East Palestine, Ohio — the only Palestinians lefties could not care less about. Let us talk about money. Biden went to Ukraine because that is where the money is and where a trillion more soon will be. He and Zelensky walked the streets of Kyiv without helmets or hurry as air-raid sirens blew. A lot of things blow in Ukraine, and the response by NATO registers as a hurricane. The war depleted stocks of ammo and will necessitate the purchase of more war materiel, a boon to defense contractors and the retired generals they hire.

An even bigger windfall is about to hit the politically connected and the politicians they pay off: reconstruction. To get there, the war must end. Enter the dragon.

BBC reported, “Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he plans to meet China's leader Xi Jinping to discuss Beijing’s proposals on ending the war in Ukraine.”

Chairman Xi offered a 12-point plan.

BBC said, “However, the 12-point document does not specifically say that Russia must withdraw its troops from Ukraine, and it also condemns the use of unilateral sanctions, in what is seen as a veiled criticism of Ukraine’s allies in the West.

“The Chinese authorities have so far not publicly responded to Mister Zelensky’s call for a summit with Mister Xi.

“Meanwhile, Russia hailed the Chinese peace proposals. ‘We share Beijing’s views,’ the foreign ministry in Moscow said in a statement.”

So Russia gets Donbas. Ukraine gets peace. Xi gets credit for peace. The world gets that NATO is the impotent. And the vultures get the rebuilding trillions.

BBC said, “Asked about the Chinese plan, U.S. President Joe Biden told ABC News on Friday: ‘Putin’s applauding it, so how could it be any good? I’ve seen nothing in the plan that would indicate that there is something that would be beneficial to anyone other than Russia.”

As former Defense Secretary Robert Gates said, “I think he has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades.”

That was in 2014. The only thing different is it’s now five decades, not four.

Biden’s economic sanctions against Russia pushed Moscow to make closer ties to Red China, India, South Africa and Brazil — as well as NATO ally Turkey. The only people hurt by his sanctions were the people who stopped trading with Russia. Well, at least directly. Red China was only too happy to accommodate those still buying from Russia on the sly.

Economic sanctions never work.

• 70 years of sanctions on North Korea have not flipped it.

• 60 years of sanctions on Cuba failed to flip it.

• 40 years of sanctions on Iran have not flipped it.

NATO governments and the billionaires they serve want you to believe they are helping. Economic sanctions help almost as much as wearing blue and yellow. I am amused by the support for Ukraine that comes from many people who wave the Pride Flag but not only won’t fly the Stars and Stripes but mock those who do.

Two can play that game.

As was the case with Vietnam, this war is being sold as the Domino Effect. If we don’t stop Putin — an evil man — now, we will be speaking Russian. Even good patriots promote this. Condoleezza Rice made the case on Face the Nation on CBS.

Rice said, “I would just make one other point, if the American people see a world in which Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping have won this engagement, this first volley, if you will, in the largest strategic picture, and they see that Ukrainian independence has been extinguished, and they know that the United States could have done something about it, I don’t think that's going to be a very good message for a future president to have to deliver.”

Oddly enough, Biden’s sanctions pushed Putin to seek Xi’s help, reversing Nixon’s successful strategy of pitting the USSR against Red China. But then again, Biden has been wrong on every foreign policy for 50 years.

I say oddly because I do not know if this was the true goal of Biden because I don’t know who offered the bigger bribe.

Zelensky, showing the gratitude of a snake, warned Americans who don't want to give more money to Ukraine: “If they do not change their opinion, if they do not understand us, if they do not support Ukraine, they will lose NATO, they will lose the clout of the United States.”

Lose NATO? Tell me what the downside is. I put America First just as much as Mister Greenjeans T-shirt puts Corruption First.

But peace eventually will come because there is more money in it. Sure, the war resulted in a $100 billion in U.S. aid. But trillions soon will rain down on Ukraine. And Zelensky will again be the bagman.

Fortune magazine reported on December 7, 2022, “A trillion-dollar opportunity? Rebuilding Ukraine will mean giant investments and potential big payoffs, say economists adding up the costs.”

By investments, the magazine meant money from Western governments, which means the USA will print up the majority of the money.

The story said, “Companies and governments are apparently already eyeing the potential for major deals. Next Tuesday, Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal is due to travel to Paris with a delegation of Ukrainian business leaders to meet French companies, at an all-day conference about rebuilding the country, convened by President Emmanuel Macron. France’s Economy Ministry said in a statement last week that the meeting was geared to ‘mobilize French economic players’ in reconstructing Ukraine.”

Where will the money come from? According to Newsweek, Ukraine’s economy is about the size of New Mexico’s — with 20 times as many people.

The New York Times reported on February 16, 2023, “The World’s Largest Construction Site: The Race Is On to Rebuild Ukraine.” It was an 1,800-word story that failed to include the word corruption. The major rebuilding will be the mansions of the government officials, but NYT ignored that.

Instead, it said, “Mister Zelensky and his allies want to use the rebuilding to stitch Ukraine’s infrastructure seamlessly into the rest of Europe.

“Yet whether all the gold in the much-anticipated gold rush will materialize is far from certain. Ukraine, whose economy shrank 30 percent last year, desperately needs funds just to keep going and to make emergency repairs. Long-term reconstruction aid will depend not only on the outcome of the war, but on how much money the European Union, the United States and other allies put up.

“And though private investors are being courted, few are willing to risk committing money now, as the conflict is entrenched.

“Ukraine and several European nations are pushing hard to confiscate frozen Russian assets held abroad, but several skeptics, including officials in the Biden administration, have questioned the legality of such a move.”

But having Russia pay reparations makes too much sense to be a Democrat Party policy.

NYT also said, “The profound human tragedy is unavoidably also a huge economic opportunity that Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has likened to the Marshall Plan, the U.S. program that provided aid to Western Europe after World War II. Early cost estimates of rebuilding the physical infrastructure range from $138 billion to $750 billion.”

The Marshall Plan? Great. Just what we need, to rebuild another ally sucking at our military teat — and an ingrate ally to boot. Some say that Ukraine will be a vassal state that runs its own domestic affairs but is beholden to us. But who is paying the $100 billion tribute and who is calling the foreign policy shots?

Our interests should be at home. Build safer railroad lines, or better yet, install pipelines. Rebuild our bridges. Build reservoirs in California. Build back East Palestine better.

Put America First by not helping corrupt officials in Ukraine — and in Washington.

Now for today’s TOTALLY SCIENTIFIC POLL: