Remember Trumpenfreude, that feeling you had when some lightweight celebrity badmouthed The Donald to signal his virtue only to crash and burn professionally.
Stationed in Germany from '88-'90 and lived on the economy with my girlfriend. Her friends would routinely tell me how "Stupid the Americans are, we go to college for free..."
While I did things they couldn't do like fix their cars for them I would remind them that American tax money paid for their free college. Crickets.
Two points. First, on a trip to London many years ago, my daughter came down with bronchitis so I went to the hotel concierge to get help finding a doctor. In the course of the conversation I asked about how to pay and she said, “Oh that’s right. You Americans have to pay for your health care.” To which I responded, “Do you pay taxes?” Crickets then too.
Second, I lived in Europe in the early 80’s and vividly remember being stunned to learn that, in Belgium and France and possibly other countries, the government provided a month of paid vacation every year for the UNEMPLOYED. And now they wonder why their socialist systems are broke.
Yes they are pretty screwed but then parts of our country seem to be trying to copy them. I too spent time in the UK, Belgium and Germany back in the 80’s. It was far different then than now. When we started pulling troops and bases out of Europe it seemed to change about that time. Their road to socialism has been very long and calculated. Im not sure there is enough will left in them to fight back now. Eventually they will be over taken by the immigrants and cease to be European. They seem to be in denial.
My wife did several consulting jobs at hospital laboratories in the U.K., Germany, Spain, and, Belgium. She learned, first hand, that although health care is supposedly free there, like any socialist system ever devised, it is not where you want to be if you need top quality health care. Standards are lax and quality control was poor. I am sure there are good health care workers in those countries, however, I wouldn't bet my life on finding them if needed.
03/05/25: "Do you pay..." reminded me of all the jerks who blithely tell me the Internet is free (we pay $3,600 / year for internet/phone/TV. And TMALSS, Verizon SUCKS).
Susan Rice is an abomination (and probably the recipient of a DEI/reparations diploma). She thinks that Trump pulled off a "set-up"? Try this for the view that Z acting the way he did at the WH was a Z/Europeon set-up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS8rneA7cWY
I was there a few years earlier. My question was where does the money come from? The government. And where does the government get the money? Crickets. The Europiataniacs pay outrageous taxes. Yes, I know our taxes are outrageous, but nothing compared to the peons. For example, a German making 67,000 Euros pays 42% in taxes. For France it's 30% and in jolly old England they're paying 40%. By contrast ours would be 22% on the same income.
And, I believe, they all pay VAT (value-added tax), a sales tax on retail purchases. I remember buying some nice gifts for my family back home when I was in Austria in the late 80s, and they gave me a form to get a refund on the VAT I had paid. Props to them, I guess, for not making me pay for Austrian "free" healthcare.
They are super-sneaky about the VAT over there--they hide it, so that you kinda forget it's even there and forget that you are paying it. You don't see a jacket with a €100 price tag and then pay €100 + €10 tax (or whatever the VAT rate is); you see a price tag of €110.
"They are super-sneaky about the VAT over there--they hide it, so that you kinda forget it's even there and forget that you are paying it."
This must be an international Booz-Allen management-consulting cardinal rule. Just try and find, to cite my two most recent examples, the screen page at Substack and Norton (computer safety/security) that promptly lists, exactly and clearly, what your annual subscriptions cost.
Just varying degrees of sucky. Taxes are the basis of our problems. They are out of control here. If the Europeans don’t fight back, then they deserve them.
When you say "taxes", does that include more than income taxes? I'm generalizing, but Americans pay property taxes that are much higher than what I know of in Europe, and in many US states (though not all), sales taxes. On the other hand, Europeans pay the VAT in addition to income taxes, but I believe it's included in the final price of products.
With an 18 to 20% difference in tax rate, America has lots of room (not that we'll need it all) to absorb some price hikes as Trump's tariffs manage the world's unfair trade balances.
I strongly suspect DJT is relying on tariff revenue to avoid raising taxes and give himself leeway to implement no tax on tips, etc. Not an approach that appeals to this free-marketer, but it’s what the U.S.A. relied on through 125 years of tremendous growth.
What is desperately needed is limits on spending. Trump is starting out right by cutting the work farce, getting rid off some dead weight, and freezing some spending.
Next step is to cut foreign aid. If countries want to do business with us fine and dandy. If they don't, we should keep our money at home.
It's insane to BORROW money then GIVE it away. That saddle us with their problems.
The Euroweinies are demonstrating what Thatcher said about socialism, “eventually you run out of spending other people’s money.” Those other people are us and we’re tired of allowing the Europeans all taking the month of August off and having 6 months of maternity leave and etc. on our dime and spending nothing on their own defense.
Knifings of children and women, sex trafficking, rape, and worse. Yet the Europeans seem as if they are powerless to push back on these terrible issues. Are they all drugged? They continue to elect more of the same. I do not understand what has happened to them but we need to learn from it.
Last night when Trump was reading the list of outrageous money waste that DOGE has uncovered, he said there was more that was so bad he didn't think it was appropriate to read last night. He was cryptic, but emphasized it.
I think he SHOULD publicize it all. I suppose he will, at the right time. Maybe they have uncovered financial evidence of child sex trafficking or something, and are withholding announcing it until they can build a legal case and indict.
That's a good name and it is OK with me. My wife and I were fortunate to have travelled all over Europe many times when it was,,,, well,,,, Europe as we knew it. Safe and wonderful. And now it is a mess. What a shame. They brought this on themselves. Trump has outed them and exposed them. Keeping America first is what we need from now on.
And look how close we came to following in their footsteps. Four more years of Cackles and Tampon boy would have sealed our fate. We now have a fighting chance.
03/05/25: And I am told that a large % of the money-lenders to Uncle Schmuck are from Europe.
You'd think that they'd want to spend more on their owns defenses, seeing as how the U.S. can pull the NATO rug out from under them (simply by recalling troops home & curtailing NATO's ammo / spare parts supplies).
This eventually will become inevitable because of our federal deficit, a scenario partly created by the European money-lenders who don't want to pay for their own defenses.
Starmer is a dolt. If you've ever tasted "Irish nachos," just imagine how competently they'll be assembling missiles in Dublin.
I am not a diplomat, and would fail if I tried. Decisions and behavior have consequences that can't be ignored. Frankly, I don't understand how Trump maintains such well-bred composure.
Zelenskyy, and all of Europe, need to be left to twist in the wind for many months or more without a penny from the USA. Add in some strong talk of closing military bases across the European region, especially in Germany.
While our neighbors across the ocean have racing hearts as they slip into nervous fidgets and episodes of rapid breathing, slap Al Green hard and PLEASE finally pick off Obama's team - especially the grotesque Susan Rice. Obama is the face of the deep state that falsified his birth certificate to place him in the Whitehouse.
The only thing he couldn't erase was Obama's family who stated publicly that he was born in Kenya.
When I hear Toto sing 'Africa', I think of big ears sitting beside some elephants with his hair in corn rows. Obama's favorite sound was the call to morning Muslim prayer.
The trouble with delaying a peace deal is that Russia is emboldened and will take more land and that is increasingly problematic to a deal from Ukraines perspective. As for Rice and her gang, she needs some of what they did to Trump for eight years and counting.
Russia only wants a land bridge to Crimea, thus his concentrating the war in that area of Ukraine.
He knows Trump will be successful as Z and his Eurocrat bobble heads have no cards whatsoever to play. In the meantime, he’s enjoying watching them flail as much as we are.
You are right. Delay will embolden Putin which is just the position I want Europe and Ukraine to be in as they panic and have to reach for the checkbook at the expense of funding their free healthcare and amazing public transportation and 6-week holidays each year.
Putin's got Donbas and he isn't giving it back. The rest of Ukraine is just land buffer between Russia and the NATO countries.
Let little Z and Europe sweat bullets. . . and pay out the wazoo to defend it.
I slightly disagree that Putin didn't have any excuse to invade UKR. Purposely or not, (I think it was on purpose) Que Mala and Brandon GAVE Putin the excuse (cover) to invade UKR by giving verbal support to UKR joining NATO and green-lighting RUS to invade 'just a little'.
No question about it. We were the reason Putin said enough of this and invaded. From a disinterested third party perspective, I suspect most countries would do the same if threatened. Putin just needed a reason and we gave it to him and we did it on purpose. Not all of the federal intel community is our friend.
You may be right, however, once we acquire these rights, Trump can trade them to the EU for. the mineral rights in Greenland which is right in our backyard vs. the other side of Europe. Leave it to Trump to play 4D chess with the Euro-dopes.
When Gorbachev made his deal with Reagan, it was agreed that Germany would be unified and NATO would not accept any other former Warsaw pact nations. Clinton violated that, then sent missiles to Poland. We also got involved in the war in Yugoslavia. Russia wasn't in a position to counter it but clearly viewed it as a threat to their security. That led them to align with Iran which is empowering the islamic terrorism throughout Europe. Kinda payback.
That push started before Ziden and horizontal ; Soetero and friends initiated the push against Russia in 2014 . Gail is probably right, the EU would never pay the bill but Ukraine is NOT where we need to be . The place is a mess both physically and culturally .
Susan Rice. What a blast from the past. I’d pay good money to send her and the rest of Obama’s Witches straight to hell. Not to mention Obama himself. Amazing how lazy a guy as he won’t stop working behind the scenes to disrupt Trump and his America First agenda.
Obama is still getting paid by his deep state sources (who expect results) to do what he is doing. His 'mansion allowance' is expensive given the number and location of them.
Even Obama has to answer the email asking him to list five things he did last week.
Funny thing about hunters, eventually the hunter can become the hunted if the game goes long enough. These people have a LOT of baggage. Not difficult to go after them if there is a will to do so. Mr. Obama has long since run his course in the country.
You won't have to send her; she (Rice), Obama, Nulander, Vindman (and the Bidens and Lindsey Grahams and Mitch McConnells, etc.) are all digging their own graves and paving their own paths to Hell... without any serious heartfelt repentance, they'll get there.
It (karma) visited them in spades last night during Trump's speech before Congress: they showed the whole national just how nasty and despicable they really are. Watch their ratings continue to swirl down the toilet bowl...
The TV didn't show it, but I am wondering if the Dems all sat like stones even when Laken Riley's family and the widow of that New York policeman were highlighted. If they did, that video should get posted to X and go viral. Someone posted here that they did sit like stones even for the kid with brain cancer who got the honorary Secret Service position.
Good riddance, DEMS. You cannot undo what you did on the floor of the House. That ball and chain will be dragged around by you for the rest of your lives. Someone, somehow, come up with a comprehensive list of who sat on their hands and sulked and at what times during that speech; be detailed. You rats need to be exposed name by name- totally. Remind the voting people. Trump spoke softly and wielded the big stick aptly. He was Presidential. It felt especially good to be an American last night.
Amen...all we needed was a new President was the coup of the century...Go Big D! America First is the new credo. We must save our country and quit being Santa Claus to others.
So long as we keep giving money away with nothing in return, they will keep taking it. Have we really changed anything in the world for the better with the aid?
Vicki. You are right on. No more hand-outs. Stand on your own. You know one thing bugs me. Reports on average indicate that 75% approved of the speech. Who are the other 25%? Well that is easy to explain. I have said for a very long time that 80% or more of America is dumb or stupid or both. There you have it. Maybe some of them can be converted and can become rational, clear, and decisive thinkers.
My take on the 80% is this somewhat different. Many, if not most, of today's younger people are products of what the Dems, the MSM and their fellow travelers have taught them. The nationalization of education brought about substandard education across our country including the loss of learning about history, civics, and other basic information. This has left younger people without rudder to guide them in making sound decisions. The absence of Christianity in the public square also left them morally bankrupt. The mainstream media promoted all of this idiocy to be believed as truth and the will of the people. Trump and the MAGA movement is heroically trying to correct the lies of the past. Trump was elected with a mandate to return to what used to be normalcy. Let us pray that this is achieved.
Do not give up as many young people I meet even here in the socialist state of Or. are conservative perhaps due to podcasts and access to x and other online apps.
Sometimes when I watch congress or listen to them I ask myself this question, are they worth the cost? Are we getting our money’s worth? Should some of them be in jail? You decide.
We will be in full union with Russia very soon. Europe has turned into a waste land - an extension of the Middle East without any raw materials. Just blabbing idiots. Iran and China continue to instigate around the world. US, Russia and India will be the new world order to balance the socialists and murderers of the rest of world.
The petulant Zelensky found out in just a few days that he is out of friends and money.
The petulant Democrats put on a crying fit last night that might have told their base they are with them but I think most Americans saw it as childish behavior.
The d's performance art last night, especially Pelosi, reminded me of a child holding their breath until they got their way. I kept wondering if she was going to finally pass out. Now that would have been something worth watching. Instead she just looked like she'd been sucking on a lemon
My wife and I thought the same. This children tantrum has no point other than resistance but someone should ask them exactly what they are resisting, Mr Trump or the wishes of the voters?
She doesn't have much to go home to. A gay husband, an empty house, and a freezer full of expensive ice cream (that her expense account probably purchased).
I again disbelieve CNN's poll that 69% approved of the speech and 31% disapproved. More tweaking to make Trump's number go down by 1% so that it was not 70%--and tweaking the disapproved number up by 1.5% so that it was not 29%. All just a psychological ploy to pretend Trump is not so ascendant. If the numbers were 70 and 29, visually most people would see that as a 50 point win for Trump, versus 69 and 31, which visually looks like a 30 point difference.
This is exactly the margins they "play with" in their election fraud. To try and make their fraud look "plausible", they keep most of their fraud within a 1.5 to 3 point margin.
And just like that, Gal, you encapsulated the whole stinking polling business. Just a couple of numbers, and all of a sudden. A 50 point difference becomes a 30 point difference. Extremely well stated, lady. While I'm not a cunning linguist. I did stay at a Holiday Inn.
Don, you need to find and post the recent Jeffrey Sachs lecture on the history of the Ukraine war. He explains why it happens. Blaming Putin is simplistic. The real blame is the US neocons, the EU and NATO.
Jeffrey Sachs was knee-deep in the mess that led us to the war in Ukraine. He thinks he’s the smartest man in the room, but he is a lapdog to whoever he senses is holding the current cards, and, like a chameleon, changes color accordingly.
I agree it is hard to know what or who is the truth here, but I take the old school approach, leopard never change their spots. Europe is Europe is Europe (actors change, the plot never does). Undoubtedly the founding fathers knew that & warned against getting involved.
I don’t disagree. It was rich to watch Mr. Johnson, along with other RINO Neocons who voted for every single dollar to fund it, nodding and applauding enthusiastically as Trump said we won’t give another dime to it. The Uniparty dragged us into this meat grinder. They hope Trump can redeem them. I want them all - every last one of them - primaried, at the very least.
I stand with you, Suzie. Trump is not a politician. Those that are cannot fathom his commitment to citizens independence from the boot heal of government.
I didn't watch the address live because in this age of new media, I just want the highlights and instant replays. I start my day with Don Surber and will get to the President later on. Plus, I did NOT want to give an audience to the childish Democrats, the vast majority of whom should be humiliated with their behavior in a State address. Perhaps more will splinter away from the Marxist Democrat party after seeing their childish behavior last evening.
In Trump's first term, I recall Nancy Pelosi ripping Trump's State of the Union speech in half in front of Congress and mocking Trump with mini-claps of her hands when applause broke out in response to his achievements. She did that with a disapproving, condescending look on her face. What a bitch she was (is).
It is said often that to be a Democrat is a mental illness. However, they truly are clinically sociopaths and are a threat to all humankind, especially those who are God-fearing and live by a moral value standard.
Marxist Democrats and all of Europe are one and the same.
Stationed in Germany from '88-'90 and lived on the economy with my girlfriend. Her friends would routinely tell me how "Stupid the Americans are, we go to college for free..."
While I did things they couldn't do like fix their cars for them I would remind them that American tax money paid for their free college. Crickets.
Two points. First, on a trip to London many years ago, my daughter came down with bronchitis so I went to the hotel concierge to get help finding a doctor. In the course of the conversation I asked about how to pay and she said, “Oh that’s right. You Americans have to pay for your health care.” To which I responded, “Do you pay taxes?” Crickets then too.
Second, I lived in Europe in the early 80’s and vividly remember being stunned to learn that, in Belgium and France and possibly other countries, the government provided a month of paid vacation every year for the UNEMPLOYED. And now they wonder why their socialist systems are broke.
How do you take a month off from doing nothing?
W. What are you gonna do today?
H. Nothing.
W. You did that yesterday.
H. Didn't finish.
A month off. Wow. Heck, I may un-retire and go back to work just so I have some time off I think. Full retirement is over rated.
Yes they are pretty screwed but then parts of our country seem to be trying to copy them. I too spent time in the UK, Belgium and Germany back in the 80’s. It was far different then than now. When we started pulling troops and bases out of Europe it seemed to change about that time. Their road to socialism has been very long and calculated. Im not sure there is enough will left in them to fight back now. Eventually they will be over taken by the immigrants and cease to be European. They seem to be in denial.
My wife did several consulting jobs at hospital laboratories in the U.K., Germany, Spain, and, Belgium. She learned, first hand, that although health care is supposedly free there, like any socialist system ever devised, it is not where you want to be if you need top quality health care. Standards are lax and quality control was poor. I am sure there are good health care workers in those countries, however, I wouldn't bet my life on finding them if needed.
03/05/25: "Do you pay..." reminded me of all the jerks who blithely tell me the Internet is free (we pay $3,600 / year for internet/phone/TV. And TMALSS, Verizon SUCKS).
Susan Rice is an abomination (and probably the recipient of a DEI/reparations diploma). She thinks that Trump pulled off a "set-up"? Try this for the view that Z acting the way he did at the WH was a Z/Europeon set-up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS8rneA7cWY
There is no weenie quite like a Euroweenie.
Their self-regard is monumental, and their self-awareness is still stuck in the 4th grade.
2nd.
I was there a few years earlier. My question was where does the money come from? The government. And where does the government get the money? Crickets. The Europiataniacs pay outrageous taxes. Yes, I know our taxes are outrageous, but nothing compared to the peons. For example, a German making 67,000 Euros pays 42% in taxes. For France it's 30% and in jolly old England they're paying 40%. By contrast ours would be 22% on the same income.
And, I believe, they all pay VAT (value-added tax), a sales tax on retail purchases. I remember buying some nice gifts for my family back home when I was in Austria in the late 80s, and they gave me a form to get a refund on the VAT I had paid. Props to them, I guess, for not making me pay for Austrian "free" healthcare.
They are super-sneaky about the VAT over there--they hide it, so that you kinda forget it's even there and forget that you are paying it. You don't see a jacket with a €100 price tag and then pay €100 + €10 tax (or whatever the VAT rate is); you see a price tag of €110.
And once the governments introduce VATs, they can increase the percentage tax any time they want.
"They are super-sneaky about the VAT over there--they hide it, so that you kinda forget it's even there and forget that you are paying it."
This must be an international Booz-Allen management-consulting cardinal rule. Just try and find, to cite my two most recent examples, the screen page at Substack and Norton (computer safety/security) that promptly lists, exactly and clearly, what your annual subscriptions cost.
Just varying degrees of sucky. Taxes are the basis of our problems. They are out of control here. If the Europeans don’t fight back, then they deserve them.
When you say "taxes", does that include more than income taxes? I'm generalizing, but Americans pay property taxes that are much higher than what I know of in Europe, and in many US states (though not all), sales taxes. On the other hand, Europeans pay the VAT in addition to income taxes, but I believe it's included in the final price of products.
Just income tax to the feral government.
"Feral" !!!
With an 18 to 20% difference in tax rate, America has lots of room (not that we'll need it all) to absorb some price hikes as Trump's tariffs manage the world's unfair trade balances.
I strongly suspect DJT is relying on tariff revenue to avoid raising taxes and give himself leeway to implement no tax on tips, etc. Not an approach that appeals to this free-marketer, but it’s what the U.S.A. relied on through 125 years of tremendous growth.
What is desperately needed is limits on spending. Trump is starting out right by cutting the work farce, getting rid off some dead weight, and freezing some spending.
Next step is to cut foreign aid. If countries want to do business with us fine and dandy. If they don't, we should keep our money at home.
It's insane to BORROW money then GIVE it away. That saddle us with their problems.
The Euroweinies are demonstrating what Thatcher said about socialism, “eventually you run out of spending other people’s money.” Those other people are us and we’re tired of allowing the Europeans all taking the month of August off and having 6 months of maternity leave and etc. on our dime and spending nothing on their own defense.
Well, soon enough the continent will be renamed Europistan and we won't have to worry about supporting them.
Knifings of children and women, sex trafficking, rape, and worse. Yet the Europeans seem as if they are powerless to push back on these terrible issues. Are they all drugged? They continue to elect more of the same. I do not understand what has happened to them but we need to learn from it.
I wonder if they have election fraud like we do.
Most likely.
Nuland and friends taught them with monies from USAID TPG !!
Last night when Trump was reading the list of outrageous money waste that DOGE has uncovered, he said there was more that was so bad he didn't think it was appropriate to read last night. He was cryptic, but emphasized it.
I think he SHOULD publicize it all. I suppose he will, at the right time. Maybe they have uncovered financial evidence of child sex trafficking or something, and are withholding announcing it until they can build a legal case and indict.
03/05/25: Nuland should be swinging at the end of a rope (not eu-rope).
That's a good name and it is OK with me. My wife and I were fortunate to have travelled all over Europe many times when it was,,,, well,,,, Europe as we knew it. Safe and wonderful. And now it is a mess. What a shame. They brought this on themselves. Trump has outed them and exposed them. Keeping America first is what we need from now on.
And look how close we came to following in their footsteps. Four more years of Cackles and Tampon boy would have sealed our fate. We now have a fighting chance.
Obamas fourth term and more.
George Soros's fourth term. He was pulling the strings.
03/05/25: G.S. Jr. (Senior's a Biden case). And following in tow in his fetid wake is that gruesome ex-Hillary acolyte, Huma Dumba.
True but Europe can’t spend what they do not have. We seem to be the only ones who do that.
Because we borrow the money from the money changers. The goal is to bankrupt and thus own us.
03/05/25: And I am told that a large % of the money-lenders to Uncle Schmuck are from Europe.
You'd think that they'd want to spend more on their owns defenses, seeing as how the U.S. can pull the NATO rug out from under them (simply by recalling troops home & curtailing NATO's ammo / spare parts supplies).
This eventually will become inevitable because of our federal deficit, a scenario partly created by the European money-lenders who don't want to pay for their own defenses.
Starmer is a dolt. If you've ever tasted "Irish nachos," just imagine how competently they'll be assembling missiles in Dublin.
I am not a diplomat, and would fail if I tried. Decisions and behavior have consequences that can't be ignored. Frankly, I don't understand how Trump maintains such well-bred composure.
Zelenskyy, and all of Europe, need to be left to twist in the wind for many months or more without a penny from the USA. Add in some strong talk of closing military bases across the European region, especially in Germany.
While our neighbors across the ocean have racing hearts as they slip into nervous fidgets and episodes of rapid breathing, slap Al Green hard and PLEASE finally pick off Obama's team - especially the grotesque Susan Rice. Obama is the face of the deep state that falsified his birth certificate to place him in the Whitehouse.
Your comments about OBAMA are smack dab right on. He is an evil monster who is finally being exposed.
Never forget that Brennan went to Indonesia personally to make sure all traces of Barry's years there were buried.
The only thing he couldn't erase was Obama's family who stated publicly that he was born in Kenya.
When I hear Toto sing 'Africa', I think of big ears sitting beside some elephants with his hair in corn rows. Obama's favorite sound was the call to morning Muslim prayer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTQbiNvZqaY
Remember The Manchurian Candidate ? Ozero it was.
The trouble with delaying a peace deal is that Russia is emboldened and will take more land and that is increasingly problematic to a deal from Ukraines perspective. As for Rice and her gang, she needs some of what they did to Trump for eight years and counting.
Russia only wants a land bridge to Crimea, thus his concentrating the war in that area of Ukraine.
He knows Trump will be successful as Z and his Eurocrat bobble heads have no cards whatsoever to play. In the meantime, he’s enjoying watching them flail as much as we are.
He also is dealing with the Donbas region which is ethnically Russian and wants to leave Ukraine.
You are right. Delay will embolden Putin which is just the position I want Europe and Ukraine to be in as they panic and have to reach for the checkbook at the expense of funding their free healthcare and amazing public transportation and 6-week holidays each year.
Putin's got Donbas and he isn't giving it back. The rest of Ukraine is just land buffer between Russia and the NATO countries.
Let little Z and Europe sweat bullets. . . and pay out the wazoo to defend it.
She needs to stand in front of a firing squad.
Don't lease them to NATO - they won't pay.
I slightly disagree that Putin didn't have any excuse to invade UKR. Purposely or not, (I think it was on purpose) Que Mala and Brandon GAVE Putin the excuse (cover) to invade UKR by giving verbal support to UKR joining NATO and green-lighting RUS to invade 'just a little'.
I think you are right, although I think Putin was just waiting for an opportunity. Any opportunity. He wanted Donbas and anything else he could grab.
And, let's stop funding the money laundering project called NATO. It's purpose expired many years ago.
The Donbas is Russian. Hard to take the Russian out of the people.
No question about it. We were the reason Putin said enough of this and invaded. From a disinterested third party perspective, I suspect most countries would do the same if threatened. Putin just needed a reason and we gave it to him and we did it on purpose. Not all of the federal intel community is our friend.
You may be right, however, once we acquire these rights, Trump can trade them to the EU for. the mineral rights in Greenland which is right in our backyard vs. the other side of Europe. Leave it to Trump to play 4D chess with the Euro-dopes.
RFK has an excellent video detailing the events that led to the Russians invading their former oppressors.
Not saying Putin's right, but it explains it pretty much.
When Gorbachev made his deal with Reagan, it was agreed that Germany would be unified and NATO would not accept any other former Warsaw pact nations. Clinton violated that, then sent missiles to Poland. We also got involved in the war in Yugoslavia. Russia wasn't in a position to counter it but clearly viewed it as a threat to their security. That led them to align with Iran which is empowering the islamic terrorism throughout Europe. Kinda payback.
That push started before Ziden and horizontal ; Soetero and friends initiated the push against Russia in 2014 . Gail is probably right, the EU would never pay the bill but Ukraine is NOT where we need to be . The place is a mess both physically and culturally .
Susan Rice. What a blast from the past. I’d pay good money to send her and the rest of Obama’s Witches straight to hell. Not to mention Obama himself. Amazing how lazy a guy as he won’t stop working behind the scenes to disrupt Trump and his America First agenda.
She's as present as Satan
She needs to start working from the office again.
Obama is still getting paid by his deep state sources (who expect results) to do what he is doing. His 'mansion allowance' is expensive given the number and location of them.
Even Obama has to answer the email asking him to list five things he did last week.
That list might include a limousine, a crack pipe, and a guy found in a bar.
03/05/25: NO! He's not dating Hunter Biden again, is he?!
I have a rope
Funny thing about hunters, eventually the hunter can become the hunted if the game goes long enough. These people have a LOT of baggage. Not difficult to go after them if there is a will to do so. Mr. Obama has long since run his course in the country.
You won't have to send her; she (Rice), Obama, Nulander, Vindman (and the Bidens and Lindsey Grahams and Mitch McConnells, etc.) are all digging their own graves and paving their own paths to Hell... without any serious heartfelt repentance, they'll get there.
My only wish is to watch the send-off festivities.
Outstanding column! I hope that karma pays the Democrats a visit, and that right soon.
It (karma) visited them in spades last night during Trump's speech before Congress: they showed the whole national just how nasty and despicable they really are. Watch their ratings continue to swirl down the toilet bowl...
The TV didn't show it, but I am wondering if the Dems all sat like stones even when Laken Riley's family and the widow of that New York policeman were highlighted. If they did, that video should get posted to X and go viral. Someone posted here that they did sit like stones even for the kid with brain cancer who got the honorary Secret Service position.
Karma was the SOTU from a MAN most dems were sure would be in prison.
Good riddance, DEMS. You cannot undo what you did on the floor of the House. That ball and chain will be dragged around by you for the rest of your lives. Someone, somehow, come up with a comprehensive list of who sat on their hands and sulked and at what times during that speech; be detailed. You rats need to be exposed name by name- totally. Remind the voting people. Trump spoke softly and wielded the big stick aptly. He was Presidential. It felt especially good to be an American last night.
Amen...all we needed was a new President was the coup of the century...Go Big D! America First is the new credo. We must save our country and quit being Santa Claus to others.
So long as we keep giving money away with nothing in return, they will keep taking it. Have we really changed anything in the world for the better with the aid?
Vicki. You are right on. No more hand-outs. Stand on your own. You know one thing bugs me. Reports on average indicate that 75% approved of the speech. Who are the other 25%? Well that is easy to explain. I have said for a very long time that 80% or more of America is dumb or stupid or both. There you have it. Maybe some of them can be converted and can become rational, clear, and decisive thinkers.
My take on the 80% is this somewhat different. Many, if not most, of today's younger people are products of what the Dems, the MSM and their fellow travelers have taught them. The nationalization of education brought about substandard education across our country including the loss of learning about history, civics, and other basic information. This has left younger people without rudder to guide them in making sound decisions. The absence of Christianity in the public square also left them morally bankrupt. The mainstream media promoted all of this idiocy to be believed as truth and the will of the people. Trump and the MAGA movement is heroically trying to correct the lies of the past. Trump was elected with a mandate to return to what used to be normalcy. Let us pray that this is achieved.
Do not give up as many young people I meet even here in the socialist state of Or. are conservative perhaps due to podcasts and access to x and other online apps.
Sometimes when I watch congress or listen to them I ask myself this question, are they worth the cost? Are we getting our money’s worth? Should some of them be in jail? You decide.
Should some of them be in jail? No, most all of them of both parties.
We will be in full union with Russia very soon. Europe has turned into a waste land - an extension of the Middle East without any raw materials. Just blabbing idiots. Iran and China continue to instigate around the world. US, Russia and India will be the new world order to balance the socialists and murderers of the rest of world.
Beware India. We need to keep them close to us. They are not aligned with our version of the future.
India follows the money - full stop.
Under Trump, we need to change BRIC to BRAC and replace India with America.
Besides, Russia is the only place in the world where a man can be a man.
Petulant children are being put in their place.
The petulant Zelensky found out in just a few days that he is out of friends and money.
The petulant Democrats put on a crying fit last night that might have told their base they are with them but I think most Americans saw it as childish behavior.
The d's performance art last night, especially Pelosi, reminded me of a child holding their breath until they got their way. I kept wondering if she was going to finally pass out. Now that would have been something worth watching. Instead she just looked like she'd been sucking on a lemon
My wife and I thought the same. This children tantrum has no point other than resistance but someone should ask them exactly what they are resisting, Mr Trump or the wishes of the voters?
I’ve seen her do that chewing her cud thing before. Maybe just making sure her dentures are still in place.
Can that face be stretched any more?
Heard a report that the bags under her eyes used to be tits. We won't discuss the traces of a beard.
Maybe with a rope.
I wondered if Pelosi was ill or in pain; she seemed to be struggling.
She's in till the end.
She doesn't have much to go home to. A gay husband, an empty house, and a freezer full of expensive ice cream (that her expense account probably purchased).
Here's an idea: Let's send Al Green to Greenland where he can pretend it's all his until Trump makes it a state and throws him out with overspin..
Won't work. Hank Johnson said Green would tip Greenland over
Green is such a blowhard, Greenland would float away.
So full of hot air he'd melt the icecap. New York gets flooded, possibly a large chunk of DC....
👍
I again disbelieve CNN's poll that 69% approved of the speech and 31% disapproved. More tweaking to make Trump's number go down by 1% so that it was not 70%--and tweaking the disapproved number up by 1.5% so that it was not 29%. All just a psychological ploy to pretend Trump is not so ascendant. If the numbers were 70 and 29, visually most people would see that as a 50 point win for Trump, versus 69 and 31, which visually looks like a 30 point difference.
This is exactly the margins they "play with" in their election fraud. To try and make their fraud look "plausible", they keep most of their fraud within a 1.5 to 3 point margin.
It's all just manipulation and cheating.
👍👍
And just like that, Gal, you encapsulated the whole stinking polling business. Just a couple of numbers, and all of a sudden. A 50 point difference becomes a 30 point difference. Extremely well stated, lady. While I'm not a cunning linguist. I did stay at a Holiday Inn.
We need to face the facts. This current land skirmish in Ukraine, Obama and Biden are the bad guys. By extention the US.
If you tease a rabid pit bull and it attacks, can you really blame the dog.
Thank you, Don, for your superb writing.
"Europeans remind me of the generous pauper who would give you the shirt off his back, if he had a shirt."
No, Europeans are so generous that they would give the shirt off YOUR back.
Don, you need to find and post the recent Jeffrey Sachs lecture on the history of the Ukraine war. He explains why it happens. Blaming Putin is simplistic. The real blame is the US neocons, the EU and NATO.
Jeffrey Sachs was knee-deep in the mess that led us to the war in Ukraine. He thinks he’s the smartest man in the room, but he is a lapdog to whoever he senses is holding the current cards, and, like a chameleon, changes color accordingly.
I agree it is hard to know what or who is the truth here, but I take the old school approach, leopard never change their spots. Europe is Europe is Europe (actors change, the plot never does). Undoubtedly the founding fathers knew that & warned against getting involved.
Agreed Suzie. But it is our war as Joseph narrates. The USA has blood on its hands. A great deal.
I don’t disagree. It was rich to watch Mr. Johnson, along with other RINO Neocons who voted for every single dollar to fund it, nodding and applauding enthusiastically as Trump said we won’t give another dime to it. The Uniparty dragged us into this meat grinder. They hope Trump can redeem them. I want them all - every last one of them - primaried, at the very least.
I stand with you, Suzie. Trump is not a politician. Those that are cannot fathom his commitment to citizens independence from the boot heal of government.
Wasn't Jeffrey Sachs the one who was going to straighten out the Russian economy, back in the 1990s?
I didn't watch the address live because in this age of new media, I just want the highlights and instant replays. I start my day with Don Surber and will get to the President later on. Plus, I did NOT want to give an audience to the childish Democrats, the vast majority of whom should be humiliated with their behavior in a State address. Perhaps more will splinter away from the Marxist Democrat party after seeing their childish behavior last evening.
In Trump's first term, I recall Nancy Pelosi ripping Trump's State of the Union speech in half in front of Congress and mocking Trump with mini-claps of her hands when applause broke out in response to his achievements. She did that with a disapproving, condescending look on her face. What a bitch she was (is).
It is said often that to be a Democrat is a mental illness. However, they truly are clinically sociopaths and are a threat to all humankind, especially those who are God-fearing and live by a moral value standard.
Marxist Democrats and all of Europe are one and the same.
It's time to clear the stage of these pissants.
I was going to take the same approach - watch it in replay- but glad I didn’t. Sometimes you just need to be there realtime.