Marco Rubio Doesn’t Hold Back His Words

As he expresses President Trump’s disappointment and frustration at the lack of progress between Russia and Ukraine during a side visit with Russia’s foreign minister during the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' meeting. (Satire)

Language Alert - Profanity

https://x.com/PapiTrumpo/status/1943397332625612849

Zelensky Needs Eternal War

Because without war, he becomes immaterial and will be tossed on the comedic trash heap of history. He will NOT accept peace.

 

The “French” Aren’t Demanding The Statue Of Liberty Back

A pansy-ass French politician with a messy diaper and a bad case of TDS rash is crying because he got his feelings hurt.

Karoline Leavitt referred to him as "unnamed low-level French politician."

https://x.com/GuntherEagleman/status/1901689271745913107

(A French member of the European parliament has called for the US to return the Statue of Liberty originally gifted by the French people to mark the centennial of American independence because the US no longer represents the values that led France to offer the statue.
"Give us back the Statue of Liberty", centre-left politician Raphaël Glucksmann said at a convention of his Place Publique centre-left movement. Glucksmann, a staunch defender of Ukraine, has strongly criticized President Donald Trump's radical change of US policy on the war.)

Makes Me Wonder If Some Ukrainian Leader Didn’t Order The Hit

If it wasn’t a Ukrainian leader, could it have been someone here in the US that is heavily connected to the Ukrainian money laundering war machine? inquiring minds want to know.

 
https://x.com/EndWokeness/status/1896675673902833823

Is it just another coincidence that Routh appeared in this Azov Battalion recruitment ad in 2022?

https://x.com/EndWokeness/status/1896676277362553038

U.S., Ukraine May Possibly Sign Minerals Deal As Soon As Today

Trump wants to announce the deal at his address to Congress tonight.
The United States and Ukraine are reportedly planning to sign the economic deal that was supposed to be signed last week before a meeting between the country’s two leaders blew up following a spat in the White House.
Reuters reported that President Donald Trump wants to have the deal signed before his address to Congress on Tuesday night so he can announce it at the event.
The report cautioned that plans may change between now and whenever the deal is signed.
The news comes after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky released a statement earlier in the day in which he shifted his tone following the disastrous meeting with Oval Office last week which ended with Trump kicking him out.
Zelensky indicated that he regretted how the meeting in the Oval Office went on Friday, but stopped short of apologizing — something that Trump allies say the president wants to see him do publicly.
It’s not clear whether any terms of the deal have changed following the meeting last week.

 
https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-ukraine-plan-to-sign-minerals-deal-as-soon-as-today

We Need To Unleash DOGE Completely

Our government is letting foreign countries rape our Social Security system. It isn’t enough for the Democrats to give fraudulent benefits/payments to undeserving criminal invaders, so they’re giving our our retirement funds to foreign fraudulent criminal rings.

https://x.com/realdogeusa/status/1896395104937476110

The Big Con

(From my present drug addled understanding, greatly simplified.)
The UK and Ukraine have already signed a security/mineral deal. Zelensky tried to drag the U.S. into the deal to provide security because the UK is WEAK and they (Ukraine/UK) both know it. So Zelensky thinks that if the UK is involved in a security/mineral deal, that when Ukraine/Russia hostilities get worse, that the U.S. will have to enter the fray because of the UK’s involvement and the NATO alliance.

 

https://www.newsmax.com/newsmax-tv/tony-shaffer-ukraine-trump/2025/03/02/id/1201039/

Trump And Vance Clash With Zelensky In Fiery White House Meeting

(I've never seen anything like that on TV from the White House that I can remember.)

President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance clashed with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky Friday during a White House meeting ostensibly devoted to a new mineral deal.
“Do you think that it’s respectful to come to the Oval Office of the United States of America and attack the administration that is trying to prevent the destruction of your country?” Vance asked Zelensky. “Right now you guys are going around and forcing conscripts to the front lines because you have manpower problems.
“You should be thanking the president for trying to bring an end to this conflict,” Vance added, noting that Zelensky was “forcing conscripts to the front lines because you have manpower problems.”
“During war, everybody has problems, even you, but you have a nice ocean and don’t feel now, but you will feel it in the future,” Zelensky said.
Zelensky then invited Vance to visit Ukraine, and Vance accused Zelensky of embarking on propaganda tours.
“You don’t know that,” Trump said, cutting in as Zelensky continued to try to interrupt. “Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel. … You’re in no position to dictate what we are going to feel. We are going to feel very good. … You’re right now not in a very good position. You’ve allowed yourself to be in a very bad position and [Vance] happens to be right about it.”
“You don’t have the cards right now,” Trump added. “With us you start having cards. You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people. You’re gambling with World War III, and what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country.”
Vance then cut in, asking Zelensky if he had said “thank you” at all during the meeting.
“You went to Pennsylvania and campaigned for the opposition in October,” Vance said. “Offer some words of appreciation to the United States of America and the president who is trying to save your country.”

 

https://x.com/EndWokeness/status/1895537373628498032

Zelensky responded by accusing Vance of speaking “very loudly,” at which point Trump cut in to defend Vance.
“Your country is in big trouble,” Trump said.
“I know,” said Zelensky.
The two began arguing about the billions of dollars and military equipment the United States provided to Ukraine.
“It’s going to be a very hard thing to do business like this,” Trump said.
Vance then suggested it would have been better to litigate the disagreements in a meeting, rather than in front of reporters.
“I think that it’s good for the American people to see what’s going on. That’s why I kept this going so long,” Trump said. “You have to be thankful, you don’t have the cards.”
“I am very thankful,” Zelensky said.
Trump said that “attitudes have to change” adding that the heated exchange is “great television.”
Zelensky departed without signing the mineral deal.

https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-and-vance-clash-with-zelensky-in-fiery-white-house-meeting?topStoryPosition=undefined

Trump And Vance School Ukraine’s “Modestly Successful Comedian” Zelensky

President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance alternated scathing criticisms of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday, signaling a shifting, albeit unified, front in relations between the administration and officials in Kyiv.
Things have been growing somewhat contentious between Zelensky and President Trump, with the latter having insisted on a rapid and reasonable end to the ongoing war with Russia.
A leaked document from earlier this week reportedly outlines Trump’s demand for a $500 billion “payback” from Ukraine in any negotiated peace deal to end the war with Russia. According to the Telegraph, which viewed the confidential document, that price includes some level of control over Ukraine’s ports, infrastructure, oil, gas, and critical minerals.
That news, along with signs that the White House has been negotiating with Russian President Vladimir Putin, has left Ukraine in a "panic" that they are being left behind.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently sat down with a Russian delegation in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as they engaged in a "positive, upbeat, constructive" discussion on how to move forward.
The president made it clear to reporters at a press conference at Mar-a-Lago Tuesday that Ukraine had a chance to get into the negotiations game and blew it.
"They've had a seat for three years and a long time before that," Trump chastised. "This could have been settled very easily -- just a half, a half-baked negotiator could have settled this years ago without the loss of much land, very little land."
He accused Zelensky of holding Ukraine under "martial law" and urged his people to demand new elections.
It's quite clear that handling Ukraine with kid gloves is a thing of the past. Zelensky responded by throwing a bit of a temper tantrum and stealing from the Biden-Harris playbook by suggesting anything contrary to the needs of their nation is akin to "disinformation."
“Unfortunately, President Trump, I have great respect for him as a leader of a nation that we have great respect for, the American people who always support us, unfortunately lives in this disinformation space,” Zelensky told reporters early Wednesday.
That response didn't go over well in the White House.
President Trump unloaded on Ukraine's leader on Truth Social Wednesday morning, blasting Zelensky as a "modestly successful comedian" who somehow managed to draw the United States into a conflict that has cost the United States "$350 billion."
"On top of this, Zelenskyy admits that half of the money we sent him is 'MISSING.' He refuses to have Elections, is very low in Ukrainian Polls, and the only thing he was good at was playing Biden 'like a fiddle,'" he continued.
Trump went on to label Zelensky as "a dictator without elections" who better step up to the plate and help end the war before it's too late.
"Zelenskyy probably wants to keep the 'gravy train' going," the President concluded. "I love Ukraine, but Zelenskyy has done a terrible job, his country is shattered, and MILLIONS have unnecessarily died."

In an interview with the Daily Mail, Vice President Vance piled on Ukraine's president by noting that whoever is feeding him "bad advice" on dealing with Trump by "badmouthing" him in public is not exactly doing him any favors.
"The idea that Zelensky is going to change the president's mind by badmouthing him in public media, everyone who knows the President will tell you that is an atrocious way to deal with this administration," Vance explained.
He then reiterated American foreign policy relating specifically to Ukraine again, slowly for those who don't seem to be getting it.
"We obviously love the Ukrainian people. We admire the bravery of the soldiers, but we obviously think that this war needs to come to a rapid close," Vance insisted. "That is the policy of the President of the United States. It is not based on Russian disinformation."
Zelensky will get nowhere trying to run headfirst into the Trump-Vance brick wall of peace. He must know that. But seeing him try to act like the Democrat party by screeching "Russian disinformation" is going to isolate Ukraine in the negotiations even further.
Zelensky should help deliver peace if he wants to be taken seriously as a leader. Until then, he is, as Trump suggests, simply a comedian turned oligarch.

https://redstate.com/rusty-weiss/2025/02/19/trump-slams-dictator-zelensky-vance-tags-in-and-hammers-volodomyr-for-badmouthing-the-president-n2185763

Trump Comments On Zelensky, His Comedy Career, Russia, Etc.,

In case you are curious about Trumps reference to Zelensky's (pathetic) comedic career, I found this youtube video several years ago and posted it below Trump's comments:

Zelensky is the short one. Back in his comedian days.
Volodymyr Zelensky in 2016 in a five-minute performance in which he plays the piano with his penis with several other men before a live audience. They perform the Jewish classic "Hava Nagila."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oua0Puihrkc

Re: Pete Hegseth, NATO, And Ukraine

Don’t get me wrong. We needed someone like Hegseth leading the DoD after the pansy army we had for 4 years under President Pudding Brain.
Hegseth has all the qualifications needed to do the job Trump nominated him for and I think the military will benefit from his leadership BUT I remember him from FOX and I saw a little arrogance from him then and I’m sincerely hoping his arrogance will not lead to serious repercussions.
His ego has already lead him to make comments he is having to retract and he did it smoothly but IMHO, he needs to make sure his comments, decisions, and directives are in line with Trump before putting the machine in motion.

SecDef Pete Hegseth walks BACK his comment about Ukraine and NATO.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth just walked back his comment yesterday stating that Ukraine will not become part of NATO.
“These negotiations are led by President Trump. Everything is on the table. In his conversations with Vladimir Putin and Zelensky, what he decides to allow or not allow, is at the purview of the leader of the free world–President Trump. So I’m not going to stand at this podium and declare what President Trump will do or won’t do, what will be in or what will be out, what concessions will be made or what concessions are not made.”

https://therightscoop.com/breaking-secdef-pete-hegseth-walks-back-his-comment-about-ukraine-and-nato/

Bidenomics And Ukraine

Y'all Need To Work Harder And Put In More Overtime

It wouldn't hurt if some of y'all got a second job. Biden wants to pay all the costs incurred by Zelensky and his elitist friends while building their new mansions, buying new JaGUars, and boosting their retirement accounts.

One Step Closer, Thanks To Joe Biden

Ukraine has carried out its first strike on Russian territory with US-supplied long-range missiles just days after the Biden administration gave Kyiv the green light despite fears it could escalate the conflict beyond control.
A fiery explosion at an ammunition depot in Karachev around 75 miles from the Ukrainian border in Russia's Bryansk region lit up the night sky early this morning on what is the 1,000th day of war in Ukraine.
Eyewitnesses along with Russian and Ukrainian military bloggers first reported the attack, with anonymous Ukrainian military officials later telling RBC Ukraine the strike was conducted with the US-manufactured ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile System).

 

ATACMS - Army Tactical Missile - being fired from an M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14100327/Ukraine-fires-missile-Russia-WW3-fears-Kremlin-threatens-nuclear-response-long-range-Western-weapons-used-territory.html

And then this morning:

President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday signed a revised nuclear doctrine declaring that a conventional attack on Russia by any nation that is supported by a nuclear power will be considered a joint attack on his country.

https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/world/2024/11/19/russian-president-putin-signs-a-new-doctrine-that-lowers-the-threshold-for-using-nuclear-weapons/

Stealthily extracted from the brain gang over at Knuckledraggin’ My Life Away

https://ogdaa.blogspot.com/2024/11/one-step-closer-thanks-to-joe-biden.html

 On This Date In History

On April 26, 1986, the world’s worst nuclear power plant accident occurs at the Chernobyl nuclear power station in the Soviet Union. Thirty-two people died and dozens more suffered radiation burns in the opening days of the crisis, but only after Swedish authorities reported the fallout did Soviet authorities reluctantly admit that an accident had occurred.
The Chernobyl station was situated at the settlement of Pripyat, about 65 miles north of Kiev in the Ukraine. Built in the late 1970s on the banks of the Pripyat River, Chernobyl had four reactors, each capable of producing 1,000 megawatts of electric power. On the evening of April 25, 1986, a group of engineers began an electrical-engineering experiment on the Number 4 reactor. The engineers, who had little knowledge of reactor physics, wanted to see if the reactor’s turbine could run emergency water pumps on inertial power.
As part of their poorly designed experiment, the engineers disconnected the reactor’s emergency safety systems and its power-regulating system. Next, they compounded this recklessness with a series of mistakes: They ran the reactor at a power level so low that the reaction became unstable, and then removed too many of the reactor’s control rods in an attempt to power it up again. The reactor’s output rose to more than 200 megawatts but was proving increasingly difficult to control. Nevertheless, at 1:23 a.m. on April 26, the engineers continued with their experiment and shut down the turbine engine to see if its inertial spinning would power the reactor’s water pumps. In fact, it did not adequately power the water pumps, and without cooling water the power level in the reactor surged.
To prevent meltdown, the operators reinserted all the 200-some control rods into the reactor at once. The control rods were meant to reduce the reaction but had a design flaw: graphite tips. So, before the control rod’s five meters of absorbent material could penetrate the core, 200 graphite tips simultaneously entered, thus facilitating the reaction and causing an explosion that blew off the heavy steel and concrete lid of the reactor. It was not a nuclear explosion, as nuclear power plants are incapable of producing such a reaction, but was chemical, driven by the ignition of gases and steam that were generated by the runaway reaction. In the explosion and ensuing fire, more than 50 tons of radioactive material were released into the atmosphere, where it was carried by air currents.
On April 27, Soviet authorities began an evacuation of the 30,000 inhabitants of Pripyat. A cover-up was attempted, but on April 28 Swedish radiation monitoring stations, more than 800 miles to the northwest of Chernobyl, reported radiation levels 40 percent higher than normal. Later that day, the Soviet news agency acknowledged that a major nuclear accident had occurred at Chernobyl.
In the opening days of the crisis, 32 people died at Chernobyl and dozens more suffered radiation burns. The radiation that escaped into the atmosphere, which was several times that produced by the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, was spread by the wind over Northern and Eastern Europe, contaminating millions of acres of forest and farmland. An estimated 5,000 Soviet citizens eventually died from cancer and other radiation-induced illnesses caused by their exposure to the Chernobyl radiation, and millions more had their health adversely affected. In 2000, the last working reactors at Chernobyl were shut down and the plant was officially closed.

The destroyed Chernobyl nuclear power plant, shown just hours after the April 26, 1986, explosion.

Steam plumes continued to be generated days after the initial explosion.

Taken from a helicopter several months after the explosion. The destroyed Chernobyl reactor, one of four units operating at the site in Ukraine in 1986. No units operate today.


On April 26, 1865, John Wilkes Booth is killed when Union soldiers track him down to a Virginia farm 12 days after he assassinated President Abraham Lincoln.
Twenty-six-year-old Booth was one of the most famous actors in the country when he shot Lincoln during a performance at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C., on the night of April 14. Booth was a Maryland native and a strong supporter of the Confederacy. As the war entered its final stages, Booth hatched a conspiracy to kidnap the president. He enlisted the aid of several associates, but the opportunity never presented itself. After the surrender of Robert E. Lee’s Confederate army at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, on April 9, Booth changed the plan to a simultaneous assassination of Lincoln, Vice President Andrew Johnson, and Secretary of State William Seward. Only Lincoln was actually killed, however. Seward was stabbed by Lewis Paine but survived, while the man assigned to kill Johnson did not carry out his assignment.
After shooting Lincoln, Booth jumped to the stage below Lincoln’s box seat. He landed hard, breaking his leg, before escaping to a waiting horse behind the theater. Many in the audience recognized Booth, so the army was soon hot on his trail. Booth and his accomplice, David Herold, made their way across the Anacostia River and headed toward southern Maryland. The pair stopped at Dr. Samuel Mudd’s home, and Mudd treated Booth’s leg. This earned Mudd a life sentence in prison when he was implicated as part of the conspiracy, but the sentence was later commuted. Booth found refuge for several days at the home of Thomas A. Jones, a Confederate agent, before securing a boat to row across the Potomac to Virginia.
After receiving aid from several Confederate sympathizers, Booth’s luck finally ran out. The countryside was swarming with military units looking for Booth, although few shared information since there was a $20,000 reward. While staying at the farm of Richard Garrett, Federal troops arrived on their search but soon rode on. The unsuspecting Garrett allowed his suspicious guests to sleep in his barn, but he instructed his son to lock the barn from the outside to prevent the strangers from stealing his horses. A tip led the Union soldiers back to the Garrett farm, where they discovered Booth and Herold in the barn. Herold came out, but Booth refused. The building was set on fire to flush Booth. At this point a soldier shot Booth through the neck. Booth's body was dragged out of the burning barn. His body was moved to the front porch of the Garrett home. Booth was paralyzed and barely alive. He lived for three hours before gazing at his hands, muttering “Useless, useless,” as he died.

 

 John Wilkes Booth

"The killing of Booth, the assassin, the dying murderer drawn from the barn where he had taken refuge, on Garrett's farm, near Port Royal, Va., April 26, 1865" (Frank Leslie's Illustrated News)

 

 

The Historic Site marker on U.S. Route 301 near Port Royal, where the Garrett barn and farmhouse once stood in what is now the highway's median.

I’m sure most, if not all of you have seen the picture of the tunnel of greenery that is said to be some sort of 'Tunnel of Love’ on different websites.
I tried to find out more about it, where it was and more pictures and I came across an article in the International Business Times.

The article stated “An unused railway track in the small Ukrainian town of Kleven (which lies some 215 miles from Kiev) has naturally transformed itself into a romantic paradise for couples. The track, which is known locally as The Tunnel of Love, is becoming an increasingly common spot for couples, particularly during spring, when a huge canopy of trees along the track grows over either side to form an arch. This arch stretches for up to three kilometers and looks like a green tunnel of trees and couples wishful of a few moments of romantic solitude are often seen strolling around. Check out these photographs of the Tunnel of Love and the next time you holiday in Ukraine and find yourself visiting the remains of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, do make a short detour to the small city of Kleven and pass through The Tunnel of Love...”

However, the railway track ... is actually a part of a private railway serving a fiberboard factory near Kleven. The train carrying logs chugs along the tunnel, or rather through it, three times a day. That occasional activity is what, perhaps, prevents the trees from growing in the middle of the track, allowing the tunnel to remain as it has through the years.

 

https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/ukraine-tunnel-love-chernobyl-power-plant-341230

 Taiwan Casts Its Lot with Freedom

Taiwan just pushed back against bully China’s threats and elected a pro-Western, pro-sovereignty candidate to be president of the island nation.
William Lai Ching-te, the current Vice President of Taiwan and candidate of the Democratic Progressive Party defeated his rivals from the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). He won the election handily, as by 8 p.m. Taipei time, Lai had garnered 40% of the vote. His closest competitor, Hou Yu-ih, candidate of the KMT and mayor of New Taipei, lagged behind with 33%.
Moreover, Lai’s predecessor, current President Tsai Ing-Wen enjoyed eight years as leader of Taiwan, so it appears the Taiwanese strongly approve of the party’s leadership. The DPP has stood for continued independence and firmness against Chinese aggression.
Needless to say, Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party do not approve of the election.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pw7pqGQj03A

Despite the name “progressive,” don’t confuse the DPP with the far-left, ostensibly Marxist politics seen in the United States. Tim Mak, who writes on Ukraine and Taiwan for his Substack The Counteroffensive with Tim Mak, notes that the DPP is  a “newer centrist party.” It favors a pragmatic and non-partisan approach to reform and modernization, as well as greater independence from China.
What Inspires the Taiwanese is Ukraine
Tim Mak writes:
“The last few elections in Taiwan have been heavily colored by outside factors – more often than not, China … This year? The wars in Ukraine and Gaza.”
You’d think that wars in two very disparate nations would not affect an election in Taiwan. But the Taiwanese have been watching and taking note of the fate of Ukraine in particular. And they also firmly support Ukraine in its war with Russia. Some Taiwanese even dedicate prayers to the sea goddess Mazu for Ukrainian peace.
More ominous, however, is that the Taiwanese no longer trust the United States.
For example, Angelica Oung, who supported TPP in the election, told Tim Mak:
“Here in Taiwan… there are some people who just don’t believe that the United States is ever going to step up for us. And I myself actually found it harder and harder to argue that case… [Taiwanese voters see] how the U.S. is treating Ukraine as a possibility for how it might treat us in the future. And there’s a strong fear… that Taiwan might become a second Ukraine.”
In addition, Dr. Shen Ming-Shih, who heads National Security Research at a Taiwanese think tank, said:
“If Ukraine loses the war, it will encourage Xi Jinping, because [he will say,] the United States, your power has decreased. You cannot help Ukraine… [therefore] you cannot help Taiwan.”
It’s no wonder people in Taiwan look at Ukraine and worry. Especially since we have a weak president in Joe Biden and a noisy and growing isolationist wing in the Republican party.
As Mak wrote:
“It’s a reminder of just how interconnected all these seemingly-disparate events are: fighting in the trenches in Zaporizhzhia, arguments in the U.S. Congress, and balloting on the islands of Taiwan.”
No matter how much anyone thinks they can hole themselves off the rest of the world, it never, ever pans out like they expect. Just like socialism, isolationism doesn’t work.
What’s Next for Taiwan?
Taiwan may have voted for continued independence, but Xi Jinping will continue to bully the nation. In fact, the pressure will probably increase.
As writer Cindy Yu wrote in The Spectator World just before the election:
“Xi has made it clear that, whoever holds power in Taipei, reunification with Taiwan is his “unswerving task.” “Re-uniting the motherland is a historical necessity,” he said in his new year’s message.”
Helen Raleigh, writing in The Federalist as well as her own Substack Confucius Never Said, cites Beijing’s long-time meddling in Taiwan’s affairs.
Raleigh should know. She grew up in Communist China, came to the United States as a student, and became a US citizen in 2013. From her experience, she writes that a free Taiwan is a threat to Beijing:
“Beijing sees a democratic Taiwan as a threat to the CCP’s legitimacy. It must thus be eliminated because a free and prosperous Taiwan discredits Beijing’s claims that Chinese culture and democracy are inherently incompatible and that the Chinese people can have peace and prosperity only under the CCP’s totalitarian rule.”
Meanwhile, Xi Jinping makes no secret as to his designs on the island nation. Last month he warned Joe Biden that Beijing will eventually reunite with Taiwan. And, in his New Years address to the Chinese people, Xi reiterated that the two countries “will surely be reunified.”
Plus, China has a history of meddling in Taiwan’s affairs. In 2019, for example, a Chinese spy claimed he interfered in Taiwan’s 2018 election through media and internet companies. China has also loudly disapproved of the teaching of Taiwanese history and culture in its schools.
Beijing has even gone so far as to investigate a popular Taiwanese rock band for the “crime” of lip-synching, or, as they term it, “deceptive fake singing.” (The investigation came about, as a source told Reuters, because the band “Mayday” refused to say something positive about China prior to the election.)
And then there are the missiles the Peoples’ Liberation Army has fired into the waters off Taiwan, as well as Chinese fighter jets that fly into their airspace. China also conducts frequent military exercises near the Taiwan Strait. On top of that, Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense has reported spy balloons — similar to the one that floated over the United States — have been flying over the island.
Despite the threats, Taiwan has chosen to continue to its status as proudly independent.  She will not be bullied. The question is, however, will the United States support Taiwan in her bid to remain free of China? Sadly, Joe Biden is a feeble leader, and the current populist climate in the GOP is to abandon President Reagan’s lofty goal of “peace through strength.”

https://victorygirlsblog.com/taiwan-casts-its-lot-with-freedom/

 Joe Biden and the Senate Democrats still refuse to send Israel the much needed aid which Biden asked for himself and the House passed nine days ago.
Why? Because they didn’t get the Ukraine funding they also wanted and they claim paying for it with IRS funding is a ‘poison pill’.

Here’s more from Byron York:

“BIDEN DIGS IN: NO AID TO ISRAEL UNLESS UKRAINE, TOO. It has now been more than a month since the Hamas attack on Israel. Israeli forces are on the move against Hamas in Gaza, and there is bipartisan agreement in the U.S. government — House, Senate, and White House — that the United States should send aid to Israel.
President Joe Biden asked Congress for $14 billion in military assistance to Israel. The House quickly passed what Biden wanted. But now the president and Senate Democrats staunchly refuse to go forward with the aid. Biden has drawn a line in the sand: He will not approve the $14 billion in aid to Israel that he himself asked the House to pass. This week, the White House reiterated Biden’s position.
What gives? It’s complicated, but here’s a quick answer: It’s mostly about Ukraine.
Start with Biden’s original request. In addition to asking for $14 billion in military assistance to Israel, the president asked for $61 billion in assistance to Ukraine. On top of that, he asked for about $9 billion in humanitarian aid for Ukraine, Israel, Gaza, and other places, but he did not specify how much would go to each. Judging from the wording of his request letter, it appears the largest part would be for Ukraine.
With the administration requesting $61 billion for Ukraine, plus a lot of humanitarian aid for Ukraine, versus $14 billion for Israel, the Biden proposal looked like a Ukraine bill with a bit of Israel tacked on.
Many voters, and certainly Republican lawmakers, view the Ukraine and Israel situations quite differently. After all, they are two separate conflicts, in two separate countries, in two different parts of the world, with different combatants. And there is another important difference: Among GOP lawmakers, as among U.S. voters, support for Israel aid is more popular than support for Ukraine aid.
Yet Biden insisted that the aid to Israel be passed in one big bill with aid to Ukraine. He was so adamant that he threatened to veto any aid to Israel that was not paired with money for Ukraine. As this newsletter noted last week, “Republicans suspect that Biden took the opportunity of a new conflict in Israel to try to win Ukraine aid by attaching it to the more popular Israel measure. Also, it appears Biden is trying to get Congress to approve so much aid to Ukraine that he, Biden, won’t have to ask for any more until after the 2024 election.”
House Republicans did not go along. On Nov. 2, nearly all of them, 214 Republicans plus 12 Democrats, passed the president’s request for $14 billion in military assistance to Israel, just as Biden had wanted. But they did not include aid to Ukraine, and they did not include the humanitarian assistance, much of which appeared headed for Ukraine.
Then Republicans, led by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), added a twist. To pay for the Israel aid, Johnson tapped money that Congress had passed in the so-called Inflation Reduction Act for the hiring of 87,000 new IRS employees and used it instead to pay for the Israel aid.
Democrats quickly called the IRS provision a “poison pill.” They made three arguments. One, they said it was an extraneous addition to an urgent national security measure. Two, they said it would not even pay for the $14 billion in aid because hiring fewer IRS workers would actually reduce tax receipts and increase the deficit. And three, they repeated the president’s position that the $14 billion in Israel aid should be passed in a single measure with $61 billion for Ukraine.”
Their arguments are flawed…
“All three arguments were flawed. And we have now learned that only the last one really matters.
First, on the extraneous addition point, Biden himself added extraneous spending in his original request. He included billions for the quicker processing, release, and relocation of migrants who enter the U.S. illegally across the southern border. He also requested money for Taiwan. Those are separate from the Israel-Hamas war. So how can Biden and Democrats then claim that there should be no separate measures attached to Israel aid?
On the question of paying for the $14 billion by taking it out of proposed IRS funding, it’s important to remember that Biden had already agreed to take even more money out of the proposed IRS funding. Back in May, Biden and then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) made a spending deal that called for cutting $21 billion in IRS funding that was included in the Inflation Reduction Act. The deal later fell apart for other reasons, but the fact is, Biden did not view Inflation Reduction Act IRS funding as sacrosanct.
Finally, on the question of a combination aid bill versus separate bills for Israel and Ukraine — it appears that is the decisive thing. On Wednesday evening, a White House official told Politico Playbook that Biden “will not accept a standalone, Israel-only bill that fails to demonstrate America’s commitment to standing up to Putin and his brutal aggression and that doesn’t provide urgently needed humanitarian assistance.” Politico added: “Any Israel aid bill that fails to include humanitarian aid and money for Ukraine is a no-go for the White House.””
Either Biden and Chuck Schumer want to send funds to Israel or they don’t. Schumer could pass the same funding but pay for it differently, and then the House and Senate could unite and negotiate to send a bill to Biden’s desk. But once again, when Democrats don’t get what they want they refuse to play ball at all. It’s their way or the highway.

https://therightscoop.com/joe-biden-refuses-to-send-israel-the-aid-he-asked-for-which-passed-in-the-house/

Unfortunately, this bill will never pass, the Democrats would rather die than give up a laundry payment to Ukraine AND/OR take funds away from a government agency that they drool over. (IRS)

House Republicans release bill to send aid to Israel and how they pay for it is awesome (whatever, it’s fiscally responsible and economically sound)
House Republicans have released their bill today to send $14.3 billion in aid to Israel, with no Ukraine money, and they ensure that the Israel funding is 100% paid for with cuts to something else.
It’s that ‘something else’ that has gotten me excited to write this article.
Republicans chose to cut $14.3 billion from IRS funding in Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act that had nothing to do with reducing inflation.

The bill: https://punchbowl.news/file_5406/

Of course it will never fly. But when know you’re going up against leftist loons in the Senate and the White House, you don’t start with something they’ll accept because if you do, you’ve already lost. That’s what RINOs like John Boehner and Paul Ryan do. No, in order to get what you want you must start in a place that gives you leverage and that’s what this bill does. I love it. It sounds like we finally have Speaker of the House who understands how to negotiate with Democrats.

 

https://therightscoop.com/house-republicans-release-bill-to-send-aid-to-israel-and-how-they-pay-for-it-is-awesome/

WOW, washing the Biden family laundry has an unbelievable price tag.