They sure are for the right price.
This only matter if we think that the Republican party still exists, and was not silently replaced by other party carrying its blood stained skin. Is GOP still alive? Is a serious question.
I have a lot of doubts about the real independence of republicans in this situation. The man at charge is obviously pro Russia and the republicans can't do a s*t about this. They will be replaced one by one. Anything that would try will be pushed out of the road.
I heard Mitch McConnell called a RINO a few weeks ago. That says it all.
1) Cult to the leader, Image printed on coins, posters, everywhere on TV and media. Fanatism
2) Religion serves the King. Divine intervention to justify power take. "God choose me in a divine mission to fix this mess" is a central part of the speech in every new monarch crowning. Trump is yet talking about that.
3) Exceptionalism and isolationalism, we are the best country and is cold and rainy out of my frontiers. Frontiers are very important for Kings as symbolic element of protection.
4) Extravagant behavior. Trump did all sort of outrageous things that would put anybody else in the jail, but got unscathed all the time. All kings do this. This is made to reinforce the idea of a special "superhuman" status.
4) Laws. This special status imply also that the law does not apply to the King and people will be carefully taught about that.
5) Killing competitors to the crown ("Hang Mike Pence" was metaphorical, but also works in a symbolic plane).
6) Wicht hunt behavior. As the King can't do wrong, scapegoats are required, normally on minorities.
7) Useful idiots. Extensive use of expendable pawns that are promised to enter the court, became famous, gain influence etc if they do a favor for the King. Those promises will never deliver.
8) Sucession. I would bet that the next elections will not have Trump as a frontman but a son of Trump will be the sure and only candidate. Every step will be taken to assure that not other has an opportunity inside the party. There will be a strong temptation and a lot of space to cheat in elections also.
9) And a component that is not still here, but I expect to see in the future is to disarm people that could pose a treat, weapon control but only for a part of the population. All Kings do this.
Of course, it took what, 70, 80 years of US influence to weaken the European armies to the point where we're highly reliant on them for defense, deterrence, tech and material. The Crimea invasion should've been the catalyst for the massively increased spending and prioritization of the military in Europe, not the 2022 escalation. I hope for Ukraine's sake that Europe has been able to catch up and restart production of equipment and that they can supply it asap, because after Ukraine it'll be Moldavia and Georgia, which already have pro-russian separatist movements / areas. Poland has invested a ton in updating their military at least.
I hope the US doesn't have veto powers to stop article 5 from being enacted if it does come to that.
They can't and they won't.
https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-weapons-shells-european-unio...
https://www.dw.com/en/germany-ukraine-military-aid-2026/a-69...
Sending more munitions to Ukraine means it takes the Russian military longer to overcome the Ukrainian army by force of arms. The unstated aspect that is often glossed over is that this requires more and more Ukrainian men to be forced against their will to die for the territorial integrity of the country (because in 2024 the Ukrainian military is fueled overwhelming by conscription, not by volunteers). It's bizarre to me that is considered a "pro-Ukrainian" take. It's like egging on Paraguay during the War of the Triple Alliance to keep fighting, no matter if ~70% of your male population dies in the process. Just don't surrender!
Americans and Western Europeans cheer for Ukrainian sovereignty, but seem disinterested in Ukrainian lives. I think the bulk of Ukrainian men would rather trade the Blue&Yellow for the Russian tri-color, and keep their balls/legs/arms attached.
https://www.kyivpost.com/post/39622
https://www.ft.com/content/b9396112-585a-4f7e-9628-13d500c99...
No. We don't want to be world police. We want to make money and grow our families.
Israel's diplomatic position would be much weaker if they didn't believe that the US would keep supporting them no matter what they do.
Why do you feel that Israel's diplomatic position needs to be weaker?
And how would the Palestinians' diplomatic position be, without the support of Iran, Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Turkey, Lebanon, Libya, Tunis, and the USSR and now Russia?
Gee I wonder why. Every single US senator takes AIPAC lobby money.
repubs aren't pro russia. they are just anti-getting-involved in there.