Ron DeSantis Gives Good but Uneven Foreign Policy Speech – Russian autocrat President Vladimir Putin has initiated an illegal invasion of Ukraine to subordinate his smaller, pro-Western neighbor to what Putin believes to be his rightful sphere of influence. Believing that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was aggressively moving into regions of Europe that most Russian elite believed NATO would not move into, Putin spent years cautioning NATO not to move any deeper into the former Soviet bloc states. Ukraine was Moscow’s red line.
Whether real or imagined by Putin and his siloviki, they sent Russia into a devastating war of aggression predicated on mostly false pretenses (sound familiar?)
In the conduct of their war of aggression, Vladimir Putin’s forces have executed gruesome war crimes against their Ukrainian enemies. Mass rapes. Beheadings. Utter dehumanization of all things Ukrainian. Putin, if not directly responsible for these crimes, is obviously indirectly responsible for having initiated the conflict to begin with.
Vlad Putin is a War Criminal—We Get It…
Recently, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant for Vladimir Putin’s arrest on the charges of human rights violations. Neither Russia nor the United States are part of the ICC, by the way. Nevertheless, the ICC has issued this warrant.
Of course, the question of execution of the warrant was clearly never once asked. If it had been, perhaps someone could have informed the ICC that the last thing the Western alliance should be doing is issuing toothless warrants to remind the world of that which Vladimir Putin and his allies in China and Iran keep saying, that America and its allies are weak, decadent, and feckless.
Those in support of this move by the ICC prattle on about the importance of the symbolism. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again (in the words of George Carlin): I leave symbols to the symbol minded. Especially when it sends the wrong message to Putin and his autocratic allies, who are definitely feeling their oats on the world stage in the face of perceived, persistent American weakness. We all know that Putin is a bastard.
So what? Many world leaders are. Will we go after every bloody minded world leader militarily—even those, as with Russia, that have large nuclear weapons stockpiles?
Maybe it’s because I came up during the Iraq War (and its aftermath), but for all this talk about the ICC issuing this warrant on Putin, people seem to forget that the ICC has been investigating the George W. Bush Administration for supposed war crimes in Afghanistan since 2007. There have been calls since 2006 for the ICC to investigate the Bush Administration for its alleged lies about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction (WMD) that got the United States to invade Iraq in 2003. Although, since Iraq has never recognized the ICC, only the Afghanistan investigation is considered serious, because Afghanistan does recognize the ICC.
As Brett Schaefer, a senior researcher at the Heritage Foundation reports, the investigations the ICC has undertaken into the Bush Administration for its alleged abuses represents “an early step in the [charging] process,” but in “neither [the ICC’s investigations into George W. Bush’s Iraq or Afghanistan’s war policies] does action seem imminent.”
It won’t really matter, though, because just like Russia, the United States doesn’t recognize the ICC. For good measure, in 2020, it was reported that former President Donald Trump issued an executive order “criminalizing” anyone who works for the ICC. Clearly, reciprocity is a concept that few in America’s foreign policy leadership fully understands. If we can do it, the Russians can too.
So, no, it really doesn’t matter whether Putin is a war criminal or not. What matters is whether America and its allies have the juice to do anything about it or not. We don’t. Waste of time. DeSantis should avoid irresponsible talk like this.
Speaking of Ron DeSantis…
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is likely going to announce his candidacy for the Republican Party’s presidential contest in a few months (likely sometime in May or June, after the Florida Legislature ends its current session). It matters increasingly more what he says about most major policy issues—especially foreign policy, given what’s going on in the world, largely as a result of the shambolic Biden foreign policy.
No, Russia is Not Just a “Gas Station with Nukes”
Ron DeSantis made remarks in which rightly called Vladimir Putin a “war criminal.” He followed that on with comments about Russia being little more than “a gas station with a bunch of nuclear weapons.” In that, he echoed the comments of the now-deceased Senator John McCain (R-AZ). McCain’s remarks were inaccurate when the Arizona Republican made them a decade ago.
They are wrong today.
Yes, Russia has much natural gas and oil that it deftly exploits to its advantage (this is how Moscow has managed to avoid the nastiest bits of the West’s otherwise onerous economic sanctions). Moscow has been able to support its economy because, for the last decade, Putin’s regime has invested heavily in building up Russia’s agricultural sector and several other commodities that few other nations possess within their borders.
Republicans need to stop saying these silly things about Russia. It is a strategic threat because it is so much more than just a “gas station with nukes.”
Where DeSantis aced his foreign policy statement was in his proposed policy solution and the way in which he placed the Russian threat in the wider context of US grand strategy.
Elaborating on his remarks, DeSantis advocated for the robust development of America’s bountiful natural resources—specifically its fossil fuels—to counteract Russia’s strategic advantages in the global energy markets.
The previous Republican administration deftly developed these resources which granted immense leverage for the United States on the world stage (and helped to keep the global energy prices low). When Biden supplanted Donald Trump, he reversed most of these policies. DeSantis, if elected in 2024, will return the US to energy dominance (thank God!)
Despite False Start, DeSantis Proves He Gets Strategy
Lastly, DeSantis’ contextualization of Russia as a strategic threat, but not America’s principle adversary, is apt. Russia has been a perennial thorn in America’s side. Although, this has not occurred only because of Russian actions following the Cold War.
It takes two great powers to tango, after all.
Since 1991, the Americans and their allies have engaged in a series of moves that were mostly unnecessary in the wake of the Cold War that indicated to Moscow that the Cold War was not, in fact, over but was merely on pause. Again, this does not excuse Russia’s grotesque behavior at all. But the West helped to create this situation with idiotic and short-sighted policies.
Ron DeSantis clearly favors hard American power more than Donald Trump does. Yet, to say that DeSantis is a warmonger is inaccurate. A recent New York Times piece put it right: DeSantis favors hard power but with a high bar.
Meaning that those worried that DeSantis would have committed the United States to this ridiculous Ukraine War the way that Biden has can rest assured. He would not have (in fact, under either Trump or DeSantis, it is likely the conflict would not have occurred at all). What’s more, it is unlikely that a President Ron DeSantis would commit us to a similar conflict.
Keeping Voters Happy
DeSantis’ foreign policy comments come in the context of the Florida governor trying to build a wide coalition on the Right. A coalition that will not only allow for him to overcome Trump’s inherent advantages as being an incumbent with a deep sense of grievance coupled with a committed base of support, but one that would further attract independents.
While many Americans today are not as sanguine about the country’s continued (and expanding) commitment to Ukraine, many Americans are sympathetic to the Ukrainian cause and do not want to see us totally abandon them to the vicious Russians. Neither do I. What most Americans want (myself included) is a recalibration of American interests.
DeSantis is trying to appeal to those groups who want us to walk that line. It is not only the smart move strategically, but it is also the moral move.
Let’s give grace to DeSantis as he has a herculean task ahead of him: wrest control of the party from a man that is deeply loved and completely unpredictable while trying to appeal to the voters who will show up to the polls in the General Election in 2024—most of whom are decidedly not fans of former President Trump.
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Author Biography
Brandon J. Weichert is a former Congressional staffer and geopolitical analyst who serves as a Senior Editor for 19FortyFive.com. Weichert is a contributor at The Washington Times, as well as at American Greatness and the Asia Times. He is the author of Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower(Republic Book Publishers), The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy (March 28), and Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life (May 16). Weichert can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.
Tamerlane
March 23, 2023 at 3:09 pm
Generally a good article. The longer the war goes on, and the more the Russians attrit the American proxy state of Ukraine, the less the American people will support this boondoggle.
As long as he follows Trump’s somewhat more Jacksonian decisions and remains a realist/non interventionist in his policy, instead a humanitarian interventionist (Biden/Obama) or hubristic neoconservative (Bush/McCain/Romney) DeSantis stands an excellent chance. The pro-Ukrainian intervention candidates are dead dogs running on the right. There is zero chance a pro-Ukrainian intervention candidate wins the GOP nomination. However the general election shapes up, it will be between a Democrat who champions war against a nuclear superpower (allied with China and India and the other rapidly expanding Global South countries), and a candidate who favors realism and restraint narrowly tailored to defending American interests, our own security, and splitting the emerging anti-American global alliance instead of strengthening it the way Biden and co have.
David Chang
March 23, 2023 at 3:42 pm
God bless people in the world.
When US President Trump agreed to sanction the Nord Stream 2 company few years ago, a Democratic senator and German officer opposed the U.S. sanction.
Democratic Party ever agreed to the Nord Stream 2, but now they oppose and attack Russia. First They make E.U. to rely on natural gas from Russia, then delay the energy plan of Europe Union. It’s really scary.
God bless America.
Gary Jacobs
March 23, 2023 at 4:32 pm
Tamerlane:
A slew of recent polling shows how minority your silly views on Ukraine are. Even within the Republican Party. I’d say it’s highly likely that even within a primary this margin in favor of Ukraine is not going to be overcome.
From March 13, 2023 Gallup Poll:
62% of Republicans say Russia-Ukraine conflict is a critical threat to U.S. vital interests
29% say important but not critical
9% say not important threat at all
A Feb 6 2023 poll by Gallup shows a stable 65% of U.S. adults prefer that the United States support Ukraine in reclaiming its territory, even if that results in a prolonged conflict.
Meanwhile, 31% continue to say they would rather see the U.S. work to end the war quickly, even if this allows Russia to keep its territory.
Similar results in August of 2022.
Gary Jacobs
March 23, 2023 at 4:40 pm
This author pretending that NATO expansion is the cause of Russia’s belligerent behaviour is pretty silly considering how many times Russians themselves brushed it off when it was happening, only to try and revise history later on.
As well, calling NATO expansion ‘shortsighted’ is itself shortsighted.
NATO had an open door policy and it was the effort of the Baltic States, Poland, and pretty much all of Russia’s neighbors to reform and conform to NATO standards before voluntarily applying for membership in large part because of centuries of history as victims of Russian imperialism.
Furthermore, Russia could have decided to not be a kleptocratic mafia state and reformed itself so it could be a good neighbor, and a fair trading partner on the world stage. It did nothing of the sort. See Bill Browder’s books ‘Red Notice’, and ‘Freezing Order’ for first hand accounts of how Russia operates.
These also happen to be the backstory of the murder of Sergei Magnitsky and the Magnitsky Act.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is nothing more than Putin’s mafia family on steroids trying to steal what belongs to Ukraine.
404NotFound
March 23, 2023 at 5:58 pm
DeSantis is the man that has arrived at the right hour to save america from the crazed global fascismo democrats.
In february 1990, then US secretary of state James Baker assured soviet leader gorbachev that US-led NATO would not move eastward after german reunification.
In may 1990, then NATO secretary-general manfred worner himself gave a similar statement on NATO not moving east of a united germany.
Following the assurances from US & NATO, gorbachev agreed to the union of west and east germany in may 1990.
In august and september 1990, the east and west german parliaments voted in favour of union of both states.
Subsequently, east germany dissolved itself and germany became a single nation in october 1990.
But in 1994, then US president bill clinton decided on supporting NATO expansion due to GOP gains during mid-term elections in the same year and a growing political crisis in yugoslavia.
Fast forward to the 21st century. Another democrat mischief-maker, obama, backed by the CIA decided to support a putsch in ukraine in february 2014 and by april 2014, armed clashes were openly erupting between pro-western and anti-western groups and the ukrainian armed forces unleashed itself against separatist forces in the donbass region.
Employing heavy firepower, it was on the verge of completely crushing the separatists but a couple of major reverses stopped it in its tracks, especially at Ilovaisk in august 2014.
Following the failure, ukraine agreed to minsk agreements but they were never implemented. Instead, under newly elected zekenskiyy, ukraine openly campaigned for NATO mrmbership, knowing only that would solve the separatist problem confronting the country.
US and NATO wanted ukraine plus georgia and others as new NATO members but russia objected.
Thus US and NATO began a bullhorn campaign to browbeat russia into acceptance with moscow instead of resigning itself to the inevitable began to adopt a hard stance and drawing a red line against ukraine entering the NATO fold.
Russia’s stance was (and still is) totally reasonable, as a NATO presence in ukraine would lead to stationing of tomahawk missiles right on its doorstep plus armored and stryker units fully capable of making a lightning dash to moscow, just several hundred km away during a moment of crisis.
Would the USA accept such a similar situation.
Thus in february 2022, russia began its move into ukraine all thanks to US, NATO & zelenskiyy.
It is now up to people like deSantis to diffuse the situation and avert all-out ww3 in europe.
Tamerlane
March 23, 2023 at 6:11 pm
Gary and his anti-American fellow-travelers don’t comprehend that we don’t live in a unipolar world. They fail to comprehend just how galling to the developing world the extremely high handed interventionist policy they espouse (as demonstrated in Iraq, Kosovo, Syria, Libya etc) has been. There is a reason a small minority of the world backs Biden’s hyper interventionist play.
Yes Gary, I was polled in a recent poll where I answered that indeed yes, the Russia-Ukraine conflict is a critical threat to U.S. vital interests. That has been my argument all along. We have created an opposing pole which is comprised of the global south and the BRICS, which, along with the middle eastern states, are hardening into an anti-American grand alliance. It is your policies which have led to this calamity and potential catastrophe for American interests and power. The greater our assistance to Ukraine, the greater the threat to us becomes.
Ukraine is a proxy state for the United States. It is not our ally, nor will it or could it become one. Furthermore, the juice isn’t worth the squeeze here—pushing Russia into a grand alliance against us. The British learned this lesson when they fought us in the War of 1812 during the fighting on the continent against Napoleon, and they responded by abandoning their interventionist unipolar foreign policy, and by adopting the hugely successful “splendid isolation” of the next hundred years, content with being “primus inter pares”—the first amongst peers—and confident with a peerless navy defending Britain’s interests and vast sea-borne trade but otherwise not taking part in any major wars save Crimea… not by entering too many pesky regional disputes. Above all, they refused to enter wars to promote values and rights by force, and instead followed a clear eyed realism to defend their own interest.
Your position however, is remarkably similar to that taken by the British elites in 1912-1914, who, forgetting the reasons for the prudence of the past 100 years, brought upon Britain the destruction of their position as primus inter pares. We should not follow this tragic trajectory, and should instead preserve our own bastions of power. Preservation is not as glamorous as your call for perpetual war for perpetual peace, but it has the effect of not spurring the fall of our power. You mistake our position for that of imperial Rome under the 5 good emperors… when in fact we are akin to Byzantium after the rise of the Caliphs. We should embrace prudence, not expansion.
Finally, no, the longer the war, the greater the slippage of popular support will be for your little crusade. Meanwhile, the longer the war lasts, the more Russia attrits Ukraine. We should end the war with terms which pull and incentivize Russia out of the Chinese yoke, and which break their hold on the global south. It is in this realist manner that our power will be preserved.
Let’s stay free and powerful for another few generations, shall we?
Rick
March 23, 2023 at 6:15 pm
Bramdon is a far right loon and it’s reflected in his articles. Hardly worth reading.
Tig Oglesby
March 23, 2023 at 7:19 pm
I’m sure to smug, college-preppy, dinner club conservatives like you who never served, this appeals to their apologist biases. However, to those of us who truly love the primal howl of bloodthirsty American Freedom I say let’s just uncompromisingly crush all things Russia and dismiss DeSantis as a clueless interloper who still hasn’t figured out how to stop being a primadonna culture warrior
Tamerlane
March 23, 2023 at 10:27 pm
Tig (chosen because it’s the name of your intellectual equal—Sarah Palin’s mentally deficient son?),
Those of us who have put on the uniform and fought overseas know precisely how correct DeSantis is to seek to avoid yet another massive quagmire—one which weakens American power and doesn’t advance our interests. It is actually the smug, college-preppy country club republicans who amongst the GOP support this moronic intervention against Russia. The country club types and elites of both parties back this imbecilic war.
American Freedom? That’s not what is at issue here between Russia and Ukraine, but if the US creates an international coalition against it, that’s exactly what this foolhardy intervention could cost us. I’d say there’s about a zero percent chance you served abroad in either Afghanistan or Iraq. You haven’t learned a god damned thing from those absolutely awful interventions, much less the failed interventions in Syria and Libya.
Statsjockey
March 23, 2023 at 10:52 pm
Some of you guys (especially 404NotFound) seem to be taking your talking points directly from the Kremlin.
The short answer is that yes, the US and NATO expansion were complicit in driving Russia to eventual war, but that still does not excuse Russia for all its maximalist crimes in Ukraine.
Make no mistake that the Ukraine war is only the first chapter of conflict between authoritarian versus democratic systems. More wars will follow until there is a reorientation of power one way or the other (or we all flush it down the nuclear toilet).
Regarding the author’s take on Trump being deeply loved…give me a break! Remember this is the same bozo who on the first day of the Russian invasion to be a “genius”. Trump is, was, and will always be a hot mess whose mouth consistently exceeds his mental capacity to account for the effects of his words. His solution for saying the wrong thing, which happens daily, is to either deny he said it, contradict his own words, or create a new crisis to duck out of the last one.
Get over the Trump phenomenon. The independents who got him elected the first time grew tired of the chaos and false bravado. Don’t get me wrong here because Biden isn’t the answer either, but more Trump when the stakes are higher spells exponential disaster.
DeSantis is at least intelligent enough to handle the job, and he won’t make the classic Trump mistake of viewing every world issue through the lens of how it affects himself personally.
On the other side of the aisle, I’m hoping Biden rides off into the sunset. He was right to rebuild our alliances within the west, and to oppose authoritarianism, but any man that forgets that he should exit the stage of the UN after making a speech has certainly seen better days.
Finally, if you are an American, please stop buying the media-fueled BS that the Republicans or the Democrats are your enemy, and that either side wants to destroy its own country. Both sides largely want the same things, but disagree on how to achieve them. So stop accepting a news narrative that the enemy is within…that divides us immeasurably, and strengthens our enemies in the process. The media on the left and tue right will keep pushing this position as long as they see that you will become angry enough or fearful enough to keep buying their unpatriotic BS. Stop watching and start reading your news from sources that don’t tell you how to feel or how to interpret the news. Those that pull you down the path of interpreting the news are manipulating you for financial gain.
Settle your differences through fact gathering and clear headed debate. That’s the democratic process, and both sides fall into authoritarian tendencies by discounting or demonizing the other.
Tig Oglesby
March 24, 2023 at 1:14 am
Yo 404notfound!
I detect a Russian accent. The US supports NATO expansion, you say? GOOD!
The CIA backs a putsch to kick a bad actor in the heinie? DOPE! See, you sound like a lefty from the 60’s crying about how big bad USA is pushing people around. I bet you “identify” as a so-called righty, but lack the self awareness to see the connection to your hippie roots. Have fun spreading communist, er, Kremlin propaganda, Comrade. I will BUY you a ticket to Russia, North Korea, or Cuba so you can feel right at home. Hit me up!
David Chang
March 24, 2023 at 2:18 am
God bless people in the world.
The constitution thought of Gary Jacobs is not obeying Ten Commandments, is believing socialism international. So he is not a crusader, his thought is the same as like Cheney, Biden, Clinton, Obama, Zelenskyy.
As Eisenhower say, the real and just crusader are only the Knights of Hospitaller. The other knights don’t obey Ten Commandments because of sin.
Eisenhower say:
“Daily as progressed, there grew within me the conviction that as never before in war between many nations the forces that stood for human good and men’s rights were this time confronted by a completely evil conspiracy with which no compromise could be tolerated. Because only by the utter destruction of the Axis was a decent world possible, the war became for me a crusade in the traditional sense of that often misused word.”
No people is good, but God.
The completely evil conspiracy is atheism: socialism, evolution, liberation theology, enlightenment, geopolitics, psychology, sociology, and “People-centered” promoted by the CCP, the Ivy League, and the Chicago School.
God bless America.
doozy
March 24, 2023 at 7:28 am
DeSantis is a liar and a con man. He is not fit for higher office given his denigration of the Florida Governor’s office to a clown car act.
Logorithm
March 24, 2023 at 7:33 am
Why should we be cutting this doofus some slack? Just because he’s an ignorant cracker who happens to believe that wokeness is the biggest problem facing the country.
David Chang
March 24, 2023 at 8:52 am
God bless people in the world.
Statsjockey should not say that, because people in the world should obey Ten Commandments.
In the South China Morning Post on March 20, International relations scholar, Mark J. Valencia, publish his thought, accusing the United States of explaining international law for their interest, and encouraging the CCP to explain international law for CCP’s interest.
He says:
“China has been unmercifully bashed by the West for its transgressions while other states seem to have all but buried theirs. The US has been particularly adept at manipulating international law, especially the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos), to which it is not even a party.
During the Cold War, when some developing countries wanted to restrict the entry of foreign navies to their territorial seas, the US and Soviet Union issued a joint statement clarifying and cementing their interpretation of Unclos that they could not do that.
China now recognises the value of “lawfare”, or the strategic use of legal proceedings to intimidate, hinder, damage or delegitimise an opponent.
In doing so, China is merely following the examples of the West, particularly the US. America even transgresses the UN Charter’s prohibitions on threat or use of force and its duty to respect other states’ sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence.”
His thought is the wrong thought promoted by international relations scholars and many lawyers. They believe that international law is law, not morality, not to obey Ten Commandments. Therefore, they believe that law is a political tool for taking over power or profit, Communist Party and Democratic Party say that behavior is “weaponization”.
They think that law is war, politics is war, as they think, war is politics, war is law. So we could understand they are wrong. But we should believe that law is morality and morality is law, law is justice of God and justice of God is law.
God bless America.
Simon Beerstecher
March 24, 2023 at 9:06 am
Thank God for Bidens strategic nowse!American withdrawel into its own little cacoon will mean it becomes the one behind the iron curtain,what an irony that would be.Biden is projecting power,inrealising that a sell out of Ukraine to Russia/China autocratic block will quickly strip the USA of any remaining Allies it has.South America will become a roiling pot of Chinese dominated Autocracies,the USA will loose dominant access to those markets,ditto the SE Asians who will quit the USA and focus on pleasing Ukraine.With current Republican thinking the USA would be f…
Jim
March 24, 2023 at 9:50 am
America had a good thing going.
But those who wanted to maintain Global Dominance weren’t satisfied.
And, now the U. S. is in a pickle… isolated.
Frankly, we need a new vision of foreign policy before we are completely isolated…
The U. S. and the SEVEN DWARFS (plus the anglophone circle).
Against Russia, China, Iran… (Saudi Arabia??) Pakistan… various countries who have long chaffed… silently under America’s high-handed, bullying tactics.
(American citizens have NO idea how many countries secretly have disdain & contempt for U. S. foreign policy.)
The American People don’t know how isolated America actually is at the present moment.
America can have a much better foreign policy.
But Neoconservative thinking has to get thrown overboard.
What we need is the Yankee Spirit:
We can give you the best deal… we are the most nimble at giving you that best deal… we can work well and play with others.
We have lost that “Can Do” Yankee spirit and substituted “Force”… echoes of British Imperialism.
Americans can regain that spirit if we get rid of the attitude of “MY WAY or the highway.”
It isn’t working.
Problem: when you want to rule the world, it becomes a “Control or Destroy” dichotomy.
In other words, a strong dose of Nihilism creeps into your thinking… victory or death is another example of Nihilism when connected to the imperative to rule the world.
Neoconservative Foreign Policy is a failure… time to
reimagine American Foreign Policy away from this Hiltlerian foreign policy… it didn’t work for the Nazi… it’s not working for us.
The goal of Ruling the World is a fool’s errand.
Tig Oglesby
March 24, 2023 at 11:22 am
Yo Tamerlane!
Palins son is Trig, not Tig. I also use my real name, you don’t. 15 years in the Army Brah. I used to be a Ron Paul isolationist type too, but then I realized that, historically, it’s never worked out. It sounds great in a speech, but then reality sets in and then suddenly the world needs a country to lead it. I’d rather it be us than Russia. I seem to be a disappearing opinion compared to the far left/far right alliance of Putin appeasers.True, wars and the military are very much a quagmire. American Exceptionalism I am guilty of, it may seem stupid to you but I don’t care. Way to start out your rant with an insult that didn’t hit the target. The whole time I read it I couldn’t help but hear it delivered it a huffy royalist accent
David Chang
March 24, 2023 at 11:55 am
God bless people in the world.
The neo-conservatives and the Democratic Party always do something wrong by name of God, even the Communist Party and the Nazis do it so. But the Europe SPD, Neoconservatives, Democratic Party, Nazi and Communist Party do not obey ten commandments, so all of them is atheism party.
Because people murder unborn people is violating Ten Commandments, the sin is the same as the Ukraine socialism warfare made by socialism Russia.
The neoconservatives do not obey Ten Commandments. They make socialism warfare with ancient Greek philosophy and Trotsky’s socialism thought to promote democracy, just like social democratic party as the Communist Party, the Democratic Party, and the Nazis.
Democracy is atheism, because they think people are righteous, and oppose justice of God, so they promote social justice. Therefore, the purpose of Biden’s abortion policy and foreign policy is to incite murder, and the Ukraine policies announced by Zelenskyy also encourage murder unborn people. So Zelenskyy and the Democratic Party don’t confess sin and repent to God.
Because they don’t confess their sin, they can only lie that the death of people is the fault of weapons. It’s also the anti-war thought in the Vietnam socialism war, which is also the anti-nuclear policy propagated by the Communist Party and Democratic Party.
God bless America.
CrenShawForPrez
March 24, 2023 at 12:25 pm
I don’t know where you guys find these hacks. Not a single intelligent word between any of this Weichert dude’s articles.
David Chang
March 24, 2023 at 12:43 pm
Moreover, Democratic Party oppose the preventive war, but they incite to murder unborn people to prevent future dangers.
Preventive war is violating Ten Commandments and Just War Theory.
However, to prevent future nuclear war, we agree to build missile defense systems to destroy real nuclear weapons attacking in the future, but Democratic Party oppose nuclear weapons and missile defense systems.
God bless America.
Tamerlane
March 24, 2023 at 2:03 pm
“Yo”, Tig, yes I’m aware of that, the boy’s name was Trig, but you’re both about equally logically coherent.
Got ya beat there, “brah”, on time in service. Also, it’s highly unlikely you were ever a Ron Paul type, because he is/was a “non interventionist”, not an isolationist, and someone who backed him would know that. What were you, national
Guard? It isn’t American Exceptionalism you support… that is not force of arms. American exceptionalism reflects our liberties, freedom… things which are threatened by this intervention against our interests. You elites will comprehend because you are so god damned condescending. We don’t want another imbecilic intervention like Iraq or Afghanistan. We don’t want to go abroad in search of monsters to destroy on grand hubristic crusades. It is you who is championing policies which will harm our country, and weaken our ability to stay ahead of the rest of the world, not me. It is your and Biden’s policies which have created a grand anti-American alliance, not mine. Wake up while there’s still time to split this emerging lethal threat. Ukraine’s borders isn’t it…
Tamerlane
March 24, 2023 at 2:53 pm
Tig,
Perhaps I approached this too harshly with you. Reading my comments I can see how acerbic they are to you. I write comments primarily for the perusing neutral reader, not for the other commenters who are assuming role positions for rebuttal. But, as we have both worn the same uniform, I want to apologize for my tone with you, and will try this differently in this thread with you.
I have had the opportunity and privilege to serve in every level from squad up to the divisional command staff level, and I hope I can safely assume that our interests are the same: to preserve our way of life here, our freedoms, our constitutional form of government etc, as well as our position and power abroad. These are my objectives and my concern. My oath, and yours too, was/is to our constitution.
If a policy/strategy does not violate this oath, we then must pivot to examine whether the policy/strategy will advance those “interests” which I generally described above. This issue, Ukrainian intervention, is one such example, and we must ask ourselves the following questions here:
1) does intervening on behalf of Ukraine advance some over arching American national interest?
2) is the diffusion of American power which is occurring as a result of this intervention worth the benefit to these over arching American national interests?
3. Is the extreme alienation of America occurring throughout the emerging world/global south (or put another way, is the cost to this intervention) worth this effort?
4. Are American strategic interests served by creating a grand anti-american axis between the 40% of the world openly opposing our intervention, and the other 40% which is neutral officially on the issue?
5. Would not the United States be better off in the long term (in our effort to preserve for another century what has been “the Pax Americana of the last century) peeling Russia away from China and thus splitting the emerging world/global south from China?
6. Is not communist China our primary peer competitor?
7. Is it not in our long term strategic interest to place our own interests above those of Ukraine?
Tig Oglesby
March 24, 2023 at 4:39 pm
Yo Tamerlane! I’m sure you sneer at guys like me all the time, that’s alright with me. My stance is abundantly clear: if supporting Ukraine in the fullest sense of the word is what it takes to stop Russia and their pals, then I’ll take all the snarky comments anyone can puke up at me. You’re right, my personal opinions tend to annoy old officers. Yeah, I certainly like to make bold statements with a refreshing splash of disarming humor. You’ll see
Army Vet
March 24, 2023 at 8:08 pm
Watched Ron debate against Andrew Gillum in FL a few years back… worth searching for “a hit dog will holla,” basically DeSantis was totally destroyed in debates, but Floridians wanted a white man and he eked out a slim win for his first term. The Trump lite playbook- picking on any minority group and inciting culture war has served him well in the land of dummies, crazies, and not so high integrity escapees of communist Cuba. He could carry a lot of dumb red states, though we might see a very similar map to 2020. (GA, AZ, MI, WI, same toss-ups going blue) The Republican party has no inspiring voice, offers nothing positive, and Ron DeSantis fits that mold to a T.
David Chang
March 25, 2023 at 1:13 am
God bless people in the world.
Tig Oglesby say “then reality sets in and then suddenly the world needs a country to lead it. I’d rather it be us than Russia.”
This is a wrong Constitution thought as Communist International, Socialism International, and classical liberty of Plato, it’s the atheism. Because people who believe this wrong thought think themselves are justice and worship themselves.
But every people should be humble before God, not think to lead other people by self. Because God lead us.
General Washington remind us:
“Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked: Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice ? And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.
It is substantially true that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government. The rule, indeed, extends with more or less force to every species of free government. Who that is a sincere friend to it can look with indifference upon attempts to shake the foundation of the fabric?
Promote then, as an object of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened….
Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me, fellow-citizens) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake, since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government. But that jealousy to be useful must be impartial; else it becomes the instrument of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defense against it. Excessive partiality for one foreign nation and excessive dislike of another cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil and even second the arts of influence on the other. Real patriots who may resist the intrigues of the favorite are liable to become suspected and odious, while its tools and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of the people, to surrender their interests.
The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible. So far as we have already formed engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. Here let us stop. Our detached and distant situation invites and enables us to pursue a different course…
Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation? Why quit our own to stand upon foreign ground? Why, by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rivalship, interest, humor or caprice?”
God bless America.
Tamerlane
March 25, 2023 at 1:34 am
Tig, it is you who is sneering here, not me. It is you who is cheering for an utterly hubristic and asinine foreign policy—the same foreign policy which brought us horrendous nightmares in Iraq and Afghanistan. You apparently have learned nothing from those disasters, and seek to double down on the same morally bankrupt arguments. Your stance is clear, and it’s completely contrary to American national interests. I wouldn’t know if you tend to offend old officers. You came across as an uneducated, simplistic entitled buffoon to me. The problem is, supporting Ukraine in the fullest sense of the word (which would be WWIII against a nuclear superpower with 6500 nukes) would not stop Russia or their pals. Our intervention has actually worsened our situation for ourselves, and our ability to protect anyone.
I also haven’t seen you make any bold statements. You’re vomited up and repeated the same old tired talking points used by the same guys who got us into Iraq and the never ender in Afghanistan—both failed interventions, and who now cheer this one on. You’ve advocated for the status quo repeatedly here… nothing bold there.
Gary Jacobs
March 25, 2023 at 9:53 am
On this date in 1949, The Soviet Union launched Operation Priboi.
100,000 Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians, labeled as “enemies of the people”, were forcibly deported to Siberia in order to speed up collectivization of farms (“dekulakization”)
Many died & most could never return home.
Let’s Go Brandon, tell me again how NATO expansion was shortsighted, and that these countries wouldnt voluntarily take the 1st opened door allowed them to join NATO.
A Friend
March 25, 2023 at 10:21 am
DeSantis is going to be indicted as a war criminal should he proceed like Trump. Conspiring to commit a Joint Criminal Enterprise with Putin and Trump, in order to erase a country like Ukraine and eradicate its people like Milosevic did is a life term in the slammer. The same goes for Orban, in particular when a case is the genocide of 40 million.
And, of course Trump paid Stormi Daniels whore-hush money as a campaign expense to save face and his public image, just as much paying campaign money to conduct the opposite, smear campaign of an opponent would be a campaign expense. What’s more, he’s payin the same whore-hush money to Melania so she’d keep quite about him going around screwing porn stars and play a stand in for a wife in the public. She’s a east euro, Stockholme syndrome KGB brainwashed recruit too. Hush operations are her only career.
Another Friend
March 26, 2023 at 12:39 am
Not good to hear that the author supports a Mussolini wannabe. He’s a real thug-in-waiting.
The Republicans have given us presidents who think nothing about causing needless American deaths (Nixon sabotaging the Paris peace talks), using American prisoners as pawns (Reagan sabotaging the embassy prisoner release until after the elections, not to mention Iran Contra), invading a country that hadn’t attacked us because its leader said bad things his daddy, (Shrub, who got us mired – doing Israel’s bidding and shortening Pax American by a few decades at the bargain price of $4T+), and Trump whose imitation of a mob boss needs no further description.
Say what you want about the Democrats, but the stock market, and the country as a whole does better, when they have the Oval Office. Unless you believe alternate facts.
Gary Jacobs
March 27, 2023 at 8:23 am
Trump just needs to go away. It’s hard to fathom anyone actually still wanting to vote for him.
I may not agree with DeSantis on much, but beating Trump would go a long way for me to give him a look vs. Biden, as long as he keeps it even keeled on Ukraine, and doesnt lean too hard into the culture war on a national level.
Thankfully, Two new polls from a Republican polling firm find DeSantis is running competitively with Trump in Iowa and New Hampshire.
The surveys conducted by Public Opinion Strategies from March 21 to 23 found DeSantis leading Trump by eight points (45%-37%) in Iowa and tied with Trump (39%-39%) in New Hampshire.
DeSantis’ overall image is the strongest of all the prospective GOP candidates in both states.
In Iowa, his favorability/unfavorability rating was a sterling 81%-11%. Trump’s was 74%-24%.
In New Hampshire, DeSantis’ favorability rating was 77%-15%, while Trump’s was 69%-29%.
There was one warning sign for DeSantis in the polling: Many Republican voters didn’t see him as the “best candidate to defeat Joe Biden” — a proxy for electability.
In New Hampshire, only 48% viewed DeSantis as the better candidate to defeat Biden, while 46% thought Trump was more electable. In Iowa, 54% viewed DeSantis as more electable, compared to 44% for Trump.
Trump’s biggest weakness was on temperament: 68% of Iowa Republicans rated DeSantis as having a better temperament than Trump, while 71% said the same in New Hampshire.