Open letter to my senators Tammy Duckworth and Richard Durbin

 

I’m disappointed you voted to approve $40 billion in military aid to prolong the Russian war in Ukraine. That aid, instead of sensible negotiations to resolve the crisis, will simply bring more Ukraine deaths and more devastation to Ukraine infrastructure.  

Of course the war is criminal. But the U.S. has provoked Russia’s criminal war endlessly beginning with our 2008 call to bring Ukraine into NATO and bring troops and weaponry up to Russia’s borders. That was provocative and totally unnecessary.  

In 2014, we inspired and supported a coup to depose elected Ukraine Victor Yanukovych because he wanted to accept an economic package from Russia that was better than the one offered by NATO. That was unacceptable to the U.S. and NATO so we engaged in criminal regime change which is war on democracy.  

That coup brought into power an ultranationalist regime, including neo-Nazis, that ignited civil war in the Donbas region. The Russian speaking and leaning Ukrainians there now under siege by the new regime, sought independence from Ukraine. Normally, the U.S. supports such peoples’ efforts. Remember Kosovo whom we militarily helped break away from Serbia in 1999? We bombed Serbia for 78 days, killing over 1,000 Serbians to make that happen.  

But with the beleaguered Donbas residents, the U.S. supported the extremist Ukraine government we helped birth to continue their brutal rule over them. In the past 8 years over 14,000 people are dead, in part, from U.S. support and encouragement.  

Is it any wonder that at some point Russia would intervene? U.S. provocations helped fuel an almost inevitable, albeit criminal Russian response.  

The U.S. funnels $40 billion in weaponry while dismissing the urgent need for negotiations to end the war. That weaponry has turned the Ukraine war into a proxy war between the U.S. and Russia that may lead to nuclear confrontation. In the meantime, only Ukrainians are dying in American’s efforts to isolate and degrade Russia from being absorbed into the European community where they belong.  

Only negotiations, not U.S. weaponry, will end the Ukraine war. Your support of that utter waste of U.S. treasure ensures the war will continue until Ukraine simply collapses or the proxy war goes nuclear.   

 

 

Senator, that $40 billion is needed here to shore up a crumbling America. It could be used to fix nearly all 45,586 bridges that need structural repair. It could quintuple the budget of either the Center for Disease Control or the Environmental Protection Agency. It could more than double the budget of both. Are not these better uses of American treasure?  

In closing, please pledge to end support for weapons of death prolonging the Ukraine war, getting more Ukrainians killed for nothing. Please pledge to use this treasure to combat climate change, promote health care, fix crumbling infrastructure, among other items, here at home.  

Along with all people of peace and good will, I await your answer.  

 

 

 

Irvin’s remarks on Texas school massacre sit com worthy

At a televised debate last nite with 2 other GOP gubernatorial candidates, frontrunner Richard Irvin gave an utterly worthless response to the latest mass shooting that killed 21. How worthless? Judge for yourself if his lengthy remarks provided one iota of value.

“I’ll make sure that not only will we heal after this that seems to be happening so much thruout our country day in and day out where we’re comparing one violent act to another. We need to make sure we support our police, and support our neighbors, and our families and our friends and these school children that we do not allow weapons to get into the wrong hands of criminals and those with mental illness. And as governor I’ll take a strong stand to ensure we do what’s necessary to protect ourselves.”

Reading Irvin’s remarks reminded me of a Seinfeld episode. His 93 words were about nothing.

Looks like Latin America is boycotting ‘Bad Neighbor’ Uncle Sam.

U.S. plans to host a Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles in June have been upended by several countries dropping out.

Why? They are boycotting our mean spirited decision to not invite Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua. Seems these poor, small countries don’t bend to America’s demanding they kowtow to U.S. unipolar dominance of the world, especially in America’s backyard.

Mexican president Andres Lopez Obrador, Bolivian president Luis Arce, Argentine president Alberto Fernandez have all called for the U.S. to invite the 3 targets of U.S. hatred or they won’t attend. That poses a huge dilemma for President Biden who claims he’s re-instituting sensible diplomacy to U.S. foreign policy after 4 years of Trump mismanagement and bungling.

In 1933 newbie president FDR announced the Good Neighbor policy with Latin America reversing decades of economic exploitation and military intervention. That policy worked for a time but was jettisoned during the Cold War. America viewed every progressive movement there as communist influenced that had to be reversed, the people be damned.

The main targets were the Big 3: Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba. We’ve been interfering in the socialist government of Venezuela since early this century. Our war against Nicaragua goes back to the Reagan 80’s which inspired his treacherous Iran Contra scandal which should have gotten Reagan impeached. But for U.S. skullduggery, nothing compares to Cuba, who have been sanctioned unmercifully now for 62 years.

Unfortunately, America continues to be a terrible neighbor to Latin America, causing many invitees to the Summit of the Americas next month to tell Uncle Sam, ‘Stuff it.’

Quote of the Day

“Cain killed Abel. That’s a problem that we have. What we need to do is look into how we can stop those things. What about getting a department that’s looking at young men, that’s looking at young women, that’s looking at social media.”

-GA GOP senatorial candidate Herschel Walker commenting on his plan to end school gun massacres. Maybe Herschel took a few too many hits to the head during his 187 NFL football games.

Senate votes to shove $40 billion more down bottomless pit of perpetual war

Forty-seven Democratic senators (including the 2 independents), joined by 39 Republicans, voted Thursday to extend America’s proxy war against Russia with a $40 billion giveaway to the broken state of Ukraine.

U.S. aid to Ukraine, ensuring their war with Russia will go on indefinitely, now tops $54 billion. Without that U.S. treasure prolonging a war that is destroying Ukraine as a functioning state, the war would have ended in a negotiated settlement early on.

The U.S. appears unconcerned how its policy is adding to Ukrainian deaths and devastated country. Instead, Its focus is on preventing any settlement that might provide Russia with some measure of security against approaching NATO militarism on its borders.

There is no ‘win-win’ from the U.S. and NATO perspective as both have framed the war as black v. white, good v. evil, total victory v. total defeat. That precludes any negotiated settlement whatsoever. In 21st century America, the Ukraine war is now a perpetual proxy war against Russia, the Ukrainians be damned.

To conduct this perpetual war, the U.S. along with its NATO allies and no one else, have taken on the entire cost of the war as Ukraine is essentially broke.

How broke? Nearly a quarter of its population have fled Ukraine or have been displaced within. Upwards of half its businesses are shuttered, precipitating economic freefall. Ukraine now relies on the U.S. to pay its dwindling military forces. There will be no satisfactory ending for Ukraine unless and until America and its NATO allies engage in war ending diplomacy.

On the challenging, indeed overwhelming American domestic issues of crime, health care, environment, infrastructure, voting integrity, education, women’s choice, immigration, among others, Republicans and Democrats are at total war with each other. But when it comes to squandering tens of billions on perpetual war overseas, even one that could go nuclear, they are the best of bedfellows

Might not be so lucky this time

The U.S. has pitched the Russian war in Ukraine as a fight to the finish between democracy and authoritarianism. But to win that war, the U.S. will only sanction Russia economically and provide military aid to Ukraine at $54 billion and rising. Ukraine has been designated to provide all the corpses.

Diplomacy leading to a negotiated settlement has been ruled out.

Why not the real deal of U.S. troops and planes? As President Biden ominously said, "That will mean World War III". What he left out was 'nuclear Armageddon.'

This ancient student of history is one of the dwindling Americans who lived thru and was traumatized by the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. After 13 days we learned that our brush with WWIII was barely avoided by, yep, a negotiated settlement, It provided face saving carrots to both sides. Later we learned that settlement occurred because U.S. President Kennedy and Russian President Khrushchev, horrified by their generals’ rush to nuclear war, cut them off at the knees and made peace.

This time, unless we stop weaponizing Ukraine and negotiate sensibly, we may not be so lucky.

After Afghan pullout, Biden goes war bonkers

President Biden was excoriated by the U.S. war party for pulling out of Afghanistan after 20 years last August. In so doing, Biden didn’t mince words proclaiming that staying wasn’t worth one more American death after 4,288 Americans died there for nothing since October, 2001. Yet, his pulling out was the boldest, most sane U.S. act for peace in this century, one that deserved thunderous gratitude instead of unrelenting vilification.

But unnerved by the criticism he was weakening American standing in the world, Biden has pivoted from peace to an aggressive foreign policy around the world since.

Does even one in a thousand Americans believe we’re under threat from the al Shahab militant group in Somalia, 8,600 miles from the homeland? Biden does, announcing 500 U.S. troops are on their war to African Somalia and that airstrikes against these alleged bad guys will resume.

Sixteen months into his tenure and Biden has failed to achieve his campaign promise to return to Obama’s 2015 Iran nuclear deal which likely headed off war with Iran. Now, for the first time, he’s committed the U.S. to participate in Israeli war games against Iran. That, along with unreasonable demands over returning to the 5 + 1 Iran nuclear deal, threatens war with Iran instead of peace.

Just yesterday in Japan, Biden announced unequivocally that the U.S. would intervene militarily with China should they invade Taiwan. Sensible military and diplomatic professionals are horrified Biden would make such a stark commitment for all out war with China 8,000 miles away in China’s backyard. What could possibly go wrong?

But the real threat Biden poses to peace, possibly even nuclear war, is his massive infusion of $54 billion in military aid, rather than diplomacy, which is prolonging Russia’s war in Ukraine. America is not only AWOL from promoting peace there, we’ve signaled to Ukraine’s president Zelensky that he’d better follow the U.S. policy of weakening and isolating Russia, regardless of the death and destruction a prolonged war causes Ukraine.

More billions will be squandered in Europe by U.S. plans to increase their military bases beyond the current 300, and pour in thousands of more troops. Europe loves protecting their homeland from a phantom Russia enemy as long as Uncle Sam is paying the fare.

Besides engaging in or risking war on several fronts, Biden’s bellicose foreign policy is funneling massive amounts of U.S. treasure away from life sustaining and enhancing policies at home that require urgent attention.

Looks like after being schooled by the war party for ending a 20 year war in Afghanistan that should never have been fought, Biden's new governing mantra is: ALL GUNS, NO BUTTER.

Machine gun nation

2020 U.S. gun deaths

24,400 suicides

19,400 murders

1,400 accidental

45,200 total; 124 per day

Short take: The slaughter will go on till the Congress ignores the gun lobby and does their duty