It Is ‘Unacceptable’

Before I get to the meat of this post I need some context.

Let me ask my reader this….if you had a friend that was in a dire situation and needed your and after you gave what you could they told you that your help was unacceptable….what would you do?

Yeah….me too!

Now for that meat I was referring to….

The statement was made by Ukraine’s Zelenskyy (why 2 ‘y’s?)….

The Ukrainian President criticized his nation’s Western supporters for not providing enough aid. The leader appeared to criticize Republicans in the US House for playing “political games.” He said the lack of aid for Ukraine was “unacceptable,” and it was needed because Russia only understands strength. 

Ukrainian President Zelensky attacked his backers during his Saturday night address. “When lives are lost, and partners are simply playing internal political games or disputes that limit our defense, it’s impossible to understand. It’s unacceptable,” he said. “And it will be impossible to forget — the world will remember this.”

The Ukrainian military is facing several crucial challenges. Kiev lacks the soldiers needed to fight Russian forces. Ukraine recently suffered key losses in the Donbas and risks losing more ground in the coming weeks. Additionally, Kiev’s forces are facing ammunition shortages, including artillery shells and air defense interceptors. 

Zelensky’s remarks came as the US Congress is debating a $95 billion foreign military funding bill, including $61 billion for Kiev. House Republicans are stonewalling the legislation primarily over concerns regarding immigration policy. The White House depleted its funds to arm Ukraine at the end of 2023. 

https://libertarianinstitute.org/news/zelensky-says-lack-of-western-military-aid-unacceptable/

Unacceptable?

I can understand his frustrations….but he needs to realize that it is not the job of the US to fund his war for eternity.

The Congress, like it or not does have other agendas that need attention….even if Zelenskyy does not like them.

This is an opinion from the Kyiv Post attacking Republicans, which some people agree with their assertions….

There’s little question that the Republican Party has become Vladimir Putin’s biggest political ally in his war against Ukraine. Some of them sabotage or oppose military aid simply to spite President Joe Biden. Some may possibly be on Putin’s payroll. Others are isolationist, fiscally conservative, or preoccupied with fighting China. But the lead saboteur is tainted — newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson. He and his Republican caucus defeated the $95-billion foreign aid bill for Ukraine and Israel that had been passed by the Senate, then a 2018 news story re-emerged that Johnson had received campaign funds from Russians who funneled money to him and other Louisiana Republicans through a Texas-based petroleum company they controlled.

After this was discovered in 2018, Johnson’s campaign immediately returned the funds and the donors’ wrists were merely slapped by electoral officials despite the seriousness of the breach. This is pertinent, given Johnson’s role in blocking aid to Ukraine. It’s also noteworthy that one of his guilty foreign donors was Konstantin Nikolaev, a ranking member of Putin’s inner circle of oligarchs whose companies are the biggest supplier of arms and ammo to the Russian army. And while no direct links to Johnson have been proven, the odor exists. As former US Ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, observed recently that “blocking aid to Ukraine is giving aid to Putin”.

https://www.kyivpost.com/opinion/28861

Just a bit of news from a seemingly forgotten battlefield.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

And The Winners Are….

Yesterday was Black Tuesday….oh my bad….Super Tuesday….I believe that 15 states or so held their presidential primaries and there were a few surp[rises….nothing to write home about but a surprise anyway….

The biggest day so far of the 2024 election is largely in the books, even if the suspense was lackluster. Donald Trump and President Biden racked up multiple Super Tuesday victories, while Nikki Haley has managed a single upset victory in Vermont. Biden was the victim of an upset himself—in American Samoa of all places. Still, he and Trump were on track to lock up their races later this month in terms of delegate counts. Democrats had 1,420 delegates at stake on Tuesday; Republicans, 854. How things were shaking out in the 15 states in play (as well as American Samoa):

  • Haley’s win: She upset Trump in Vermont by a slim margin, reports the AP. (She was up 50% to 46% with 95% of results in, per the New York Times.) But while the victory denied Trump a Super Tuesday sweep, it won’t change the trajectory of the GOP race given his enormous delegate lead. On Tuesday, the former president defeated her in other states with notable blocs of moderate voters such as Maine and Virginia.
  • Trump victories: The AP called him the winner in California, Texas, Alabama, Colorado, Maine, Oklahoma, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, Massachusetts, and Minnesota.
  • Biden victories: The AP called him the winner in California, Texas, Alabama, Colorado, Maine, Oklahoma, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, Massachusetts, Vermont, Minnesota, Iowa, and Utah.
  • Biden’s loss: The president lost to a Democratic rival named Jason Palmer in the US territory of American Samoa. Republicans caucus later in the week, per ABC News.
  • Still outstanding: GOP-only caucus results in Alaska and Utah.

Haley’s cruising now.

There you are all the news in one fairly short post…..

The biggest surprise at least for me was the ‘uncommitted’ vote….

In at least seven states voting on Super Tuesday, President Biden’s main rival in Democratic primaries could be the same option that won two delegates in Michigan with more than 100,000 votes: “Uncommitted.” Organizers with the Listen to Michigan group that pushed for the protest vote in Michigan says the option could be a popular choice in Massachusetts and Minnesota on Tuesday, CBS News reports. Democratic ballots in Alabama, Colorado, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Vermont also have an “uncommitted” line or write-in slot, Axios reports.

  • Organizers are urging people to vote “uncommitted” to protest Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war. “This will be another protest vote against Biden with the aim of stopping the war,” Jaylani Hussein, co-chair of the Abandon Biden movement in Minnesota, tells Reuters. Hussein says organizers hope the option will get at least 10,000 votes in the state.
  • Listen to Michigan says groups pushing for “uncommitted” votes are calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, along with more humanitarian aid from the US and an end to “unconditional weapons funding of Israel.” Vice President Kamala Harris called for a six-week ceasefire on Sunday, and while organizers said it didn’t go far enough, they welcomed the “tone shift, CBS reports.
  • It’s not clear how many “uncommitted” voters will also shun Biden in the general election. Massachusetts voter Aliza Hoover tells the AP that she voted “no preference” as a statement on Biden’s approach to Israel but her vote in November might be different. “I think a vote of no preference right now is a statement to make yourself a single-issue voter, and at the moment the fact that my tax dollars are funding a genocide does make me a single-issue voter,” the 29-year-old says. A Michigan exit poll from the Council on American-Islamic Relations, however, found that 40% of Muslim Americans plan to choose a third-party candidate in November.
  • Groups are also pushing for “uncommitted” votes in Democratic primaries in Georgia and Washington state next week. “Listen to Michigan was an inspiration to a lot of movements across the country,” Rami Al-Kabra, a city councilman in Bothell, Washington, tells the New York Times. “This is an antiwar effort. It was not our first choice, but we have to let President Biden know that our votes are not to be taken for granted.”

I guess I am an ‘uncommitted’ voter…..but my reason for saying that is I am not happy with either of the old men that will ultimately lead this country.

I hope this mini round-up of yesterday’s doings was sufficient enough to hold your interests.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”