Ukraine and the BOMB

[K1052]

I was a little shocked 538 Trump approval shows he is above water since the inauguration. Then I thought about it. Like me people who are upset after Trump won have checked out. I stopped watching news/paying attention until recently. I suspect that will change within a few weeks.

The only president with lower approval at this time in their admin is also named Trump.

 

[Pens1566]

I was a little shocked 538 Trump approval shows he is above water since the inauguration. Then I thought about it. Like me people who are upset after Trump won have checked out. I stopped watching news/paying attention until recently. I suspect that will change within a few weeks.

It will take a little while for the layoffs/tariffs/deportations to hit. Should be in full swing (assuming the courts don't stop it or they don't follow the court decisions) by mid spring.Gives time to impact farming and construction sectors ...

 

[Roger Wilco]

We aren’t even a month into his second term and Trump is already highly unpopular. Polling also suggests that Musk’s popularity is cratering.

The die hard nazis will never relent, but the rest of the mob is deeply fickle and they will want blood when things really start to break.

 

[Muse]

Back in the early 80s, I recall a discussion I had with my former biology teacher about the nuclear arms race. The nuclear freeze movement was picking up steam in Europe and making the news. Growing up, I never really expected to survive to adulthood, let alone get old. The Boomers had survival drills. By the time Gen X came along, the adults had stopped pretending that there was any chance of survival so we didn't waste time on drills. Anyway, my former biology teacher made the comment that he wasn't worried at all about nuclear war because no government would be willing to risk even one city let alone full MAD. No government would stand after losing a city. Years later, I learned that his thinking was also the prevailing belief in both the American and Soviet leadership during that period, other than within the Paul Nitze/Paul Wolfowitz/Dick Cheney clique. The nuclear arms race was about just about everything except deterrence.

And Stanley Kubrick and Terry Southern came along.

 

[BoomerD]

Now that promise of stability has soured into full blown world war crisis.
Where the Eastern Bloc is willing to rip off the mask and declare that they hunger for war and millions of dead.

Ukraine needs nuclear weapons. At least a dozen warheads, maybe a few dozen.
That was never a world I wanted, but it is the world we need if we are to stave off military advances further into Europe. Ukraine is the bulwark that must hold, and if nuclear weapons are needed to hold that line - then so be it.

 

[BoomerD]

Acquire not build

Considering how fast things are moving I'm thinking secession is probably the only way to save part of the country.

At the rate we're going I'm not even sure the midterms are going to much of a fair election

The problem with the idea of secession is that red or blue, each state has people who support both parties. What happens to them? (and, just like in business, you can't cut your way to growth...you can't FIX the USA by tearing it apart.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

The problem with the idea of secession is that red or blue, each state has people who support both parties. What happens to them? (and, just like in business, you can't cut your way to growth...you can't FIX the USA by tearing it apart.

Yep, balkanization comes as a consequence of the government failing to the point that it's unable to hold states together anymore. I don't see it happening in a rational way while the US govt exists in any reasonable way.

 

[K1052]

The problem with the idea of secession is that red or blue, each state has people who support both parties. What happens to them? (and, just like in business, you can't cut your way to growth...you can't FIX the USA by tearing it apart.

In practical terms emigration or they stay put and deal with whatever emerges. I am not suggesting secession as a solution but there are scenarios where it simply might happen, as difficult as it is for many people to imagine it.

 

[Pens1566]

In practical terms emigration or they stay put and deal with whatever emerges. I am not suggesting secession as a solution but there are scenarios where it simply might happen, as difficult as it is for many people to imagine it.

I mean, we're probably closer to that outcome than peace and harmony. We've got a sizable portion of the population that is IMHO already too far gone to deprogram and the overton windows are moving really fast.

 

[MrSquished]

The problem with the idea of secession is that red or blue, each state has people who support both parties. What happens to them? (and, just like in business, you can't cut your way to growth...you can't FIX the USA by tearing it apart.

It's like you're not even paying attention to what's actually going on.

 

[feralkid]

And Stanley Kubrick and Terry Southern came along.

You mean like Slapstick and Dr. Strangelove?

 

[Muse]

You mean like Slapstick and Dr. Strangelove?

That movie was THE BOMB!

OK, the bomb is the bomb, but the idea that MAD was gonna materialize any darn minute, hour, day, month, year, decade ... kinda took a big hit when that dropped. It was a communal aha moment for people to laugh at it all. Before that it was just a gloomy and serious subject.

 

[Jaskalas]

Huffpo: FOX HOST SECDEF TEES UP UKRAINE BETRAYAL

United States is pressuring Ukraine to accept Russia's gains.
Oh, also... absolutely no NATO.

Which brings me to this topic. Trump is forcing Nuclear Weapons as the only answer.
United States will oppose that too, of course, but it won't make a difference. If I was Ukraine and Russia either crosses the river or takes Kharkiv... nuclear material would end up enriching major Russian cities.

 

[Muse]

Huffpo: FOX HOST SECDEF TEES UP UKRAINE BETRAYAL

United States is pressuring Ukraine to accept Russia's gains.
Oh, also... absolutely no NATO.

Which brings me to this topic. Trump is forcing Nuclear Weapons as the only answer.
United States will oppose that too, of course, but it won't make a difference. If I was Ukraine and Russia either crosses the river or takes Kharkiv... nuclear material would end up enriching major Russian cities.

Trump was being interviewed yesterday about Fox host SECDEF's remark that Crimea being part of Ukraine (i,e, the pre 2014 conditions) wouldn't be "reasonable" and said it wasn't true. He appeared to be unaware of his man's statements about that. So, who knows? But Trump's fealty to Putin would seem to be a problem.

I think all this Trump acting like he can bring Putin and Zelenskyy to reconciliation and peace is more a stunt than anything else. Right now the fangs and claws are out. The no NATO thing, well, if Trump's against it it's a no because all 32 members have to agree. But Trump's term ends in Jan. 2029. Anyway, if Europe stands behind Ukraine, Russia may fail in it's goal, which is political control of Ukraine right now.