As the Republican Party’s blockade of aid to Ukraine drags into its fourth month, the U.S. government under Pres. Joe Biden has found a clever new way to give Ukraine’s forces the weapons and ammunition they need to defend their country.
It is, in essence, an American version of Germany’s circular weapons trade—the so-called Ringtausch. The United States is gifting older surplus weapons to Greece with the understanding that Greece donates to Ukraine some of its own surplus weapons.
Greek media broke the news last week. According to the newspaper Kathimerini and other media, the Biden administration offered the Greek government three 87-foot Protector-class patrol boats, two Lockheed Martin C-130H airlifters, 10 Allison T56 turboprop engines for Lockheed P-3 patrol planes plus 60 M-2 Bradley fighting vehicles and a consignment of transport trucks.
All this hardware is U.S. military surplus—and is available to Greece, free of charge, under a U.S. legal authority called “excess defense articles.” Federal law allows an American president to declare military systems surplus to need, assign them a value—potentially zero dollars—and give them away on the condition that the recipient transport them.
Fuck the republican traitor filth.
Pro-any other country than your own, and that you were elected to serve is traitorous. I’m not big on nation-states and all that stuff personally. And these folks very much are, so by their own definitions they are traitors. I am kind of amused by Sister City agreements, where cities share solutions, without any way to force the other to comply. It’s down right friendly anarchism.
Did you forget to take some meds or something? This is incomprehensible.
I’ve seen it multiple times, seems like some sort of copy-pasta or maybe a bot?
Looks like schizo-posting is back on the menu!
The first 3 sentences are actually coherent. The last 2 too. But the first 3 don’t belong with the last 2. It’s like they’re 2 different posts.
Calling it a schitzo-post may have been a bit off, but I legit have no other words in my vocabulary to describe how weirdly off kilter their comment is. They went from some type of criticism of elected officials working with other countries only to skip over to an entirely different thing about sister city agreements. It just kinda is bizzare overall.
Though I sometimes pull the same shit, sleep deprivation and autism are a terrible combination when it comes to coherence.
Schizo stuff tends to be coherent, it’s just that it’s coherent in a frame of reference that exactly one person in the world gets. On the far end of the spectrum people just don’t have enough computation capacity to take your frame of reference into account – not because of lower capacity, but because there’s too much shit on their plate at the same time: Effort is focussed on keeping one’s own thoughts at least half-way straight while the external world is secondary. Whereas on the functioning (yes I’m going to use that word) end of the spectrum you probably learn somewhere in school age that you need to slow your mind down and sprinkle in a couple of useful metaphors so the normies can understand. Dunno if my subconscious is less bubbly than that of full-on schizophrenics, or I have natural talent processing things better, or a knack acquired by sheer luck, or just better at not giving a fuck about some things, but it’s definitely also a skill that can and absolutely should be honed.
For the curious, the EASE scale should give a good impression of how it looks from the inside.
Fuck the republican traitor filth.
Pro-any other country than your own, and that you were elected to serve is traitorous. I’m not big on nation-states and all that stuff personally. And these folks very much are, so by their own definitions they are traitors. I am kind of amused by Sister City agreements, where cities share solutions, without any way to force the other to comply. It’s down right friendly anarchism.
Looks like schizo-posting is back on the menu!
That’s got to be a bad AI bot in training, right?
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Biden: Does something good again
Repblicans, unable to stop him: “Sorry Putin, we failed you. This time.”
I hope Putin does the, “don’t fail me again… Republicans (mechanical breathing noises)” thing, and then they fail him again.
Putin: Also, you are to wear these clown shoes and refer to yourself as “Mary”.
Putin: I have altered the deal. Pray I don’t alter it any further.
At least he used an ally instead of an enemy as Reagan did.
Technically Reagan did use an ally first: Israel. The Iranians were a little pissed when they saw the Israeli customs stamps on their weapons.
The middle men, so to speak. But not really the same, though in the same dodge the issue situation. The biggest difference being Reagan sent weapons illegally via a known declared enemy.
Iranian government is always pissed about something. Oh no a woman playing chess
Great news!
Apropos nothing:
The Republicans are falling in line with disgraced ex-president Donald Trump’s personal hatred of Ukraine—and equally personal fondness for authoritarian Russia. The Republicans’ allegiance to Trump—and therefore to dictators and military aggressors—wasn’t an issue for Ukraine until they narrowly gained control of the U.S. House of Representatives in the November 2022 elections. When earlier funding for Ukraine ran out in late December, Rep. Mike Johnson—the extremist House speaker—refused to put additional aid to a vote.
The direct language is a pleasant surprise, and honestly more than I expected from FORBES. Have they always been this willing to call out Trump and his enablers?
I’m surprised too. This is Forbes staff too, not a random contributor.
Umberto Ecco’s rule #8 of fascism: “The enemy is both strong and weak.”
Hey Republicans, which is it this time? Is Biden a demented old fool or a dictator? lol.
Dark Brandon strikes again.
For most of my lifetime, any American screeching about the President arming NATO allies in order to prevent Russian expansion into Europe would have been seen as a traitor.
Lead poisoning is a helluva drug.
Umberto “Eco”
They’re talking about the lesser known Umbero Ecco, the dolphin.
Umberto Echolocation
Remember when Republicans used to yell “better dead than red!” to show their hostility to the USSR and communism?
Now too many of them are preoccupied with twerking for the authoritarian roach that emerged from the USSR’s corpse (and which still has a lot in common with it).
Also, the Republican party is now the red party, which is pretty funny.
Nothing surprising for everyone who already knew that what they disliked about the USSR wasn’t really the totalitarianism, just the lower wealth unequality.
More so that sort loved the USSR: it provided the ultimate boogyman they could use to justify just about anything.
Accuse your political foes of being commies, and “investigate” them. Advance Christian nationalism by pointing at the “godless Soviets”. Need to get your political donors want some sweet defense contracts? – well we need weapons to fight the reds.
The USSR did the same thing with the “decadent west”.
And just as it was back then, the red menace was ALWAYS about distracting the masses away from voting against corporate interests
Wait, we can vote against corporate interests?
You can vote for whoever you want actually.
Don’t forget they changed the pledge allegiance to put in under God to shove another thing in the Russians face.
And the money
What if I told you all he funding we have given Ukraine has only harmed them?
Then I’d call you a complete liar with a weak grasp on reality, and a poor understanding of where and when you ought to open your ill-informed mouth, before I walked off and continued with my day, secure in the knowledge that you’re as wrong about something as it’s physically possible to be.
That’s what.
Sorry, too subtle. Go say that to the Russian shill but even more louder.
Then I’d call you ignorant with a weak grasp on facts.
Lol. You’re trying to troll but failing miserably.
If I am trolling and you keep responding then that means I am winning… Thank you!
Is that how the performance metrics work at those centers? If you do well do you get more potatoes?
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Like I said: failing miserably. An effective troll foments FUD. You are only receiving ridicule.
Like I said; if you think I am a troll and you respond then I win. I will take the W!
4 day old account, all but two comments are pro-russian. Guess lemmy is getting popular enough to attract attention from the Russian troll farms.
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It’s almost comical to see “leftists” scream about the lies that Trump and GOP tell - but if you suggest there was a diplomatic solution they explode immediately lol. War propaganda is working incredibly well these days and any pacifist notion is attacked as subversive and downvoted. Vast majority of millennials and gen Z are just as brainwashed and are murderous war mongers the boomers were.
PS: I’m really missing a fitting word for this. They are not fascists and nationalists or imperialists is too weak. War mongers sounds a bit lame too.
I think millenials and older know about how the left used to be the party of peace and the right was the war mongers. Now some of the rights is still warmongers but the left is just as bloodthirsty. Its like “Putin must pay!!! Send more Ukrainian young men to their death!!!”
You mean they don’t know about the left being pro peace? Or that they are overcompensating because they do know?
There is a documentary by Adam Curtis about how the rhetoric in geopolitics changed to good vs evil, not just Reagan but all the third way leftists. A very successful PR / brainwashing campaign.
But ever since Ukraine started this has massively changed on reddit which is supposedly “leftist”. Presumably the “science and technology of propaganda” is improving. If the Irak and Afghanistan happened today, there wouldn’t be any major opposition to it online. There wasn’t any in mainstream media either at the time, but back then the internet actually was less… warmongery?
I dont know if they dont know what the more traditional leftists believed in back in the 90s and earlier, or other interests have taken over their rhetoric, or if they are just using the oppressor - oppressed world view to pick Ukraine and Palestine. Do you think they got co-opted by big business interests or something else?
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I don’t get what’s strange about this. They didn’t like commies, Russia is no longer even calling itself socialist, so why would they still be hostile to the Russians?
Good news. Fuck Republicans. Slava Ukraini.
The Republican way is to smugly grease palms, but the way around them is simply via Greece and shrug. 🤷🏼♂️
The Democrats outsmart Republicans yet again.
Next up: border secured just in time to win the November elections.
You think Biden closing the border as soon as he’s able is a good thing?
Like, you understand that wouldn’t just be a one time thing right? Future presidents could do it to, and Republicans actually do out things in motion in their first days.
I mean, Biden went from saying the border wasn’t an issue to saying we need that literally over night.
That doesn’t concern you?
Or the fact that he can just bypass congress to give weapons to Israel, or the record oil extraction during his first term? Dems pretending their party isn’t actively destroying the world is wild.
Are we still pretending bOtH sIdEs or are we just skipping straight to “democrats are evil don’t vote for them” now?
As a Canadian, yeah both of your right wing parties are essentially the same. Brown kids will be bombed and oil will be pumped.
And these lies will lead to trump again. Thanks for that
where is the lie?
Trump definitely would dial it back, so you’re totally not a bad faith liar after all!
Dems will lead themselves there, just like they did in 2016. Stop blaming voters for your party’s incompetence.
I’m blaming morons spreading discontent and shitty ass ideas and that’s fully fair. Thanks for changing the subject though
Both parties are evil because this is an evil country that must be stopped.
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I was wondering when someone would finally call me out on that lol
But I’m quite serious about hating America. No one should be president and we should do everything possible to make that a reality.
Seems like it’s usually just you and I down here lol. Let me guess, disillusioned American?
Nothing screams serious/authority like a video game reference username lol.
>are we just skipping straight to “democrats are evil don’t vote for them” now?
i’ve been there over a decade.
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it’s mostly due to the hot economy, but American voters don’t understand that)
What?
The economy is propped up by record breaking fossil fuels drilling and corporations increasing prices 2-3x while not raising pay…
That’s something virtually every American is aware of right now…
And while Biden trying to brag about the economy hurts him. Either he doesn’t understand that very basic thing, or he doesn’t give two fucks about theaverage American, just corporations and billionaires.
Which has been a critique of American neoliberalism since James Carville started spouting all this stupid shit to begin with
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No, the person I replied to said increased immigration is due to our “hot economy”…
But it’s not, because all that money is going into a very small amount of pockets.
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Didn’t you just say you weren’t American? Why are you discrediting the experience of people living in the US?
Oh wow…
Yeah. I don’t think me explaining anything else to you is gonna help then bud.
The difference is I’m going to do something so I never accidentally try again.
Holy hyperbole batman. Prices rose by about 15% on average and wages rose as well, but not as much (between 7 and 12% depending on the source).
Which given 10 years of almost no inflation and moderate wage growth, is not that surprising.
Unemployment at a 60-year low, real wages at a 50-year high. That’s not to say there aren’t problems (largely the cost of housing, education and healthcare eating up all the gains over the last half century), but the economy is good, Jack.
Haven’t you heard? Statistics are globalist propaganda 🙄
But objectively, illegal immigration is at record high numbers.
No it isn’t. Not even close. This is just assuming that because Republicans say it is that it’s actually the worst its ever been. Somehow every presidential election it’s the worst its ever been and news organizations parrot the accusation without just calling them out on the BS.
https://www.factcheck.org/2021/03/the-facts-on-the-increase-in-illegal-immigration/
It would be good if you could cite a source that wasn’t almost 3 years old. It looks like since this article, monthly CBP encounters at the southern border have more than doubled:
https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/southwest-land-border-encounters
They’re apprehending more because they’re more able to track them, not because there were more than in 2000. And at the same time the people being apprehended are much more likely to be seeking asylum (aka legal). We can’t know the precise number of illegal immigrants, but it’s pretty safe to say it’s no where near the 2000s.
https://www.npr.org/2022/10/24/1130841306/new-record-in-border-patrol-apprehensions
I feel like that was just a dare to the Republicans. That way when they kill the bill, they can’t point to Biden as the cause.
This was my interpretation as well.
No
Define securing the border, because that goal post is mounted to a bullet train by republicans as long as trump isn’t president.
These comments look so much like the comments from a sports team sub.
Biden totally should have ran the ball there at the end, then Trump wouldn’t have enough clock left before the end to win! It’s like reducing politics down to it’s absolute dumbest, I can’t imagine why more and more people are choosing not to participate.
I love seeing Biden copy republican ideas. Really great to see the bipartisan effort to fuck people over.
“uh actually I really care about border security now”
Jfc these peoples ideals change as the wind blows. All it takes is a geriatric to tell them to care about it
Slava Ukraini!
Hell fucking yeah!
-Turkey disliked that-
Turkey’s been on our Shit List ever since they started flying Russian Jets, fuck em.
It’s such a geopolitical mess because their geography is vital but that same reason is why they’ve historically been an enemy so there is a lot of bad blood and distrust
They get a pass on colonialism and genocide, but you draw the line at breaking embargos?
I think the whole Turkey having started buying Russian armaments predates the current embargo. Like, I can recall them buying some Russian anti-air defense shit designed to down NATO aircraft about 5 years ago or so.
So it’s been more so about Erdoğan trying to assert some weird ass attempt at displayingf dominance. That fucker’s been the president for a decade straight now, looking awfully lot like a despot at this point. And they’re a NATO member right there, mmhm. Yup.
You ignoring the Armenian genocide or the invasion of Cypress is really weird.
That fucker’s been the
-president-Dictator for a decade straight nowFTFY
If I spoke for all Americans then the answer would be different.
Turkey and Greece got beef going back to the bronze age. Two of the best armed members of the EU, with those guns pointed at each other. This isn’t the first time Ukraine has benefited from that situation.
You’re thinking of Persians - back in the bronze age, proto-Turks were still in central Asia. Also, Turkey is not an EU member, you’re thinking NATO.
Reminds me of Charlie Wilson’s war.
Man, Sorkin doesn’t miss. I wish there were more movies like this.
Sounds like I’m watching this today
Let’s spread weapons all over the world and cross our fingers that we get the outcome we want.
the outcome we want
Profit.
Edit: lmao downvotes from angry capitalists?
Hey, no - let’s actually let Ukraine fall and allow the Putim regime this one because… the alternative is better for us? (the US and our allies, the rest of Europe and the fucking world…)
I’m idealistic, but some people just don’t have any damn common sense.
I mean anti-communism, democracy, freedom, the soveignty of nations, and profits are all on the same side for Ukraine but still the Republicans object.
Maybe figure out which PACs are cashing checks for Rubles or Yuan.
At almost 1/3 of a trillion dollars last year, arms exporters and manufacturers win.
At least this time it’s for a good cause…
But wouldn’t this be the second time in six months Biden is doing arms deals without congressional approval?
I just don’t see why everyone is excited to see Biden acting like a Republican on this stuff, but when it’s time for Biden to help Americans, he still can’t do anything without Congress
It’s like people honestly believe Dems only have to aim a smidge higher than the current Republican.
There’s no standards other than that, and that’s a huge danger to America, we can’t let whatever idiot Republicans run dictating what kind of president we’ll have for half a decade.
Except, this explicitly does have congressional approval. Congress has long ago authorized the President to get rid of obsolete, outdated, surplus tech.
‘federal law allows…’ – congress (not this moronic majority in the house) previously passed legislation that was signed into law that allows the president to give this stuff away
when it’s time for Biden to help Americans, he still can’t do anything without Congress
The whole appropriations stuff really puts a crimp on executive power when it comes to expenditures. It’s fundamentally different from moving stuff around.
This.
It was always a white lie to claim the US was sending Ukraine billions in aid. The Democrats liked to pump up the numbers, because supporting Ukraine was and is politically popular. And the spending bills also contained nice pork for the military industrial complex.
But it has almost exclusively been old stock being sent. Stuff that is very valuable, since no other Ukrainian ally has the huge stockpiles that the USA has, but it was always worth much less than it was being billed for.
Now Biden is following a more boring, but more honest (in accounting terms) procedure.
Similar to what the Germans did.
As for helping Americans, he has also explored every possibility to reduce debt and prescription drug costs and to invest in infrastructure.
For example, much more has been spent on student loan forgiveness than on Ukraine.
For student loan forgiveness, I believe the tally is $137B. And that is real cash. For Ukraine the total is $75B, but a lot of that is pumped up valuations of old military stock. The actual value of what Ukraine received is closer to $40B
The actual value of what Ukraine received is closer to $40B
And replacing the old stock with newer, better kit will result in equivalent or more being spent inside America.
He has literal campaign promises he can fulfill without congress…
He’s been “looking into” them since assuming office, because he’s doesn’t really want to do them.
Cannabis can be descheduled in a day if he wanted too. Instead he pardons people but leaves it federally illegal.
While saying that forgiving student debt without fixing the cost of college wouldn’t fix anything.
Even tho that’s what he’s doing with cannabis users.
There’s no consistent logic to Bidens actions, he just does whatever he wants to do, and if he doesn’t want to do it, he says a president has no power and can’t do anything.
If people believe him, then it depresses turnout because the literal president keeps telling voters the president doesn’t matter. If they don’t, it still depresses turnout because people think Biden specifically won’t do anything.
The solution is the same it’s been since before FDR:
Try to help Americans and the votes will follow.
He has the DEA reevaluating what schedule it is classed as. He does not have authority to make it legal. Again laws.
He tried to forgive significant student loan debt for everyone and got stopped by SCOTUS. He still has forgiven a lot of debt but it takes work to figure out who he can do it for without congressional approval and the SCOTUS ruling. Student loans are also based in laws that he can’t as easily bypass.
He is trying to help Americans and he has. Not as much we’d like but a hell of a lot more than the GOP.
The president is not a dictator.
He does not have authority to make it legal. Again laws.
He can’t make it federally legal.
But he can remove it from the federal schedule, which is why it’s illegal.
Then it would default to being federally legal.
Try to get nicer tho, I almost didn’t take the time to explain that for you.
Edit:
The president is not a dictator
The biggest reason to vote Biden is trump would be a dictator if elected…
Biden himself says that.
It’s hard to convince voters Dem presidents have no power, but Republican presidents would have all the power so we need to vote D so nothing can fundemantally change.
The logic doesn’t add up, and that’s why 1/3 of Americans don’t vote.
Because they are know nothings?
Republicans break the laws. Democrats don’t.
But democrats don’t hold Republicans accountable for breaking the law…
So saying Biden cant" do anything is wrong.
Like, imagine your playing a game with a toddler, and the toddler constantly cheats but you let them because they cry if you don’t.
If it’s just a game, sure, let them have their way.
But if you bet 100 million dollars on the game, you need to either stop them from cheating, or bare minimum start cheating too. Because even tho you’re playing against a literal toddler, if you follow the rules and let them cheat, you ain’t going to win the fucking game.
Edit:
And Biden can’t really claim that high ground when he just went around Congress to “sell” Israel weapons that are being used to commit a genocide, especially when the money they used to “buy” the weapons came from American taxpayers anyways.
I think the social liberals have always been the leaders on anti corruption practices. We don’t do enough. Change starts at the bottom though. Biden is not going to reform the DNC. That’s what the primary will be for four years from now, assuming we don’t end up with a dictator who cancels elections.
Maybe you should review what each branch of the US government can do, plus follow the news on things the President attempts
I have
Biden can order it be removed from the federal drug schedule. It being on that schedule is why it’s federally illegal
It’s what he said he’d do “decriminalization”.
But instead of doing that when he took office, he backtracked and has been “looking into if he can do that” for a couple years now…
Government process is slow, but it looks like Biden is pursuing pardons for pot convictions and trying to get states to do the same, as well as fix their laws. I also see a bill that passed in the house to reschedule marijuana but blocked by Republican filibuster in the senate.
First, I am announcing a pardon of all prior Federal offenses of simple possession of marijuana.
Second, I am urging all Governors to do the same with regard to state offenses
Third, I am asking the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Attorney General to initiate the administrative process to review expeditiously how marijuana is scheduled under federal law.
—-
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/01/us/politics/marijuana-legalization.html
passed 220-204, is unlikely to secure 60 votes to pass the Senate
Government process is slow,
It doesn’t have to be…
It can be descheduled in a day if Biden wanted to.
Instead he told people to “look into it”
Like, let’s say I owed you a $100, and everytime you asked me, I said I was looking into it.
Then three years after that, I said:
Sorry man, it’s a slow process
That would be true. But it’s also bullshit because I’m the one slowing it down and if I really wanted to I could just hand you the hundred bill I’ve had in my pocket for three years…
Biden can not unilaterally deschedule or reschedule a controlled substance. He can do what he is doing, by pressuring the DEA, HHS and FDA to deschedule it, but without congress approval he can not use a executive order to reschedule Marijuana as per the controlled substance act
I think Elizabeth Warren knows more about this than either of us…
The DEA can do it, and Biden can tell the DEA to do it.
So when Biden defenders claims he can’t, it’s like when billionaire defenders say CEOs can’t raise wages.
They can they just don’t want to.
Hell, Biden just ordered every federal agency to return to office, I don’t know why anyone would think federal agencies are above the president in the chain of command, but when it’s convient a whole bunch of people love to say it…
But also, we have to vote Biden because if we don’t trump will be president and in charge of every federal agency!
This shit is fucking old man.
In your linked article it says the DEA has final authority, the president does not have the power to tell federal agencies what to do, he can make suggestions or pressure them. Even the “biden ordered every federal agency to return to office” is bull shit. He suggested returning to office but each agency can do what they want, and they have since many agencies have no plans to return to office.
Tell me you don’t understand American politics without telling me you don’t understand American politics, why don’t ya?
I just don’t see why everyone is excited to see Biden acting like a Republican on this stuff
Their preferred network news program doesn’t report on anything other than war, so they think it’s a top priority, even though their fellow Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck and can’t access health care.
It’s called determinism.
Moderate Rebels 6.0
