Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

The jury literally has a bell they can ring to force Trump to show up on command. Greatest thing ever!

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

Can we lighten up on the doomsday scenarios?

I was confident that someone would point it out and thought why not me.

Live so that if you miss a day of work people aren’t hoping you’re dead.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

T R E 4 5 O N

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

Michigan is a great lesson for Dems everywhere: when you have power…use it!

“Why isn’t this Snickers bar only a nickel?”

There are some who say that there are too many strawmen arguments on this blog.

“And when the Committee says to “report your income,” that could mean anything!

Compromise? There is no middle ground between a firefighter and an arsonist.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

There is one struggling party in US right now, and it’s not the Democrats.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

Everything is totally normal and fine!!!

It’s not hopeless, and we’re not helpless.

Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.

You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / War for Ukraine Day 710: The House Majority GOP Caucus Announce’s the Abandonment of Ukraine To the World

War for Ukraine Day 710: The House Majority GOP Caucus Announce’s the Abandonment of Ukraine To the World

by | 61 Comments

This post is in: , , , , , , ,

And there it is:

NBC has the details: (emphasis mine)

WASHINGTON — Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told Republicans on Saturday that the House will vote next week on a stand-alone bill to provide aid to Israel, with no offsetting spending cuts.

Johnson made the announcement in an afternoon letter to colleagues while criticizing the impending Senate legislation that would pair Israel aid with funding for Ukraine and a package of tougher border security and asylum laws.

“While the Senate appears poised to finally release text of their supplemental package after months of behind closed doors negotiations, their leadership is aware that by failing to include the House in their negotiations, they have eliminated the ability for swift consideration of any legislation,” Johnson wrote, adding that the House “will have to work its will on these issues and our priorities will need to be addressed.”

Johnson blasted the Senate for what he called its “failure to move appropriate legislation in a timely fashion,” arguing the House needs to act in the absence of leadership from the upper chamber amid “the perilous circumstances currently facing Israel.”

“Next week, we will take up and pass a clean, standalone Israel supplemental package,” he wrote. “During debate in the House and in numerous subsequent statements, Democrats made clear that their primary objection to the original House bill was with its offsets. The Senate will no longer have excuses, however misguided, against swift passage of this critical support for our ally.”

The bill is set to include $17.6 billion in military aid to Israel “as well as important funding for U.S. Forces in the region,” Johnson’s office said. A prior bill passed by the House, early in Johnson’s speakership, would have provided $14.3 billion in aid to Israel, attached to IRS cuts that Democrats said were a poison pill.

The legislation, called the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, is set to be introduced by Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif., the speaker’s office said.

The unexpected move indicates that Johnson is digging his heels in against an immigration compromise and Ukraine funding, while suggesting that Israel aid is the only part of President Joe Biden’s national security supplemental request that House Republicans are prepared to pass.

It’s unclear whether the Senate will take up a stand-alone Israel aid bill. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has said he wants to start voting next week on the broader supplemental and immigration bill, with text expected to be released on Sunday.

The White House has previously signaled opposition to a stand-alone Israel aid bill, with the National Security Council’s coordinator for strategic communications, John Kirby, saying in November, “The president would veto an only-Israel bill. We — I think that we’ve made that clear.”

Johnson also, apparently, reiterated this week, in public, and caught on video that the Deity told him he was Moses.

People that believe that the Deity has given them specific orders and that in carrying out those orders will ensure they are right with the Deity CANNOT be negotiated with. They can also not be deterred or persuaded using any conventional means. This is why Israel is not getting their hostages back, why the Gazans are going to be the real long term victims of that war, and why playing whack a mole with the Houthis won’t work. Also, why there will be no negotiating with Speaker Johnson or his caucus.

Here is President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump.

Crucial to maintain consolidation of the free world and do everything to enable Ukraine to inflict defeats on Russia – address by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

3 February 2024 – 18:17

I wish you good health, dear Ukrainians!

Today is another day of our gratitude, our respect for all those who help the state withstand, fight for Ukraine, and emerge victorious.

Today, I awarded the Defence Intelligence warriors with state honors. These are the guys who ensured another success for Ukraine – the sinking of a Russian military ship in Lake Donuzlav in our Crimea. A spectacular action. But not just spectacular, it’s extremely effective: the fewer Russian fleets in the Black Sea, the more security we have in the region and globally.

Today, I continued our new tradition of honoring all the Heroes of Ukraine. I presented certificates for apartments to soldiers awarded with the Order of the Golden Star and their families. Another 30 families. Soldiers who fought against the occupiers both after 2014 and in this war. Each story of every Hero deserves Ukrainians to always remember and honor the bravery of our soldiers.

I want to express separate gratitude to all Ukraine’s partners who have supported and continue to support our state. Work is ongoing with the teams of European states to strengthen Ukraine, develop new defense packages, and implement new security solutions. This week, we have new decisions on supporting our country from Germany and the Netherlands. Luxembourg has joined our aviation coalition. Lithuania has a new package. We discussed further defense cooperation with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada. Critical defense contracts are being fulfilled. There is reinforcement of air defense. Remember: the war started by Russia is on the Ukrainian front, but its target is not only our state, not only our independence. Therefore, it is crucial to maintain as much as possible consolidation of the free world and do everything possible and impossible for Ukraine to inflict defeats on Russia. Moscow understands no other language. We continue to work with partners regarding new sanctions against Russia and blocking Russian schemes to bypass sanctions. We are actively pursuing the confiscation of Russian assets scattered across various jurisdictions. I am grateful to everyone who assists us in the efforts to confiscate Russian assets.

And one more thing.

At the moment, recovery works are underway in some regions of our state where Russian strikes caused power outages. Dnipropetrovsk region, particularly Kryvy Rih – energy workers are striving to restore electricity to all consumers as quickly as possible. We’ve dispatched the head of Ukrenergo to the region, along with all necessary experts and resources. Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal briefed me today on the progress of the works and the protection of energy facilities. I thank every repair brigade and all the involved workers.

Being self-sacrificing at one’s level, being efficient, and being bold, means for Ukraine to be a strong state capable of defending itself. I thank everyone who realizes this.

Glory to every Ukrainian warrior! Glory to all those who work to ensure Ukraine can defend itself!

Glory to Ukraine!

🫡 President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy presented high state awards to military personnel
@DI_Ukraine
who showed exceptional courage during special combat missions, including the destruction of the Russian missile boat “Ivanovets”.

🔗 https://gur.gov.ua/content/rosiia-vidchuvaie-bil-vid-vashykh-dii-prezydent-vidznachyv-nahorodamy-viiskovosluzhbovtsiv-hur.html

From the Main Directorate of Intelligence’s official site: (machine translation)

Addressing those present at the meeting at the Mariinsky Palace, the Head of State said that he was glad to have the opportunity to personally thank them, as well as all the soldiers of the GUR.

« Much has been done by you, much has been done by GUR soldiers both on earth and at sea. Russia is really in pain from your actions, from the actions of your brothers, and it is important that the Russian perpetrators of this war lose daily from it », – stressed Vladimir Zelensky.

The head of state especially noted the success of GUR soldiers at sea, namely – the defeat of a Russian rocket ship «Ivanovets».

«A complex operation on the raid of Lake Donuzlav – six direct hits of sea drones in the building « Ivanovtsia». It was really strong. And thank you for this power », – added by the President.

Vladimir Zelensky expressed his conviction that the whole of Ukraine is proud of the GUR servicemen who perform tasks of such complexity.

« The honor you have in us. Our task – to protect, to support you. I want to thank you for saving everyone’s lives by risking your », – said the President.

The audience also honored a moment of silence with the memory of all the heroes of the war who gave their lives for Ukraine.

The head of state presented the military GUR of the Ministry of Defense the Order of Bogdan Khmelnytsky II and III degrees, orders «For courage» III degree.

Speaking of LTG Budanov’s Soldiers, they have had another successful hunt!

‼️ Tu-95 pilot shot in Russia

👤 @DI_Ukraine
informs: in the Russian city of Engels, the commander of the Tu-95 strategic bomber crew, Major Oleg Sergeevich Stegachev, was shot.

 

From the official site of the Main Directorate of Intelligence/the HUR: (machine translated)

The Chief Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine informs that Major Oleh Stegachov, a crew commander of a Tu-95 strategic bomber, was shot dead in the Russian city of Engels.

The said pilot of the Russian Air Force was born on 23.06.1983, served at the Engels air base (military unit 06987) – he was directly involved in launching missile strikes on civilian targets in Ukraine and killing our people.

As a result of the attack, Oleg Stegachev sustained gunshot wounds. We are checking to see whether he survived or not.

We would like to remind you that all war criminals will face retribution – we know your names, addresses, license plates, usual routes and habits.

Justice is inevitable!

Glory to Ukraine!

 

Robotyne, Zaporizhzhia front:

Avdiivka front:

Moscow:

LTG Budanov, your mission should you choose to accept it…

Volgograd, Russia:

Tweet 1:

Major Update on this post – After getting the new photos, it is not a fractionation column and it is not a crude distillation column, but it is a flare stack.

Flare stacks usually have sparing involved. This means if one stops working then the other ones take the load. And there are several flares available throughout the refining unit.

Which means the previous assessment was wrong.

The columns were spared and instead a flare stack was hit.

The refinery may be back to running again in a few weeks if the remaining flare stacks can take the load provided no other major process equipment is damaged.

https://x.com/BruckenRuski/status/1753820715281682879?s=20

Tweet 2:

Here is something to keep in mind. This is a developing situation and multiple photos are becoming available which are replacing the previous predictions.

There is no corroboration of what has been damaged other than taking these photos at their face value.

Use caution when you see this analysis. Do not take this as the final answer, just treat it as an initial assessment that can be superseded when newer and more accurate information becomes available.

For Omnes and the other Red Legs:

 

For you drone enthusiasts:

FPV drone helped Ukrainians escape a building occupied by Russians. Commentary from DeepState:

Fighters of the 14th regiment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine shared footage of the rescue of their comrades who were in a building, the first floor of which was occupied by russians, south of Krasnohorivka

A group of paratroopers took up positions on the second floor of the building, while the first floor was occupied by Katsaps. The pilot of the FPV drone of the 3rd battalion “Nakhtigal” of the 14th regiment came to the aid of the Ukrainians and carried out a strike on the first floor, where the enemy was. Thanks to this, the fighters of the Defense Forces were able to take advantage of the moment, descend from the second floor and successfully withdraw.

For those of you interested in how the sanctions are working – cough they’re not cough – The Financial Times takes a deep dive into the state of the Russian economy.

Here are some excerpts: (emphasis mine)

Addressing a crowd of activists on Friday in Tula, the capital of Russia’s arms industry, Vladimir Putin crowed that the country’s economy had defeated western sanctions imposed after his invasion of Ukraine.

“They predicted decline, failure, collapse — that we would stand back, give up, or fall apart. It makes you want to show [them] a well-known gesture, but I won’t do that, there are a lot of ladies here,” Putin said to a round of applause. “They won’t succeed! Our economy is growing, unlike theirs.”

Russia’s president gloated that Russia’s economy had not only withstood an onslaught of sanctions from western countries — but was now bigger than all but two of them. He was referring to the World Bank’s ranking of GDP by purchasing power parity, by which Russia slightly edges ahead of Germany. “All of our industry did their part,” he said.

On Tuesday, the IMF appeared to concur with Russia’s president. The IMF revised its own GDP growth forecast for Russia to 2.6 per cent this year, a 1.5 percentage point rise over what it had predicted last October.

The Russian economy’s resilience has stunned many economists who had believed the initial round of sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine nearly two years ago could cause a catastrophic contraction.

Instead, they say, the Kremlin has spent its way out of a recession by evading western attempts to limit its revenues from energy sales and by ramping up defence spending.

Russia is directing a third of the country’s budget — Rbs9.6tn in 2023 and Rbs14.3tn in 2024 — towards the war effort, a threefold increase from 2021, the last full year before the invasion. This includes not only producing hardware, but also giving war-related social payments to those who fight in Ukraine and their families, as well as some spending on the occupied territories.

The significant increase in military expenditure marks “a striking break with Russia’s post-Communist development to date”, a recent Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) paper concluded.

Putin’s own top economic officials have warned a surge in public spending comes at the risk of a major overheating of the economy in the near future. But for the time being, it is keeping growth robust.

All of this would have been impossible if Russia had not continued to generate colossal revenues from its energy resources, despite sanctions.

In 2023, Russia’s energy revenues reached Rbs8.8tn — a decline of about a quarter from the record-breaking result in 2022 but above the average for the past ten years. Despite this, the state has had to resort to increasingly irregular methods to generate revenue from one-off taxes and levies, including “voluntary donations” western businesses have to pay when leaving Russia.

“The regime is resilient because it sits on an oil rig,” says Elina Ribakova, a non-resident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. “The Russian economy now is like a gas station that has started producing tanks.”

As he announced Russia’s staggering military spending to lawmakers in September, finance minister Anton Siluanov used a Soviet slogan from the second world war to describe the Kremlin’s approach to the budget.

“Everything for the front, everything for victory,” Siluanov said.

The Kremlin’s shift to what Vasily Astrov, a senior economist at the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (WIIW), calls “military Keynesianism” is a radical break from the conservative macroeconomic policy of Putin’s first two decades in power.

Technocrats like Siluanov and central bank governor Elvira Nabiullina helped steer Russia through multiple financial crises by aggressively targeting inflation, shoring up the country’s banking system, building up foreign currency reserves, and attempting to rein in additional spending.

That approach also proved crucial in mitigating the initial impact of the sanctions at the war’s outset, when western countries froze $300bn of Russia’s sovereign reserves and the Kremlin imposed currency controls to halt an exodus of capital and a run on the banks.

“The economic bloc [the finance ministry and central bank] keeps saving the regime. They have proven to be much more useful for Putin than the generals,” says Alexandra Prokopenko, a former Russian central bank official.

Avoiding a bigger contraction in the economy allowed the Kremlin to pivot to fuelling growth through spending, Astrov says. Although the authorities officially continue to refer to the war in Ukraine as a “special military operation”, the entire country’s economy has shifted to producing for the war.

Addressing a group of arms producers on Friday, Putin said they were “guaranteed to be filling orders for years to come” as Russia ramped up its weapons production and said the defence ministry was paying suppliers 80 per cent of the costs in advance.

More at the link!

Who could have possibly predicted this? Eez a puzzlement! We may never know the answer…

More seriously, remember last week or the week before when I included the machine translation of the German defense industrial sector leaders interviews with Bild? Where they all unanimously said they had been ordered not to ramp up production by the Scholz government and that the same government was not placing orders? This is why Putin is not losing.

That’s enough for tonight.

Your daily Patron!

A new behind the scenes video from Patron’s official Patron the Dog cartoon TikTok:

@patronthedog

Ось так створювалися саундтреки до нової серії «Пес Патрон»😍 p.s. Хто ще не бечив серію – вона вже на каналі👀 #песпатронмультфільм

♬ оригінальний звук – Patron the Dog

Here’s the machine translation of the caption:

This is how the soundtracks for the new series “Dog Patron” were created 😍 p.s. Who hasn’t seen the episode yet – it’s already on the channel 👀 #песпатронмультфільм

Open thread!

Reader Interactions

61Comments

  1. 1.

    Ivan X

    Thanks, Adam.

    It’s hard to witness bad news when you feel powerless to do anything about it.

    Still, there is something to be said for bearing witness, as you’ve said.

  2. 2.

    Jeffro

    Whatever the House coughs up, I hope the Senate rejects it.  If they don’t, I hope Biden vetoes it and goes straight to the cameras to talk about the urgent need to shore up Ukraine AND Israel AND the border.

    And talks about how trumpov continues to pull Johnson’s strings at the behest of his own puppetmaster, Putin.

  3. 3.

    Yutsano

    I wonder how many Ukrainian-Americans will remember this in November…

    EDIT: I wonder also if we can find the remains of the original Moishe now from the spinning in his grave. That is one gargantuan ego there Mr. Johnson.

  4. 4.

    JPL

    Johnson is going to dare people to vote against Israel.  The Senate needs to vote for their own bill.

    fkfkfkfk

  5. 5.

    Jeffro

    There’s some hay to be made here, Democrats: Johnson’s own caucus is doing what Putin is paying them to do is going nuts here trying to fuck things up.

    Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) threatened using a motion that led the way for former Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to be ousted as speaker if Johnson brings a bill aiding Ukraine to the House floor, while Rep. Chip Roy (R-Tex.) has floated triggering the measure if Johnson brings up border security legislation for a vote.

    the MAGA loons: “ANYTHING TO HELP UKRAINE, ENEMY OF OUR ORANGE IDOL, IS OFF THE TABLE!!

    also MAGA loons: “FIX THE BORDER AND WE NUKE YOUR ASS, JOHNSON!!!”

    It’s not hard to connect those two dots to trumpov’s (and of course, Putin’s) goals here.

  6. 6.

    Alison Rose

    I hate everything. I want someone to pour cayenne powder into Mike Johnson’s eyes. I want someone to shoot darts into Tucker’s ears. I want someone to go back in time to the day putin’s parents first met and kidnap one of them and drop them off in the South Sandwich Islands.

    That’s all I got. Rage. Pointless stupid rage.

    But still. Thank you as always, Adam.

  9. 9.

    wombat probability cloud

    @Jeffro: They are tiresome fuckwads who will be in a very different political landscape when the orange one loses in November.

  11. 11.

    JoyceH

    Moses? So Johnson is going to lead the Republicans into wandering in the wilderness for forty years? Okay.

  13. 13.

    Dan B

    It seems that the GOP wants Putin to overrun eastern Europe and wouldn’t care if the rest of Europe fell.  China gets Taiwan, Africa, and SE Asia.  They believe these country’s dictators would stop there.  Would China surrender South Korea to the North?

  16. 16.

    Urza

    Is it really “defence spending” when its being used strictly to attack?  Really should be a way of describing that separately.

  17. 17.

    Mike in NC

    Fat Bastard would be happy to negotiate one of his infamous deals to give Alaska back to his master Putin.

  18. 18.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Urza: I think it was right after WWII, that “Ministry of {War,Army}” got renamed to “Ministry of Defense”, pretty much everywhere.

  19. 19.

    Xavier

    Historians of the future will have no difficulty at all as to who exactly is behind the abandonment of Ukraine.

  22. 22.

    David Fud

    I am glad to bear witness with you all and sad about the inevitable outcome of our political divisions. I hope Biden vetoes the Israel-only funding if it gets to his desk. All or nothing, I say. We’ll see what people with power say. I would imagine it wouldn’t work, but I wish they would at least attempt a discharge petition to get the Ukraine funding through the obstacles of the Christianist caucus.

  24. 24.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    I refer to Moses as The House Johnson because he’s a huge dick. I have no doubt that the Ruzzians have the goods on these corrupt Republicans and that they are selling out the people of Ukraine to keep Ruzzia from telling the world what horrible shit they have pulled. I really can’t believe that the Republican party is now the Party of Ruzzia and is under their influence. Wrap Reagan in copper and place magnets around him because he’s got to be spinning at a high RPM in his grave right now.

    From “Tear down this wall, Mr. Gorbachev” to tying America’s hands and enabling Ruzzia’s invasion of another nation, the Republican party has lost its way.

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Is this like “the beatings will continue until morale improves?” ;)

  25. 25.

    Carlo Graziani

    People that believe that the Deity has given them specific orders and that in carrying out those orders will ensure they are right with the Deity CANNOT be negotiated with. They can also not be deterred or persuaded using any conventional means.

    Jesus Fucking Christ on a Mardi Gras float, the “Deity” that Johnson is referring to here is Donald Trump, not Jehovah. The guy is a creep and a feckless coward, but his politics are certainly not driven by the sort of religious imperatives that drive mullahs, or West Bank messianic settlers. It is analytical malpractice to assimilate his process to theirs.

    In the end, Johnson will do what he needs to to keep his job. The strength of his position is not that different from McCarthy’s. He has an election coming up, with a critical number of his caucus in purplish states with a lot of election dynamics movement since Dobbs, all terrifying to them. They need to show some positive outcomes to justify their tenures, or they are well and truly fucked in the next Congress. You think Johnson will read them bible verses? I’d love to be a fly on the wall at that meeting…

  26. 26.

    Jinchi

    As always, Adam, thanks for all your hard work and dedication to this site.

    I’m still hopeful that there are enough supporters of Ukraine in the House that Johnson will be forced to fold. It’s unbelievable to see the party of Reagan work so tirelessly for Vladimir Putin.

  27. 27.

    Jinchi

    @Carlo Graziani: They need to show some positive outcomes to justify their tenures, or they are well and truly fucked in the next Congress.

    I’d like to think so, but the Republicans have purged everyone with any sense from the party. I think people like Johnson truly believe that God will protect them from defeat. I can believe them doing literally nothing over the next 11 months.

  29. 29.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Jinchi:

    I can believe them doing literally nothing over the next 11 months.

    That’s my signal to “tug the sadopopulism cord”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOjJtEkKMX4

    Timothy Snyder explains *why* people like Johnson cannot accomplish anything, and that it’s deeply tied into oligarchy and authoritarianism.  They’re incompetent to actually govern, so all they can do is demonize.

  30. 30.

    Yutsano

    @Jinchi: Louisiana fought HARD to preserve Johnson’s safe seat after they were forced to redraw their maps for 2024. His job as a representative is pretty secure. His future role as Speaker? Well, he knows who controls that and what he has to do to keep his sinecure. The fact that he has religious delusions of grandeur won’t phase the voters in his district one whit.

  31. 31.

    LNNVA

    I rarely comment but want you to know, Adam, how very much I appreciate all the hard work you do to bring us news about Ukraine every night. I hope that with help from the EU, Ukraine can hang in there for a while. Then, we absolutely have to beat the Trump-Putin-Johnson crowd in November.

  32. 32.

    Ksmiami

    Ps. Biden should just send all the surplus ammo to Ukrainians via Greece. Fuck this shitty GOP Congress.

  36. 36.

    Jinchi

    Tu-95 pilot shot in Russia

    Scott Ritter, probably dining with Kadyrov right now, is very upset that Ukrainians would stoop to (illegal) assassination in response to the (legally sanctioned) bombing of schools and kindergartens.

  38. 38.

    Jinchi

    @Ksmiami: Biden should just send all the surplus ammo to Ukrainians via Greece.

    I was wondering the same. Can Biden just resupply our NATO allies when they send weapons to Ukraine?

  39. 39.

    Jinchi

    @Comrade Bukharin: Biden will not veto the Israel only bill

    I think he will. And I hope Chuck Shumer is smart enough to make sure an Israel-only bill never makes it through without putting the Ukrainian aid back in.

  40. 40.

    Carlo Graziani

    @Jinchi: I believe that the Administration is looking for ways to get the undivided attention of the Likud government, and of the Israeli public, and focus them on negotiated resolution of the Isreal-Palestine conflict. Such a veto would be a perfect vehicle for their designs.

  42. 42.

    Another Scott

    @Jinchi: +1

    Johnson’s recycling the stunt he pulled in November (just taking out the offset this time).  It’s not going anywhere in the Senate.

    RollCall.com:

    The earlier Israel-only bill never had much of a chance in the Senate given the IRS offset. But even if the new House GOP-backed bill passes next week, its odds seem low in the Democratic-controlled Senate, which is focused on the much broader bipartisan package that will include aid to Ukraine and Taiwan as well, along with the border security and immigration piece that’s been in the works for months.

    Given how often Johnson has been rolled on all his predictions and demands so far, I wouldn’t be betting that he’ll prevail this time.

    We’ll see what happens.

    Slava Ukraini!!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  44. 44.

    Another Scott

    Aaron Fritschner
    @Fritschner
    7h

    I particularly appreciate the part where he pretends to feel a newly discovered sense of urgency around funding he pledged to block for months, in an announcement that was obviously timed around his appearance on Meet the Press tomorrow.

    It’s a Sunday show emergency

    +1

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  45. 45.

    wjca

    @Ksmiami: I want them run out on a rail. I want them hung for treason.

    Realistically, I want them all convicted of failing to register as agents of a foreign government.  For which there is, unfortunately, a pretty good case, even before digging into their personal finances.

  46. 46.

    wjca

    @TeezySkeezy: Maybe some of them really just want the world to end so they can get real hugs from Jesus himself.

    More likely, He gives them a swift boot** towards Hell.  Because He had notoriously little patience for those who use religion to enrich themselves or attack others.

    Assuming, for the sake of discussion only, that the Rapture happens, the religious right is going to be pretty much universally absent from the blessed.

    ** OK, technically a  “scourge of cords”.

  48. 48.

    Another Scott

    WhiteHouse.gov:

    FEBRUARY 03, 2024
    Statement from Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Latest House Republican Bill

    For months the administration has been working with a bipartisan group of Senators on a national security agreement that secures our border and provides support for the people of Ukraine and Israel. Just as legislative text is imminent, the House Republicans come up with their latest cynical political maneuver. The security of Israel should be sacred, not a political game. We strongly oppose this ploy which does nothing to secure the border, does nothing to help the people of Ukraine defend themselves against Putin’s aggression, and denies humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians, the majority of them women and children, which the Israelis supported by opening the access route. House Republicans should instead work in a bipartisan way, like the administration and Senate are doing, on these pressing national security issues.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  49. 49.

    Bupalos

    This actually should play out well I think. The republican coalition of cowards and fuck faces hasn’t gamed this out. Israel doesn’t need an on-time delivery, ukraine does. Biden can veto and these isolationist know-nothings can’t message around a hold up in Israel foreign aid. All their trailer park folks will be like “that’s fine.” Finally Biden did some good. And our left flank will be like “finally, Biden did some good.”

  50. 50.

    Juju

    Is Mike Johnson sure god said Moses?  Maybe he said noses because Johnson has his stuck to Trumps ass. Just a thought.

  51. 51.

    Bill Arnold

    @Juju:
    It’s worth listening to the video clip. Here’s my typing of a bit of it:

    The Lord began to wake me up – through the 2-3 week process we are in – in the middle of the night and to speak to me and to write things down – plans, and procedures, and ideas about how we could pull the conference together.

    [the “and to write things down” is what MJ said; either he misspoke or God was writing things down.]
    This guy is a Young Earth Creationist, a Christian Supremacist,. Has said that school shootings were indirectly caused by teaching evolution in schools. (And much much more.) It’s possible he’s lying about the Late-Night Voice of God and that he’s talking about D.J. Trump giving him orders, and plans, and procedures. But he does consistently appear to be a believer.

  52. 52.

    way2blue

    per ((Tendar))):  has any lawmaker who supports supplying military materiel to Ukraine gone to any of the several states which would be paid to crank out said weaponry and staged a press availibility or two?  The current white glove approach in Congress is so so so seemingly pointless.

  53. 53.

    Carlo Graziani

    @Bill Arnold: But this is pure horseshit, when used to frame his attitude concerning funding for Ukrainian armament!

    That issue, which is beyond compromise for Johnson, is in no way driven by any religious-adjacent consideration. It is entirely driven by loyalty to Trump, who made Ukraine’s pretentions (*) to independence from Russia into a personal affront that still gnaws at him, a dislike that he communicates daily to any Congressman or Senator who expects to win reelection on the basis of MAGA votes.

    There is no religious motive here. There are only the pathologically perverse incentives to which GOP politicians are subjected by the strength of MAGA among their voters.

    (*) Do I need a sarcasm alert here?

  54. 54.

    Eolirin

    @Carlo Graziani: No one’s making that argument.

    The argument being made is that the kind of person who genuinely believes that God is commanding them to do things and that they have a personal destiny that they view in biblical terms is not the kind of person that you can make good faith efforts to negotiate with about anything.

  56. 56.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @Carlo Graziani: I would love to be surprised by a Biden veto of an Israel only aid package, but nothing I have seen from the Biden Administration before or after Oct. 7 show any sign that they would go so far out on a limb to go against the Israeli government. The entire discourse in the US wrt Israel has been divorced from reality for quite some time. Biden himself seems to have a blind spot wrt Israel that he has yet to overcome.

  57. 57.

    NotoriousJRT

    @Bill Arnold: Mike Johnson has a smug, punchable face. I almost never fantasize about punching someone, but god is telling me to make an exception in the case of this noxious little prick.

  58. 58.

    Chris Johnson

    So Tucker Carlson arrives to Moscow. The biggest Trump promoter, former biggest Republican media host, most zealous anti-Ukraine person. Arrives in Moscow. It’s all just a coincidence. Meanwhile the bill with aid to Ukraine is stuck in House of Representatives.

    Called it.

  61. 61.

    Bill Arnold

    @Carlo Graziani:

    There is no religious motive here. There are only the pathologically perverse incentives to which GOP politicians are subjected by the strength of MAGA among their voters.

    This may be a possible line of attack; something like “You’ve said that you are getting instructions at night from God. Is it God, or Orange Jesus[implied: Orange Antichrist], who is telling you to abandon Ukraine to genocidal Russian imperialist revanchist irredentist invaders, and telling you to play crass politics with USA border controls rather that work towards a solution?”, but better-crafted.
    I’ve been trying to build a mental model of Mike “Moses” Johnson. It’s difficult, in part because it involves uncritical belief(/faith) in things that I know to be false.

Comments are closed.