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Why are some conservatives so opposed to defeating Putin?

Why are some conservatives so opposed to defeating Putin?

Fox News and a handful of conservative Republican members of Congress question America’s commitment to the defense of Ukraine and the defeat of Putin.  As a lifelong conservative, it makes no sense to me.

Perhaps the most extreme voice of opposition to aiding President Zelenskyy is FOX’s Tucker Carlson – my least favorite conservative personality.  He was an early opponent of giving any support to Ukraine.  In one broadcast, he rhetorically questioned, “What did Putin ever do to me?”  He seemed to be in line with President Trump’s inexplicable kindness toward the Madman of Moscow.  

Putin is, was, and will be an enemy of Democracy, the United States, and conservative values … period.  Yes, we have to deal with him as a matter of pragmatic diplomacy, but we have seen what too much accommodation to Putin has led to.  Petting the Russian bear is never a good idea.

Putin has now uncaged the empire-craving bear on the world – brutally gobbling up nations and territories and committing war crimes in the process.

In my view – as readers would know – we are not doing enough to put an end to Putin’s dirty little wars and, hopefully, an end to him.  He is an existential threat to the power of world democracies in general – and the United States specifically.  In speech after speech, he has declared the United States and NATO to be the mortal enemies of Mother Russia – and we are responding as if it is merely a temporary breach in diplomatic etiquette.  He is the new Hitler – and we are the new Neville Chamberlain.

There are a lot of good reasons for America and the world democracies to put in maximum effort to defeat Putin.  It is not just a matter of ideological differences.  It has to do with world leadership – in business and military defense.  We cannot allow Putin to gobble up more and more of the world’s critical resources and strategic geography.

Make no mistake about it.  Up until the Ukraine war, Russia’s influence was growing throughout the world.  Consider just this one fact.  NATO is an alliance to defend the west from Russia – and we wind up with NATO nations becoming dependent on Russian oil.  Consider the expanded influence Russia has in the Middle East after the United States abandoned Syria and pulled troops out of Iraq.

So, what is with all these conservatives opposing aid to Ukraine – or even worse, cozying up to Putin?  I do not understand it.

Apart from the Tucker Carlson types, who seem to believe that we can be pals with Putin, we have others who argue that the financial commitment to Ukraine is simply too much.  We have better uses of our taxpayer money.

In the past few days, they criticized spending on Ukraine when the folks here in Florida need enormous financial assistance in the wake of Hurricane Ian.  That, however, is not the binary choice.  We can provide maximum support for Ukraine AND provide the money for rebuilding central Florida. 

If we need to cut, there are a LOT more places to reduce federal spending to finance Ukraine and Florida.  Blowing off the student debt forgiveness proposal is one such area.  Out of a more than $4 trillion federal budget, there is more than enough waste and low priority spending to meet the needs of Ukraine, Florida, and border security.  It is all a matter of prioritization.

We conservatives have always fought against authoritarianism and maniacal world conquest.  We believe in making the world safe for democracy.  We believe in the importance of American moral (ergo military) leadership.

It worries me when I see conservative members of Congress suggest that America’s choice is meeting the needs of Florida by allowing Putin to eclipse the United States in world leadership – along with his buddy China President Xi  Jinping.

So, there ‘tis.

About The Author

Larry Horist

So, there ‘tis… The opinions, perspectives and analyses of businessman, conservative writer and political strategist Larry Horist. Larry has an extensive background in economics and public policy. For more than 40 years, he ran his own Chicago based consulting firm. His clients included such conservative icons as Steve Forbes and Milton Friedman. He has served as a consultant to the Nixon White House and travelled the country as a spokesman for President Reagan’s economic reforms. Larry professional emphasis has been on civil rights and education. He was consultant to both the Chicago and the Detroit boards of education, the Educational Choice Foundation, the Chicago Teachers Academy and the Chicago Academy for the Performing Arts. Larry has testified as an expert witness before numerous legislative bodies, including the U. S. Congress, and has lectured at colleges and universities, including Harvard, Northwestern and DePaul. He served as Executive Director of the City Club of Chicago, where he led a successful two-year campaign to save the historic Chicago Theatre from the wrecking ball. Larry has been a guest on hundreds of public affairs talk shows, and hosted his own program, “Chicago In Sight,” on WIND radio. An award-winning debater, his insightful and sometimes controversial commentaries have appeared on the editorial pages of newspapers across the nation. He is praised by audiences for his style, substance and sense of humor. Larry retired from his consulting business to devote his time to writing. His books include a humorous look at collecting, “The Acrapulators’ Guide”, and a more serious history of the Democratic Party’s role in de facto institutional racism, “Who Put Blacks in That PLACE? -- The Long Sad History of the Democratic Party’s Oppression of Black Americans ... to This Day”. Larry currently lives in Boca Raton, Florida.

79 Comments

  1. Chipper

    And who do you believe is up to the challenge of defeating Putin? Maybe Hillary will jump in and save
    the day, or better yet, Newsom or Michelle.

    • Jerry

      The Russians have too much dirt on Hillary. She had a great reason to destroy subpoenaed emails.

      • ben is back

        That does not even make any sense. What a douchebag.

        • Ken

          The truth hurts doesn’t it?

          • ben is back

            The truth that you like donkey dicks? Nah, does not hurt me at all.

  2. Tom

    I agree Larry! Tucker and others likeminded thinking have always had safe environments to live in and never had to do the fighting for what they take for granted sometimes. If we were to stop backing Ukraine, the world would not trust the USA for a very long time. Its time to be a Churchill and not a Chamberlain! Democratic countries need to stop the hemorrhaging of their membership to the authoritarian governments of the world.

  3. JoAnn Leichliter

    I simply do not think that there is a truly valid reason for us to involve ouselves in what amounts to an internecine struggle. Russia had been in possession of the Crimea for over two hundred years–its one access to a warm water port–and Khruschev’s ceding control of it to Ukraine came at a time when Russia and Ukraine were part of one country, the USSR. No one should have imagined that Russia wouldn’t eventually reclaim that area with its mostly ethnic Russian population.
    As for the Donbass region, Ukraine had been shelling it for seven years, without regard for civillian population or infrastructure. Check out the ethnicity there.
    NATO was devised in order to check Soviet expansionism, and I can understand former Soviet or Soviet-dominated countries wanting a shield from Russia, but NATO membership neither was nor is an appropriate tool. We had ample opportunity to work with the de-Sovietized Russia, but simply failed to do so adequately. Galloping to the brink of nuclear war hardly seems an appropriate response to perceived Russian expansionism or economic or diplomatic challenges. We sometime ago entered an era of perpetual wars; that era needs to end.

    • larry Horist

      JoAnne Leichliter Your history is off. Ukraine was under a number of empires … including the Lithuanians and the Poles — mostly as a occupied nation. It emerged again as its own republic after a civil war in 1917-1920. The Soviet Union was not a nation. It was an empire composed of captive nations — along with such other nations as Poland, Austria, Hungry and others. The nation was Russia — not the USSR. Ukraine again gained independence with the breakup of the USSR — along with all those other old Soviet captive nations. Ukraine is a member of the UN — United NATIONS. We have to deal with the modern map. Virtually every nation on earth today were part of some other nation at one time. Putin is the war criminal. You do not end wars by rolling over for aggressors.

      • Joseph S. Bruder

        Good answer!

        Just like Hitler, if we allow Putin to take any part of Ukraine, he will undoubtedly not stop there. He’s got Belarus, and has threatened Moldova, and would systematically work hi way around the Black Sea. Georgia, Armenia, and the ‘stans are all on his radar. He’s made it clear, he wants to rebuild the Soviet Union, except this time, they’ll all be part of Russia.

  4. R. Hamilton

    All totalitarians must be removed and eliminated, along with all who would willingly support them. Not all at once, and some may require biding our time and choosing our methods carefully, but they all have to go.

  5. Chuck Elkins

    I [almost never] agree with any of the tripe you spew, but I must admit you have hit the nail on the head, though as you see other always Trumpers and semi-functional Tucker supporters fail to see the urgency and the problem with palling around with a psychopathic hate monger. Talking about Putin, not Trump in this case

  6. Dan Doupe

    I want the US southern board protected before spending money on some other country’s boarder.

    Furthermore, the current president needs this European war to distract focus on his family’s corruption. He and his family are in deep trouble it another republican occupies the the white house.

    • ben is back

      Who says the border isn’t protected and the high number of encounters is because we are just so good. Could be mission accomplished!! I mean wouldn’t all the jobs be filled if the border was broken and willing-workers were pouring through?

      • larry Horist

        Over half a million get-always in the past year says so. And millions more in America without approval of their asylum request. And most of these are not qualified for asylum. An no… all the jobs would not be filled because they are not allowed to work without approval of their status because they are undocumented..

        • frank stetson

          Your unsourced “half a million” is wrong as I have proven and sourced in the past.

          You unsourced “million more in American without approval of their asylum request” is far less than a million. Like 660K in 9/21. https://trac.syr.edu/immigration/reports/672/

          You seem to be hyperinflating your fear and loathing again. If the border was unprotected as you say, and we didn’t pursue illegals, as you say, then why do people even seek asylum, much less the millions and millions you say will never get it? Why even bother? Why not just walk right in, sit right down, and daddy give me that job, healthcare, and welfare? Well……..

      • Jerry

        Nice spin. But all bullshit. Try again Ben is gay.

        • ben is back

          I will try again: Who says the border isn’t protected and the high number of encounters is because we are just so good. I mean wouldn’t all the jobs be filled if the border was broken and willing-workers were pouring through? Try again Jerry is un-woke, phobic, and a chickenshit douchebag.

          Feel better now?

          • jerry

            Yes. I pissed you off. Better off than on. Dickhead.

          • ben is back

            You’re happier than you think you pissed me off, and you think that’s better than pissing on me?

            You have a very strange sense of piss……

            Glad you feel better now that you’ve pissed all over yourself :>)

            And no, the border is FULLY PROTECTED. Not one section of the border has been harmed in over 100 years. The border is safe and sound, fully protected, and the border has suffered no harm.

            I am just afraid that if we make English our standard language, you all will have to go…. :>)

    • larry Horist

      Dan Doupe … I am all for securing the border … more patrols… more barriers …. more immigration judges…. etc. But we have more than enough resources to do both. Biden has already wasted trillions on other less important matters. It is not a binary only option. We will have to wait until the election to see if Biden bs has worked.

    • larry Horist

      Dan Doupe … We can do both. We have too many needless expenditures.

  7. frank Stetson

    I think we can tolerate the Putin’s of the world as long as they keep their shit at home. Better that than owning the world’s problems.

    Putin has crossed that line and I wholeheartedly resonate to Larry’s piece on this one.

    Biden’s policy of keeping us out of directly while pushing back indirectly seems to be prudent at this time.

    NATO/Biden have the line drawn for NATO countries. Not sure if he has laid down a hard enough line on the response to the use of tactical nukes in Ukraine though. Unfortunately we can not slough that one off — must be zero tolerance for tactical nukes.

    • Joseph S. Bruder

      The US, despite our own problems with Trump-types here at home, needs to continue to press those countries on their human rights issues. If you take away the rights of women or minorities, a free press, and freedom of (from) religion, then it creates conditions that foment international wars.

      It may not seem publicly that Biden is forceful enough about nukes, but there is probably a lot of pressure through diplomatic channels that we don’t see. Not everything has to be public. A little “slip of the tongue”, like just mentioning “armageddon” in a passing conversation, is probably a subtle warning to Putin.

      • larry Horist

        Joseph S Bruder … I will concede to you on a consist dark, extremely partisan and ill-informed view of the world. You are a fringe guy — a parrot of left -wing propaganda. You seem to engage in what the shrinks call “dumping.” Mention any subject and you entire mental file of grievances come pouring out. Your entire political viewpoint appears to be predicated on a desire to attack your brother and his online business — and all who work with him..

        • Joseph S. Bruder

          OK, if you’re finished with your insults… and again, you’re disclosing personal information that’s not available to people who don’t work for the website. How about an opinion? You didn’t comment on anything in my post.

          Do you not see humans rights as important? If they erode here and around the world, and every country is run by nationalists who have no desire to cooperate on the world stage, doesn’t it seem more likely that war between factions is going to result? Right wing nationalists in our country are already calling for another civil war, just because they don’t respect the rights of minorities and women to be equal in our society. I would say your vision of the world is a lot darker than mine.

          • larry Horist

            Joseph S.Bruder … You seem to have forgotten that you engaged in an exchange with Frank about your green lifestyle in New England — and how you work to stay off the energy grid .. etc…etc.. I was alluding to you public comments.

            Yes,,, human rights are important. That is why I am a conservatives. We believe in the rights of individuals over the excessive regulation of the state … such rights as free speech and the right to govern from the ground up. The right to a good education (as opposed to what is happening in the Democrat inner cities. We believe in the Bill of Rights … including the 10th Amendment ETc. And fear not. The Republic is safe …. there will be no civil war. That is all hyperbolic nonsense. It is no more real than all the revolution talk that comes from the left. The Republic is in a lot less danger than it was in the 1960s — and even then I was never worried about the left’s talk of revolution. People on the fringe like to hear them self talk in such grandiose manner … but they are no a rea threat to the Republic. That is because the vast majority of the American people are well grounded. That is why despite the extreme rhetoric of the left about civil war, insurrections, coup attempts, the end of democracy if the evil cultish Republicans win the elections. I think the GOP will do well this year — and largely because the American people are not buying the Democrat left-win bullshit that is flowing form the east coast media cabal.

          • Joseph S. Bruder

            Oh, come on Larry, don’t be disingenuous. You’ve outed me about my relationship with the editor several times, and keep bringing up the ridiculous notion that we’re somehow feuding. It’s insulting and offensive, but I’m sure that’s what you’re going for. Anyone who reads my post is going to know I’m left of center, and I’m not as far off the mainstream as you think. At least when I give an opinion, I back it up with some sort of logic and/or statistics that aren’t made up.

            It’s funny to hear you talk about being conservative and respecting human rights, when you pretty actively advocate against women’s rights. If it were up to you and the right wing, women would be just cattle bearing babies for conservative Christian men. Calling fetuses people from the moment of conception is a religious argument, not supported by science. Sorry, it’s not up to evangelical white males to make a religious decision for all the women in the country. Republicans, where they can, are actively making laws to force women to bear children.

            You talk about freedom of religion, as long as it’s YOUR religion. All else need not apply. Freedom FROM religion never enters your mind, but was the foremost thought on the founders’ minds when they created this country. You yourself have viciously attacked the Muslim women in Congress because they have the temerity to advocate for clean air and water and some sort of solution to climate change so that there’s a future for our children. I don’t see that same attack against men… And by default, you’ve supported Trump in his attacks against Muslims – explaining away his attacks as “just Trump being Trump” and “I support him but don’t like his rhetoric”…

            And just a column or two ago, when I claimed that there’s no difference between legal or illegal immigrants, you replied that “of course there’s a difference”… some are deemed legal or illegal according to the whims of the state, but they’re all people, families, just trying to stay alive in a world that’s increasingly difficult. Where are the human rights of those refugees? You don’t seem to give a shit about that, it’s US versus THEM. And would you send aid to the countries they came from to help resolve the situation? HELL NO… yet above you say we have plenty of resources to secure the borders and block immigration and put up more barriers and get more judges… and literally in the next post you say “we have too many needless expenditures.” And why can’t we solve the problems of not enough workers to fill jobs? Because, as you say, WE DON’T LET IMMIGRANTS WORK. The conservative view of immigration makes no sense, it’s just designed to divide the country so that Trump-like authoritarians can gain control.

            And of course, there’s the right to vote, which is enshrined in the Constitution itself, and fine-tuned in the Bill of Rights. Republicans and Conservatives have decided that no election is valid if they lose, and you’re happy to back that one up too. You haven’t criticized a single one of the Republican members of Congress who refuse to recognize Biden as the legitimate President, and still think Trump should be in office. And Republicans fight tooth and nail to make it as difficult as possible to vote.

            I wouldn’t be so sure about the right-wingers not starting a civil war. It’s a lot different than the protests of the 60’s. First, most of them were unarmed and peaceful, and they were protesting for human rights and equality for all people, not just the white male majority. This current crop of right-wing protestors are armed to the teeth, and all they want is to take back the majority at the expense of the minority. They seem to think if they take over the government, that they’ll never get disarmed – they haven’t really thought through the fact that, if they overthrow the government there is no Constitution to guarantee those rights. Which is exactly the kind of situation that Trump (and the current crop of Republicans) could use to turn the country into an authoritarian nightmare. Don’t think Republicans or Conservatives are authoritarian? Why was CPAC held in Hungary this year? Why, for god’s sake, do they keep building their stage in the shape of Nazi symbols and keep using Nazi symbols in their literature?

            You’ve talked about me bringing up “past grievances”, but Trump is a big influence on if not completely in control of the Republican Party. I think that’s relevant to just about any discussion on this website. You, on the other hand, are still clinging to 1960’s notions of what you think the Democratic Party is, and never miss an opportunity to bash Democrats about even the smallest things, while ignoring all of the large country and world destabilizing actions being taken by Republicans.

            So, in the end, don’t give me your cock-and-bull story about supporting human rights. Almost every column you write, along with the other authors here, is complaining about Democrats attempts to improve human rights. At the same time, you’re supporting the conservative Republicans who consistently vote against human rights.

  8. nOrman e. deplume

    Re “So, what is with all these conservatives opposing aid to Ukraine – or even worse, cozying up to Putin? I do not understand it.”

    It’s actually quite simple. Around 2003, the Russian mafia bailed Trump out of the massive debts he had accumulated with his failed businesses. When a mafia gives you money they expect lots of favors in return.

    As for the others, the Russian mafia has expert practitioners in the tradecraft of manipulation and subversion. One principal method is kompromat, which is the acquisition of damaging information about a target individual and blackmailing them into supporting your agenda.

  9. D.D.

    THE ONLY AMERICANS THAT SUPPORT POOTIN ARE THE ONES THAT HAVE BEEN DANGLING FROM THE STRINGS OF THE DEFACTO POOTIN PUPPET MASTER AND ARE KNOWN AS (NOT PUPPETS BUT)
    TRUMPETS !!! WITH THE TUG IF A LITTLE STRING THEY DANCE AROUND AND DO EXACTLY WHAT THAT WANNA-BE COMMUNIST LOVING, TREASONOUS SUPREME LEADER COMMANDS THEM TO DO !!!

  10. Joseph S. Bruder

    The one elephant in the room that you’re mostly ignoring is that Trump actively sided with the Russians over Ukraine. Trump STILL sides with Russia with comments about the Ukrainian war. The Fox conservatives and Trump Republicans are siding with Russia out of little more than inertia – they supported Russia because otherwise their hero Trump was a traitor, and otherwise it creates a cognitive dissonance that they can’t resolve.

    This is evident in many of Trump-cult member beliefs despite direct evidence – not recognizing Trump’s grifts of government money despite his long history of fake schools and charities, not paying his vendors, cheating renters, etc.; not believing he would rape a woman despite his “grab ’em by the pussy” comments and dozens of allegations; dismissing his Hitler-like ambitions despite his divide-and-conquer attacks on various minorities and his cozying up to (and making excuses for) Putin, Orban, Kim, and leaders in Turkey, Syria, Philipines, and others; believing that Trump is saving the country despite the evidence of coordinating an attack on the Capitol and trying to overthrow the government so he could remain in power; coming up with various excuses why Trump isn’t a traitor to the country or why he would have a hundred or so highly classified documents in his non-secure storage locker and office at Mar-a-Lago, even though he told investigators that he didn’t have them and he’s been a private citizen for almost two years.

    It isn’t just Fox News… it’s OANN and Newsmax, little podunk sites like PBP, and dozens of Trump-supporting commentators that go on the Sunday morning shows and act like Trump is still going to run in 2024, and the hundred or so Republicans in Congress that still refuse to state that election wasn’t stolen and that Joe Biden is the legitimate President.

    I just hope that most of this ends after a huge defeat next month, and Trump loses his financial empire and gets charged with various crimes. Cognitive dissonance is a bitch.

    • frank stetson

      But wait, there’s more — over 200 current Republican candidates believe Joe Biden is the unlawful President and, if elected, will work to make that truth matter anyway they can. Imagine us spending the next two years defending Joe’s right to sit in the White House because Donnie boy is a crybaby loser and his sheeples keep lapping up the pond scum he spreads. If these assholes lose, they will deny their own election. If they win, they will attempt to pass laws allowing State officials to pick winners and losers, not the popular vote, not the electoral college. They will continue to restrict voting access limiting early voting, voting by mail, absentee voting —- whatever they think will lower the numbers which they think equates to a better chance of winning.

      I am sorry, but Don lies. You must know he lies all the time about everything and anything. For the 2020 election, it’s the Big Lie. He FUCKING LOST the election, popular, electoral, whatever — HE LOST. 65 court cases including Trump lawyers, judges, whatever. HE LOST THEM ALL. A half dozen recounts by his own people —- he LOST IT ALL. This is not the first time he has cried about voter fraud; the only time he didn’t cry like a baby is in 2016. Then the vote was perfect…..to DON.

      THE IS NO PROOF of any cheating to a level that it would overturn JOE’S VICTORY.

      His lies are their truths and their truths will destroy our elections. They are so brainwashed now that even pro life evangelicals will vote for abortion-provider Walker in Georgia. The guy paid for one abortion, tried to go for two, probably never supported his kid that was born out of wedlock, while he was married. How you gonna convince those hypocrites to vote principles over party? Values over venom?

      Putin is a nothing burger compared to what we are doing to ourselves, compared to what we are allowing foreigners to do to us.

      • larry Horist

        Frank Stetson …. No matter the subject of the commentary, you and Joseph use the occasion to dump your entire file of grievances against Trump … Republicans … and conservatives. You guys are the echo of MSNBC and whatever other left-wing blog you read. But you are getting noticeably more unhinged. Maybe that is because the election is getting closer and your side may not win.

        • frank stetson

          Mr Horist: You are right, Mr Bruder was spot on but I digressed off topic, off tangent. Sorry.

          At to the rest, aren’t you just the converse? In spade? Isn’t that your very reason for being? Doesn’t your resume show how you spent your entire life as a partisan hack? My God man, you tout your Nixon days as a highlight!

          Let me know when you want to discuss topics, based on facts, rather than just bashing any commentator that disagrees with you. Because between you and me, that ain’t changing and you rarely come up with evidence that would lead elsewhere. But hope springs eternal.

        • Joseph S. Bruder

          Why do you think anyone on the right is supporting Russia right now? Your past Republican hero, Reagan, was as anti-Russian as they come, and the Republicans and the right were always fervent anti-Communists until Trump came along… Trump was groomed to support the Russians by the only thing he loves – money. He gladly took Russian money and gifts, openly supported the Russian on the international stage, was doing their bidding by trying to dismantle NATO, supporting Russia over Ukraine, supporting dictators around the world, and even allowing Russians into the oval office and divulging classified information. Even now, Tucker Carlson and the right-wing media are still parroting Trump’s Russian support over the interests of the US and NATO (and frankly, the whole world). How can you have a conversation about Putin and Russia and the war in Ukraine without including Trump’s role in all of this?

        • frank stetson

          And you like to think you’re a traditional conservative with family values when you basically support 90% Trumpism. As the midterms approach, you become more and more strident in your regressive viewpoints. You want to roll back the clock to a time you think is like Mayberry, but in actuality never existed.

          I am here to argue my viewpoints, using facts, statistics, and sourcing. You appear to desire to wax poetic about me on a personal note, this time presupposing my mental state re Republicans, Trumplicants, suggesting that I parrot MSNBC and left-wing blogs (which I have never read) concluding that I am unhinged and getting worse since you conclude that I think my side won’t win.

          Your personal attacks are sure easier for you than proving where that 500,000 illegal alien statistic came from since it appears that you pulled it out of your ass. Let us know when you can actually support this one, along with the other list of Larry-stats you seem to be making up.

          • larry Horist

            Frank Stetson … I do not think what I am. I know what I am — unlike you. Once again you engage in an ad hominin attack by creating your own mental version of Larry Horist. I find it enormously funny that you say your are here to discuss facts, when you spend the entire comment attacking me (not to mention your Tourette Syndrome-style attack on me abov that opened with “Larry, you are a dumb fuck idiot biased partisan name calling son of a bitch”) And you do not even see the irony in that? LOL

            And just to humor your, I will admit that I was wrong about the number of getaways in the past year. In the first link, the official number is 599,000. In the second link the border patrol puts the number closer to 1 million. This is what I mean that you need me to provide you information that is in the media sphere. I assume my readers have a modicum of common knowledge — that everything does not have to be laid out like I am writing for a child. or a person who is clueless. That is why I do not see the need to respond to your request for backup information that is relatively common knowledge to most folks. They already know what you do not… BUSTED, BROKEN AND BEYOND REPAIR.

            https://www.foxnews.com/politics/border-officials-count-599000-gotaway-migrants-fiscal-year-2022-source

            https://www.thecentersquare.com/national/total-southern-border-encounters-gotaways-greater-than-population-of-23-u-s-states/article_06618634-ed98-11ec-b17c-3bf0aa0acb3f.html

          • larry Horist

            Frank Stetson … forgot to mention, I did check out the link you provided above to refute my 500,000 getaways number, but I did not find any reference to that demographic. While I did it in this case, I just do not have the time to educate you and to check out all your so-called “evidence.” Your screeds are mostly babble no matter how much you try to present yourself as a knowledgeable person.

          • frank stetson

            I am happy for your humble self-awareness. Sure you do. It’s just that when you define yourself, you are often incoherent as noted by many commentators here to which you say — “you’re obsessed and mentally unbalanced.” Cool. In your mind, you know best.

            On this one, you lament my personal attack, even cherry-picking the attack while carefully editing out the rest, which was: “But let me tell you what I really think about your topic…. :>) Always good to have an ice breaker.” IT WAS A JOKE LARRY. You apparently are a very sensitive, self-aware, person with a complete lack of humor. It’s all about you, all the time.

            Then you have the balls to say: “when you spend the entire comment attacking me” when the rest of my passage was as follows:
            “You know what he meant about college-educated, he prefaced and caveated the whole thing, but yet you still teed off on him as if he didn’t spewing Republican tropes about high school grads with experience.

            You may believe in the innate wisdom of man, but consistently call Democrats all sorts of things, including now “a danger to democracy,” mirroring what Democrats are saying about your party.

            The fact remains that Republicans have captured the less educated and Democrats have captured the more educated. Also, same song for rural and urban with suburban going Democratic too.

            This causes some of the dividing lines, polarizations, and other points of division.

            You know this but you went for the personal attack instead. Sweeeet.”

            I fail to see the personal attack in this that you, the self-aware one, sees. Can you clarify?

          • larry Horist

            Frank Stetson … you forgot to apologize for your gross error on the getaways. You just making stuff up?

          • frank stetson

            Thanks for the sourcing Larry; that was really not that hard, was it? Just keep those sources ready, you know I will ask. And feel free to ask yourself, anytime. I really learned something this time, and it’s not like it’s a number I have not been looking for. A Mayorkas secret apparently. Couldn’t even find the text, or another mention, I actually had to watch the tape and, honestly, Spartz is a tough listen.

            Glad you came up with the goods; sorry you got all knicker-knotted over it, it was frankly fascinating and I have not stumbled on the term “gotaways,” till now. FYI — it’s not “getaways,” that’s the Peckinpaugh movie and it’s terrible remake…..

            But, even though Mayorkas stated 389,155 getaways in FY 2021, and that is the only good number of this bunch, this guy is a dolt for not publishing it loud n clear. WTF that he has the number in his little prep pad, ready to spew it out for Natasha Fatale Spartz, but DHS does not offer this as a standard statistic? They know it but they don’t show it? Goggle “getaways” and up comes mostly FOX. There does not seem to be a normal CBP or DHS getaway tracking statistic. What is wrong with these people and the press that covers them? That just sucks, and it sucks worse that Mayorkas had the number in his notes. Fire the SOB.

            Nice pull on finding the FOX readout on the April hearing, and remembering it.

            Amazingly there are lots of folks attempting to estimate this on a regular basis, based on other DHS numbers like encounters, etc. combined with their own “gotaway” assumptions. Now they should know, Mayorkas already has his estimate. So, Mayorkas has the number, others using other DHS numbers combined with “gotaway” assumptions to compute other bad estimates that Mayorkas never corrects. Great.

            Thanks, 389K it is for FY2021. The 500,000 probably is good too but this one is “unverified CBP source” from FOX which is pretty weak as sources, so we have FY 2021, nothing for 2022 except estimates based on the 2021 389K and flakey sources — but I agree that if you figure 50K a month it’s as close as anything, so 500K probably is in the ballpark. Although that would put “better technology, more manpower, and the Trump wall” making things better WRONG. Again, that’s a DHS thing, so fire Mayorkas.

            However, now that you have the 389K, even that number should be subjected to the total undocumented headcount in the US because folks are always coming and going. Current estimates are 11.5M illegals which has been between about 10.5M and 11.5M since 2015. In most years, the total number of illegals in the US is estimated at about 11.5M —- same number since 2015 or earlier. The down years are usually recessionary where less people come, more people go.

            Point is Larry, that in most years, about .5M come, .5M go…… It’s the circle of life. But we should up the priority to stop at the border if we are still missing 400K-500K per year. As to the asylum seekers jumping ship and entering the unknown, undocumented illegals, give it a rest. Most turn up for court and are admitted or deported accordingly. Yes, it would be nice not to have a backlog, but don’t think asylum seekers should be our worry.

          • frank stetson

            Larry asks: “Frank Stetson … you forgot to apologize for your gross error on the getaways. You just making stuff up?”

            This is based on his statement: “Over half a million get-always in the past year says so. And millions more in America without approval of their asylum request. And most of these are not qualified for asylum. An no… all the jobs would not be filled because they are not allowed to work without approval of their status because they are undocumented” to which I noted: “Your unsourced “half a million” is wrong as I have proven and sourced in the past” which is true, and you did not refute, with sourcing. Then I added: “Your unsourced “million more in American without approval of their asylum request” is far less than a million. Like 660K in 9/21. https://trac.syr.edu/immigration/reports/672/” which is true. Y were wrong here. I could have added that your notion that asylum seekers can’t work is a lie; they can apply for a work permit, should take 30 days but today takes about 180 days. Yeah, you got that one wrong too but I gave you the mulligan so you could focus on the main points.

            As you hesitated to answer on the 500,000 I added: “Your personal attacks are sure easier for you than proving where that 500,000 illegal alien statistic came from since it appears that you pulled it out of your ass. Let us know when you can actually support this one, along with the other list of Larry-stats you seem to be making up” key words being “it appears.”

            After two or three articles, days, you finally coughed up a source, a very good one, to which I apologized already saying: “Glad you came up with the goods; sorry you got all knicker-knotted over it, it was frankly fascinating and I have not stumbled on the term “gotaways,” till now” and now you want more apology?

            Along the way you said, about me:
            “Frank Stetson …. you are getting noticeably more unhinged……”
            “I just do not have the time to educate you and to check out all your so-called “evidence.”
            “Your screeds are mostly babble no matter how much you try to present yourself as a knowledgeable person.”

            That was pretty tame personal attacks on me, personally, for Larry. How about another “day in the life” of ad hominem man…. A day in the life of Larry, who does not support much of what he says but when asked for support says the reader is stupid, everyone knows, and look it up yourself. Because when Larry calls others demeaning names, he diverts from the topic, avoids supporting his baseless ascertains, and brings things to a personal level where he can launch his all too familiar attacks like one tome where he said:

            “…..because your every column is an ad hominin attack no me (or more correctly the straw man Larry Horist of your imagination)…..” so I will say:
            ”you seeming inability to comprehend what I write – and your woeful inadequate knowledge of the subject.”
            ”Typical opening of a propagandists.”

            Sometimes his personal attacks include others when he adds: “Only ignorant readers would think that,” but most of his attacks saved for me like: “It is obvious that you know nothing about the operation and the statistical outcome of public schools in general….”
            “You engage in snide comments……”
            “That is an example of where I see you having a comprehension problem.”
            “Projection? Hypocrisy? Ignorance?”
            “Again, I question your ability to comprehend what you read.”
            “…I often see your writings as an unhinged screed.”
            “… with that kind of stupidity, I cannot believe you are a parent.”
            “every time I offer my opinion, you seem to need a senior lever course in public policy or a book-level volume of information.”
            “Frankly, you are too ignorant of reality….”
            “You obviously know nothing……”
            “you would be better served if you would engage in self-education instead of self propagandization.”

            Not even creative, even his personal attacks are repetitive drivel used for almost any commentator he refuses to refute. It’s how Republicans do it nowadays, the days of vigorous, yet fair, debate seem to be in the past. Ever since Trump brought his “six-pack-joe” sort of personal style to the mainstream, people like Larry seem emboldened since they can’t stand toe-to-toe in the debate arena.

            Larry might not like what I write, but he infrequently supports what he says and when he does comment, there’s a lot of personal attack meant to divert from his lack of being able to support a defensive argument. He also likes to divert from the conversation by interjecting how those who comment are pyschoanalyzing him projecting the commentor’s ideas about what Larry thinks. He diverts from the discussion by avoiding it to comment on the commentor instead, like name calling, but this time explaining how poor Larry is misunderstood. Like that’s the reader’s problem. Multiple readers. Multiple stories. All misinterpreting Larry. And it’s their fault every time. Poor, poor put upon, picked on Larry.

            Larry, I am all for vigorous debate, a little jabbing even, and fair play. I have tried to tone it down for you, especially given your sensitive nature when questioned about your statements. I will continue to ask you to support your facts n figures, when I deem necessary to understand your tomes since you tend to skip the sources, skip a defensive argument supported by facts like statistics, surveys, scientific assessments, and continue bring on the personal attacks and mental health diversions!!! That’s how tis it tis.

            I appreciate your coming up with the 389,155 Mayorkas statistic and the supporting data that pretty much, but not exactly, might derive the 500,000 in a year. That’s how we should be doing it, and just skip the foot dragging and name calling that distracted us along this journey of discovery. HAGD.

          • larry Horist

            The winner of the longest most unhinged ad hominin attack of the year (envelop please) …. FRANK STETSON !!!

          • frank stetson

            The only ad hominem in that passage is yours Larry. All two dozen of them. I think you protest too much only to divert from your own ugly truth of what you do, what you condone, and how you act. And when caught, you never walk it back just like Donald J. Trump.

    • larry Horist

      Joseph S Bruder …. you have been predicting that huge GOP defeat in November. What do you say if it does not happen?

      • Joe Gilbertson

        Think we can challenge him to leave the country if Republicans take control?

        • larry Horist

          From what he has written, I assumed he has already left essential America to live in isolation off the land in rural New England, where he stews in his own hatred — with MSNBC and the New York Times his only connection to the outside world.

          • Joe Gilbertson

            Hmmm… Interesting speculation. I can imagine him surrounded by chickens, and goats, and tractors and farm implements that don’t function.

        • ben is back

          You probably always do.

          Didn’t work for us in 2021…..instead your side stormed the Capitol convicted of seditious conspiracy, harming over 140 folks-in-blue with your lack of law and order.

          We have close to 200 spots where Republican election deniers will probably win in this midterm, the fun is just beginning.

      • Joseph S. Bruder

        Democrats will just work that much harder for the next election.

        • Joseph S. Bruder

          And how many right-wingers are planning to leave the country if the Democrats win House and Senate? Where are they going to go? Russia? Belarus? Is Hungary totalitarian enough?

  11. Mike

    Larry, I think that deep down you know the answer to your title question, though you refuse to admit it. Fifty years ago, when you and I became Republicans, the people affiliated with the Party were predominantly college educated people (not to be snobby here, but the primary purpose of college is to teach students to think). That is no longer the case, Republicans have tailored their message to people that are not educated, and those people can easily be spoon-fed information by people like Carlson (recall, he is the most popular anchor on Cable television). As a result of this, we now have some of the dumbest people to ever walk the halls of congress-MTG, Boebert, Gaetz, Cawthorn, and lets not forget candidate Walker…. Now you have argued that authoritarianism and conservatism are mutually exclusive, that is no longer the case (if it ever was). Many of the people who are leading the Republican Party believe that they can run the country better than the people that support them (that is definitely Carlson’s position, and I believe that it applies to much of the Pro-Trump Republican leadership). When you start having people like Mitch McConnell doing whatever he likes when he is in control, as opposed to following the “norms” of a Republican form of government, and nobody in the Conservative Party bats an eye, you are well on the way to authoritarianism (backing this up would have to be the issues with Garland and Barrett in the SCOTUS, and of course the impeachment trials-details of which have recently come out that all Senators knew Trump was guilty of strong-arming Zelensky with a quid pro quo….) So there tis, sad but true. Citizens do not seem realize that WWII was fought to supposedly end actions like Putin’s, but folks are too stupid to see the parallels….

    • larry Horist

      Mike … your arrogance regarding folks with not college education goes along with your anti-Semitism — your sense of superiority. You have a Wizard of Oz notion that a diploma makes one smart and wise. As a conservative, I believe in the innate wisdom of the American people. I am not sure if you noticed, but more of the education system is dealing in indoctrination instead of critical thinking. You declare by saying folks who do not share you view are “too stupid.” It is people like you who are a danger to democracy. You think the public is too stupid to make decisions on governance. That does not explain your anti-Semitism since Jews are among the more educated demographic groups.

      • frank stetson

        Larry, you are a dumb fuck idiot biased partisan name calling son of a bitch. But let me tell you what I really think about your topic…. :>) Always good to have an ice breaker.

        You know what he meant about college-educated, he prefaced and caveated the whole thing, but yet you still teed off on him as if he didn’t spewing Republican tropes about high school grads with experience.

        You may believe in the innate wisdom of man, but consistently call Democrats all sorts of things, including now “a danger to democracy,” mirroring what Democrats are saying about your party.

        The fact remains that Republicans have captured the less educated and Democrats have captured the more educated. Also, same song for rural and urban with suburban going Democratic too.

        This causes some of the dividing lines, polarizations, and other points of division.

        You know this but you went for the personal attack instead. Sweeeet.

        • larry Horist

          Frank Stetson … You forgot to defend Mike’s anti-Semitism

          • frank stetson

            Oh I think he has gored your ox on that one well enough.

            How about that 500,000 illegal alien statistic you seemingly pulled out of your ass, can you actually source that one or did you fabricate another Larry-stat?

      • Mike

        Larry, Your claims of my antisemitism is total bullshit-as I have tried to point out to you in the past, I merely call you Horowitz to show how antisemitic you are-if you were not, it would make no difference to you whether I referred to you Horowitz or Horovitch (water off a duck’s back?) Of course you know that many of your readers are antisemitic as well, and that is obviously why you have this tremendous concern of being labelled as “Jewish”. However, back to my points, many of the talking heads (and your elected officials) prefer their way of doing things as opposed to what the people really want (you are definitely included in this group-despite the fact that the majority of Americans believed that the Roe v Wade decision was correctly decided in 1973, and a woman should have the right to choose-you were exuberant when SCOTUS shot it down-so much for trusting in the innate wisdom of the American people-more bullshit from you, but what else can we expect?) And you are certainly putting words in my mouth when you say “folks who do not share you view are “too stupid.”” I believe in one vote for every citizen in every election-can you say that? (the answer in case it is not obvious is a resounding no!) I am with the Party that does allow for different points of view, not so with Republicans these days-either you support Trump or you are ostracized….

        • larry Horist

          Mike … you cannot get off the hook. You say all kinds of negative things about me as you gratuitously change my name to an obvious Jewish name as part of your ad hominin attack. You obviously see the change of name as just another insult. Anti-Semitism by definition. I also remember you anti-Israel comments of the past. I am not saying you are the type to put Jews in ovens,, you do exhibit prejudiced against Jews in your comments on this site. You seem to be attacking the Larry Horist of your imagination — the straw man you create because you cannot engage honestly with me .. the real Larry Horist. You even give you invented person a different name.

          An more recently, we see your arrogant elitism — your contempt for folks without college degrees.

          Your pathetic effort to deflect from you by saying I do not want to have a Jewish name is more anti-Semitism. Actually, Horist is often construed as a Jewish name and it comes down in my family history. You may not recall my commentary as to why I love Jews. They have been a great part of my life — and great contributors to the country.

          You belong to a party that allows for “different points of view” LMAO. The party that bans conservative speakers on college campuses? The party that that has called for FOX News to be banned from the airwaves? The party that censors conservative views from social platforms?. The party that refuses to have conservative voices on their crony media?
          Are you projecting? Or just lying?

          • Joseph S. Bruder

            Calls for boycotts are not the same as banning from the airwaves. Tucker Carlson is as far into hate speech as you can get. He remains popular because there is a large following of people who like the hate that he pushes. The hate speech feeds even more hate speech, and is the equivalent of shouting “Fire!” in a crowded theater. Does that mean it should be allowed? There used to be a “public good” requirement on the public airwaves, but that’s pretty much gone now. People who are alarmed at the hate speech can only call for boycotts, and hope that the private company executes the ban on the offenders.

            Nobody in the either Party is censoring conservative views. The businesses that run those platforms take what they deem as harmful hate speech (or bad or incorrect medical advice) down because they could be liable for what is repeated on their platform. Fox News let Carlson and Dobbs and a few others spew the lies about Dominion voting machines, and they’ve paid the price. Other media companies are a little more proactive about preventing lies. And what do you do if you deem that lies are coming from Russian bots? Let them go, or try to shut them down? Republicans would rather force all platforms to print all information without concern for truthfulness or intent.

            I’m not sure what “conservative voices on their crony media” means, but I’ve seen some “conservatives” come on various programs and just tell bald-face lies and conspiracy theories. Is that what you’re talking about? Does a media company have a requirement to let anyone on, no matter how many lies they tell? Or do they get to defend their own reputations by only letting sane and truthful people on their shows?

          • Mike

            Larry, Anti-Israel is about a country, not about a religion. My many Jewish friends laugh when I tell them this Conservative Propagandist says I am antisemitic, you don’t know much about me, but I know that you have a problem with words that might leave your readers thinking you are Jewish. But back to the gist of my response-you decided not to answer my comments, rather to bring up antisemitism (typical Republican BS-look over here, not there). It is clear why so many conservatives are backing Putin-and it is because both Trump and the biggest talking heads on Conservative programming are backing him. I merely pointed out that the majority of these people do not think for themselves, and blindly accept what they think they want to hear. That is why there are so many Republican Idiots in Congress (and on the ballot). Or do you really think that MTG, Boebert, Cawthorn, Gaetz, Walker or Trump are “deep thinkers”? (There are many more than could be on the list). The people spouting “Putin Appeasement” are not students of history-appeasement is what happened before WW2. True Conservatives know better (you certainly will never hear Chaney or Kinzinger spouting Putin Appeasement rhetoric). But many in leadership positions in the Republican Party are afraid of the base that has been cultivated, a base that is predominantly uneducated. So, there you have the answer to your question, without any of your antisemitic BS….

          • Mike

            Larry, I can read very well, but it seems that your writing (as well as your reading), not so good. You state in your blog that you disagree with appeasing Putin, and ask the question “why are some conservatives so opposed to defeating Putin”?, but you never answer that question. I have answered that question for you in multiple replies, but instead of addressing that issue, you decided to focus on an issue of perceived antisemitism-totally off subject…. The answer to your question is very simple-there are very few conservatives that think these days. They like to be spoon fed drivel from the talking heads, and if Trump and Carlson say it, it’s got to be right. That is sad, but true, and somehow with all the words in your blog, and all the responses that you have made to various people, you have never addressed the “why”, simply that you believe we should stand with Ukraine (which is a position that I totally agree with). So there tis…

          • larry Horist

            Mike …you are so intellectually challenged and so arrogant (a losing combination) that you think you biased and bogus opinion about all conservatives is FACT. You did not provide A reason. you provided only your jaded reason. Time to give you the attention you deserve in the future — none.

        • larry Horist

          Mike ….Spare me the “i have Jewish friends” bit. And if you did ask them, did you tell them in context– that you use a Jewish name as part of a pejorative ad hominin attack on a person. That you actually change their name to enhance your character attacks. I showed what you wrote to a few Jewish friend and they all said they viewed your name changing as anti-Semitic.– including people who disagree with me politically . I am sure you did not —- since we can guess what any Jew would think. And a far as your pathetic and nonsensical suggestion that my calling out your anti-Semitism is some how a desire not to be known as a Jew. I may not be, but that is just a fact, I am sure I would be the same wonderful me even if I was Jewish. You suggestion that I am anti-Semitic is another example of your crossing swords with your imaginary Larry Horist.

          • Mike

            Larry, Again, you fail to address the issue at hand-instead you prefer to bring up the antisemitism that you imagine that I have. Total BS. Why don’t you instead talk about the ignorance of the Republicans who do not realize that appeasing Putin is a big mistake? That is what my responses have been about-in no way did they discuss any Jewish matters other than those you brought up. Perhaps it is time for you to retire to the tennis courts at your rest home if you can’t stay on topic….

          • larry Horist

            Mike… I will kindly assume you have a reading comprehension problem You say “Why don’t you instead talk about the ignorance of the Republicans who do not realize that appeasing Putin is a big mistake?” That is what the commentary is about –.pushing back on those on the right who are appeasing Putin in this war. Did you forget the subject of the commentary — too vested in shadow boxing with your mythical Larry Horist?

          • ben is back

            He wants to cross swords with you now, that’s so gay. And he keeps imagining it, oh my.

            I’m using Larry’s resume picture, blown up, with cutout spaces for my eyes/mouth, as my Halloween mask for my Rudi Ghouliani, the grinning ghoul costume. Larry’s smile —– just says it all.

          • larry Horist

            Ben is back … You do me great honor. To think that I have entered the pantheon of celebrities who have earned such notoriety that they are featured in Halloween masks. I am not among the greats … presidents, sport figures … .Hollywood stars. Just do not go to Frank Stetson’s home. He will think your fake Larry is the manifestation of his imaginary friend.

          • ben is back

            Yes, Larry, you are the star of the anonymous crowd, known by the unknown, seen by the unseen.

            Sadly I had to burn the mask, it frightened the small children away. They though I was the groomer ghoul, kept yelling, “stranger danger.” I went with Michael Myers, that did not scare them half as much.

          • Joseph S. Bruder

            Larry, people who call you Horowitz or Horitz or whatever are just trying to piss you off. You take the bait every time, and spend hours defending yourself.

            And talk about the pot calling the kettle black – you literally told Mike, “spare me your ‘Jewish friend’ defense”, then used it three sentences later, i.e. “I showed what you wrote to a few Jewish friend [sic]”…

            You are nothing if not predictable. You always insult writers who disagree with you. You can be counted on to protest loudly (multiple times) that you’re not Jewish. You lack sources to back up your “statistics”, and pull numbers out of the air. You accuse people of fighting the “imaginary Larry Horist”, but you show us who you are with every column, repeating the same opinions over and over. You will always counter an argument with “what-about-isms”. You accuse writers of being racist or anti-Semitic or anti-education or whatever, but there’s a definite lack of self-awareness in your own writings. You will bash Democrats for the slightest hint of something you disagree with, but ignore or explain away much worse acts by Republicans.

            Since you’re so un-anti-Semitic, how about a column about all the Nazi symbolism in the Republican Party? You can start with Dr. Oz giving his speech in front of Hitler’s car in an “air museum”…

          • larry Horist

            Joseph S. Bruder … I do not believe that changing my name to an obvious Jewish name is the middle of an ad hominin attack on me is merely to piss me off. What would have provoked that in the first place. And OMG, you interprets the partial image of an old car in the distant background of a Dr. Oz photos as some secret signal that he is a Nazi. First of all, who would even recognize the car if it were not pointed out on social media? It was a gaffe by the organizers of the speech only because it gives voice to folks like you — hardly more than that. If you think Oz was secretly signaling his membership or support of Nazis, you are truly a member of the conspiratorial tinfoil hat crowd.

  12. Joseph S. Bruder

    Why do you think anyone on the right is supporting Russia right now? Your past Republican hero, Reagan, was as anti-Russian as they come, and the Republicans and the right were always fervent anti-Communists until Trump came along… Trump was groomed to support the Russians by the only thing he loves – money. He gladly took Russian money and gifts, openly supported the Russian on the international stage, was doing their bidding by trying to dismantle NATO, supporting Russia over Ukraine, supporting dictators around the world, and even allowing Russians into the oval office and divulging classified information. Even now, Tucker Carlson and the right-wing media are still parroting Trump’s Russian support over the interests of the US and NATO (and frankly, the whole world). How can you have a conversation about Putin and Russia and the war in Ukraine without including Trump’s role in all of this?

    • larry Horist

      Joseph S Bruder …. my commentary is about the current situation and the future re Ukraine. Yes… Reagan saw the Soviet Union as an “evil empire” even as the left wanted to normalize and accept Communist domination. He brought down the Soviet Union without firing a shot. What money and gifts did Trump get from Moscow? You confusing him with Hunter Biden and the “Big Guy”? I do not see any evidence that Trump wanted to dismantle NATO. His critical language was to get them to cough up their fair share of the budget — and he achieved what past presidents only called for politely. Supported Russia over Ukraine? Wasn’t it Trump who sent weapons when Obama would not? Even the controversial request for info in Hunter never stopped any weaponry being sent to Ukraine — even though Trump did not get what he wanted. But you must recall that Biden threatened to cut off military aid to Ukraine unless the fired the prosecutor investigating the company paying off Hunter. Biden got what he wanted. But in terms of my commentary — and your seeming obsession with making everything about
      Trump — the former President is not a player in the current situation. To be perfectly honest, I have not heard Trump as anything about Ukraine — other than brag that he sent weapons when Obama did not. And you know from past commentaries I am not a fan of Carlson or Trump. We seem to agree on Ukraine … but not the rest of your one-sided spin.

      • Joseph S. Bruder

        Oh, come on… Who says the Left wanted to normalize and “accept Communist domination”? The cold war lasted through a half-dozen Presidents. Reagan didn’t bring down the Soviet Union – there was an arms race, and we spent each other into the ground (again, over multiple Administrations). We paid for it in high inflation, the USSR ran out of money/influence and lost control of their satellite countries.

        You seem to forget that one of Trump’s evil spawn stated “a big part of Trump, Inc.’s income is from Russia”. And Trump’s multiple trips to Russia… and his loans from Deutsche Bank that were backed by Russia and never paid off. And the real estate deals where Russians gave Trump WAY more than the property was worth, not to mention renting whole floors of Trump Tower in NYC and promising him a hotel deal in Moscow (which disappeared when he wasn’t President, i.e. useful idiot, anymore). Just how much Russian money and support does Trump have to accept before you deem it significant?

        Despite being second only to Clinton in the “what about” game that you play, Hunter Biden was a lawyer and worked overseas. Yes, the name “Biden” probably got him in the door, but that’s not a crime (if you still want to play the “what about” game, just look at what Ivanka and Jared earned from the Chinese and Saudis while they were still working in the White House. I don’t hear much complaining about that from you or Joe G. or any other Republicans). Everything that Joe Biden did in calling out corrupt officials in Russia was above board and in public, or else you wouldn’t even know about it. There were a couple of years between Hunter being in that Russian company and Joe Biden forcing Ukraine to clean up their corruption. And Hunter’s laptop has seen more hands than a boob in a strip bar, and Republicans have been trying and failing to come up with any evidence that Hunter, uh, did something, like, uh, maybe he talked to his father, uh… Give it a rest…

        And, puh-leeeeze, Trump went out of his way to try to dismantle NATO, cozying up to Putin and Orban (and all the other dictators), while insulting and snubbing our NATO allies – and promised to pull the US out of NATO if he got re-elected. It’s Putin’s wet dream, and Trump was all about pleasing Putin.

        How do you think the Ukrainians have been able to beat back the Russians so far? Because they got military training from the US and NATO, under Obama’s watch. There was no way they could have used any western weapons before that time, and Obama was pushing to make sure they cleaned up their Soviet-era corruption. Trump didn’t give them the weapons, Congress did, against Trump’s wishes. And Trump tried to withhold them and blackmail the Ukrainians. And for Joe G. below, yes, Trump was impeached (gaslighting is saying “attempted to impeach”), but McConnell protected him from a guilty verdict. Trump was never cleared by anyone except his own Party hacks. Clinton (your big scary monster and #1 scapegoat) had nothing to do with the Ukrainian blackmail accusations.

        And no, there wouldn’t be a Ukrainian war if Trump was President. There wouldn’t be a Ukraine either. Trump would have just let Putin have it. All of it, not the 15% that Russia has occupied and is trying to steal now. The only reason Putin didn’t start the war before Biden became President is that Trump was giving him everything he wanted. Even now, Trump offers to mediate, which means “give the Russians what they want and isn’t ours to give away”. Either you’re lying about not hearing Trump’s “musings” on the subject of Ukraine (even Elon Musk is repeating it), or you’re too out-of-touch to be in the political column business. How the hell can you not know that?

        Trump is the leader of the Republican Party. He’s still barking orders, and they still let him call the shots. Even though Trump is a has-been and is giving speeches that make no sense, to crowds that have diminished to dozens instead of hundreds or thousands, the Republicans in Congress are still following him like the Messiah. There are 299 Republican candidates for the elections in November who are publicly claiming that the election was stolen from Trump – ignoring reality just to get Trump’s endorsement.

        Larry, you are still fighting the Democrats of the 1960’s, while ignoring the fact that Democrats and Republicans essentially swapped political positions and populations in the late 60’s and early 70’s. Everything you accuse the Democrats of doing is what the Republicans have become.

        • Joe Gilbertson

          Funny how you don’t see what is right in front you.

          Not reading all of your rant, but the Ukrainians have not “beaten back” the Russians, the Russians own what they want to own. And yes, Ukraine is one of the most corrupt countries on Earth (I’ve seen reports that ranked them #1). But don’t take my word for it, ask Hunter Biden. And of course ask Joe Biden how hard it was to get fired the prosecutor there who was going after Hunter.

          • Ernest

            Well said. The defense of Nazilensky’s regime is a litmus test for seeing who really will join the ranks of the globalist cabal. The left know how to rope in the superficial conservative – all they have to do is cry “Russia!” And for this, the American conservative movement will never fight hard it real enemy.

          • Joseph S. Bruder

            Read the whole post before you reply. Your laziness is showing…

            The Russians wanted all of Ukraine – they went in to Kyiv and were pushed out. The only reason they are where they are is because they were dug in.

            Ukraine WAS one of the most corrupt countries – during the Soviet era and while under Russian domination. Things are changing. We wouldn’t be giving them weapons to defend themselves if we thought they were selling it on the black market.

    • Joe Gilbertson

      We have that conversation about Putin and Russia and the absence of Trump in this ungodly mess. If Trump had become President for a second term, there would be no war in Ukraine, because unlike our current leader, Trump’s mind is intact, Trump knows how to wield power and Trump knows how to solve problems.

      And of course there you go again parroting the debunked fake news that the Democratic party used to attempt to impeach Trump. The fake news story that came from the Clinton campaign that was proven incorrect by independent counsel and your own puppets.I believe that is called gaslighting, correct?

      • Frank stetson

        Yes, Captain Bonespurs to our rescue. He’d solve Ukraine faster than you can replace Obamacare. His mind is intact, he was flinging burgers and flushing top secrets like Einstein. Solving all problems except how to win the popular vote. Willing to lose the same court case 65 times….

        Yeah, you got the Crystal ball on that one.

        Get a room sweet cheeks, you’re in love. .

  13. Ell Jay

    Too many damned people have drank to poor Ukraine cool aide! Wake the hell up and get away from the lamestream news.

  14. Ernest

    Putin is against illegal immigration, cultural invasion of his country, forced vaccination, imposing masks on children, imposing federal law on states/territories, and letting UN dictate his country’s policies. If this makes him an “enemy of conservative values” then I am glad that he is and hope other leaders grow the ball to follow in his footsteps. If rewarding Christian for building churches and fighting ISIS in Syria is anti-conservatism, let it reign supreme. Alternatively, you are writing uninformed and/or dishonest political rhetoric that is the half-cooked American conservative who runs with the hare and hunts with the hound.