That really is a stark contrast. What do the apologetics say about this?

Yep. That pretty much summarizes it.

The US won’t provide the security guarantees Zelenskyy is asking for. He can try getting them from European countries though, but they do not seem willing to provide them either.

We are entering a “yeah and who’s going to stop me era of US politics”

Republicans hold the majority in congress, so they’re refusing to push back and are just allowing him to usurp power from them.

The president was always able to stop aid under certain conditions. Trump is just going to certify that one of those conditions exist no matter how ridiculous it is.

It’s very illegal. He has already been impeached once for withdrawing military aid to Ukraine in his first term.

And you see where that got us.

how is Trump so powerful?

The Republican party controls Congress and they have abdicated their responsibilities to our Constitution and, by extension, the American people in favor of an authoritarian because they have accepted him as their leader, thus giving away their own power.

Our forefathers never expected Congress to give away its own power. Because it doesn’t really make any sense in the long term for them to do so.

We are experiencing a coup. Most Americans are too uneducated to understand this.

It is for Congress to decide such matters. It says so right in our constitution, but our Legislative branch has been ceding their ability to check Executive overreach for decades. Now, with a complicit Congress as the majority, they will never challenge Trump on anything he does, no matter how unconstitutional or illegal it might be. Same goes for the Judiciary as well, chock full of partisan hacks who bend and twist their interpretation of the language of the constitution to cherry pick a favorable ruling for anything that Trump does.

Basically, our system of checks and balances that are meant to keep one aspect of the government from becoming too powerful has been completely subsumed by ideologues who prefer monarchy to democracy. The executive now essentially has unchecked authority and is in full control of the government apparatus.

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It isn’t daft. The Republicans since Reagan have pushed a fringe legal theory called the Unitary Executive Theory. Basically, they want the president to fully control the executive branch and military such that theirs is the only voice that matters for much of the government. Not unlike a king, but partially checked by congress and the courts. They have been taking (illegal) actions to try to get sued, and also have been suing others/other branches of government, to try to get the Supreme Court to hear cases that will support this fringe legal theory so that it becomes the law of the land.

I am not a lawyer, but this is possibly something Trump can legally do since he is Commander in Chief of the armed forces. However, this seems more like an apportionment thing, which is Congress’ responsibility. Congress has allocated funds to send military aid to Ukraine. So, even if Trump as Commander in Chief could say “no more weapons to ukraine”, it seems doubtful to me that he could (legally) stop weapons shipments currently en route.

But, by the time whatever government office sues the office of the president to get a judge to enjoin them to send the agreed upon weapons that were already apportioned, it will already have hurt Ukraine somewhat. Trump often weaponizes inefficiency. And these sort of illegal acts aren’t crimes per se - they’re just procedural breaches - the legal remedy is just to reverse the action.

So, probably not legal. But Trump gets to weaponize his administration’s incompetence (or feigned incompetence) to at least delay aid. More competent people may support these actions, knowing they’re illegal, to try and strengthen the president’s role even further.

Yeah that shit happens all the time throughout history, actually. Especially when colonized countries dared to fight back against colonizers.

Is it a third country if the one punishing is a proxy of said country?

The peace agreement between Napoleon and Austria included Napoleon taking independent (but in the coalition) Venice.

It was kind of an awful elitist place but it was also the oldest democracy in the world at the time. Napoleon destroyed that, and all the monestaries. You can see the ruins of them around the lagoon if you visit.

Palestine. Maybe not successfully, but note that the idea that Palestinians have the same natural right to armed self defense as any other group is completely absent from mainstream political discourse. Most simply cannot even comprehend that the Palestinians should have just as much right to kill to defend themselves as Israelis do. Partly this is due to colonialism. Part of it is classism. The violence of the Israelis is clean and high tech. The violence of the Palestinians is crude and performed with simple weapons. We judge the morality of violence based upon the wealth of the people committing the violence.

Finland had to accept responsibility for being invaded by Russia. Also, they had to give away land mass that Russia failed to grab. Also, they had to give up some sovereignty. Also, they had to pay ginormous reparations and sign deals to buy army stuff from Russia.

Nice army stuff, though. I’ve been in a 1995 KRAZ with a wood frame for the driver. Also they don’t have a tap for draining motor oil, because who would expect them yo return from the frontlines?

Does it matter at all? Trump is compromised and is actively working for Putin. This is transparent and not being denied. Is there precedent for a puppet to do whatever he’s told by his master? Yes, lots.

Economic sanctions on the early RSFSR after the Bolsheviks defeated the English, French, Italian, USA coalition that invaded them in the Russian Civil War.

Gaza

All the military equipment in the world can’t make up for their recruitment and morale problems.

It’s just reality, regardless of what’s upvoted on these forums.

The way it should be

The US media still does not dare to call Trump a Russian agent, despite him showing all symptoms.

US operation in the black sea today

https://www.itamilradar.com/2025/03/04/look-who-we-have-here/

If the stock market crashes and doesn’t recover, that money will be worthless regardless of where you store it.

In that specific match up the F-35 would win the majority of the time. The Rafale would win when it was able to get inside the F-35’s missiles. The problem is a modern fighter versus fighter engagement starts with long range missiles launches. So the side that sees first launches first. Then they go into tight S turns to keep radar tracking on their missiles while maintaining range. At some point the enemy also acquires them on radar and does the same thing. They will keep doing this until the enemy missiles reach a minimum distance and they will dive and turn away with chaff. This breaks the radar link but you’re hoping the missiles are close enough to acquire targets on their own. So the side that sees the other one first and launches first, even by a few seconds gains a massive advantage. That’s what stealth tech is about.

Now that said, there is a Euro stealth fighter in the works, but it’s not expected until 2040.

to add in, european scientists often move to US for more income, i see the reverse happening down the line, fleeing back to thier countries. the only reason why us tech is ahead because scientists from other countries are moving here.

Part 4: USA falls apart

Part 5: China profits

Yes, he’ll set the Reichstag Capitol on fire and go from there.

I’ve been wondering where the US Tiananmen Square is going to be.

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Guess what. War is gonna happen regardless. Except now the Ukrainians are going to have a harder time fighting back, while the russians start their pogroms.

We can blame the people who voted for hillary clinton in the 2016 primary for why we have 2 trump presidencies.

We can blame the people who voted for Biden in the 2020 primary for why we essentially have 12 years of trump.

Democrats have shown repeatedly they’d rather have trump over someone who tries to reduce the disparity in wealth, so that’s what we get.

Now they can all order doordash from their quarter-of-a-million-dollars suburban homes while complaining they don’t have enough money. (and get mad at anyone who criticizes them for it)

And then finally we will build a memorial building in their honor? One where all their carcasses are placed in a viewing chamber protected by glass at the basement of the building where as the first floor and subsequent other floors are all subdivided in public toilets and urinals. You stop there waiting for a bus, but you need to go. So you get into urinal #275. You do your business, then you either flush or you pay $0.50. Then you go to the basemen if you paid. There you press in your urinal number to watch a beautiful yellow fountain splash on their graves. Putin will land there first. Then after every nazi will end up in there. All profit goes the LGBTQ+A community. Anyhoo, I’m not the first to propose this instead of a library. We could have an LGBTQ+A library on the 2nd floor?