Trump and Vance and Russia and Ukraine

The Republican ticket is set and honestly, it isn’t ideal for the country or for conservative governing philosophy.  I have made clear before my disdain for Trump’s personality and character.  The policies he generally pushes I tend to view favorably, but his personality defects, primarily the egotism and the failure to actually learn about issues in detail and understand options, meant that his first administration was pretty much worthless in terms of advancing conservative priorities.  The epidemic makes it difficult to get a full analysis of the results of that administration.  My fear is that Trump, as compared to a DeSantis or a Burghum for example, doesn’t know how to get things done in a legislature and isn’t inclined or doesn’t know how to hire people who do have that skill.  We may be fortunate enough to have a fully Republican-controlled federal government, at least for two years, and we can’t waste that opportunity.  Trump almost certainly will fritter it away as he did the first time around.  Maybe he has learned, maybe he has better team this time, but I am dubious.

Vance is unqualified to be Vice-President.  He has a great personal story, he is obviously intelligent, and some of his policy positions I completely agree with.  But he has no real government experience and has shown no ability to work with other legislators to get important laws passed.  He may be a work in process and maybe he will turn out to be an asset in getting things done.  But right now, there are far superior choices who would be much more prepared to step in as President if necessary.  And his foreign policy views are incoherent.  Strong support for Israel, no support for Ukraine.  Smash Iran, who cares about some other countries.  The real reason he was selected is because of all the serious contenders he is the biggest Trump bobo, the one most firmly attached lips to ass.  I want to be clear, I don’t dislike Vance, I actually think he has much more potential than Trump, but he isn’t prepared to be VP and he by far is not the best possible choice.  Notwithstanding my concerns about the ticket, I will do everything I can to see them elected, because I genuinely believe, without exaggeration, that the country cannot withstand four more years of Bidementia, or more accurately, the pro(re)gressive lunatics actually running the country.

Both Trump and Vance appear to completely under-estimate the danger Putin and Russia pose to the world and to our country.  Putin the Destroyer, because all he does is wreck things, has created or build nothing good for the people of Russia, and is a truly evil human being.  And his Russia is merely an extension of his ego.  He imagines himself to be a new Tsar and that means rebuilding the Russian empire, the USSR.  Ukraine isn’t the first example of his territorial ambitions.  He employs a vast intelligence complex to undermine the United States and its allies.  He spends billions stoking division and funding the whackos in this country, and has literally ordered the murders of those in Russia and other countries whom he views as enemies.   He has no desire to be a friend to the US or to have good relations with us–he sees us as the mortal enemy to his worldview.

Trump you suspect gets along with Putin because he admires him in part and is taken in by him.  Trump is used to dealing with sleazy people in his business and overlooking their flaws and he undoubtedly is impressed by the strongman character types.  Trump also overestimates his ability to manipulate or influence Putin.  Putin can’t be manipulated or influenced; he will understand only one thing–overwhelming force used to defeat everything he tries to do.  History taught us this long, long ago and I fail to understand why we have to keep relearning that lesson.  You either deal harshly with these meglomaniac, brutal totalitarians or you pay a huge price.  And anyone who things ignoring what Putin does because it doesn’t affect us is delusional and not paying attention to what he is doing inside our country right now.

I don’t know what Vance’s excuse for treating Putin as not a problem is, and maybe he is more aware of the issue than he lets on.  But Vance shows little willingness or ability to not just follow Trump’s lead.  And on Ukraine, more so than Trump, Vance has shown moral midgetry.  What kind of world does he think this will be if we don’t do everything we can to oppose the brutal slaughter of a people and destruction of a nation?  He truly thinks we should just standby and watch this occur?  If so, I would never, ever support Vance.  Those statements betoken a complete lack of empathy and understanding of human responsibility.

And it is dumb policy.  Very cynically, there is nothing that is hurting Russia more than being bogged down in a war they can’t win.  On the cheap, relatively speaking, we are destroying their military capability, learning about the strengths and weaknesses of their various weapon systems, learning about the warfare of the future with drones and AI and other advances, and ruining their economy.  Don’t for one second believe any nonsense you read about oil revenue, etc.  They are hurting badly, not least because several million of their best young workers left the country and hundreds of thousands have been killed or wounded in Ukraine.  The ruble is worthless.  China owns the country now and I predict will take Siberia within the next decade.  Russia has limited capability to engage in military adventurism in other countries now, and the more this drags out, the more they will have to pull resources from other parts of the world.  So while what is happening to Ukraine and its people is tragic, beyond tragic; we would be foolish not to arm that country to the teeth with every possible weapon and encourage them to do everything they can to continue to degrade Russia’s military capacity.  If Vance doesn’t see that, he is not nearly as smart as I think he is.

So while I am hopeful that Republicans can recapture the federal government this year and undertake the massive job of reconstructing it to actually serve the people of this country, I have serious misgivings about those leading the party in that effort.  I am first and foremost a believer in a free-market economy and in individual liberty.  I want a country that promotes those values at every turn and that facilitates citizens controlling their lives and having the opportunity to maximize the quality of those lives.  We desperately need an implement of those values into government.  I just don’t know that Trump and Vance will accomplish it.