Underworld comments

Blacklabel

farms in some red states who relied on selling their crops to USAID have now lost their source of income.

this was clearly exempted from the USAID cuts.

Marco Rubio scrambled to reverse food aid on Jan. 24, and now a judge has ordered a lift to the freeze.

The whole USAID affair is rushed, had no plan, illegal and didn't involve Congress.

JD Vance is a hypocrite. He warns against censorship yet the Trump/Vance administration are leading censors of government information that they don't like.

Also, why no mention of Ukraine? Half the people listening were waiting for an update on Ukraine.

Vance didn't condemn Putin, didn't mention Ukraine, and was hypocritical.

Hardly worth listening to.

CS

Anger, chaos and confusion in U.S. take hold as federal workers face mass layoffs

UMM Sorry to burst the bubble but anger and chaos are only happening on the side that lost the election.

Nope. Many of these people voted Trump and he betrayed them...

bass4funk

And Russia is such a great ally?

No one said that they’re an ally, they are an adversary with the largest nuke supply in the world, it would help to have a mutual understanding coexistence with them.

Sure. And we should condemn Putin and Russia and make them a pariah.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance accused European leaders on Friday of censoring free speech

He also has the gall to call out censorship when his own government are taking down websites that give information that the administration don't like.

and failing to control immigration,

Maybe they like immigration. Ever consider that?

drawing a sharp rebuke from Germany's defense minister and overshadowing discussions on the war in Ukraine.

Yup. JD Vance is a traitor to NATO & Ukraine, and is clueless about foreign policy.

JJE

Important to be clear - this is decent criticism of the EU political class, and not criticism of the decent European citizens, of all nations, who happened to be mismanaged by the above bureaucratic class.

So the US, then.

JJE

Fair guess is Trump is just saying they will have a seat at the table for show.

If Zelenskyy isn't there, there is no peace.

He and his team have already hinted at the huge legitimacy problem walking around in Kyiv - Putin won't sign anything worthless and one suspects nor would Washington.

There is no legitimacy problem. In any case, Putin is an illegitimate president, being in office over the maximum number of terms.

The_Beagle

Trump will get everything he wants. Putin will get most of what he wants. Zelensky will do as he is told.

In which you don't get peace.

Blacklabel

Both of these judges have been found to be biased with conflicts of interest. What is it with liberal judges and how their daughters make money?

No, they don't. Their daughters jobs are irrelevant.

But if you are worried about conflicts of interest, Musk is a walking conflict of interest.

iknowall

Well Russia attacked Ukraine while Trump was president in the Kerch Strait incident and Trump buckled with weakness, so it's reasonable to assume that Putin would have invaded Ukraine if Trump was president in 2022.

Kerch Strait incident? And Ukraine attacked Russian ships--in Russia's territory?

It was an unprovoked act of aggression.

What was Trump supposed to do, after all Russia had already annexed Crimea. And Ukraine was not a part of NATO. And Russia was acting in justified self-defense.

Russia wan't acting in self defense. It was an act of aggression and a strong President would have called Russia out over it. Ukraine are an ally, even if they aren't in NATO. Weak Trump said nothing.

And it's not just me calling Trump weak over it:

https://www.gmfus.org/news/time-trump-stand-putin-after-sea-azov-attack

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/11/26/europe/russia-trump-analysis-hodge-intl/index.html

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/nov/27/russia-ukraine-kerch-strait-incident-tests-trump-u/

And then no invasion by Russia of Ukraine during Trump's first term in office. Until Biden was president.

Except for this Kerch Strait incident.

Talk about Putin taking advantage of major weakness on the part of Democrat leaders.

What? The Kerch Strait incident showed Trump acting weakly to Putin. When Putin invaded Ukraine, Biden reacted strongly and pulled NATO together.

I do, however admit, that Biden should have given more and faster to Ukraine.

bass4funk

Yup, Arizona congressman Eli Crane is a loser

That is not what I said, don’t distort my words, don’t be dishonest. I was very clear and was talking about the judge.

I didn't say it was what you said.

But you distorted my words, so I had the need to clarify.

JJE

The concept of sending huge bodies of western troops to Ukraine, all under the fraudulent assumption that Russia is angling for a ceasefire, was wishful thinking.

Russia has broken every other agreement, you can be sure that he will break any agreement that he signs.

It's pretty much guaranteed.

The entire raison d'etre of the war was based on keeping NATO away from these very steppes.

No it isn't. Putin didn't invade Ukraine in 2022 because he feared NATO. He invaded because he believed that NATO was weak, that his efforts to regain control of Ukraine by other means had failed, and that installing a pro-Russian government in Kyiv would be safe and easy. His aim was not to defend Russia against some non-existent threat but rather to expand Russia's power, eradicate Ukraine's statehood, and destroy NATO, goals he still pursues.

Yet Russia is going to sign a ceasefire that permits a massive NATO coalition in?!!

He'll have to, if he wants peace.

The whole idea is absurd. It just further cements this simple fact: in reality, Russia would never brook such deals, and so the war will continue on to its most logical conclusions or until someone with common sense arrives at that understanding.

And yet Putin said he is fine with Finland, with hundreds of miles of border with Russia, joining NATO.

PresidentVance

Hegseth is an idiot 

There is no need for such insults on Japan Today. We are talking about a U.S. Defense Secretary.

Have you seen his bio? Just reporting facts.

iknowall

This war never would have started if Trump had been in president. In fact, Russia never started any war with Ukraine while Trump was president.

Well Russia attacked Ukraine while Trump was president in the Kerch Strait incident and Trump buckled with weakness, so it's reasonable to assume that Putin would have invaded Ukraine if Trump was president in 2022.

bass4funk

What a loser.

Well, that’s why I said what I said.

Yup, Arizona congressman Eli Crane is a loser.

bass4funk

You may have declared peace with russia but Putin has not.

it’s pushed Russia to China, you can handle Russia

Well China is what is stopping Putin using nuclear weapons in Ukraine, so I say this is a good thing.

The problem with the left is, they focus too much on pride, pride can get you killed, think long game here. So yes, I think they should be allowed back in to the G7.

Nothing to do with pride - we don't reward terrorism. As soon as we give up to terrorists they walk all over you.

Two federal judges will consider on Friday whether Elon Musk's government cost-cutting team known as DOGE will have access to Treasury Department payment systems and potentially sensitive data at U.S. health, consumer protection and labor agencies.

Yeah, keep the unelected South African out of the US's Treasury systems. He has no right to see that data and / or access those systems.

If you want to audit US government spending, payment systems are useless. They pay what Congress has voted to spend. Altering what is being paid is highly illegal.

Congress controls the budget. Not Trump. And certainly not Musk.

bass4funk

Arizona congressman Eli Crane announced that he’s filing articles of impeachment against Manhattan-based Judge Paul A. Engelmayer (a Obama appointed judge) for blocking Elon Musk and DOGE from accessing Treasury Department payment systems.

What a loser.

TaiwanIsNotChina

Well there you have it: Trump repeating the directives from Moscow. Europe will have to go its own way.

Trump is such an easy Mark. Putin just needs to pander to his ego and bingo he has control of him.

"I'd love to have them back. I think it was a mistake to throw them out. Look, it's not a question of liking Russia or not liking Russia. It was the G8," Trump said at the White House when he announced new U.S. reciprocal tariffs.

Nope. Not until they return all of Ukraine, including Crimea to Ukraine will they be a member of the G8.

In any case Putin has run his economy into the ground with the war in Ukraine. It's not a great country anymore.

JJE

No one takes the Kyiv regime seriously, not in the Kremlin or on the other side of the puddle.

Which is why Putin made the mistake that his “Special Military Operation” would be over in a week.

He should have taken the Kyiv regime more seriously.

And he should now, as well.

bass4funk

That's right. When Obama fired all the Bush holdovers, and Biden did the same, same outcry? Nope.

Neither Obama nor Biden mass fired IGs.

Capricciosa

KnightsOfCydoniaToday ,One point must be held to and that is Ukraine joins the European Union. 

I think Kremlin said somewhere before that eventual EU membership would be acceptable but NATO -no way. Guess EU is negotiable for them.

It was the people of Ukraine wanting to join the EU that started Maidan ending in Putin annexing Crimea and starting the civil war in the Donbas. Putin’s original invasion was all about the EU!

Sure, but it takes Crimea off the table. Without saying it, Russia would have to negotiate including Ukraine demands for Crimea as a starting point."

How could one seriously expect Crimea to be "on the table" in the first place? The population is overwhelmingly ethnically and politically pro-Russian. Zelenskyy has no cards. It was always a non-starter.

Because legally it’s still part of Ukraine and Ukrainians consider it Ukrainian. Now they may not be able to get it back straight away, but that doesn’t mean they need to relinquish sovereignty.

**Capricciosa**.

Indeed. And warmonger Putin is trying to fool you that he was forced to invade."

Warmonger Biden administration tried to fool the western public that Putin invaded without a reason out o the blue. They succeeded to a large extent as evident here.

Putin did have a reason and it’s imperialism.

Putin didn't invade Ukraine in 2022 because he feared NATO. He invaded because he believed that NATO was weak, that his efforts to regain control of Ukraine by other means had failed, and that installing a pro-Russian government in Kyiv would be safe and easy. His aim was not to defend Russia against some non-existent threat but rather to expand Russia's power, eradicate Ukraine's statehood, and destroy NATO, goals he still pursues.

iknowall

Trump is getting rid of useless government officials;

They aren’t useless, they’re watchdogs. They protect Americans rights.

And he has to explain himself about why he’s firing them.

Capricciosa

Well, he invaded a country, unprovoked.

That is a very simplistic western media narrative.

How so? We all saw the tanks rolling into Ukraine in February, 2022.

bass4funk

Well, he can try to fight it, but the President has the absolute right to terminate anyone from the previous administration. 

He can, but he has to explain to Congress exactly why he is firing them and he has to give 30 days notice.

He has done neither.

Blacklabel

Putin to the negotiating table? 

check!

He’s not there yet…

Blacklabel

Getting ridiculous by now.

President can obviously fire people without a judge agreeing,

He can. But he has to follow the law.

Come to think of it, DOGE isn’t even a proper government department.