On Friday, the little known but already controversial new House Speaker, Mike Johnson, urged President Biden not to lump together his proposed aid allotments for Israel and Ukraine, but rather to bifurcate the two by creating a stand-alone bill in favor of Israel, while essentially leaving Ukraine — albeit temporarily — dangling in the wind. His rationale? First, to remove aid to Ukraine from the continuing resolution that was passed at the end of September to keep the U.S. government running, since Congress seems incapable of doing that in any normal fashion; and additionally, to give consideration to a reduction in the amount of aid to Ukraine in order to “make sure that the White house is providing the people with some accountability for the dollars.” He did say that he “still supports the Ukrainian war effort versus Russia,” but added that “the House should focus on limiting spending.” [The Hill, Oct. 27, 2023.] I saw no mention of a stand-alone bill in favor of Ukraine.

So, if Mr. Johnson has his way, and if I understand him correctly, it appears that Ukraine will essentially be placed on the back burner for an unspecified amount of time. Aside from the obviously calamitous effect on the Ukrainian people, what does this say to our NATO allies — who have also been making enormous contributions to the defense of Ukraine against Putin’s war machine — as to what their continuing obligations should be? And what does it say to the entire world about America’s reliability in terms of its commitments to its allies?

But that’s not all. Because on the same day, in Telegraph’s podcast, “Ukraine: The Latest,” it was reported that:

“Yesterday [October 26, 2023], Russian officials met with Hamas, who praised them for taking an active role in the war [with Israel] and released several pictures of the meeting [in Moscow] between Russian officials, Hamas and Iran’s deputy foreign minister.” And further:

“Some [Western-leaning nations] . . . have asked whether it shows Russia is forming an axis of terror with Hamas, mediated by Iran, which already of course supplies Moscow with drones for its war in Ukraine.”

What more do we need? Pictures? Well, here you go . . .

Don’t they look like three old poker buddies, retired businessmen, some lucky children’s doting grandfathers? Yet here they are, plotting the fate of the Middle East and, for starters, Eastern Europe. And make no mistake . . . that is precisely what they are doing: First we wipe Israel off the map, and bring Ukraine back within Russia’s borders. Then we’ll let the world know what we’ve got lined up next. And behind it all, the man in the Kremlin. Else, why were they brought together in Moscow?

But oh, no-o-o, Mr. Speaker . . . there’s no need to give Israel and Ukraine equal consideration. Well, perhaps that’s true in your parallel universe, but in the real world — the one in which the rest of us live — the truth is something entirely different. And we need a government that understands that. Perhaps we could start by “bifurcating” a few members of Congress from their jobs in the coming election.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
10/30/23