Many readers have written to me, asking, “I don’t get it, why the big deal over Ukraine?”
This is a great question. It’s simple.
The Ukraine is not an objective force. Its current president is a comedian (literally) who got into politics because no politician had any nationwide support. (Now, with a 23 percent approval rating, neither does he.) His film producer and other entertainment business partners have top positions in his government. It’s a literal clown show.
But it doesn’t matter who leads the Ukraine. Since 2014, the Ukraine is merely a tool against Russia. No one elected in the Ukraine would ever be “allowed”, could ever afford to make peace with Russia. This country—in which most politicians speak Russian amongst themselves, only switching to Ukrainian for the cameras—exists now, only to be the un-Russia. That’s the reason it gets IMF loans and other foreign aid to stay afloat. If Russia disappeared today, the Ukraine would be forgotten the next day, like Iraq’s Kurds or… Afghanistan.
That’s all you need to know about the Ukraine.
“They” are not going to just give up their tool, openly, just like that. Why?
Because, after Afghanistan, if they “cut and run” again (they already have, but they’re keeping up appearances), no one’s going to take them seriously, and the whole “Empire” thing comes down. It all just comes down, and they know it.
(By “Empire”, I mean U.S. political/military hegemony as justified, maintained, and promoted by the nexus of foreign policy career leadership in the Departments of State and Defense, the military-industrial complex and its lobbyists, and various thinktanks—e.g. Heritage, Brookings—and nonprofits—e.g., National Democratic Institute—funded at least in part by either Congress, State/Defense, and/or military contractors or their industry groups.)
For one, NATO would fall apart, perhaps not in form but certainly in function. (Countries such as Slovakia, Romania, Greece, Italy, perhaps even Poland would change their tune on Russia—and start making their own deals with it—with a quickness.) For two, we all know China’s next at bat.
Now, at the worst possible time, with the U.S. on a razor’s edge between inflationary explosion and forced depression… With oil (still the foundation for everything) set to rise to $150-plus per barrel ($5.50-plus per gallon)… With a looming diesel shortage (we’re buying more than ever from Russia, by the way)… And a global fertilizer shortage and soy crop failures in South America… And the prospect of a raw materials “drought”, i.e. shortages of basic “stuff”, up to and including microchip ingredients (so much of this comes from Russia)….
Now, at this time…
They are looking to pull the “sanctions war” trigger and bring it all down, just to make a (losing) point over the Ukraine.
Why? Don’t they know what they’re doing?
They know.
That they understand it very well, has been covered by the MSM. Uncle Sam even wrote a “shortages warning, in case of war” letter to the electronics industry.
So, why are they still dead-set on bringing it all down, when (if the balloon goes up) the Ukraine is lost anyway?
Because, when they are given a choice between you and the Empire’s ego, turf, and career and financial interests, well… it’s not even a contest.
I don’t know if it will be Trump or someone else in 2024. What I can tell you for sure is, next time, just like last time, it can be “MAGA” and “America First”, or it can be Empire.
It simply can’t be both.
Next time, one of the two (MAGA or Empire) will get lined up against the wall and shot.
Next time, there can be (there will be) no accommodation whatsoever.
Next time, if it’s Trump, he can’t let his generals lead him by the nose, keep him in the dark as to how many soldiers we have or don’t have in Syria… All that nonsense he put up with, to keep Lindsay Graham and McConnell (bless them all) and the Washington Post from eating him alive over his intended foreign policy. (I understand, it was hard, he was besieged on all sides.)
Next time, he needs to go on offense, tear out the wires and shut it all down. Bring all our “boys” home, get out of Germany, get the hell out of Korea and Japan. Break the power. It can’t be physically done overnight, but it can be done.
I know it seems like this will never happen, it’s unrealistic, Congress will vote against it with veto-proof majorities, they will never fund a return home…
But, keep in mind, we seem to be entering a certain phase in our “economic development” that can turn our politics upside-down. If/when a loaf of the cheapest white Wonder Bread costs four dollars fifty, anything can happen. It will be a different country.
It will get bad enough regardless, but the Ukraine situation—if the balloon goes up, and I believe it will—stands to make it much, much worse. It is the fulcrum. If it goes down—and they respond like they’ve promised to—it will push us over the edge, hard.
Any pundit, any journalist who has written on the Ukraine and hasn’t told you what it’s really about, who hasn’t admitted it, or doesn’t realize it—you shouldn’t even be reading them. They are not answering the question in my very first sentence, above.
