JOE'S 'FOREIGN POLICY' IS ENTIRELY PREDICATED ON WHERE THE MONEY'S COMING FROM AND HOW LONG IT TAKES TO HIT ONE OF THE BIDEN'S 22 LLCs.
White House: More Ukraine Money Not Necessary Now, Probably Later
At the appropriate time, the Joe Biden administration expects Congress to give Ukraine more taxpayer funds than the already allotted $113 billion.
After House Speaker Kevin McCarthy promised a Senate package to provide additional supplemental aid to Ukraine is not “going anywhere” in the House, John Kirby, National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, told reporters he “fully” expects Congress to provide more taxpayer funds in the future.
“Are the speakers’ comment’s consistent with what you guys [White House] kind of understood out of the deal that was brokered last week?” a reporter asked Kirby.
“We have every expectation that that’s going to continue,” he responded during the White House press briefing. “We’ve got enough funds, as I said earlier, to help support Ukraine on the battlefield throughout the rest of this fiscal year.”
Before the Republicans retook the House in November, Congress earmarked $113 billion of taxpayer money to defend Ukraine’s eastern border.
“We are grateful for the supplemental funding for this fiscal year. Terrific support on Capitol Hill. Again, both chambers. Both parties. And we fully expect for that to continue,” Kirby said.
“We are just not at a decision point to talk about the need for additional funding,” he added. “Now is not the appropriate time to have that conversation with them [Congress].”
Relevant comments start at 12:27:
The White House’s expectation that taxpayers should defend Ukraine’s eastern border comes as McCarthy told Punchbowl News that any extra aid for Ukraine would have to originate from the annual appropriations process as part of the Pentagon’s $866 billion in discretionary spending. Both Democrats and Republicans agreed to that process in the debt ceiling deal.
“I’m not going to pre-judge what some of them [in the Senate] do, but if they think they’re writing a supplemental because they want to go around an agreement we just made, it’s not going anywhere,” McCarthy said.
If lawmakers work to approve more taxpayer dollars for Ukraine, they must work through the appropriation process, a procedure of which the White House appears confident will benefit Ukraine — all while the United States is over $31 trillion in debt.
“You first have to show, what do you need money for? We’ve got an approps process. We’re just going to work through an approps process. They’re not going to circumvent what we’re doing here,” he said.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.
The Decline and Fall of the American Empire
A cursory examination of history reveals that the United States is mired in the same process that precipitated the collapse of the great empires of the past. The foibles and failures of human nature and their impact on the rise and fall of empires is amazingly consistent and the end result always inevitable. Can this nation avoid a similar fate?
Empires are defined as great military and economic powers encompassing large occupied or controlled land areas. Although they vary greatly, they average around 250 years in duration. The United States will be celebrating its 250th anniversary in 2026.
In 1976, Sir John Glubb, a distinguished British diplomat and general, wrote an essay on the fate of empires throughout history. He enumerated, based on 3,000 years of historical data, the six various stages in the rise and fall of empires.
These stages and how they apply to the United States are as follows:
- The Age of Pioneers (The Revolutionary War and the founding of the Nation)
- The Age of Conquests (The Western Expansion to the Pacific Ocean)
- The Age of Commerce (Industrialization and evolution of a dominant middle class)
- The Age of Affluence (The meteoric rise of the standard of living in the 20th Century)
- The Age of Intellect (Global domination in the arts, medicine and technology)
- The Age of Decadence (For 30+ years America has been increasingly mired in this age )
The Age of Decadence is marked by debauchery, defensiveness, pessimism, materialism, a significant weakening of religion, frivolity, a welfare state, and a massive influx of unassimilated foreigners. These symptoms of national decadence are the end product of long periods of prosperity and power, love of wealth and status, and self-obsession by the ruling elites leading to fateful government corruption and instability.
Sir John Glubb is definitive in stating that in all ancient and modern fallen empires, “there does not appear to be any doubt that money is the agent which causes the decline of strong, brave and self-confident people.”
An examination of various empires from the Persian Empire to the Roman Empire to the British Empire confirms Glubb’s hypothesis that pursuit and accumulation of money or wealth is the portal through which power over the masses is achieved. The amassing of wealth and thus power evolves into a quasi-religion that over time triggers the descent into the age of decadence and corruption that inevitably leads to the collapse and conquering of empires by their external enemies.
In the early stage of the age of decadence, materialism becomes a driving force in society, inducing many in the upper classes to indulge in excessive, often conspicuous consumption as an absurdly wealthy elite emerges. Far too many societal elites and non-elites become convinced that increased consumption and social status is the key to happiness, but in its pursuit they become demonstrably more pessimistic and less happy and fulfilled.
The search for happiness and fulfillment leads to imprudence and voyeurism becoming central to the culture. Unhappy people searching for diversion became fixated on celebrities and captive to evolving voyeurism. And voyeurism takes on a more sinister aspect as people in both ancient and modern empires become increasingly desensitized to graphic images and willing spectators or participants in violence and debauchery.
Debauchery is an oft-recurring theme in the demise of empires. Societies develop an abnormally immature obsession with sex. An obsession that requires increasing deviancy to satiate coupled with concurrent abuse of children and the marginalization and exploitation of women. Meanwhile, the use of drugs and alcohol expands exponentially. Debauchery is a symptom of the absence of meaning in people’s lives leading to the self-destruction of society and concomitantly a loss of a sense of duty and patriotism.
Other symptoms common among many empires in the last stages of decline include:
- Massive and growing disparities between rich and poor and an undisciplined and over-extended military.
- An intensification of internal political hatreds and a corresponding inability to reconcile in order to save the empire.
- An ever increasing level of self-serving corruption and patronage among the ruling class.
- A massive influx of unassimilated foreigners whose allegiance and cultural ties are with their native lands and not the host nation and who do not feel obligated to defend the empire.
- Severe financial and economic crises linked to the unending debasement of the currency.
- An ongoing and irreversible decline in monotheistic religions that emphasize self-sacrifice, temperance, a sense of duty as well as honor and integrity.
Additionally, while the decline of empires is precipitated by internal factors, the final collapse is marked by defeat at the hands of powerful external enemies. The United States is presently facing an implacable and powerful external enemy, Communist China. A foe this nation’s elites, in their self-indulgent pursuit of wealth, essentially created by willfully intertwining the American economy with a ruthless and dictatorial communist regime.
Unfortunately, the vast bulk of the American citizenry is not aware of the historically precarious situation this nation finds itself. Nor are they aware that the policies and actions of the Marxist controlled Democrat party over the past 20 years is a window into what will happen to this nation if they continue in power. Another four to eight years of Democrat Party rule will permanently embed:
- Unchecked corruption in government and America’s corporations and institutions.
- The ongoing debasement of the currency, uncontrolled spending and economic instability,
- The continued massive influx of unassimilated foreigners,
- The intensification of political animosity and the persecution of any political opposition,
- An undisciplined, ideologically driven and feckless military incapable of confronting China,
- Drug-addled and crime-ridden dystopias in America’s major urban and suburban areas,
- Continued and accelerated mainstreaming of decadence and sexual debauchery
As the last three years have amply proven, decadence and sexual debauchery will continue apace. All forms of deviancy, including but not limited to pedophilia, will be forcefully mainstreamed. Religious liberties will be denigrated and curtailed. Infanticide and state-sponsored euthanasia will be legalized. Materialism and voyeurism will become the new state religion. And virtually all drugs will be legalized and easily available.
As the United States descends into insolvency, societal chaos and upheaval, Communist China, with which the Democrat party is intertwined, will actively abet and promote the dissolution of this country as it will be waiting vulture-like to feast on the carcass.
The inevitable can perhaps be mitigated if a significant majority of the populace acknowledges the current plight of the nation and initiates a return to the nation’s founding Judeo-Christian principles. Additionally, it is imperative that either Donald Trump or Ron DeSantis wins in November of 2024 and for a populist Republican Party to control both the presidency and Congress for a minimum of two presidential terms.
Republican primary voters must also acknowledge reality and not be captive to cultlike sycophancy for either Trump or DeSantis. They need to ask themselves: who can win against a corrupt and devious Democrat party reliant on voter fraud and manipulation in the battleground states of Georgia, Arizona, Wisconsin, Nevada and Pennsylvania? Who has the coattails to assure the capture of both Houses of Congress? And can that person can either serve a second term or make certain another Republican will win in 2028?
It is not hyperbole to say the upcoming election cycle is the most determinative in American history. If the Republicans fail to win the presidency and Congress in 2024, this nation will have passed the point of no return and a new chapter in the annals of the decline and fall of great nations will be written.
Graphic credit: AcornTV screengrab
Thousands of Chinese spy balloons are hovering over American universities
By George Fishman
Washington Examiner,
Excerpt: With Biden taking focused law enforcement off the table, we need at least to consider barring the entry of all students from the PRC, or at least those studying in STEM and other fields with military applications. While not every such student will engage in espionage while on our campuses, a sufficiently large number will that a blanket ban may be the only effective option.
Ingraham: Everything is ‘falling’ under Biden
Schweizer said, “Biden’s lawyer claims that his client did resign, and has produced a document from Hunter’s China-based company saying as much. Maybe. But Hunter’s attorney did not address the more important problem – the fact that Hunter still owns a piece of the Chinese company, called BHR.”
“[BHR] is an investment vehicle, financed by the government of China, which has conducted at least two-point-five billion dollars worth of deals,” added Schweizer, “and Hunter Biden has a ten percent equity piece of that.”
There’s more evidence that Hunter might have been selling state secrets
Late last night, Miranda Devine wrote an essay that’s ostensibly about a poll showing that Americans think that Biden was wrong to brush off the news about his squirreling classified documents as “nothing.” In fact, most Americans, including Democrats, think what happened is “something.” But buried in Devine’s article was well-grounded speculation more interesting than poll results: She believes there’s inferential evidence that Hunter Biden was openly selling national security information to foreign governments and corporations.
Devine opens her article, “Majority of voters, including Democrats, believe Biden’s mishandling of classified documents is a scandal,” by discussing a Rasmussen poll asking voters whether they believe that the way in which Biden handled classified documents is a “scandal.” As you may recall, Biden’s only take on the increasing number of classified document finds was that “there’s no there there” and that “there’s nothing there.”
Au contraire said the voters that Rasmussen polled. Those poll results show that 72% of voters, including 55% of Democrat voters, think that Biden’s conduct constitutes a “scandal.” Indeed, 48% believe that it’s a “major scandal.”
Hunter Biden turns out to be part of what voters consider so scandalous. Of those polled, 60% believe that Hunter used classified documents in his business deals.
Image: Hunter Biden. YouTube screen grab.
So, did he? It’s entirely possible that Hunter did indeed borrow information from Daddy to get money from foreign businesses.
Devine has already speculated, based on her intimate knowledge of Hunter’s laptop, that one of Hunter’s emails is so unlike his usual style—polished, comprehensive, and informed versus semi-literate and with minimal information—that it’s probable he copied it right off a classified briefing. What I can throw into the mix is that the language from that particular email, when run through Grammarly’s plagiarism checker, does not return any other document on the internet, suggesting that Hunter was copying a document that never saw the light of day.
It turns out, though, that you don’t just need to speculate about Hunter’s sudden high-level research and linguistic skills to be suspicious. Hunter was openly offering foreign oligarchs information that promised was unavailable elsewhere. Writes Devine:
The classified files Hur is investigating cover Biden’s vice presidential years, when Hunter and his uncle Jim Biden were actively monetizing the family name overseas. Some documents reportedly date back to the president’s time in the Senate.
[snip]
For instance, documents on the laptop from 2011 show that Hunter offered to sell intelligence on Russian oligarchs to the US aluminum firm Alcoa Inc. for $55,000.
In internal discussions over Hunter’s proposal, a senior executive at Alcoa suggested the information was valuable because it “would not otherwise be on Government Affairs team’s radar.”
As I previously reported, Hunter offered to “provide Alcoa with statistical analysis of political and corporate risks, elite networks associated with Oleg Deripaska (OD), Russian CEO of Basic Element company and United company RUSAL.”
Alcoa had just signed a metal supply agreement with RUSAL.
Hunter promised to provide a “list of elites of similar rank in Russia, map of OD’s [Deripaska’s] networks based on frequency of interaction with selected elites and countries.”
Devine has even more information about pricy offers Hunter was making to Russian oligarchs, promising to give them “raw data” from an “elite mapping procedure.” As Devine says, “How Hunter, 52, a raging drug addict with a voracious appetite for cash during much of his father’s vice presidency, got access to classified information is a matter of national concern.”
It’s not necessarily beneficial if Biden gets impeached because that allows Democrats to put their chosen 2024 candidate in the White House, first as Kamala’s Veep and then, when she’s driven out, as President. There is a real incumbent advantage. With the media rhapsodizing about the chosen one, there’s a strong likelihood that a credulous public, with help from a gamed election, will keep that Democrat in the White House. Better a lame duck Biden than an ascendent Michelle or Gavin Newsom.
Ultimately, though, assuming a clean 2024 election, it would be a wonderful thing if Biden and his son Hunter were definitively proven (at an honestly conducted trial, of course) to have engaged in criminal conduct and were then sent for a long stay in one of the less nice federal prisons.
Biden Diplomats Travel to Beijing To 'Thaw Relations' as CCP Cracks Down on Tiananmen Anniversary Protests
WASHINGTON/BEIJING (Reuters) — A senior U.S. State Department official arrived in Beijing on Sunday with meetings planned for the coming week as Washington seeks to boost communication with China at a time of tense relations between the two countries.
Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink will discuss "key issues in the bilateral relationship" during his visit to China, the State Department said in a statement on Saturday.
He will be joined by the White House National Security Council's senior director for China and Taiwan affairs, Sarah Beran, the statement said.
The officials arrived on the anniversary of China's 1989 massacre of pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square. One day earlier, protesters in Hong Kong took to the streets in commemoration of the massacre, with the government arresting 32 people, the Associated Press reported. The trip is part of the Biden administration's "attempt to thaw relations" with China, CBS reported.
Ties between the world's two largest economies are strained over issues ranging from Taiwan and China's human rights record to military activity in the South China Sea.
During his travels through June 10, Kritenbrink will also visit New Zealand to participate in the U.S.-New Zealand Strategic Dialogue, the department said.
Kritenbrink's official meetings will begin on Monday, a State Department spokesperson said.
While in Beijing, Kritenbrink will raise human rights in his meetings as always, and continue to advocate for people's fundamental freedoms in China, the spokesperson said.
The U.S. embassy in Beijing did not immediately respond to a request for further details on Kritenbrink's itinerary.
Kritenbrink's arrival coincides with the anniversary of the 1989 crackdown by Chinese troops on demonstrators in and around Beijing's Tiananmen Square that rights groups say killed hundreds, if not thousands, of protesters.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued a statement on Saturday marking the anniversary of the crackdown, saying, "The victims' bravery will not be forgotten and continues to inspire advocates for these principles around the world."
Discussion of the Tiananmen Square crackdown is taboo in China and heavily censored on social media.
Kritenbrink's trip follows a visit last month to China by CIA director William Burns. A U.S. official said Burns had "emphasized the importance of maintaining open lines of communication in intelligence channels" in meetings with his Chinese counterparts.
In contrast, U.S. defense secretary Lloyd Austin rebuked China on Saturday for refusing to hold military talks.
Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Asia's top security summit, Austin said Beijing's reluctance to talk undermined efforts to maintain peace in a region where the two rivals are increasing their military firepower.
Blinken postponed a planned February trip to China after an alleged Chinese spy balloon flew through U.S. airspace over sensitive military sites, kicking off a diplomatic crisis.
But the White House has said further efforts were being made to facilitate visits by Blinken, as well as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.
(Reporting by Eric Beech; Additional reporting by Michael Martina and Laurie Chen; Editing by Cynthia Osterman, Don Durfee, and William Mallard.)
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