The conversation ran off while I responded to the original comment, I have no desire to mingle in an ongoing discussion…

Besides that, I can not speak of things that can no longer happen, Harris is out, Biden is out. Nor do I know what Trump’s successor will do.

Why something did not happen under Biden is not relevant, Biden did not promise to stop the war day 1, he did not proclaim himself the great deal maker and ender of wars. Ukraine should have been given NATO membership, OR at least NATO protection way back when they were forced to give up their nukes. I say it was a mistake that putin took advantage of.

But the right thing to do currently, and something I do think Harris and/or Biden would have done or worked towards (undermining internal US politics not taken in account) is put a permanent American security force inside Ukraine, including naval bases. There would be boots on the ground as a security measure and amends for broken promises. Also, there is NO reason Trump couldn’t offer this in his “deal” other than putin saying no. Instead Trump plainly offers nothing and calls it a peace deal.

As I an others pointed out now, this is at least the 3rd time that Putin tries to conquer Ukraine and various promises from the West were made (as well as promises broken from Russia’s side) in the past that Ukraine would know peace and safety … I do think after the 3rd time Putin needs to learn that enough is enough.

Now, returning to my original remark, this is not a peace “deal” at all … this is just not so covertly telling putin to come take it whenever he feels comfortable doing so, best while Trump personally is still in power so he can again sit back and do nothing about it.

You are deluded into Trump offering anything, he is not, he is taking it all away so Russia can go have their way with Ukraine in about 5 years… AGAIN.

• No (NATO) Soldiers on the ground to safeguard peace.
• No NATO membership … because putin says so.
• No giving back territories forcibly taken by invader Russia.
• No reparations to be made by invader Russia.
• No more standing national Ukrainian army, “defensive” task force only.
• No making money for Ukraine on their own resources, it will all go to putin one way or another.
• No guarantees or safeguards whatsoever that putin will not come back and go scorched earth on Ukraine and utterly displace a people, like it is already doing.
• No keeping the seized Russian assets as payments and penalties for the war, it is all to be given back to Putin together with the wests deepest humble apologies.

What does Trump think the Ukrainians were fighting for anyway if its all given away like that?

This is all purely the USA LOSING, there is no deal here, Trump is kneeling before Putin.

And an ending note: Ukraine should be applauded, they DID make headway, reconquered lost territories, conquered parts of Russia itself, and most of all it stood firm agains a country far larger with greater resources to throw at them but they pushed back the invader and made Russia pay dearly every chance they got because Russia has no business in Ukraine.

And a small bonus on top: it showed the world how weak the Russian army really is, most of its technology now proven to be inferior and only its centuries old strategy of throwing cannon fodder 'till the other side runs out of ammo is what keeps Russia in the fight.

But again, Trump is the huge loser in this conflict, Ukraine can stand proud but abandoned, and Putin laughs 'till he falls asleep.

Alas, the message Heggseth is spreading in Trump’s name in Europe and Ukraine is that all will be given to Putin and all the fighting and killing and spending of billions has been moot.

No US protection, no NATO soldiers in Ukraine to keep peace.

No return of taken lands, no reparations to be paid by invader russia.

No NATO membership.

No large Ukrainian army allowed.

And ofcourse: No guarantees that Putin won’t return to forcibly claim the rest or destroy Ukraine 5 years on.

And it is not spoken of but the valuable resources go to Russia, not the US. The seized Russian assets ofcourse will be given back to Putin under a gesture of severe groveling and kneeling by the west.

In effect, the USA lost all and Putin won the conflict.

Think about it … the USA LOSES this conflict against a severely outclassed enemy. Only because Trump is afraid of his idol Putin.

Remember when Trump did away with the regulations to register car accidents caused by electric vehicles and self driving mechanisms?

Now there’s no way to prove its a problem with the car when Tesla starts sueing customers in the US, and it learned it can do that from China.

But also, his goons are completely vulnerable either way and there is little the president can do with his own hands.

They all hope for/assume/were promised full pardons.

King Trump does not understand the concept of paying debts, always equates it to being stolen from.

So ofcourse he will try to weasel himself out of paying debts, that he’ll tank the US credibility on the financial markets will be declared someone else’s fault.

Putin is signaling to his adoring fan Trump that Ukraine’s special resources “belong” to Russia.

To both Trump and Putin this is not about Ukraine at all.

The crux of the matter is: did Trump wake up about the value of those resources and prefers to permanently claim them for himself? Or will he see it as a great gift to hand them to Putin on a later date so that both can “save face”?

Putin wants the resources and will destroy the identity of Ukraine and make it Russian so it will never leave the flock again. He will also keep trying, in 10 years or more he will keep coming back for the resources. He has done it in 1990, in 2014 and in 2021. But he needs Ukraine to be fully disarmed.

In 1990 he forced Ukraine to give away it’s nuclear armaments, later he made it give up the navy that Ukraine was left with when it split from the USSR. In 2014 he saw chance to take parts of Ukraine by force, thinking he could take the rest by subterfuge of having his own soldiers fight anonymously as “breakaway Ukraine rebels” but it failed because Ukraine was still armed well and intent on defending it’s identity. 2021 Putin tried again, thinking Ukraine’s armaments now were hopelessly outdated and Russia had a lot of “modern” material, his 3-day takeover plan was thwarted by the Ukrainian fighting spirit. And what is worse, it showed that the military might of Russia was a paper tiger, the equipment was not up to snuff to an enemy intent on defending itself, so Russia had to fall back to it’s centuries old tactic of overwhelming the enemy with cannon fodder.

But now the limit of reasonability is reached, Putin can not endlessly throw cannonfodder at Ukraine. With all the western weapons far outclassing what it can fabricate and train, Russia has lost the military fight and will turn to political paths. First to keep the conquered Ukrainian lands and designate them as Russia, then have the West lose interest in Ukraine’s membership of NATO and perhaps the EU. But still demand the delivery of the resources to Russia. And in about 15 years he’ll come with the same excuse again and try to take Ukraine once more.

Russia wants the resources … In time the gas supplies will have its prices slashed due to the continued growth of renewable energy.

And his adoring fan Trump can and likely will aid him speed it all up if he can use him to have the west withdraw all support.

All are now enrolled into the new Muskian Social Credit System.

Trumpland.

^~Which still will get slowly whittled away by Israeli expansion~^

The term Treason should definitely get its meaning and severity back.

Billionaires and companies actively undermining the Government should be taxed to the highest bracket, fined on top, and where applicable broken up.

The mantra is that judges are there only to uphold the law and strictly punish the common people and all who stand in “maga’s” way.

You’re forgetting he made up “the millions and millions of illegal immigrants crossing the border”

Which, to him, are all living together in halls and single decrepid buildings and easily picked up.

He envisioned the numbers and now must make them exist, or at least make the deportations logically match up.

Ofcourse it’s not going to line up so he’ll find new victims, next targets will be freshly awarded green cards, to be checked for discrepancies like spelling errors or those with recent adress changes, or say any green card holder who committed a small crime like jaywalking in the last 10 years.

But hey, it is good for the unemployment numbers!

… Hitler also targeted others besides jews, gypsies, colored, disabled people, all under the pretense of danger to and burdens on the society …

Somehow I think he didn’t resign because of the remarks specifically but because he was named and shamed in the spotlight.

“Comfortable”:

Where having 3 jobs doesn’t even give a proper living wage… Where a health crisis will bankrupt you… Where the common people pay the taxes for the richest. Where vacation days are tightly controlled and preferrably denied. Already the doctrine is: “You Live To Work”.

And this is before Trump started slashing all government aid and will give even more money to the rich, thinking the populace will make up the difference on the countries income…

Now he just about personally has total control of the government payment system, down to the social serurity number of each individual. A good weapon to have.

(Had a long rant here about the US’ bleak future, but it’s not befitting the discussion at this moment)

My point being, things are only a very small drop to where it’s too late and the shackles are clamped on.

The ones sworn in to uphold the law and constitution are the ones who need to step in now, but are too afraid or corrupted to risk standing up.

King Trump already is above regular checks and balances.

What I find interesting yet distressing is that no one asks “WHY?”

What does an unelected outsider have to gain from getting access to SOURCE CODE of the US payment system (not just a running pc in the payment network, no, actual code is bring changed)

Why? Why demand code access and what is being changed in the dark hours of the night when there is little oversight?

And no; “because transgenders” is not an acceptable answer!

BTW… expect fully encrypted code where possible so no one else besides Musk can read it … think of the lasting repercussions of that … it’s a malware bomb on the governmental payment system.

Want your package from chaina? Pay the tariffs!

~…then very humbly ask the Chinese government to refund you those tariff costs…~

Yep. Still feel I need to put this here…

He WANTS to be a despot … he eagerly looks at, admires and wishes to count himself amongst worldly despots like Putin, Maduro, the Saudi kings and even the younger Kim Yong Un.

He does not aspire to be a benevolent leader at all, I don’t think he even can be one. To be important is indeed what he wants, but it is the importance in the form of keeping him happy or he’ll give you misery.

He also has done nothing but spout lies and easy grifts for decades now, and if caught he’d be as vindictive as possible to instill fear and hesitation on any who would oppose him. So, swift opposition from within his ranks is not going to happen soon.

The ultra rich might turn on him if he torches the economy, but they do know he now has the power to take away their assets if push comes to shove…

Not just that, but frankly for a company like Proton it’s prudent to “cry along with the wolves, lest you get killed” …

As long as Proton’s products still stand on their own in the light of the Trump regime I don’t think it is useful at all to torch the company because of remarks of its ceo now that Trump is in office…

Ofcourse one can frown and be miffed but there are far worse companies out there that everyone uses, and people shrug off direct comments of anyone on the board of directors.