Putin wins vote in Congress

The magazine Foreign Affairs recently published an article in which the Untied States was called a “dysfunctional superpower.”  The gist was that American allies could no longer depend on American commitments or promises, and China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia were well aware of this.  All four of those countries are eagerly anticipating a Trump win in 2024.

Now it looks as though they need not wait until the 2024 election.  To keep the government from shutting down, the House and Senate both passed a stopgap measure that cut off military aid to Ukraine.  This was a demand of Kevin McCarthy, and the Democrats went along with it to keep the government running.  Even with this concession, McCarthy did not get the votes of a large number of his House Republicans.

The fallout from this will be evident.  Already a right-wing candidate in Slovakia may win an upcoming election, and he will try to make a deal with Russia.  Small countries on the Russian border will see the need to accommodate Putin and his policies.  They will retain their independence the way Poland and Hungary retained their “independence” during the Cold War.

If I were advising Taiwan, South Korea, and Vietnam, I would tell them to acquire nuclear weapons.  It isn’t that hard.  North Korea did it.  They will need a deterrent against China, since they obviously can’t depend on the U.S.  I wold advise the same thing for Poland and Romania and Finland.  And I would advise the Democrats in Congress to start voting as though World War III could be a distinct possibility if Ukraine loses its war for independence.