Russia-Ukraine War

Important Diplomatic Meeting Of Biden With China’s President Xi Jinping

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In a world with so many crises, including among others, the Russia-Ukraine War, and the Israel-Hamas conflict, the fact that America has an experienced foreign policy President in office in Joe Biden, is such a positive!

Biden is meeting today with Chinese President Xi Jinping in California, in a time when there are lots of tensions between the two leading economic superpowers.

China’s support of the other side in both the Ukraine and Israel conflicts is a major problem, but there are lots of areas that China and the US need to work together, and overcome suspicions and mistrust.

There are a lot of contentious issues, and both sides will be candid, but it is important for world stability for the two major powers to come to an understanding on many problems and controversies, including the drug Fentanyl issue, the Covid 19 pandemic issue, the development of naval bases in the Pacific on islands created by China, trade controversies, and the ever present potential threat by China to Taiwan’s sovereignty.

Without a doubt, Biden has more experience and background in foreign policy than any post World War II president, except for Richard Nixon and George H. W. Bush, and hopefully, this summit will be productive!

New Threat Of Government Shutdown Under New Speaker Mike Johnson!

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A new threat of a government shutdown on Friday November 17, under the new Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, is pending.

Johnson has division within the House Republican Conference, and just as former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, he cannot afford to lose more than four votes if all Republicans are present and voting on any budget matter.

And one member could call for a vote to dislodge the new Speaker from his perch, and new chaos and anarchy could reign.

Mike Johnson, an unknown individual until he was elevated to the Speakership, clearly is in above his head, and his extremist views and those of his wife are an alarm bell in the night.

Johnson wants two separate dates for funding, and he proposes no aid for now to either Israel or Ukraine, so it seems like a no brainer, with five days to go to the budget deadline.

If the government shuts down this Friday, it will cause all kinds of grief in innumerable ways.

Disastrous Republican Leadership: Donald Trump, Mike Johnson, Tommy Tuberville!

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The Republican Party has become engaged in disaster on all levels, including:

Donald Trump, facing 91 felonies over four trials, ranting and raving like a totally unhinged maniac, but still the clear frontrunner for the Republican Presidential nomination, and calling the January 6 domestic terrorists who have been convicted of crimes as being “hostages”!

Mike Johnson, clearly an extremist right wing Christian who has clearly shown his inability to cooperate with Senate Republicans or the White House, and is standing in the way of aid to Ukraine, and wishing to make tax collection by the Internal Revenue Service even more difficult, so creating greater national debt!

Tommy Tuberville, Republican Senator from Alabama, who has singlehandedly prevented promotions of hundreds of military personnel and leadership, over his opposition to the abortion policies of the Pentagon, despite the undermining of the military readiness and preparedness of America’s defense forces, at a time of great danger and threats with the wars going on in the Middle East and in Ukraine!

Battle Among House And Senate Republicans Over Support For Ukraine

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The Republican Party in Congress is badly split over aid to Ukraine.

The majority of Senate Republicans, with top leadership including Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, the Senate Minority Leader, want to give more aid to Ukraine in its fight against Russia.

But a small band of House Republicans, the most extreme right wing elements led by Matt Gaetz, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and others of that group, are resisting aid, and they have found an ally in new House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana, who while not well known before now, is clearly a MAGA Republican as these extremists are, totally willing to bend to the will of Donald Trump.

So a major crisis looms for President Joe Biden and members of both political parties who do not wish to see Russia threatening the rest of Europe, if they succeed in defeating Ukraine!

MAGA Republicans In Charge In House Of Representatives: Its Implications!

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Having “slept” on the elevation of Mike Johnson to the Speakership of the House of Representatives, this author and blogger has woken up to the horrors of this MAGA Republican, who seems to be a “nice” person on the surface, but has horrendous views on so many issues!

This man, now two heartbeats away from the Presidency, is a rabid social conservative who is vehemently opposed to abortion, gay rights and gay marriage, and has a hardline Christian view of marriage and family, more like the 1950s and earlier!

Johnson also led the Election Denier movement in support of Donald Trump, and has never backed away from refusing to accept that Joe Biden is President.

Also, he has spoken in favor of changing Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid.

Johnson is the Speaker with the least government experience since the 1880s.

He is also not a supporter of Ukraine in its war with Russia under Vladimir Putin, and is likely to have a difficult relationship with President Biden, Vice President Harris, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

So, while the whole fiasco of the Speakership battles is likely to harm the Republican Party in 2024, for the next year, and including through the lameduck session after the Presidential Election of 2024, there could be a massive crisis in acceptance of the election results with a Trump supporting MAGA Republican in charge in the House of Representatives!

Seven Of Nine Contenders For House Speakership Election Deniers!

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THe Republican Party has nine contenders to become Speaker, as I write this, and seven of them are election deniers, following the lead of MAGA Republican leader Donald Trump!

Only Tom Emmer of Minnesota and Austin Scott of Georgia supported the election results which made Joe Biden the 46th President.

About two thirds of Republicans in the House of Representatives refused to endorse the Electoral College results, a shocking statistic.

Emmer is the House Majority Whip and should be the next Speaker, but seems unlikely, due to the opposition of Donald Trump. Scott has served since 2011, and also did not challenge the election results in 2020.

With less than a month to November 17, and with two international crises in Ukraine and Israel, it is horrifying how the Congress is at a standstill, without much prospect of a solution anytime soon!

Support Of Israel And Ukraine Linked, Especially For American Jews!

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Military support for both Israel and Ukraine has become essential to promote and preserve democracy against Hamas and Russian authoritarianism.

Particularly for American Jews, and Jews around the world, there is an emotional commitment to preservation of both nations’ ability to survive against massive threats to their sovereignty.

Personally, this author and blogger, being Jewish and whose ancestry is from Ukraine, and with Israel being the national homeland of the Jewish people, feels a special affinity to continued support for both nations.

The vast majority of the Democratic Party is behind continued support of Israel and Ukraine, while many Senate Republicans and some House Republicans agree.

But the MAGA Republican element, as respresented by Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan’s bid to be Speaker, are a dire threat to Ukraine, and unreliable on their Israeli support, as they bow to the evil of Donald Trump, who now attacks Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for accepting Joe Biden’s victory in 2020, and praises Hezbollah, the threat to Israel from Lebanon. And Trump was impeached in 2019 for trying to force Ukraine to help him against Joe Biden, and is a known supporter of Vladimir Putin and the Russian Federation!

Jim Jordan As Speaker Of The House Unacceptable Danger!

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The future of the nation is in danger if Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan, now the choice of House Republicans, is permitted to become Speaker of the House.

This man is a danger, a supporter of Donald Trump, who was engaged in the planning of January 6, and refused to testify before the January 6 House Committee investigating the Insurrection at the US Capitol!

Jordan is a divisive figure, an extreme right wing MAGA Republican, who would be two heartbeats away from the Presidency under the Presidential Succession Act of 1947, endangering American national security and undermining support for Ukraine in its war with Russia.

It is hoped that more than five Republicans will work to prevent this menace to public order from becoming Speaker, as he would also have access to important national secrets by assuming leadership in the House of Representatives!

Unless someone like Tom Cole of Oklahoma, Don Bacon of Nebraska, or Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania can become Speaker, then moderates, such as the above, must unite to make Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader, the Speaker of the House for the remaining 14 months of the 118th Congress!

Another Shocking Event: 9/11 For Israel, Threatens Survival And Stability In Middle East!

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In a stunning week, where the Speaker of the House of Representatives was repudiated for the first time in American history, now, shockingly, Israel faces issues of its survival and stability after the totally unexpected intelligence failure which led to sustained attacks by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, from the Gaza Strip.

This is the greatest tragedy since a half century ago, when at the same time on the calendar, there was the Yom Kippur War between Israel, Egypt, and Syria.

The loss of life, the number of wounded, and the shock of Israelis being taken captive, has stunned everyone who thought that Israel never had its national security and safety to be in danger.

Of course, the United States supports Israel in this crisis, but it does not take away from the reality that the government of Benjamin Netanyahu is an extremist right wing government, which as I write, has apparently rejected the idea of a government of national unity, with the purpose of disposing of the most extremist right wing Orthodox Jewish religious elements in the government coalition.

There could be a massive war crime in the Gaza Strip, leading to the death of thousands of civilians who have nowhere to escape the potential bloodshed as Israel works to punish and destroy Hamas and the terrorist threat to Israel’s future.

This is a time of mourning, and of prayers required, that somehow, the developing tragedy will not lead to a massive loss of life unmatched in Middle East history!

And without a stable House of Representatives and an installed Speaker, the US government is faced with the crisis of having problems helping Israel, as well as Ukraine, in what has now become two major foreign policy crises faced by President Joe Biden!

Total Chaos In The Republican House Of Representatives! :(

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The Republican Party is on the brink of extinction, as they are now proving that not only do they have a totally corrupt, evil President that they refuse to repudiate at large, but also their House majority is a total disaster.

To think that the two leading likely successors to Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House are the evil, nasty, corrupt Jim Jordan of Ohio, who had sexual charges lodged against him from years ago; and Steve Scalise of Louisiana, who spoke years ago to white supremacist groups, and had contact with David Duke, the former Ku Klux Klan leader, over many years, is enough to make one vomit! 🙁

Neither should even be in Congress, and the thought that one of them could be two heartbeats away from the Presidency, is extremely troubling and disconcerting!

And Jordan has no concern about Ukraine’s survival, and is willing to back Vladimir Putin’s aggression on a democratic nation, which is also the homeland of this author and blogger’s ancestors!

One can hope that someone truly decent, such as Don Bacon of Nebraska or Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, could be put forth as a truly acceptable mainstream conservative alternative for the Speakership!