Lawman

No I’m making a comment about him saying he can find the truth in the issues for himself like it’s not days you can count on one hand since the public could actually read this bill. Everybody speaking on it authoritatively was doing so with second hand information, the difference being a whole lot of critics lined up to get behind Trump’s avalanche of criticism when that guy currently has as much access to things like security briefings or the goings on in Congressional committees as Taylor Swift has. But he gets on X to bitch about stuff in a bill that would threaten his reelection campaign and wow suddenly it’s a bad bill. I’m pragmatic about reality which some seem to not want to acknowledge. If this is truly the crises that demands all action than any forward progress is needed, that’s exactly what the Border Patrol union leaders were saying when they came out and supported this bill. But when you have people like Troy Nehls saying any deal is effectively dead because it’s more critical to hurt Biden than secure any action on the border, yeah it’s clear we are cutting off our nose to spite our face. The wing of the Republican Party saying no to any assistance from democrats and demanding their bills be considered are ignoring the fact they can’t do this without democrats, and their vocal public defections actually weaken the Republican position in bargaining for a better deal. They’re posturing to make deals like they control either the chambers with some sweeping margin, they don’t. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I mean we (a general electorate) bring a ton of this on ourselves in the media generation as Congressional popularity has become more important than actual performance in the chambers. Go to YouTube and look around at how many videos of a grandstanding congressman/senator in some committee or public hearing, it’s what we reward them on. Then compare the loudest most obnoxious but seemingly popular idiots (because media loves it too) and then compare what legislation they’ve actually advanced… We are going backwards but the collective whole doesn’t notice because they’d rather watch clips of _____ owning _____ at some worthless hearing. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Oh look you’re and “issue guy” bit a “politics guy” but you’re literally parroting a presidential candidate. Let’s just pull chalks and go home, all we need is some subs and some nukes that’ll be much cheaper. That’s not how a global supply chain economy works. I mean just for example there is exactly 1 Nickel mine in the USA, and it’s closing. So what exactly are we doing to get that when stuff starts going sideways in any of the places we deploy to protect our interests? Again, you mentioned earlier “it’s not 1950” yeah boss it’s not 1854 either. That ocean on either side of our country isn’t an economic force field. We are dependent on a global supply chain system that will take decades of effort to move back into this hemisphere much less this country. You’re living in the most prosperous 70 years of human in the country sitting on top of the pile because we chose to not do after WWII what we did after WWI. The Russians and Chinese have no kidding threatened to annex countries by force. The Russians have actually done it. The next country after Ukraine that they have openly said they want has a 5/6 chance of being a NATO country. We’ve been here before, and appeasement/isolationism wasn’t the cheaper option. But keep bitching about the debt clock while you ignore all of that. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

It’s costing my division ~3.5 billion dollars to deploy it to EUCOM. That’s just the cost of moving us and our stuff to and from. So every 8-9 months we’ve been spending that for almost the last ten years. That’s just the cost to the Army moving chess pieces in response to the Russians and their continued aggression in the region. That doesn’t include the cost of attrition in people (reenlistments are significantly lower) or the cost to replace equipment etc. Again…. Hobbling Russia to where we don’t have to keep doing that is a bargain for what it’s currently been and continues to cost. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

No I have a problem with people diametrically apposed to smart national security policy (and not because Biden said it) hiding behind some red herring issue to defend themselves or throwing out talking points only to be confronted with actual math and then throw some new chaff into the argument why we can’t…. Again go back and read the dozen or so excuses thrown out of “why we can’t” or “we gotta first” and then look at the consensus potential of the current House or Senate. Guess what, you can’t have it all when you have the thinnest majority in either chamber in decades. If you think “this bill isn’t good enough and until!….” That’s idiotic obstructionism and it’s not really about moving the ball forward, it’s about getting to win the game without playing or you’ll take the ball home. And both parties do that shit and it’s gotta stop. We needed the infrastructure bill (go look at global supply chains and projected issues). We got to watch a minority group of idiots more interested in their political survival than actually what the country needed for months. If you want the bill that accomplishes all you need; than convince people to put a chamber together that represents that. Don’t tell me the solution to government and the reason we can’t address an issue is “until this one thing we deem the most important we won’t move forward.” That’s the current tack of the House Republicans demanding from the position of a majority that would fit in a Mazda Miata. But hey here’s Marjorie Taylor Green to make sure we fix the border… Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

And in the last ten days you read that bill in its entirety when exactly? Again when the head of the organization that is critical of the current admin but is tasked with actually solving the issues on the border says “yes we want this by consensus.” That means a lot more than Trump screaming “this bill is bad” which he did 5 days before normal people could read it, and a bunch of reps in the house lining up to say “we don’t support this.” We know they didn’t do anything to actually make any improvement to the border except bitch about Biden. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

https://abcnews.go.com/amp/Politics/border-patrol-union-backs-senate-immigration-bill-despite/story?id=106969976 Again the people tasked with actually dealing with the border would rather this than people like Marjorie telling us how Biden doesn’t want to secure the border for another 10 months. The kill the hostage method of government has nothing to do but make better sound bites for the low information electorate crowd. Same as when the squad sits in front of an infrastructure deal because it doesn’t do enough to address their required bullshit demands. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

He’s not “right on the border issue” he is Right on Campaigning. Again the border bill you are now saying isn’t good enough was fine for the people in the Senate including republicans and the people tasked to enforce it representing Border patrol. All parties far more informed on the issue than the guy campaigning and his crack team of people who aren’t even in the room to read the thing for him. Trump opens his mouth to call it a bad deal and the Soundbite Republicans tank the thing. You’d have gotten a win, but it’s more important to the Trump alliance to make as many campaign issues as possible, to hell with fiscal policy or strategic policy and damn sure border policy. And now that it’s the decided position of anybody who it’s more important for Biden to lose than to actually take a W and walk with it, that bill “isn’t good enough.” But to paraphrase the Republican senator negotiating all the things they wanted to get it through at least it’s a starting place victory after decades of idle talk. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

But we can find money for Israel all by its self. No need to secure the border with that bill after all. The USBP union was in favor of the Senate bill (and they back Trump and have been vocal as hell of Biden) saying it was a win in the direction you are demanding we move first. Only after the guy no longer getting security briefings opened his mouth about it did we suddenly need to pause and it wasn’t good enough for Republicans in the house. While you’re freaking about that debt clock ask yourself how much we’re adding to it when we deploy my division this summer for yet another move on the strategic chess board because of what Russia started over a decade ago in Chechnya and Georgia. Again this has absolutely nothing to do with fiscal policy or getting X done before Y for most of you. We haven’t had a fiscally conservative executive or Congress since the first Bush. You’ve been told to appose Ukraine for whatever reason you can find just be apposed to the aid, despite the acknowledgment that doing so aids Putin in closing one more chapter in his eventual conflict with NATO (he’s said which countries he needs to have to say so over to be safe and it’s not ending with Ukraine). You made the smug comment Euros pay for it first, well if you get a calculator the place with less total GDP than us and going through a recession in a good chunk of its countries while facing far worse outlook in demographics is punching well into this fight. They’ve acknowledged what they miffed up for 3 decades, Russia is not our friend and actively working to destabilize the region and now actively willing to start wars in what it views as its vassal states. The debt clock won’t mean shit if we get dragged into an Article 5 war over this because we passed up the chance to let them culminate in the Donbass and end their ability to conduct offensive operations around where the Dniper River runs. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Do you honestly believe government can or should function that way? M2 and Helo are perfect examples of this not being about any issue except to use it as a cudgel to get other things and then never approve it even when shown they are getting action. “Europe must!” Well guess what they have. Plus actions in congress are not linear action. The government doesn’t simply sit and only work one issue then move to the next. Two the hijacking at the floor of any issue for some non related issue leads to nothing getting done on any issue. Business is performed in committee; and then the floor is simply short debate and voting, but now that the blowhard faction of sound bite happy congressional reps have realized they can get reelected through accomplishing nothing but making YouTube statements we’ve reversed that process to the floor being where things get decided. We watched democrats try the same bullshit with the infrastructure bill demanding massive climate change or they would veto it. They accomplished nothing but delaying needed restoring of our home industrial base because they wanted it all and would kill the hostage if they didn’t get it. This is why the output of Congress is something like 20% of the last one, and has been exponentially decreasing in effective work for the past decade or two. It’s not about actual governing, it’s about placing whatever sacred electoral issue gets your region sparked for reelection so you can stand there and demand it be addressed or you will kill the hostage. Like what idiocy would that lead to? “My fellow Congressional reps before we open the voting on Ombibus bill 11476c Id like to address that we have through bipartisan committee managed to secure funding for the border wall, end college loan repayment, defund planned parenthood, and provide aid and material to forces fighting in Ukraine… The chair now recognizes the gentleman from Ohio.” “Yes Mr Speaker! I and my fellow _____ caucus members will not be supporting this bill because it provides 40k in funding to the lesbian Arts center of Philadelphia and also as my constituents have expressed concern that Belgium is still a socialist country and hasn’t provided X billion in funding! We demand this bill be voted down!” Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

So when confronted with actual hard numbers (which have only gone higher and more in their favor by their recent bill) you now resort to “well they should pay for our border.” Is that before or after they “abandon socialism.” Like I said this has absolutely nothing to do with the validity of what reason you give, you’ll just adopt a new self justification when you find out that goal line has already been achieved so you can continue to be opposed for any reason. So why should Europe pay for the border now exactly? Because that’s absolute horse shit when the guys at JTF-North would rather have the Mexicans change their constitution so we can use the resources already down there not just throw money at the problem unrelated to Ukraine. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Then fix THAT bill. Stop the bullshit of “we will do X if we get everything in the Border Bill we want” when we know the second it’s threatening getting Trump into full campaign mode we will sacrifice that as well. Ukraine/Israel/climate change/whatever new issue excuse to avoid funding something has absolutely F-all to do with the southern Border and should be governed in laws as such. The people now stepping forward to say “not without the border” in this thread only to immediately pivot to “Europe should pay first” when they are have simply decided whatever yardage or reason they will move the goal posts because NO is their only answer in regards to Ukraine. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

No we all know what formed your opinion on the matter. It’s the same reason you spent 20 minutes edging yourself the other night while Putin explained his version of history for us. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

They have been. Despite a lower combined GDP, the Euro NATO countries are actually outspending us when it’s in our best interest not to get stuck solving the third European World War You guys can quit searching for excuses and just come out and say your reason for not supporting action in Ukraine is simply to be contrarian to the current party in charge. First it was “but mah border,” now it’s, “well Europe should pay first….” They already are. Also give a comparison in total dollars of mil equipment donated by us vs Ze Germans. For anybody familiar with how much equipment they have just lying around on hand they are punching well above their weight. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

There is a deliberate separate Border bill that went through the Senate and is effectively torpedoed by the house to allow Political hay to be made out of it for the election. Congress had the opportunity to do something about the border separate of Ukraine and they are deliberately choosing not to. Don’t now use that to justify not supporting this action. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah looking through his archives it reads like he’s got access to trade shows and shiny sales sheets from Raytheon but no actual institutional knowledge. Anybody calling the 64E the Guardian is either a direct employee for Boeing or hasn’t ever actually worked on the thing. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Same was true of Comanche. That thing was an albatross around the neck of wider more critical acquisitions (even if it had worked). Killing it paid for the Army to make the fleet entirely D model Apache, put MTADS across said fleet, and upgrade the Chinook fleet to Fox model which was miles more critical in the GWOT fight than a stealth Kiowa prone to damage maintained by guys putting blade paint on the skin because “black equals stealth.” As much as we wanted it all, FARA was the long sell for the Army. I’m already getting talks from ATIC guys asking for 64F concepts they want to compile for the next senior leaders discussion. Suddenly the end of the railroad track for going beyond Version 6 or 8 no longer seems like a hard stop. Sky is the limit… well… 17.5k is the limit probably, but that’s still Sky. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That article has a lot of misdiagnoses of the situation being quoted as gospel. The Army isn’t stacking on 100-150 knots to increase protection, it’s doing so to provide the capability of traversing greater distance in a convergence of enablers. That’s necessary to push out effectively from sanctuary of Air Defense and ground security. Showing video of Russians being dumb as a way to justify getting rid of the RW part of multi domain disintegration of the IADS is because you won’t find the opposite argument plastered across Reddit. Anybody that thinks Helicopters have no part in going offensive in the IADS should probably let the Israelis know… they seem confused by that. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

What? I can’t hear you over the sound of all this burning contract money and the 1/3 of Chinook fleet life we bled moving cargo/people we couldn’t get transported. FARA was always the Army’s lowest aviation priority, and the Victor is a disaster so thank god that’s gone. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

F’ing Christ…. We are literally running the script of Iron Eagle as Geopolitics now… Word for word it’s the threat given to rando middle eastern strongman’s military and the reaction at 3:20… Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My dad stationed in Italy when the 104 was in wide service. Using a lot of them in a Recce bird profile was probably not a big help for them. San Vito would get requests to assist every time they’d Lawn Dart one south of Naples and that was scarily often since most of them were in the norther half of a the boot. They’d put one in the dirt… dad would suddenly be gone a day and a half. That plane was notorious. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

If they keep this up, “Flagship” will be the default title for whatever the Russians have left in the water. That should simplify things for journalists trying to do Navy vessel identification. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

They were final assembled in those locations. Look up the supply chain of EV battery production (or solar panels for that matter) and see where the middle point takes place after minerals extraction. China has positioned its self where ~85% of the worlds Lithium and Nickle battery production has to flow through it. You know what their industrial thermal requirements are powered by? F’ing Coal. And most of it can’t be simply offloaded to Nuclear or cleaner green power because it’s not just a matter of Kw generation, it’s about temperature for productions. And as the world has massively upscaled demand for more EV tech components they have only been able to match that upscale with more coal. It’s why for all the carbon we’ve reduced in the US and Europe they increased 5 fold. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It’s also far easier to deal with the attritional impact of Large Scale Combat and rebuild our numbers post conflict by simply buying up their spares at premium with the promise of new shiny later. A country that sits in the NATO order of battle like for example Moldova doesn’t need F-35s, or Abrams, or really any other top line piece of tech that isn’t worn/carried. But it can rent them for a while…. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I love his series even if it overstated what it turned out to be real Russian capabilities. The scene where the US Brigade commander is on the VTC and is cut off mid sentence with the President because of his gawd damned cell phone got his head quarters targeted was great. We’ve been preaching that for years to be ignored by people who are too important to not have their phone. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk