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… Pete Hegseth continued to embarrass himself and the US at the NATO Summit in Brussels today. After his comments yesterday detailing how the US was willing to give up every bit of negotiating leverage with Russia, he tried to walk some of it back while generally looking like a bumbling drunken fool completely out of his depth.

… Hegseth opened his remarks to the group of 32 Secretaries of Defense by ridiculously claiming that the US doesn’t have the naval firepower to deal with Russia’s fleet. He told his counterparts with NATO that it will take at least 7 years to rebuild our Navy before it can catch up to Russia. Incompetent, absurd lies, playing right in to Putin’s hands and destroying our credibility on the world stage.

… Hegseth then further beclowned himself with this gem: “Make no mistake, President Trump will not allow anyone to turn Uncle Sam into Uncle Sucker.”

… Trump said Ukraine has to make some concessions to Russia since they volunteered themselves to be invaded: “I think they have to make peace. That was not a good war to go into.”

…. But Trump said that Russia deserves to keep the conquered territory since they worked hard for it. He was asked if he could see a future where Ukraine returns to its pre-invasion borders: “It certainly would seem to be unlikely. Russia took a lot of land and they fought for that land.”

… Sen. Tim Kaine - “Am I missing something or did Trump just give Russia exactly what it wants in Ukraine – no NATO admission, Russia keeps Ukrainian land, and Putin gets to visit the U.S.? In return for… one prisoner exchange? That’s the grand deal?”

… Trump ally Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) told Punchbowl he isn’t thrilled with how this is being handled so far: “I’d prefer we don’t give away negotiating positions before we actually get started.”

… European leaders were stunned trying to deal with Hegseth and Trump’s comments yesterday about Russia and Ukraine. Hegseth said that the US will hold talks with Russia that will not involve Ukraine or EU nations in attendance, said NATO will not admit Ukraine, and said that it’s up to Europe to defend itself.

… President Zelensky responded that Ukraine will not accept any agreements reached between Russia and the US if he is not included in the discussions, and said that other European countries must be included as well.

… AP reported that several EU leaders addressed Hegseth and Trump’s comments. U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey: “There can be no negotiation about Ukraine without Ukraine. And Ukraine’s voice must be at the heart of any talks.”

… German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius: “For me, it’s clear that Europe must be involved in the negotiations — and I think that’s very easy to understand,” particularly if Europe is ”supposed to play a central or the main role in the peace order.”

… EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas: “We shouldn’t take anything off the table before the negotiations have even started, because it plays to Russia’s court. Why are we giving them everything that they want even before the negotiations have been started? It’s appeasement. It has never worked.”

… Former Trump NSA John Bolton on Trump negotiating with Putin without Zelensky being involved: “Putin doesn't want to negotiate with Zelensky. He wants to negotiate with Trump because he thinks he'll get more out of him. And he's absolutely right.”

… Bolton also posted this on X: “It is unconscionable to allow Russia to assault Ukraine’s sovereignty, recruit enemies like N. Korea to aid in their fight, and then sell out the Ukrainians by conceding the loss of their territory and NATO security guarantees or membership. By making these and other concessions before negotiations even started, Trump has effectively surrendered to Putin on Ukraine.

… Bolton on CNN later after Tulsi Gabbard was confirmed: “They're drinking vodka straight out of the bottle in the Kremlin tonight. It was a great day for Moscow. This is palpable harm to American national security, because what Hegseth and Trump did was not only blow up the NATO position on Ukraine, they blew up a thing called the Belovezha Accords. Not only is unprovoked aggression by Russia against Ukraine now ok, every other former Republic of the Soviet Union is vulnerable to the same thing without any indication that the US will do anything about it.”

… One of Trump’s first acts as president was to disband the Kleptocapture task force that seized Russian assets. That was another bargaining chip that we could have used in negotiations that was just voluntarily given away for nothing in return.

… Russian State Media Monitor Julia Davis reports on comments from two of their most popular TV hosts: "Trump is sawing through the western world," Luzyanin said. "One piece is Canadian, another one is European. We'll see how successful he'll be with his saw." Host Popov responded that Trump is using tactics right out of the Russian playbook: "Basically he is taking our bread and butter. We wanted to saw the western world into pieces, but he decided to saw through it himself.

Ron Filipkowski

Hegseth, not as bad as we expected...but so much worse!!

Our country is in the hands of focking idiots!

Hey Ron Filipowski......

It's ok.

This was all worth it.

He/him. They them. Hyphenated Americanism. And we got to talk down to voters who aren't like us.


It was worth it.

… Hegseth opened his remarks to the group of 32 Secretaries of Defense by ridiculously claiming that the US doesn’t have the naval firepower to deal with Russia’s fleet. He told his counterparts with NATO that it will take at least 7 years to rebuild our Navy before it can catch up to Russia. Incompetent, absurd lies, playing right in to Putin’s hands and destroying our credibility on the world stage.

This is absurd. This would embarrass me but I've already heard enough that nothing will.

… Pete Hegseth continued to embarrass himself

Hegseth is SO far out of his depth, like a kindergartner trying to teach a college class on geopolitics. He's absolutely as bad as impartial observers expected him to be. No, he's worse.

We wanted to saw the western world into pieces, but he decided to saw through it himself.


A disgrace. A betrayal. A surrender to our enemies.

Missing from all those screeds is a sense of reality on the ground. Can the Ukrainians take back all their territory?

Highly unlikely. And not without much more help from NATO (read: NATO tank divisions).

Wow. Just...wow...

Hegseth is a victim of his own erroneous Faux Noise / OANN reporting.

Ukraine, which lost what little navy it had in the opening days of the war, has sunk most of the Russian Black Sea fleet. The survivors -quite literally- hang out on the other side of the Black Sea, out of range**.

Plus, Russia's aircraft carrier is in drydock, and has been for something like 10 years. They can't fix the bloody thing. [type type type] Nope...only 8 years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_aircraft_car...

So...no...the Russian navy is not a threat to the US, much less NATO. They have submarines, of course. Their surface fleet would not be a problem for us. Frankly, it's kind of a joke for a 'superpower'. Their subs could wreak some havoc, but the statement that we don't have the firepower is patently absurd.




**Initially they just stood-off some distance from shore, but Ukraine developed longer-range sea drones, and kept sinking their ships.

Hegseth is SO far out of his depth, like a kindergartner trying to teach a college class on geopolitics. He's absolutely as bad as impartial observers expected him to be. No, he's worse.

J.D. Vance: hold my beer! (But please don't drink it, Pete.)

Vance at the Munich Security Conference. It's 'effin' embarrassing:

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/vance-uses-mu...

In Munich, Vance accuses European politicians of censoring free speech

WASHINGTON, Feb 14 (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President JD Vance on Friday took a swipe at European governments for what he described as their censorship of free speech and their political opponents, while largely avoiding the question of how to resolve the Ukraine war.
Speaking to European political leaders, military officers and diplomats at the Munich Security Conference, Vance surprised the audience by dismissing the risk of Russian political interference in Europe, taking a similar stance to U.S. President Donald Trump, who has railed against claims by U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia had interfered on his behalf in the 2016 election.
Vance adopted a confrontational tone, accusing European politicians of what he said was a fear of their own people and warned them that the real threat against their democracy was not from Russia or China.
"The threat I worry the most about vis-ŕ-vis Europe is not Russia, it's not China, it's not any other external actor. What I worry about is the threat from within, the retreat of Europe from some its most fundamental values, values shared with the United States of America," Vance said.

God, I miss the joyful Indian African-American prosecutor lady with the funny first name...

So...no...the Russian navy is not a threat to the US, much less NATO. They have submarines, of course. Their surface fleet would not be a problem for us. Frankly, it's kind of a joke for a 'superpower'. Their subs could wreak some havoc, but the statement that we don't have the firepower is patently absurd.

Trump and Hegseth may not be taking direct orders from Putin, but they might as well be.

the retreat of Europe from some its most fundamental values, values shared with the United States of America," Vance said.

WTF?

It is the US that is retreating from "its most fundamental values".

What utter bullshit. But that is all we can expect from this corrupt administration.

Trump/Pence/Vance have been gaslighting the US since 2015. Now they are trying to gaslight the world.

hegseth is , and will be, ignorant of anything not simplified from fox news. oh, but he is not on fox anymore, but making us safe.
not only has ukraine crippled above water russian naval power in the black sea, but the self-inflicted damage of the only other southern force, fleeing syria, has been ridiculous.
now the russian northern naval force is basically in complete check by...the new NATO allies. (great strategy vlad)

question : how do you know there has not been a sunk russian navy asset this week?
answer : they are stuck somewhere never to be made functional.


sad to say, between pete, tulsi, and kash, hegseth is the brainy one.

...but the self-inflicted damage of the only other southern force, fleeing syria, has been ridiculous.

Yes, that was the only base (Syria) they had in the Med. And now it's gone. Last I heard, they were packing up their airbase, too (under heavy security, since the new Syria is hostile to them). Once completed, they will have no presence in the Med at all.

Which, as you say, means going past NATO allies to get to the Atlantic. At least until the polar ice cap melts (not being hyperbolic...several nations are already making plans for that eventuality).

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