MAGA in America due to disconnect from reality while Ukraine faces importance of artillery , etc. : Problem is psychosis is being normalized in US
The idea of objective truth has been annihilated in the United States in the MAGA movement and the raging fires of cultural illiteracy are becoming a national security threat
The chief generator of psychosis in the USA is MAGA as can be seen below
quote
The fact that a former president is no less immune from prosecution than any other resident is not a bug of American democracy, it’s one of its greatest features. It means that all Americans, no matter their station, are equal under the law. But for Stefanik, it appears treating the president as if he’s no different from an ordinary citizen is a bridge too far.
While the congresswoman is obliquely making the argument that Trump is above the law, others are saying it more directly. In The Wall Street Journal Wednesday, columnist Dan Henninger said?the quiet part loud:
You can hate Donald Trump until your eyes pop out, but let us be clear: He was elected the 45th president of the U.S. He served four years in office. No former president who was disliked by many — not Clinton, Reagan nor FDR — had his home invaded by a squad of FBI agents. This should never happen in the U.S. End of discussion.
Let’s put aside the fact that Franklin D. Roosevelt was never a former president since he died while in office, but in Henninger’s formulation, the fact that Trump was elected president and served in the office for four years means the law can’t touch him.?
end of quote
This reasoning is psychotic , and is due to the MAGA movement normalizing psychosis
I was a GOP person for over 20 years and I never thought up through the 1990s that the GOP would be making this statement
quote
As president, Trump regularly assailed his first attorney general, Jeff Sessions, for recusing himself from the Russia investigation and, thus, relinquishing the power to impede it. In effect, he attacked Sessions for not obstructing justice on his behalf.
For Trump’s supporters, he exists in a rarefied air where accountability, or even legal inquiry, doesn’t apply.
end of quote
This reasoning is psychotic
Whereas Ukraine faces real life, non psychotic issues
quote
The ongoing Russian-Ukrainian War that?began on February 24?has seen artillery deployed by both armies play a growing role in determining the balance of power on the ground, with Ukraine set to receive growing numbers of towed and self propelled guns as aid from NATO member states to bolster its position. While some countries including China, South Korea and North Korea have invested heavily in fielding state of the art artillery systems, the field has long been overlooked by many major powers particularly in the West based on presumptions that air power would be far more decisive to determining the outcomes of 21st century conflicts. While Russia has invested in developing a new generation of self propelled guns, the 152mm 2S35 Koalitsiya-SV, these have entered service only in limited numbers while American plans to significantly enhance the ranges of its own ageing guns have yet to materialise.
end of quote
Also, another non psychotic datum as to missile development in the Ukraine war
quote
A Ukrainian official?told The New York Times?that the explosions at the base, from which "planes regularly took off for attacks against our forces," were caused by a "a device exclusively of Ukrainian manufacture."
"I don't think it was an ammunition accident," Jeffrey Edmonds, an expert on the Russian military at CNA and a former CIA military analyst, told Insider.
"The best bet is there's a short-range ballistic missile that the Ukrainians had been working on," he said.
end of quote
Ukraine does not have the luxury of cultural psychosis, the way MAGA is raising up as a political norm in the USA
I would prefer to live in a venue free of mandatory psychosis, which MAGA wishes to impose on US citizens, and although the Ukraine war is awful, I admire their pluck and discipline in not yielding to crazy, as MAGA has done for all the wrong reasons. And this insanity demanded by MAGA is, in a world of real consequences the top national security threat to the USA, in my humble opinion
Due to the seriousness of the problem I am seriously recommending reinstitution of a national service requirement, for adults in their early 20s, as a way to counteract this hot house of psychosis which is being a badge of honor for 1/3rd of the American voting public. Something seriously direct has to be done in order to face this problem, and soon
quote
Republicans who chanted 'Lock her up!' cry that the DOJ is being too political
Trump suggested his Department of Justice investigate more than two dozen people he considered opponents.
MSNBC / Getty Images
Aug. 13, 2022, 5:30 AM EDT
By?Michael A. Cohen, MSNBC Opinion Columnist
Since the FBI executed a legally obtained search warrant on the home of former President Donald Trump Monday, there’s been an apparent race by the former president’s supporters to determine, as far as I can see, who can make the most irresponsible statement defending him.
There's been an apparent race by the former president’s supporters to determine who can make the most irresponsible statement defending him.
Without evidence, Trump’s supporters have accused the leadership of the Justice Department and FBI of engaging in a political vendetta against Trump and planting?incriminating evidence at his home.?They’ve called for?defunding the FBI,?impeaching?Attorney General Merrick Garland and used inflammatory language, such as suggesting that the search was an act of “war” against Trump.
But the words of Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., are?perhaps the most chilling:
“If the FBI can raid a U.S. President, imagine what they can do to you.”
On the surface, this might sound anodyne. But the implications of what Stefanik is suggesting are frightening: Anybody who is or has been president of the United States should never be investigated for a crime.
The fact that a former president is no less immune from prosecution than any other resident is not a bug of American democracy, it’s one of its greatest features. It means that all Americans, no matter their station, are equal under the law. But for Stefanik, it appears treating the president as if he’s no different from an ordinary citizen is a bridge too far.
While the congresswoman is obliquely making the argument that Trump is above the law, others are saying it more directly. In The Wall Street Journal Wednesday, columnist Dan Henninger said?the quiet part loud:
You can hate Donald Trump until your eyes pop out, but let us be clear: He was elected the 45th president of the U.S. He served four years in office. No former president who was disliked by many — not Clinton, Reagan nor FDR — had his home invaded by a squad of FBI agents. This should never happen in the U.S. End of discussion.
Let’s put aside the fact that Franklin D. Roosevelt was never a former president since he died while in office, but in Henninger’s formulation, the fact that Trump was elected president and served in the office for four years means the law can’t touch him. To paraphrase one of Trump’s more famous declarations, if he were to shoot someone on Fifth Avenue, not only would he not lose any support … Henninger would object to him being investigated.
Few Republicans are making the argument as directly as Henninger, but the manner in which they are defending Trump leaves little doubt that their allegiance lies with him and not the rule of law.
While things may change now that we know Trump is being investigated for violations of the Espionage Act, up to now Republicans have, virtually en masse, argued that investigating the former president is an illegitimate act. Few members of Congress are acting more irresponsibly on this point than Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who?tweeted?earlier this week about Democrats, “After taking power they first put their political rivals in jail or forced exile (an indirect reference, it seems, to those arrested for their actions on Jan. 6, 2021). Then when the supporters of your rivals protest, you label them dangerous & criminalize opposition.”
Rubio also complained that the “far left” is demanding that Trump be arrested and charged with a crime.
Perhaps the senior senator from Florida forgets that the 2016 campaign was largely defined by the supporters of the man he backed for president chanting “Lock her up!” in reference to Hillary Clinton. It also seems he’s forgotten the more than two dozen people that Trump, as president, demanded be investigated by the Justice Department,?including Clinton, former President Barack Obama,?House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., special counsel Robert Mueller, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Google and even DOJ itself.
As president, Trump regularly assailed his first attorney general, Jeff Sessions, for recusing himself from the Russia investigation and, thus, relinquishing the power to impede it. In effect, he attacked Sessions for not obstructing justice on his behalf.
For Trump’s supporters, he exists in a rarefied air where accountability, or even legal inquiry, doesn’t apply.
领英推荐
None of these statements, none of the flagrant attempts to politicize the Department of Justice, none of the efforts to “criminalize Trump’s political opposition” raised any concerns among Rubio or most of his fellow Republicans. Indeed, many of them joined in the “Lock her up!” chants and the politicized calls for investigating Clinton, Hunter Biden, or any other Democrats who crossed Trump.
To them, the rule of law only applies to their political rivals. It certainly does not apply to the former president to whom they are all beholden. For Trump’s supporters, he exists in a rarefied air where accountability, or even legal inquiry, doesn’t apply. That’s certainly the way they treated him when he was president, and little has changed since he left office. The way they speak of him and speak of investigations into his actions suggest that they don’t view him as a former president or even a potential future president but rather as king, above reproach.
We already knew the inherent dangers in letting Donald Trump anywhere near the White House again, but the attitude of Republicans toward the former president shows that the risks go even deeper. The GOP has become unmoored from the nation’s basic democratic norms and traditions.
end of quote
Whereas
quote
U.S. Army Chiefs Stress Importance of Artillery as Key Lesson of Ukraine War
May-14th-2022
The ongoing Russian-Ukrainian War that?began on February 24?has seen artillery deployed by both armies play a growing role in determining the balance of power on the ground, with Ukraine set to receive growing numbers of towed and self propelled guns as aid from NATO member states to bolster its position. While some countries including China, South Korea and North Korea have invested heavily in fielding state of the art artillery systems, the field has long been overlooked by many major powers particularly in the West based on presumptions that air power would be far more decisive to determining the outcomes of 21st century conflicts. While Russia has invested in developing a new generation of self propelled guns, the 152mm 2S35 Koalitsiya-SV, these have entered service only in limited numbers while American plans to significantly enhance the ranges of its own ageing guns have yet to materialise. This has long left China and South Korea as the dominant players in the field using platforms such as the Norinco PLZ-05 and the Samsung K9 Thunder, the former which has a 100km engagement range which remains the world's top by a considerable margin.?
Russian 2S35 Koalitsiya-SV Self Propelled Artillery Gun
Questioned before the House Armed Services Committee on May 12,?Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth and Army Chief of Staff General James McConville both concluded when asked “what are the systems that are going to put you into position to win that fight like the fight that's playing out in Ukraine?” that long range precision artillery and tactical missiles would be essential. These systems have been key priorities for Army modernisation, with Washington’s withdrawal in 2018 from the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty also paving the way for the acquisition of ground based missiles with ranges of over 500km to complement its artillery forces. Russia’s own tactical missiles, most notably the Iskander and Kalibr, have been considered among its most successful weapons systems used in combat in Ukraine, providing a tremendous advantage over Ukrainian Forces which lack any similar assets. The U.S. Marine Corps has also placed a growing emphasis on the need for mobile ground launched and relatively long ranged precision strike weapons - namely anti ship systems which can be deployed with and remain mobile alongside units on the ground.?Whether the U.S. can bridge the performance gaps with industry leaders in artillery and in tactical missiles remains uncertain, but with both areas potentially receiving more attention and funding in light of their importance in Ukraine the possibility may well increase significantly.?
end of quote
whereas
quote
Mysterious explosions that rocked a Russian military base suggest Russian positions far behind the front lines are no longer safe, officials and experts say
Ryan Pickrell?Aug 11, 2022, 4:59 PM
Several large explosions occurred at Russia's Saki Air Base in occupied Crimea this week.
A Russian base in occupied Crimea, far behind the front lines of the ongoing war in Ukraine, was rocked by multiple large explosions this week, which left not only physical damage to buildings, planes, and personnel but likely psychological damage as well, according to experts and officials.
Russia claimed the blasts at Saki Air Base near Novofedorivka Tuesday were caused by the accidental detonation of ammunition stores and said that there were no injuries or damage to aircraft stationed at the base.
But at least one person was killed,?Reuters reported Thursday, and?satellite images?of the Russian base show that a number of Russian planes were damaged or destroyed.
Ukraine has not officially claimed responsibility for the explosions at Saki Air Base, which sits alongside oceanfront resorts popular with Russian tourists a couple hundreds kilometers from the frontline devastation and destruction in eastern Ukraine.
Privately, however, Ukrainian officials have been telling the media that Ukraine was behind the apparent attack.
Exactly how Ukraine might have been involved in the explosions remains something of a mystery.
One unnamed Ukrainian government official?told The Washington Post?that the attack at the airbase was carried out by special forces, while a Ukrainian presidential advisor suggested it was the work of either ranged weapons or local partisans,?according to the Associated Press.
In another article, a US official?told The Post?that it appeared Ukraine had used a long-range weapon but not one provided by the US, which has been hesitant to provide capabilities that would allow Ukraine to strike Russia, such as ATACMS missiles for US-made HIMARS.
A Ukrainian official?told The New York Times?that the explosions at the base, from which "planes regularly took off for attacks against our forces," were caused by a "a device exclusively of Ukrainian manufacture."
"I don't think it was an ammunition accident," Jeffrey Edmonds, an expert on the Russian military at CNA and a former CIA military analyst, told Insider.
"The best bet is there's a short-range ballistic missile that the Ukrainians had been working on," he said.
Ukraine has been working on such a missile, known as the Hrim-2?among some other names, and it is estimated to have a range of several hundred kilometers. Edmonds noted though that it is unclear if that missile is active.
"That would be my bet," Edmonds said. "It is a high-level of precision," he added. "They hit right where the aircraft were."
He said the amount of partisan activity in Crimea is uncertain, and a special-forces attack on the installation would probably have involved destroying military aircraft and structures with charges, causing damage different from what was seen in the satellite images of the base.
Perhaps much more important than how the apparent attack was executed or even the targets is the psychological effect on the Russians, as experts and officials have noted.
An unnamed Ukrainian official?told Politico?that the blasts let the Russians know that they "are safe nowhere," adding that this development "let them know how it feels."
"They are not invincible anywhere," Andriy Zagorodnyuk, a former Ukrainian defense minister and head of the Center for Defense Strategies,?explained to The Post. "They cannot feel safe in Crimea. They thought they were safe in Crimea and they thought they were safe at long-range distance."
"The psychological impact of this is much larger" than damage to the military base or the loss of some Russian aircraft, Edmonds said, telling Insider that it is a fair assessment that the implications of what occurred at Saki are that Russian positions in the rear are probably no longer safe.
Russian forces have struggled to achieve President Vladimir Putin's objectives in Ukraine due to missteps early in the war and fierce resistance from the Ukrainian armed forces, which derailed Russian efforts to take the capital and forced Moscow to concentrate on the east. Ukraine has already begun mounting a counteroffensive to retake lost ground.
Responding to questions from Politico about whether the explosions at the Russian military base in Crimea represented the beginning of a southern counteroffensive, officials said that "you can say this is it."
A senior Ukrainian defense official who confirmed Ukraine's involvement in the blasts at the base?told Yahoo News?that things are "just getting warmed up."
end of quote
Andrew Beckwith PhD