I defy anyone to read this @RandPaul thread - a summary of the Senate speech he gave - and argue he's wrong.
Even if you support flooding Ukraine with endless US money and weapons, the amounts are staggering, the risks of escalation severe. Shouldn't there at least be oversight?
In light of the creepily *unanimous* Dem Party support for this rapidly escalating US war role, I also strongly encourage everyone to read what @BernieSanders warned about in the @guardian on Feb. 8, about what the US shouldn't do after Russia invades:
WashPost: "Flood of weapons to Ukraine raises fear of arms smuggling"
"Shoulder-fired Stinger missiles, capable of downing commercial airliners, are just one of the weapon systems experts worry could slip into the possession of terrorist groups."
All ideologies spawn psychopaths who kill innocents in its name. Yet only some are blamed for their violent adherents: by opportunists cravenly exploiting corpses while they still lie on the ground.
When a Maddow-worshipping, Bernie-supporting fanatic shot GOP Congressmen in 2017, nobody held them responsible -- even though they deeply influenced the shooter and held all the same views -- because doing so would be reckless and irrational.
Many Dems voting YES on this gigantic and largely unprecedented war bill have long denounced exactly these sorts of bills, and even *very recently* warned against pouring billions of money and weapons into Ukraine.
What happened? And why won't they explain their votes?
Just 2 months, @IlhanMN correctly warned, on March 8, that it would be "likely disastrous" for the US to pour money and weapons into Ukraine.
Presumably, when Hoyer says "we're at war," he means: the United States is now at war with Russia, which seems like a pretty big deal to me, given that these two countries possess the planet's largest nuclear stockpiles.
Good morning. May I show you something truly amazing? Look at what @CoriBush admits about the $40b war package she -- and the entire Squad -- just voted for: "a large percentage" goes not to Ukraine but "to private defense contractors," with "increased risks of direct war."
To see her justifications for why she nonetheless voted YES, see the full statement, if you can discern a rationale.
At least she said something, unlike the other 5 Squad members who said nothing, despite requests, which I'll post if we receive anything:
The silence from the Squad about why they voted YES on a huge war package for Raytheon and CIA -- exactly what they have spent years denouncing -- is exceeded only by the utter silence of the sector of the left-media that branded and enriched itself by tying itself to the Squad.
For years, AOC and the Squad postured as standard left-wing anti-war and anti-imperialism activists. They railed against massive US expenditures to Raytheon, Lockheed Martin and the CIA. Now they just voted for one of the largest war packages ever. Listen to @AOC's own words:
During AOC's 2018 primary, she was unknown. @RyanGrim suggested I look. I did and became an enthusiast. I interviewed her: she vowed to vote NO on Pelosi, railed against identity politics, said establishment GOP & Dems were the enemy, denounced war budgets. Where is *this* AOC?
There's not even an inkling of this sentiment anywhere on the mainstream American left (meaning the Bernie/AOC "left"). They are -- yet again -- in pure lockstep unity with the establishment wings of both parties over rapidly escalating a war with a nuclear-armed power.
What's happening in DC seems to be a bridge too far even for NYT. In its report on Congress' approval of $40b more for the war in Ukraine - with every Dem voting YES - they note over and over: there is almost no questioning or debate over this escalation:
To the extent there's any questioning of the Biden Admin's stunningly rapid escalation of its involvement in a war with the nation with the largest nuclear stockpile, it comes solely from parts of the GOP and small sectors of right-wing media. Just pure compliance from the left: