As Trump prepares to sell out Ukraine, Trump's art of the deal could validate Putin's steal....

 https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/mike-pence-issues-warning-to-donald-trump/ar-AA1yU7Vz

https://www.msn.com/.../mike-pence-issues.../ar-AA1yU7Vz As Trump prepares to sell out Ukraine, Pence raises a flag. https://apnews.com/article/nato-ukraine-us-hegseth-trump-russia-a3ca747b102cae6737436596444a32d0. As expected, Trump will end the current fighting, but what a price. He is negotiating in secret behind our backs and Ukraine's with a 90-minute phone call to Putin. If he freezes the Ukrainian war fight at the current front lines, he is not negotiating in good faith and US national security interest, but he capitulating and appeasing. The author of The Art of the Deal has already violated the premises of a successful deal. Trump's artless deal would validate Putin's steal. Trump gave away two aces in advance of the "negotiations. The boundaries of Ukraine returning to the pre-Russia invasion and NATO membership are off the table, as stated in advance.

To think this is "peace in our time" is either self-delusional or conning the American people. It is no better than in 1938 when Chamberlain handed parts of Czechoslovakia to the Nazis. That epic error in the face of a determined aggressor looking for Lebensraum is similar to Trump's plans in 2025 in the face of Russian determination to reconstitute the old USSR boundaries; it is equally heading toward another epic mistake. Trump's art of the deal could validate Putin's steal. MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: Trump's alliance with Putin's Russia is a fool's gamble.

Here is what is at stake:

1) At stake immediately is the security of Western Europe and NATO members, small and weak ones, the target of Putin. The Baltics and Moldova are at risk, which will test NATO's entire purpose and eventually destroy it.. Attacking one member is an attack on all, and there must be a counter-attack and come to the aid of the victim members. That is called mutual defense, and that is why NATO was formed, to counter future Russian aggression and, in their unity, make Russia understand such aggression is self-destruction. Now Trump is blowing that strategy up. Putin will be free to subvert and use other means than the military to take over what is left of Ukraine, he thinks, and he can march into the Baltics with no fear that NATO will put up a fight with military resistance thanks to the election of Donald Trump. Trump may think he bought peace. Putin will see it as a green light to take his crusade to other countries. The immediate concern is the security of the rest of Ukraine from Russia taking advantage of the weakness of Europe's military to stop it.

2 )Much of the raw earth minerals and important natural resources, such as gas and oil, are located in the parts the Russians already control; Putin wants to be located in the areas of Ukraine that Russia controls. Trump's art of the deal could validate Putin's steal. The ignorance of Trump's minions showed when the new head of Treasury demands that Pres. Zelensky of Ukraine handed over half of the lithium deposits in Ukraine to the US as payment for our past and future support of them,, without realizing those deposits were in the hands of the Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine. https://www.npr.org/2025/02/14/nx-s1-5297752/trump-administration-presses-ukraine-for-a-rare-metals-deal-in-exchange-for-aid

3) Capitulation and appeasement will not lead to "peace in our time" but to future wars any more than they did in 1938. So long as Russia feels unfettered and has its stated goal to reassemble the old boundaries of influence and control, there will not be peace in our time. To think that Western Europe sees its own security threatened by Putin would not put up a fight is, at best, self-delusional, and there will not be peace in our time. MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: Is it 1939 all over again, a bookend of my life?   

I once thought Putin's grab, after he failed to invade Kyiv, was to get a land bridge to their new territory in Crimea (which the West graciously allowed). It is not just that; it is natural resources. The point everyone except Trump et al. gets is that Russia is out to get the NATO small counties in the Baltics for access to warm water ports, among other desires to reassemble the influence boundaries of the old USSR...of all of Eastern Europe. They may wake up and find Russia at their doorsteps if not gobbled up by Mother Russia and guns pointed their way. That is why Poland, Germany, Finland, and Scandinavia are so very alarmed, and they pledge armies and resources, which now exceed the US total budget spent to defend NATO. More than ever, Europe stepped up the plate out of fear of the Russian stated goal to reconstruct the old USSR's glory days satellites, now mostly NATO members. Trump conned his followers in his first term to say he would not come to the defense of a NATO country that did not pay their dues to NATO. The uninformed had no clue that there are no "dues," only pledges to spend 2% of their GDP based on per capita data on defense. Germany had disbanded its military years ago, and now it must rebuild it from scratch. Trump did not make them do it: Russia's invasion of Ukraine did it. Finland and Sweden, after years of neutrality, joined NATO for the same reason: mutual defense in numbers of allies who would respond.

The Trump regime's membership in NATO for Ukraine has always been off the table. Others may disagree, but Trump's the boss now. There may not be room, even given the Trump/Putin bromance, to get Putin to agree no further military action in Ukraine, but he might.. Russia can always use other, more subversive methods to grab the rest of Ukraine. A non-aggression pact is useless because of that, but it would serve as propaganda for the record to calm the nerves of any opposition. Easy to predict: both Trump and Putin will claim victory. Ukraine will get screwed. Peace in our time will be a farce in the long term, but today, it will make Putin look good and Trump appear weak. Appeasement is not a good look, whether it was a planned strategy or a cave-in.

The lesson Putin will get is that if you just wait for Trump to get elected, everything will be alright with Russia. Taking that lesson to heart, expect the US to belly up if Putin makes a grab of the Baltics while Trump is still in office. . Trump, in his first term, already proclaimed war in the Baltics is not worth a war.. Bye-bye, Baltics.

According to my sources familiar with European currents of thought, we could expect bilateral mutual defense pacts or a new umbrella organization outside of NATO to guarantee the remainder of Ukraine's national independence from Russia. It has a chance. Poland, Germany, France, and Ukraine are likely to do these mutual defense treaties. There could be others like the UK or Italy or others who could play some backup role or join. The umbrella will not likely be the EU because there are those in it who are playing footsie with Putin. Zelensky, speaking in Munich at the Security conference on 2/14/25, called for a new European army to stop Putin.

Mapped: Where are Ukraine's rare earth mineral resources and why does Trump want them? | The Independent

 Here is per capita NATO contributions per member per capita per percent of GDP.  . https://www.google.com/search?q=nato+contributions+by+country+per+capita&rlz=1CAJFMC_enUS1016US1016&oq=nato+contributions+by+country+per&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0i512j0i390i512i650l2.120405415j0j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8   

MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: The economic reasons Russia wants to annex Ukraine ..oil and gas sales to Europe

Donald Trump Speaks to Vladimir Putin, Negotiations to End Ukraine War 'Immediately' - Newsweek

per Google AI: Ukraine's oil and gas reserves are located in the Carpathian region, the Dnieper-Donetsk region, and the Black Sea-Sea of Azov region. 

Dnieper-Donetsk region 

• The largest oil and gas producing region in Ukraine
• Home to about 80% of Ukraine's proven natural gas reserves
• Includes the Dnieper-Donetsk and Lublin shale gas basins

Carpathian region Located in western Ukraine and Contributes to 10% of Ukraine's natural gas production. 

Trump is in danger of making himself the Neville Chamberlain of the 21st century

Historical notes: Appeasing Germany in Sudetenland was the beginning of events leading to WWII. Neville Chamberlain, PM of the UK,touting "peace our times", signed the agreement to hand over Sudetenland to Hitler in 1938, leading Hitler to believe he could get his way with appeasers. In 1939, a non-aggression pact that between the Soviets and Nazis lasted until 1941 when Germany attacked Russia in an epic doublecross, but it cleared the way to letting Htiler invade Poland without Soviet interference. . The 1939 pact attempted to divide Europe between Russia and Germany. . A nonaggression pact did not stop Hitler's appetite to grab more land, as Russia found out. Trump would be a fool to trust Putin's word in any non-aggression pact, as well. He is just as determined to retake the old USSR's areas of control as Hitler was to get lebensraum (living space).

MAGA and Trump, modern day appeasers, are carrying water for Putin

MAGA and Trump, modern-day appeasers, are carrying water for Putin. Trump and MAGA are now supporting Putin''s pitch:  save lives (instead of saving Ukraine's independence from Russia) so agree to Putin's terms to even first begin peace talks. Putin's conditions: agree to hand over land to Russia and withdraw troops from them and agree never to join NATO.  As Harris put it: Putin's terms are surrender., Trump, like Putin, wants Ukraine to surrender first before they can negotiate. we will talk about what part of Ukraine Zelensky will hand over. In short, first defang Ukraine and then talk. Not only is that a non-starter, it paves the way for a full Russian takeover of the rest of Ukraine using subversion or military action because it takes away the ability of the remaining part of Ukraine to use force and Western support to stop any takeover. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/harris-trump-russia-ukraine-2024/

https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/econographics/whos-at-2-percent-look-how-nato-allies-have-increased-their-defense-spending-since-russias-invasion-of-ukraine/#:~:text=In%20total%2C%20NATO%20countries%20now,of%20their%20GDP%20on%20defense

Whether Trump is an appeaser or not will be on the agenda, no doubt, in the VP debates on October. Expect JD Vance to respond to that accusation if Walz makes it. Vance's position non that entry into NATO is a return for some "guarantee of Ukraine's sovereignty" and unstated expected gifting of some Ukraine territory to Russia. That's a Sudetenlike trap, and Zelensky is justified in alluding to it: 

Recently, MAGA has been trying to rewrite history, blaming Biden was to blame for Putin's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The more important question is what "deal" would Trump hand Putin if Trump won in 2024 on day one of swearing in.  He seems to be echoing Putin's position for whatever reason.  It begs the question of whose side is Trump on, anyway.  https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2024/09/trumps-charge-that-biden-caused-russias.html

These fools opposing US aid to Ukraine are like the appeasers in 1938 led by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, who handed the keys to the Sudetenland to Hitler in Munich, thinking it would stop WWII and there would be "peace in our time". Sudetenland, a province of Czechoslovakia, became part of Germany. Hitler claimed that was his last territorial claim to northern Europe. One year later, the rest of Czechoslovakia had become a state Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, controlled by Hitler, reneging on his agreement at Munich and opening the door for the invasion of Poland and France later in 1939. MAGA, the American Firsters, and Trump are the Chamberlains of 2024 who want to give Putin what he wants: Ukraine. In some fantasy ideas, it would avoid WWIII. https://www.pbs.org/.../watch-trump-protgmises-to-settle... Like Hitler, Putin, too, lusts for the expansion of control over neighboring land. Hitler called his goal Lebensraum (living space). Putin is also a dictator, with his publicly stated goal to destroy the USSR's former satellites' alliance with the West in order to bring the USSR's Cold War former satellites back into Russia's control. It satisfies his hypernationalistic international expansionism at the expense of Western democracies and strengthens his control over his own citizens who buy into his vision. His invasion of Ukraine was his first step, and war is one of his methods of accomplishing that.

Why should we care? Putin gets it, and we should, too: Those in control can determine their destiny; the rest either follow or are victims

What MAGA should have learned from the past 85 years is that appeasement of a determined aggressor leads to war, not peace. Appeasement is fool's gold. It leads aggressors to epic miscalculations. To aggressors, appeasement is a signal of weakness and lack of resolve of their target takeover. It is not a bone thrown to keep the dog quiet. Japan and Germany thought the American Firsters opposing involvement in Europe would keep the US neutral and provide easy pickings to get away with their territorial grabs. Japan and Germany learned a hard lesson...but at an enormous expense of America's blood and treasure.

How determined is Putin to go further after he absorbs Ukraine into Russia? It may come as a surprise to MAGA to know that Putin is not America's friend. Using his own words and his published ideology, Putin's goal is to make Russia great again by making America and Western democracies weak again, perhaps more like they were before WW II., isolated and divided. To increase his power at home and abroad, his goal is to weaken NATO and the G7, and Ukraine was to be his first step with the use of war. https://www.gmfus.org/news/putins-revolution-and-war-historical-crossroads For Putin, the loss of the USSR's satellites at the end of the Cold War was Russia's "genuine tragedy". https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna7632057 His regime wants "Ukraine to come home to Russia". https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/putin-ally-says-ukraine-is-definitely-russia-rules-out-talks-with-zelenskiy-2024-03-04/

It might come as a surprise to MAGA if they get their news only from media "they trust" to learn that Harris has the endorsement of 700 military and national security leaders of all political affiliations. https://www.axios.com/2024/09/22/national-security-officials-endorse-harris

Putin's miscalculation was that Ukraine would be unable or unwilling to resist what he thought was a three-day march to the Ukraine capital.  He had reason to believe he could succeed since Trump's bromance with him was a sign of lack of Western opposition, a US president who could be manipulated by flattery, the election of a comedian as Ukraine's new president, years of low-level stagnant warfare in eastern Ukraine,  and Russia's blackmailing control of oil supplies to Western Europe. His takeover of Ukrainian Crimea only got a verbal slap on the hand and some sanctions.  Instead of weakening NATO, Biden was elected. With his leadership, NATO members rallied to support Ukraine with military and economic aid because they also began to see  their own members as Putin's next target. Instead of destroying NATO's mutual defense clause, Putin's Ukrainian invasion backfired.  The membership of Sweden and Finland completed NATO's surround of Russia's western facing borders. With the prospect of a Trump return to the White House and his isolationist, anti-alliance resolve, you cannot blame Putin for still thinking his stalled takeover of Ukraine is a temporary setback. He is just biding his time until Nov.5 and Trump's election.

As VP Kamala Harris noted in her joint meeting with President Zelensky of Ukraine on 9/26/24, MAGA's demands that Ukraine agree to give up chunks of land to Russia and agree not to join NATO are identical to Putin's recent conditions to end the war. It is a demand for surrender. As Harris said, the US support of Ukraine is not an act of charity but an act of self-interest and national security. "Isolation is not insulation", Harris's direct rebuke of MAGA and American Firsters, 2024 edition. Isolationism will not insulate us from Putin's plans. https://www.cnn.com/.../poli.../trump-russia-nato/index.html) FYI MAGA, Europe has contributed twice as much to Ukraine's defense as the USA, but unchanged, Trump's way to end the war is to give Russia whatever" the hell they want." He'll just pick up the phone to Putin, his friend, and settle the matter. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-trump-promises-to-settle-war-in-ukraine-if-elected   That is music to Putin's ears.

https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna7632057

Ukraine Support Tracker: Europe clearly overtakes US, with total commitments now twice as large | Kiel Institute (ifw-kiel.de)

https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2024/09/newest-magalland-craziness-way-to.html

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/06/14/russias-putin-outlines-conditions-for-peace-talks-with-ukraine.html

Why does Trump appeal to voters with less than a college degree?

There is a reason Trump's demographic appeals to the least educated in this country. It is easier to manipulate and lie to the uneducated.  Here are some examples of why: We have been there before with isolationism and fascism and appeasement. Trump touts all three. These were failures then 90 years ago and will be failures in the future. Education is a substitute for institutional memory that few alive have from 80 to 90 years ago.. Fascism destroyed Germany and Italy. Isolationism and appeasement only work when there are no aggressive adversaries. The US and British tried and it resulted in WW II. We have it now with Russia and China who are aggressive adversaries. To them, appeasement and boot-licking is the sign of weakness, not alliances, to be taken advantage of. 

 I am on a private Facebook page that is a rare interface with both Trump voters and progressives.  It is entitled Political Debate and Discussion.  Neither happens because the Trump supporters simply post meme bombs instead of discussing and debating.  Dropping a clever phrase of a meme and then thinking they have dropped the mike, and therefore, their truth is enough to win an argument, is not debate or discussion. It is simply meme and insult hurling.  The meme that got me this morning came from a Trump supporter (identified by other frequent FB postings), basically calling the educated from Ivy League schools dumb for not agreeing with them on issues. It is the old "anti-pointy-headed" name-calling that has proved to be helpful in getting the vote of the less educated ever since Adlai Stevenson lost in the 1950s when I first became aware of politics. He was just too intellectual. Trump depends on less schooled and educated for his support.  Self-interest usually underlies voters more than another element in motivating votes, which is my observation.  However, there is room for rational discussion, particularly on public policy issues, if not on cultural, religious, and racial motivation.  One of the greatest dividers in our current political climate is how much education a voter has, whether they have a college degree or not, if they are racially identified as white. 

In college, you learn more about the past so you do not repeat the failures and mistakes of others, and you learn there are also two sides to most contentious issues and you can make comparisons and contrasts. Granted, it is so much easier to reproduce a meme and share it. It saves a person from learning about data and evidence. Education changes perspectives and gives a realization that things are not always as simple as they seem and that there may be unintended consequences.

 Biden improved over Clinton among White non-college voters. White voters without a college degree were critical to Trump’s victory in 2016 when he won the group by 64% to 28%. In 2018, Democrats gained some ground with these voters, earning 36% of the White, non-college vote to Republicans’ 61%. In 2020, Biden roughly maintained the Democrats’ 2018 share among the group, improving Clinton’s 2016 performance by receiving the votes of 33%. But Trump’s share of the vote among this group – who represented 42% of the total electorate this year – was nearly identical to his vote share in 2016 (65%). Pew Research, source of figures.  Biden's blue-collar background, the guy from Scranton, has made some inroads in the non-college-educated demographic, and you see him on the campaign trail now emphasizing his pro-union advocacy.

https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2021/06/30/behind-bidens-2020-victory/

• "Biden improved over Clinton among White non-college voters. White voters without a college degree were critical to Trump’s victory in 2016, when he won the group by 64% to 28%. In 2018, Democrats gained some ground with these voters, earning 36% of the White, non-college vote to Republicans’ 61%. In 2020, Biden roughly maintained Democrats’ 2018 share among the group, improving upon Clinton’s 2016 performance by receiving the votes of 33%. But Trump’s share of the vote among this group – who represented 42% of the total electorate this year – was nearly identical to his vote share in 2016 (65%)."

Religious affiliation is another large determinant influencing voters' decisions besides race that overwhelms political critical thinking. It did not used to be that way. I am a white Christian protestant who belongs to a mainstream traditional church, and sometimes I wonder where some of the theology that has nothing to do with the bible I read comes from.  I grew up in the "bible belt," where the goal was to get more believers in faith preached in a particular denomination.. Now it has become, get more Trump supporters because he is the second coming.  So, I listen.  

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/flashpoint-trump-republican-christian-tv-show-rcna150303

That is not a unanimous view, even among those protestants who identify themselves as evangelicals, and there is pushback, but the Christian nationalism this Flashpoint preacher promotes is very much part of the Trump political base.  It helps answer the question of where is this belief ideology coming from

https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2023/12/simple-minds-for-simple-solutions.html

Pinch me: Is it 1938 or 2023. Is this "defund Ukraine" stuff DeJa'Vu all over again?

Pinch me. Is it 1938 or 2023. Is this "defund Ukraine" stuff DeJaVu all over again? While Russia fights in Ukraine, another former USSR Satellite faces a Russian land grab as Russia tries to reassemble the old empire. Now it is Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan Issues Warning as Russian Ally Teeters (newsweek.

Putin’s plan for a new Russian Empire includes both Ukraine and Belarus - Atlantic Council

Putin has succeeded in Crimea, Moldova, and Georgia, but he miscalculated in Ukraine because Ukrainians wanted to join the Western economy and stay independent of Russia. There are centuries of history at play here. Putin also miscalculated that the West cared, and the West saw Ukraine as the largest country in Eastern Europe, bordering on a long list of our allies, many of which once were former USSR satellites. This is not just a land dispute between two corrupt countries. We did not help Ukraine because we wanted to save it from corruption, as some foolish appeasers claim Ukraine is not worthy of our help. We helped Ukraine in spite of their struggles against corruption but because they voted for reformers like Zelenskyy and a Western-style economy. As a condition to join the EU, they have to bridle their corruption. We did it because Russia's grab of Ukraine threatened our own national security interests... We saw Ukraine's independence as vital to stop Russia from further land grabs of our allies that would cause us to put our troops into a bloody conflict. This is 1939 all over again. Ukraine is our 21st-century Sudeten Czechoslovakia, and annexing it to Russia formally or informally will not bring peace in our time. Russia miscalculated they could control Western Europe by blackmailing them over energy dependence on Russia. They miscalculated that, too. Europe saw where their national security interests lay and found other sources of energy. What Putin is calculating now is that Trump and his appeasing followers will win in November 2024, so they will be handed a victory without firing another shot. Because of this, there will be no peace talks for at least another year. Why should Russia concede anything when the foolish keep gaining strength in US polls and Congress?

https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/17/opinions/support-ukraine-trump-politics-zakaria/index.html

https://www.cnn.com/.../support-ukraine-trump.../index.html

This is a concept as fatigue sets in with the support of Ukraine, and the war reaches a stalemate similar to the trench warfare of WW I. Western Nations holding Russian funds should freeze them and set up a reconstruction fund for Ukraine, not only funding Ukrainians from Russian money but also providing a reconstruction fund kept out of the hands of Russia. Russia cannot get away with what it did, invading a country to absorb it on its own. Currently, per Zakaria, Russia is holding on waiting for the election of Trump who would hand over Ukraine to Russia, eliminating any ability for Ukraine to keep up the fight,

Defacto appeasement: West's weak response to Russia's aggression in Georgia and Crimea greenlight Putin in Ukraine

Did the West's weak response to Russia's aggression in Georgia and Crimea greenlight Putin in Ukraine? In retrospect, the West's failure to object strongly enough to Putin's advancement and war in Georgia and his takeover of Crimea sent the message that his takeover of Ukraine would be met with the same tolerable slap on the hands.  This defacto appeasement by weak response did not prevent Putin's invasion of Ukraine but only greenlighted him. It contributed to Putin's misconception and an epic miscalculation that the West would not respond to Russia's invasion of Ukraine with a NATO in such disarray. Rattle a threat of nuclear war would be all that was needed to keep the west at bay. Putin had good reason to think that since Donald Trump had done little to object to Russia's grab of Crimea and the 8 years of fighting in the  Donbas region of Ukraine other than a slap on the hand of sanctions on oligarch friends of Putin, supplying anti-tank weapons, and retraining of Ukraine's army. Trump had done what he could to weaken NATO, threatening to end America's support or honor the mutual defense purpose of the alliance. 

Trump attempted to make the case now as he kicked off the 2024 campaign that he alone could end the war in Ukraine that would prevent World War III.  Donald Trump speaking before CPAC said he knows how to end the Ukraine war and "prevent world war III" because only he "can talk with Putin".  He could end the war in one day even before he was sworn in, claimed. If it is appeasing Russia he has in mind, we have seen that scene before both in recent years and  85 years ago. There are those, fortunately still a minority in Congress, who agree with Trump. They are fools and history ignoramuses. 

 If we have learned nothing from history, it is that appeasement does not stop a war when the aggressor has made his intentions obvious, and public, and uses it to aggrandize his own power base. That was true of Hitler in 1938, and it is true of Putin in 2023. Appeaser is a toxic word to pin on politicians to all but the naive and uneducated who follow them. It is time we do some educating about how that has played out in both the past five years and 85 years ago.

Would Trump have his Chamberlain moment if he got his second term? "Anschluss" and "peace in our time" after Chamberlain's negotiations with Hitler that gave him what he wanted, " appeasement", "America First", and "Fortress America" are words that also come from the year of 1938 leading up to World War II. Presidential elections in 2024 could be our 1938 moment.  America First is also a political force in 2023. Appeasement is not yet in wide use in 2023, but it does describe Trump's policies toward Russia. Anschluss refers to Germany and Austria becoming one under Hitler, and Putin does not consider Ukraine an independent country, but part of Russia. The term Fortress America does not yet apply to isolationists, but should, because of the fallacy that America is not interconnected with the rest of the world and we, stupidly, can protect ourselves without the help of allies if we are armed enough because there are oceans on both sides of our continent.  The mentality exists in 2023, but the term went out of fashion with Pearl Harbor. 

• Recently, nearly announced candidate for the GOP nomination for the 2024 presidential race is Ron DeSantis.  He seems to think riding the appeasement horse is the way to go. 3/16/23   Senate Republicans distance themselves from DeSantis’s Ukraine stance | The Hill  

 At this point, it appears that Trump will still win in the primaries and will be the GOP candidate in 2024. Looking at Trump's relations with Russia in his first term, we know what he has in mind if he ever got into the oval office again. Sure, he knows how to end the war in Ukraine. The problem is, if his past predicts his future action, it would put wind in Putin's sails to continue his Anschluss of Ukraine and return of the rest of eastern Europe into satellites again by subversion or invasion.

 Trump's actions in his first term directly led to Putin's invasion of Ukraine and Putin's miscalculation. While prior administrations also looked the other way as Putin began to use force to grab his neighbors, Trump not only looked the other way at Putin's success in grabbing lands, he cleared the path by subverting NATO's power to block him. He also had a bromance with Putin, admiring his leadership style and trusting Putin's national security folks over his own in an infamous NATO meeting in Helsinki.  No wonder Putin miscalculated. He counted on Trump having a second term and Biden having lost a step in old age, so it is better to strike while he still could. He was wrong in one of the most epic miscalculations so far in this century. To think Trump ends the Ukraine conflict in minutes as he boasted at the early March  CPAC  convention is easy to predict based on his past actions. Speculation is well-founded that he would just hand over to Russia the eastern third of Ukraine and then stand by as Russia continues the march into the leftovers as the west stopped arming Ukraine, any treaty promises notwithstanding. That Trump would even honor NATO'S mutual defense clause is doubtful since he already tried to declare it dead once before, leading to Putin's continued march into the Baltics and Poland for starters, in spite of their NATO membership.  It would only take Trump a five-minute phone call to Putin to start the appeasement ball rolling.   Trump could crow "peace in our time" after that fateful phone call to Putin,  but peace would be short-lived as experience with Putin has already demonstrated and advocated publicly. . His ambitions lie further than Ukraine but to the nine countries bordering Russia.  Ukraine was just the low-hanging fruit, he thought. That Trump could be pinned down to say just how he would end the Ukraine war is a worthy, if futile, campaign attack by opponents, but his silence could also be damning and verification of his appeasement intent.  

To say that appeasement would end Putin's stated goal to reassemble the old USSR's empire or lessen the chances of World War III is at best nuts.  Appeasement did not stop Hitler from seeking " lebensraum", nor would it stop Putin who has staked his continued dictatorship of Russia on hyper-nationalist appeal to a reincarnation of the USSR'S former glory days that is a rallying cry that is quite popular with the Russian masses. Putin's polls have never been higher.  It would also give a green light for President Xi to grab Taiwan and likewise extend the Chinese empire to southeast Asia and beyond.

 This segment on America First and isolationism What is wrong about America First and isolationism. It depends. has been moved to its own separate blog posting: 3/7/23. This subject is a big one. It is not simple as sloganeering would make you think. So what's wrong with "America first" and isolationism?.  It depends if we are talking about national defense or economic interests.  Trump himself sneers at those who support strong military alliances, like NATO, as globalists.  When it comes to national defense and security, isolationist policies shoot us in our own feet by making America first America alone, with defense all by ourselves. National security interests are often entangled in trade and economic concerns, especially when China is involved. That takes a balancing act, targeted tradeoffs, in the extent of reliance on sensitive imports. For more, go to the 3/7/blog posting.

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Why should "appeasement" be a dirty word. If  Trump followers have forgotten history or slept through that chapter in school. here is a refresher course in less than a one-minute read.: In March 1938 Hitler completed joining Austria with Germany,  Next on Hitler's list was Czechlovakia's Sudentenland and a few other smaller areas Chamberlain declared "peace in our time" as he made the deal with Hitler (he failed to read Mein Kampf) re: Czechoslovakia, September 1938. Within a year, Hitler had completed his takeover or placed Nazi Hungarians in charge of all of Czechoslovakia and marched into Poland.  World War II had begun. In June 1940, the Germans took over France. The German blitz bombing of England began in September 1940, two years after the declaration of "the peace in our time".  In June 1941, Germany began its invasion of Russia, betraying a pact with Stalin.  December 7, 1941, was Pearl Harbor, as imperial Japan also sensed our military weakness and devotion to isolationism to hold onto our Pacific dominance.   Its timeline to build an empire began in 1931 and included a treaty with Hitler and Italy in 1940.

Those who think Putin who has declared his intent to reassemble Russian influence in the USSR years over eastern Europe or that Chi in China is calculating US resolve to protect Taiwan from their publicly stated eventual goal are kidding themselves. Neither has made it a secret of their intent.

 Vladimir Putin’s Russia: Trying to Rebuild the Soviet Era? (thecollector.com)

Milley: China Wants Capability to Take Taiwan by 2027, Sees No Near-term Intent to Invade - USNI News

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-44852812    Trump in Helsinki, 2018

Japan Builds An Empire | Timetoast timelines

Tripartite Pact | Definition, History, Significance, & Facts | Britannica

Donald Trump claims he would end Ukraine war ‘in one day’ - YouTube

America First Political Action Conference - Wikipedia

https://www.newsweek.com/pro-russia-power-grab-georgia-thwarted-massive-street-protests-1787791?utm_source=push_notification&utm_source=pushnami&utm_medium=Push_Notifications&utm_campaign=fullauto&utm=1678961580051

Senate Republicans distance themselves from DeSantis’s Ukraine stance | The Hill

Sharper messaging is needed. Call out the Russia appeasers on Ukraine policy

 .The Putin appeasers are gaining ground per recent polls.. Let us call the right-wing media and their political leaders out with sharper messaging. Call them what they are: Putin appeasers, fools, and historical ignoramuses. For more on this subject, MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: Defacto appeasement: West's weak response to Russia's aggression in Georgia and Crimea greenlight Putin in Ukraine

Those who do not study history, are doomed to repeat it. Here is a lesson within my lifetime: In March 1938 Hitler completed joining Austria with Germany,  Next on Hitler's list was Czechlovakia's Sudentenland and a few other smaller areas Chamberlain declared "peace in our time" as he made the deal with Hitler (he failed to read Mein Kampf) re: Czechoslovakia. Within a year, Hitler had completed his takeover or placed Nazi Hungarians in charge of all of Czechoslovakia and marched into Poland.  World War II had begun..  Those who think Putin who has declared his intent to reassemble Russian influence in the USSR years over eastern Europe or that Chi in China is calculating US resolve to protect Taiwan from their publicly stated goals are kidding, do not be a fool or a historical ignoramus. 

Tag them and brand them with that term. Isolate them within their own party, over 60% of whom still support the US role and reasons for it in Ukraine. It is still a bi-partisan-supported policy, and both Democratic and Republican leadership are on board with the continued support of Ukraine. Just waiving the democracy flag and showing sympathy for the death and destruction of Russia's invasion is not enough.The message is also " Appeasement has never worked because it signifies to the wannabe aggressors and territorial grabbers that we and our allies are weak and ripe for the pickings." Those appeasers are sailing on the ship of fools, and they are asking more to jump aboard. Some are answering their call. The message must be made sharper because there is an increasing part of those who are Republicans who are no longer supporting aid to Ukraine. This poll shows these shrill media and political right-wing American firster demagogic voices are influencing more of the ignorant and unthinking audiences.. It is time to reach these ignorant of history and simpleton thinkers with much sharper messaging. As retired 4 star Admiral James Savridis said 2/24 on Morning Joe said "you can draw a strait plumb line in the 1930's to World War" because of the isolationists. "We have seen this before a hundred years ago". Calling them out in uncertain branding terms as Putin appeasers, reminding them that if they claim the US is weak, just wait how weak we will look if Putin continues his push into his neighbors and we give him the green light to do so by flagging support of Ukraine and making it a false choice between aid to Ukraine and paying attention to China. The issues are connected in one respect. Reducing aid to Ukraine will not stop Putin's stated goal to reassemble the USSR's control over eastern Europe and will only embolden China to think they can get away with grabbing Taiwan because we appear to be too weak to stop Russia in Ukraine. Instead, we will have a much more expensive and dangerous two-front larger military threat. A stitch in time saves nine. It is not either China or Ukraine: it is both. We can now, and Biden is. Biden's strengthening alliances and military defenses in both Europe and in Asiam fear of Chinese expansionism are critical strategies in avoiding a much wider war later.

PEWRESEARCH.ORG

As Russian invasion nears one-year mark, partisans grow further apart on U.S. support for Ukraine

The share of Republicans who say the U.S. gives too much aid to Ukraine has steadily increased, from 9% in March 2022 to 40% now.