Tucker Carlson is an op. And a stalking horse for President. He plays the game just like they all do.

You’re right. If you are gonna do a ground invasion you really need to go in force. 5k is a suicide mission.

You’ve clearly not been paying attention. It’s trump’s party, now. Any serious descenting opinions have been routed out such as Liz Cheney. And it’s not just politicians. What’s left are the cowed and the sycophant. Sure, there has been descent in the ranks such as releasing the Epstein files but when asked about their justification it’s all fallen short of overt criticism of Trump. Nothing of the sort that could feasibility depose him. And the Democrats cravenly refuse to broach the subject, thinking that Trump is now electoral poison. A mistake they continue to make.

I’m not just factoring in Russia, here. If it was just Russia here you’d have a point. Russia has allies. The Trump Whitehouse and it seems that China is soft on Russia too. If push comes to shove, I really can’t guarantee that either of them would fall in line behind the EU. Add to that the authoritarian Narendra Modi’s India I really don’t think the EU would stand a chance…

Although, on the flip side, the EU may have allies themselves in Australia and Canada, and perhaps the UK plus the Scandinavian countries. But, even then…

I guess it also comes down to how much the different factions want the fight.

Do you honestly think the EU can stand alone against the super powers? With what? A lot of European munitions come from one of them. Sure, maybe the EU could throw all it’s chips in to the war effort and may squeak out a victory but they would have to dedicate around 80% of their income to it. We’re talking taking a World War 3 stance of preparedness. And be willing to go bankrupt in the process. If that happens the only result is Russia comes in an sells the EU for parts.

I think you’re both right as your stated opinions views are not diametrically opposed. I suspect the original commenter was not commenting to an utopian dream of a just peace, here. Their comment seems to be addressing realpolitik. The super power in the region and the current hegemonic super power in the world are aligned… and so is the new world super power, China when it comes to it. With that background, both Europe and Ukraine will loose and will have to accept what’s given to them.

Don’t you fear that it’ll be seen as escalatory?

That’s a mighty dangerous game. Two things will happen if this will happen:

1. Your economy will collapse. Some crucial US goods and services are the only game in town.
2. US will turn away from it’s old western allies towards the autocratic countries of the world.

I fear it’s not enough. Not by half.

What can they do? They’re wiped out, democratically at least until the mid terms. Considering the speed of events, the mid term is too late.

Trump’s vision is so myopic that he can’t see beyond his own nose. Same for is ability to care. If the US reneges on promises made as detailed in the Budapest Memorandum what chance will they have in other such promises. Countries are watching. This is doubly ironic as Trump keeps talking about nuclear war.

Can you deport into a meat grinder?

Trouble is, with the funding gone, the choice they now have is fight and die, or negotiate a settlement and most probably die. But slower. Probably. Ultimately, an independent Ukraine was a wonderful dream. Time to wake up. And with it any faith that the US will have to keep it’s promises.

“Cash or card”.

Criticising Israel can be antisemitic. Just check out the IHRA definition of antisemitism . Basically you can’t say that:

• Israel is a racist endeavour
• Comparing Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.
• Say that they use murder (especially of Christians) for ritual purposes.

I could have sworn that this story has done the rounds already. I guess it’s an update on that story as he has now resorted to litigation.

Maybe it took this long to develop an alternative. They now have an alternative… Right? The Kremlin wouldn’t send it’s citizens off to fight without being sufficiently equipped… Right?

How powerful a tool X is depends on how much legitimacy it can gain. If politicians are leaving the platform it can’t be long before advertisers also leave. I’m old enough to remember Myspace. Even Facebook is a bit pacé nowadays.

I could imagine Labour HQ running their own Lemmy server for their MPs and staff.

It really depends how well maintained the instances are. This extra work may come at a cost. Which may exclude some of the opportunists.