271) Ukraine vs. America: What side are YOU on?

Before 1994, Ukraine had the THIRD LARGEST nuclear arsenal in the world. It gave up its nukes for promises of protection, the internationally-agreed-upon guarantee that Ukraine would retain its territorial sovereignty.

I remember that day. It was globally celebrated as a move towards de-nuclearization, and global peace.

What a farce.

Who were two of the key signatories to that agreement?

The United States, and Russia.

Now Ukraine is fighting for its very existence as a nation. Russia has invaded it multiple times. And the United States has tried to extort its mineral resources, not even providing a security guarantee.

And now, the United States votes with Russia at the UN, insisting that Ukraine give up its territory that Russia has, so far, taken by force, bombing and murdering Ukrainian civilians, and invading a peaceful democracy with soldiers, tanks, drones, and all the horrors of war.

The United States is going to "make deals" with Russia, and prop up its failing economy, lifting the sanctions that the free world has agreed to impose on this authoritarian nation that attacked OUR ALLY and is still, on a daily basis, murdering its civilians. Instead of standing firm against Russian aggression, the United States is going to HELP them.

The US and Russia, of course, have allies, like North Korea. Which has sent its own troops to join Russia in the fight on Ukrainian soil.

Never forget --- Ukraine GAVE UP ITS NUKES. For promises of security.

In my opinion, the American people have a long road ahead of them. There are, at least, 4 conditions that must be met before the free world should ever trust them or do business with them:

1) overthrow this Trump regime

2) fix their education system and media brain rot (esp. FOX and talk radio) -- (Note: 1 in 5 US adults is functionally illiterate; a full 1/2 of American adults read at a basic grade 5 or so level. That's half the population, who essentially cannot read complex information. Which goes a long way to explaining why 1/2 of Americans support Trump.)

3) show a huge and sustained shift in their population away from Christian Nationalism and white supremacy ideology

4) re-commit to the democratic national order (e.g., the UN, the World Health Organization, etc.). As far as I'm concerned, this does not include NATO. They deserve no place in NATO and should have to re-apply for membership to any military alliance involving their former allies, AFTER they show sustained, peaceful participation in international law and democracy.

Otherwise, we should never, ever, ever trust them again. Nor ally with them. Nor do business with them, as much as we are able to economically extract ourselves from what was, until a month ago, the most lucrative economic partnership in the world. The United States, as much as it breaks my heart to say this knowing that "only" half their population supports fascism, is no longer our friend, no longer our ally, and should be isolated internationally.

America First = America alone. I will never support further friendly relations with that country, until the 4 aforementioned conditions are met.

And any Canadian politician who advocates otherwise, while that country remains a powder keg of Christian Nationalism, white supremacy, and MAGA, should be resisted by Canadians, to the extreme. And yes, that means Pierre Poilievre. More on that, in future posts.