... and you continue to tell me that we are not dumber than dumb. Bah!

 Speaker Mike Johnson is being criticized because Democrats supported his recent efforts on behalf of Ukraine.  Republican hard liners wanted to leverage Ukraine in order to get progress on improving border security.  I totally agree that border security is an extremely serious problem.  I also agree that President Biden’s policy vis-a-vis Ukraine is a muddled mess, but I heartily disagree with the notion that it is somehow wrong for Democrats to vote for a bill proposed by a Republican.  Those that take that view are championing the very thing that is destroying us - our inability to compromise.  That lacunae in our thinking leads directly to the flip flop nature of our policies at home and abroad.  Neither conservative nor liberal has all of the answers to any of the problems facing us.  As each successively gains the upper hand in domestic politics, both domestic and foreign agendas flip to a new set of inadequate talking points, supported vociferously, at best, by only half of the country.  Oversimplifying, Trump wants to make America Great Again, in part, by attempting to ignore the rest of the world, and Biden wants to invite the rest of the world to come live with us so that we can take care of them with your and my tax money.  Neither policy is going to cut the mustard, but none of us take the time to understand that because each one of us are firmly committed to one side of the pissing contest that allegedly is our national dialog.  There is no dialog.  There is just a bunch of crazed, self-important lunatics yelling at the top of their lungs about stuff that they know virtually nothing about.

I make the argument that World War III is incompatible with the continued existence of humanity as we know it now, but the challenges surrounding that fact are so humungous that the average human is unable to wrap our minds around them.  The reaction of most of us is to lower our head and focus on what is directly before us in our daily lives.  This accounts for our fascination with the age of the fetus, the price of gasoline, the number of chips in the bag, the proper use of pronouns, and our precious feelings.  We willingly give up our democratic responsibilities to one or the other blowhard that seeks to recruit us to his or her brand of tribalism.  These career politicians on both sides of the political aisle obfuscate rather than lead.  Some percentage of us will not change our minds about anything, while the rest of us willing go with the flow and accept whatever our favorite talking head tells us is truth.  An extremely small percentage of us try to think things through and come up with real solutions to real problems and those that try are immediately sanctioned by a society that can not stand the truth.

I was asked to be Consul General in Danang by a government that already knew that it was going to abandon Viet Nam.  I was told in writing, that if the North Vietnamese were to invade, my government would send a battalion of Marines and an aircraft carrier full of helicopters to help me get out of Dodge.  When the NVA did come across the line a year or so later, the aircraft carrier did not come.  The guy that commanded the designated Marine battalion was a personal friend.  He called me on the telephone and told me that he was ready, but that he was not being permitted to come.  My team and I implemented the alternative, hard scrabble, plan that we had developed because I did not expect my government to come to our assistance when push came to shove.  (They never did tell us - they just didn't come.)  I confess that that experience has gone a very long way in educating me about all manner of things and obviously explains some of the reasons why you and I see the world differently.  I am proud of the fact that my team and I got every single person that we were responsible for, not only out of I Corps, but out of country and a lot of other folks that were not on any list, but should have been, as well.

Biden told Ukraine that he would help them withstand Russian aggression.  Putin remembered that Biden/Obama gave him Crimea and Biden walked out of Afghanistan in the middle of the night without telling his NATO partners that he was leaving town.  Push is coming to shove in two or three places in the world, the American government is getting squishy again, and you and I are arguing about when we find it acceptable to snuff the fetus.  The idiots that we have put in charge of the insane asylum are going to make decisions willy nilly and things will be decided.  We, in our infinite wisdom, after the shit hits the fan, will assess blame and vote the other tribe into office.  

The flip flop will continue until some idiot pushes the nuclear button and you continue to tell me that we are not dumber than dumb.  Bah!  We should stand up for what we say we believe, even if it puts our precious asses in harms' way.  Cowardly vacillation just plain does not work and neither does greedy self interest that ignores the plight of others that are not members of our particular club, tribe or sexual persuasion.  I am beginning to think that people are too stupid for humanity to long survive.