"Re-thinking Oz's defence plans" Topic

I heard on a podcast the three Chinese 747's were sent to evacuate Chinese civilian nationals.

Yep, we may never know.

Dragon that makes sense, but like OVI posted … so who knows ?

China and Russia don't have the resources to project conventional force in the region

Yes as I have said before China can cross a neighboring border. It is still in question if they could even get enough forces to Tawain to be effective. Not just transports, etc. But the USN & USAF may get involved.

Russia as we see can't really effectively project force across a neighboring nations border …

My apologies Dal Gavin

Accepted. But it's Gavan. My parents were too cheap to buy me a proper surname.

I meant on TMP Dal, don't want your mates to think you're getting soft.

They already think that, mate. Especially about my head…..

As for what the US, EU, NATO, Singapore or the Free Penguins of Herd Island are doing, might do or will never do- it's all guesswork. Trump may or may not have a strategy behind his comments, but only he knows what it will be. The same goes for every other mumbling, bludging political mouthpiece the gossip-mongers are giving airtime.

Something that may not be clear. When I and others say the West. Actually includes the "ANZACs" and many in the PTO. Well all in either theater, the WWII ETO & PTO. Are allied against the old Communists who are still Communists regardless what name those countries are called today. E.g. A zebra can't change its stripes, even if you call it a horse.

So what I am getting at, the "ANZACs", Japanese, etc. and others in the PTO stand against the Russians, Chicoms, North Korea and of course the islamists. All the time or almost all the time. The ANZACs usually show up to support the USA, NATO, etc. And I am personally glad of it. And I'm not the only one in the West.

Dragon Gunner +1

Trump may or may not have a strategy behind his comments, but only he knows what it will be.

Sometimes it's pure trolling.

Sometimes it's trolling with a point. Like threatening to send Hillary as our top hitman, it's trolling comedy with a point. It forced people to say "Why would he call Hillary a hit man" – "Oh, it's because of the Arkansas Body Count – a lot of politically embarrassing people have ended up dead" – Really? Why would you say that, etc.

Truth or partial truth or no truth at all, now the Media is covering it. And Hillary looks bad with every CNN talking head explanation about how the rumor is false. But it's hard to dismiss that one death where the politically embarrassing guy hung himself AND shot himself in the chest with a shotgun and the State of Arkansas ruled it a suicide…

Then there's trolling with a goal. The trollery on Greenland is intended again, to get people talking about his priority in a way they can't dismiss. And look what that accomplished -- Denmark doubled down on the Greenland budget, the Greenland Independence movement is gaining momentum. It may not result in a pro-Join the US result, but may be more favorable to the US…and all it took were some Tweets and troll talk.

Pretty interesting how the Left feel this irrational compulsion to over react to every Trump Troll Tweet and thus give it power…

SB, of course everyone looks at every word he tweets. He's the most powerful guy in the world, his words are IMPORTANT.

Unfortunately he doesn't seem to realise that.

Since the US was an ally of Denmark, they could simply have asked for access to more bases, or whatever, but no, he wants to expand the US for his own future glory.

The bottom line is that the UK and Europe no longer trust the US on anything. The US influence over the world has diminished accordingly.

His success is based on his PR skills, which are his strength. He is a salesman. How this works in diplomacy is not really known yet, I think.

YEAH !!!!! GET SOME !!!!!!

The B-2s and GBU-57s cometh …

Sun Tzu – The Art of War [paraphrase] "All war is a matter of deception." … I think I have said that before … It wasn't my idea but that is the way were trained.

Many of in DC, in the media, etc. just could not understand why the POTUS would change what he had said before. Change his mind, etc. Not tell them much of anything E.g. "I'll make a decision in under two weeks."

Sun Tzu would be proud.

This OPLAN has probably been worked out a week or two ago.
This is a game changer.

There is still work to do. But the Iranians that hate their islamist leaders, IRGC, etc. The IDF and the US opened a up a big hole.

Finish it …

Hell just can to Breakfast Ayatollah, IRGC, etc. …
Much of the rest of the world can be very glad. The IDF and USA have removed the #1 islamic terrorist threat on the planet.

Also just heard the Dems are not happy. They want to impeach the POTUS for not getting authorization from Congress …

Unbelievable!

Just heard at least 3 B-2s with 6 GBU-57s took out the big nuke site. And 30 USN sub launched TLAMs took out the two other of Iran's nuke sites …

History just changed today …

Putin, Xi, Un, ISIS, etc. take note …

SB, of course everyone looks at every word he tweets. He's the most powerful guy in the world, his words are IMPORTANT.

Unfortunately he doesn't seem to realise that.

Oh no, he most certainly does! Trump is to Twitter what FDR was to Radio! He knows exactly what he's doing, and it's so funny that it works as well as it does. Stop taking every single word he tweets seriously and look at it as a signal of intent, and as trolling with a purpose.

Let's go back to the "send Hillary as a hitman" Tweet. What happens?

1. The Left/Media rush to defend her and in the process THEY EXPLAIN THE ARKANCIDE THEORY! Totally hilarious, because now everyone has access to ChatGPT and multiple browsers and they find out FOR THE FIRST TIME about it.

Here's a ChatGPT search, and remember it's got the highest algorthimic Leftist Bias:

Query: Why would Trump call Hillary Clinton a top hit man?

ChatGPT said:

Thought for a couple of seconds
Donald Trump calling Hillary Clinton a "top hit man" appears to be part of his broader pattern of invoking conspiracy theories—particularly the long‑debunked "Clinton Body Count"—to paint her (and Bill Clinton) as sinister figures responsible for the deaths of political adversaries.

Chat prompts you if you want to learn more and in a few key strokes you get a data dump on the "Arkancide Theory" and a body count of 50-60 political allies who committed suicide or died in unusual circumstances, which ChatGPT is quick to say is all circumstantial… and then it mentions "High-profile deaths—like Jeffrey Epstein—are often pulled into the theory, but again, without proof. Epstein's death was ruled a suicide by medical experts"

I asked Chat about the popularity of this search, and it replied that interest spiked x100 after Trump's tweet.

So now we have Hillary Clinton associated with mysterious deaths and Epstien! All from ONE TWEET that should have just been ignored, but the Left-Medis just can't help themselves.

2. The Left/Media, that I saw on CNN, also allowed Hillary to posture as a foreign policy guru vs Trump, and in combination with the "Hitman Hillary" thing ends up having ChatGPT explain a bloody litany of Clinton foreign policy failures.

So now she's lost even more credibility than before, as have the media. All from one tweet.

Classic Trump, soooo funny!

Interesting – during my ChatGPT rambles I learned something new: the Fall of Yemen is ALSO Clinton's fault! SecState Clinton's support for the Arab Spring movement in Yemen and pressure on the Yemeni government forced their president to step down, and in the chaos the Houthis took over!

Her success stories in the Middle East includes:

* Libya: The Libyan War: 250,000+ casualties, 1 Million+ refugees. ChatGPT says the result was "Severe instability, civil war"

* Egypt: The brief Egyptian Civil War: She toppled Mubarak, leading to the rise to power of the Muslim Brotherhood who quickly went whacko and were in turn ousted by a Junta. ChatGPT says the result was "Instability, repression"

* Yemen: Toppled the government leading to the Houthis take-over. ChatGPT says the result was "Civil war, regional conflict"

*Lebanon: Destabilized the secular factions leading to the rise to dominance of Hezbollah. ChatGPT says the result was "Instability, Iranian influence grew"

* Iraq: Premature US troop withdrawal led to a power vacuum filled by ISIS and the US puzzlingly backed IRAN's choice for Iraqi leadership, who's militant Shiism alienated the larger Sunni population and gave legs to ISIS. ISIS ended up brutally ruling over 12 million people. ChatGPT says the result was, "Severe instability, rise of ISIS

*Syria: Deepened and prolonged the Syrian Civil War, and ended up backing militant Islamic factions after the Secular factions were wiped out, contributing to the 1.5 MILLION casualties, 7 MILLION refugees, and ultimately a Sunni Jihadist group finally toppled Asad. ChatGPT says the result was "Catastrophic instability"

*Iran: Unlike the active role Clinton and Obama played in toppling other Middle East regimes, when the popular revolt called "The Green Revolution" spread across Iran, Clinton did -- NOTHING! They waited and watched as the Iranian regime butchered protesters and re-established control and issued nothing more than mild finger wagging. And then Iran was rewarded with the JCPOA deal and never held to account for multiple attacks on the US, including a plot to assassinate anti-Iranian critics within the US. ChatGPT says the result was "Repression, regime strengthened"

And Hillary wants to give out foreign policy advice?!!

Asking Mrs. Clinton for foreign policy advice is akin to asking a blind man for directions through a minefield.

SBm +1

Tgunner +1

Did anyone in Congress complain about Obama and Hillary when they dropped bombs, etc. on Syria, Libya, etc. ?

SB,

So Trump telling lies about Hilary encourages people to believe lies about Hilary ?

"I cannot tell a lie" as another famous President said. Not Donald, obviously.

That is actually a legend more than a fact Dagwood … The whole cannot tell a lie thing …..

So Trump telling lies about Hilary encourages people to believe lies about Hilary ?

Hard to say though, right? I happened to live not too far from Fort Marcy Park when Vince Foster's body was found there in 1993.

It was a nice little park, parking lot, some picnic tables, walking paths, a couple of green-patina Civil War cannons.

The EMTs who arrived told the cops it looked like a homicide, not a suicide. The local cops showed up and before they could do much the Feds stepped in and took over and shoo'ed all the locals away. Body carted off, controlled autopsy with no family access followed by immediate cremation.

Then the Park Service closed it off and RIPPED IT APART! They said it was an "Ecological Restoration," it was closed for at least a year. The removed the entire area where Foster's body was found, bulldozed out everything, replaced it with a whole new layout.

So…weird at the very least.

But hey, in politics all's fair, yes? Hillary has called Trump much worse things, and the Left in general has even tried to kill him twice.

SBm +1 … again …

No…SB, a crazy guy tried to shoot Trump in both cases.

How did a topic about Australian Defence incapabilities/capabilities turn into another American political bun fight?

Summary: OZ has some things that need fixing. There is much disagreement here, and elsewhere, about what those things are and their priorities. The things that need fixing are Australia's business, responsibility and national decisions (or, likely in real life, indecisions), as will be the mistakes that are (probably) inevitable. Help will be welcomed in some instances, I believe, not in others.

Orders to do this, that or something else, for the benefit of foreign countries, will be ignored and/or answered with a rude gesture.

Oh, one more thing… we cannot overlook how important the Libya War was in reshaping global politics.

Remember that the Libya War WAS a war of "Blood for Oil." Khadaffi was starting to favor Chinese oil companies over Total (France), BP (Britain) and ConocoPhillips and Occidental (US). When those companies complained he threatened to nationalize oil to get them to pipe down while bringing Chinese oil companies in.

During the Arab Spring there was a mass uprising in Benghazi (not for secularism, mind you, but by islamist groups!), and the US+Britain+France got a UN Security Council resolution passed warning of mass civilian casualties in Benghazi unless something was done (no real evidence then or now of that).

On that pretext Obama-Clinton worked with France and Germany to get NATO to act outside of the defensive NATO Charter and ATTACK Libya "to save the children." There is no mechanism in the NATO charter for this, no member had been threatened, AND Khadaffi had:

1. Given up his nuke AND WMD programs, all his stockpiles of fissionables and chemicals

2. Stopped supporting terrorism AND paid reparations

When the dust settled 250,000+ casualties and 1 MILLION+ refugees later, the world had changed.

1. The Libya War radically shaped Putin's strategic worldview:

*He saw it as proof NATO would lie, twist mandates, and use force to reshape the world order.

*It hardened his belief that Russia must never allow itself or its allies to be weakened or encircled.

*Gaddafi's fall became a cautionary tale, leading directly to more aggressive Russian interventions in Syria, Crimea, the Donbas and beyond.

2. The theocracy of Iran learned that Gaddafi gave up his Nukes and stopped terrorism attacks — and was Overthrown
* It hardened resistance to any deal that would fully eliminate nuclear capacity. Iran saw Gaddafi's disarmament as a fatal error.

*Reaffirmed that force, not compliance with the West, ensures survival. Iran doubled down on asymmetric warfare, missile development, and regional proxies.

*Deepened belief that U.S./NATO only respect strength, not agreements. Engagement is seen as a trap, not a path to peace.

*The regime continues to use Libya as a cautionary tale domestically: "If we give in like Gaddafi, we'll be next."

And so now we are dealing with the legacy of the awful Libya War started by Obama and Clinton for oil (and what seems to be Obama's pro-Islamist ideology), a ripple effect of MILLIONS of deaths, MILLIONS of refugees, global instability and war.

SBm +1 … once again !

Now we are dealing with the legacy of Reagan and the successful major attack on US and French troops in Beirut with hundreds of casualties and the withdrawal. This marked the rise of Hezbollah and the start of the proxy wars. Compounded by Reagan's attempts to deal with Iran, provide weapons, release cash, etc.

I am intensely no fan of Hillary to the point where I cannot comment, but she was small potatoes in the ME compared to other players like Reagan, Cheney, Obama.

Now we are dealing with the legacy of Reagan and the successful major attack on US and French troops in Beirut with hundreds of casualties and the withdrawal. This marked the rise of Hezbollah and the start of the proxy wars. Compounded by Reagan's attempts to deal with Iran, provide weapons, release cash, etc.

I am intensely no fan of Hillary to the point where I cannot comment, but she was small potatoes in the ME compared to other players like Reagan and Cheney.

Reviewing history is a good idea. E.g. What we did before, what worked, what didn't, etc. Sometimes it not readily obvious … at times similar errors are made. E.g. nation building, pretty sure we see that is a big No Go. Iran must heal itself, e.g. overthrow the Ayatollah, his associates string them up, remove the IRGC, etc. Of course much easier said than done.

And yes of course I remember the Marine Barracks and French Para suicide bombings. An incident that makes me say the IDF has not killed off enough of them.

I am intensely no fan of Hillary to the point where I cannot comment, but she was small potatoes in the ME compared to other players like Reagan, Cheney, Obama.

Your analysis is sorely lacking. The MOST you cam say about Reagan's MidEast policy was that it was Status Quo. The USSR was the biggest threat, and maintaining things was more important than sparking some Arab Spring uprising like Hillary help do. Reagan's biggest failures, if you will, were:

1. Incoherent "Me too" policy in Lebanon. After the Beirut Bombing he pulled troops out of an ill-defined sideshow conflict.

2. Tried and failed to woo Iraq – result, nothing significant

3. Tried and failed to woo Iran into being something other than hostile – result, nothing significant

Hillary, OTH, her actions at the behest of Obama caused the entire Middle East Meltdown that has cost MILLIONS of lives, TENS OF MILLIONS of refugees, war, chaos, oppression and pain across the region.

How did a topic about Australian Defence incapabilities/capabilities turn into another American political bun fight?

'cause…Yanks…what can you do? But, to be fair, when someone started calling the US a bad ally, it led to comparisons of different US Administrations and actions, and down and down that rabbit hole…

'cause…Yanks…what can you do?

LOL! OK, SBM, I walked into that wall. I must admit that Aussies tend to detest our politicians on principle, whereas Americans still seem to have some faith in their pollies. I suppose that's possible when a country doesn't have compulsory voting and a deeply flawed voting system (preferential voting, aka ranked voting,- a good intention on the road to electoral hell: link ).

I must admit that Aussies tend to detest our politicians on principle, whereas Americans still seem to have some faith in their pollies

Generally many on both sides of the aisle have not garnered/earned most Americans trust or respect. This is the worst I've seen it. Much worse than during the Vietnam War.

And with the Biden POTUS debacle only has made it worse. As time goes on the facts that are being revealed show that both Biden and Harris were not up to the task. For different reasons … And both the DNC and media tried to cover it up.

So in this case I think Oz and the US are close when it comes to our elected and appointed leaders/officials. There is the right stuff … but these self-serving gangsters have the wrong stuff. Too much to even be able to quantify …

Status Quo??!!!! We are several space quadrants apart on the history of the Beirut era and what followed.

Americans still seem to have some faith in their pollies. I suppose that's possible when a country doesn't have compulsory voting and a deeply flawed voting system (preferential voting, aka ranked voting,- a good intention on the road to electoral hell

Oh no sir, no at all! I live in California which is a One Party State controlled virtually top-to-bottom via the Democrats who have instituted

1. Ruthless Gerrymandering to district in favor of the Ruling Party.

2. Top Two Primary (which means only the top 2 vote getters end up on the final ballot so the choices won't confuse the poor proles) so in most counties you will only ever have a choice between two Democrats on the general election ballot and ALL minority parties have been disenfranchised.

3. No Voter ID – it's illegal to require Voter ID to vote…though it takes two forms of ID t get a library card -- and if you do vote in person, you don't get proof of voting…no ballot stub since it's electronic, and no print out showing you voted…they do give you a little "I Voted" sticker, though…

4. Mass Mail-in Ballots to all registered voters (which includes illegal aliens given a California Driver's License, 'cause the "Motor Voter Law" automatically registers you to vote) and anyone can lawfully submit any number of ballots on behalf of others with no signature requirement and no chain of custody.

I don't believe we HAVE a vote in California, it's merely a formality to justify single party rule. At least, that's how I feel about it…

Tortorella Supporting Member of TMP 25 Jun 2025 12:56 p.m. PST
Status Quo??!!!! We are several space quadrants apart on the history of the Beirut era and what followed.

Then explain your position. In my view the US presence was minor, our actions shelling a few Hezbollah OPs contributed little, and the entire multi-national mission was doomed to failure because it had no clear goal or authority and resources to get there. So Reagan pulling out did little to change the ultimate outcome.

What's your view?

There is the right stuff … but these self-serving gangsters have the wrong stuff. Too much to even be able to quantify…

We're similar in that regard, mate. If a meteor hit federal parliament, while it was sitting, the country's average IQ would probably go up 20 points, and the corporate crime rate and profits would fall. As nice as that scenario is, though, there's some good people working in various government departments that would also be gone… As the old saying goes- countries get the governments they deserve.

"Motor Voter Law"

WTF? How can non-citizens be allowed to vote, even in council elections? Here only the Greens are ideologically stupid enough to try stuff like that, but they also want the voting age dropped to 16, to take advantage of adolescent ideals and ignorance.

We don't have "registered voters" in the same sense that the US does. Party membership is relatively low, compared to other Western nations, but "rusted on" voters form the basis of the main parties' supporters. You have to enroll on the electoral register when you turn 18, and any political party or other authorised body, including marketers, can access that to get your name and address. If you don't vote you get fined- the amount varies depending on the level of government- and an increasing number of people are paying the fine rather than voting, or voting before the election (pre-polling)- which pisses off the pollies. A couple of elections ago <85% of eligible people voted.

WTF? How can non-citizens be allowed to vote, even in council elections?

Because -- power. The Democrats under Biden changed the US Census to count ALL PEOPLE, not just Citizens and Lawful Residents, so that means illegal aliens. That's worth between 20-27 Congressional Seats in the US House of Representatives.

And here's how illegal aliens can be sent a mail-in ballot in California:

1. Democrats passed a law called the "Motor Voter" law that automatically registers to vote everyone who gets a California Driver's License…

2. Then the Ruling Party decided it was "compassionate" and "in the public safety interest" to give illegal aliens a California Driver's License…

3. Then during COVID the Ruling Party decimated in person voting forever in favor of mass mail-in ballots and thus the mailed a ballot to EVERYONE…including illegal aliens with a Driver's License who were automatically registered under the Motor Voter Law…

4. Then it's now "lawful" to ballot harvest -- help people FILL OUT their ballots and then deliver the ballot on their behalf…as many as you can carry. No signature needed. No chain of custody needed (in the old days SIX YEARS AGO you had to have a 3rd party notorize the ballot as having been lawfully given to the person delivering it on behalf of the voter), and it can be a partial fill…the whole thing can be left blank except for one vote that ticks off, say, Kamala Harris.

So we are a post-Constitutional Oligarchy, where the ruling class is totally unconstrained, except for maybe a little bit by Trump, and boy do they hate him for it!

A couple of elections ago <85% of eligible people voted.

That rate is between 30%-40% in most California elections, most people don't believe their vote matters and don't bother.

Usa wants Nato allies to spend 5% of gdp on defence.

Usa spends 3.4%.

Need to up your game Usa.

FWIW Interestingly at the Hague the POTUS was very warmly welcomed and everybody, but Spain wants to go to 5%.

The list of the top 5 nations that had not even made 2%, Canada was #1 at only 1.3. Of course they have decided to join the rest of NATO.

Putin's fear of NATO spreading East … well he and his GENs, intel assets etc. really missed what could and did happen.

Putin's 3-day exercise only woke up NATO and under the POTUS's mentoring, etc. the NATO "dues" went up to 5%.

Putin's fear of NATO going further East caused Sweden and Finland to join NATO.

There are now 32 member nations in NATO.

Those are bad things … hope someone tells Vlad. He Fed up big time. Directly responsible huge numbers of death and destruction. For everyone involved. With gaining very little ground, suffering 900,000 casualties, losing 1/2 his Armor and 1/3 of the Black Sea Fleet sunk.

SBm, how the hell can they get away with that? Who's running things- the Corleone Family?

That rate is between 30%-40% in most California elections, most people don't believe their vote matters and don't bother.

If voting wasn't compulsory here then I doubt we'd get >30%. Dissatisfaction with the electoral process is running high. That's not surprising when a party, which gets less than 1/3 of the primary vote, gets elected due to preference deals (that's favoured both sides at different times). Or you look at the last 10 or so governments that took power.

The other major irritant is their high salaries and perks. The basic politicians' salary is $233,650 USD, the prime minister's $607,500. USD link . Add in a subsidised dining hall in parliament house, duty-free bar, gold cards for travel, etc.

Enough politics. One way we could make use of pollies is using them for bar armour on the Bushmasters. Apart from that….?

SBm, how the hell can they get away with that? Who's running things- the Corleone Family?

Pretty much. The Democrats run California, and some powerful families run the Democrat Party in California.

This includes:

1. The Brown Family (Governors Pat and Jerry Brown, family dynasty)

2. The Getty Family

3. The Pelosi Family with close ties to the Gettys

4. The Newsom family is married into the Pelosi Family. Nancy Pelosi is Gavin Newsom's Aunt-in-Law (Aunt by marriage). Oh, and speaking of ACTUAL Mafia, Nancy Pelosi's Dad, Thomas D'Alesandro Jr., was tied into the Mafia. A former U.S. Congressman and mayor of Baltimore—was described as a "constant companion" of Benjamin "Benny Trotta" Magliano, a known Baltimore mobster. Magliano was reportedly affiliated with New York's Lucchese crime family and was considered one of Baltimore's top underworld figures during that era.

5. Silicon Valley Hedge Funds

6. Public Employee Unions

One way we could make use of pollies is using them for bar armour on the Bushmasters. Apart from that….?

You got it! There was an H. Beam Piper sci-fi story set on "Texas World" and any public official that tries to meddle with taxes is legally subject to justifiable homicide and can be challenged to a pistol fight. The society defines it as malum prohibitum, so if the jury agrees the politician deserved it, killing them is lawful

What's worse – a high salary (although not CEO of a moderate sized company salary) or supplementing by using the office to sell stuff.

Naming no names, but do you really want someone saying "I'm the Australian prime minister – can I sell you a watch, maybe a hat, a phone perhaps or you look like someone who could use some collectible trading cards…"

SBm, why doesn't Washington get involved?

What's worse – a high salary (although not CEO of a moderate sized company salary) or supplementing by using the office to sell stuff.

Pollies giving themselves above CPI pay increases, while fighting pay increases when emergency services personnel and ADF NCO's are qualifying for welfare assistance, is a little obscene. The truism, that you need high wages to attract the best people, is obviously false in light of current and previous performance (and why wouldn't it apply to those whose pay increases the pollies oppose?). Besides, there's enough indication that insider trading opportunities and "secondary financial streams" are available to pollies who care for such, so they'd not have to worry about selling trinkets down at the car boot sale.

I can't speak for Australia, in the UK though most of the money making opportunities come post-parliament.

Not completely – we had one who continued writing for newspapers and earnt more doing that, and another who had the benefit of seeing his wife get a lot of service delivery contracts…they even wrote a law that would benefit her in particular.

So I have no illusions there.

SBm + 1

how the hell can they get away with that? Who's running things- the Corleone Family?

The bank accounts, off shore or anywhere else of many in our Congress, etc. are filled and keep getting bigger. Not just old timers, but some of the newer members of Congress.

The former POTUS for years has been in DC/WH has made billions. He has been in DC for 50yrs. The same goes for many of the 70-80+year old thieves who are in Congress.

why doesn't Washington get involved?

Insider trading, influence peddling, pay offs, etc. etc. They shouldn't be able to have millions & billions of $s on their salaries. But it seems everyone in high places is involved too one way or another. And there are a lot of very wealthy that give a lot of $ to these candidates' campaigns. So many are complicit and want a piece the action they forget or don't care why they are there. F'm !

The worst ones are leftist liberal socialist progressives who want to keep taking $ from the rich, and the not so rich, complain about the "oligarchs", etc. etc. And they are some of the biggest hypocrites. Plus, it appears generally they don't 💩 for the people they work for … i.e. we the people … 👎👎

why doesn't Washington get involved?

Years ago Congress passed a law exempting itself from Insider Trading laws. Sweet deal, eh? As regards California's electoral system, there are lawsuits against the State from private groups and would love to see FEC and DOJ action to investigate and correct. California's push back, for example against the Trump EO requiring Voter ID, was that the States have the Constitutional Right to run their own elections.

Ever thought of getting an excavator, SBm and Legion, and cutting California loose, so it can float away?

Not really surprised, though. The very nature of politics means that sort of situation is going to be likely. Ignoring or "working around" our constitution is one of our pollies' favourite occupations.

Dal

Only sections of California. 😂 Yes many times.

Maybe trading them for areas to be named later.

🤔 Alberta for San Diego, San Francisco and Las Angeles and a few more thrown in? 😉

Seriously though, California politics are dominated by certain highly populated cities.

SB – the loss of hundreds of US Marines in Beirut and subsequent withdrawal of American forces boosted Hezbollah out of obscurity into major Iranian proxy status. Seen as a major victory for them, and the start of the modern terrorism era. The Beirut operation was hampered by ROE issues, command structure and disagreement in the WH.

"Reagan's decision to withdraw the Marines remains controversial. Supporters argue that it did not make sense to sacrifice American lives and resources to help resolve a conflict where the parties involved showed little interest in working toward U.S. goals. Critics, however, claim that Reagan failed to stand firm against terrorism and demonstrated that the United States was an undependable ally."
link
link
link
Too many links on this topic to post but you get the idea about how I came to my opinion.

Ever thought of getting an excavator, SBm and Legion, and cutting California loose, so it can float away?

If we could … we would ! It has something like the 5th largest economy in the world, much of our tech sector is there in Silicon Valley, the Entertainment industry, and IIRC, produces about 1/4 of the USA's total produce. They know this and like Iran, Putin, the CCP, etc., they take advantage of us and uses it against us.

I'm not the only one that would like to tell them to kiss my lily white and die …

The Beirut operation was hampered by ROE issues, command structure and disagreement in the WH.

That seems to at times to becomes a problem(s) … E.g. the former POTUS and his admin were pretty good doing all those things … way too often.

And yes as far as I'm concerned … we still have a lot of pay back coming when it comes to Iran …

Yes they certainly were. But the blueprint for dealing with Iran in the 80s was a bad precedent.

AFAIK the POTUS has not lifted sanctions from Iran. Until they follow the standards put on them by the US, etc. – No dice …

The Obama nuke plan was one of the worse things for the US. But Iran liked it. Biden did no better. Blinken wrote an OPED in NYT(?). Said we shouldn't have bombed Iran. Blinken was someone who had no idea about the reality of dealing with islamic fanatics. Obama, Biden[or whoever was in charge of the WH?],Blinken and most the others of in both those admins really … To quote the POTUS, "They don't know what the they're doing ! " …

Legion we have said it before. There can be no deals with the mullahs. They will never stop hating us.

Yep … seems they only understand violence, death, destruction, etc., … Eventually, sooner or later the IDF plus US air & naval assets may have to finish it. For good …

Ever thought of getting an excavator, SBm and Legion, and cutting California loose, so it can float away?

My preferred solution is to divide the State into at least two States – "California" can keep the Big Blue LA and SF coastal areas, then there should be, I dunno, "Eastern California" the comprises the rest of the State.

It could be three states, I know the northern part periodically revives the Jefferson Free State idea. That's cool with me! Anything to break the corrupt single party lock on the State, where in 2024 some 40% of voters supported Trump but have only about 20% representation in the State Assembly.