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This circuitious episode, hosted by Steve in Budapest with John Yoo in Dallas and Lucretia in her undisclosed desert location, starts off with the entirely predictable news that David Brooks drinks his whisky on the rocks (insert shudders and horror here), and quickly moves on to the news that hasn't broken yet, so we'll fix it: Gavin Newson is running for president. We know—he hasn't offically announced, but he's behaving like a candidate more and more every day. And why has no one noticed that Newsom would also solve the Democrats' Kamala problem? (See the Constitution, Article II, Section 1, especially the passage that reads, "The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves." That rules out Kamala as Newsom's running mate, which is okay because Newsom and Harris hate each other.
We also devote too much time to the sartorial severity that is the Fetterman Senate Dress code, and you'll just need to listen to hear who Lucretia calls "Senator Stripper Boots."
From there Steve gives a central European "sit rep" on attitudes there about the Ukraine War, American policy about the war, and general political matters, all gleaned from Steve's conversations with highly placed (and very smart) Hungarian sources.
We've been wanting to talk about a legal issue that's been our mind for a while, and we finally get to it in this episode in depth: qualified immunity. We don't quite reach a firm conlusion about how the doctrine should be reformed, but you'll feel smarter for our dissection of it.
Finally, a few quick notes on the Kendi implosion, missing jet fighters, and other fun matters. But not to worry—we're still drinking our whisky neat, even if David Brooks kills his with four ice cubes. In an airport.
Steve Hayward
Discussion (12)
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Steve is correct. I have been saying since last October that Newsom is getting in because A) He has the fever, B) There is a clear shot for him to win, and C) No politician with the fever and a clear shot to win can resist the urge. Dem voters would switch to him by the millions the day he announced. Moderates who don't want Trump but cannot abide Biden would move toward him. To be clear: He is the nation's worst governor (since Cuomo gave up the crown), but he has good hair, and whether or not it is true, he has to see the presidency as his for the taking. As for his near-Shermanesque statement, he can simply say circumstances have changed. The lesson of Bill Clinton was do not wait.
Line of the week: "(The $43 million) disappeared like an F-35." -- Lucretia, the International Woman of Mystery.
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Apparently Sweden and Finland disagree with you. After holding out for 70 years, they finally joined NATO.
The war teaches China that Russia is a worthless ally, tied up as it is — and of little value even if it wasn’t tied up. It teaches China that pretty much the entire civilized world is ready to oppose aggression.
What constitutes a “vital strategic interest” is, of course, a subjective judgment. The Afghanistan bugout damaged our allies’ (and our enemies’) confidence in us; supporting Ukraine repairs some of the damage. Also, we pressured Ukraine to give up its nuclear weapons, assuring the Ukrainians that they didn’t need a deterrent. Failing to back them up now would tell all the countries with dangerous neighbors that nuclear weapons are the only thing a country can rely on.
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Poland and Hungary are getting fed up with the Ukraine. Peace was possible in April 2022 but the Biden administration vetoed it. I agree Bismarck’s comment about the Balkans.
Let’s assume you’re right and the Ukraine is vital to us. Would you entrust our strategy to the Biden team which botched the withdrawal from Afghanistan. Our new Chairman of the JCS is an advocate of CRT. The Secretary of Defense is a fat idiot who is worried about conservatives in the armed services. The Pattons have been driven out of our army.
Taiwan is a vital national interest given its chip production.We’re out of ammo supporting a country which is not vital to us.
‘We promised the Russians that we would not expand NATO east. We broke that promise. We put a blockade on Cuba when the Soviets were putting nuclear missiles there. Ukraine is next to Russia. It’s understandable that they similarly do not us making it into a NATO country. The inability to look at thing from the Russian point of view is a problem with our foreign policy.
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Russia promised to respect Ukraine’s borders, too.
Of course, according to Putin, Ukraine has no right to exist; which is why he launched a blitzkrieg on its capital.
The idea that, once a country is Russian property, it is forever Russian property, I like to call the Fugitive Slave Nation Act.
If Russia may invade Ukraine to prevent it from even vaguely thinking about joining NATO someday, then it has an even stronger right to invade Finland.
To paraphrase Donald Rumsfeld, you fight a war with the Administration you have, not the Administration you wish you had.
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