Poll shows Biden viewed as too old to ‘effectively serve’ another term

Aldebaran said:

Like F-16s? Sure, who needs those anymore? We can afford to just fly F-35s around at a cost of $42,000 per hour: 42,000 $ per flight hour for the F-35: operating costs are not improving.

Click to expand...

The U.S. is not providing F-16's. Other countries are.

But hey, if you want to have a real discussion regarding overbloated defense spending, I'm all ears.

BTW, Ukraine spending is 3% of the US Defense budget. If you ask me, that's a pretty good deal given the the Russian military is being destroyed at a faster rate than anytime since WW2....and we're not commisting American blood.

Aldebaran said:

Right. Not U.S. F-16s. Just F-16s that were built in the U.S. by an American manufacturer with American labor, then sold to another country to be given to Ukraine to be flown by pilots trained in America.
I'm sure Putin will let that slide--just as he will forgive us for providing the drones that are currently being used to attack Moscow. No different when American-build F-16s flown by pilots trained in America start bombing the Kremlin. Putin is a patient and forgiving guy (with nukes).

Click to expand...

Putin doesn't have a choice. We have nukes too.

Aldebaran said:

And that makes airstrikes on Moscow (using American-made weapons) an intelligent thing to do....why?

Click to expand...

The US is not directing the airstrikes (by drones) in Moscow or anywhere else for that matter.

Aldebaran said:

And that makes airstrikes on Moscow (using American-made weapons) an intelligent thing to do....why?

Click to expand...

Are you rooting for Russia? I‘ m pretty sure we can hold our own if necessary.

Aldebaran said:

Enough to do what? Buy a tent and sleeping bags for 4 people? Come on, man!

Click to expand...

Wow, you must shop somewhere really expensive to only be able to buy a 4-person tent and 4 sleeping bags for $2300. The other thing you miss is that it is only what has currently been spent -- there is a process that is followed in all disasters as people apply for money to rebuild. Beyond that, I'll compare the help given to Lahaina after the fire to the help given to Houston after Hurricane Ike -- there are still homes in Houston that are being worked on because people haven't had the money to "rebuild", didn't get that much help from the Trump administration, and are stuck paying loans on a house they can't live in -- and that loan prevents them from moving but forces them to keep trying to get the inside of their homes livable.

Aldebaran said:

And that makes airstrikes on Moscow (using American-made weapons) an intelligent thing to do....why?

Click to expand...

And not airstrikes have been made on Moscow using "American-made" weapons. Ukraine is making their own weapons that they have used outside of Ukraine; particularly drones and they are now building their own long range missiles. So far as I've found, as I've followed the war, Ukraine has honored their promise to not use US made missiles outside the borders of Ukraine.

Aldebaran said:

Your childish argument doesn't answer my question, but is intended only to make things personal while deflecting the fact that you have no answer. But give it another try. Do you think bombing Moscow with American weapons is the intelligent course of action, and would not cause Russia to retaliate against the USA?

Click to expand...

I think a Putin Russia is looking for a fight and I support defending the little guy and the next little guy and so on to defend against Putin advancing his reviving USSR fantasies.

Aldebaran said:

Lockheed Martin, based in Greenville, South Carolina is the manufacturer. That happens to be in the U.S.
Sending them to another country and then to Ukraine is no different than a straw-purchaser buying a gun and giving it to someone else to use. The United States is the straw-purchaser in this case.

Click to expand...

Yes, the F-16's are a wonderful piece of American engineering. We sold those F-16's to Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands years ago with conditions that yes, they would need US permission to provide the fighters to another country. However, they are not American owned F-16's...they were bought and paid for by the European countries. In Norway's case, they are replacing the F-16's with F-35's (which was going to happen with or without the Ukraine war).

Aldebaran said:

I thought staying on-topic was important to you.

Click to expand...

Start a thread on reducing the American Defense budget.

Aldebaran said:

It's not being destroyed. Remember the 20 year war in Afghanistan we waged against the Taliban? 20 years, and they weren't destroyed.
But if you actually believe Russia's military is being destroyed, then why are they still able to launch massive attacks against Ukraine? And why does Ukraine still believe they need bigger and bigger weapons? Nothing has been enough so far, and nothing will be.

Click to expand...

Massive amounts of Russian military equiptment has been detroyed, mainly during the disastrous invasion of Ukraine.
Retaking territory (offensive operations) is far more diffcult than defending.

Aldebaran said:

Long-range missiles being built in a country that is in shambles? They must have an underground missile factory that Russia doesn't know about.

Click to expand...

No, Ukraine is not (as a whole) in shambles. The Southern and Eastern areas, where the Russians invaded, do tend to be in shambles but Kyiv is largely standing (despite Russian attacking with missiles and drones) and even more of the cities away from the war zone are largely untouched. You do realize that Ukraine is still growing a lot of crops, crops the Russians are trying to prevent being shipped to Africa and Asia. While their wheat growth is down, only about 21,000 tons compared to normally producing 25,000 or more tons; the fact remains that you don't grow that amount of wheat when a country is in shambles.

Yes, the Ukrainians are starting to build their own weapons -- they have expertise, even, as they were one of the main weapons producers of the old Soviet Union. These weapons include drones (both air and sea) and long range missiles.

Aldebaran said:

Not dumb enough? Careful, or someone might call out your argument for being that of a "Putin apologist".

Click to expand...

I doubt it. My record on Putin is pretty clear and harsh, but that doesn't mean I think Putin is some sort of idiot or fanatic or ideologue.

Aldebaran said:

Just as a cornered animal will fight back, a man with nothing left to lose will use whatever is at his disposal--dumb or not.

Click to expand...

Some supporters of Ukraine have complained about the Western approach to arming Ukraine (e.g., "too slow," "give more now," "faster".) and the Ukrainian government certainly wanted (and wants) more weapons and weapons systems, but the US/NATO/Western tactic of expanding the roster of weapons one weapon system at a time has made Russia look a bit silly complaining about each one like it is an outrage: Javelins, 155 mm Howitzers, Soviet-style tanks, anti-aircraft systems, Soviet-type aircraft, HIMARS rocket artillery, self-propelled 155 mm artillery, mine clearing equipment, Patriot batteries, Strykers, Humvees, Bradley fighting vehicles, (and other such vehicles), Leopard tanks, Abrams tanks, medium-range cruise missiles, and most recently F-16 fighter jets. Not all of these have come from the US and many countries have provided various kinds of weapons.

With each new type being discussed between the Ukrainians and western nations, the Russians have gnashed their teeth and rattled their swords threatening retaliation and talking of "red lines", but nothing ever comes of any. Sure the Russians have claimed some (obviously) pre-planned attacks that would happen shortly after some "event" (announcement or initial delivery) was "retaliation", the military analysts make it clear that Russia was going to make those moves with or without the new batch of Western weapons.

The Western allies of Ukraine have frog-boiled Russia on military equipment, system after system yields the usual protest and then back to "normal". In the meantime, what was once an "outrage" to the Russians (provision of heavy artillery) is just now the way it is and Ukraine's primary heavy artillery is NATO standard 155 mm guns rather than the Soviet standard 152 mm of Ukraine's army at the beginning of last year.

TL;DR version: Putin/Russia has claimed to be outraged and portrayed as "cornered" at least a dozen times before the F-16s and all Putin did was to shout loudly for a few days and then start complaining about the next possible "escalation".

Aldebaran said:

Long-range missiles being built in a country that is in shambles? They must have an underground missile factory that Russia doesn't know about.

Click to expand...

Russia wastes all of their missiles on terror-bombing campaigns of cities (repeatedly) and energy infrastructure (during the winter). If they took some of those missiles they have aimed at shopping malls, apartment buildings, children's hospitals, and schools and pointed them at training bases, ammo storage, troop bases, and weapons manufacture they might actually do some damage to Ukraine's capabilities. It's not as if they can't aim at all. The recent (of the last few weeks) campaign against the grain facilities at Odesa and elsewhere (even if not pinpoint accurate) demonstrate that the Russians can hit the targets they want to hit. A few missiles with 100-m accuracy on the same target would certainly do some damage even if it wasn't destroyed.

The last major Russian strike against a military target in the rear was their attempt to take out the Patriot battery protecting Kyiv with a group of "supersonic" ballistic missiles. They were all shot down, though the debris from one or more did cause minor damage.

Aldebaran said:

Like F-16s?

Click to expand...

HARK! said:

We might need that equipment to defend ourselves; as Biden draws us closer to WWII.

Click to expand...

If Biden is drawing us closer to WWII, then he is some kind of a time traveler.... Biden is taking us forward. It is republicans who want to take us backwards.

If Biden is drawing us closer to WWII, then he is some kind of a time traveler.... Biden is taking us forward. It is republicans who want to take us backwards.

So that means that after a 4 year war, American emerges again as the supreme superpower?

PsaltiChrysostom said:

So that means that after a 4 year war, American emerges again as the supreme superpower?

Click to expand...

We are already the supreme superpower. Russia is simply trying to regain a hold in the superpower class by murdering Ukrainians. I am surprised (a little) by all the support in this thread for Russia....comrades doing the comradery thing I suppose.

JustOneWay said:

We are already the supreme superpower. Russia is simply trying to regain a hold in the superpower class by murdering Ukrainians. I am surprised (a little) by all the support in this thread for Russia....comrades doing the comradery thing I suppose.

Click to expand...

I'm scared for both sides. My youngest son's godmother lives in Moscow with her husband and 3 kids. I've already had a couple Ukrainian co-workers killed due to missile strikes.

Aldebaran said:

Sure! Helping fire victims in Hawaii might appease Putin. Can't have that!

Click to expand...

Biden's helping the fire victims already. I'm not sure why you seem to think appeasing Putin is preferable to that.

Aldebaran said:

I favor fire victims getting the assistance their president ought to recognize they need. That won't happen as long as the current occupier of the White House sees more value in photo ops than in helping.

Click to expand...

Heather Cox Richardson is always a good read. In her latest daily column: August 31, 2023

Biden emphasized that the government was also focused on recovering and rebuilding efforts in Maui, promising to respect and honor Hawaiian traditions and the needs of the local community—a deep concern among those affected by the fires. “We’re not going to turn this into a new land grab,” he said.

In addition to the $27 million dedicated to the removal of hazardous material and the $400 million dedicated to debris removal in Hawaii, Biden announced that the administration has dedicated $95 million of the funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act to harden the electrical grid against climate change by burying cables or installing smart meters to pinpoint where lines are down.

That's more than half a billion!

The House Oversight and Accountability Committee, chaired by Republican James Comer of Kentucky, announced this week it will investigate the federal response to the Maui wildfires. Biden said yesterday he welcomes such an investigation, suggesting that House Republicans “should go out and talk to every elected official, from the mayors to the governors to the United States senators” who have praised the government’s response.

Everyone's happy but Aldebaran, it seems.