Oh my.

[JustKeepSwimming]

Colorado Supreme Court kicks Trump off ballot due to 6 January 'insurrection'

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-67768873

First time article 14 of US Constitution has been invoked. Currently only applies to Colorado, and appeal has been granted.

Colorado is 10 of the 538 electoral college.

Personally I think the ruling is going to be overturned as he has not be convicted of insurrection and Trump is going to win the 2024 election.

SCOTUS is stacked as 6 republicans and 3 democrats.

God have mercy on our souls.

[woody1]

...Trump is going to win the 2024 election.

I fear you might be right, and depressing that the GOP can't see fit to pick someone else.

[edison]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-67768873

First time article 14 of US Constitution has been invoked. Currently only applies to Colorado, and appeal has been granted.

Colorado is 10 of the 538 electoral college.

Personally I think the ruling is going to be overturned as he has not be convicted of insurrection and Trump is going to win the 2024 election.

SCOTUS is stacked as 6 republicans and 3 democrats.

God have mercy on our souls.

That was probably Trump's greatest achievement as President from a Republican perspective..

It's strange that the US political system is supposed to have lots of checks and balances yet the Supreme Court nominations always seem to be highly partisan and the appointees are for life.

[dsc]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-67768873

First time article 14 of US Constitution has been invoked. Currently only applies to Colorado, and appeal has been granted.

Colorado is 10 of the 538 electoral college.

Personally I think the ruling is going to be overturned as he has not be convicted of insurrection and Trump is going to win the 2024 election.

SCOTUS is stacked as 6 republicans and 3 democrats.

God have mercy on our souls.

If Trump wins, then best of luck to Ukraine and we might as well prep for a war in central Europe (NATO might as well start prepping heavily).

The fact that Trump is an actual favourite after all he's done just shows how the right to vote should not be given to everyone.

[JustKeepSwimming]

I fear you might be right, and depressing that the GOP can't see fit to pick someone else.

Can't really blame them TBH, I'm no right winger but Biden is not all there mentally, it's not his stammer which he has always had, it's pretty clearly mental decline.

I think there is an outside chance Mark Cuban enters the race.

That was probably Trump's greatest achievement as President from a Republican perspective..

It's strange that the US political system is supposed to have lots of checks and balances yet the Supreme Court nominations always seem to be highly partisan and the appointees are for life.

It's pretty dangerous. I think in the past they were pretty cognisant in keeping the court somewhat balanced (but that might be my west wing hopium). In many places in the US the entire judicial system is politicised. Police chiefs elected, prosecutors elected, Judges elected. Which just seems battulip crazy to me.

If Trump wins, then best of luck to Ukraine and we might as well prep for a war in central Europe (NATO might as well start prepping heavily).

The fact that Trump is an actual favourite after all he's done just shows how the right to vote should not be given to everyone.

I'm not overly sure TBH. Trump wasn't as battulip as people tried to claim last time. I don't think he will turn his back on Ukraine, I think he might hint at it to appease some of his base, but I don't think he ever would. I can't see him leaving NATO.

Equally, Russia is spent for the short term. They might not even have the ability to finish off Ukraine and absolutely have no ability to start another war anytime soon. The only obvious weak target is Moldova. Poland is a massively underrated military power and is more than a match for the current Russian military. They just elected a much more pro European government (That Tusk fella). They have big military budget and a tiny navy which is the expensive service. Their airforce is middling but as we have seen from Ukraine that doesn't appear to be a huge issue against Russia. Polish army on the other hand packs a big punch. I don't think Putin is attacking the EU directly. EU+UK does have the economic and industrial capacity to defend itself.

It would only be 4 years, there is only so much damage Trump could do in that time and I'm not fully convinced Republicans are fully battulip crazy.

He's not one of the favourites, he is the favourite.

[woody1]

Can't really blame them TBH, I'm no right winger but Biden is not all there mentally, it's not his stammer which he has always had, it's pretty clearly mental decline.

I'm fine with the Republicans winning, just not Trump. He seemed ok when he was doing the Apprentice, and anyway didn't he used to be a Democrat and in with the Clintons?

[dsc]

I'm not overly sure TBH. Trump wasn't as battulip as people tried to claim last time. I don't think he will turn his back on Ukraine, I think he might hint at it to appease some of his base, but I don't think he ever would. I can't see him leaving NATO.

Equally, Russia is spent for the short term. They might not even have the ability to finish off Ukraine and absolutely have no ability to start another war anytime soon. The only obvious weak target is Moldova. Poland is a massively underrated military power and is more than a match for the current Russian military. They just elected a much more pro European government (That Tusk fella). They have big military budget and a tiny navy which is the expensive service. Their airforce is middling but as we have seen from Ukraine that doesn't appear to be a huge issue against Russia. Polish army on the other hand packs a big punch. I don't think Putin is attacking the EU directly. EU+UK does have the economic and industrial capacity to defend itself.

It would only be 4 years, there is only so much damage Trump could do in that time and I'm not fully convinced Republicans are fully battulip crazy.

He's not one of the favourites, he is the favourite.

All Trump needs to do is be less generous with the money flow to Ukraine and they are done. Even with all the money / equipment they are getting now, things are pretty grim. Russia just keeps throwing convicts at the lines and effectively draining Ukraine's resources, not sure where they are getting all the kit from though, I think some are coming either from China or Korea (from what I've heard they depleted their deep storage). The main issue though is Putin was humiliated by Ukraine and the west and he will want to take Ukraine at some stage. It might not be now, might not be in 2-5yrs, but he will not forget this, even 10yrs down the line (I still doubt it would be the whole of Ukraine, most likely only Crimea and some areas already taken over by them back around 2014).

As for Poland, yes Tusk won, yes it's more pro-EU (or actually very pro EU now), yes they placed tulip ton of orders for military equipment, but overall the army isn't in a great shape. But that's not a huge concern as they have half (joking of course, but there's a fair bit) the US forces currently stationed there We gave all our tanks to Ukraine, most or all the planes handed over as well, the deal was to get newer replacements, but I'm not sure how well that's going. I also doubt Putin would openly attack a NATO country, but on the other hand I can kind of see how some members of NATO would class attacking some members as not the end of the world and perhaps not something so terrible (see WW2 and how Poland was ****ed over before anyone even made a decision to join the war).

[Fraidycat]

All Trump needs to do is be less generous with the money flow to Ukraine and they are done.

Ukraine is already done, they have run out of fit men. The average age of a Ukrainian solider is now 43 years old according to Time magazine. No amount of US money can change that.

"Even if the US were to provide Ukraine with all the weapons it promised, a Zelenskyy aide told Time, Ukraine simply doesn't "have the men to use them."

https://www.businessinsider.com/aver...3-11?r=US&IR=T

[vetran]

Ukraine is already done, they have run out of fit men. The average age of a Ukrainian solider is now 43 years old according to Time magazine. No amount of US money can change that.

"Even if the US were to provide Ukraine with all the weapons it promised, a Zelenskyy aide told Time, Ukraine simply doesn't "have the men to use them."

https://www.businessinsider.com/aver...3-11?r=US&IR=T

send in the Palestinians and rubber boat men?

[JustKeepSwimming]

Ukraine is already done, they have run out of fit men. The average age of a Ukrainian solider is now 43 years old according to Time magazine. No amount of US money can change that.

"Even if the US were to provide Ukraine with all the weapons it promised, a Zelenskyy aide told Time, Ukraine simply doesn't "have the men to use them."

https://www.businessinsider.com/aver...3-11?r=US&IR=T

Zelenskyy hasn't been shy in their PR game.

There is something utterly depressing about the idea that a country loses it's independence solely because it ran out of people who could fight.

I'm not convinced that Ukraine is on it knees. When you look at populations and casualties figures, from all sources, the numbers just doesn't stack up that Ukraine is running out of men.

To be blunt, regardless of the outcome, Russia is a spent force for the foreseeable future. Their population was already declining, taking a huge chunk out of another generation of men is only going to increase the speed of the decline. Which is a win for the West.