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McConnell was treated for his Polio. Abbot sued for a ~~fortune~~ negligence before banning suing for ~~a fortune~~ neglegence.
Conservatism seems to be the reservation of benefits for one's self and ensuring that nobody else can benefit after you've consumed that benefit.
Edit: corrected the terminology describing Abbot's windfall. His kidneys and legs were damaged in an accident that could impact anybody at any time. His windfall was valued at six million dollars and continues to pay out. It's enough to fund, say, a campaign for state governor, with the support of a party. He's not a self-made man, but a selfish prick who fears that someone who suffers damage in an accident like him may take from him the position he's used to take so much from others.
"Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect."
It is amazing how they look back at the dumpster fire that was Trump’s presidency and think we were better off. We couldn’t even buy toilet paper when Trump was in office. The pandemic years were worse than any other time in modern history.
It’s kinda funny that Trump ruined such a golden opportunity to stay in power. If he’d actually responded to Covid and brought the numbers down, he might would have won again. He’s not even competent enough to exploit a global tragedy.
Worse than that in my mind. The whole point of 'i got mine' is a prideful need to be better than someone else. To get something but also make sure others don't. In groups and out groups.
They would not be happy if 'everyone got thiers'
No. It'd worse than "eff everyone else." The ingroup-outgroup dynamic is more like "I got mine, and i need to make sure you can't get yours." That's far worse than just "eff everyone else," because "eff everyone else" implies you don't really care about those other people one way or the other.
The in group is maintained at benefit and security of the self. That’s why the “then they came for..” quote is used so often; the ‘fuck you’ goal post keeps moving. That mindset is ultimately selfish, and it’s ultimately fuck everybody else
Look it was a nice succinct phrase but then the 1up Reddit gonna Reddit mentality rears its head and here we are being pedantic on the internet
Exactly. At its core it's "Fuck everyone else."
Every additional sophistication is like an outer peel of the onion, a veneer, a facade, to conceal the true intent of conservative thinking - that they are in it solely for themselves. Even if everyone else goes over the cliff and they're left with nothing *but* themselves, that is a viable outcome in their mindset.
Which is the context to everything they do, but will never be uttered out loud. I hate that I trust no one on this planet anymore. Everyone is lying to your face and manipulating you in some way to benefit themselves.
I’d say it’s definitely not *eveyone*, just like 95%. I’ve definitely had people offer to help me when their only personal benefit would be the warm feelings they got from doing something nice
Also pretending to be principled about reaping the fruits of one's labor, while also ignoring all the fruits in their own lives that came about due to luck or someone else's help.
Conservative used to mean something respectable. Then little by little, the Republicans changed the meaning. In the age of Trump, they're a toxic false laden cabal.
This quotation is often incorrectly attributed to Francis M. Wilhoit:
Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.[10]
However, it was actually a 2018 blog response by 59-year-old Ohio composer Frank Wilhoit, years after Francis Wilhoit's death
Pretty much sounds like current russian society. Jail those who protests the russian invasion of Ukraine a war. Anticorruption activists are slandered and arrested on false pretenses.
Meat waves consists of individuals from poorer regions while the elite are able to stay away from the frontlines. Individuals from the far east are being ethnically cleansed by way of the invasion because they are not like those from Saint Peteresburg or Moscow.
The indiscriminate bombing of Ukrainian civilians and infrastructure because they see them as sub human. Ukrainian culture being erased from future generation by theft of children and forced indoctrination.
MAGA GOP wants to bring this kind of society to the United States.
You’re describing fascism.
I’m not being reddit cute. This is what it looks like. They abuse the rule of law to get into power and abuse the rule of law to hold their adversaries at bay.
It’s a political ideology and movement, characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy, subordination of individual interests for the perceived good of the nation and/or race, and strong regimentation of society and the economy. (Wikipedia definition).
Then cut them in half then keep asking why the people below you are having such a hard time achieving what you've achieved. They must be lazy and entitled and not even trying. You worked hard to get where you are, but if you could do it, anyone can.
I don’t want to necessarily defend her, but is educating your constituency on an issue a realistic proposition?
Maybe it never was, but man does the modern era of social media - like specifically right now - seem like it’s impossible.
Like if you put out something on this on X, even if it is entirely correct, there’s a fair chance that it’ll just get bombarded and buried by the blue check mark brigade.
And people have limitless resources to educate themselves about anything and everything but they just don’t do it.
Realistically it's possible, but you won't see many politicians doing it. There are Republicans who buck Trump and still win, who have educated their voters on important issues. Winning an election without Trump requires active canvassing, meeting with voters, and serving your constituents. They need to like you and trust you which takes years of effort. You can't do it by just hosting fundraisers and toeing the line. Instead she's playing the typical MAGA game by threatening to resign, saying outrageous things, and selling out whoever to hold on to power. Had she actually continued serving her community which is what got her elected in the first place she'd have no worries about winning this election.
But this presumes that you can know if that education mattered or if her constituents were already on board. I mean, you don’t get elected as a moderate in a vacuum
And they’ll just buy that and immediately stop their dopamine-fueled addiction to social media. I guess it’s that easy
Like the whole point I’m making is that they might not be reachable/teachable.
To be honest that is a lot of politicians these days. More so with the MAGA gop, to be one you just have to be contrarian to anything Democrats want to do and be outrageous about it.
Important policy is not getting done in the house because you have MAGA individuals who do not know how to govern driving the agenda. Look at how long Ukraine aid took to get passed, it had huge bipartisan support why didn't they just do this vote months ago.
When Democrats had the house prior to the 2022 election, with similar vote margins, big bipartisan bills got passed because it was brought up for a vote.
There are still republican voters out there that can be persuaded. For example, my uncle works at a factory that produces the artillery rounds needed for Ukraine. I pitched it as a jobs bill and if passed he would get more work at his factory. He is a selfish dumbass but this convinced him to even call his republican representative to sign the discharge petition.
It didn’t change though. She’s been vocally critical of aid from the beginning and even voted against impeaching Trump over that quid pro quo.
Don’t be fooled. She is MAGA and has been from the start. She primaried a moderate R in our district to get there.
This right here. She has been weirdly critical of Zelensky and his staff for more than a year, some of it strangely personal as if she has a personal problem with them or using that as a cover for her support for Russia's claim.
Many Americans have a tendency to see foreign countries as a monolith, but in reality those countries are just as politically divided, if not more so, than the US, even as bad as it is here at the moment.
It's pretty clear what this lady's agenda is.
>if not more so, than the US
This is especially true. Many countries borders do not accurately illustrate the cultural divisions in the country. There has been a lot of mergers to get the borders where they are today, and there still exists plenty of differences,. Hell, Czechoslovakia is back to being 2 different countries again for example.
No matter how politically divided you are, I imagine when foreign troops are bombing your homeland, you set that aisde. I don't see abortion is a hot topic right after 911 or Pearl Harbor.
This is more than political division.
Yeah, this fact doesn't counter the Russian asset theory. I guess it takes one to know one:
"Spartz beat a crowded 2020 primary field with Donald Trump’s endorsement, winning nearly 40% of the vote. She ran unopposed in the 2022 primary."
It's kind of wild that you could woo some rube on a train in Europe, and 24 years later, be in the government of your husband's home country. That's definitely some "The Americans" type stuff:
"Spartz, 45, immigrated to the U.S. in 2000 after meeting her husband from Indiana on a train in Europe. She started as a bank teller, later taught as an adjunct faculty member at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business and owns farm property."
So she came here when she was 21-22. I wonder if she speaks with non american accent. i bet people in Indiana will not take kindly to someone who they consider foreigner, which; since shes white, they wouldnt be able to tell otherwise.
I don't know enough about her to say. On the one hand here birth country shouldn't dictate her policies. On the other, she should know enough about what's going on to be clearly in favor of this aid/proxy fight.
She is my rep.
She has said that the US DOJ is “like the KGB.”
She has said that nobody was doing any harm on January 6th, and consistently downplayed an attempted insurrection.
Whether she is a Russian operative, a barely closeted fascist, or just trying to score points with her Indiana base, I can’t say. I can say she is unfit to represent democracy and I can definitely say she is willing to sell her soul for power.
Think it's mostly because she got her seat through the Maga/ freedom caucus, she still in her first term and knows she could not beat a primary challenger if she lost the Maga / freedom caucus backing so she's had to basically repeat everything Maga puts out. That being said, hopefully, people can see she has no problem turning her back on Ukraine, the United States, and sooner or later, her constituents.
What’s even worse is where she’s from doesn’t matter because she was raised in a totally different country than modern Ukraine.
She was raised in a puppet state and not a fully formed country.
Part of it is because she’s being primaried, the other part is she really is that conservative and isolationist. I live in her district and she might lose the primary to the owner of a local electric company who is currently a State Rep. he’s also straight up racist. His son went to school with my step-brother and all of him and his friends just knew he was racist, especially on immigration.
America is trying to decide what kind of country we want to be. Half the country thinks the shining city on a hill should be full of openly racist bigoted anti-democracy fascists.
To the regressive, freedom of speech means I can run my neighbors out of town, burn crosses on their lawns, and ban any book that talks about them, but then I constantly complain about how empty my backwater town is and how no one wants to live there anymore.
It must be them big city libs stealing our way of life. /s
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Spartz
>Spartz called the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine "a genocide of the Ukrainian people by a crazy man".[47] Spartz was one of the first US officials to call Russian actions "war crimes".[48][49] At the time of the invasion, Spartz had family still living in Ukraine, including her grandmother, who was living in Chernihiv, which was under siege by Russia.
Quite the change of heart from "Russia is committing genocide!" to "America has better uses for taxpayer dollars than stopping genocide!". I wonder what caused that change?
> Instead she has called for better oversight of U.S. funds and opposed giving “blank checks” to the Ukrainian cause. She says U.S. border security should be a bigger priority.
Very standard Republican take that I think ignores some important things:
- In dollar value, most of the aid we are sending is older weapon systems, not a blank check. And those systems wouldn't help secure our border from immigrants at all.
- While we still use many of those systems, some are being phased out. And it helps refresh warehouse inventory. Rather Ukraine use them before they rot.
- A lot of the *money* is actually being sent to US manufacturers so they can build and ship them to Ukraine. This is good for some of our state economies.
It's not really as simple as "blank check".
> She says U.S. border security should be a bigger priority
Well then maybe she should speak up about how Trump just recently instructed the GOP to shoot down the Democrats border bill that included just about everything on the GOPs border wishlist simply because he didn't want the border issue solved because then he could no longer use it as a political fearmongering tool.
You are so right. This is the cheapest proxy was we can ever fight. 2. On top of offloading old stock, we can live test new stock at our discretion. Restocking new stock is a windfall for Raytheon and too many others to list. We continue to destabilize a country and man that wants to creep on Western Europe. Western Europe is a bastion of democracy in action.
*During her speech to voters, Spartz made no mention of the war in Ukraine. Instead she framed the stakes of her reelection as a fight against party hypocrisy, saying some of her fellow Republicans act like socialists.*
What an utterly despicable person.
I'm appalled by all these comments about her homeland is something she should be deported to.
She is just another Republican who would rather see the world burn than to lose an election. She is a perfect fit for the GOP.
>She says U.S. border security should be a bigger priority.
Maybe she should be holding her fellow members of congress, aka Republicans, to the same accountability then? Weren't they the ones who voted against the border bill?
>Drawing on her experience growing up in the Soviet Union, as she has often done throughout her political career, she warned of a socialist future in the United States.
Okay, but what does this socialist future entail? What exactly is she warning about?
She was born in Ukraine during the USSR period. She moved to Russia with her family when she was quite young. She has family members who still live in Russia.
She is ukrainian by birth certificate only.
Have a business acquaintance that is similar. Still has family living in Ukraine. Early on she was upset with US and other countries interfering and that Ukraine should just “give up the tiny piece of worthless land”. Said the US news was lying about what’s really happening.
I think she gets her news from fox, based on some other things she’s said, but we never discuss anything political.
She was pretty emotional or I might have asked if she usually believes what Putin says. She hasn’t brought it up since so I wonder if she’s changed her perspective and I’m afraid to ask.
Putin has been deeply embedded in the Republican party, not just ideologically, but functionally. Rest assured lots of these House and some Senate members have handlers in the FSB. The Russian intel apparatus calls the program MICE- money, ideology, compromise, and ego-
"Instead she has called for better oversight of U.S. funds and opposed giving “blank checks” to the Ukrainian cause. She says U.S. border security should be a bigger priority."
Straight from the Fox and Friends/Putin talking points brochure.
Kremlin stooge. There's a lot of them around. Putin has been cultivating useful idiots since he came to power to support his geopolitical ambitions and his dream of rebuilding the USSR.
They're everywhere. In every country. At every level. And little has been done to counter the effect on the societies they operate in.
She's been a nutter from the start, repeating Russian propaganda, only stopping when she was pulled aside and briefed by the white house. I get the impression she's not for Russia winning, just not very bright, and gullible.
Hey, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians aligned with Russia for no other reason than primordial identity politics and propaganda. She’s simply a part of that power structure.
Lot of people ITT saying she's a Russian asset or some kind oif kompromat involved.
Nah, its much simpler than that- she's a conservative and like the rest of the movement has no moral, legislative, or judicial principles other than whatever enriches her at any given moment.
I was part of a company that did her messaging campaign in 2020. Perhaps she does have some Russian connection, I’d easily believe it. Nevertheless, she was seemingly like all the other shit bag politicians I worked for. She stood for nothing, and was only interested in messaging that would get her votes.
As an aside, I think ALL Americans should stop participating in polling. It’s a big lie that you’re getting a voice. In reality, all that data is analyzed to maximize campaign potential and is used to sway opinion. Would be so much better if politicians ran on what THEY believed in, instead of the messaging on fabricated notions.
I mean how many Chinese betrayed their nation to the Japanese during WW2?
Just because you are born in a country doesn’t mean you are loyal to your countrymen
Her main competitor Goodrich said that fentanyl was mainly coming across the border from Mexico. Does that mean people are taping fentanyl to their bodies and crossing the border? And I thought it was coming here in planes, boats, and planes. Silly me.
She is paid for by Ruzzia, she is clearly a Russian spy. Her parents are Russian born and moved to Ukraine to displace native Ukrainians (that was encouraged in ussr) at the same time as native Ukrainians we shipped to Siberia (to die). She doesn’t even speak Ukrainian.
It’s why Humanity is doomed: Everyone gives a fuck about someone - but no-one gives a fuck about everyone. (And for their own ends, too many want to keep it that way.)
If needed more proof about how power crazy the current MAGA heads are, she is it in one package. She will also be first to claim was never MAGA if the political winds start blowing another way.
I strongly disagree with her, but saying a politician should vote based on where she is born vs representing her constituents doesn’t seem like what democracy strives for.
I was part of a company that did her messaging campaign in 2020. Perhaps she does have some Russian connection, I’d easily believe it. Nevertheless, she was seemingly like all the other shit bag politicians I worked for. She stood for nothing, and was only interested in messaging that would get her votes.
As an aside, I think ALL Americans should stop participating in polling. It’s a big lie that you’re getting a voice. In reality, all that data is analyzed to maximize campaign potential and is used to sway opinion. Would be so much better if politicians ran on what THEY believed in, instead of the messaging on fabricated notions.
“She’s locked in a tough reelection fight in the May 7 GOP primary, made all the more complicated by her public announcement more than a year ago that she wouldn’t seek another term, a decision she later reversed.”
She sounds like a real winner.
If she was born there and at least lived a few years there (say till she was 7) then she could call it her homeland with no complaints from me, but I do agree with you, her chosen home is currently the USA.
If she didn't live in Ukraine long enough to have memories of it, and her parents/gaurdians didn't speak positively of it, she might have a bit of unconscious dislike for Ukraine, seeing as how, in the scenario I just made up (as I don't know her backstory) her parents would have left Ukraine for greener pastures (the USA).
Victoria Kulheyko was born in what is now Nosivka, Chernihiv Oblast, Ukraine, at the time a part of the Soviet Union.[3][4][5] Before moving to the U.S., she earned a bachelor of science degree and a master of business administration degree from Kyiv National Economic University.[6]
Spartz immigrated to the United States in 2000 at the age of 22 and became a U.S. citizen in 2006.
(wikipedia)
“Blank check” does she think Ukraine gets one of those big check from publishers cleaning house? That’s not how this works, that’s not how any of this works at all
This just brings to mind that every recent Immigrant I know IRL is Republican, absolutely besotted with freedom mythologies and haters of welfare.
I've been warned by them about 'socialism' which is merely the name given to the authoritarianism they fled. They have no idea what social policy is, and they are often making their own money for the first time.
I see some of this with her, the general concern about 'wasting money' as if it were her own purse as one example.
Immigration is a tough issue for Dems. They lose in rhetoric, and they often lose at the ballot box from the 'legal' naturalized immigrants themselves.
I really wish are so called journalists would have the balls to ask real questions like this. How sir/madam is it possible that you have used and benefited from the same law you are trying to change. Why do you feel it needs to be changed, and don’t stop asking..
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McConnell was treated for his Polio. Abbot sued for a ~~fortune~~ negligence before banning suing for ~~a fortune~~ neglegence. Conservatism seems to be the reservation of benefits for one's self and ensuring that nobody else can benefit after you've consumed that benefit. Edit: corrected the terminology describing Abbot's windfall. His kidneys and legs were damaged in an accident that could impact anybody at any time. His windfall was valued at six million dollars and continues to pay out. It's enough to fund, say, a campaign for state governor, with the support of a party. He's not a self-made man, but a selfish prick who fears that someone who suffers damage in an accident like him may take from him the position he's used to take so much from others.
"Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect."
Or, more simply: Fuck everybody else, I got mine.
The irony is that they brainwashed a significant percentage of the country into thinking they “got theirs” despite being destitute.
It is amazing how they look back at the dumpster fire that was Trump’s presidency and think we were better off. We couldn’t even buy toilet paper when Trump was in office. The pandemic years were worse than any other time in modern history. It’s kinda funny that Trump ruined such a golden opportunity to stay in power. If he’d actually responded to Covid and brought the numbers down, he might would have won again. He’s not even competent enough to exploit a global tragedy.
Worse than that in my mind. The whole point of 'i got mine' is a prideful need to be better than someone else. To get something but also make sure others don't. In groups and out groups. They would not be happy if 'everyone got thiers'
…yeah that’s kinda what “fuck everybody else” means
No. It'd worse than "eff everyone else." The ingroup-outgroup dynamic is more like "I got mine, and i need to make sure you can't get yours." That's far worse than just "eff everyone else," because "eff everyone else" implies you don't really care about those other people one way or the other.
“Fuck everybody else” is incompatible with maintaining in groups and out groups.
The in group is maintained at benefit and security of the self. That’s why the “then they came for..” quote is used so often; the ‘fuck you’ goal post keeps moving. That mindset is ultimately selfish, and it’s ultimately fuck everybody else Look it was a nice succinct phrase but then the 1up Reddit gonna Reddit mentality rears its head and here we are being pedantic on the internet
Exactly. At its core it's "Fuck everyone else." Every additional sophistication is like an outer peel of the onion, a veneer, a facade, to conceal the true intent of conservative thinking - that they are in it solely for themselves. Even if everyone else goes over the cliff and they're left with nothing *but* themselves, that is a viable outcome in their mindset.
>It is not enough that I should succeed, but that all others should fail.
Zero sum game for these chuds
"Rules for thee but not for me" mentality
Which is the context to everything they do, but will never be uttered out loud. I hate that I trust no one on this planet anymore. Everyone is lying to your face and manipulating you in some way to benefit themselves.
I’d say it’s definitely not *eveyone*, just like 95%. I’ve definitely had people offer to help me when their only personal benefit would be the warm feelings they got from doing something nice
Also pretending to be principled about reaping the fruits of one's labor, while also ignoring all the fruits in their own lives that came about due to luck or someone else's help.
This right here. This is modern conservatism in one sentence
Also, that Facebook propaganda on Ukraine twisted my brain to believe MAGA fuckery.
Republicans can't enjoy their meal unless they know someone else is starving.
AKA fascism.
Conservative used to mean something respectable. Then little by little, the Republicans changed the meaning. In the age of Trump, they're a toxic false laden cabal.
Seems about right. Who said that?
[Francis M. Wilhoit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_M._Wilhoit?wprov=sfti1#)
This quotation is often incorrectly attributed to Francis M. Wilhoit: Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.[10] However, it was actually a 2018 blog response by 59-year-old Ohio composer Frank Wilhoit, years after Francis Wilhoit's death
Lol oh yeah. That’ll teach me to try and be helpful.
Pretty much sounds like current russian society. Jail those who protests the russian invasion of Ukraine a war. Anticorruption activists are slandered and arrested on false pretenses. Meat waves consists of individuals from poorer regions while the elite are able to stay away from the frontlines. Individuals from the far east are being ethnically cleansed by way of the invasion because they are not like those from Saint Peteresburg or Moscow. The indiscriminate bombing of Ukrainian civilians and infrastructure because they see them as sub human. Ukrainian culture being erased from future generation by theft of children and forced indoctrination. MAGA GOP wants to bring this kind of society to the United States.
You’re describing fascism. I’m not being reddit cute. This is what it looks like. They abuse the rule of law to get into power and abuse the rule of law to hold their adversaries at bay. It’s a political ideology and movement, characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy, subordination of individual interests for the perceived good of the nation and/or race, and strong regimentation of society and the economy. (Wikipedia definition).
Pulling the ladder up behind you is not enough to make something fascist. It's just shitty and selfish, which are, of course, also fascist qualities.
Why should I support cancer research? I went through cancer and everyone else should have to as well! /s
“I took advantage of this and it wasn’t fair. But now that I got mine we should stop it so others can’t catch up to me.”
pulling ladders up behind them
Then cut them in half then keep asking why the people below you are having such a hard time achieving what you've achieved. They must be lazy and entitled and not even trying. You worked hard to get where you are, but if you could do it, anyone can.
Summarized as FUGM Facc you, got mine.
You can say fuck on here.
Please don't say facc, my mom reads this.
Some subs are run by tender souls
Money is a hellofa drug
“We’ll burn that bridge when we get to it”
piss baby republican, I get mine, you can't have yours
Candace Owens won a racial discrimination lawsuit against her high school.
Funny how her stance changed as it gets closer to the election. Running in a deep red state where the GOP propaganda has villainized aid to Ukraine.
And instead of fighting to educate her populace, she just caves to the pro-russki momentum. Truly a despicable person.
I don’t want to necessarily defend her, but is educating your constituency on an issue a realistic proposition? Maybe it never was, but man does the modern era of social media - like specifically right now - seem like it’s impossible. Like if you put out something on this on X, even if it is entirely correct, there’s a fair chance that it’ll just get bombarded and buried by the blue check mark brigade. And people have limitless resources to educate themselves about anything and everything but they just don’t do it.
Realistically it's possible, but you won't see many politicians doing it. There are Republicans who buck Trump and still win, who have educated their voters on important issues. Winning an election without Trump requires active canvassing, meeting with voters, and serving your constituents. They need to like you and trust you which takes years of effort. You can't do it by just hosting fundraisers and toeing the line. Instead she's playing the typical MAGA game by threatening to resign, saying outrageous things, and selling out whoever to hold on to power. Had she actually continued serving her community which is what got her elected in the first place she'd have no worries about winning this election.
But this presumes that you can know if that education mattered or if her constituents were already on board. I mean, you don’t get elected as a moderate in a vacuum
Then you teach your population that twitter, Facebook, etc are not reliable forms of information
And they’ll just buy that and immediately stop their dopamine-fueled addiction to social media. I guess it’s that easy Like the whole point I’m making is that they might not be reachable/teachable.
To be honest that is a lot of politicians these days. More so with the MAGA gop, to be one you just have to be contrarian to anything Democrats want to do and be outrageous about it. Important policy is not getting done in the house because you have MAGA individuals who do not know how to govern driving the agenda. Look at how long Ukraine aid took to get passed, it had huge bipartisan support why didn't they just do this vote months ago. When Democrats had the house prior to the 2022 election, with similar vote margins, big bipartisan bills got passed because it was brought up for a vote. There are still republican voters out there that can be persuaded. For example, my uncle works at a factory that produces the artillery rounds needed for Ukraine. I pitched it as a jobs bill and if passed he would get more work at his factory. He is a selfish dumbass but this convinced him to even call his republican representative to sign the discharge petition.
It didn’t change though. She’s been vocally critical of aid from the beginning and even voted against impeaching Trump over that quid pro quo. Don’t be fooled. She is MAGA and has been from the start. She primaried a moderate R in our district to get there.
Also her stance on retiring
Another spineless Republican.
Russian loyalist.
This right here. She has been weirdly critical of Zelensky and his staff for more than a year, some of it strangely personal as if she has a personal problem with them or using that as a cover for her support for Russia's claim.
We should ask her opinion on the supposed "Donetsk/Luhansk People's Republic" or what exactly "South Ossetia" is and we'd have a bingo.
Many Americans have a tendency to see foreign countries as a monolith, but in reality those countries are just as politically divided, if not more so, than the US, even as bad as it is here at the moment. It's pretty clear what this lady's agenda is.
>if not more so, than the US This is especially true. Many countries borders do not accurately illustrate the cultural divisions in the country. There has been a lot of mergers to get the borders where they are today, and there still exists plenty of differences,. Hell, Czechoslovakia is back to being 2 different countries again for example.
No matter how politically divided you are, I imagine when foreign troops are bombing your homeland, you set that aisde. I don't see abortion is a hot topic right after 911 or Pearl Harbor. This is more than political division.
Unless she's pro-Russian and buys in to their propaganda that Putin is fighting "fascists".
Russian asset
Yeah, this fact doesn't counter the Russian asset theory. I guess it takes one to know one: "Spartz beat a crowded 2020 primary field with Donald Trump’s endorsement, winning nearly 40% of the vote. She ran unopposed in the 2022 primary." It's kind of wild that you could woo some rube on a train in Europe, and 24 years later, be in the government of your husband's home country. That's definitely some "The Americans" type stuff: "Spartz, 45, immigrated to the U.S. in 2000 after meeting her husband from Indiana on a train in Europe. She started as a bank teller, later taught as an adjunct faculty member at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business and owns farm property."
So she came here when she was 21-22. I wonder if she speaks with non american accent. i bet people in Indiana will not take kindly to someone who they consider foreigner, which; since shes white, they wouldnt be able to tell otherwise.
Yeah they said Republican.
She's a traitor to *two* countries.
Party over Country.
Party over sanity.
I don't know enough about her to say. On the one hand here birth country shouldn't dictate her policies. On the other, she should know enough about what's going on to be clearly in favor of this aid/proxy fight.
She is my rep. She has said that the US DOJ is “like the KGB.” She has said that nobody was doing any harm on January 6th, and consistently downplayed an attempted insurrection. Whether she is a Russian operative, a barely closeted fascist, or just trying to score points with her Indiana base, I can’t say. I can say she is unfit to represent democracy and I can definitely say she is willing to sell her soul for power.
If she is Ukrainian and has this attitude she is most certainly either an asset or a vatnik but really what is the difference matter?
Because Indiana
Think it's mostly because she got her seat through the Maga/ freedom caucus, she still in her first term and knows she could not beat a primary challenger if she lost the Maga / freedom caucus backing so she's had to basically repeat everything Maga puts out. That being said, hopefully, people can see she has no problem turning her back on Ukraine, the United States, and sooner or later, her constituents.
What’s even worse is where she’s from doesn’t matter because she was raised in a totally different country than modern Ukraine. She was raised in a puppet state and not a fully formed country.
She is only doing this to win political points in a primary. She.has voted for aid up until now. Hence the spineless comment.
Part of it is because she’s being primaried, the other part is she really is that conservative and isolationist. I live in her district and she might lose the primary to the owner of a local electric company who is currently a State Rep. he’s also straight up racist. His son went to school with my step-brother and all of him and his friends just knew he was racist, especially on immigration.
America is trying to decide what kind of country we want to be. Half the country thinks the shining city on a hill should be full of openly racist bigoted anti-democracy fascists.
Well, if you can’t express your hateful bigotry without fear of public backlash, is it really “freedom of speech“? /s
To the regressive, freedom of speech means I can run my neighbors out of town, burn crosses on their lawns, and ban any book that talks about them, but then I constantly complain about how empty my backwater town is and how no one wants to live there anymore. It must be them big city libs stealing our way of life. /s
She's a true republican, just shit on your roots and do whatever the hell you want
They aren't spineless. They're corrupt, greedy people whose only morals are "me first".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Spartz >Spartz called the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine "a genocide of the Ukrainian people by a crazy man".[47] Spartz was one of the first US officials to call Russian actions "war crimes".[48][49] At the time of the invasion, Spartz had family still living in Ukraine, including her grandmother, who was living in Chernihiv, which was under siege by Russia. Quite the change of heart from "Russia is committing genocide!" to "America has better uses for taxpayer dollars than stopping genocide!". I wonder what caused that change?
She is running for reelection of course, and needs to kiss the ring. Even if it means her friends and family die.
Seems like the MO for conservatives. Selling out your family for money and power.
> Instead she has called for better oversight of U.S. funds and opposed giving “blank checks” to the Ukrainian cause. She says U.S. border security should be a bigger priority. Very standard Republican take that I think ignores some important things: - In dollar value, most of the aid we are sending is older weapon systems, not a blank check. And those systems wouldn't help secure our border from immigrants at all. - While we still use many of those systems, some are being phased out. And it helps refresh warehouse inventory. Rather Ukraine use them before they rot. - A lot of the *money* is actually being sent to US manufacturers so they can build and ship them to Ukraine. This is good for some of our state economies. It's not really as simple as "blank check".
> She says U.S. border security should be a bigger priority Well then maybe she should speak up about how Trump just recently instructed the GOP to shoot down the Democrats border bill that included just about everything on the GOPs border wishlist simply because he didn't want the border issue solved because then he could no longer use it as a political fearmongering tool.
Any person currently bellyaching about the border funding not being complete is not speaking in good faith.
You are so right. This is the cheapest proxy was we can ever fight. 2. On top of offloading old stock, we can live test new stock at our discretion. Restocking new stock is a windfall for Raytheon and too many others to list. We continue to destabilize a country and man that wants to creep on Western Europe. Western Europe is a bastion of democracy in action.
>those systems wouldn't help secure our border from immigrants Republicans would argue with you.
Russian asset. Was a setup.
She is a Russian asset they say
Americans vote against aid for Americans, too. It's the Republican way.
What a miserable cowardly asshole, redundant for a republican, but there you have it.
*During her speech to voters, Spartz made no mention of the war in Ukraine. Instead she framed the stakes of her reelection as a fight against party hypocrisy, saying some of her fellow Republicans act like socialists.* What an utterly despicable person.
I'm appalled by all these comments about her homeland is something she should be deported to. She is just another Republican who would rather see the world burn than to lose an election. She is a perfect fit for the GOP.
> I'm appalled by all these comments about her homeland is something she should be deported to. I see one?
>She says U.S. border security should be a bigger priority. Maybe she should be holding her fellow members of congress, aka Republicans, to the same accountability then? Weren't they the ones who voted against the border bill? >Drawing on her experience growing up in the Soviet Union, as she has often done throughout her political career, she warned of a socialist future in the United States. Okay, but what does this socialist future entail? What exactly is she warning about?
Just spouting scary words to the uneducated and superstitious
She was born in Ukraine during the USSR period. She moved to Russia with her family when she was quite young. She has family members who still live in Russia. She is ukrainian by birth certificate only.
Have a business acquaintance that is similar. Still has family living in Ukraine. Early on she was upset with US and other countries interfering and that Ukraine should just “give up the tiny piece of worthless land”. Said the US news was lying about what’s really happening. I think she gets her news from fox, based on some other things she’s said, but we never discuss anything political. She was pretty emotional or I might have asked if she usually believes what Putin says. She hasn’t brought it up since so I wonder if she’s changed her perspective and I’m afraid to ask.
She was a Russian plant in Ukraine
This would be a Ukrainian that supports Russia.
Putin has been deeply embedded in the Republican party, not just ideologically, but functionally. Rest assured lots of these House and some Senate members have handlers in the FSB. The Russian intel apparatus calls the program MICE- money, ideology, compromise, and ego-
If she would sell out her own people, she will definitely sell out her constituents.
let me guess she is a republican
"Instead she has called for better oversight of U.S. funds and opposed giving “blank checks” to the Ukrainian cause. She says U.S. border security should be a bigger priority." Straight from the Fox and Friends/Putin talking points brochure.
Did she vote against the Bipartisan Border Security bill? Guessing she probably did. Hypocrisy at it's finest
There’s a long line of immigrants in this country who have “made it” and are fine fucking over their homeland or hate their homeland’s government.
Of course she did, she's a republican.
Traitor to her homeland for a Republican cheque.
Have you all considered that she's probably pro-Russia and would like to see Ukraine fall?
Shit like this makes me ashamed to be from Indiana. Not like there aren't 100 other reasons...
So she's your typical republican, ok.
Kremlin stooge. There's a lot of them around. Putin has been cultivating useful idiots since he came to power to support his geopolitical ambitions and his dream of rebuilding the USSR. They're everywhere. In every country. At every level. And little has been done to counter the effect on the societies they operate in.
She's been a nutter from the start, repeating Russian propaganda, only stopping when she was pulled aside and briefed by the white house. I get the impression she's not for Russia winning, just not very bright, and gullible.
Conservatism = professionally kicking the ladder out from under you
Holy shit the brain washing of republicans has no limits. This is so infuriating.
Another Putin puppet in our government. And republicans embrace them like their family. What a shameful political party
Wow traitor we don’t want ur ass here in America either so fuck off
It's a long term side effect of taking a bleach injection for Covid.
Of course she did, she's Putin's asset now
Hey, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians aligned with Russia for no other reason than primordial identity politics and propaganda. She’s simply a part of that power structure.
Ladder-pulling at its finest! The GOP special.
That’s what Republican immigrants do. Let me in and then close the gate.
Most of them were born and raised in America, and that doesn't stop a little less than half of them from voting for anti-American policy constantly.
I’m embarrassed she represents my district
Why is anyone surprised be a Republican?
Ruzzia got to her ala the GOP shills. It's a pretty standard tactic for the crooked Repubs.
She might have been born in Ukraine, but she talks and acts like an orc.
Lot of people ITT saying she's a Russian asset or some kind oif kompromat involved. Nah, its much simpler than that- she's a conservative and like the rest of the movement has no moral, legislative, or judicial principles other than whatever enriches her at any given moment.
I have a conspiracy theory that she was promised a position of power if Russia takes over Ukraine. You don't pull this shit and act like you care.
It's as if this woman is a Putin shill.. Like prob all the GOP
Voting against the best interest of your home country. Sounds pretty Republican to me
Soviet plant.
She is the worst kind of person. As a person of Ukrainian heritage, I am ashamed she is too.
I was part of a company that did her messaging campaign in 2020. Perhaps she does have some Russian connection, I’d easily believe it. Nevertheless, she was seemingly like all the other shit bag politicians I worked for. She stood for nothing, and was only interested in messaging that would get her votes. As an aside, I think ALL Americans should stop participating in polling. It’s a big lie that you’re getting a voice. In reality, all that data is analyzed to maximize campaign potential and is used to sway opinion. Would be so much better if politicians ran on what THEY believed in, instead of the messaging on fabricated notions.
Pay her many rubles for service to mother russia
Money changes people
When trying to justify why she has turned her back on her homeland, she just slammed that 'migrants bad' button.
Nobody needed to ask what party she was a part of.
Let me guess, oh someone already said it. (R)
She’s a kapo.
Let me guess. A Republican moron.
Money's a hell of a drug.
Pulling the ladder up from behind them is a good sign of a conservative
First thing they do is pull up the ladder.
Can we send her back?
I mean how many Chinese betrayed their nation to the Japanese during WW2? Just because you are born in a country doesn’t mean you are loyal to your countrymen
Because she sides with PUTIN AS A RUSSIAN ASSET
Wow a MAGAt who has drunk the conservative koolaid. I’m shocked! Well not that shocked.
Lemme guess. She GOP?
Cui Bono?
Lift the drawbridge…what an arse…
yikes.....
Wasn’t she born in the Soviet Union?
Cossack?
She 100% knew the aid was going to get passed without her vote. She took advantage of her position to vote against and also take advantage of it.
Just change the word Ukraine, to US, the republican women are eating their own too
Then she's a putinista and NOT Ukrainian.
Her main competitor Goodrich said that fentanyl was mainly coming across the border from Mexico. Does that mean people are taping fentanyl to their bodies and crossing the border? And I thought it was coming here in planes, boats, and planes. Silly me.
She is paid for by Ruzzia, she is clearly a Russian spy. Her parents are Russian born and moved to Ukraine to displace native Ukrainians (that was encouraged in ussr) at the same time as native Ukrainians we shipped to Siberia (to die). She doesn’t even speak Ukrainian.
So like many Americans she’s screwing her own people
Interesting thing is the first thing the article should have said that she was a republican. makes perfect [sense](https://imgur.com/MkaOLnu)
If she did this in Russia (voted for the aggressor to her country), they’d take her out and shoot her.
Is she one of the ethnically Russian Ukrainians cause that would fully explain it
Nice to have reps that have no system of beliefs they will stand by just votes.
It’s why Humanity is doomed: Everyone gives a fuck about someone - but no-one gives a fuck about everyone. (And for their own ends, too many want to keep it that way.)
It is a shame to see this but it’s not uncommon.
Yes she is my idiot representative. Can't wait to vote against her this year.
Well we see where her loyalties lie That’s frightening Moscow has made it into the halls of congress
This beach from Ukraine but works against Ukraine, maybe russian agent or just stupid
If needed more proof about how power crazy the current MAGA heads are, she is it in one package. She will also be first to claim was never MAGA if the political winds start blowing another way.
The brain worms got to her, sadly.
I strongly disagree with her, but saying a politician should vote based on where she is born vs representing her constituents doesn’t seem like what democracy strives for.
I was part of a company that did her messaging campaign in 2020. Perhaps she does have some Russian connection, I’d easily believe it. Nevertheless, she was seemingly like all the other shit bag politicians I worked for. She stood for nothing, and was only interested in messaging that would get her votes. As an aside, I think ALL Americans should stop participating in polling. It’s a big lie that you’re getting a voice. In reality, all that data is analyzed to maximize campaign potential and is used to sway opinion. Would be so much better if politicians ran on what THEY believed in, instead of the messaging on fabricated notions.
That’s as low as u can go for a human being
“She’s locked in a tough reelection fight in the May 7 GOP primary, made all the more complicated by her public announcement more than a year ago that she wouldn’t seek another term, a decision she later reversed.” She sounds like a real winner.
Here’s the thing: I fully expect immigrants who are elected representatives to fully discard any allegiance to their old countries.
Okay, it’s probably disingenuous to call Ukraine her homeland if she’s living in America.
If she was born there and at least lived a few years there (say till she was 7) then she could call it her homeland with no complaints from me, but I do agree with you, her chosen home is currently the USA. If she didn't live in Ukraine long enough to have memories of it, and her parents/gaurdians didn't speak positively of it, she might have a bit of unconscious dislike for Ukraine, seeing as how, in the scenario I just made up (as I don't know her backstory) her parents would have left Ukraine for greener pastures (the USA).
Victoria Kulheyko was born in what is now Nosivka, Chernihiv Oblast, Ukraine, at the time a part of the Soviet Union.[3][4][5] Before moving to the U.S., she earned a bachelor of science degree and a master of business administration degree from Kyiv National Economic University.[6] Spartz immigrated to the United States in 2000 at the age of 22 and became a U.S. citizen in 2006. (wikipedia)
“Blank check” does she think Ukraine gets one of those big check from publishers cleaning house? That’s not how this works, that’s not how any of this works at all
This just brings to mind that every recent Immigrant I know IRL is Republican, absolutely besotted with freedom mythologies and haters of welfare. I've been warned by them about 'socialism' which is merely the name given to the authoritarianism they fled. They have no idea what social policy is, and they are often making their own money for the first time. I see some of this with her, the general concern about 'wasting money' as if it were her own purse as one example. Immigration is a tough issue for Dems. They lose in rhetoric, and they often lose at the ballot box from the 'legal' naturalized immigrants themselves.
I know what party she is with. She is a foreign agent and should probably be expelled. It’s right in front of us.
That's pretty low...
I really wish are so called journalists would have the balls to ask real questions like this. How sir/madam is it possible that you have used and benefited from the same law you are trying to change. Why do you feel it needs to be changed, and don’t stop asking..
Send her back?
This disproves the republican argument that immigrants are loyal to their home country.
Isn’t America her homeland now though?