The founders of the US government were well acquainted with the ‘mistakes’ made by Roman emperors. By coincidence, Gibbon’s great opus recounting them first appeared in 1776.
Hi Bill , I agree with much of your analysis but what I don’t hear from you is what you would do differently than Trump . For example would you raise taxes or cut spending to bring the debt under control. Which spending items would you cut besides defense. You say you disagree with what Trump is doing to the university’s but would you keep giving them tax payers money ? On immigration do you disagree with closing the border and arresting criminals ? It is time you offer solutions instead of just criticizing. I suggest you do so before many more of your readers quit taking you seriously!!!!
Yes Denis, most of the Americans that once gathered in these parts, have either left or stick around for the few Americans that are left. Many stay for Dan and a few of Tom’s thoughts. Most still don’t believe that Bill is doing this writing. Some leftwing fool is now in charge. And yes Denis, few take this new writer seriously!!!! I enjoy the show his ghost writer provides and love it even more as President Trump continues to Win. It seems every Win for President Trump is a loss for this demented ghost writer, definitely for the left and nothing but a Win for America🇺🇸 I can almost guarantee that Bill is sitting back in his chateau, drinking anything other than his Malbec, and enjoying the amusement of it all. It really is hysterical watching the leftist, globalist and party of mental illness making constant fools of themselves. Especially with the freak show this past weekend with “No Brains Day” but We really couldn’t expect anything different from such sick people and fools 🤔
So, you agree that the president now has the authority to violate most of the precepts of the original constitution of the United States? Me thinks you need to re-read it.🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😁
Nothing funny about it Wes. America is at war. At this point, the president has the power to enforce federal laws, invoke emergency powers for national security, communicate directly with the public and Congress to frame issues, propose legislation to address challenges, appoint judges to influence the judiciary, and utilize military authority to ensure safety. Everything the left has fought against since “Fundamentally Transforming America” These powers enable the president to respond to political, social, and physical attacks effectively while maintaining the rule of law. The democrats are creating another civil war, just as they did 160 years ago. They were demented back then, and are even more so now. It seems that violence and chaos are their old/new obsession, so give them what they’re asking for 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
At war with whom? External? What Venezuela, for dealing drugs to us? Where the hell in the constitution does it say the Federal Government has the authority to outlaw drugs? Guess what pal, I grew up on the border, father was Border Patrol. Outlawing drugs just pushed the prices up and created an environment where government graft, and profit enabled the cartels, which for the last 80 years have just been getting stronger and now spilling across our borders. Not too mention Federal intervention in third world countries that the constitution never gave them the power to do. Maybe at war with the Arab and Muslim worlds? Again, US has been meddling in the middle east for how long? After 9/11 did we going and find the culprits and hold them responsible, no we invaded countries on without formal declarations of war approved by congress. You think I’m joking? What about Russia, sorry not our fight. Israelis? Also, not our fight. If I were them, I would be working o exterminate Hamas, but where in the constitution does is say its our war? That leave internal. Ok so here it is. As far as I am concerned the conservatives are as responsible for our problems as the liberals. So if the war is internal, it is against both parties, both of which want to dictate my life, my freedom, my pocketbook and my movement, and both parties are participating on spying in me. Conservatives label Libertarians as lefttards. BS!! It is Libertarian ideas that gave rise to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. If we had to depend on current “conservatives” in 1776, we would all be singing God Save the King, rather than the Pledge of Allegiance. So, if we are at war, it is against the all powerful Federal Government, and 90% of it needs to be outlawed. But taking up arms against our government is not going to do it, so let it fall to pieces so it can be rebuilt. I don’t see conservatives supporting this, I just see them the same as leftist liberals giving more power to our masters to tell us how it should all be done.
I get it Wes! You want zero government and the freedom to do as you please. You dislike the left and the right. You’re the monkey in the middle. Even after years of demented rule, total lawlessness and the “freedom” to steal, riot and assault with no consequences, you blame the “conservatives”. I don’t think that Libertarians are as demented as leftist. I believe they are just too stoned to know the difference…
Also, incorrect, Libertarians don’t want zero government. They believe in the US Constitution and limited government. You confuse limited government with an excuse to do as we please with no regard to our neighbors. Total propaganda! We expect society to hold everyone responsible for each of their / our own actions that harm others. The world is built upon respect, and people will allow local governments to pass ordinances to safe guard a persons body and property. As for safeguarding a person sense of morality, that is the perview of the churches and social shunning.
Criticizing Trump for taking actions not authorized by the constitution is not something that you would expect the critics of Bill’s column to object to. There is no accounting for how far they will go in defending a President who clearly assumes powers not authorized by the Constitution. They don’t address that issue directly. Instead they attack Bill as a left wing fool because he advocates for a free market economy and obedience to the Constitution. Trump is pretty much a buffoon who doesn’t even know what the Declaration of Independence says, he has never taken the time to actually read it or to read the Constitution.
Bill is not a financial planner. He is a commentator on society. Most of you need to read and understand his comments and seek financial advice from someone else like Tom.
Hi Bill, as usual, well written and compelling but with all this talk of war you forgot to mention that Trump has ended more wars than Obama and Biden wasted our money on.
I was wondering the same thing. I can use google, but I think the answer would be interesting in terms of understanding Sierradenali's perspective.
In any case, from my perspective, it's not even Trump's job to end foreign wars if we're not involved. What I would appreciate though, is if he could stop sending weapons or dollars to support wars in which we are not involved.
Yet when AI (take your pick) is queried, the story is just the opposite:
Question - Did Trump end 8 wars recently?
Answer - No.
Cambodia–Thailand: no deal.
✅ True. There was no peace or border accord brokered by the Trump administration. The border dispute over the Preah Vihear temple area remains managed through ASEAN channels, not U.S. mediation.
Kosovo–Serbia: only trade talks, no peace.
✅ Mostly true. Trump officials did host economic-normalization talks (Sept 2020, Washington Agreement), but it was not a peace deal and didn’t resolve the political dispute over Kosovo’s recognition. The EU handled that process.
DRC–Rwanda: not his doing.
✅ True. Trump had no involvement in the Congo-Rwanda regional peace efforts. Mediation came from the African Union and neighboring states.
Pakistan–India: Kashmir still burning.
✅ Accurate. Trump offered to mediate in 2019, but India rejected outside mediation. No progress followed, and tensions increased after India revoked Article 370 in August 2019.
Israel–Iran: got worse.
✅ True. Tensions escalated: Trump withdrew from the JCPOA nuclear deal (2018), re-imposed sanctions, and ordered the Soleimani strike (2020). Iran resumed uranium enrichment. Relations deteriorated.
Egypt–Ethiopia: he made it worse.
✅ Mostly true. Trump attempted to mediate the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) dispute but cut aid to Ethiopia after it defied U.S. pressure. The move hardened Ethiopian resistance and worsened relations.
Armenia–Azerbaijan: ceasefire by Russia, not Trump.
✅ True. The 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire was brokered by Russia, not the U.S. Trump’s administration offered only limited statements.
👉 Only real thing he did: Abraham Accords. Everything else = propaganda.
✅ Largely true. The Abraham Accords (2020) — normalizing relations between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan — were Trump’s sole major diplomatic success. Other claimed “peace deals” were overstated.
Lucas, I don't have time to go thru every example you provided, but my Ai search differs.... (re: DRC)
The Trump administration has actively mediated between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda to address the long-standing conflict. This included hosting high-level meetings in the Oval Office with foreign ministers from both countries.
Peace Agreement: In June 2025, a peace agreement was signed in Washington, which aimed to end decades of conflict in the region. This agreement was part of a broader strategy to stabilize the area and secure U.S. interests in mineral resources.
Fair point on the DRC — I need to update my assessment. You're right that there WAS formal U.S. involvement, so let me correct the record:
DRC–Rwanda: Partial credit, but transparently transactional.
✅ What actually happened: On June 27, 2025, Secretary of State Marco Rubio oversaw a peace agreement signing between DRC and Rwandan foreign ministers, followed by Oval Office meetings with Trump. The agreement addresses a 30-year conflict and includes U.S. access to critical minerals (gold, copper, lithium).
💰 Why Trump got involved: In February 2025, DRC President Félix Tshisekedi sent a letter to Trump (pre-inauguration) offering direct mineral access in exchange for U.S. security assistance. That's the ONLY reason Trump is at the table — not altruism, but a transactional deal for his defense contractor friends who want those minerals. China dominates this market, and Trump wants in.
⚠️ The catch:
The M23 rebel group (the most powerful armed faction, allegedly backed by Rwanda) was NOT party to the agreement and says it's not binding on them. As of October 2025, implementation has stalled. Rwandan troops remain in Congolese territory. Peace talks are at an impasse. Experts doubt it will end the fighting.
Verdict: DRC traded mineral rights for a photo-op "peace deal." The governments signed paper; the war continues. Trump gets to claim he "brokered a deal" while his defense contractor circle positions for mineral access — and the main belligerents weren't even at the table.
Still stands: Abraham Accords = real. Everything else = inflated transactional PR.
P.S. Apparently , Trump took the short steps on air force today. I thought it was a troll. But apparently there was a deer stand, shooting platform, somewhere nearby, probably nothing.... 🤔
Imagine a 79-year-old CEO of a Fortune 500 company who, three days before taking office, launches his own cryptocurrency—one billion coins, with 800 million quietly retained by his family. Within months, they make five billion dollars on paper while he’s sitting in the executive suite, setting company policy.
He promises full transparency on a cache of internal files everyone’s been begging to see. Then his legal team announces there’s “nothing there.” He calls the whole thing a hoax and dismisses anyone still asking questions—even board members from his own party.
His trade strategy? Massive tariffs that slice the company’s exports by 30 to 50 percent, add more than a thousand dollars in costs to every customer, and shatter relationships with every major partner—Japan, South Korea, Australia, Canada. Decades of goodwill, gone in months.
Meanwhile, he tears through a radical restructuring plan—nearly half complete already—rolling out one sweeping change after another, leaving chaos in every division.
What would happen?
The board would meet in emergency session. Lawyers would swarm. Within months there’d be a carefully worded statement about “pursuing other interests” or “spending more time with family.” He’d be out.
But here’s the twist: this isn’t a corporate CEO. It’s the President of the United States—running the world’s largest enterprise with no board of directors to fire him.
Government choosing profit over national security? Please. The U.S. government has never chosen profit over military spending. Just look at the defense budget versus investment in anything that might actually help its own people.
Production has been replaced with destruction. When there wasn’t a war in 2001, they simply made one. Instead of building factories that could have been producing microchips, electric vehicles, and PPE, Washington sent thousands of its own citizens to die in two wars that never needed fighting—wars that left entire regions in shambles and trillions in debt.
The irony? 2001 was the last year the United States posted a budget surplus—about $128 billion. The economy was humming. The Cold War was long over. Defense spending had fallen to just 3% of GDP, its lowest share in half a century. For a brief moment, the U.S. was running in the black, spending more on prosperity than on paranoia.
Then came January 20, 2001. The Bush administration took office, and within months, the surplus vanished—along with America’s restraint. Two tax cuts, two wars, and a reborn Military Industrial Complex later, Washington was drowning in red ink once again. “Defending the American people” became the new rallying cry. From a fictitious enemy, no less—and when they couldn’t find one, they made one up. The same machine Eisenhower warned about had simply rebranded itself for the 21st century—and business was booming.
Even in that moment of supposed peace, in 2001, after showing a $128 Billion surplus, the U.S. still spent $306 billion on defense—more than the next ten nations combined. In peacetime, it was an empire still preparing for war.
The pattern hasn’t changed. When the Cold War ended, the “peace dividend” never arrived. Instead of reinvesting in infrastructure, education, or domestic industry, the government poured Trillions of dollars into jet fighters—machines now proven almost useless in modern warfare. Much like tanks in Ukraine, they’re relics of a 20th-century mindset. The future of war is drones, robots, and hacking, not pilots flying $100 million-dollar toys into missile-saturated skies.
As for industry, it’s always been about profits—and still is. “Reshoring”? That’s the new marketing slogan for moving production from China to Mexico, then calling it a win. But you can’t “friend-shore” while telling your new neighbor to go home. The rhetoric and reality couldn’t be further apart.
And productivity? Automation doesn’t fill the 600,000 skilled-trade gaps left by forty years of offshoring. You can’t automate tool-and-die makers or rare-earth refiners out of thin air. The result is the same hollow core—just wrapped in new PR.
What would it take to bring those vital industries back? Nothing short of a systemic reckoning. The West built its wealth on the cheap labor of others, and rebuilding domestic supply chains means facing that uncomfortable math: either pay more for labor, or you don’t get labor at all.
And then there’s the money. Fiat collapse might not happen overnight, but the trajectory of U.S. interest costs has gone stratospheric. Annual interest payments now exceed defense spending. Treasury yields have tripled since 2021. At this rate, interest alone will surpass Social Security before the decade’s out. That’s not sustainability—it’s a slow-motion default dressed up as inflation.
Belief in “faith-based” money won’t hold forever. When debt costs more than defense, faith tends to evaporate. What replaces it won’t be another digital token or Trump Coin—it’ll be something tangible. Something real.
Because when a nation builds weapons instead of factories, it eventually discovers it can’t fight hunger, debt, or decay with a jet fighter.
Bush was in front of the parade twirling the baton...
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Yes Mexico is a beneficiary, but actual companies are returning to U.S. soil.
Some that have never been here are setting up shop.
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Yes, the trajectory for the dollar is alarming, all the more reason to take action now.
Gold is considered "real"... but has limited actual intrinsic use and is difficult to transact in a digital world.
Stablecoins are the future...
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Lucas wrote: "Because when a nation builds weapons instead of factories, it eventually discovers it can’t fight hunger, debt, or decay with a jet fighter."
You need factories to build weapons.
Weaponry like it or not creates jobs.
Many of the tech miracles used today resulted from conflict.
A country without defense will not be a country very long.
It's not a binary world.
With the ample resources available to us we can protect our land, feed our people and develop peaceful societies...
It's not at all unobtainable, it's a matter of societal will and education.
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Media and social propagation are at odds with cultural homogenization.
Folks so proud not to be an American, they are applauded when they celebrate their own, wave their own flags, speak their mother tongue and try to change American culture and history.
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I see it as the man you so despise, is trying to do just that of which you lament.
Trump is terribly flawed; iconoclasts are always viewed as such.
Trump offers what no politico has in decades; solutions - like them or not.
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I too wish we could kumbaya ourselves out of war.
Unfortunately to kindle war only requires the perception of one aggressor.
It's not about ignorance or ideology. It's about incentives.
The question isn't why leaders make destructive choices—it's why everyone else goes along with it. And the answer is pretty straightforward: they've done the math. Being inside the circle is safer than being outside it. They'd rather risk annoying their voters than become the target.
Look at how the incentives actually work. Cross Trump today, and your career is over tomorrow—a social media post, a primary challenger, your committee seats gone. Vote for a trade war that destroys farms? That plays out over years, gets blamed on China or weather or a dozen other things, and by the time it fully hits, everyone's moved on to the next crisis. The cost of disloyalty is immediate and personal. The cost of bad policy is delayed and distributed.
Massie is the edge case that proves the rule. He votes no consistently, gets called "the worst Republican Congressman" and "a real loser," and his fundraising goes through the roof. Turns out there's a market for principle—but he's also accepted that he'll never be in leadership. Most people aren't willing to make that trade.
This is how you get the executive overreach Bonner describes—the tariffs, the war powers, the federal control creep. Not because 435 people suddenly forgot the Constitution, but because 434 of them decided it's less risky to enable it than to stop it. The system selects for compliance and punishes resistance.
After running a business for a quarter century, I can tell you: this is basic organizational behavior. You don't need a conspiracy or unique corruption—just normal people responding rationally to the actual incentive structure. The guy with unilateral power over your career gets deference. That's just how it works.
The founders tried to engineer around this—separation of powers, checks and balances, making ambition counter ambition. But they underestimated how quickly people optimize for survival over principle when the threat is real and immediate.
Maybe that's the real lesson. Republics don't fall because people forget history. They fall because the immediate cost of resistance exceeds the delayed cost of compliance.
And maybe it's worth noting: a president without a dog is usually someone who understands that loyalty only flows one direction.
"Using force for anything but defense is a waste of money."
Anybody who believes this has never worked on older cars, trucks, and/or heavy machinery. There is even a humorous saying about it: "Don't use force; just get a bigger hammer." Recently, a broken parking brake assembly forced (haha) me to fetch and deploy my 3-lb. hammer to remove the rotor so I could gain access, this on my 2000 Silverado 3/4-ton 4 x 4.
Seriously, application of force, the old "might makes right", is counter-indicated in most instances, particularly war, which is why I fear our current social and political polarization. One side can and will prevail in a physical struggle, but all that accomplishes is a temporary acquiescence on the part of the loser; it does not actually bring about a conversion. At that point, separation is the only remedy. Will we see that in time? Best always. PM
That’s been the guiding principle of US foreign policy since 1899’s slaughter of Cuban and Filipino patriots trying to free themselves from Spanish colonialism. It’s merely reaching new heights with our current tyrant. Farmers are just the first of us to pay the price of totalitarianism!
The Republicans may have lost their farming voter base for the midterms and for future POTUS elections. Enough of this bullshit. Problem is there's no real alternative. Time for voting libertarian if I vote at all.
Well said. " Up with down! Up with down! What are we fighting for!!!!? When don't know! When do we want it! ? Also nuclear! Also unclear. NO KINGS NO KINGS.... Louder! Louder! NO KINGS....OH I just shit my pants again.. Sir? Sir? Hello sir... I just dropped my Walker.Can you please hand it to me. I wonder if medicare covers new pants.
The increase in Thomas Massie’s campaign funds may not have come from his supporters, instead from George Soros or similar people/groups….would be interesting to know.
You do realize that the Biden administration had total access to "the Epstein files"? Do you think if there was any damning evidence linking Trump or any other Republican to Epstein they wouldn't have selectively released it??? If you don't believe they would have made hay out of that evidence I've got some really nice beachfront property here in Nevada I'll sell you at a great price.
Come on, Bill. Can't you give us a few incidentals about Obama, like you love to give us about Trump. I remember just one picture concerning Obama that was "worth those ten thousand words". That was the video film of those multi, multi, multi millions of dollars in cash being packed for shipment from Obama to Iran. Just a little more "equal" distribution by you of the "shortcomings" of our current and recent leaders would be appreciated.
With student loans funded by the taxpayer… the government has every right to tell universities how to operate. Imagine, borrowing money from a bank without a ‘profit & loss’ statement. Business would be bankrupt which is exactly where the education system currently stands.
Yes - you’re totally correct … government should have nothing to do with education. Universities should fund themselves and if they don’t produce a product the market wants they would fail!!
I think a better approach might be to stop the lending and/or loan guarantees. Who is "the government?" Should universities have to change policy ever 4 years?
Bill writes: "America was meant to be a republic, not a democracy". For the longest time, Bill has insinuated that America is a democracy and I have pushed back on that several times. It's nice to see that he actually understands that there is a Constitution and it didn't give us a democracy.
And then Bongo Bill goes on to rail against all the actions POTUS is taking and calls them unconstitutional. Well, he may be right as far as at least some of those policies. But where was he when Trump was being prosecuted for questionable "crimes", banned from Tweeter when he was President, taken off state ballots, being tied up in court so he couldn't campaign, his house invaded by the FBI, and a myriad other things. Total silence from Bongo. Oh, and when are you going to give us a Gaza update, Bill?
The problem is that our country is in dire straits while being attacked by a vicious nihilist progressive left. They want to destroy this country and replace with their "utopian" socialist pigsty, not to mention the threat from China et al. Trump is fighting back in his unconventional manner. And while the core of my political philosophy is based on individual rights, I will acknowledge maybe some of Trump's policies are not playing nice with that. I can also see that the progressive, fascist, nihilist, enviro-nazi horde are trying to overtake this country. And internationally, we are dealing with savages like the drug dealers, human traffickers, communist dictators (China, Russia, etc.) who would destroy us if they could. So, it's not a time to play nice. Take your head out of the sand, Bongo. China is not some honest individual rights loving country. The CCP views their citizens as mere tools for their goals and will give them only enough freedom to suit their purposes.
You stated many important points, thank for that. Yes Trump walks on toes that may not have been stepped on, if they had not stepped so far over many lines of ethics, common sense, normal legal procedures, historical, cultural and moral norms. And then the Leftist’s feign outrage and call enforcement fascism.
President Trump not only ended more wars, he also would have gotten us out of Afghanistan with dignity, and we would still be operating Bagram. Where was Billy when obummer took out a US citizen in Sudan as a suspected terrorist. All we heard then were crickets, however, at that time Ole billy the bullshitter was Just Bill Bonner, focused on ways to make money in his prose. Wish we had that guy back, this was is in an uncureable TDS state.
The reasons for our current situation are among others. A hopelessly under educated and self serving population. A lack of clarity regarding the founding principles of the nation. And, under it all the usual ego reactions, fear and feeling out of control of events.
Maybe “dignified” like Saigon? And 700 money-gobbling, hated-by-foreigners-military bases isn’t enough? And you want to reopen that irritant in Afghanistan? How would you like a French or Chinese or Canadian military base in the US? It’s called paranoia: just a 360 acre farm raising corn in Iowa is considered a declaration of war if it’s merely owned by a Chinese investor.
Ed, your ignorance of military ops is astounding. You need to stop watching msm and learn what actually happened and what the previous Trump administration plan was for the withdrawal. Then the fact the previous military department heads tried to explain the plan to Biden’s incoming administration but they wouldn’t hear them and net result was leaving 80 billion dollars in military equipment behind and 13 soldiers dead from the attack in Kabul. It was a disgrace and preventable. But not when you are a democrat and know everything. 😢
What about the million-plus Afghani civilians killed or displaced? What about the thousands of allied troops who came home in pieces? What about the trillion dollars spent fighting a war the U.S. never needed to start?
The sheer arrogance of pretending that the “problem” began with a botched exit, rather than a 20-year occupation, is staggering.
Have you ever been to the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City (once Saigon)? I went thinking the name was a mistranslation. It wasn’t. The courtyard is filled with captured U.S. tanks, planes, and artillery—monuments to another “mission” that ended in tragedy and denial. Afghanistan wasn’t an exception. It’s the playbook, used again and again since Korea.
So maybe the real question isn’t how the U.S. left Afghanistan—but why it was there at all.
No Lucas Trump was the only one getting us out of there. That is the point. You can try Bush, and Obama for us being there but that is water and blood down the drain. 13 didn’t need to die and we sure did not need to leave equipment to outfit a terrorist government either. But that is what you probably voted for. Now you want them here in our country where for the last 4 years they were let in unmonitored and mostly unknown. Good luck with that.
Water and blood down the drain? That’s an odd way to describe lives — sons, daughters, fathers, mothers — lost in a war that never needed to happen.
You’re defending the deaths of 13 soldiers while ignoring the millions who didn’t need to die — Afghani civilians, allied troops, aid workers, children. The scale of suffering makes the finger-pointing at one administration feel almost obscene.
I’m not American, just watching the circus from the stands. But even from here, it’s hard to miss the pattern. Afghanistan wasn’t an exception; it was the continuation of a script written long before Biden or Trump ever took the stage.
And if the full truth of how that script began — the lies, the manipulation, the convenient “coincidences” of that September morning — were ever laid bare, the political class of that era wouldn’t survive the reckoning. Not through elections. Not through legacy. Not through history’s memory.
The TRILLIONS of dollars of equipment in those 700* bases world-wide are literally a yoke on our ability to “fight” the next war. As Dorothy might say, “We’re not in WWII anymore”. If Trump “succeeds” in creating a US-style war with China, it’ll end the first day when our highly acclaimed Department of War discovers all its satellites disappeared. The new “war”: friendship, trade, production and equality has actually already been settled. We are just too full of ourselves to realize it.
Well you talk a good game. Obviously never served or been a military strategist. I don’t condone war. BUT it has been going on since the dawn of time and unfortunately will continue. Peace through strength has worked as long as the strong doesn’t go and start the wars. Unfortunately we have at times but all for politics and not for self preservation. But none of what you have said excuses nor addresses Biden for his disgraceful actions during the withdrawal. It’s funny really because you and Jimm talk about war but it was president Trump that was ending our involvement in Afghanistan. Unfortunately he wasn’t able to follow through with his plan of withdrawal because he lost an election to a man hiding in his basement.
Cowardly Trump handed the difficult part over to someone else. He knew the country was already seething against the invaders and knew the war was already lost, why didn’t he, the superior one, handle the withdrawal? Our 50+ invasions and wars our great military has initiated since WWII haven’t “just” killed 27,000,000 foreigners, but have literally bankrupted the whole country and ourselves. People and countries with superiority complexes eventually destroy themselves, as Israel is learning—again!
Ed, you are a lost cause. TDS is a terrible thing. Seek help and you will live a happier life and not be so bitter. Thankfully you were in the minority last election. God bless you.
Yea, I’ll confess to that: I voted for Trump three times! I’m still getting bills from his campaign because I was stupid enough to donate to his lies and fake enticements.
Russia’s war with Ukraine is not a war of choice. To the Russians NATO on its border is an existential threat. For the globalist anal-satanists it’s a war of choice.
Relative to Western and European support for Ukraine, which is adjacent to Russia, if the East had invested the same level of financial and military effort in Canada or Mexico-countries adjacent to and oriented their efforts toward the United States—the United States would have pursued multiple responses: communicate, negotiate, and, if necessary, take decisive action (try to obliterate).
Why is the outcome in Ukraine a surprise?
The predictably ensuing consequences of tampering with Russian money could include shifts away from the U.S. dollar as the global reserve currency with Brussels stuck in The Hague.
Hi Bill , I agree with much of your analysis but what I don’t hear from you is what you would do differently than Trump . For example would you raise taxes or cut spending to bring the debt under control. Which spending items would you cut besides defense. You say you disagree with what Trump is doing to the university’s but would you keep giving them tax payers money ? On immigration do you disagree with closing the border and arresting criminals ? It is time you offer solutions instead of just criticizing. I suggest you do so before many more of your readers quit taking you seriously!!!!
You must be new.
Bill wrote his manifesto back in December of 2022. Here it is, in all its glory:
https://www.bonnerprivateresearch.com/p/clowns-and-jokers
Yes Denis, most of the Americans that once gathered in these parts, have either left or stick around for the few Americans that are left. Many stay for Dan and a few of Tom’s thoughts. Most still don’t believe that Bill is doing this writing. Some leftwing fool is now in charge. And yes Denis, few take this new writer seriously!!!! I enjoy the show his ghost writer provides and love it even more as President Trump continues to Win. It seems every Win for President Trump is a loss for this demented ghost writer, definitely for the left and nothing but a Win for America🇺🇸 I can almost guarantee that Bill is sitting back in his chateau, drinking anything other than his Malbec, and enjoying the amusement of it all. It really is hysterical watching the leftist, globalist and party of mental illness making constant fools of themselves. Especially with the freak show this past weekend with “No Brains Day” but We really couldn’t expect anything different from such sick people and fools 🤔
So, you agree that the president now has the authority to violate most of the precepts of the original constitution of the United States? Me thinks you need to re-read it.🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😁
Nothing funny about it Wes. America is at war. At this point, the president has the power to enforce federal laws, invoke emergency powers for national security, communicate directly with the public and Congress to frame issues, propose legislation to address challenges, appoint judges to influence the judiciary, and utilize military authority to ensure safety. Everything the left has fought against since “Fundamentally Transforming America” These powers enable the president to respond to political, social, and physical attacks effectively while maintaining the rule of law. The democrats are creating another civil war, just as they did 160 years ago. They were demented back then, and are even more so now. It seems that violence and chaos are their old/new obsession, so give them what they’re asking for 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
At war with whom? External? What Venezuela, for dealing drugs to us? Where the hell in the constitution does it say the Federal Government has the authority to outlaw drugs? Guess what pal, I grew up on the border, father was Border Patrol. Outlawing drugs just pushed the prices up and created an environment where government graft, and profit enabled the cartels, which for the last 80 years have just been getting stronger and now spilling across our borders. Not too mention Federal intervention in third world countries that the constitution never gave them the power to do. Maybe at war with the Arab and Muslim worlds? Again, US has been meddling in the middle east for how long? After 9/11 did we going and find the culprits and hold them responsible, no we invaded countries on without formal declarations of war approved by congress. You think I’m joking? What about Russia, sorry not our fight. Israelis? Also, not our fight. If I were them, I would be working o exterminate Hamas, but where in the constitution does is say its our war? That leave internal. Ok so here it is. As far as I am concerned the conservatives are as responsible for our problems as the liberals. So if the war is internal, it is against both parties, both of which want to dictate my life, my freedom, my pocketbook and my movement, and both parties are participating on spying in me. Conservatives label Libertarians as lefttards. BS!! It is Libertarian ideas that gave rise to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. If we had to depend on current “conservatives” in 1776, we would all be singing God Save the King, rather than the Pledge of Allegiance. So, if we are at war, it is against the all powerful Federal Government, and 90% of it needs to be outlawed. But taking up arms against our government is not going to do it, so let it fall to pieces so it can be rebuilt. I don’t see conservatives supporting this, I just see them the same as leftist liberals giving more power to our masters to tell us how it should all be done.
Very well said Sir. You captured many of my questions and thought.
I get it Wes! You want zero government and the freedom to do as you please. You dislike the left and the right. You’re the monkey in the middle. Even after years of demented rule, total lawlessness and the “freedom” to steal, riot and assault with no consequences, you blame the “conservatives”. I don’t think that Libertarians are as demented as leftist. I believe they are just too stoned to know the difference…
Also, incorrect, Libertarians don’t want zero government. They believe in the US Constitution and limited government. You confuse limited government with an excuse to do as we please with no regard to our neighbors. Total propaganda! We expect society to hold everyone responsible for each of their / our own actions that harm others. The world is built upon respect, and people will allow local governments to pass ordinances to safe guard a persons body and property. As for safeguarding a person sense of morality, that is the perview of the churches and social shunning.
LOL!! That explains things as there are as many stoned rednecks as there are hippies!🤣
Criticizing Trump for taking actions not authorized by the constitution is not something that you would expect the critics of Bill’s column to object to. There is no accounting for how far they will go in defending a President who clearly assumes powers not authorized by the Constitution. They don’t address that issue directly. Instead they attack Bill as a left wing fool because he advocates for a free market economy and obedience to the Constitution. Trump is pretty much a buffoon who doesn’t even know what the Declaration of Independence says, he has never taken the time to actually read it or to read the Constitution.
The southern border is still closed
Bill is not a financial planner. He is a commentator on society. Most of you need to read and understand his comments and seek financial advice from someone else like Tom.
Nicely said. I would add one reason for war: Leaders who are in peril may start a war to diffuse their impending political demise.
More likely the demise of the fiat currency. Only way to get rid of $37T debt.
Hi Bill, as usual, well written and compelling but with all this talk of war you forgot to mention that Trump has ended more wars than Obama and Biden wasted our money on.
What wars did he end?
You can't use Google?
I was wondering the same thing. I can use google, but I think the answer would be interesting in terms of understanding Sierradenali's perspective.
In any case, from my perspective, it's not even Trump's job to end foreign wars if we're not involved. What I would appreciate though, is if he could stop sending weapons or dollars to support wars in which we are not involved.
And FYI, that's from a three time Trump voter.
David, See Lucas' research below.
In the Stopping War activity, our current president's record is 0 for 8; when he meets Putin, it'll be 0 for 9.
But if he can restrain Netenyahu from his two year pogrom of Palestinians, he might finally get an atta-boy.
Lucas so called research is garbage, Try again.
Did you read that crap? It is all from 5 or 6 years ago. Are you that stupid or is it just TDS?
Unlike Ukraine, if Trump has made zero effort to end these on-going wars, then my original simple original question stands.
Apparently 8 wars. And counting:
https://x.com/StateDept/status/1978183959553970220
Yet when AI (take your pick) is queried, the story is just the opposite:
Question - Did Trump end 8 wars recently?
Answer - No.
Cambodia–Thailand: no deal.
✅ True. There was no peace or border accord brokered by the Trump administration. The border dispute over the Preah Vihear temple area remains managed through ASEAN channels, not U.S. mediation.
Kosovo–Serbia: only trade talks, no peace.
✅ Mostly true. Trump officials did host economic-normalization talks (Sept 2020, Washington Agreement), but it was not a peace deal and didn’t resolve the political dispute over Kosovo’s recognition. The EU handled that process.
DRC–Rwanda: not his doing.
✅ True. Trump had no involvement in the Congo-Rwanda regional peace efforts. Mediation came from the African Union and neighboring states.
Pakistan–India: Kashmir still burning.
✅ Accurate. Trump offered to mediate in 2019, but India rejected outside mediation. No progress followed, and tensions increased after India revoked Article 370 in August 2019.
Israel–Iran: got worse.
✅ True. Tensions escalated: Trump withdrew from the JCPOA nuclear deal (2018), re-imposed sanctions, and ordered the Soleimani strike (2020). Iran resumed uranium enrichment. Relations deteriorated.
Egypt–Ethiopia: he made it worse.
✅ Mostly true. Trump attempted to mediate the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) dispute but cut aid to Ethiopia after it defied U.S. pressure. The move hardened Ethiopian resistance and worsened relations.
Armenia–Azerbaijan: ceasefire by Russia, not Trump.
✅ True. The 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire was brokered by Russia, not the U.S. Trump’s administration offered only limited statements.
👉 Only real thing he did: Abraham Accords. Everything else = propaganda.
✅ Largely true. The Abraham Accords (2020) — normalizing relations between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan — were Trump’s sole major diplomatic success. Other claimed “peace deals” were overstated.
Lucas, I don't have time to go thru every example you provided, but my Ai search differs.... (re: DRC)
The Trump administration has actively mediated between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda to address the long-standing conflict. This included hosting high-level meetings in the Oval Office with foreign ministers from both countries.
Peace Agreement: In June 2025, a peace agreement was signed in Washington, which aimed to end decades of conflict in the region. This agreement was part of a broader strategy to stabilize the area and secure U.S. interests in mineral resources.
Fair point on the DRC — I need to update my assessment. You're right that there WAS formal U.S. involvement, so let me correct the record:
DRC–Rwanda: Partial credit, but transparently transactional.
✅ What actually happened: On June 27, 2025, Secretary of State Marco Rubio oversaw a peace agreement signing between DRC and Rwandan foreign ministers, followed by Oval Office meetings with Trump. The agreement addresses a 30-year conflict and includes U.S. access to critical minerals (gold, copper, lithium).
💰 Why Trump got involved: In February 2025, DRC President Félix Tshisekedi sent a letter to Trump (pre-inauguration) offering direct mineral access in exchange for U.S. security assistance. That's the ONLY reason Trump is at the table — not altruism, but a transactional deal for his defense contractor friends who want those minerals. China dominates this market, and Trump wants in.
⚠️ The catch:
The M23 rebel group (the most powerful armed faction, allegedly backed by Rwanda) was NOT party to the agreement and says it's not binding on them. As of October 2025, implementation has stalled. Rwandan troops remain in Congolese territory. Peace talks are at an impasse. Experts doubt it will end the fighting.
Verdict: DRC traded mineral rights for a photo-op "peace deal." The governments signed paper; the war continues. Trump gets to claim he "brokered a deal" while his defense contractor circle positions for mineral access — and the main belligerents weren't even at the table.
Still stands: Abraham Accords = real. Everything else = inflated transactional PR.
You are delusional. All of this crap is from 2019 or 2020. Nothing from 2024 or 2025.
Lol. David, this is your State Department. Not me.
https://x.com/StateDept/status/1978183959553970220
Took that info, and ran it thru AI. The rest is, shall we say, history.
So if the post is delusional, and its talking about the President, what inference shall we take?
How about the insanity of a brain dead president against sanity.
I'm sorry that you know the rest but you didn't expect that. Check out his press secretary's new book.
P.S. Apparently , Trump took the short steps on air force today. I thought it was a troll. But apparently there was a deer stand, shooting platform, somewhere nearby, probably nothing.... 🤔
Imagine a 79-year-old CEO of a Fortune 500 company who, three days before taking office, launches his own cryptocurrency—one billion coins, with 800 million quietly retained by his family. Within months, they make five billion dollars on paper while he’s sitting in the executive suite, setting company policy.
He promises full transparency on a cache of internal files everyone’s been begging to see. Then his legal team announces there’s “nothing there.” He calls the whole thing a hoax and dismisses anyone still asking questions—even board members from his own party.
His trade strategy? Massive tariffs that slice the company’s exports by 30 to 50 percent, add more than a thousand dollars in costs to every customer, and shatter relationships with every major partner—Japan, South Korea, Australia, Canada. Decades of goodwill, gone in months.
Meanwhile, he tears through a radical restructuring plan—nearly half complete already—rolling out one sweeping change after another, leaving chaos in every division.
What would happen?
The board would meet in emergency session. Lawyers would swarm. Within months there’d be a carefully worded statement about “pursuing other interests” or “spending more time with family.” He’d be out.
But here’s the twist: this isn’t a corporate CEO. It’s the President of the United States—running the world’s largest enterprise with no board of directors to fire him.
At least, not until the next election.
Or until he decides there won’t be one.
Imagine a powerful nation's government and industrial leaders choosing profits over national security. (think 1990...)
Imagine after the scorched earth industrial flight, what it would take to retrieve these vital industries.
Imagine the global leaders of the world colluding to take-out this powerful nations fiat currency.
Then imagine what it would take to stop the affront and return that faith in the fiat currency.
It's not hard to imagine... but it's damned hard for folks to accept...
Government choosing profit over national security? Please. The U.S. government has never chosen profit over military spending. Just look at the defense budget versus investment in anything that might actually help its own people.
Production has been replaced with destruction. When there wasn’t a war in 2001, they simply made one. Instead of building factories that could have been producing microchips, electric vehicles, and PPE, Washington sent thousands of its own citizens to die in two wars that never needed fighting—wars that left entire regions in shambles and trillions in debt.
The irony? 2001 was the last year the United States posted a budget surplus—about $128 billion. The economy was humming. The Cold War was long over. Defense spending had fallen to just 3% of GDP, its lowest share in half a century. For a brief moment, the U.S. was running in the black, spending more on prosperity than on paranoia.
Then came January 20, 2001. The Bush administration took office, and within months, the surplus vanished—along with America’s restraint. Two tax cuts, two wars, and a reborn Military Industrial Complex later, Washington was drowning in red ink once again. “Defending the American people” became the new rallying cry. From a fictitious enemy, no less—and when they couldn’t find one, they made one up. The same machine Eisenhower warned about had simply rebranded itself for the 21st century—and business was booming.
Even in that moment of supposed peace, in 2001, after showing a $128 Billion surplus, the U.S. still spent $306 billion on defense—more than the next ten nations combined. In peacetime, it was an empire still preparing for war.
The pattern hasn’t changed. When the Cold War ended, the “peace dividend” never arrived. Instead of reinvesting in infrastructure, education, or domestic industry, the government poured Trillions of dollars into jet fighters—machines now proven almost useless in modern warfare. Much like tanks in Ukraine, they’re relics of a 20th-century mindset. The future of war is drones, robots, and hacking, not pilots flying $100 million-dollar toys into missile-saturated skies.
As for industry, it’s always been about profits—and still is. “Reshoring”? That’s the new marketing slogan for moving production from China to Mexico, then calling it a win. But you can’t “friend-shore” while telling your new neighbor to go home. The rhetoric and reality couldn’t be further apart.
And productivity? Automation doesn’t fill the 600,000 skilled-trade gaps left by forty years of offshoring. You can’t automate tool-and-die makers or rare-earth refiners out of thin air. The result is the same hollow core—just wrapped in new PR.
What would it take to bring those vital industries back? Nothing short of a systemic reckoning. The West built its wealth on the cheap labor of others, and rebuilding domestic supply chains means facing that uncomfortable math: either pay more for labor, or you don’t get labor at all.
And then there’s the money. Fiat collapse might not happen overnight, but the trajectory of U.S. interest costs has gone stratospheric. Annual interest payments now exceed defense spending. Treasury yields have tripled since 2021. At this rate, interest alone will surpass Social Security before the decade’s out. That’s not sustainability—it’s a slow-motion default dressed up as inflation.
Belief in “faith-based” money won’t hold forever. When debt costs more than defense, faith tends to evaporate. What replaces it won’t be another digital token or Trump Coin—it’ll be something tangible. Something real.
Because when a nation builds weapons instead of factories, it eventually discovers it can’t fight hunger, debt, or decay with a jet fighter.
...Government was giddy about outsourcing.
Bush was in front of the parade twirling the baton...
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Yes Mexico is a beneficiary, but actual companies are returning to U.S. soil.
Some that have never been here are setting up shop.
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Yes, the trajectory for the dollar is alarming, all the more reason to take action now.
Gold is considered "real"... but has limited actual intrinsic use and is difficult to transact in a digital world.
Stablecoins are the future...
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Lucas wrote: "Because when a nation builds weapons instead of factories, it eventually discovers it can’t fight hunger, debt, or decay with a jet fighter."
You need factories to build weapons.
Weaponry like it or not creates jobs.
Many of the tech miracles used today resulted from conflict.
A country without defense will not be a country very long.
It's not a binary world.
With the ample resources available to us we can protect our land, feed our people and develop peaceful societies...
It's not at all unobtainable, it's a matter of societal will and education.
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Media and social propagation are at odds with cultural homogenization.
Folks so proud not to be an American, they are applauded when they celebrate their own, wave their own flags, speak their mother tongue and try to change American culture and history.
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I see it as the man you so despise, is trying to do just that of which you lament.
Trump is terribly flawed; iconoclasts are always viewed as such.
Trump offers what no politico has in decades; solutions - like them or not.
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I too wish we could kumbaya ourselves out of war.
Unfortunately to kindle war only requires the perception of one aggressor.
The response to this should be interesting . . . if there is one.
It's not about ignorance or ideology. It's about incentives.
The question isn't why leaders make destructive choices—it's why everyone else goes along with it. And the answer is pretty straightforward: they've done the math. Being inside the circle is safer than being outside it. They'd rather risk annoying their voters than become the target.
Look at how the incentives actually work. Cross Trump today, and your career is over tomorrow—a social media post, a primary challenger, your committee seats gone. Vote for a trade war that destroys farms? That plays out over years, gets blamed on China or weather or a dozen other things, and by the time it fully hits, everyone's moved on to the next crisis. The cost of disloyalty is immediate and personal. The cost of bad policy is delayed and distributed.
Massie is the edge case that proves the rule. He votes no consistently, gets called "the worst Republican Congressman" and "a real loser," and his fundraising goes through the roof. Turns out there's a market for principle—but he's also accepted that he'll never be in leadership. Most people aren't willing to make that trade.
This is how you get the executive overreach Bonner describes—the tariffs, the war powers, the federal control creep. Not because 435 people suddenly forgot the Constitution, but because 434 of them decided it's less risky to enable it than to stop it. The system selects for compliance and punishes resistance.
After running a business for a quarter century, I can tell you: this is basic organizational behavior. You don't need a conspiracy or unique corruption—just normal people responding rationally to the actual incentive structure. The guy with unilateral power over your career gets deference. That's just how it works.
The founders tried to engineer around this—separation of powers, checks and balances, making ambition counter ambition. But they underestimated how quickly people optimize for survival over principle when the threat is real and immediate.
Maybe that's the real lesson. Republics don't fall because people forget history. They fall because the immediate cost of resistance exceeds the delayed cost of compliance.
And maybe it's worth noting: a president without a dog is usually someone who understands that loyalty only flows one direction.
Nice to see a sensible and measured consideration of something I've been wondering about a lot.
A beacon in a sea of partisan rhetoric.
Incredibly well stated very important message. Thank you for considering, organizing and sharing your thoughts and experiences LK.
"Using force for anything but defense is a waste of money."
Anybody who believes this has never worked on older cars, trucks, and/or heavy machinery. There is even a humorous saying about it: "Don't use force; just get a bigger hammer." Recently, a broken parking brake assembly forced (haha) me to fetch and deploy my 3-lb. hammer to remove the rotor so I could gain access, this on my 2000 Silverado 3/4-ton 4 x 4.
Seriously, application of force, the old "might makes right", is counter-indicated in most instances, particularly war, which is why I fear our current social and political polarization. One side can and will prevail in a physical struggle, but all that accomplishes is a temporary acquiescence on the part of the loser; it does not actually bring about a conversion. At that point, separation is the only remedy. Will we see that in time? Best always. PM
That’s been the guiding principle of US foreign policy since 1899’s slaughter of Cuban and Filipino patriots trying to free themselves from Spanish colonialism. It’s merely reaching new heights with our current tyrant. Farmers are just the first of us to pay the price of totalitarianism!
The Republicans may have lost their farming voter base for the midterms and for future POTUS elections. Enough of this bullshit. Problem is there's no real alternative. Time for voting libertarian if I vote at all.
Most Liberaltarians although logical and intelligent, don't understand low IQ voters.
Libertarians are inertly altruistic; and take pride in self-reliance.
Libertarians rely on others to care for themselves based upon those same principles.
Low IQ voters do not.
And you, with your incessant kindergarten name calling, classify yourself as other than a low IQ voter?
...incessant kindergarten name calling?
Was it something I said?
As a reasonably educated voter I did not realize low IQ voters are so sensitive.
Well said. " Up with down! Up with down! What are we fighting for!!!!? When don't know! When do we want it! ? Also nuclear! Also unclear. NO KINGS NO KINGS.... Louder! Louder! NO KINGS....OH I just shit my pants again.. Sir? Sir? Hello sir... I just dropped my Walker.Can you please hand it to me. I wonder if medicare covers new pants.
The increase in Thomas Massie’s campaign funds may not have come from his supporters, instead from George Soros or similar people/groups….would be interesting to know.
So would the inside of the Epstein files.
Yet, here we are...
You do realize that the Biden administration had total access to "the Epstein files"? Do you think if there was any damning evidence linking Trump or any other Republican to Epstein they wouldn't have selectively released it??? If you don't believe they would have made hay out of that evidence I've got some really nice beachfront property here in Nevada I'll sell you at a great price.
And apparently, the rot in the US GOV goes deeper than just the Republicans.
Your point?
If I have to explain my point I'm not sure you're bright enough to converse with me.
Come on, Bill. Can't you give us a few incidentals about Obama, like you love to give us about Trump. I remember just one picture concerning Obama that was "worth those ten thousand words". That was the video film of those multi, multi, multi millions of dollars in cash being packed for shipment from Obama to Iran. Just a little more "equal" distribution by you of the "shortcomings" of our current and recent leaders would be appreciated.
With student loans funded by the taxpayer… the government has every right to tell universities how to operate. Imagine, borrowing money from a bank without a ‘profit & loss’ statement. Business would be bankrupt which is exactly where the education system currently stands.
Yes - you’re totally correct … government should have nothing to do with education. Universities should fund themselves and if they don’t produce a product the market wants they would fail!!
Not just universities, CT, but K-12 too!
I think a better approach might be to stop the lending and/or loan guarantees. Who is "the government?" Should universities have to change policy ever 4 years?
Bill writes: "America was meant to be a republic, not a democracy". For the longest time, Bill has insinuated that America is a democracy and I have pushed back on that several times. It's nice to see that he actually understands that there is a Constitution and it didn't give us a democracy.
And then Bongo Bill goes on to rail against all the actions POTUS is taking and calls them unconstitutional. Well, he may be right as far as at least some of those policies. But where was he when Trump was being prosecuted for questionable "crimes", banned from Tweeter when he was President, taken off state ballots, being tied up in court so he couldn't campaign, his house invaded by the FBI, and a myriad other things. Total silence from Bongo. Oh, and when are you going to give us a Gaza update, Bill?
The problem is that our country is in dire straits while being attacked by a vicious nihilist progressive left. They want to destroy this country and replace with their "utopian" socialist pigsty, not to mention the threat from China et al. Trump is fighting back in his unconventional manner. And while the core of my political philosophy is based on individual rights, I will acknowledge maybe some of Trump's policies are not playing nice with that. I can also see that the progressive, fascist, nihilist, enviro-nazi horde are trying to overtake this country. And internationally, we are dealing with savages like the drug dealers, human traffickers, communist dictators (China, Russia, etc.) who would destroy us if they could. So, it's not a time to play nice. Take your head out of the sand, Bongo. China is not some honest individual rights loving country. The CCP views their citizens as mere tools for their goals and will give them only enough freedom to suit their purposes.
You just sent Ed to his fainting couch. 😉
A beautiful expose' of Bongo being . . . Bongo. Loved the pigsty reference because it ties in well with Orwell's "Animal Farm".
You stated many important points, thank for that. Yes Trump walks on toes that may not have been stepped on, if they had not stepped so far over many lines of ethics, common sense, normal legal procedures, historical, cultural and moral norms. And then the Leftist’s feign outrage and call enforcement fascism.
President Trump not only ended more wars, he also would have gotten us out of Afghanistan with dignity, and we would still be operating Bagram. Where was Billy when obummer took out a US citizen in Sudan as a suspected terrorist. All we heard then were crickets, however, at that time Ole billy the bullshitter was Just Bill Bonner, focused on ways to make money in his prose. Wish we had that guy back, this was is in an uncureable TDS state.
The reasons for our current situation are among others. A hopelessly under educated and self serving population. A lack of clarity regarding the founding principles of the nation. And, under it all the usual ego reactions, fear and feeling out of control of events.
Maybe “dignified” like Saigon? And 700 money-gobbling, hated-by-foreigners-military bases isn’t enough? And you want to reopen that irritant in Afghanistan? How would you like a French or Chinese or Canadian military base in the US? It’s called paranoia: just a 360 acre farm raising corn in Iowa is considered a declaration of war if it’s merely owned by a Chinese investor.
Ed, your ignorance of military ops is astounding. You need to stop watching msm and learn what actually happened and what the previous Trump administration plan was for the withdrawal. Then the fact the previous military department heads tried to explain the plan to Biden’s incoming administration but they wouldn’t hear them and net result was leaving 80 billion dollars in military equipment behind and 13 soldiers dead from the attack in Kabul. It was a disgrace and preventable. But not when you are a democrat and know everything. 😢
13 soldiers? $80 billion? Really?
What about the million-plus Afghani civilians killed or displaced? What about the thousands of allied troops who came home in pieces? What about the trillion dollars spent fighting a war the U.S. never needed to start?
The sheer arrogance of pretending that the “problem” began with a botched exit, rather than a 20-year occupation, is staggering.
Have you ever been to the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City (once Saigon)? I went thinking the name was a mistranslation. It wasn’t. The courtyard is filled with captured U.S. tanks, planes, and artillery—monuments to another “mission” that ended in tragedy and denial. Afghanistan wasn’t an exception. It’s the playbook, used again and again since Korea.
So maybe the real question isn’t how the U.S. left Afghanistan—but why it was there at all.
Many pointed questions that have never been answered. Uncomfortable observations that few want to hear…
No Lucas Trump was the only one getting us out of there. That is the point. You can try Bush, and Obama for us being there but that is water and blood down the drain. 13 didn’t need to die and we sure did not need to leave equipment to outfit a terrorist government either. But that is what you probably voted for. Now you want them here in our country where for the last 4 years they were let in unmonitored and mostly unknown. Good luck with that.
Water and blood down the drain? That’s an odd way to describe lives — sons, daughters, fathers, mothers — lost in a war that never needed to happen.
You’re defending the deaths of 13 soldiers while ignoring the millions who didn’t need to die — Afghani civilians, allied troops, aid workers, children. The scale of suffering makes the finger-pointing at one administration feel almost obscene.
I’m not American, just watching the circus from the stands. But even from here, it’s hard to miss the pattern. Afghanistan wasn’t an exception; it was the continuation of a script written long before Biden or Trump ever took the stage.
And if the full truth of how that script began — the lies, the manipulation, the convenient “coincidences” of that September morning — were ever laid bare, the political class of that era wouldn’t survive the reckoning. Not through elections. Not through legacy. Not through history’s memory.
Uncomfortable with
The TRILLIONS of dollars of equipment in those 700* bases world-wide are literally a yoke on our ability to “fight” the next war. As Dorothy might say, “We’re not in WWII anymore”. If Trump “succeeds” in creating a US-style war with China, it’ll end the first day when our highly acclaimed Department of War discovers all its satellites disappeared. The new “war”: friendship, trade, production and equality has actually already been settled. We are just too full of ourselves to realize it.
Well you talk a good game. Obviously never served or been a military strategist. I don’t condone war. BUT it has been going on since the dawn of time and unfortunately will continue. Peace through strength has worked as long as the strong doesn’t go and start the wars. Unfortunately we have at times but all for politics and not for self preservation. But none of what you have said excuses nor addresses Biden for his disgraceful actions during the withdrawal. It’s funny really because you and Jimm talk about war but it was president Trump that was ending our involvement in Afghanistan. Unfortunately he wasn’t able to follow through with his plan of withdrawal because he lost an election to a man hiding in his basement.
Cowardly Trump handed the difficult part over to someone else. He knew the country was already seething against the invaders and knew the war was already lost, why didn’t he, the superior one, handle the withdrawal? Our 50+ invasions and wars our great military has initiated since WWII haven’t “just” killed 27,000,000 foreigners, but have literally bankrupted the whole country and ourselves. People and countries with superiority complexes eventually destroy themselves, as Israel is learning—again!
Ed, you are a lost cause. TDS is a terrible thing. Seek help and you will live a happier life and not be so bitter. Thankfully you were in the minority last election. God bless you.
Yea, I’ll confess to that: I voted for Trump three times! I’m still getting bills from his campaign because I was stupid enough to donate to his lies and fake enticements.
Thomas Massie’s increase
Russia’s war with Ukraine is not a war of choice. To the Russians NATO on its border is an existential threat. For the globalist anal-satanists it’s a war of choice.
Relative to Western and European support for Ukraine, which is adjacent to Russia, if the East had invested the same level of financial and military effort in Canada or Mexico-countries adjacent to and oriented their efforts toward the United States—the United States would have pursued multiple responses: communicate, negotiate, and, if necessary, take decisive action (try to obliterate).
Why is the outcome in Ukraine a surprise?
The predictably ensuing consequences of tampering with Russian money could include shifts away from the U.S. dollar as the global reserve currency with Brussels stuck in The Hague.