The Daly Weekly (12/5)
J.D. Vance vs. Ukraine, the Costco lawsuit, legalized gambling, and more.
Hi everyone.
Welcome to this week’s Daly Weekly, where I answer whatever questions you throw my way.
Let’s get right to it…
Greetings Sir John: I realize that Putin can keep going on with the war against Ukraine. Nonetheless, if Trump would continue to provide Zelensky with modern weaponry to at least hold off the Russians and bring it to a stalemate as the U.S. experienced in Vietnam and the USSR experienced in Afghanistan, might that actually benefit the Ukrainians and the rest of the world as well, especially Eastern European countries? And what’s Vance’s objection to staving off Putin’s aggression? I don’t get it.. I also ask you to speculate here —- had The USA ousted Stalin back before the Rosenbergs (and other Communist spies in the U.S. that the left has denied for decades) had betrayed the secrets of the atomic bomb, do you think the world would have been a better place today? — “All We Are Saying… Is Give (Russian) Peace A Chance (over & over & over again even though it’s STILL A DUMB IDEA)” Regards from The Emperor
Hi Emperor. If the United States got behind Ukraine in a serious way, we could see much better results than a stalemate. We could see Russian aggression halted in its tracks, and forced into retreat. By “serious,” I’m talking about more military equipment (including deep-strike weapons), more U.S. intelligence, more advisory roles, harsher sanctions against Russia (including against their energy exports), etc. Unfortunately, the Biden administration was inadequate in its support of Ukraine, and the Trump administration (except for a few hopeful moments along the way) has essentially taken Russia’s side in the conflict. It’s absolutely disgraceful how we keep throwing Ukraine under the bus, and bending over backwards for Putin (who only uses our weakness to dish out more pain to Ukraine).
As I said in this week’s No BS Zone, the Ukrainians are on the front-line of what has the strong potential to become a much broader conflict. They’re doing all the heavy lifting (and taking all the casualties) to stop any enemy of the free world whose aspirations go well beyond Ukraine’s borders. It would be great if we had a U.S. administration that treated this situation as something other than an annoyance, a joke, or a business opportunity.
As for Vance, he is ideologically predisposed toward Russia. He thinks America should try to insulate itself against foreign conflicts, rather than do even the bare minimum to help defend our allies against common enemies (even when it’s clearly in America’s interest to do so). As he’s admitted himself, he doesn’t care what happens to the Ukrainians. The same seems true of Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who have unfortunately been given lead roles in dealing with Russia.
What’s the best thing Trump has done in his second term? — Ben G.
Bomb Iran. It was done at the right time, and under the right circumstances, and it was clearly (in my view) the right thing to do. It set back Iran’s nuclear program significantly, and that’s a good thing.
A Friday question for John: I’ve watched a lot of press conferences over the last few decades Thinking back on Sam Donaldson and President Reagan. Since the Reagan years, I would rate the White House press core with a D- in questions asked, pertinent to serious issues. How would you grade them? — Tim H.
My answer is going to disappoint you, Tim. I never paid much attention to Reagan’s press conferences, for the simple reason that I was a kid at the time. And I don’t like watching today’s press conferences, because I put no stock in the information coming from the podium. Far too much of it is just B.S. This isn’t just a Trump thing. I felt the same way with Biden and Obama. I’ll catch a short clip from a press conference here and there, but I don’t watch the full exchanges enough to fairly rate today’s White House press corp. They may well be as bad as you say.
John: New York Mets owner Steve Cohen just won approval to open a casino next to Citi Field in Queens. The Adelson family, new owners of the Dallas Mavericks and long-time owners of The Sands and other casinos worldwide, have been very public about their desire to construct a casino in Downtown Dallas in a megabuilding that would house the basketball team as well. Even large institutional investors like Vanguard and Black Rock own major positions in DraftKings, a daily fantasy and online sports betting platform. Is this a good idea or a bad idea to house sports and open gambling under one roof? Also, good idea or bad idea to combine and monetize so many addictive behaviors – traditional gambling, fantasy sports, alcohol, consumerism, etc.? Is this what capitalism looks like in the 21st century? — Steve R.
I always cringe a little when people ask me about legalized gambling, because it’s an issue I pay virtually no attention to. That said, my general belief is that organized gambling is a bad thing for society. I think it ruins a lot of lives, feeds addictions, etc. I also think gambling laws should be decided at the local level, which is very tricky these days with how mainstreamed online gambling has become.
You asked if this is a good or bad idea. I’d say it’s a good idea for casino owners and investors, and a bad idea for American culture.
What do you think about Costco suing the Trump administration for a refund of the tariff money it’s had to pay for importing items. — Alex D.
I haven’t followed this closely, Alex, but I assume the legal success of any such lawsuit will depend on how the Supreme Court ends up ruling on Trump’s abuse of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. If they indeed rule that what Trump has done is unconstitutional, my understanding is that the federal government will, in fact, be bound by the law to refund the entities they improperly forced money out of. This could be an enormous mess.
Thanks everyone! You can send me questions for next week by leaving a comment in the comment section.
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