Congress Call

Hostage takers

Dec 08, 2023

First, I ask a favor. Please call your Congress-members. Go to this website, find your state, read the graphic which provides names, phone numbers and a short script. This is probably the most effective act you can take to support Ukraine right now, unless you have some long-range missile systems in your garage you could ship to the front.

Call immediately, Congress will leave DC for a three-week vacation, during which no bills can be passed.

Look up your representative at ziplook.house.gov. Call all 3 of your members of Congress!

Here’s an example of the info-graphic with Senators and a handy script. If you want to do more, please post one of these to your social media, or email to friends. There is one for every state. Thank you!!

US funding for Ukraine is being held hostage by politicians who - surprise, surprise - are more interested in winning the next election than they are in saving lives and preserving democracy.

As BBC reported December 7,

“US aid to Ukraine is at a standstill, ground to a halt by mounting opposition from Republicans despite dire warnings from the White House and Kyiv.
“While many are supportive of helping Ukraine, some have insisted that continued aid be tied to sweeping US immigration and asylum reforms….”
“Without their support, US assistance to Ukraine could run out by year's end.
Republicans' reluctance to help Ukraine without significant concessions was starkly highlighted earlier this week. With just days to go until Congress heads home for its scheduled winter break, Senate Republicans blocked a procedural vote to advance a national security bill that includes $61bn (£48.5bn) for Ukraine.
Democrats appeared pessimistic in the aftermath of the vote.
"I just don't know how this is going to sort itself out. The Republicans are taking a really incredibly hard stance on this," a Senate Democratic official told BBC News. "They're saying this is not a negotiation - this is a demand."

They are trying to create a myth that funds the US is spending “for Ukraine” are taken from domestic programs, and that there is no accountability for those funds we’re spending. The truth, in case you don’t know, is that most of the billions of dollars pledged “to Ukraine” do not go to Ukraine. Most of the funds are used to buy new weapons. That money goes to American companies, American jobs and American suppliers. Even the new weapons go to America. The new weapons replace the surplus equipment sent to Ukraine. Some money goes to Ukraine, but all funds and weapons have extremely tight accountability measures already. There is no need for more. There have been no oversight issues to speak of.

This unfortunate situation has been building since October when a reactionary faction forced the Speaker of the Senate to step down, to be replaced - following a protracted inner-party battle – by one of their own. I happened to be in Washington, DC lobbying Congress in the midst of it. I was one of about 500 participants in the the fall Ukraine Action Summit. It was a much different, less optimistic, event than the one I attended last spring when Ukraine was a non-partisan issue.

Pro-Ukrainian activists were already berating the Biden administration for the plodding delivery of military hardware and the reluctance to give Ukraine better weapons. The selection of Michael Johnson as Speaker of the House was extremely worrisome, given his past anti-Ukrainian statements and positions.

Despite early losses in the war, Russia persists, confident that western support to Ukraine will dwindle. Using hybrid-war tactics Russia wears away at western resolve. Direct military action is but one factor, hybrid warfare also includes non-military attacks that create chaos, strain resources and exacerbate existing tensions in the target countries: refugees, extremist-group support, corruption, election-interference, cyber-attacks, and social-media manipulation.

Blame is cast everywhere, and many people object to claims that the war is “frozen” or at a stalemate, but that’s the public perception, incorrect or not, of the much-anticipated Spring Offensive.

Naughty, ©2023 William L. Brown. Available as a card, or transfer the image to other merchandize, or download to use as a screen-saver, etc.

The winter holidays are here! Please think of Ukraine in your annual giving.

I’m passing on some suggestions:

• Ekaterina Minakova can funnel your funds to her community пункт допомоги [help point¹] group in Dnipro. The help point is run by a volunteer community organization out of a small donated storefront. They provide free clothing, food, children’s toys, and other assistance to displaced people. Here is an interview I conducted at the help point in October with Ekaterina’s translation help.

If you wish to donate via Paypal or Wise, the information is on her online diary, which is a worth reading if you want an insight into current life in Ukraine.

• Larissa Babij (who writes A Kind of Refugee) suggests donating to: Zli Ptakhy (Angry Birds) combat drone unit have received national recognition from Ukraine’s Minister for Digital Transformation for their Backfire drone: https://x.com/FedorovMykhailo/status/1726616078133178758?s=20

Donate here to help them expand production (which means more successful combat missions): https://heroesukraine.org/en/backfire-uavs-for-zli-ptakhy/

Krampus, ©2023 William L. Brown. NOT for fundraising (I get a ridiculously small royalty from these sales, it would raise a pittance), but if you want holiday themed items such as Krampus cards or Greenman tree ornaments, check out my Zazzle store.

Native Cpeaker

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