…Yet it seems safe to say that the world no longer trusts U.S. promises, and perhaps no longer fears U.S. threats, the way it used to. The problem, however, isn’t Biden; it’s the party that reflexively attacks him for anything that goes wrong.

Right now America is a superpower without a fully functioning government. Specifically, the House of Representatives has no speaker, so it can’t pass legislation, including bills funding the government and providing aid to U.S. allies. The House is paralyzed because Republican extremists, who have refused to acknowledge Biden’s legitimacy and promoted chaos rather than participating in governance, have turned these tactics on their own party. At this point it’s hard to see how anyone can become speaker without Democratic votes — but even less extreme Republicans refuse to reach across the aisle.

And even if Republicans do somehow manage to elect a speaker, it seems all too likely that whoever gets the job will have to promise the hard right that he will betray Ukraine.

Given this political reality, how much can any nation trust U.S. assurances of support? How can we expect foreign enemies of democracy to fear America when they know that there are powerful forces here that share their disdain?

  • Jeremy [Iowa]
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    11 year ago

    An opinion article which lambasts a party while pretending another is pristine? Surely there’s no agenda to such balanced persuasion…

    • spaceghotiOP
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      151 year ago

      Anyone who has even a passing familiarity with Krugman knows he’s never going to describe the Democrats as anything like “pristine.” But pretending “both sides are the same” is insanely dishonest.

      • Jeremy [Iowa]
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        11 year ago

        Is that more, less, or about the same intentional dishonesty as portraying one side as pristine and flawless and the other as the exact opposite?

        • spaceghotiOP
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          81 year ago

          That thing you accuse him of, but he didn’t do?

          Back under your bridge, now. We’re done here.