Biden's Philosophy: America LAST

Alright, Pete Hexeth with me this morning. Good man to have on this particular day. Thanks Stuart. Xi Jinping going to Moscow in coming months. That was announced, what, about 40 minutes ago. To me, that's dangerous escalation. What say you? Well, it's a terrible development. It's an unholy marriage of convenience, an anti-Western marriage. And let's be clear, this violence and risk is because, this provocation is because of weakness. I mean, it started under, and I'm not saying this politically, this is just, if you look at that region, under Obama, Vladimir Putin took what he could. It stopped under Trump and immediately began under Biden. And the response was first to attempt to prevent it and then slowly trickle into this conflict. And you know, a lot of people initially wanted to characterize what's going on in Ukraine as a World War II style. You know, if we don't Ukraine, he's going to roll his tanks all the way to Europe. That's clearly not what this is. This is a lot more, and you're a student of history, Stuart. This is a lot more starting to look like a World War I scenario, where alliances start to develop across Europe. Nobody really thinks war is eminent on a wider scale, but because of one assassination and one miscalculation and one escalation, now you're in a wider war that no one ever wanted, which is beneficial to nobody, when really, and I'm not saying this, I'm not apologizing for Vladimir Putin, he effectively wants his stuff back, which is a unfortunate regional aggressive approach. Ukraine, I hope they're successful, but I sure don't want America in a wider war with China as they get closer and closer together. So how should President Biden, how should America respond to Putin's rant this morning? Earlier on the show today, Pete, just a few minutes ago, Congressman Andy Biggs, he was on the show, and I said, what should we be doing for Ukraine? He said, no more aid, sit down now and talk peace. What do you say to that? You know, I've historically been about as hawkish as they come, Stuart. I had years and years of talking about winning wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I'm a neoconservative mugged by reality, and you can talk about winning wars all you want, but tell me what that looks like. What is the end state? How many of our own resources are we going to drain when we have bigger conflicts around the globe? I agree with Andy Biggs. I do. Like at this point, Ukraine, I'm rooting for you. I want you to stand up to Putin, but this can't be something America funds at the risk of further escalation and America involvement when it really is China, who's the big dog we're worried about. Now we've driven China into the hands of Russia, who's already working with Iran. It's the new axis of evil, and they're hoping this weakens us further, just like Afghanistan did, so they can fill voids. Taiwan is ripe for the taking. We are weaker as a result. We can't even recruit people into our military, and we're infecting our young kids with the disease that they believe America is a bad place. They think it's ripe for the taking. But isn't that defeat? Sometimes there's, I mean, you can call it defeat. Is it really our war? Joe Biden has made it our war. I think sometimes you have to make a calculation what is in your best national interest, America's national interest at this point. I don't believe Vladimir Putin wants to take Poland. I don't believe Vladimir Putin is going to head to Paris. And as a result, I hope the Ukrainians win. We can give them limited diplomatic whatever, but sending them F-16s, which all the hawks want right now, means China will give them military assistance. Now we've got China versus the U.S. and Vladimir Putin in Ukraine. The calls will be for American troops. Mark my words, there will be calls for that in due time as hawks continue to want to escalate this. Do I want my boys fighting in the Donbass to defend eastern Ukraine? God bless them. But I don't. And I don't think it serves our national interests to drive those two closer together, as a wider war will do. We're going to find out within the hour precisely what President Biden's response is going to be, both to the China news and to Putin's rant this morning. I think there's going to be a fierce debate, as we've already had on this program in the last hour. Thanks for being part of it, Pete. You're an ideal guy to have on the show at this moment in time. We appreciate it. Thank you. Always. Yes, sir. Thanks very much.