Greetings all. I asked our good friend Rep. Adam Smith to come by and share his thoughts on recent events in Ukraine, the Middle East, and here at home.
I often do a lengthy write up of our conversations but this one needs to be watched or listened to. No written recap will do it justice.
Some highlights:
“In fact, I was on a call with President Zelenskyy this morning and a bunch of Republicans. What I said was, Look, this is Trump's decision. Don't think, oh my God, you know, he's just making a mistake. He thinks this is going to bring about peace. No, he's with the brutal authoritarian, you know, kleptocratic dictator. That's who he's with. That's who he's always been with. You know, I mean, some Republicans push back enough to rein him in from doing it. But from the start [Trump] rolled out the red carpet for Putin, berated Zelenskyy. It's who he is, it's where he's going, and I think it's a reason that we have to try to find a way to remove him from office as soon as possible.”
“What we need to know is that Zelenskyy is very much aware of the fact that Trump, as we said, has decided to side with Putin. I mean, that's just the decision that he has made. And Zelenskyy said, this whole notion of whether or not Starshield and Starlink are turned back on, they're turned back on, but they're not giving them full speed. Which means they can't track incoming stuff and they can't hit their targets at a certain distance. So it being back on doesn't matter. And also the $400 million that we in Congress appropriated for Ukraine for FY2026, they haven't seen any of the equipment that's supposed to buy. All right.So Trump is full Putin. And again, that's what I tried to tell my Republican colleagues on the call here. Don't think of this as some tactical error. This is a strategic plan to back Putin over Zelenskyy.”
More:
Look, we have to diplomatically make peace with Iran. And accept the fact that they're going to have more influence than we would like, you know, but Saudi Arabia, the UAE, all those countries have to figure out what is an acceptable agreement. And I think part of at this point has to be that Iran is going to get some cut from the Strait of Hormuz. I mean, we're not winning the war, a war we never should have started in the first place, of course.
We also discuss the need to begin socializing the idea that given his enormous failures, his betrayal of the country, his clear unfitness for office that it is now time for Donald Trump to go.
With 15 days to go we need to drive up the early vote, run up the score, flip the House and Senate. And then get on with making things better and putting things right. One of those most responsible for putting things right will be Rep. Adam Smith, and I encourage you to take the time to listen to his thoughts about how we should be approaching the next few years after all the damage Trump has done to this great country and our place in the world.
Be prepared - it’s a challenging conversation, but a necessary one. For putting things right is going to be an enormous task, one of the most significant in our history as a nation. While we must stay focused on winning these elections now we all must begin to prepare for the ferocious fights with Trump to come next year. I am grateful that Rep. Smith took the time to be us today, and spoke to us with directness and respect about the difficult work that lies ahead.
It’s on days like this that I feel particularly grateful to be in this fight with all of you. Watch our conversation, share it with others, let me know what you think, and keep working hard all. For we have a country to save, and elections to win this November, together! - Simon
Learn more about the Congressman by reading his impressive bio linked here.
