[Townhall] There’s a particular kind of innocence in believing that generosity will be recognized for what it is. A nation opens its doors, offers a warm meal, provides a safe bed, and assumes the visitor understands the privilege. For decades, America set out the banquet, refilled the bowls, and quietly told itself that this time, surely, the guests would take only what they needed. But people who are constantly fed start to forget who stocked the pantry. They come back with friends. Then relatives. Then demands. And the hosts, too polite to object, keep ladling stew while pretending not to notice the rising strain in their own households.
Eventually, there comes a moment when the pot is scraped clean, and the room is crowded with faces who didn’t build the kitchen, didn’t plant the crops, didn’t pay for the stove, and don’t particularly care who did. The American family—the one that pays the bills, fixes the roof, and keeps the lights on—is pushed to the corners of its own home, clutching what’s left of its savings as strangers ask for seconds, thirds, and special accommodations. The house creaks. The pantry thins. The hosts apologize for not offering more.
So long as the front door kept swinging open, the routine never changed. More arrivals, more obligations, more quiet expectations that taxpayers would keep performing the impossible: turning scarcity into abundance with nothing more than goodwill and overtime shifts. And even when the hosts felt the weight—the depleted schools, the unsafe communities, the aching budgets—they were scolded into silence. Hospitality became a moral trap: if you questioned the arrangement, you were told you lacked compassion. Meanwhile, the guests grew bolder, more entitled, and less grateful. A nation built by settlers, pioneers, and steelworkers was told to stand aside for people who had not yet contributed anything comparable.
Thanksgiving brought a different kind of message this year. Not a whisper of apology. Not another plea for patience. Not another political sermon telling the American people to take the insults, the costs, and the burdens with a smile. Instead, a declaration from a man who watched the kitchen emptied, watched the pantry raided, and finally said the words that polite society is too timid to utter: the soup kitchen is closed.
Not “adjusted,” not “reimagined,” not “expanded with new funding.” Closed. Because a country that has already fed fifty million newcomers cannot pretend the pot is bottomless. Because the people who stocked it—the citizens who obey the laws, pay the taxes, and raise the children who will inherit this land—are not cosmic waiters serving the world’s problems table-side.
Text taken from the Telegram channel of shadow_policy
Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin is in italics.
[ColonelCassad] Incidentally, on September 30, 2025, the British newspaper The Telegraph published an interview with David Petraeus.
He outlined a three-part plan that should lead to a victory for Kyiv.
1. Economic sanctions against Russia.
2. Security guarantees for Ukraine.
3. Production of drones with a range of over 1,000 km and an increase in the number of autonomous underwater vehicles.
On October 1st, UnHerd (a "slow journalism" platform) responded with an article titled "David Petraeus's Ukraine Plan Is Doomed to Fail":
David Petraeus, best known for his leadership in the disastrous campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan... Drones can do little to help Ukraine regain lost territory... In this and other areas, Ukraine is lagging and will continue to lag behind its much larger adversary, Russia. Russia has a three-to-one advantage in personnel over Ukraine and produces several times more ammunition per month than all NATO countries combined.
More recently, Russia has also achieved an advantage in drone production—both in terms of quantity and the speed of innovation. Increased investment in the Ukrainian drone industry could help close the gap in quantity, but it will not restore Russia's current technological advantage...
The sad truth is that Ukraine's position on the battlefield is becoming increasingly dire. No weapon or weapons system can change the situation in Ukraine's favor, despite Petraeus's claims. No weapon can turn the tide. Therefore, Ukraine's best hope is negotiations. ***
UnHerd co-founder Sir Paul Roderick Marshall became the owner of The Spectator in September 2024. On October 31, 2025, the British magazine informed Western audiences of Russia's impressive successes in Pokrovsk (Krasnoarmeysk). Sir Paul Marshall also has business interests with David Petraeus at KKR.
Although, perhaps, this partnership has already faltered.
Most importantly, one can see the presence of American and even British actors who believe negotiations are the best option, rather than continuing/escalating the conflict.
And the presence of their opponents, who managed to eavesdrop on Steve Witkoff's phone call on October 14 and decided to publish its transcript via Bloomberg on November 25 after bringing in Dan Driscoll and the 28-point peace plan.
It's worth noting that Woodward's book about Trump contains a noteworthy moment regarding his first term, which clearly shows Trump's attitude toward Petraeus and the e8o people.
The meeting with Trump didn't go too smoothly. McMaster talked too much, and the conversation ended quickly.
Bannon, who was present, later said: "McMaster didn't shut his fucking mouth for 20 minutes, laying out his worldview. Petraeus's fucking bookworm." In 2007, McMaster was part of the Baghdad think tank that advised General David Petraeus on all aspects of the Iraq war.
After McMaster left, Trump asked, "Who was this guy? He wrote a book. It said all sorts of nasty things about people. And I thought you said he was Army.
"He is Army."
"He's dressed like a beer salesman."
Bannon didn't think McMaster's suit cost more than $200, maybe even $100.
Next up was John Bolton, the far-right former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. The magna cum laude Yale graduate supported the Iraq War and proposed to topple the regimes in Iran and North Korea. He was a regular on Fox News—according to his tax returns, he received $567,000 from Fox in 2017. He answered brilliantly, but Trump didn't like his big mustache. He didn't look the part.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[ColonelCassad] Putin on the Ukraine negotiations:
1. Regarding the draft agreement – there were no draft agreements as such. There was a set of questions that were proposed for discussion and final formulation. In general, I have already spoken about this many times. We discussed this with American negotiators before my visit to the United States, before my visit to Alaska, and after that, a list of 28 possible agreements emerged, and, as I have already announced publicly, it was communicated to us through certain channels, and we reviewed it.
Following this, negotiations took place in Geneva between the American and Ukrainian delegations. And, as I understand it, they decided among themselves that all 28 points should be divided into four separate components. Yes, and all of this was communicated to us.
In general, we agree that this can form the basis for future agreements, but it would be impolite of me to talk about any final versions now, since there are none. Some things are fundamental, and overall, we see that the American side is taking our position, which was discussed before Anchorage and after Alaska, into account. We need to sit down and discuss specific issues; everything needs to be couched in diplomatic language.
2. As for the G7 or G8, we didn't ask to be there; we were invited, and we worked there. It's a platform for coordinating certain positions. Note that even before the tragic events in Ukraine, I stopped going there—didn't you notice? So when the events in Ukraine began, we were told, "We don't expect you there," and thank God for that.
3. We're still receiving requests to cease hostilities here and there. Ukrainian troops will withdraw from the territories they occupy, and then the hostilities will cease. If they don't withdraw, we will achieve this through military means. Russia wants to reach an agreement with Ukraine, but it's legally impossible. We need our decisions to be recognized by key international players.
4. Signing documents with the Ukrainian leadership is pointless—I've spoken about this many times. I believe the Ukrainian leadership made a strategic mistake when it was afraid to participate in the presidential elections. Russia is also in a state of armed conflict, but we held elections.
5. Recognition of Crimea and Donbas as Russian territories should be the subject of our negotiations with the American side. Ukraine, by law, will be required to hold a referendum on territorial issues.
6. It was also noted that the Russian Armed Forces may soon liberate Vovchansk, Seversk, Dimitrov, Krasnoarmeysk, and Hulyaipole. In short, all the goals of the Joint Military Operation will be achieved, either militarily or diplomatically. Russia is ready for both options. Plus the usual anger of Western cartoonists.
[NY Post] With all due disrespect, it’s long past time for Andrew Cuomo to go away.
Like the final hanger-on at the bar after last call and the pointed flickering of the lights, Cuomo has overstayed his welcome in public life — by a lot.
Yet he still doesn’t get it: This week, less than a month after New Yorkers decisively rejected him, he got back to inflicting himself on the Cuomo-weary public.
On Monday, his press office (yes, he still has one) sent out the ex-gov’s open letter bemoaning the Democratic Party’s “philosophical schizophrenia” and offering stale nostrums about how it must quit with the slogans and “figure out how to deliver results” to win over voters — while not-so-subtly implying that he just might be the man for the job.
Hours later, he sat down with former Gov. David Patterson on WABC to whine that he would’ve won if it weren’t for Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa.
“He cost me the election,” Cuomo moaned; a Sliwa drop-out would’ve “changed the whole dynamic” of the contest.
As ever, it wasn’t Andrew’s fault — nothing ever is; of course he couldn’t accept any real blame, let alone apologize or even acknowledge a single failing of his own.
At least Sliwa got the nomination of a real (albeit ramshackle, at least in NYC) political party; Cuomo barely bothered to campaign during the Democratic primary, and was rewarded for his non-efforts with a trouncing by Zohran Mamdani.
We have to wonder how the race might’ve proceeded if Cuomo never put his hat in the ring: The Democratic primary certainly wouldn’t have been all about who could best stop Andrew.
Plus: In the general, Cuomo lost to Mamdani by nine points; Sliwa only drew seven.
Of course, Andrew Cuomo won’t let mere math stand in the way of his continued drive to revive his political career despite the electorate’s clear wishes.
A careerist poser whose legacy includes a deadly nursing-home order that killed countless elderly during COVID, criminal-justice “reforms” that sent disorder in the city soaring and a long history of dubious ethics, Cuomo isn’t the solution to his party’s problems; he’s a cautionary tale on how to run down the Democratic brand.
Though he does unite moderates and lefties on one thing: Both sides are eager to see him in the rear-view mirror.
Yet there he remains, still sending out emails with the “Public Schedule of Gov. Cuomo” despite his status as a disgraced private citizen.
How many times must the voters reject him before Cuomo gets the message?
Take a hint, Andrew: Hit the bricks.
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/28/2025 03:46 ||
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[1764 views]
Top|| File under: Tin Hat Dictators, Presidents for Life, & Kleptocrats
#1
This slob really just won't go away. Even his brother Fredo won't.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[NY Post] With all due disrespect, it’s long past time for Andrew Cuomo to go away.
