Ever since the wily leaders of the United States Senate – Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell – passed the $61 billion Ukraine aid bill, and Speaker Johnson stalled its progress in the House, the Left and media have been relentlessly taking Americans on a guilt trip.

A guilt trip causes people to feel responsible for changing their behavior or taking a specific action. Because guilt can be such a powerful motivator of human behavior, people can wield it as a tool to change how others think, feel, and behave. President Zelenskyy is the absolute master of making Americans wilt in shame by taking us on his never-ending guilt trip.

Zelenskyy and his supporters in America’s Military Industrial Complex have used various guilt trip arguments for continued American support. Ukrainians are fighting for democracy and the restoration of the international world order. Ukrainians are losing their lives and limbs protecting democracy against a tyrant – and are not asking for any contribution of American blood. Ukrainians are fighting NATO’s future war against a maniac so that the war doesn’t ever expand to NATO countries or come to America’s shores. Aid to Ukraine is spent in America to build America’s industrial capacity, create jobs, and strengthen supply chains. So, what is wrong with Americans who are reluctant to support Ukraine? 

Not a single day passes without an article in the major newspapers about how America’s failure to pass the aid bill is directly threatening Ukraine. The Editorial Board of the New York Times was at it again on Saturday with the catchy title: Help Ukraine Hold the Line. It quoted Donald Tusk, the Polish prime minister, when he visited Washington last month. “This is not some political skirmish that only matters here in America.” The speaker’s decision “will really cost thousands of lives there — children, women. He must be aware of his personal responsibility.”

Wouldn’t more intense fighting cost the lives of soldiers and allied personnel? If saving lives is the goal, shouldn’t we all be advocating for peace?

But such reasonable logic has fallen on deaf ears, even on those of Speaker Johnson, who finally capitulated and indicated that he would hold a vote in the House after all. Expect the Ukraine aid bill to pass with cosmetic concessions, such as permission to develop an oil and natural gas terminal in Louisiana. Sen. Robert Byrd, the erstwhile king of pork, would be laughing at Johnson from his grave for not extracting more concessions, such as a brand new federal agency building in Baton Rouge. How incredibly inefficient!

Media reports tell us that the Ukrainian situation is dire. Soldiers have been bravely fighting in the theater for two years non-stop, with no rotation or rest. Fatigue, illness, frustration at being away from home for extended periods, and a dwindling strength of the fighting forces as soldiers die or are wounded would all make any nation go to the peace table. Ukraine made no progress during its summer counter-offensive last year and has actually lost territory since.

Worse, Ukraine is having issues far from the fighting front. The commanding general was replaced, presumably for failing in the counter-offensive. And it is woefully short on offensive weapons, conceding that its dwindling supply may force Ukraine to retreat further to give the Russians even more territory. According to the New York Times, Russia is now firing at least five times as many artillery rounds as Ukraine. Russia continues to enjoy an advantage in terms of the number of soldiers and the sophistication of its weaponry.

Ukraine has postponed its elections indefinitely, so we do not know how Ukrainians on the street feel about the war. Opinion polls are notoriously inaccurate when a country is at war and are never a substitute for people pulling the lever in a voting booth. This week, Zelenskyy signed an extremely unpopular and controversial law that lowered the conscription age from 27 to 25 at the urging of Sen. Lindsey Graham. The law is expected to close loopholes to prevent Ukrainians from avoiding the draft.

Of course, just because people vote a certain way does not mean their wishes are fulfilled by those elected. President Nixon, desperate to win office in 1968 after being defeated by JFK in 1960, promised Americans that he would end the Vietnam War if elected – but he didn’t. The war dragged on for five long years as Nixon escalated the conflict secretly. It was not until January 27, 1973, during Nixon’s second term, that the United States and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam signed a peace agreement that enabled the United States to withdraw from the war and welcome American soldiers and prisoners of war back home. Neither of the Vietnamese parties abided by the settlement, however, and the war continued until 1975.

America and the West don’t have much to show for prosecuting a war in Ukraine that could have ended two years ago when warring sides met in Istanbul to discuss peace. After nearly $200 billion in arms shipments, training, logistics, and strategic support, Russia continues to advance in Ukraine. According to the Harvard Kennedy School’s Russia-Ukraine War Report Card in December 2023, Russia occupied about 20% of Ukraine, nearly 9,000 square miles more than before the Feb 2022 invasion.

Reasonable Americans ask: What will the extra $61 billion do that the first $200 billion didn’t? Shouldn’t we enter peace talks before Ukraine loses even more territory and people?

Zelenskyy’s supporters’ unreasonable response would be to trigger one of the many canned guilt trip narratives. This strategy has been highly effective for two years, and they hope it will continue to work in the future.

1. Tens Of Thousands Of Israelis Rally In Tel Aviv Demanding Gaza Hostage Deal – BBC

Tens of thousands of Israelis rallied against Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, demanding a Gaza hostage deal.

The rallies in Tel Aviv and other cities came after the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) recovered the body of hostage Elad Katzir.

Protesters chanted, “Elections now,” and “Elad, we’re sorry,” local media reported. Later, police forcibly dispersed the Tel Aviv crowd.

2. Gaza’s Largest Hospital ‘An Empty Shell With Human Graves’: WHO – AFP

The World Health Organization said on Saturday that Gaza’s largest hospital had been reduced to ashes by Israel’s latest siege, leaving an “empty shell” with many bodies.

“WHO and partners managed to reach Al-Shifa – once the backbone of the health system in Gaza, which is now an empty shell with human graves after the latest siege,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

3. David Cameron Warns Israel That UK Support Not Unconditional – The Independent

David Cameron warned Israel that British support is not unconditional as he said Palestinians in Gaza are on the brink of famine.

As a Royal Navy ship was deployed to help supply “life-saving aid” to the strip, the foreign secretary said the situation in Gaza is “dire” and “the prospect of famine is real.”

“We remain committed to getting aid to those who so desperately need it. Along with the US, Cyprus and other partners, we are setting up a new temporary pier off the coast of Gaza to get aid in as quickly and securely as possible,” Lord Cameron said.

4. Six Months On, How Close Is Israel To Eliminating Hamas? – BBC

Six months since the war began, it is still unclear whether Israel has met its aims in the war.

Read more about:

• How many Hamas leaders have been killed?
• How many hostages remain in Gaza?
• How much of the Hamas tunnel network has been destroyed?
• Israel’s offensive has come at a high price

5. Top UN Court Will Hold Hearings In A Case Accusing Germany Of Facilitating Israel’s Gaza Conflict

Preliminary hearings open Monday at the United Nations’ top court in a case that seeks an end of German military and other aid to Israel, based on claims that Berlin is “facilitating” acts of genocide and breaches of international law in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Israel strongly denies its military campaign amounts to breaches of the Genocide Convention.

6. Six Months Into The War, Gaza Could Become Secondary Arena – JNS

The war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip and its accompanying medium-intensity conflict with Hezbollah carries the risk of becoming a regional war involving Hezbollah and its Iranian sponsor, according to a former head of Israel’s Military Intelligence Directorate.

“I think by now everybody understands the problem is not Gaza. The problem is Iran. Iran is behind all of this,” said Maj. Gen. (ret.) Amos Yadlin last week.

“Iran is enjoying the fact that Israel was diverted toward a front in Gaza. Most of the world is ignoring the fact that Iran continues to advance to a nuclear weapon,” said Yadlin, also a former deputy commander of the Israel Air Force and currently president and founder of MIND Israel, a nonprofit consulting team.

7. Iran’s IRGC Vows Will Hand Israel ‘Regretful Punishment’ – Iran Front Page

The IRGC assured the Iranians it would surely punish the Israeli regime for the attack.

The statement read, “The national demand for the remorseful punishment of the criminal Zionist enemy will be realized by God’s grace.”

8. Former Defense Secretary Predicts Iran Will Strike At Israel – Fox News

Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Iran would feel a need to retaliate against Israel to placate hardliners.

“They are going to act,” Esper said Friday. “They’re going to feel the need to uphold their dignity, to maintain credibility with their proxies throughout the region, and to really meet the demands of hardliners within the theocracy that wants to see something done.”

9. Russia’s Lavrov To Visit China To Discuss Ukraine War – Reuters

Russian FM Sergei Lavrov will visit China on Monday and Tuesday to discuss the war in Ukraine and the deepening partnership between Moscow and Beijing.

Talks between Lavrov and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who extended the invitation to the Russian minister, will include bilateral cooperation as well as “hot topics,” such as the crisis in Ukraine and the Asia-Pacific, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

10. US Top General Says North Korea’s Missiles Getting Valuable Battlefield Testing In Ukraine – Bloomberg

Russia’s use of North Korean missiles during its offensive in Ukraine presents a unique opportunity for Pyongyang to assess its weaponry in actual combat scenarios, potentially gaining insights to enhance their effectiveness, according to a senior U.S. military official.

Bloomberg reports that General Charles Flynn, the commanding general of the U.S. Army Pacific, said, “I don’t believe that in my recent memory, the North Korean military has had a battlefield laboratory quite like the Russians are affording them to have in Ukraine.”

11. Thousands Evacuated As Orsk Dam Burst Worsens Russia Floods – BBC

Officials say Thousands are being evacuated in a region of south-western Russia because of floods made worse by a dam burst in Orsk city.

Officials say 10,000 residents may be in the flooding zone, and up to 4,000 houses could be inundated.

“Work in the area of the dam rupture in Orsk continues,” the Russian Emergencies Ministry said in a statement, adding that around 440 people and 217 pieces of equipment were involved in the effort.

12. Ukraine-Skeptic, PM Fico Ally Pellegrini Wins Slovakia Presidential Election – France 24

Ukraine-sceptic government ally Peter Pellegrini won Slovakia’s presidential election Saturday against pro-Western diplomat Ivan Korcok.

“It is a huge satisfaction,” Pellegrini said in Bratislava, vowing “to ensure that Slovakia remains on the side of peace and not on the side of war.”

13. Yellen Calls On Chinese Premier To Engage In Talks On Global Issues – Kyodo

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Sunday that the world’s two biggest economies should engage in conversations to address pressing global issues, the U.S. Treasury Department said.

Yellen said at the beginning of a meeting with Li in Beijing that the United States and China have a “duty” to responsibly manage the two countries’ complex relationship and show leadership in tackling global challenges.

14. WWIII Could Start Over Philippines Dispute In South China Sea, China ‘Not Respecting’ Treaties, Expert Says – Fox News

Beijing warned that World War III could break out in the South China Sea as it increasingly shifts its attention to the Philippines, with territorial disputes driving tensions ever higher.

“Although we have a mutual defense treaty with the Philippines, China is not respecting it,” Gordon Chang, a China expert and fellow at the Gatestone Institute, told Fox News Digital.

“It was twice last month, on the 5th and the 29th, that the State Department issued written warnings to China that we were prepared to use force to discharge our obligations pursuant to article four of the U.S. Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty,” Chang explained. “That’s a warning that we are prepared to go to war.”

15. ‘Hungarians Rise’: Tens Of Thousands Protest Against Orban In Budapest – France 24

Tens of thousands of people staged a rally in Budapest on Saturday in support of a critic of Prime Minister Viktor Orban as he outlined plans to challenge the nationalist leader.

The protest against Orban’s government was called by lawyer and former insider Peter Magyar, who has shot to prominence in Hungarian politics over a child abuse scandal.

AFP journalists said about 100,000 protestors gathered in Kossuth Square in front of the parliament, with many carrying national flags and holding up signs that read “Hungarians rise!”

“We will take back our country step by step, and brick by brick, we will build a sovereign, modern Hungary,” Magyar told a cheering crowd.

16. NZ Tightens Visa Rules Amid Near Record Migration – Reuters

The changes include introducing an English language requirement for low-skilled jobs and setting a minimum skills and work experience threshold for most employer work visas.

The maximum continuous stay for most low-skilled roles will also be reduced to three years from five years.

“The government is focused on attracting and retaining the highly skilled migrants such as secondary teachers, where there is a skill shortage,” Immigration Minister Erica Stanford said in a statement on Sunday.

17. Mexico Suspends Diplomatic Relations With Ecuador Following Embassy Raid – UPI

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Saturday announced the suspension of diplomatic relations with Ecuador after Ecuadorian police stormed Mexico’s embassy in Quito Friday night.

The raid ended with the arrest of Ecuador’s former vice president, Jorge Glas, who had sought shelter at the embassy as he was being sought on corruption charges.

18. X Challenges Brazil’s ‘Forced’ Order To Block Certain Accounts – Reuters

X Corp, formerly Twitter, has been “forced by court decisions” to block certain popular accounts in Brazil and is prohibited from giving details of the order, the company said on Saturday.

“This judge has applied massive fines, threatened to arrest our employees, and cut off access to X in Brazil,” Musk said when referring to a user’s post on Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes’ “free speech crackdown.”

19. Gold Prices Are Beating Stocks; Are Investors Late To The Party? – IBD

Gold prices are at all-time highs and now are beating the U.S. stock market.

A rangebound U.S. dollar, heightened geopolitical risks, record purchases from emerging market central banks and heavy buying from consumers in emerging markets are other factors driving gold prices, the Wells Fargo strategists said.

20. Exercise Is Secret To Staying Thin After Ozempic Jab – As Studies Show Most Regain Most Of The Weight They Have Lost – DailyMail

Dieters who stop using the latest slimming drugs can avoid putting the weight back on by starting an exercise regime.

While weight-loss medications such as Ozempic and Wegovy have soared in popularity in recent years, studies show that many users who stop the expensive weekly jabs regain most of the weight they have lost.

Republished with permission from TIPP Insights