The rules-based international order just got some much-needed breathing room

 The House just passed an aid package that accomplishes the following:

The House passed the Israel Security Supplemental with a vote of 366-58.

Here's what the package includes:

• $26.4 billion to aid Israel
• $4 billion for the Iron Dome and David’s Sling missile defense systems
• $1.2 billion for the Iron Beam defense system
• $4.4 billion to replenish defense items and services provided to Israel 
• $3.5 billion for the procurement of advanced weapons systems and other items through the Foreign Military Financing Program
• $9.2 billion in humanitarian assistance – including emergency food, shelter and basic services – to populations suffering crises

It would also:

• Provide additional flexibility for transfers of defense items to Israel from US stockpiles held in other countries 
• Prohibit sending funds to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency

and 

The House passed the Ukraine Security Supplemental Appropriations Act with a vote of 311-112. One member – GOP Rep Dan Meuser – voted present.  

Democrats cheered and waved Ukrainian flags during the vote.

The $95 billion package contains $61 billion for Ukraine and regional partners.

One of the bills would provide nearly $61 billion to assist Ukraine and others in the region fight Russia – about the same that was included in the Senate bill.

Of that total, about $23 billion would be used to replenish US weapons, stockpiles and facilities, and more than $11 billion would fund current US military operations in the region. 

Nearly $14 billion included in the bill would help Ukraine buy advanced weapons systems and other defense equipment. 

and

The House passed the Indo-Pacific Security Supplemental bill with a bipartisan vote of 385-34 plus one present vote: Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib. 

Here's what the package includes:

• $8.1 billion to counter China’s actions in the Indo-Pacific region
• $3.3 billion to develop submarine infrastructure
• $2 billion in foreign military financing for Taiwan and other key allies
• $1.9 billion to replenish defense items and services provided to Taiwan and regional partners

I hope that my feelings about Mike Johnson reflect that balance and nuance one ought to bring to historic moments where courage was the essential ingredient for insuring that the right thing was done. Yes, I have problems with his young-earth creationism and his election denialism. (I don't have any problems with his understanding of humans sexuality, an understanding most of humankind had until five minutes ago.) He's yet another Republican who has made the trek from a 2015 position of Trump lacking "the character and the moral center we desperately need again in the White House" to serving as a member of the Very Stable Genius's legal defense team during both impeachments.

But what he's done here - breaking with those in a position to imperil his Speakership, pressing ahead in the most precarious of circumstances - is the act of a man who mustered utter clarity about what the moment required of him.

This disseminates a couple of important messages on the world stage, to allies and enemies alike. First and foremost, it says that the United States - for the time being, anyway - is still willing to be the guarantor of a post-1945 order predicated on the idea that force can't be used to change the borders of sovereign nations. It also gives a strong indication that the legislative branch can still act decisively and morally, even when the executive branch's vision of the world stage is muddled.

So, kudos to those who voted in the affirmative on these measures.

The darkness still hasn't overcome the light.

 

 

Thoughts on Pelosi visiting Taiwan

 She can't really not go now, can she?

The entire Asian trip, with an itinerary that includes such key Pacific rim allies as Japan and South Korea, was supposed to happen in April but got delayed due to COVID. And the rhetoric from China has been ratcheting up ever since the trip has been rescheduled. Hu Xijin, a prominent commentator for Global Times, has tweeted that shooting down Pelosi's plane is an option if her trip includes a stop in Taipei. 

It's a done deal, as far as the Taiwanese government is concerned.  She's expected to stay overnight.

The Biden administration is not so keen on the idea, of course, but it can't stop her. The three branches of our government are coequal. 

tLots of seasoned observers of the world stage caution against it, and they have a point. It's a high-stakes gambit, for sure. It raises that age-old question of when and where, if at all, to make irreversible changes to the global balance of power.

China is not currently the only adversary rattling a saber in an alarming manner. Russia and North Korea are mentioning nuclear war as part of their rhetoric. Iran is enriching uranium to levels sufficient for nuclear breakout.

Consider, though, the viewpoint of Senator Ben Sasse, one of the last remaining persons of principle and depth in the U.S. government:

“Speaker Pelosi should go to Taiwan and President Biden should make it abundantly clear to Chairman Xi that there’s not a damn thing the Chinese Communist Party can do about it. No more feebleness and self-deterrence. This is very simple: Taiwan is an ally and the Speaker of the House of Representatives should meet with the Taiwanese men and women who stare down the threat of Communist China.”

He has a point, too. If, at some point, the U.S. does not demonstrate leadership and loyalty to that portion of the world that shares our basic values, the bad guys run the place.

Op-ed writers, buy definition, are expected to offer conclusive opinions on matters such as this. Since this is a blog, I don't feel constrained in that way.

There are downsides to either choice that the House speaker makes. And she either will or she won't stop by Taiwan on her trip. 

I just hope that American society can see now that the era of corporate joint ventures, student visas and supply chains heavily dependent on the People's Republic of China ought to be behind us. China only ever opened up to the West for its own advantage. It remains the snake in the grass it's been since 1949.