Tag: Michael McCaul

Zelensky TOLD Rupert Murdoch To Fire Tucker Carlson?

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Fox News Executive Chairman Rupert Murdoch held a previously unreported call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy this spring in which the two discussed the war and the anniversary of the deaths of Fox News journalists last March. The Ukrainian president had a similar conversation with Lachlan Murdoch on March 15, which Zelenskyy noted in a little-noticed aside during a national broadcast last month.

The Murdochs’ Ukraine connection

Previously:

All the theories why Tucker Carlson got fired, from offensive texts about his bosses to too much prayer talk and Rupert Murdoch’s personal disdain

Murdoch was displeased with Carlson’s stance on the Ukraine war—a graphic on Carlson’s show had previously called the country’s President Volodymyr Zelensky a “Ukrainian pimp.” The host also repeatedly chided the U.S. for providing military aid to Ukraine. Murdoch’s opinion of Carlson’s commentary had become so negative that he complained about it during a newsroom meeting, according to anonymous sources cited by the Washington Post

Rep. McCaul: Sending Troops to Fight China Over Semiconductors ‘On the Table’

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)2 Comments

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has said sending troops to fight China over Taiwan would be “on the table” as a response to a Chinese attack.

Rep. McCaul: Sending Troops to Fight China Over Taiwan ‘On the Table’

The Pentagon’s Balloon Floats On

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

It is just as well that Antony “Guardrails” Blinken has called off his long-scheduled visit to Beijing, which was due to begin Tuesday. It would have been his first since taking over at State and the first by a secretary of state in four years. But Blinken would not have got any guardrails in place or built any exit ramps, which he seems to consider his highest calling. Let us wonder, parenthetically, if our Tony wasn’t meant to be a transportation engineer.

Patrick Lawrence: The Pentagon’s Balloon Floats On

GOP won’t bird-dog defense budget with these hawks at the helm

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Speaker McCarthy may have promised to cut defense spending, but his early actions suggest that he has little interest in rocking the boat.

GOP won’t bird-dog defense budget with these hawks at the helm

China’s neighbors are buying US weapons Washington isn’t delivering

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

China’s neighbors are buying US weapons Washington isn’t delivering

Even though the United States views these weapons sales as integral to deterring China from attacking Taiwan, some of the deals were publicly announced as far back as 2017.

…

The reasons – government delays, supply chain issues and production requirements – are numerous, and the problem won’t be easy to fix, Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Texas, the ranking member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told Defense News.

…

The U.S. government has approved the sale of 10 weapons systems Taiwan has yet to receive – some of which are not slated for delivery until the end of the decade.

…

The United States has flooded billions of dollars in weapons into Ukraine, including items that are part of Taiwan’s backlog, such as Harpoon anti-ship missiles, Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and High Mobile Artillery Rocket Systems.

…

For example, several Middle Eastern and eastern European countries are ahead of Taiwan in Lockheed Martin’s F-16 production queue. In 2019, the State Department approved an $8 billion Taiwan sale for 66 F-16s, but Taipei does not expect to receive the aircraft until 2026.

“Saudi Arabia is still ahead of Taiwan on the priority list in some cases,” Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., told Defense News ahead of a July meeting with Taiwan’s Washington envoy. “We need to take a look at that.”

…