Should Ukraine be Defended by the United States and Other Threats

The Constitution of the United States defines the numerous means of forming treaties and their required ratification. Once these definitions have been completed, the treaty is to be treated as the “Law of the Land.” Numerous, if not the vast majority, of treaties entered into by the United States went through a ratification by the United States Senate, after which, they would even supersede the Constitution itself. One such treaty is the December 5, 1994, <a href=http://www.pircenter.org/media/content/files/12/13943175580.pdf> “Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances…”</a> whose beginning is quoted below.

• 1. The United States of America, the Russian Federation, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, reaffirm their commitment to Ukraine, in accordance with the principles of the CSCE Final Act, to respect the Independence and Sovereignty and the existing borders of Ukraine.
• 2. The United States of America, the Russian Federation, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, reaffirm their obligation to refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of Ukraine, and that none of their weapons will ever be used against Ukraine except in self-defense or otherwise in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.
• 3. The United States of America, the Russian Federation, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, reaffirm their commitment to Ukraine…

Apparently, should Putin violate the Ukrainian border, not only are the United States and Britain being required to respond and defend the Ukraine, but Russia is also under treaty obligation to defend the very borders they are violating. As far as obligations; the United States, by her own Constitution, is required to come to the defense of the Ukraine defending against any aggressions by Russia or any other invasion. Fortunately, a military defense is not specifically required, thus mere economic sanctions would satisfy the requirements of the treaty even if ignoring the intended sentiment. In the end, it would be so wonderful if the media, all of them, would simply inform the American people of the pertinent facts and follow their reaction, which is guaranteed to be vehemently opposed by the minority. So, would the Americans demand action in defense of the Ukraine should Putin send his troops across their border; and if so, to what extent, sanctions, non-military aid, military equipment or actual American troops (only airstrikes or including ground assault forces)?

Biden Unable to Locate Putin

This is as if President Biden is not facing grave challenges. Well, actually he is clueless on the national difficulties but probably does face the “gravest” of threats. It is saddening watching the United States slowly spiraling towards the drain seemingly unable to take a true direction supported by the people. There appears to be a disconnect between the apparent direction taken by the government and the will of the people. The people are done with Covid, back at work unless throttled by government, and tired of foreign military entanglements. Yet, we bet given the entirety of treaty obligations, their Constitutional importance and their legal weight; they will reluctantly insist on military aid as a minimal first step, followed by air support and even troops if required. Perhaps we will see as the debate begins if anyone will stand for the truth and reality of the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances.

Beyond the Cusp

Biden Makes Criticism Incredibly Difficult

I have thought about and even attempted to write an article about the current chaos plaguing the United States but ran into the same problem each time; I left the news going on the television. Is it even possible to concentrate on a single problem with such a distraction? Our consensus is that such is impossible. There are so many; one can almost assign one to each letter of the alphabet, honest (Afghanistan, Border enforcement, Corona virus, Debt, Energy, Foreign relations, GDP and you get the idea). We do feel that President Biden, or whomever chairs the committee running the Presidency, deserves congratulations for turning the tide so quickly and completely, ridding the country of virtually everything Trump. Whether that turns out to be advantageous likely depends on which apparent extreme one chooses with which to identify. For the numerous Americans considering themselves to be moderate, middle-of-the-road, even-tempered and oh so irritated with President Trump’s demeaner so they voted for Biden; in just over three years there will be another election and Trump might appear less offensive this time around. But this is supposed to be telling you the reason there have been so few posts of late, so let us return to describing our dangling over the edge predicament.

Teetering Beyond the Cusp

Yes, the Beyond the Cusp office is a bus somewhere in the Andes dangling off a cliff someplace in Peru, not. The impediment has been trying to concentrate on merely one specific problem which we have yet to comment about and needs commentary. Grievous mistakes such as the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan needs little if any comment beyond apologies to all those whose efforts in-country now appear to have proved futile. Our only comment on border enforcement is Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is describing the border as being orderly proceeding towards the Administration’s set goals allowing free entry into the United States across the southern border when he tells the media that, “The border is closed and secured.” The Corona virus is slowly and inexorably becoming less deadly, despite becoming more virulent, as we predicted here. The debt is moving along at an unhealthy rate and will accelerate when the final reconciliation budget passes spending trillions the United States will need to borrow from the Federal Reserve. Energy, Foreign relations, GDP; we have probably already covered these at some point and really prefer not to become too repetitive. We only hope that the United States never finds itself beyond the cusp as, from there, there is no return. 

Beyond the Cusp

Where the Election Stands

The only certain results are the Republicans will continue to hold a majority, though shaky, on the Senate while gaining seats which will prove to be insufficient to break the Democrat hold on the House of Representatives. We could simply leave it at that and ignore the elephant in the room, the Presidency. The one thing which will eventually prove inevitable, some states will end up in court and at least one will reach the Supreme Court. Any decision that would be forthcoming from the Supreme Court will take some undefined amount of time, likely anywhere from two or three weeks to two or more months. This might be caused by multiple cases appearing before the Supreme Court. We can rely on the left to insist that the Justice Amy Comey Barrett recuse herself due to being installed onto the Supreme Court in the midst of the election and thus should be ineligible to adjudicate any election case brought before the court. Should she agree to recuse herself, the most likely results will be more four-four wimpy non-decisions. Any reasonable person can expect in such instances that Chief Justice Roberts will side with the left as he has already proven on the major case from before the election.

Here is the surprising way to further decide who has been taking liberties with election law or even playing hanky-panky. The side demanding the loudest for Justice Barrett recusal are the ones who should be most suspect. Their insisting for her recusal actually might prove counter-productive. There is a laudable quality held by Justice Barrett making her almost the perfect adjudicator, she can remove herself and her emotions and personal positions from any legal consideration allowing her to decide simply upon the law itself and its most plain understanding. Her decisions will prove to be both liberal and conservative as such considerations are not included within her decision processes. It will be Justice Barrett’s strict constructionist views upon which one may rely thus those on any other side would likely be leading the charge to recuse Justice Barrett. These assumptions may prove unnecessary as we very likely will have a definitive winner in the Presidential race within the week. The current state has it such that should former Vice President Biden win any of the undecided states, other than Alaska which will go Trump, he will clear the 270-threshold winning the election for President. On the other hand, for President Trump to gain a second term he needs run the table which might prove to be insurmountable. More to follow, hopefully.

Beyond the Cusp