The Threat to ban TikTok

A bluff waiting to be called

Last Saturday, the US House of Representatives passed a package of measures that pack a nasty punch (hereafter: the Pernicious Package). It has effectively released (the remaining steps in the Senate and with President Biden are, in all likelihood, formalities) 95 billion dollars to support – mostly militarily – Ukraine (almost 61 billion), Israel (26 billion), and Taiwan and other clients (8 billion) in the “Indo-Pacific” area. In addition, two important – and deeply misguided – laws are sailing along: to empower the US government to seize – not merely freeze, which happened, roughly, two years ago – Russian state assets in US banks; and to impose a forced sale for the social media app TikTok, while preparing to ban it entirely.

I have used my podcast to talk about the money for Ukraine – or, to be precise, to use and bleed Ukraine even more in the Western proxy war against Russia. To recap: This “investment” is morally wrong and also futile. Russia has got to the verge of winning this war, while the collective West was spending over 250 billion dollars on beating it. The next 61 billion won’t change a thing. Except, more Ukrainians – and Russians – will die before it’s all over, probably soon. It is high time to begin serious negotiations before there’s not much left of Ukraine to negotiate about, not to finance more futile war. Concerning the West and Russia, this last Western effort at stalling will only enhance Moscow’s (and Putin’s) victory; the Western defeat will be even more degrading. Very, very slow claps.