New President

Wow, this comic didn't age well! Biden has senile dementia, and that cackling loon Harris is completely out of her depth.

But hey, no mean tweets...

@Dorsai

Said the person voting for the "very stable genius" wondering why we didn't just inject bleech in our veins to kill Covid-19...

Amongst the many, many, MANY stupid things that fucking moron (called so by no less then two of his own former cabinet members) said

@Nisse_Hult And as hard as it is to believe, this comic has aged even less well in the three months since I was last here. But yeah, keep babbling nonsense about Trump while Vlad rolls west. Hopefully you figure it out before he gets to Stockholm.

@Dorsai

There is nothing to figure out.
Trump is a moron - and on top of that Putins personal fluffer. He called him a "genius" for invading Ukraine - before he figured out the world hates his boyfriend even more now.
We're all very lucky he's not running your country right now.

Compared to that disaster of a leader - which is your preferred choice over Biden/Harris - it's just pathetic that you try to find fault in them.

@Nisse_Hult Wow, you really do believe everything you see on TV, don’t you?

It’s funny that Germany’s two primary responses (stopping Nord Stream 2 and upping their defense spending to the 2% NATO minimum) are the exact two things Trump asked them to do years before. It’s too late to help the people of Ukraine, but that’s the story of Europe - too little, too late.

Trump’s time in office will likely be remembered as the last peaceful years in Europe before whatever phase of history comes next. Whatever that new era turns out to be, I wish you the best with it.

@Dorsai

I don't watch TV - I read newspapers.
You should try it sometimes - TV only rots your brain.

Trumps years in office is already remembered for his corruption, sucking up to dictators and killing his own people by downplaying the threat of Covid-19. And then he topped it of by trying to overturn the election and cling to power anyway.

He's a fucking disgrace - and you're a tool for believing in him.

Oh, don't you worry about Europe. We've been here far longer then the US has, and we're a lot wiser for it.
Which is why most of us knows how to differentiate between imperialistic wars of aggression (like your failed war in Iraq) and defensive wars of national independence.
We'll continue to support Ukraine however long it takes, even if the US public has the attention span of a goldfish.

Hopefully you'll be keeping attention as well, but if Trumpers like you vote the moron back in office, he'll no doubt try to help his boyfriend Vlad out and throw Ukraine and it's people to the wolves.

So it seems you'll be having a choice to make in 2024.
Do you back democracy or autocracy?
It seems pretty clear you'll be going for the latter.

@Nisse_Hult Wisdom would have been doing something about Putin before he launched his war. Instead, you spent the last couple of decades addicting yourselves to Russian energy to the point where you were unable to say or do anything lest Putin turn off the gas and leave you to freeze in the dark. Hell, Trump even told you guys to stop it, but you were too smart for him…and here you are.

Good luck, you’re going to need it.

@Dorsai

I know most Americans are ignorant about the rest of the world, but the EU is actually made up of different countries.
Sweden has virtually no import of Russian gas or oil at all - we're a net producer of energy.

https://sweden.se/climate/sustainability/energy-use-in-sweden

Unfortunately not all countries in Europe has made the same investments in sustainable technology - but then neither have the US.

Your continued reliance on fossil fuels are destroying your own country with wild fires, droughts and tornadoes becoming ever more disastrous every year.
It's another good reason to not vote for the moron - but I guess science isn't something you believe in, right?

As I said - no need to worry about us - we're fine compared to you.
We've been here far longer then the US has, and we're wiser for it.
And climate change isn't going to be as disastrous here as it will be in the US, either.

@Nisse_Hult I always enjoy our little chats, as infrequent as they are. Whenever I despair at the foolishness of my countrymen, I think of you and remember how much worse it is elsewhere.

Stay well until next time!

@Dorsai

You know you Trumpers are a minority in your own country - right?
And that the rest of the world view Americans as the most stupid people on the face of the earth?
That's you guys, dragging down your nations reputation, you know.
Morons voting for a moron to "lead" them.

@Nisse_Hult One of the best things about being an American is not having to give a crap about what anyone in Europe thinks.

@Dorsai

Yeah, you used to think so.
Then you where dragged into two world wars.
That's why you wisened up and founded NATO.

Because whether you want to or not, the US's own security is dependent on a democratic Europe.

If Europe ever falls to a single autocratic regime the balance of power in the world would shift dramatically.
The US would be dwarfed in not only population, but also industrial and economic output, and sooner or later end up in war with that autocracy itself.

Only on much, much worse terms then if it had European allies.

It's one of the many, many things you "Murcia First!"-people and your moron leader are ignorant about.

@Nisse_Hult And now we come full circle. Surprisingly, you are right about our security interest in a free and democratic Europe. That's exactly why we founded NATO,and why we've supported it for so long. And that's why Trump told you guys (yes yes, I know Sweden isn't in NATO...work with me here) to stop freeloading, start paying your share of defense costs, and while you're at it stop funding Putin with your energy purchases. But Europe in its 'wisdom' was more worried about mean tweets, and here we are...

Did you hear the rumors that Putin has started asking China for military assistance? Maybe they're true maybe they aren't, but it reminds me of one of my favorite jokes from the Cold War days. It went something like this:

With the passing of time both Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev died and went to their eternal reward. One day they were sitting together in the afterlife reading newspapers, when Gorbachev started chuckling. Reagan looked at him and asked, "what is so funny?"

Gorbachev replied, "It says here that the American budget deficit has continued to rise, and employment has continued to fall. Ha!"

Reagan gave Gorbachev a dirty look and returned to reading his newspaper. But after a few minutes he, too, began to laugh.

"And what do you find so funny?" asked Gorbachev.

"Well," Reagan replied, "It says here that there is renewed fighting on the German-Chinese border."

Think about it for a bit, and I'm sure you'll get the joke. If Putin keeps fucking his war up he may yet turn Russia into a client state (or worse) of China. I can't wait to see what our wise European friends decide to do in THAT case.

@Dorsai

Consecutive US administrations - well before Trump - has been pushing NATO-members to invest more in their defence budgets, so that's nothing new.
The new aspect was that Trump - being a moron - did this openly, while also questioning the very value of NATO - and whether the US under him would honor its commitments under the NATO charter.
Like the idiot he is, he was treating NATO as an American protection racket where instead of allies he saw customers he could extort for money.

Which all just fed Putins appetite and conviction that NATO was crumbling from the inside and wouldn't muster a unified response to any aggression of his.

Instead, what several NATO members have done now, is to react to threats - not from a wannabe US despot - but from an actual Russian despot.
It was really lucky Biden won the last election - there is absolutely no telling how Trump would have behaved in this situation.
Mr "inject bleech", "nuke tornadoes", "stare directly into the sun", "Putin's a great guy" etc. would definitely not have been trusted by the world as Biden is now.
Trump would probably have kept blackmailing Zelensky over some imaginary dirt on Hunter Biden - that's how petty and stupid he is.

Regarding your joke it makes no sense in the perspective we're talking about.
You´re trying to threaten me with how a collapsing Russia would make China stronger?
Well who do you think China would go after, after Europe, stupid?

The point remains that however the US might wish it could isolate itself it simply can't.
You're dependent on allies as well and if Europe falls to autocracy the US will be next.
So NATO isn't some gift to Europe - it's as much in Americas interest to keep Europe free and allied.

That's what you "Murcia First!"-people never get.

The US contributed almost nothing in manpower and casualties in the two world wars you where dragged into (despite doing your best to avoid them), and the wars you've been involved in since have seen even fewer casualties, of course.

You've never experienced a major war on your own territory.
And trust me - you don't want to fight the next war on your own soil.
Every nation in Europe has - at some point in our long history.

And you don't want to see half or more of your population killed.
Every nation in Europe has - at some point in our long history.

America is a teenager as a country - and just as intelligent. Thinking it knows best and dosen't need to listen to the grown-ups any longer.
That's why you do stupid fucking things like Vietnam or Iraq or Afghanistan - and then you bitch about us not supporting those stupid fucking things more(!).
Before you realize they actually where stupid fucking things - as most of Europe told you all along.
But it's OK - we understand that you're still learning.
It's just frustrating to see you do stupid fucking things, ignoring rational advice, becuse you think you know best when you so clearly don't.

Like it or not - the US and Europe is dependent on one-another - it's just a geopolitical fact.
If either falls the other one will be swallowed by China - or Russia - or maybe India some day.
American isolationism is just a gift to those countries and will only guarantee that a major war ends up being fought in the US one day.

Try reading any analysis of US national security produced in the last century or so, and you'll see.

EDIT:
Timely release of a memoir from an actual expert in diplomacy, Ukraine and Russia:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/mar/20/lessons-from-the-edge-review-marie-yovanovitch-trump-putin-ukraine

@Nisse_Hult Wow, you really don't get it, do you? You're right....successive administrations gently pressured NATO members to spend more, with little success. So what is smarter...doing the EXACT same thing and expecting different results? Or trying something a little different? What Trump didn't realize is that there was no saving you guys before the existential threat was on your doorstep. He was too early with the hardball tactics...now, MAYBE, you understand what is going on.

Odd are, though, that you don't. Oh, a few European countries are making the right noises at the moment, Germany foremost among them. And they'll probably spend a little more, for a little while. But the conflict in Ukraine will end, one way or another, and Europe will again grow complacent and start letting their defense spending slide, comfortable in the knowledge that America will always be there to protect them.

And they'll be right...for a while at least. But here's the thing...for as many of us (myself included, which you don't seem to understand) strongly support NATO and understand how important it is for our security, we are also very, VERY tired of all the freeloading. It made sense early on when you were recovering from World War II and trying to get your feet back under you, but certainly by the 1980s you were all back in business and well able to fully participate in your own defense. But instead of doing so, you bitched and moaned as Reagan (and Thatcher, and the Pope) won the Cold War for you, and then instead of preparing for the next phase of history you proceeded to slack off even more, convinced that history had ended.

That's a big part of why we hold Europe in such deep contempt. For all your pretensions of 'wisdom' and 'maturity', you are children. You have no idea why the world is the way it is, and even less idea of how to steer it in the right direction. And to top it off, when anyone (from Donald Trump down to internet randos like me) tries to explain it to you, you pitch a tantrum. Is it any wonder why so many of us are ready to give up on you?

Earlier I mentioned that we may be unable or unwilling to help you in the future. Let me explain those two cases a bit. Unwilling is the easy one...as I said, we are VERY tired of you people. Eventually we may decide that it's just not worth it anymore. And before you remind me how important NATO is (but not important enough for Europe to fun properly), let me point out that we (the United States) need NATO a lot less than you (Europe) does. Have you noticed that there is no NATO-like alliance in the Pacific? We don't have multilateral alliances there, we have partnerships. We work with like-minded countries in areas of mutual interest, and we've been just as secure in the Pacific since WW2 as we have been in Europe. There's absolutely no reason we couldn't disband NATO and do the same in Europe - we could work with the UK and a few other countries to secure our periphery, and let the rest of you hang. It might even be the best thing for the rest of you - it might shock you into being serious again.

The other possibility is that we're unable to help you. We have our own problems here at home - we have a LOT of Nisse Hults of our own, children who spend more time worrying about who is saying what on twitter than paying attention to what is going on in the world around them. These are the ones who are crying about Ukraine (which 99% of couldn't find on a map to save their lives) at the very same time they're trying to shut down energy and industrial production here. If we're lucky the current era of pain we are embarking on will shock enough of them to their senses that they stop being fools, and if we're not we'll have to take them out back and shoot them. That particular outcome may take us out of the global game permanently, so you'd best hope our Nisse Hults wise up, fast.

Regardless of how it all plays out, we may not be available to you when you need us most. As I've said previously in this conversation...good luck. You're going to need it.

@Dorsai

Christ you're an idiot.

And not only that - but a fascist one as well:

"and if we're not we'll have to take them out back and shoot them"

Actually, that outcome - or attempt at that outcome, rather - might be the best thing that could happen to the US.

Your republicans have been encouraging racist grievances and the "lost cause" mythology since Nixon and then Reagan went for the "Southern Strategy" to soak up the racist vote after the Democrats did the decent thing and abandoned their racist voters when they signed on to support civil rights in the 1960s.

As a result this ignorant nostalgia for the Confederacy and succession has been growing - fueled by the gun manufacturers greed and lobbying to allow ever more unrestricted access to insane amounts of armaments.
The imagination that "militias" could rise up and take down the federal state (or any part of the population you don't like) - fueled by morons like Trump or Tucker Carlson - is a powder keg just waiting to go off.

But of course - any such attempt at "take[ing] them out back and shoot them" will invariably lead to your own destruction.

A bunch of middle-aged yokels with hand guns does not an army make - and they don't defeat cruise missiles, fighters or tanks - obviously.

Maybe the second civil war is what you need, to come to your senses?
I hope not - it would be terrible for you, but you've really got to grow up sometime.

Regarding other NATO-members, the funding they've had so far was actually adequate for the defence of Europe - as Russias complete failure to advance in Ukraine now has shown.
When Russia can't even surround Kiev in three weeks of fighting - how much threat to you think they are in capturing Warsaw or Berlin?

What the European NATO-members are reacting to now is instead the willingness of Putin to launch a major invasion (which nobody really expected him to do, since it's such an utterly stupid thing to do) - IE the realization that Putin is willing to do even utterly stupid things.

And the fact that his war on Ukraine and the major sanctions the EU are imposing as a result means that there is no going back to the previous status-quo.

A new iron curtain has descended over Europe and it will take years before it may, eventually, be lifted again.

Because you're wrong in assuming Europe has the attention span of the US - we don't.
The European public have longer memories and are far less less fickle in their understanding of the world.

So the changes we've seen in Europe over the last weeks are here to stay.
Putins war on Ukraine has meant a paradigm shift and realignment of all of Europe.

Switzerland - traditionally neutral and not an EU-member - has opted to break with its neutrality and are signing on to and enforcing all EU-sanctions against Russia and Belorussian.

Norway - not a member of the EU - has also signed on to all sanctions by the EU, and is divesting their $1.3 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, from Russia.

My own country of Sweden - not a NATO member - apart from the usual humanitarian aid has sent 5000 anti-tank rocket launchers to Ukraine - the first time we have provided weapons to any nation at war since we did so to Finland, during the Winter War in 1939.

Finland - also not a NATO member, but neighbour to Russia - also sent arms to Ukraine - also a first for them since the Second World War.

You probably have no idea about any of this, because the TV you watch don't tell you about it.
But trust me - Europeans understands the threat autocracy poses to all democracies.
We can just hope the US gets it too, this time, and doesn't tries to isolate itself like it has several times before when the clouds of war are gathering over Europe.

You could vote for someone like Trump and turn your back on Europe - but you'll be dragged into any war sooner or later anyway. You always are - because it's in your own national interest.

@Nisse_Hult

"So the changes we've seen in Europe over the last weeks are here to stay.
Putins war on Ukraine has meant a paradigm shift and realignment of all of Europe."

Ten years from now every country in NATO aside from the U.S., Poland, and maybe Britain will be back under 2%. Feel free to bookmark this and call me out if I'm wrong.

@Dorsai

You were wrong already two years ago, as the following NATO-members (apart from the ones you already mentioned) where already at or over 2% then - Estonia, France, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, Portugal, Romania, Turkey - and you'll be wrong in ten years time as well.

https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/MS.MIL.XPND.GD.ZS

Virtually all European nations started increasing their defence spending after 2014, when Putin annexed Crimea and started the phoney "republics" in eastern Ukraine to try to destabilize that country.
My own country of Sweden - though not a member of NATO - did too. As did Finland.
We are well aware of our Russian neighbour and follows his actions, obviously.

But building an effective defence takes time and isn't just a question of spending money.
It would be easy for any nation to hit 2% any year - just buy a bunch of fighters or tanks and stack them in a warehouse somewhere - but that obviously wouldn't increase a country's actual defence capability.

Force has to be trained and bases has to be built - and that takes time.
So the process of increasing defence spending was already occurring when Trump showed up in 2017 and proceeded to kick in the open door, acting like a bully to all your NATO allies.

All, because even those countries that did spend 2% at the time he came into office were told that the alliance they had with the US wasn't really worth the paper it was written on, as Trump branded NATO as obsolete and vacillated on whether the US under him would actually honor its commitments under the treaty.

Because - as I've said - Trump is a MORON who thinks bullying others makes him look strong. And since he's a narcissist that's ALL he ever cares about - how HE looks and what others think of HIM, or how it can benefit HIM.

That it was incredibly damaging to the US and it's vital national security interest of keeping the NATO-alliance functioning well meant nothing to him - and it still doesn't.
And if voted into office again, he'll behave in the exact same way again.
Bullying, threatening the US enemies and allies alike, only based on his own ideas about how it makes HIM, personally, look - or if it will benefit HIM, personally.

That's why he withheld arms for Ukraine - approved by congress - in an attempt to extort their president Zelinsky into providing false dirt on Biden's son in an attempt to hurt his political opponent in the presidential election.
He used the presidency and hurt your country's national security interest to benefit HIMSELF, personally.
That's why he was impeached - the first time.

Virtually all American national security experts criticized him for acting like he did at the time - this is the first hit I got when I googled "national security experts on trump" just now - and these are only republican ones, willing to instead publicly endorse Biden before the last election:

https://www.defendingdemocracytogether.org/national-security/

But hey, oppositon to Trump was really all about "mean tweets" - right?

I didn't actually hear about Kamala Harris becoming VP, but that's definitely a name I know. That's... actually very alarming.
Generally speaking, I'm all for females in positions of authority... but only if they're the right ones; this is about as wrong as it gets.
Kamala Harris is "the anti-women's-rights candidate". She's destroyed enough families lives in her career already; we don't need to give her the power to ruin more.

@Hinoron Are you sure about that? I know Harris doesn’t have a great track record where race and law enforcement are concerned, but I am struggling to find any policies she supports that attack women’s rights in particular. She’s certainly not Amy Barret.

@Glamourchick1668

This is a very long article detailing Harris' track record.
For her refusal to uphold, and active work against the human rights of women in particular, jump to "Kamala Harris vs. Sex Workers".

Rights like, being able to file charges against a cop who rapes you, being high on the list of rights Harris doesn't believe certain women she doesn't approve of should have (based on either career choice, skin colour, or both).

@Glamourchick1668
That's the thing though. She's been rather horrible with what power she did have, making life miserable for lots of people who didn't deserve it. and now we have given her even more power, To me that's not a good thing.

https://satwcomic.com/best-guy-wins
??? does this hold up

@BinBin no Trump was still awful no matter what "Building Back America" is going be way harder than it looks especially since there is a lot resistances and honestly Congress isn't making it easy ether also there are a lot of anti-vaxx that are just so annoying

Though it only the been a year hopefully Biden can leave the state of the country better than he got it

Due to Biden age I am very certain he will be a one time president I just hope Trump doesn't pull a Grovel Cleveland and get elected again.

Though with all his legal problems and hopefully the 14th admenent will stop him

I just hope 2024 election isn't shit show and we get a new president

@AmericanButterfly Aren't Trump and Biden about the same age though?

@BinBin they are four years apart Biden is 79 born in 1942 and Trump is 75 born in 1946

As more time goes by and Trump gets into more and more legal troubles I doubt he'll run and in 3 years I hope he not running

Am very positive we will have a new president in 2024

'@Dorsai' Take Bernie, kick Biden out and put Camala Harris in her home. Easy. Block Trump in real life and live a nice life.

@Smartis even if we did have get Bernie he would still need Congress approval to do what he wants done Biden has a build back better plan and that barley got approved I swears congressmen and women care more about their political parties than actually helping make the US better

Well the Electoral College voted and Biden won (again)

Too early to celebrate, i think...

@Irene nope if a candidate gets 270 or more electoral college votes he (or she one day) become the next president Joe Biden has 290 votes right now and when Georgia cast its vote he will have 306 electoral college votes plus he will have a huge popular vote plus the associated press called Joe Biden to be the winner and if North Carolina and Alaska who lead red vote for Trump he will only have 232 electoral college votes and a lot less popular votes than Biden

@Irene actually, your american electoral system is a bit complicated. It's much easier in Russia: Putin always gets 72% of votes out of 100%. Other candidates get, like... not more than 10% each

@Irene it over Biden made his acceptance speech last night he won

@Irene
Upvoted because I liked your joke, but question: Well, as you said, the Russian elections always have the same results. But like........ do they still treat it as a normal election, or do y'all just generally agree that its rigged?

@Yeehaw00 We all know that our elections are always rigged, and most of russian people want the incumbent president to resign. But...*sigh...* Scary things happen when we try to go on a strike. Watch "омоновцы избивают людей на митингах", "Welcome to Belarus. It’s safer here" videos. Why Belarus? Both Putin and Lukashenko are dictators who will do EVERYTHING to stay in power.
If you don't want to lose your job, be poisoned (just like Alexey Navalny, he survived thanks to german doctors) and even be assassinated (Boris Nemtsov, rip 2015, our great opposition leader, was highly supported by people and could take Putin's place, for that thing was punished).
So, yeah. It's safer to be nice and pretend not to notice anything.

@Irene
Oh, dear. Many Americans have no idea what Putin is really like. They just see him as a meme involving Russian hackers and Ukraine. Well, I intend to throw a party the day Putin dies. Would you like to come ?

@Yeehaw00 Well, something tells me that i'll die sooner than he will, but thx for understanding there

@Irene
*Writes down "Irene, ya know that Russian person from SATW" right below "the entire nation of Ukraine"*

here are my other comics about the election

1 Even if You win you Lose

2: 2020 Prediction

3: No Matter Who Wins


also a song I think fits Sis America perseverance
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