This is the Friends of History Debating Society. I'm John Batser with Professor H.J. McInder.

We've been in Europe at length. Now we're in Washington, DC. The mixed picture of Washington, DC,

Professor, in addition to the hesitation of the Republican Party, which is built in to the ideology

of the Republican Party since the Civil War. What's in it for us? Very practical question when it

comes to liberty. What's in it for us is now being asked about Ukraine by the Republican Party,

elements of the Republican Party, voices that gain attention in the news, such as Governor

DeSantis of Florida, such as the Speaker of the House of Kevin McCarthy. Not definitive,

we're against, not definitive, we're for somewhere in between. I mentioned that because the White House,

the Biden administration has been understood as completely in support of Ukraine's battle

for its existence, pouring weapons and money into Ukraine. And now the banking crisis,

hitting Washington very hard, hitting the confidence in the administration very hard.

The failure of two smaller banks, 16th largest bank, and a bank in New York has led to claims that

the banking system needs to be bolstered. The Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen has made

contradictory remarks during the week about whether or not depositors are insured,

limitlessly insured. There's also a question about the Federal Reserve being able to

both fight inflation to its 2% target and not drive or push or permit or watch the economy plunge

into what is called a hard landing, which is a hard recession. It is time for the president to

announce its re-election plans. All of this goes together into a hesitation about the war in Europe.

The Republicans say what's in it for us? The Democrats say we're busy holding the banks together.

So Washington's point of view, Professor.

Well, this, I think one cannot say what Washington's point of view is, certainly the administration

is very, very hard to read because what they're involved in, most people would say, is the war.

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