As a nation enters a third winter of fighting for its very existence, it must wait – one ocean away – on a domestic partisan feud. Republicans in the US Senate have shrugged off Joe Biden's plea not to gift a win to Vladimir Putin and have blocked aid for Ukraine over a dispute on funding for the border with Mexico. It's classic Beltway horse trading. But what are the life-or-death consequences? What about Washington's street cred as guarantor of the NATO alliance?