If there is one thing the United States has stood for it is freedom. That a significant segment of our population is ignoring a country that is so desperately fighting for it is a sad statement to the state of our politics today. The Ukraine/Russia war will have far reaching consequences if Putin is allowed to prevail. Those who would use aid to Ukraine as a tool of blackmail do not belong in our government, because they are no better than Putin’s puppets.
I will tell you in advance that I stole this…
To all my fellow Americans here: This is a critical point in this conflict, not just because the Russians are attacking, but because Congress is playing games with Ukraine support. This Russian offensive isn't actually meant to achieve a military goal, it's aimed at a political goal - to try to convince Western skeptics that supporting Ukraine is a waste of time. We cannot let them succeed with their longer term perverted idea of geopolitics, that Russia is superior to all other cultures and deserves to rule the world. Please pick up the phone and call your elected representatives in Washington and let them know how you feel. You don't need to try to convince the staffer of anything, just let them know what your opinion is and let them know how strong that opinion is. Most of their calls are from political busybodies. If they get calls from new sources, they pay attention. All of them are very interested in keeping their cushy job. We need to collectively ensure Ukraine receives the support it so deserves. Ukraine has shown over and over that they are indeed a worthy ally and friend. Thank you in advance for your cooperation. Slava Ukraini!
I found it in a comments section on a Ukrainian vlog and felt it needed more publicity, even if only my small blog, so I stole it and posted it hear for you to see. Because he or she is right and I am tired of the Republicans who are working to advance Putin’s goal and stymie the cause of freedom in Ukraine. Our border problems are peanuts compared to the problems Putin can cause us.
Listen.
39 comments:
"The Ukraine/Russia war will have far reaching consequences
if Putin is allowed to prevail."
And, perhaps counter-intuitively, most of the voting MAGA crowd already know that. Convincing them of that isn't gonna change anything with them; they don't need convinced; they already know. Harping on those consequences isn't gonna change their minds. We gotta figure instead on how to peel off any potential 'swing' voters (few as they are).
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"I found it in a comments section on a Ukrainian vlog…"
You found an optimist. Good to know there are still optimists among us.
It would seem that Alexei Navalny is neither escaped nor dead. Reuters
We gotta figure instead on how to peel off any potential 'swing' voters (few as they are).
I understand. It is to those voters who still are able to think beyond MAGA rhetoric that I appeal to.
Our border or economic situation will not be best served with a man like Putin in charge. Or China for that matter. If you truly believe in democracy and a free economic system then you need to stand against authoritarianism wherever it arises.
"If you truly believe in democracy and a free economic
system…"
I believe you've identified their distinguishing feature. They no longer believe in democracy (they quit believing in democracy when their white supremacist agenda could no longer command a majority even among America's white folks). And today's corporate capitalism is not a free economic system. (Adam Smith, early prophet of the free market, warned against allowing such bastard 'capitalism' to prosper and spread, damning it under the nomenclature of "mercantilism".) Corporate capitalism ("companies" in Adam Smith's nomenclature) tends toward fascism if not strictly controlled, and fascism makes an easy alliance with both theocrats and 'nativist' white supremacists. None of these folks are real big on democracy.
And our Trumpkan/Republican coalition have already figured out that their agenda can't win national elections anymore (not when they're conducted fairly and democratically anyway). And they've decide that if they can't win free and open national elections they'll just do away with them. So: They decided that, by hook or by crook, they'll win the last election. Which last election may be comin' up here real soon. (Not to be confused with the 2020 election, which wasn't the final election.)
And, if they don't win in 2024, they'll just restart the insurrection (for real this time--taking due notice of what they learned from their failure to launch back on Jan 6ᵗʰ of '21).
And, as an aside: I notice that Trump is now pulling out the rhetorical stops. He's been scattering WWII era fascist terminology all through his stump speeches here lately. I think he wants the QAnon types to know he's all in this time. There'll be no more Trump holding back, nothing like his hours of closeting in the White House during the Jan 6ᵗʰ insurrection. (Whether that's really true is an open question. He's a coward after all. But he wants them to think it's true. He wants them to conclude that he's willing to lead the insurrection this time, and to prepare accordingly.)
The Russians have shot down yet another Russian fighter jet in eastern Ukraine. This one was an SU-25. BusinessInsider
We can give thanks for the ineptness of the Russian military. The one thing the Ukrainians still have going for them.
The Pope just doubled down, approving same sex blessings. Not marriage, but blessings. Balls in the other court.
He's been scattering WWII era fascist terminology all through his stump speeches here lately.
Word is that he studied Hitler's speeches. They were bedside reading. I would question those who hesitated to think he might actually believe the far right extremist crap. He seems to have been wallowing in it.
I'd read that he was studying Hitler's speeches long before he ran for President in 2016. That 'word' came from Ivana Trump, his ex-wife, and they fell out in 1989 after Trump failed to be discrete about his affair with Marla Maples (Ivana and the Donald got divorced in 1990).
What he believes is he believes he can become the American Caesar who takes down the Republic and installs himself as dictator. Hitler's speeches were grist for his mill--he didn't study them because he believed in that BS (and supposedly he even tried to read 'Mien Kampf", which is about as close to totally incoherent and unreadable as any book I've ever tried to read).
He studied Hitler because Hitler was successful in overthrowing the Wiemar Republic. And he wanted to overthrow our republic.
"The Pope just doubled down…"
Gotta figure Petes is near totally apoplectic by now.
And, for what it's worth, I've discovered that Hitler wasn't actually a spellbinding speaker. (I'd always heard he was a riveting speaker), but, like Trump, Hitler could barely complete full sentences, and almost never could get through a full paragraph.
But he was real good at screaming slogans. That's where Trump learned that it worked.
We've long been fed the 'Hitler as mesmerizing' trope because those huge crowds were so obviously mesmerized, and I bought into that trope like most Americans do. But on looking it over closer I've discovered that the crowds did it to themselves, it was a herd hysteria. All Hitler had to do was scream out the slogans they expected him utter and they did the rest.
Post Script: It might be recalled that Hitler failed the first time he tried to overthrow the Wiemar Republic. (Got himself sent to prison, briefly, for making the attempt.) But, he was successful on his second try.
Generally I tend to think of Trump more as a Mussolini type than as a Hitler clone. (Trump and Mussolini both fancy that same jut-jaw pose they think demonstrates 'strength'. Although Mussolini succeeded his very first attempt to overthrow the Italian Republic.)
But I think Trump admires Hitler more, and consciously tries to style himself after the 'aura' of power that he thinks Hitler projected. But that's an historical judgment based mostly on a post-war assessment based mostly on the power of the German military/industrial complex--none of which was Hitler's doing. Mussolini overturned his republic on his first try. But, Mussolini had the misfortune of being Italian rather than German, so Hitler gets all the hero-worship.
Lead line:
"MOSCOW, Dec 19 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on
Tuesday that Russia would be prepared to talk to Ukraine, the
United States and Europe about the future of Ukraine if they
wanted to, but that Moscow would defend its national
interests."
Reuters
Fairly short article.
Headline: ‘There are A Lot of Mexican People Looking Forward to Trump’
Politico
The Colorado Supreme Court has ruled that Trump cannot be on the primary ballot in 2024 due to the 14th amendment's insurrection ban. It will be appealed to the US Supreme Court I am sure. Another case for the Supreme Trumpkins to decide.
Texas Governor Greg Abbot has signed a law making it illegal for any illegal immigrants to enter Texas. Minimum of 6 months in prison for a first offense and 20 years for repeat offenses.
‘There are A Lot of Mexican People Looking Forward to Trump’
There is a tendency for people to close the gate after they have arrived.
As an end note to this subject: It has been reported that Trump also spend thousands of hours listening to Radio-Right-Wing in the background in his office, soaking up the themes and slogans that Glenn Hannibaugh and rest of the ranters had distilled down to attract the largest audiences (and thus the highest advertising dollars). When he didn't have time to listen in, or he had visitors who'd look at him askance, he had members of his staff listen in for him and prepare brief, bullet-point synopses of the subjects discussed and lists of the common buzzwords for him to skim later. (And considering Trump's well known aversion to reading, this constitutes a fair dedication to a study of the subject matter.) In later years, as FoxNews became an outlet for the market developed earlier on Radio-Right-Wing, Trump migrated to following FoxNews, paying special attention to their non-news doctrinal shows, as did much of that radio audience.
It's possible that Trump was indoctrinated, but I don't think he necessarily believes any of it. Rather, he wanted to know what talking points his prospective audience would embrace.
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"Texas Governor Greg Abbot has signed a law…"
I think that one will end up before the Supreme Trumpkins as well.
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"There is a tendency for people to close the gate after they
have arrived."
True 'nuff: But there is also a tendency for immigrants to bring their home country's culture with them. The people who are actually entitled to asylum on account of a well founded fear of persecution back home are here because their side lost--not because they suddenly gained a great desire to participate in the challenges of democracy. If their side had won they'd still be back home, happily persecuting the people from whom they fled. They're comin' 'cause they lost back home; not 'cause they love democracy. And they bring that political culture with them.
And they recognize Trump. That's familiar politics to them--and a whole lot of them whole-heartedly approve, or would if they could figure out how to stay.
The "Mexican People" already here are, socio/politically, a lot like the Mexican People still in Mexico. A commitment to democratic values does not necessarily run any deeper in them than it does in the 'losers' who have been flooding our southern border for two decades now, nor in the 'winners' from whom they flee. And they also recognize Trump for what he is. That's familiar politics to them--and a whole lot of them whole-heartedly approve.
It seems that Ukraine has found a fill in for missing artillery shells, FPV drones. I have to say they do appear to be quite accurate.
Of course Russia has them too. In fact they have a government program set up to build them, unlike Ukraine. But for some reason Russia is short of operators.
"FPV drones."
Zelenskyy recently announced a program to begin building those in Ukraine, a million of them in the first year. Reuters
Unfortunately, they are vulnerable to rather unsophisticated electronic jamming; i.e. powerful broadcasting of radio static 'white noise' to overwhelm the radio contact with the 'first person' who's supposed to be guiding the drone.
Maybe the Ukrainians think they've found a way to counteract this interference. We'll have to see how it goes.
I've seen some video that looked pretty impressive, but maybe it was in an area where electronic jamming wasn't working...for some reason.
There is word that the Ukrainians have a new secret weapon. North Korean artillery shells. They have a tendency to explode at the most inopportune times for Russians.
Makes those non exploding Russian shells seem not quite so bad after all.
"Later on Friday, Mykola Oleschuk, chief of Ukraine's air force,
said it had downed three Russian SU-34 fighter-bombers 'in a
southern direction', which he did not specify."
Reuters
There is confirmation of the shoot down of those planes on Russian social media.
More detail on the SU-34's that were shot down. Apparently they were in Russian occupied territory launching gliding bombs near Krinky. A common Russian tactic in that area. Ukraine moved a Patriot system near to the front line and used it to shoot down the three planes.
We've got a NewYorkTimes article here claiming the Ukrainian marines who've spearheaded the much ballyhooed "foothold" across the Dnipro River near Krynky view it as "a suicide mission".
(Counterpoint: A Forbes analyst argues otherwise, i.e. that it's an "attritional" battle the Ukrainians are winning.)
A highly respected Ukrainian commander in that region, who turned down an interview with the NYT's for their article, would agree with Forbes.
Where Ukraine has established the bridgehead is overlooked from Ukrainian held territory across the river, which is at a higher elevation. They use that to their advantage picking off Russians forces when they attack. The problem was with the Russian tactic of using gliding bombs launched from planes flying behind the front limes in Russian held territory. They seem to have come up with an answer to that. At least for now.
They also have used the cluster munitions that were sent with this last batch of ATACMS to render inoperable quite a few Russian helicopters. Even if they are not completely destroyed all of those holes from shrapnel are very unhealthy. Smart moves by Ukraine.
Closer to home:
"MIAMI — Florida’s Latino Republicans aren’t comfortable
with Donald Trump’s claim that undocumented immigrants
are ‛poisoning the blood’ of the United States. But they’re
prepared to give him a pass on it anyway."
Politico
Further from home, the Iranians are getting a little less discriminating:
"A chemical tanker struck Saturday off the coast of India was
targeted ‛by a one-way attack drone fired from Iran,’ the
Pentagon said in a statement."
CBSNews
Japanese owned chemical tanker, running off the coast of India, drone fired from Iranian territory and the Iranians are blaming it on the Houthis.
"But in a recent push of back-channel diplomacy, Mr. Putin has
been sending a different message: He is ready to make a deal.
"Mr. Putin has been signaling through intermediaries since at
least September that he is open to a cease-fire that freezes the
fighting along the current lines…"
NewYorkTimes
Japanese owned chemical tanker, running off the coast of India, drone fired from Iranian territory and the Iranians are blaming it on the Houthis.
In other words the Iranians are hanging the Houthis out to dry. Nice allies.
But in a recent push of back-channel diplomacy, Mr. Putin has
been sending a different message: He is ready to make a deal.
Of course he is, as long as it is favorable to him. He thinks the time has come where the West is losing desire to continue support for Ukraine and Russia has taken enough territory to declare victory.
I think the Ukrainians have other plans. They have switched to defensive operations during the bad weather and are regrouping, training more people and developing other weapons. The Russians on the other hand have switched to offensive operations. It is now up to Ukraine to eliminate as many Russian soldiers and their equipment as possible over the winter.
I am not sure that Putin's offer of a ceasefire comes from a position of strength.
Florida’s Latino Republicans aren’t comfortable
with Donald Trump’s claim that undocumented immigrants
are ‛poisoning the blood’ of the United States. But they’re
prepared to give him a pass on it anyway."
Anyone who gives Trump a pass on anything will not have my sympathy when their decision goes south on them.
Perhaps Russia has found another answer to lack of Russians. Since Ukraine has been so hard to swallow there are Russian politicians who have suggested looking elsewhere. Uzbekistan to be exact. Because there are so many Uzbeks working in Russia one Russian politician suggested annexing Uzbekistan. The idea was met with some approval by other politicians, total disregard by ordinary Russians and anger by Uzbeks.
"I think the Ukrainians have other plans."
I think that as well. I think they consider they made a mistake in allowing themselves to be talked into fighting 'American style'. (We wouldn't have tried to go over those minefields without adequate air cover--'air superiority' as it's called at the Pentagon. It was a mistake to push the Ukrainians to try that when we'd not have done it; it was a mistake on their part to succumb to that pressure.) And I think Putin cannot be trusted to honor a cease fire or even a full scale peace treaty. He'll consider it an opportunity to regroup for another attack. In fact, I suspect his current back-channel initiative is mostly directed to getting Europe and America to agree to concessions and then forcing Ukraine to comply.
________________________________
Meanwhile: The Ukrainians claim to have downed four more Russian fighter planes on Saturday. Reuters (The Russians counter-claimed to have downed three fighter aircraft--presumably shooting down Ukrainian fighters this time.)
________________________________
"…one Russian politician suggested annexing Uzbekistan."
I think their so-far unsuccessful attempt to annex Ukraine will keep them too busy to venture into annexing Uzbekistan any time soon (which doesn't even share a border with Russia).
'Bout a month ago Putin himself suggested a "gas union" with Uzbekistan, the gist of which appeared to be a plan to 'consolidate' the natural gas production of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan with Russia's own production and allow Russia to sell their own gas back to the Uzbeks and Kazakhs while Russia got direct control of the pipeline through Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan to sell Russian gas to China without paying a fee to the two republics whose territory it would cross. This plan was not well received in either Uzbekistan or Kazakhstan. VoiceOfAmerica
I don't think the direct annexation plan will fare any better.
The Ukrainians claim to have downed four more Russian fighter planes on Saturday.
It looks like 3 of those planes were the ones shot down earlier. They just added another one in a later shootdown by a Patriot system. Since the shootdown of the first 3 Russian planes that area of the front line has gone quiet with regard to bombing from Russia. The Russians seem a little hesitant to fly for some reason. They have been attacking on the ground with infantry and armored vehicle however.
Some Russian sources have been saying that Russia actually shot down 4 F-16's that had arrived in Ukraine.
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