Do you ever have the feeling that you are talking but no one is listening? Seriously disappointing. I have been wanting to write something in this space for some time, but between fall clean up and the depressing turn of world events, and those closer to home, I have found myself without words.
The world seems to be turning in the wrong direction. We continue to see the war between Israel and Hamas hemorrhaging lives both near and far. The horrendous attack by Hamas has only enraged those who see only the victims of Oct. 7. In turn the sledgehammer that Israel has used to try to destroy Hamas and its military infrastructure has only enraged those who see only the suffering of Gazans. In the United States we have seen attacks on Palestinians leading to the death of a little boy and the paralysis of a young man. We have seen hacking of a water facility in the name of those who support the Palestinians as well as threats to individual Jewish people. To put it simply this conflict has encouraged the extreme actions of those who seem to think extreme action is the only solution. Innocent people are the ones to suffer. If violence worked this conflict would have been solved a long time ago.
In the United States House of Representatives we have seen a vote taken to expel a member, George Santos, on ethics, if not criminal, violations. The Republican leadership in the guise of Mike Johnson chose to support this member. It was abundantly clear through the investigation by the Ethics Commission that this GOP member lied about his credentials and was voted in on false pretenses. As we saw down in Texas where the state attorney general, Ken Paxton, survived an impeachment effort by his own party with the support of MAGA Republicans we see at the national level the effort by Republicans to save their more sleazy members, because it is expedient for them. This behavior by House GOP leadership should be a wake up call to the venal character of that leadership. Beyond policy issues integrity and character matter. Yet the far right Republicans have managed to attain power in the House that causes dysfunction and chaos.
In Ukraine the war with Russia rages on. This is what happens when an autocrat, Vladimir Putin, is in control of a country. His actions are not checked. The Ukrainians have been fighting bravely and are waiting for much needed continued support from the United States. Support which has been blocked by the far right Republicans in the House. Their methods of “compromise” are not to compromise but to blackmail and use force to to push through their agenda, which in the long run supports Vladimir Putin. That the United States has come to this pass is because many voters have supported Donald Trump and his self centered agenda. They have chosen to believe his lies. They have fallen for the far right’s propaganda which has focused on social issues like abortion and gender identity. They have allowed themselves to ignore the dangers that forcing people to bend to the far right’s beliefs will have.
Are we to continue to be the beacon of democracy we have striven to be? Or are we going to fall into the trap of the extremists who exist in all countries? Will we devolve down to an autocracy controlled by Donald Trump? As long as there are those who believe his lies we will need to stand up and be heard. All of us. This goes beyond social or economic issues. It is our existence as a nation.
The world seems to be turning in the wrong direction. We continue to see the war between Israel and Hamas hemorrhaging lives both near and far. The horrendous attack by Hamas has only enraged those who see only the victims of Oct. 7. In turn the sledgehammer that Israel has used to try to destroy Hamas and its military infrastructure has only enraged those who see only the suffering of Gazans. In the United States we have seen attacks on Palestinians leading to the death of a little boy and the paralysis of a young man. We have seen hacking of a water facility in the name of those who support the Palestinians as well as threats to individual Jewish people. To put it simply this conflict has encouraged the extreme actions of those who seem to think extreme action is the only solution. Innocent people are the ones to suffer. If violence worked this conflict would have been solved a long time ago.
In the United States House of Representatives we have seen a vote taken to expel a member, George Santos, on ethics, if not criminal, violations. The Republican leadership in the guise of Mike Johnson chose to support this member. It was abundantly clear through the investigation by the Ethics Commission that this GOP member lied about his credentials and was voted in on false pretenses. As we saw down in Texas where the state attorney general, Ken Paxton, survived an impeachment effort by his own party with the support of MAGA Republicans we see at the national level the effort by Republicans to save their more sleazy members, because it is expedient for them. This behavior by House GOP leadership should be a wake up call to the venal character of that leadership. Beyond policy issues integrity and character matter. Yet the far right Republicans have managed to attain power in the House that causes dysfunction and chaos.
In Ukraine the war with Russia rages on. This is what happens when an autocrat, Vladimir Putin, is in control of a country. His actions are not checked. The Ukrainians have been fighting bravely and are waiting for much needed continued support from the United States. Support which has been blocked by the far right Republicans in the House. Their methods of “compromise” are not to compromise but to blackmail and use force to to push through their agenda, which in the long run supports Vladimir Putin. That the United States has come to this pass is because many voters have supported Donald Trump and his self centered agenda. They have chosen to believe his lies. They have fallen for the far right’s propaganda which has focused on social issues like abortion and gender identity. They have allowed themselves to ignore the dangers that forcing people to bend to the far right’s beliefs will have.
Are we to continue to be the beacon of democracy we have striven to be? Or are we going to fall into the trap of the extremists who exist in all countries? Will we devolve down to an autocracy controlled by Donald Trump? As long as there are those who believe his lies we will need to stand up and be heard. All of us. This goes beyond social or economic issues. It is our existence as a nation.
It was pointed out to me that I skipped over a very critical point in that last sentence. It is what type of nation we will exist as that I was referring to. Do we want to continue on as a democracy or do we choose to allow those who would drag us down the path to autocracy to succeed?
Listen.
Listen.
73 comments:
"As long as there are those who believe his lies…"
I keep saying this, and you keep resisting the thought:
They don't believe his lies (not most of them anyway; a fairly significant minority of the Trumpkins do indeed believe in the fever dreams hatched among QAnon, OANN, and FoxNews, but most of them do not).
They're just pretending, 'cause that's much easier than actually defending their choices. (Just like the Germans knew what was going on in those Nazi death camps, but pretended they didn't know.)
They do believe in the vengeance and retribution part of his message; they're attracted to those promises; they're all in favor of that happenin'. (And he does mean that part for real.) But, they've already come to realize that their social agenda won't win national elections, so they've decided to prioritize winning power over winning national elections (long as they can steal elections that's enough for now; later they'll just do away with the elections). And, as a bonus, they think they'll get to punish the 'liberals' who wouldn't go along with their social agenda.
And then, on top of those, there's another fairly large crowd who just don't care. They don't pay attention. They don't wanna care; they don't wanna pay attention. They figure somebody else needs to handle it.
"…we will need to stand up and be heard."
Got that right. Especially given the number of folks who figure somebody else will handle it.
"It is our existence as a nation."
That's maybe a little hyperbolic, maybe just a touch. The United States will continue to exist as a nation/state. It will, however, lose political continuity with and under the Constitution of 1788.
This is kinda like the green activists who insist that they want to 'save the planet' from pollution. But the planet isn't threatened by pollution. It's the ecological niche supporting human life and human civilization that's threatened. The planet, and the cockroaches thereon, will survive virtually unperturbed.
So will the United States continue as well (until the cockroaches win out). It's freedom and liberty that will die off. (You may think I'm picking nits here, and maybe that's right, but it's good to be able to speak calmly and especially accurately when trying to win over the undecided, so's to not get dismissed as a radical yourself.)
The Ukrainians bagged another Russian general. Reuters
"It is our existence as a nation."
That's maybe a little hyperbolic, maybe just a touch.
That was poorly worded on my part. I should have made clear that I meant what type of nation, not that we would cease to exist.
I'll just set that straight.
Hmmm...that is odd, I could have sworn I posted a comment in this section regarding the fighting by that river crossing on the Dnipro. Oh well, if that Russian general you referred to is the guy who stepped on one of their own mines then you probably already know some of it.
They're just pretending, 'cause that's much easier than actually defending their choices.
Well, maybe, but I gotta say when I listen to some of them they seem to have really drunk the Kool Aid.
I know some who had voted for Trump in 2016 who were quite ready to admit they made a mistake. I don't hold it against them. But if they continue to support him after listening to what he is saying now knowing it is lies, then yes, those are the hard core crazies who no one can reach. The ones who don't believe in real democracy. They would be more at home in Putin's Russia or Assad's Syria.
I was listening to a Palestinian woman speaking about why the Palestinians of Gaza voted for Hamas in 2006. She was saying that they voted that way because of the corruption in the Palestinian government. They were hoping for a change, not a fight with Israel. If true it reminded me of the Netherlands recent election of a far right candidate. A person in a comments section I was trolling said it was because they wanted change in economic policy. It wasn't to do with social issues. I don't know if that is true either, but it reminds me of the US where the far right is trying to use other issues to muddy the waters to get into power, and stay there.
And then, on top of those, there's another fairly large crowd who just don't care. They don't pay attention. They don't wanna care; they don't wanna pay attention. They figure somebody else needs to handle it.
These people may be even more disturbing than the out right fascists. To let the dream die due to indifference is very sad.
I see Lindsey Graham responded to that clip I posted of Liz Cheney speaking out against Trump. The gist of his comment was that everything was better when Trump was in office as opposed to Biden. I would suggest he is one of those you spoke about who knows it is lies but says it anyway to further the Trump Party cause. I really cannot believe he and John McCain were friends.
"I could have sworn I posted a comment in this section…"
I have occasionally, rarely actually, but it has happened, I have occasionally posted comments here, seen them post, only to have them disappear when I refreshed the page. Blogger glitches on occasion. Been known to happen.
________________________________
"…if that Russian general you referred to is the guy who
stepped on one of their own mines"
Yep. That's the one. Major General Vladimir Zavadsky.
________________________________
"…some of them…seem to have really drunk the Kool Aid."
Some of them indeed have. I think I referred to them as "a fairly significant minority". ↑↑
"I really cannot believe he and John McCain were friends."
I don't think they were friends. (I'm not sure if McCain knew that.) Lindsey Graham was and is a dedicated sidekick. He was McCain's hanger-on, and then McCain died on 'im, and Trump was still there, so he's been trying to work his way in with Trump, become his sidekick. (Ain't workin' out all that well for Graham, but he's dedicated, so he's still after it..)
"They were hoping for a change, not a fight with Israel."
That's kinda hard to believe considering that Hamas' campaign promises were "Death to Israel" and driving the Jews into the Sea (plus the imposition of a theocratic Muslim dictatorship along the lines of what the Muslim Brotherhood had originally preached)
I suspect she was bullshitting her audience there 'cause that was easier than admitting to the real Palestinian motivation. More political pretending, like the Germans didn't smell those smells comin' out of the Nazi death camps; didn't see no smoke neither; didn't know what was goin' on in there--like Hell they didn't know.
In a late breaking 'surge', Chris Christie did qualify, just barely, for tomorrow's Republican primary debate. He got the news yesterday.
Mike Johnson's pledge to release all the security camera footage of the Jan 6ᵗʰ insurrection at the Capitol Building has hit a snag. The insurrectionists don't want their pictures released. (Johnson says they're blurring the faces of the guilty to prevent 'retaliation' against the insurrectionists in the form of criminal charges by the Department of Justice.) Politico But this is BS, the DoJ has already reviewed that footage (and copied the video they needed to charge 1,200 people with various crimes).
Johnson's real problem is that the insurrectionists don't want their friends and neighbors finding their faces in the video. (These people know that their sellin' bullshit; they know Trump's sellin' bullshit--they are not deluded and misled--not for the most part anyway. And they don't want to answer to their neighbors for their assault on our democracy. The DoJ already knows who they are and what they were up to (for the most part); but they don't want their neighbors finding out)
It looks like enough pressure was put on Tuberville to get him to end the hold he has put on all of those military nominees, at least 3 star and below, which are the bulk of them. A drop of good news in all the bad. Part of the bad being Putin doing his happy dance because of his Republican cohorts in the House blocking aid to Ukraine with their border blackmail.
I suspect she was bullshitting her audience there 'cause that was easier than admitting to the real Palestinian motivation.
Possibly so. This conflict has been going on for forever. Even if Israel occupies Gaza or the Palestinians destroy more Israeli settlements it will not stop. Until enough Israelis and Palestinians say enough is enough and actually work together to marginalize all of the extremists on either side it will continue.
There is enough pain on both sides to go around. It's time to think outside the box. And, yes, I do understand that is easier said than done. We have only to look at ourselves to see that. But sometimes there is something called the greater good that should take precedence.
In a late breaking 'surge', Chris Christie did qualify, just barely, for tomorrow's Republican primary debate. He got the news yesterday.
Other Republicans are urging him, and others, to drop out. They think that they should concentrate on one candidate to see if that person can take out Trump. Good luck with that.
Liz Cheney has not ruled out an independent run herself. I don't know how much support she has in Republican circles. Or perhaps, better said, how much support they are willing to admit to.
Johnson's real problem is that the insurrectionists don't want their friends and neighbors finding their faces in the video.
I suspect their friends and neighbors already know. I think it is more important that their employers not know. Not all of them work for people who would approve of what they did.
Blurring the faces of the the insurrectionists, hiding their dark money support behind bogus "charitable" corporations to evade campaign finance disclosure laws, the recent Federalist Society notion that "free speech" requires the ability to hide the identity of the speaker… …
These people are not misled nor deluded. They're willing participants in the fascist movement. (They'd never go along with allowing those rackets from the hated 'liberals', but they know the liberals don't have to hide what they're doing, so there's no particular risk there.) And they're loud and passionate in their insistence that they believe the bullshit they're slinging because being loud and passionate is the mark of their allegiance to the fascist cause. Without that they run risk of being denounced as squishes themselves.
And the problem with pressing Chris Christie to get out of the race is that Christie isn't running to win the nomination. That horse died long time back. He's running to keep his name in play for the coming intramural fight within the post-election Trumpkan/Republican Party, where the remnant Republicans try to take back the carcass of the Party from the Trumpkins. He thinks he may be able to resurrect a political career post-Trump.
Nikki Haley is running for exactly the same reason. And Christie knows that. So he's not going to be impressed nor convinced by arguments leading to her 'consolidating' the anti-Trump vote behind her. That's not his plan at all. If they wanna convince Christie to get out they gotta come up with a reason that makes sense for Christie's post-Trump political future, not one that bolsters Haley's post-Trump political future.
"He's running to keep his name in play for the coming
intramural fight within the post-election Trumpkan/
Republican Party…Nikki Haley is running for exactly the same
reason."
Of course all their plans for a post-Trump political career will be moot if Trump wins the presidency in 2024.
Zelenskyy was scheduled to appear today (via teleconference) at a medium security classified Senate briefing on the Biden administration's bid to secure war funding for Israel and Ukraine. Zelenskyy pulled out at 'the last minute'.
And then, the briefing itself blew up when the Republicans stormed out after their attempt to hijack the meeting into a discussion of the Mexican border problem failed to get the administration's reps to take up the issue of illegal immigration at the southern border during a classified briefing on affairs across the Atlantic, i.e. Ukraine and Israel. (I'd speculate that the Biden administration was not taken by surprise--as the Republicans clearly hoped would happen--and they had warned Zelenskyy off of making his appearance at what was gonna be a disaster of a meeting, 'cause Biden wasn't interested in getting publicly sandbagged in front of Zelenskyy.)
I heard that the meeting devolved down into a shouting match. Par for the course with the MAGA Republicans.
Of course all their plans for a post-Trump political career will be moot if Trump wins the presidency in 2024.
*sigh* Back to being depressed again.
On a more positive point, it looks like that Russian General, who encountered the mine, was driven into that mined area by his own forces who mistook him for the enemy when he went joy riding in a captured western vehicle that was being used by the Ukrainian military. They were firing on him. Oops. Dysfunction is everywhere.
"I heard that the meeting devolved down into a shouting
match."
I read the same. They apparently had considerable confidence in their plan to hijack the classified briefing and to embarrass the Biden administration while Zelenskyy watched, and then they became quite angry when that plan did not pan out.
They didn't surprise anybody. Zelenskyy didn't even log in.
McCarthy has announced he is resigning the first of the year. He won't serve out his entire term. So does that mean another special election, this time in California?
They apparently had considerable confidence in their plan to hijack the classified briefing...
They are whining that it was set up as a meeting with the border issue on the agenda and were extremely upset to see that no one from DHS was there.
McCarthy was elected in one of the 'safe' Republican districts in California. Yeah, there'll be a special election scheduled, but they'll get a Republican replacement.
"They are whining that…the border issue [was] on the agenda and… "
Wasn't their agenda; wasn't their call on how much prominence the border issue was to receive, and they could hardly have reasonably expected Homeland Security to show up for a classified briefing where the special guest was going to be Volodymyr Zelenskyy. That's not in Homeland's jurisdiction.
"McCarthy has announced he is resigning the first of the year."
Patrick McHenry, the interim Speaker Pro Tem while they were three weeks picking a successor to McCarthy, has also announced that he won't be running for reëlection to the House.
Switching gears now…
The Senate Democrats are seriously considering severing all connection between the Ukraine/Israel/Taiwan funding bill and the Republican demands for a Trumpkin border policy for the Mexican border. Politico They're talkin' 'bout bringing up the defense assistance bill clean, no riders about the southern border, and force the Republicans to filibuster the clean bill. (I don't know that this is going to be a better tactic than semi-caving to the Trumpkan wing of the Republican Party, but that wasn't working either, (give 'em an inch and they suddenly want a mile) so maybe this'll be worth trying.)
The European Union plan to produce a million rounds of artillery ammunition for Ukraine by this spring (a production number already hit by North Korea in support of Russia) has so far resulted in the placement of orders for only 60,000 rounds--total orders--60,000 rounds--total produced--zip, none. Reuters Needless to say, that's nowhere near what was promised, and there's no chance in Hell they're gonna be able to keep that promise.
The Trumpkan/Republican coalition did indeed filibuster the defense assistance bill in the Senate late today. There'll likely be no further action until early next week at the earliest, after the Senators have had time to listen to their constituents over the weekend. (I'm not convinced of this new tactic by the Dems, but the final judgment on that awaits a little more pot-stirring I think.)
Did you watch the GOP debate last night? I did not, but it sounds like Chris Christie had a really good response to a question about Donald Trump's remark about being a dictator on day one. I'll have to see if I can find it on YouTube.
The Trumpkan/Republican coalition...
Not only are they screwing with Ukraine aid they are also acting petty revenge against the Democratic member, Bowman, who pulled the fire alarm by mistake, voting to censure him. They are also set to vote on continuing the impeachment enquiry against Joe Biden.
One wonders what exactly the Republicans are doing to actually govern the country? They seem to be intent on things that aren't relevant or factual.
They are really putting me in a snarky mood.
I didn't see any of the Republican debate. It wasn't aired here.
Bowman intended to pull the fire alarm; that was not a mistake. (He says he thought it'd open the door, but it didn't. But the act of triggering the alarm was intentional, not a mistake.)
And I've discovered that California law gives Governor Newsom the option of leaving that district open until the next regularly scheduled election (McCarthy's resignation will become effective after the deadline which would require California to hold an election and it'll instead be discretionary with the Democratic governor. Given that we're talkin' 'bout a ruby red district, likely Newsom will let it lay fallow for the year.)
"Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom is expected to call a special election
for the remainder of McCarthy’s term."
Politico
Appears he has considerations that I'd not considered.
He says he thought it'd open the door, but it didn't.
Oh, that's right, he did say that. He was trying to get in to vote. Still don't think that was worth the censure.
It was worth a reprimand maybe. If he'd been a Republican they'd have let it slide.
Putin has decided to 'pre-announce' his run for another term as Russia's president. He leaked his decision during at a meeting with 'heros of the Special Military Operation' who begged him to stay on for another term. All very spontaneous doncha know. Reuters
(The official announcement probably still awaits that television address he's booked for the 14ᵗʰ.)
There is word that lately Russia has been seeing more aviation mishaps with its planes. Speculation is that these will only increase. Horse and buggy anyone?
The RNC (Republican National Committee), the official governing body of the Trumpkan/Republican Party, has finally thown in the towel on any further nominating debates. Politico
________________________________
"Russia has been seeing more aviation mishaps with its
planes."
I nevertheless notice that the Russians have recently ramped up their air assaults against Ukraine. I suspect they want to take this winter as an opportunity to dispirit Ukrainians and especially their allies, supporters, and suppliers. (Making it clear that Putin has comfortably settled in for a brutal war of attrition. I also noticed that Putin was comfortable in making a trip to the Middle East this past week and that the International Olympic Committee approved the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes at the summer Olympics in Paris.)
Ahh, I should have been more clear on those plane mishaps. They were actually civilian.
"The story of how and why Ukraine’s counteroffensive failed
was explained [last] week in a superb two-part series by The
Post."
David Ignatius writting in TheWashingtonPost
Oh dear, after reading so much bad news I will have to wait a bit to read about a Ukrainian counteroffensive failure. One problem I have already heard about is the slow supply of weapons to Ukraine, allowing the Russians to dig in, making it more difficult to dislodge them.
I hear that there is an article in The Guardian about an upcoming meeting between some Republicans and allies of Victor Orban. I am starting to think that the idea of Republicans caring about our national security is a fallacy.
"I will have to wait a bit to read about a Ukrainian
counteroffensive failure."
I had the same problem. Holidays are taking up way too much time this year. Plus, they're kinda long. But I wanted to flag them while they were still up there.
I downloaded them to go over later, offline, as pdf files. I could e-mail copies if ya want.
I'll try to get to it soon. It's just this past weekend I was wallowing in feel good stuff. Sometimes you just need the lighter things to offset the depressing. Yeah, that's right I admit it, I watched a couple Hallmark Movies while I wrapped presents and what not.
It seems that the Special Counsel has skipped a step or two and went straight to The Supreme Court asking them to rule on whether or not Trump is afforded immunity for actions while in office. It will be of interest to see what the Supreme Trumpkins decide, if they take the case.
Special counsel Jack Smith on Monday asked the Supreme Court to decide whether Donald Trump has any immunity from criminal prosecution for alleged crimes he committed while in office – the first time that the high court will weigh in on the historic prosecution of the former president.
The Supreme Trumpkins moved quick. They've agreed to take up Smith's direct appeal.
I just finished the two part article on the Ukrainian counteroffensive. Superb was an accurate description. I had heard some things, like the disagreement about one line of attack over three, which is what Ukraine decided on in the south, and the horrendous amount of mines the Russians have sown.
As difficult as it is Ukraine still comes down to a choice of fight or die as a nation. Sadly.
The Supreme Trumpkins moved quick.
Are we taking bets as to what their decision will ultimately be?
"Are we taking bets…?"
I know the right answer but that doesn't help me predict their answer. They tend to be a bit whimsical.
Were I to bet I'd bet they deny Trump's immunity claim, but leave him plenty 'nuff room to tweak it a touch and keep delaying any coöperation with discovery in the courts until he's in a position to just pardon himself and have it over with.
Zelenskyy is in Washington D.C. today, perhaps on the theory that the Republicans will feel less inclined to sabotage Ukrainian funding by conflating it with the Mexican border if they have to do it to his face.
Zelenskyy is in Washington and Putin and the Russian media are celebrating the deadlock there and the Republicans for standing against further aid. One Russian media anchor went so far as to praise Mitch McConnell with a "well done, Gramps".
Isn't that special? *sarcasm*
...leave him plenty 'nuff room to tweak it...
Why not, no one is paying attention. The voters are lining up to vote Frump back into office. Isn't that *special*?
Oh, did I happen to mention that Navalny has been "disappeared"? He seems to be missing from his prison.
The Texas Supreme Court has ruled against the woman who sued to have an abortion. Their "Dear Leader" Ken Paxton, otherwise know as the attorney general, blocked a lower court's ruling in her favor by pushing it up to their version of the Supreme Trumpkins. They stood firm in their religious dogma despite the danger to her reproductive health. She has went out of state for an abortion.
Personally I think I would be moving out of Texas and the other states that have fallen into a theocracy.
As the world turns in Trumpkin land...
"The Texas Supreme Court has ruled against the woman
who sued to have an abortion."
I saw that. They ruled that the fetal genetic defect did not pose a danger to her health; they said the defect was primarily dangerous only to the fetus (and any danger to her a speculative secondary effect). Her doctor had claimed otherwise. He said it posed a danger to her, to her health, and to her ability to have babies in the future, considering her medical history and current rather 'iffy' medical condition (repeated pregnancy related hospitalizations).
So, we got Trumpkan/Republican judges overruling medical doctors now--substituting their own medical judgments for those given by the womans' physicians.
She left Texas to have the abortion preformed anyway, in spite of their ruling. We'll have to wait and see if they try to prosecute her when she returns.
A US intelligence assessment of Russian losses in the Ukraine war.
Of the 360,000 troops that entered Ukraine, including contract and conscript personnel, Russia has lost 315,000 on the battlefield, according to the assessment. 2,200 of 3,500 tanks have been lost, according to the assessment. 4,400 of 13,600 infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers have also been destroyed, a 32 percent loss rate.
This is an 87% loss of personnel. Yet Putin is ready to double down on stupid, just like former President Frump.
Since the start of the invasion, Russia has announced plans to increase the size of the armed forces to 1.5 million. The Russian Ministry of Defense has announced several rounds of conscription, including its regular fall conscription cycle on October 1.
One actually wonders if Russia will be viable as a unified country when this is over? Even if they do manage to obliterate Ukraine. And I don't see that ever happening. The hatred of Ukrainians for Russia will linger.
Putin = stupidity in motion.
We'll have to wait and see if they try to prosecute her when she returns.
As I said, if I were a woman and lived in Texas I would consider moving.
At the risk of repeating myself: Wiki say current best estimates are that the Soviet Union suffered between 8.7 and 11.4 million soldiers killed in WWII. That's just the dead soldiers, not including the wounded and maimed; not including civilians. Most of those soldiers were Russians. Losses of a few hundred thousand in Ukraine won't phase Putin even a little bit (long as the population back home doesn't get restless, and Putin seems to have that covered).
In WWII the Soviet Union was allied with the West. Russia is not now. I know it is easy to look at the past and think it the same as the present, but it is not necessarily so. There was a reason the Soviet Union collapsed after the invasion of Afghanistan.
Those people in the past new nothing except what the Soviet Union provided.
Putin is right about one thing, much depends on the US 2024 election. Although much can happen between now and then.
"There was a reason the Soviet Union collapsed…"
Yeah, and it was financial. The Soviet Union was broke and bankrupt, couldn't borrow money anymore. Russia repudiated the Soviet Union's debts to all parties not Russia and took the Soviet assets in lieu of the debts supposedly owed to Russia. (No, Ronald Reagan did not bankrupt the Soviet Union with his military extravagances; turns out they didn't even try to up their military spending when Reagan went on his splurge, so, basically, he just wasted some trillions of dollars for no good reason.)
Unfortunately, western sanctions have failed to trim back Russia's financial position beyond the nuisance stage. There's no threat they'll see a financial collapse within the foreseeable future.
I ran across this comment in a comments section:
I've never voted a straight party ticket. I do vote mostly Republican. The last few presidential elections it's seemed like choosing between cholera and plague.
I'll vote in the Republican primary for whoever seems to have the best probability of defeating trump. In the general election if trump is the Republican nominee, I'll vote democrat. If trump isn't the Republican nominee I'll look closer at at contestants. I won't vote for a third party candidate who has no chance of winning.
In congressional races, if someone supports trump or is supported by trump, I'll vote against them. Same in state and local elections. And I will not vote for anyone who does not support Ukraine.
Slava Ukraini!
I don't know if he is for real or not, but there are a lot of people who have voted Republican in the past who do really support Ukraine and their fight against Russia. The Republicans holding aid to Ukraine hostage to a border deal may have miscalculated. Same as those who support the marginalization of women.
There's no threat they'll see a financial collapse within the foreseeable future.
Possibly not, but they have brought back food lines. Strange.
"The Republicans holding aid to Ukraine hostage to a
border deal may have miscalculated."
Indeed they may have. I was reading today that were some Republican constituencies at risk in the upper-MidWest--Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, also parts west of Minnesota and Ohio, where there are substantial East and North European ethnic constituencies that have traditionally voted Republican and who are seriously not happy with the idea of with cutting Ukraine loose to face Russia on its own.
Wisconsin! They specifically mentioned Wisconsin, and I did not ↑↑.
"A US intelligence assessment of Russian losses in the Ukraine
war."
Turns out that was declassified specifically for Zelenskyy's trip to D.C. They wanted that information out in public to help him make the case for further support. Politico (Doesn't seem to have helped much.)
Headline: Supreme Court to decide whether abortion pill will remain widely available
subtitle: The Supreme Court is reentering the abortion wars.
Meanwhile a Pope is under attack.
In one corner: Pope Francis, who insists on a merciful Catholic Church open to everyone, a “field hospital” ready to bind up the wounds of a suffering humanity. In the other corner: a small but vocal minority that has set itself against the Pontiff and his reforms.
A showdown between the two is underway.
It seems that American politics is muddying church waters. I have to wonder if this is a sign of someone getting "too big for his britches"? Taking on a Pope seems a little much, especially when Pope Francis follows this doctrine:
This Pope preaches for a humbler church, one focused on service and which seeks to bring the Christian message into the world.
I remember there was a guy from long ago who followed that same approach. Let me see, what was his name? Oh, yeah, Jesus.
Indeed they may have.
I certainly hope so. I have been watching with interest to see if any of the commenters on Ukrainian sites mention their thoughts on the Republican tactics. Because you don't troll a site like that unless you have some intense interest. There are a lot of retired military there. The comment I posted really aligns with my thoughts, except I probably won't be voting in the Republican primary unless they move back to the center, that just isn't in the cards. It is also made clear that the Ukrainian host doesn't agree with the Republican tactic either. They are fighting for their lives there. They don't need the pettiness of politics right now.
The Supreme Court is reentering the abortion wars.
I saw that. That and the Trump immunity question will put them in a very hot spot.
So Hunter Biden is standing firm on his willingness to testify only in a public hearing. Good for him. It would be hard for the Republicans to cut and paste his testimony then. We'll see if they charge him with contempt. He might be a real political prisoner, kind of like Navalny, the "disappeared" one, in Russia.
Speaking of Navalny, I would guess there was some medical issue with him, but wouldn't it just be something if he actually escaped?
"So Hunter Biden is standing firm…"
If nothing else, he's at least giving them a little grief. That's sometimes worthwhile in and of itself.
Meanwhile… The Supreme Trumpkins are considering throwing out the federal law which criminalized the Jan 6ᵗʰ insurgents' efforts to block the counting of electoral votes for the 2020 election. (This would also let Trump off the hook for the criminal 'obstruction' charges he now faces, as well give a retroactive pass to the Trumpkins who invaded the Capitol Building on Jan 6ᵗʰ at his urging.) Politico It's a potential "Get out of Jail Free" card, and an open invitation to try it again in 2024.
There have been "hundreds" of successful prosecutions with federal judges routinely throwing out this argument as legalese BS, but finally one (and only one) Trump appointed trial judge decided to rule in favor of a defendant on this question. And that one trial court ruling was all they needed. Now it's going before the Supreme Trumpkins--and it stands a reasonable chance of legalizing Trump's efforts to avoid his replacement in the White House after he lost the 2020 election. This could be how they cut Trump loose without upholding his ludicrous 'absolute immunity' claim.
Does the Federalist Society majority actually have the balls to go for it here? I don't know; they very well might.
I saw that and was horrified at the implications as well.
Politico (E.U.) article on Russia's successful evasion of the declared sanctions on its energy exports, and western Europe's willing, even eager, complicity in that evasion.
(Not too long.)
And Ukrainian troops are already running out of ammo. Too often they can't shoot back. ABCNews And it's gonna get worse.
And now Hungary, Viktor Orbán Presiding, has successfully blocked €50 billion in emergency funding from the E.U. to Ukraine. Reuters The Ukrainians haven't been having much good news this week.
Let's try that link again. Reuters
While Ukraine may be running out of ammo they are using to good advantage that which they have left, targeting fuel depots and Russian armor and troops with HIMARS and other means. How long that can last, I don't know.
Perhaps the weather will work to their favor, slowing down the Russians.
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