"Putting former convicted settler terrorist Itamir Ben Gvir in as Interior Minister is like Trump making Enrique Tarrio of the Proud Boys the Secretary of Homeland Security."
That's EXACTLY what was done in Ukraine, with the Neo-Nazi political kingpin Arsen Avakov elevated to Interior Minister (in charge of the police) after…
"Putting former convicted settler terrorist Itamir Ben Gvir in as Interior Minister is like Trump making Enrique Tarrio of the Proud Boys the Secretary of Homeland Security."
That's EXACTLY what was done in Ukraine, with the Neo-Nazi political kingpin Arsen Avakov elevated to Interior Minister (in charge of the police) after his right-wing fascist thugs put the Maiden Revolution over the top, overthrowing Ukraine's Russia-friendly government.
Think it through... I'll give another example of transparent spin. Think of an evangelical true-believer, who doesn't know how to rebut your argument, so he goes to his minister, who has just the prepackaged double-speak that the True Believer needs to reaffirm his commitment without thinking for himself.
On another note, regarding how the situation in Ukraine evolved, you could check my reply to Paula Dufour:
Perhaps the question of whether it matters is worth careful thought.
I will share my point of view, which I suspect might be in need of refining, and you and others can share your thoughts.
Avakov's rise to power facilitated the emergence in Ukraine of a culture of open bigotry, much more extreme that than associated with Trump here in the USA. As "The Nation" reported in 2019:
"Five years ago, Ukraine’s Maidan uprising ousted President Viktor Yanukovych, to the cheers and support of the West. Politicians and analysts in the United States and Europe not only celebrated the uprising as a triumph of democracy, but denied reports of Maidan’s ultranationalism, smearing those who warned about the dark side of the uprising as Moscow puppets and useful idiots. Freedom was on the march in Ukraine.
"Today, increasing reports of far-right violence, ultranationalism, and erosion of basic freedoms are giving the lie to the West’s initial euphoria. There are neo-Nazi pogroms against the Roma, rampant attacks on feminists and LGBT groups, book bans, and state-sponsored glorification of Nazi collaborators.
"These stories of Ukraine’s dark nationalism aren’t coming out of Moscow; they’re being filed by Western media, including US-funded Radio Free Europe (RFE); Jewish organizations such as the World Jewish Congress and the Simon Wiesenthal Center; and watchdogs like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Freedom House, which issued a joint report warning that Kiev is losing the monopoly on the use of force in the country as far-right gangs operate with impunity.
"Five years after Maidan, the beacon of democracy is looking more like a torchlight march."
I will suggest that this horror could only have happened if outside forces were manipulating Ukraine in ways that were not supported by the majority of the Ukrainian people. I will further suggest that Zelensky is part of the problem and that Avakov is no longer necessary. See, for example:
"How One Ukrainian Billionaire Funded Hunter Biden, President Volodymyr Zelensky, And Neo-Nazi Azov Battalion"
My assessment is that the neo-Nazis have been tolerated by the NATO powers, led by the United States, because they provide internal support for the external imperative to transmogrify Ukraine into a zombie soldier bleeding itself to death to weaken Russia. The genocidal International Monetary Fund, back in 2014, made the new Ukrainian regime promise, as part of a loan agreement, to re-conquer the breakaway Donbass republics, because their heavy industry was an important source of revenue to service the debt. Zelensky, before Avakov resigned, publicly pledged to honor all of Ukraine's commitments to the International Monetary Fund: Ukraine was already on the march toward re-igniting the civil war in the Donbass, which meant tearing to shreds the battered Minsk Agreements, which is exactly what Zelensky did in February 2022, precipitating the Russian invasion.
Once again, that is my assessment. I am willing to talk it through and explain how I come to the conclusions that I present above.
I know it is difficult to side with people who may not be truly aligned with one's values, but in war, if you're not trying to kill me you are my ally. Zelensky's communications skills are serving the greater good for Ukraine. When the war is over judgments can be made about who was truly working for the Ukrainian people. During World War II many who were less desirable for their behavior prior to the war and even during the war helped to create the outcome America fought for. Whores, criminals, dilettantes, dabblers, and political opponents who were previously repugnant became allies in the face of an all-consuming war. When the dust has settled, Nuremberg will rise again to arrive at justice and the Marshal Plan will come back to rebuild what was destroyed. Now is not the time to fight about Ukrainian politics. Let's discuss the Ukrainian government once Russia withdraws. This conflict is about sovereignty and territorial integrity for the rest of the world, not the politics of Ukraine. We failed Ukraine in 2014. We stand with Ukraine now so that we don't have to fight for our sovereignty and territorial integrity against another sovereign who has an eye on our land and resources tomorrow. I'll be ready to listen when Russia withdraws.
I respectfully but strongly disagree. Zelensky, in my view, is a puppet.
NATO and the genocidal IMF are flip sides of the same coin, prodding Zelensky to bleed Ukraine to death against Russia and providing open-ended support as long as Ukrainians bleed, bleed, bleed!
I can only point you to the people of Ukraine. It is their decision to carry arms against Russia. They could and did flee to freedom across their borders to other countries. But some stayed to fight for their land and some returned to fight for their land. They don't fight for Zelensky. They are not puppets. They fight for themselves, no one is making them. They couldn't continue against the onslaught of Russian brutality if it weren't true that they fight for themselves. We saw the same behavior in World War II in the occupied nations. Little people with nothing to gain but a return to what had been, stood against the invader and many died. They died then and the Ukrainians are dying now. They died for the same thing the right to decide who chooses what their life will be. Do not be fooled by logic and rhetoric. This fight is about the soul and the heart of the Ukrainians. If not, it would have been Afghanistan all over again. Korea all over again. Vietnam all over again. Iraq all over again. When the people fight as the Ukrainians fight, as the Russians fought in World War II, as the French fought in World War II, they fight for themselves and no others.
Very well said. Ukrainians are free agents, and are fighting for themselves and for their land; unlike Russia, no one is holding a gun to their heads to force them into that defense. As in this country, there are reprehensible people there, and some of them want to control others with violence; I'd argue that while there is very little to choose between Azov and Wagner, in Ukraine's extremity and fight, yes, to the death if necessary, Azov guys can fight just as well as other Ukrainians.
My assessment differs starkly from yours. We could compare notes and sources, or not.
Ukraians have been victims of a right-wing terrorist thug regime. In cases like that, people lose their autonomous will, although it does come out in socially-approved expressions of fanatacism.
And then there is the split in Ukraine between the largely Russian-speaking, Russia-friendly southeast, and the NATO-oriented, Ukrainian-speaking northwest, with the neo-Nazi stronghold being in the extreme west in eastern Galicia, which was part of Poland gobbled by Stalin at the beginning of World War II.
There was an oligarch named Kolomoysky, who funded both Zelensky and neo-Nazis. Poroshenko referred to Zelensky as "Kolomoysky’s puppet." Zelensky won an overwhelming majority on a platform of bringing swift peace to the Donbass. But he reneged on his campaign promise to the Ukrainian people and followed the will of the neo-Nazis and the International Monetary Fund and NATO toward reigniting the "frozen" civil war in the Donbass.
As Zelensky built up forces to invade, the Russians recognized the independence of the Donbass republics and gave them security guarantees. Zelensky began his pre-invasion bombardment and publicly mused about reacquiring nuclear weapons just before Russia invaded.
I noticed. I provided a list of historical documents that the Russians signed and Putin violated. More than a hundred countries found him in violation of the UN Charter for his annexation of Crimea in 2014. In 2022, once again the majority of UN member countries found the invasion unjustifiable. The International Court of Justice found the Russian evidence supporting the invasion lacking and instructed them to withdraw. I am not concerned with Ukrainian internal politics. That's their responsibility to sort out. We've got our own to deal with. The issue is sovereignty and territorial integrity. This is basic rule of law. You cannot come into my house and kill me and get away with it. If you did, no one would be safe. That's the point. Countries cannot be allowed to continue to attack one another simply because they feel they're justified. That behavior has to be in the rearview mirror for all countries. We are all too interdependent. You're living in a past that is being abandoned.
Next come the crimes against humanity of the Obama administration. First of all was the dismemberment of Libya, with regime change going far beyond the U.N. mandate. Hillary the blood-soaked Butcher of Libya pressured Obama into going along with the plan.
Then there was the rape of Syria, which used to be self-sufficient in both food and oil.
Next came the U.S. cultivation of the rise of ISIS as an agent of chaos in both Syria and Iraq.
The context for this is given in Chapter 1 of an earlier book, "The Fire This Time: U.S. War Crimes in the Gulf War" by former Attorney General Ramsey Clark, online at https://archive.org/details/firethistimeuswa00clar
And finally there was the "color revolution" in Ukraine, with U.S.-supported right-wing extremists ("neo-Nazis") doing the heavy muscle work.
Joe Biden was Obama's point man on Ukraine.
I also wrote a song, about the Powers That Be behind the middle-level managers who fill the Oval Office:
High above the wreckage of this world that you destroyed
You're safe inside your air-conditioned tower
There's not a one among us who has managed to avoid
The consequences of your awesome power
You tell the captive nations that the caring of the poor
Is a luxury they simply can't afford
They're not allowed to make their own decisions anymore
This is actually leading toward my assessment of Russia and Ukraine.
George H.W. Bush was at the pinnacle of power through the Reagan years and into his own four years as President. Reagan, sidelined early on with a gunshot wound, was not a policy wonk, and Vice President Bush was. Later, Reagan started going soft in the head, leaving Bush in charge.
Bush's father, under Averell Harriman, managed a bank that helped finance the Nazi military industry before and during World War II.
Crimes of the Establishment with Bush on top include the IMF genocide (starting in 1982 and extending through the 1990s), the invasion of Panama (a holdout against IMF domination), the invasion of Iraq (another holdout against IMF domination), and the "Shock Therapy" genocide against Russia that killed off all the old people.
It is my assessment that Biden is vile. He is an abomination. He has been thoroughly assimilated by the genocidal, imperialist Establishment. He is worse than Trump.
As an Establishment minion, Biden is comparable to the absolute worst President, George H.W. Bush, who was born into a family of high-level servitors of one of the leading Establishment Families.
Thank you for continuing to share your view. Before sharing my response to your particulars, I will explain a bit where I am coming from.
I am well educated, with a Master's degree in History. I work as a truck driver. That is my only source of income or monetary support. I do not have a mortgage or car payment. I am in excellent health and my job has good enough benefits. I have no underage dependents.
In other words, the risk for me to say exactly what I think regarding sensitive issues is much less than that of many others. I am inclined to share my assessments freely and openly.
EDIT: I also have a very long baseline of observing current events, going back to my childhood watching the nightly news ("That's the way it is") with my father, a Catholic Democrat and vocal opponent of the Vietnam War.
In 2005 my daughter went to Ukraine as a Peace Corps volunteer. Dark-skinned volunteers were not sent there, for their safety, after a volunteer of Indian heritage was attacked. A dark-skinned street vendor was set on fire, making news in the US, but not an isolated incident then. Nothing to do with Zelenskyy.
We visited Kyiv, Odesa, and Lviv in 2005. Little old ladies were sweeping the streets with twig brooms, because their pensions were crap. Teachers took turns getting paid.
Since then the standard of living vastly improved, judging by the refugees who escaped in their own cars. Putin is threatened, not by NATO, but by a prosperous neighbor whose citizens enjoy freedom of speech.
You are right, but some of them you just want to grab 'em by the shorthairs and introduce their face to the nearest brick wall. Repatedly. Mendacious little shitheads like this one most particularly. Over at TAFM, I zap them into their component electrons the first time they raise their head over the ridge line.
Thanks, TC. I myself have been so harshly ganged up on by fellow commenters in this blog for less than what you just said. As a result, I canceled my subscription. I was rebuked for criticizing a commenter for posting a misogynist quote that I found inappropriate. I'm a feminist, I find calling women whores is ugly and sexist, but I was shut down. You're a man, you're free to say anything you like, but elderly feminists must keep their mouths shut. Good luck.
I'm sorry you ran afoul of the tone police. Interestingly, I have (on other Substack pages) gotten drilled for being both a male chauvinist and a radical feminist. The beauty of gender ambiguity.
Thank you. But I need a break. It also feels like people's minds can be closed regardless of their politics. And I hate that comment threads can easily become closed circles where you get your ass kicked if you disagree with the club.
Here's an old Vietnam GI saying that you can use for yourself when the Morality Police drive up in their Volvos and put down their cucumber sandwiches to berate you:
I was one of those on this post that disagreed with you about Dorothy Parker's "horticulture" quote. I wasn't "shutting you down" in any way, nor do I think others were either, although I did not read every single comment. Let's not equate disagreement with censorship. You're perfectly free to say whatever you like here, so please do not self-shut your mouth.
I don't know how many times I've reported him, and he just keeps coming back, like one of those clown punching bags with the weighted bottoms. So now I just try to ignore him - particularly when he re-posts the same comment in a thread, and whenever his comment contains links to his comments to past Letters. And I'd never click on any link he includes in any of his screeds.
Your comment presupposes that Jon Margolis's continuing baseless effort to brand me as a Putin supporter (and therefore unworthy of respect) is not, in your opinion, an example of McCarthyism. Perhaps I should have said neo-McCarthyism? And who, in your mind, is "they"?
Putting the shoe on the other foot, how much were you paid to post what you did? Can you see that others might think that it is actually YOU who have debased yourself?
Only female commenters get slapped here. That's unfortunate. TC is right, you tedious, annoying troll. Go find a new hobby and stop trying to provoke people with your asinine commentary.
I tried to find all of the ones doing it. If I missed it, I apologize. Pointing out the concepts, ideas, and preconceived notions of a post with which one disagrees is communication . Devolving posts into personal attacks doesn't improve communications or relations between people, this is also known as "when push comes to shove". A personal attack only increases the problems between people. Diplomacy 101 and De-escalation 101. I've been guilty of personal attacks. We all are, but someone who's not so frustrated needs to point it out and hopefully get the conversation back to an exchange of positions.
I tried to read the link, but it failed. Did you perhaps have a copy and past error? Please try again. Note in my last reply on this topic, I noted my own guilt for using this behavior and its cause, frustration. Please understand, I mean no disrespect. Just trying to de-escalate and hopefully gain ground for the things you say. We cannot reach common ground unless we do grant humanity to our opponents.
I agree. Those who refuse to argue facts or refuse to accept what we consider factual are frustrating and toxic. I had to walk away from my own brother because he is so stalwart in his defense of his position and I can neither change his mind nor accept his position. I can only hope that our differences will be resolved at the voting box and not on a street somewhere in America with spilled blood on the ground.
Cracks in the foundation of the Union became visible toward the end of June, 2022: Texas Republicans called for a referendum on secession, immediately before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
"What we have here is a failure to communicate. Some men you just can't reach..."
TCinLA writes:
"Putting former convicted settler terrorist Itamir Ben Gvir in as Interior Minister is like Trump making Enrique Tarrio of the Proud Boys the Secretary of Homeland Security."
That's EXACTLY what was done in Ukraine, with the Neo-Nazi political kingpin Arsen Avakov elevated to Interior Minister (in charge of the police) after his right-wing fascist thugs put the Maiden Revolution over the top, overthrowing Ukraine's Russia-friendly government.
Looks like Zelensky fired this fellow Avakov John.
https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-avakov-resignation-accepted/31359737.html.
He is gone. Looks like the "Russia friendly" group must be gone too, IF it ever existed in the first place.
Now? It looks like Russia cannot even attract the Wagner group and its leader anymore. Can you say "bottom of the barrel"??
His coal-colored glasses sees only Schitt where there is light
A Case, of *UNDER ! ,
the Barrel !*
Or making the barrel three years bigger. Ruzzia is raising the draft age from 27 to 30.
I saw this...weird.
Nice try at transparent spin, which is only effective if your audience WANTS to believe.
Zelensky KEPT AVAKOV as Interior Minister after he became President. Later, after being strongly supported by Zelensky, Avakov resigned
Transparent spin???????????????? Thats a new one.
Think it through... I'll give another example of transparent spin. Think of an evangelical true-believer, who doesn't know how to rebut your argument, so he goes to his minister, who has just the prepackaged double-speak that the True Believer needs to reaffirm his commitment without thinking for himself.
On another note, regarding how the situation in Ukraine evolved, you could check my reply to Paula Dufour:
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/july-24-2023/comment/21294761
Sorry John - "transparency" and "spin" really dont belong together.
Does it matter? Avakov is gone. How he left is not important.
Paula Dufour,
Perhaps the question of whether it matters is worth careful thought.
I will share my point of view, which I suspect might be in need of refining, and you and others can share your thoughts.
Avakov's rise to power facilitated the emergence in Ukraine of a culture of open bigotry, much more extreme that than associated with Trump here in the USA. As "The Nation" reported in 2019:
"Five years ago, Ukraine’s Maidan uprising ousted President Viktor Yanukovych, to the cheers and support of the West. Politicians and analysts in the United States and Europe not only celebrated the uprising as a triumph of democracy, but denied reports of Maidan’s ultranationalism, smearing those who warned about the dark side of the uprising as Moscow puppets and useful idiots. Freedom was on the march in Ukraine.
"Today, increasing reports of far-right violence, ultranationalism, and erosion of basic freedoms are giving the lie to the West’s initial euphoria. There are neo-Nazi pogroms against the Roma, rampant attacks on feminists and LGBT groups, book bans, and state-sponsored glorification of Nazi collaborators.
"These stories of Ukraine’s dark nationalism aren’t coming out of Moscow; they’re being filed by Western media, including US-funded Radio Free Europe (RFE); Jewish organizations such as the World Jewish Congress and the Simon Wiesenthal Center; and watchdogs like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Freedom House, which issued a joint report warning that Kiev is losing the monopoly on the use of force in the country as far-right gangs operate with impunity.
"Five years after Maidan, the beacon of democracy is looking more like a torchlight march."
https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/neo-nazis-far-right-ukraine/
I will suggest that this horror could only have happened if outside forces were manipulating Ukraine in ways that were not supported by the majority of the Ukrainian people. I will further suggest that Zelensky is part of the problem and that Avakov is no longer necessary. See, for example:
"How One Ukrainian Billionaire Funded Hunter Biden, President Volodymyr Zelensky, And Neo-Nazi Azov Battalion"
https://greatgameindia.com/hunter-biden-zelensky-neo-nazi/
See also "How Zelensky Made Peace with Neo-Nazis"
https://consortiumnews.com/2022/03/04/how-zelensky-made-peace-with-neo-nazis/
My assessment is that the neo-Nazis have been tolerated by the NATO powers, led by the United States, because they provide internal support for the external imperative to transmogrify Ukraine into a zombie soldier bleeding itself to death to weaken Russia. The genocidal International Monetary Fund, back in 2014, made the new Ukrainian regime promise, as part of a loan agreement, to re-conquer the breakaway Donbass republics, because their heavy industry was an important source of revenue to service the debt. Zelensky, before Avakov resigned, publicly pledged to honor all of Ukraine's commitments to the International Monetary Fund: Ukraine was already on the march toward re-igniting the civil war in the Donbass, which meant tearing to shreds the battered Minsk Agreements, which is exactly what Zelensky did in February 2022, precipitating the Russian invasion.
Once again, that is my assessment. I am willing to talk it through and explain how I come to the conclusions that I present above.
I know it is difficult to side with people who may not be truly aligned with one's values, but in war, if you're not trying to kill me you are my ally. Zelensky's communications skills are serving the greater good for Ukraine. When the war is over judgments can be made about who was truly working for the Ukrainian people. During World War II many who were less desirable for their behavior prior to the war and even during the war helped to create the outcome America fought for. Whores, criminals, dilettantes, dabblers, and political opponents who were previously repugnant became allies in the face of an all-consuming war. When the dust has settled, Nuremberg will rise again to arrive at justice and the Marshal Plan will come back to rebuild what was destroyed. Now is not the time to fight about Ukrainian politics. Let's discuss the Ukrainian government once Russia withdraws. This conflict is about sovereignty and territorial integrity for the rest of the world, not the politics of Ukraine. We failed Ukraine in 2014. We stand with Ukraine now so that we don't have to fight for our sovereignty and territorial integrity against another sovereign who has an eye on our land and resources tomorrow. I'll be ready to listen when Russia withdraws.
I respectfully but strongly disagree. Zelensky, in my view, is a puppet.
NATO and the genocidal IMF are flip sides of the same coin, prodding Zelensky to bleed Ukraine to death against Russia and providing open-ended support as long as Ukrainians bleed, bleed, bleed!
I can only point you to the people of Ukraine. It is their decision to carry arms against Russia. They could and did flee to freedom across their borders to other countries. But some stayed to fight for their land and some returned to fight for their land. They don't fight for Zelensky. They are not puppets. They fight for themselves, no one is making them. They couldn't continue against the onslaught of Russian brutality if it weren't true that they fight for themselves. We saw the same behavior in World War II in the occupied nations. Little people with nothing to gain but a return to what had been, stood against the invader and many died. They died then and the Ukrainians are dying now. They died for the same thing the right to decide who chooses what their life will be. Do not be fooled by logic and rhetoric. This fight is about the soul and the heart of the Ukrainians. If not, it would have been Afghanistan all over again. Korea all over again. Vietnam all over again. Iraq all over again. When the people fight as the Ukrainians fight, as the Russians fought in World War II, as the French fought in World War II, they fight for themselves and no others.
Very well said. Ukrainians are free agents, and are fighting for themselves and for their land; unlike Russia, no one is holding a gun to their heads to force them into that defense. As in this country, there are reprehensible people there, and some of them want to control others with violence; I'd argue that while there is very little to choose between Azov and Wagner, in Ukraine's extremity and fight, yes, to the death if necessary, Azov guys can fight just as well as other Ukrainians.
Lynn Spann Bowditch,
I suppose my reply to Paula can go out to you, too:
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/july-24-2023/comment/21325650
Paula Dufour,
My assessment differs starkly from yours. We could compare notes and sources, or not.
Ukraians have been victims of a right-wing terrorist thug regime. In cases like that, people lose their autonomous will, although it does come out in socially-approved expressions of fanatacism.
And then there is the split in Ukraine between the largely Russian-speaking, Russia-friendly southeast, and the NATO-oriented, Ukrainian-speaking northwest, with the neo-Nazi stronghold being in the extreme west in eastern Galicia, which was part of Poland gobbled by Stalin at the beginning of World War II.
There was an oligarch named Kolomoysky, who funded both Zelensky and neo-Nazis. Poroshenko referred to Zelensky as "Kolomoysky’s puppet." Zelensky won an overwhelming majority on a platform of bringing swift peace to the Donbass. But he reneged on his campaign promise to the Ukrainian people and followed the will of the neo-Nazis and the International Monetary Fund and NATO toward reigniting the "frozen" civil war in the Donbass.
As Zelensky built up forces to invade, the Russians recognized the independence of the Donbass republics and gave them security guarantees. Zelensky began his pre-invasion bombardment and publicly mused about reacquiring nuclear weapons just before Russia invaded.
I noticed. I provided a list of historical documents that the Russians signed and Putin violated. More than a hundred countries found him in violation of the UN Charter for his annexation of Crimea in 2014. In 2022, once again the majority of UN member countries found the invasion unjustifiable. The International Court of Justice found the Russian evidence supporting the invasion lacking and instructed them to withdraw. I am not concerned with Ukrainian internal politics. That's their responsibility to sort out. We've got our own to deal with. The issue is sovereignty and territorial integrity. This is basic rule of law. You cannot come into my house and kill me and get away with it. If you did, no one would be safe. That's the point. Countries cannot be allowed to continue to attack one another simply because they feel they're justified. That behavior has to be in the rearview mirror for all countries. We are all too interdependent. You're living in a past that is being abandoned.
(Part 6)
This verse of "Burn in Hell" goes out to that fake Catholic Joe Biden, with a prayer for the people of Ukraine:
You're the hidden instigator of a host of bloody wars
As tortured nations writhe in your control
You set it all in motion, let the evil run its course
As the slaughter of the Horsemen takes its toll
Chaos and destruction with you ev'rywhere you go
You live corruption, malice, lies and fraud
Your sordid deeds of evil stink to Heaven, don't you know
Abomination in the eyes of God
They used to have a saying for an evil man like you
Words that I remember well
Back when what they said the Bible said, they said was true
You're gonna burn in Hell...
(Part 5)
Next come the crimes against humanity of the Obama administration. First of all was the dismemberment of Libya, with regime change going far beyond the U.N. mandate. Hillary the blood-soaked Butcher of Libya pressured Obama into going along with the plan.
Then there was the rape of Syria, which used to be self-sufficient in both food and oil.
Next came the U.S. cultivation of the rise of ISIS as an agent of chaos in both Syria and Iraq.
The context for this is given in Chapter 1 of an earlier book, "The Fire This Time: U.S. War Crimes in the Gulf War" by former Attorney General Ramsey Clark, online at https://archive.org/details/firethistimeuswa00clar
And finally there was the "color revolution" in Ukraine, with U.S.-supported right-wing extremists ("neo-Nazis") doing the heavy muscle work.
Joe Biden was Obama's point man on Ukraine.
I also wrote a song, about the Powers That Be behind the middle-level managers who fill the Oval Office:
High above the wreckage of this world that you destroyed
You're safe inside your air-conditioned tower
There's not a one among us who has managed to avoid
The consequences of your awesome power
You tell the captive nations that the caring of the poor
Is a luxury they simply can't afford
They're not allowed to make their own decisions anymore
In this New World Order you're the lord
(Part 4)
Next came the younger Bush, who doubled down on one of his father's crimes against humanity.
My brother wrote a song about the second Iraq War:
"I'll apologize
For my country's lies
Now that all our enemies
Have been cut down to size..."
(Part 3)
This is actually leading toward my assessment of Russia and Ukraine.
George H.W. Bush was at the pinnacle of power through the Reagan years and into his own four years as President. Reagan, sidelined early on with a gunshot wound, was not a policy wonk, and Vice President Bush was. Later, Reagan started going soft in the head, leaving Bush in charge.
Bush's father, under Averell Harriman, managed a bank that helped finance the Nazi military industry before and during World War II.
Crimes of the Establishment with Bush on top include the IMF genocide (starting in 1982 and extending through the 1990s), the invasion of Panama (a holdout against IMF domination), the invasion of Iraq (another holdout against IMF domination), and the "Shock Therapy" genocide against Russia that killed off all the old people.
The Russians have not forgotten.
(Part 2)
It is my assessment that Biden is vile. He is an abomination. He has been thoroughly assimilated by the genocidal, imperialist Establishment. He is worse than Trump.
As an Establishment minion, Biden is comparable to the absolute worst President, George H.W. Bush, who was born into a family of high-level servitors of one of the leading Establishment Families.
(Part 1)
Thank you for continuing to share your view. Before sharing my response to your particulars, I will explain a bit where I am coming from.
I am well educated, with a Master's degree in History. I work as a truck driver. That is my only source of income or monetary support. I do not have a mortgage or car payment. I am in excellent health and my job has good enough benefits. I have no underage dependents.
In other words, the risk for me to say exactly what I think regarding sensitive issues is much less than that of many others. I am inclined to share my assessments freely and openly.
EDIT: I also have a very long baseline of observing current events, going back to my childhood watching the nightly news ("That's the way it is") with my father, a Catholic Democrat and vocal opponent of the Vietnam War.
(to be continued)
Another very well written response. Brava.
Pushed by the USA
Schpekle,
All paid trolls of Putin seem to say the same things. Don't you guys get bored collecting pay without being original?
...said the IMF Holocaust denier.
"The blood is so much, it runs in rivers..."
--from Davison Budhoo's 100-page resignation letter from the International Monetary Fund
Paula,
Your post is, indeed, a fantastically well written response.
Thank you.
Go fuck yourself with your Putin bullshit, you dumbest motherfucking moron to ever come bothering people here.
In 2005 my daughter went to Ukraine as a Peace Corps volunteer. Dark-skinned volunteers were not sent there, for their safety, after a volunteer of Indian heritage was attacked. A dark-skinned street vendor was set on fire, making news in the US, but not an isolated incident then. Nothing to do with Zelenskyy.
We visited Kyiv, Odesa, and Lviv in 2005. Little old ladies were sweeping the streets with twig brooms, because their pensions were crap. Teachers took turns getting paid.
Since then the standard of living vastly improved, judging by the refugees who escaped in their own cars. Putin is threatened, not by NATO, but by a prosperous neighbor whose citizens enjoy freedom of speech.
Well said.
Don’t respond to John S. No likes or replies. He’ll eventually go away.
report him
Now, now TC, just don't give oxygen to the troll, never mind not feeding it. No more oxygen for the troll.
You are right, but some of them you just want to grab 'em by the shorthairs and introduce their face to the nearest brick wall. Repatedly. Mendacious little shitheads like this one most particularly. Over at TAFM, I zap them into their component electrons the first time they raise their head over the ridge line.
Thanks, TC. I myself have been so harshly ganged up on by fellow commenters in this blog for less than what you just said. As a result, I canceled my subscription. I was rebuked for criticizing a commenter for posting a misogynist quote that I found inappropriate. I'm a feminist, I find calling women whores is ugly and sexist, but I was shut down. You're a man, you're free to say anything you like, but elderly feminists must keep their mouths shut. Good luck.
I'm sorry you ran afoul of the tone police. Interestingly, I have (on other Substack pages) gotten drilled for being both a male chauvinist and a radical feminist. The beauty of gender ambiguity.
:-)
too funny.
Marycat,
I hope you reconsider subscribing. We need all voices.
Thank you. But I need a break. It also feels like people's minds can be closed regardless of their politics. And I hate that comment threads can easily become closed circles where you get your ass kicked if you disagree with the club.
Here's an old Vietnam GI saying that you can use for yourself when the Morality Police drive up in their Volvos and put down their cucumber sandwiches to berate you:
"Just say fuck'm, and drive on."
Morning, Marycat--
I was one of those on this post that disagreed with you about Dorothy Parker's "horticulture" quote. I wasn't "shutting you down" in any way, nor do I think others were either, although I did not read every single comment. Let's not equate disagreement with censorship. You're perfectly free to say whatever you like here, so please do not self-shut your mouth.
I wasn't there for this (I don't think), but "rebuked for criticizing"? Was your criticism not a rebuke?
overboard language but correct.
report him
Still pushing scatalogical McCarthyist bigotry :-(
Speaking of the scatological..........
How are things in St. Petersburg these days? I hope you are enjoying the long summer evenings, because winter is soon to come.
Let's stop this personal attack. Let's just argue ideas and policies please.
Jon - No oxygen for the troll. No oxygen. Ignore it and possibly it will go away.
Report him
I don't know how many times I've reported him, and he just keeps coming back, like one of those clown punching bags with the weighted bottoms. So now I just try to ignore him - particularly when he re-posts the same comment in a thread, and whenever his comment contains links to his comments to past Letters. And I'd never click on any link he includes in any of his screeds.
I don't know what the philosophy is to let continue to post his junk: inspiring healthy debate? Hardly.
I see you are trying to apply clever lipstick to your pig of McCarthyist bigotry.
McCarthyism? In this group? How much are they paying you to debase yourself like this?
No oxygen for the troll, Camilla, no oxygen. Ignore it; every response just encourages it. No oxygen.
Camilla B.,
Your comment presupposes that Jon Margolis's continuing baseless effort to brand me as a Putin supporter (and therefore unworthy of respect) is not, in your opinion, an example of McCarthyism. Perhaps I should have said neo-McCarthyism? And who, in your mind, is "they"?
Putting the shoe on the other foot, how much were you paid to post what you did? Can you see that others might think that it is actually YOU who have debased yourself?
Actually, no.
Man,
John, you gotta stop smoking weed while shooting up LSD and THEN posting comments.
It just ain't workin' out.
Perhaps you're the expert on "shooting up LSD." If you just insult and don't engage with the content of someone's post, that is just trolling.
Let's stop this personal attack. Let's just argue ideas and policies please.
Paula Dufour,
TCinLA wrote, "Go fuck yourself with your Putin bullshit, you dumbest motherfucking moron to ever come bothering people here."
You did not ask him to stop his personal attack. Why not?
Only female commenters get slapped here. That's unfortunate. TC is right, you tedious, annoying troll. Go find a new hobby and stop trying to provoke people with your asinine commentary.
I tried to find all of the ones doing it. If I missed it, I apologize. Pointing out the concepts, ideas, and preconceived notions of a post with which one disagrees is communication . Devolving posts into personal attacks doesn't improve communications or relations between people, this is also known as "when push comes to shove". A personal attack only increases the problems between people. Diplomacy 101 and De-escalation 101. I've been guilty of personal attacks. We all are, but someone who's not so frustrated needs to point it out and hopefully get the conversation back to an exchange of positions.
Paula Dufour, I responded to somebody else's personal attack, on the principle of standing up to a bully.
In general, I respect your imperative to keep things civil.
Regarding the hateful vitriol that I quoted earlier, please check this post:
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/july-24-2023/comment/21289006
I tried to read the link, but it failed. Did you perhaps have a copy and past error? Please try again. Note in my last reply on this topic, I noted my own guilt for using this behavior and its cause, frustration. Please understand, I mean no disrespect. Just trying to de-escalate and hopefully gain ground for the things you say. We cannot reach common ground unless we do grant humanity to our opponents.
I don't think it is wise to click on a troll-link. Ever.
I'm not confident they are a troll.
I think I fixed that link.
I share your thought that we cannot reach common ground unless we do grant humanity to our opponents.
However, there are those among us who don't want to try, and who are unwilling to agree to disagree.
I agree. Those who refuse to argue facts or refuse to accept what we consider factual are frustrating and toxic. I had to walk away from my own brother because he is so stalwart in his defense of his position and I can neither change his mind nor accept his position. I can only hope that our differences will be resolved at the voting box and not on a street somewhere in America with spilled blood on the ground.
Cracks in the foundation of the Union became visible toward the end of June, 2022: Texas Republicans called for a referendum on secession, immediately before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
"What we have here is a failure to communicate. Some men you just can't reach..."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngo_6TPgldg
uh-oh.