527 Comments

Watching Trump, the puppet, try to distance himself from Putin, the puppet master, is a study in desperation. Trump debased himself endlessly, fawning over Putin at every turn. And he helped pave the way for Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Trump will never escape these failures.

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And what a pathetic way Putin's puppet showed his displeasure of his puppeteer! “I think he’s changed. I think he’s changed. It’s a very sad thing for the world. He’s very much changed.”

It breaks my little bitty heart to hear such a paltry critique of his hero! 😉

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“ Yeah, Putin was just an all around ordinary regular nice guy up until a couple of weeks ago. He wasn’t a murdering,torturing,poisoning, $ laundering, chemical gassing criminal Lunatic ! when I have hung with him for the last 15-20 yrs. “ Madman Vlad and TFG are not subject to change . Who is he kidding ?

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All of my neighbors

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I spent too much damn time under my desk as a child. I care less than bupkis what my neighbors in this ruby red county of mine think.

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Camilla, Thank You from ruby red Jackson County! Go Stacey!

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You betcha, Gus. Go Stacey!!

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Camilla and Gus, I'll go out on a limb and predict that Stacey will win in November, and so will Raphael. I'm very anxious to see the hay we can make with Herschel Walker's campaign comments, although he's refusing to debate. Yesterday's comment that he doesn't believe in the theory of evolution, because if we evolved from apes, why are there still apes is doubtless just the tip of the iceberg.

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Walker clearly needs medical help. The Republican Party leadership is exploiting him for his name recognition despite the fact that he wouldn't be able to function at the level required to serve in Congress. Then again, this is true of a good number of GOP reps.

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Christ! How did so many US citizens get through school with so little smarts?! I believe the glue that holds the fabric of the Republican party together is their belief that common sense is "socialism."

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Just saw that comment in an article. Broke me up!

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I heart this.

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I remember those days very vividly.

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Same thing is happening in my ruby red STATE...Utah.

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and mine

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Many of mine

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And a fair number of mine too.

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I might add lots of family and friends!

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And most of mine 😡

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I'm in fairly blue Gwinnett, but guessing that many of my neighbors are wanting to secede.

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Mar 17, 2022·edited Mar 17, 2022

Here in NH, the Repub majority, supplemented by their ultra RW Libertarian allies (called the Free State Project) that got elected, actually put forward a bill to secede. On this bill, they got their clock cleaned: 393 against secession-13 for secession.

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Jeez. That's seriously frightening. Where is this? I'm near Hartford CT.

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Floriduhhhhh

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DeSantis needs to be sanitized outta there....

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My sympathies...will Florida survive DeSantis?

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Lynn, Jeri, and all whose neighbors are fooled: Are the neighbors bamboozled only about TFG's nature, or are they also snookered by Putin and his bulls**t rationalizations attempting to justify his butchering assault on Ukraine? (Being taken in by TFG is certainly bad enough.)

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One blustering idiot said, "it's all totally fake." Upon further inquiry, he exposed the war is fake, covid is fake, it's all about "them" getting our DNA. At which point I disengaged and went back to my weed whacking.

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Good move on that. I don't have very many who are quite so deranged as that, but there are an awful lot of white guys (and a few gals) hungering for an authoritarian that will keep them in "most favored" status and keep the rest of us "in our place."

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Fortunately I do not have to communicate with any of our neighbors who love death star. Always interesting to me that if people are presented with facts with plenty of video evidence, the news is fake. So were the Fox news employees who were killed also fake.

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Oregon is a paradox. Living in Port Orford was like balancing “Deliverance” with somewhat progressive state leadership. We did have our House there though. Marvin was a good guy.

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You should have whacked him.

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That thought had crossed many minds, I am sure. But we did not say it....

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In many ways these neighbors aren't much different than the Russian people who have been fed nothing but government lies from state-owned media — to the point that they're clueless and deluded about Putin's war on Ukraine.

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Except the ones here are choosing propaganda. Russians don't have a choice, Americans do and many are being radicalized.

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Yes I had someone last week! -telling me all of this and she began it all with that Putin is a man of light?

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OMG is all I can say.

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My ex-classmate in Elkhart actually posted support for Ukraine, so no, not all of them are taken in by Putin. However, still no post about January 6th.

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Well… I live in my own state of disbelief. It seems to me they use any event to bolster their qviews. I overheard a discussion that Putin was arresting members of the pedophile ring that is plaguing our children worldwide… you know the one that includes all the Dems and half of Hollywood.

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@Carla, that anyone believes the bizarre Q theory is bad enough. Clearly they are gullible enough to believe that pigs fly. But to believe Putin is arresting the alleged members of the nonexistent "pedophile ring" and Putin is therefore defensible shows the extreme lengths to which Dumpists will go to defend their choice and rationalize everything he says and does. They joined the Dump Tribe to partake in its glorification of the angry-everyman-conservative-victim-of-the-infernal-libs identity. He tells them they are wonderful, nothing is their fault, and everything bad is the horrible libs. They will engage in any brain contortion to defend their membership in this ego-boosting tribe that grants them an identity they don't have on their own. They will go to any lengths to avoid recognizing the truth that they admire a man who has zero admirable qualities and is in fact a colossal fraud, loser, and liar. I'm not sure what anyone could do to deprogram all the Dumpists who psychologically depend on membership in that tribe. If Democrats and progressives launched a sustained multi-decade program to bring good manufacturing jobs back to regions devastated by globalization, and fixed our broken social safety net? I don't know if Dumpists would even have an open mind to changes that actually benefited them, Dump and the Repubs have sunk them so deeply into the network of culture-war delusions.

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Totally agree. It also appears to be tied to their religious views that this is the end times. There is no amount of discourse that will change their minds. At. All. We have the numbers, but have the rules changed enough that we no longer count? I guess we’ll see at election time.

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I just posted above a chilling report in The New York Times of what Putin is doing to his protesting citizens, “The Russian people will always be able to distinguish true patriots from scum and traitors and simply spit them out like a fly that accidentally flew into their mouths,” Mr. Putin said. “I am convinced that such a natural and necessary self-purification of society will only strengthen our country, our solidarity, cohesion and readiness to respond to any challenges.” He is horrifyingly evil. The link is a live feed so scroll down to Putin assails Russians who back the West, setting the stage for more repression. https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/03/16/world/ukraine-russia-war?name=styln-russia-ukraine&region=hub&block=storyline_live_updates_block_recirc&action=click&pgtype=LegacyCollection#putin-russia-ukraine-protests

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I admit it....I had to look up TFG, huh? Found a NTY editorial on T***p's new nickname, courtesy of President Biden. The Former Guy! so I'm admitting it in case there might be one or two others!!!

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I use TFG as #45*'s appellation.

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I prefer "He Who Must Not Be Named".

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I like that....and I'm glad to know it now!

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And the majority of Republican voters in the state of Georgia...

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Hi, fellow Georgian. Are you looking forward to the clown-fight between Kemp and Purdue? Admiring Herschel Walker's debating skills? (Ick.)

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I'm chuckling at Shotgun spending all of his federal cash on raises, infrastructure, but not bothering to tell those who pay no attention to the source that it came from Biden. Making popcorn for Kemp/Purrdew contest, and already laughing at Herschel's "skills", although he says he won't debate. His public comments and lurking legal issues will make good grist. Can't wait for Rev. Raphael to have a smiling go at him.

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Popcorn is at the ready...

I think I read the big Ferret-headed Cheetoh-faced Shitgibbon himself is due for a rally here soon in northeast GA, which will feature the complete cast of loonies. Can't wait!

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Oh, Bruce, you do have a way with words! I'd love to attend and heckle them, but I'll admit they're scary - especially MTG and her very large teeth and leather-like complexion.

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I'm just assuming that's the case, but refuse to discuss any of it with them.

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The Boot one. 😂

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In the southern US the phrase "bless his/her heart" is used as a catchphrase when you want to belittle someone for being stupid/flaccid/ineffective/impotent/etc. while said person also thinks they are the opposite. Bless his heart.

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We tend to use it more as a rather feeble attempt to "soften" something very negative said about someone. It's like you are somehow making what you're saying slightly less bad by invoking God to "bless his/her heart". There are tons of examples, often using similes, which Southerners have raised to an art form..."He's about as ugly as a mud fence, bless his heart...", "He couldn't dump piss out of a boot with the directions printed on the heel, bless his heart...", etc. etc.

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Thanks Bruce! Now I know why my boots never dry out....dang....

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Linda, when we really want to rub it in and leave no doubt about our disapproval, we add the dreaded "little." As in "Bless his little heart" or "Bless your little heart." The kiss of death....

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We used to say “ Well Bless you’re pea pickin heart.”

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Here on the left coast we say "what an ass."

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That works too.😂

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Actually heard that one here in NYS years ago - when I was much younger!!

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Trump hasn't changed! He still talks a lot without saying anything! Changed? What Changed? As far as I am concerned Putin is still the evil person that I have always seen, and he has gone over the top currently and has lots of blood and destruction on his hands.

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His attempt to distance himself is laughable. And of course, shows death star's very limited vocabulary once again. Interesting about that wing nut DeSantis getting help, but not surprising.

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“Bless his heart”

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😂. They have hearts ? Coulda fooled me !

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Not sure, but the meaning comes from Southern Belles, as in “Shalt thou commit the sin of adultery with some four legged beast”

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That really did happen here. This crazy lady saw nothing wrong with being on the floor, crawling around on Her 4’s, naked with her dog in the room. One of the many reasons I call it Flori-Duh ! Yes she was arrested . Poor dog, she was a nasty lady . True story. Then the guy that had a cat duct taped to his steering wheel. Good neighbors called the cops . They do some weird Chit here. We got OJ and we got Trump & co. on top of that stuff ! 😂

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Eeww

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When I read Trump's weasel statement, I hoped it would anger Putin and prompt him to release compromising information about his puppet.

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Now wouldn't that be nice!?

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yes, he's so pathetic! it made me laugh - did he not proclaim to have "the best words"? . . . use your words donald! :-)

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😂

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In my just awake, not enough coffee yet, I read your comment as 'Trump, the puppet, try to dance himself away from Putin.' The visual of our fatboy delicately pirouetting under the strings of the gloating mad puppeteer was both charming and freakish.' I don't know if I will be able to get it out of my head.

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Mar 16, 2022·edited Mar 16, 2022

And Trump blows with the wind! I read his niece's book in which she called him "Uncle Donald". Trump never changes and he is dangerous!

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my sister had the book, I read it in two days while I was visiting her.

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Sharon, I bought the Kindle version, but I can't bring myself to open it.

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I also purchased the Kindle. Do read the book. It was very interesting. He has always been a total spoiled jerk!

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Gus, it's well worth reading.

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Anyone who finds 45 loathsome will enjoy the book.

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David, back in 1987 after I graduated from ISU I went to work for the State of Indiana. The people in the office were taking about, "The Donald" and I opened my mouth and said who is "The Donald"? After they told me, I was not impressed and went about my own work! I will never forget that moment. I had been so busy concentrating on my studies at the time of his arrival in the media that I had not heard of him. I was either studying, taking care of my daughters, or working for about 3 1/2 years of his rise to fame! So, to speak! I guess I should have paid more attention to our future!

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I can't remember when I first heard of him, but I suspect it was later than that.

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Now that I think about it, I think it was somewhere around then that I first heard of him. But I certainly didn't expect he'd go anywhere politically before he entered the race, and people on both sides of the aisle treated him as a joke, until it wasn't a joke anymore.

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Let's hope for that! Would it not be good to hear Zelensky speak out today about Trumps shameless try to use him in his campaign against Biden. After all he was meant to be directly involved.

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But, of course, he knows he can't do that. He knows he'd alienate the Rethuglicans who 1) refused to convict TFG and 2) are now throwing shade at President Biden for refusing to immediately guarantee our entry into a nuclear-conflict WWIII.

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You make an interesting point, and I'm inclined to agree (alienating).

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I love Zelenskyy, and he has proved to be much more formidable than most of us - especially Putin - believed him to be. I do hope that we manage to do more to prevent Putin from totally ruining Ukraine, such as giving Zelenskyy enough cash to purchase MiGs from sympathetic sources that won't drag NATO into a nuclear conflict, but he knows he's on a tightrope and can't afford to alienate Congressional Repugs. Of course, whatever way this goes, they'll trash Biden - damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. I just hope that the midterms are swayed by voters seeing just how close we are to losing our democracy. Ukraine should be a cautionary tale for the morons who have backed the current anti-democratic conditions right here at home.

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Strikes me that MiGs could be sold cheaply, don'tcha think ? Besides, stingers are far cheaper and one needs no pilots license and experience to use them. Ukraine has plenty of manpower if they have tailored weapons.

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I would think so. In fact, years ago a person in the Northeast bought a MiG and stored it at a local airport, for the purpose of laundering money that he'd made participating in a drug ring, so they were available then. Your comment about Stingers and other land-based weapons points to the money that has been earmarked for Ukraine, and they are currently being supplied by us. I think his repeated requests for a no-fly zone are to keep the pressure on the US to ramp up aid. He knows that a no-fly zone is out of the question. He might be able to get MiGs on his own, and Ukraine's pilots know how to fly them. As sympathetic as everyone but Tucker Carlson is to their plight, most people understand the ramifications for the world if NATO becomes embroiled.

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Over the last three weeks of Putin's war on Ukraine, a few important phrases have appeared in the news and in analysis... "failed mythology" (This describes both Russian Greatness as practiced by Putin, and American Exceptionalism as practiced by Trump and the Republican Party); "inherently malignant" (This describes the fascist nationalism espoused by both Putin and the Trumpist Republican Party); "moral clarity" (It has become obvious to all that Putin is evil, as are the American apologists for Putin.) "There is no compromise with evil."

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And make no mistake, the Orange Asscactus will once again fawn all over Putin at the first available opportunity.

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You got that right. And I do love "Orange Asscactus"...

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If Putin will give him more money!

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Here's a simplistically brilliant, parable-like narrative about the war and all the things that led up to it, including Trump's corrupt involvement. It's Greg Olear's "The King Must Die: Ukraine: A Play in Five Acts," which he posted yesterday.

https://gregolear.substack.com/p/the-king-must-die?s=r

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Agreed!

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Of course he will with the 70M followers

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He has slimed away so far.

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Michael, He has an ample escape hatch with an automatic flush toilet at the bottom of it.

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I think that's one way to spot despots and their acolytes -- they are always willing to both abase themselves and receive abasement. It's how they demonstrate loyalty and respect, not by competence or honor, but by who can grovel most convincingly when called on.

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The ballet - as I listen, I wonder who the"Moor" is in today's real life version. The magician must be some oligarch; who is the dancing girl?and all the other characters ?

https://youtu.be/WRDzfK8oOb4

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Had Joe Biden or Hillary Clinton received campaign contributions from Andrew Muraviev, you can bet that it would be headline news. What will it take for Desantis and the others to be publicly shamed for having done so?

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Desantis is a criminal. He does not feel or acknowledge shame.

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No Republican does

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The GOP is a party of sociopaths now.

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And an array of personality disorders.

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You are right. That had not occurred to me……yet. I didn’t see that!

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“I think [the’ve] changed... It’s a very sad thing for the world.”

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16 hrs ago and I’m still chuckling. Way to go ROSE.

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Learned how to be a criminal from the best....

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People who accept donations from Russia have no shame. They don't understand why they were wrong. They react to threats. They only understand bullies.

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Oh they understand…they themselves have become bullies.

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With sanctions they might only be receiving non convertible Russian currency. Do you think that will screw up the contribution accounting of our Russki leaning Republicans?

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Keith, I certainly hope so

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Technically speaking he broke no law. It's unethical as all get out though. And unpatriotic. Brings to mind if there was a quid pro quo.

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Actually, I believe that it is against Federal law for a candidate to accept foreign contributions. Am I wrong?

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Technically yes, but to my understanding too many of our Campaign Finance laws have too many loop holes. Citizens United and PAC's for example can give out money to candidates as long as the Candidate doesn't "know" who exactly or what corporation or LLC is donating to them, remains legal. The current laws provide for politicians to maintain plausible deniability. "I didn't know that PAC was getting illegal foreign money". But we know they know. Its all a game to them, until its a war.

So first launder illegal gotten money to give it the appearance of legal. Then create a domestic LLC, Real estate trust, or other financial entity to receive that money, layering the laundry so to speak, layering where it came from to obscure the original source. Then donate to a PAC, and its considered domestic because it came from a domestic institution, person, or trust or other. No law and no enforcement of "where' the money actual came from is ever follow up on...until now.

Sanction enforcement is going to open a lot of doors and windows into this whole scheme.

This is one of the challenges of an integrated global economy ( which is good), but we have not updated our election and campaign finance laws commensurate with our globalization. We have actually weakened our Campaign Finance laws to make it easier to receive dark money from anywhere and everywhere.

Most of the dark money is from the oil industry and to compete, foreign oil money from the likes of Russia and Middle East "kingdoms".

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That is my understanding. These channels are so convoluted and obscure it would be hard to make the case.

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Convoluted channels and obscurity has been written into our Campaign Finance laws and has been upheld by the Supreme Court to keep it that way. Robert's Decision on Citizens United is just one example.

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It’s my understanding when DeSantis was outed the $$ was returned. DeSantis claimed….That wasn’t me ,it was my friends.😂

Possibly quid pro quo= marijuana licenses

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article259394354.html

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It will take journalists and Dems making plenty of noise about it. The extreme R's won't care - they are already justifying Putin's invasion of Ukraine. But they are only a quarter of voters. If it adds to Dem energy and/or independent distaste for R's, it will be useful.

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Independent journalists.. I see the opposite of what has been the R's rallying cries about leftist journalism.

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DeSantis requires sanitizing. A case of Clorox is not sufficient. Perhaps bleach and that hydra stuff that Tubby Trump was hawking against Covid? And Brillo to make his thin skin even thinner.

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Rupert and clones to change, hahahahahaha

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Forget the Senate calling Putin a war criminal. If the ICC indicted him and all the "siloviki" (the people with the real power, not the stupid "oligarchs" - the term is analogous to the Irish term "hard men", mostly ex-KGB scum like Putin) as war criminals, indicted the Russian Army general staff, the commanders of every unit (we know who they are), then not one of them could travel anywhere without being subject to arrest and imprisonment.

Putin's going nowhere militarily because he can't. The entire Russian Army is 280,000 and he's already using 190,000. The Ukrainian army is 125,000. The general military "rule of thumb" for offensive operations is the attackers should outnumber the defenders by at least 3:1. That would mean 375,000, so Putin's 100,000 short. And they shouldn't really count the raw recruits - the conscripts. Those guys are only in for a year, which isn't enough time to find out where the latrine is and stop being dangerous to your own side.

I think General Petraeus is right that in about 10 days, Putin's Potemkin army will grind to a halt, unable to resupply itself with ammo, food, or replacements for the 10,000 dead.

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At that point, TC , Putin will certainly have a dilemna as he can nolonger either go forward or retreat without abandoning the unfueled trucks, tanks and equipment; sitting ducks for ambush. If he stays put he still has to feed his troops and supply ammunition for them at least to be able to stay alive while defending themselves. Medieval military history tells us that while unpopulated countryside can be held with sparse troop numbers perhaps...but why bother....but sieges require a lot of work, people and supplies to effectively seal off the besieged town. They don't work if the sieging army is itself besieged and vulnerable to counterattack from the town they are threatening. That starts to look like the beginnings of a rout......time to talk fast!

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Mar 16, 2022·edited Mar 16, 2022

Okay, Stuart, as a logistics manager, does Putin have the money to get that convoy home? Might he just abandon them to the Ukrainian Army?

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That's essentially what Napoleon and Hitler did when the boot was on the other's foot

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Some history and TC's military logistics piece helped me reach that surmise. Hello, Stuart.

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I just read your profile and I'm insanely jealous that you live in Paris.

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Paris is nolonger what it was! Many people are leaving especially since starting teleworking.

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Je n'y suis pas allé depuis quelques années mais je l'adore....

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ukraine should think twice about going on the offensive. the offensive-defensive roles are reversed, and ukraine would need more troops. and i don't think ukraine has the appetite for killing 19 year old conscripts who just want to go home. it would also cost unnecessary ukrainian losses. if it ain't broke, don't break it. russia is defeated on the ground. it will all be decided in the air. how long will russia keep this up? as horrific as the results of bombs and missiles are, it takes longer then a couple of weeks to demoralize an entire civilian population. i am really anxious to see if the

protest sign held up behind the news anchor on russian tv will turn a tide within russia. the russian language part of the poster reads: STOP THE WAR/DON'T BELIEVE THE PROPAGANDA/HERE THEY LIE TO YOU.

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What does an animal, caged or cornered do? Fight to the bitter end? How that plays out is one more way Putin is terrorizing the world.

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Good morning, Stewart!

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Morning Susan. Hope the sun is shining in Portugal. By the way, Stewart is the English version of my name. My mother was Scots!

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Thank you, Stuart. I'll change to the Scottish version. I wonder how that evolved...? Ah, the mysteries of histories.

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It's also important to remember that Vladdy has committed as much of his army as he dares. Consider his mindset - he has no allies, he views those around him as either being under his control or they're potential enemies. Given that, and given also how poorly his battle with Ukraine is turning out (for all the world to see), it's no mystery why he speaks loudly about putting Russia on a nuclear alert. In his paranoid frame of mind, he's beset on all sides by enemies, and real or not he must somehow keep them all at bay. His worst enemy is time itself though. With this war, he's burning through all of his resources and his household bills are coming due.

Unsurprisingly, generals worldwide all assessed his capabilities alike. They all judged him as having a "shallow bench". Beyond a strong first strike capacity, his ground forces could not be sustained. And now, Putin himself is proving them correct.

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Putin might be paranoid, but he's not wrong in thinking he's surrounded by enemies or those who will be enemies if they have the chance or see an opportunity for their own benefit. Georgia, Chechnya and the PRC would all cheerfully take advantage of any signs of terminal weakness on his part.

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Good day, Gary. You do seem like "a real great guy all round." I love reading self-descriptions in our profiles. Brings us closer and makes comments even more interesting.

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I just realized one can see profiles. How cool is that? Just posted mine.

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Hi, Bronwyn. We have a lot in common.

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"I think General Petraeus is right that in about 10 days, Putin's Potemkin army will grind to a halt . . . ."

Wouldn't that be a cause for celebration!

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10 days sounds like forever for a country being bombed night and day. Also, can someone explain what tactical or battlefield nuclear weapons are? The damage they do?

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From the WaPo "Worldview" newsletter tonight:

The advent of tactical nuclear weapons — a term generally applied to lower-yield devices designed for battlefield use, which can have a fraction of the strength of the Hiroshima bomb — reduced their lethality, limiting the extent of absolute destruction and deadly radiation fields. That’s also made their use less unthinkable, raising the specter that the Russians could opt to use a smaller device without leveling an entire city. Detonate a one kiloton weapon on one side of Kyiv’s Zhuliany airport, for instance, and Russian President Vladimir Putin sends a next-level message with a fireball, shock waves and deadly radiation. But the blast radius wouldn’t reach the end of the runway.

The Russians are thought to have roughly 2,000 such weapons — some so small as to be attached to torpedoes, depth charges, or even artillery shells and land mines. The world might reel in horror at nuclear deployment of any size. But, if boxed into the right kind of corner, some argue, Putin could use one in Ukraine without necessarily triggering World War III.

Plenty of observers believe Putin would not risk even a low-grade nuclear attack. Doing so could trigger deeper sanctions than the ones already crippling the Russian economy, increase war opposition at home, negatively impact his all-important alliance with the Chinese and change perceptions in nations still hedging their bets with Russia, including India, Brazil and South Africa.

Many in the West have questioned Putin’s state of mind. But a number of experts — including the director of the CIA — appear to have determined he remains more or less within the parameter of sanity. They estimate him, however, to be isolated and angry — conditions that could rapidly escalate as the Russian army makes far less progress than the Kremlin likely calculated.

The West might see nuclear deployment as unimaginable; that such weapons exist only for deterrent. But “I don’t think it’s so unimaginable for Putin and for the Russians,” Kroenig said. “I do think that there’s a big cultural difference here. The Russians often finish their major military exercises,” which serve as war simulations, “with nuclear strikes. … I think there is just, you know, a comfort with nuclear weapons as kind of big artillery shells, whereas we see them as categorically different weapons.”

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Once the Russian military is essentially defeated by running out of the means to fight, all Putin has left is aerial bombardment. He will use nuclear bombs. Will the West throw up its hands I horror and push Ukraine under the bus ?

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Good to hear from you Allen. The best way for Putin to make his situation go from terrible to untenable would be to use nuclear weapons. I agree with you however, that he is serious about their use. I hope the Israeli PM, Finnish President, or some other combination of diplomats can find an acceptable 'off ramp' for Putin before it comes to that.

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Mar 16, 2022·edited Mar 16, 2022

Allen, Your expectation for the West is low, mine as well but will not 'like' your comment because I don't want the us to go that low...again. We are all Ukrainians now.

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Allen, you ask the most important question of all.

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Good morning, Allen. I hope you and Tonya are on the mend. My hope is that Putin using tactical weapons would have repercussions he couldn't tolerate. Then again he may have his very own Novichok tea at the ready.

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Yes. I’m wondering about the tea too.

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Novichok tea? Nerve agent?

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I hear he has a food taster. Or maybe more than one? Spare parts?

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You are in the crosshairs, pray not is my answer to your Q

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Allen, so good to hear that you are all out of range of whatever Putin can throw.

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Tactical Nukes can be delivered many different ways, from cruise missiles to 155mm artillery. The 155's used to be able to throw a round about 18 miles if I remember right and that was 50 years ago, now with new propellants maybe 25 or a little more. They have very limited yield, like a 155 on steroids. That he might choose to use these when backed into the corner he so expertly crafted, is a distinct possibility, whether his army goes along with it is another matter, they are however the ones on the ground doing the dying, and when faced with your own demise, people will make all kinds of deals with the devil to stay alive. It would be so much better for all concerned for the russian army to do an about face and return home, and then confront the insipid bastard that sent them on such a morally corrupt mission. We have to do more than hope and pray, if you saw a child being raped in the street in front of your house, would you say "well it's not in my yard" and close the blinds or would you do something to stop it without reguard to how big the rapist was. I thought so, thank god we have a decent man for our president, this is a leadership issue, this is no time for cowards.

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Dick Though I am not optimistic, I seriously doubt that Putin’s generals will engage in nuclear war. They are fully aware that there is no such thing a ‘limited nuclear war,’ despite Henry Kissinger’s once popular book professing this possibility. Even were Putin to wish to launch nuclear war, I believe that the his military, like ours during Nixon’s final crazy days, would ‘slow march’ and then refuse.

Otherwise, we can sing along with Tom Lehrer “We will all go together when we go.”

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I agree with you Keith. those Generals in the field, not the ones back in the Kremlin, are the ones with the most to lose, they will all likely die in a counter strike and they know it, that's where we hope sanity of some sort prevails. One would think that they are not on a kamikaze mission like the ones that my father endured in the Pacific near the end of WWII, those men and all of their troops want to go home to their families, and not in a box.

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Exactly. And then we walk out the door and stop it. Any way we can.

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Thank you, thus my wish for our leader to address us.

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Often aggressors starting wars tell their populace that “special military operation” won’t take long at all. Their side will win quick, easy victories. Except that is not what happens. Soldiers, especially young conscripts, find out that the war doesn’t go as it was portrayed. Putin’s fiasco is proving this out. War has too many moving parts to be so easily won.

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In this case, most of the Russian soldiers were duped. They didn't realize they were being sent to Ukraine to fight a war. From the Guardian several days ago.

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And we've heard that from the lips of a captured Russian Lt. Col. who spoke at length in a press conference a few days ago, saying that he believed there were sent to undertake "military exercises". He may have been the equivalent of our National Guard; he identified himself as a police officer in his civilian life.

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Thank you for your excellent summary.

In the context of "actionable" nuclear weapons priorities that we collectively have little choice but to "triage" right now...

Daniel Ellsberg (of "the Pentagon Papers" fame), wrote a book called "The Doomsday Machine." Ron Rosenbaum wrote a book called "How the End Begins." For those not familiar, both books are well worth reading. They underscore glaring nuclear weapons related issues that we have not addressed, such as murky command and control procedures. "...the hand authorized to pull the trigger on U.S. nuclear forces has never been exclusively that of the president, nor even his highest military officials." (Ellsberg, Daniel. The Doomsday Machine (p. 21). Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.)

...Very troubling...and awareness of the "brutal nuclear reality" that we face and associated action is paramount.

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Trigger deeper sanctions? Why are we holding back??

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I hope the CIA director is correct. But risks remain. ‘Sanity’ is a legal term relating to a mental state of having the ability to know right from wrong. But Putin is a sociopath who has no regard for other people as human beings (just look at the people he has killed or attempted to kill with poison and/or radiation). I worry that he is showing signs of believing his own hype, which is a step toward losing contact with reality. Danger will be highest if he sees himself as cornered or humiliated, and the possibility of each of those is increasing.

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Way too true.

PS - is this John Bruner the aviation author?

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Your knowledge is critical to having a clue, thank you

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Thank you TC and the others with knowledge of battlefield nuclear weapons for helping me understand them.

I keep reading about giving Putin an off ramp, which I take to mean giving him a face saving way out. I don't know how this can happen without Ukraine making concessions that leave it in a weak position.

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Mar 16, 2022·edited Mar 16, 2022

When I hear the term tactical nukes, I'm reminded of the neutron bomb. I don't know how it works, but supposedly it kills all the people in a certain area (e.g., a city). Kills the people but doesn't destroy the property. May be like clouds of the most deadly virus sweeping over a given area. This further makes me think that one city's death of its residents would be traded for another city's population in retaliation, something of a tit for tat between enemies in a "limited war".

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Good Lord, are we so suicidal?

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The truth is we are not in charge. My wildest dreams didn’t come to this. Slowly, methodically discussing how a madman might use an array of nuclear devices. Which ones and when. Obviously, I’m/we’re being educated.

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Seriously? Yes. "We" definitely are suicidal. Having failed to contain the development and use of nuclear weapons--after dropping them on Japan in 1945 and seeing the immediate and long-lasting results--"we" demonstrated some degree of suicidal ideation. We early baby-boomers developed a bizarre sense of fatalism. We had the regular reminder of our situation by the air raid shelter alerts when school kids hid under their desks. Also, consider the 1964 black comedy film "Dr. Strangelove, Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb." There doesn't really seem to be much hope for us humans if the people/administrators of the world don't come to a common agreement about destroying nuclear weapons.

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We're not. Psychopathic megalomaniacs don't value life. It makes no difference to them.

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How do we show we value life? Maybe we are not psychopathic megalomaniacs, and we say we value life, BUT, what’s our record for equality or caring for our children or the poor or the environment? We say we do. It’s as if we created another Frankenstein. And are unable to control him.

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I completely agree. But Putin falls into a different category, where it seems he actually gets a thrill out of murder and destruction, which is different from average apathy or insensitivity. Robert Hare PhD has written books on psychopathology which describe the psychopathic mind. One is, Without Conscience, The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among us. The second is, Snakes in Suits, about the business world.

A professor at -- I think it was UC Irvine -- was studying psychopathic brains and found that the empathy center in the frontal cortex registers no activity. It seems this is what makes psychopaths different. They also get a thrill from power. Dr. Hare's books are worth reading. In fact, I was thinking that we should get Dr. Hare on the team to figure out how to deal with Putin.

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Many tactical nukes are designed as neutron bombs. The destroy plenty of property. But while they may only flatten buildings in a 5 block radius, there will be radiation deaths much farther away. Even so, the blast effects of neutron bombs are huge compared to even large conventional bombs.

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I just read a little bit about the neutron bombs. The common misconception about them--including mine--is that the neutron bombs kill people but don't harm property. As you stated, that's not the case. The neutron bomb is a nuke "salted" with Chromium-60 which spreads far and wide and leaves the soil fallow and dead for a long time.

As I understand it, the term "salted" derived from the historical period when the Romans finally conquered Carthage. They then salted the land of the Carthaginians so that nothing would grow for a long time, and they wouldn't be a threat to Rome. So, the neutron bomb is a salted nuke with deadlier consequences.

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Interesting info. And perhaps the biggest problem Putin has is the "motivation factor". It makes a huge difference. Those Russian conscripts are going into battle frightened and mostly trying to avoid death or dismemberment. The Ukrainians are well trained and are willing to take deadly risks to win and save their nation. In that sense the Russians are outmatched. Just like we were in Vietnam. We destroyed their country - napalmed the countryside. And they kept coming at us. We were brought to our knees because they were motivated.

The Ukrainians are wicked angry. Many of the Russians are just bewildered. Putin is a very dangerous fool. And he doesn't suffer humiliation well, to say the least. I fear that his next escalation will be with worse weapons...

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We were fighting to stay alive a year and go home. They were fighting for their country.

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Mar 16, 2022·edited Mar 16, 2022

I’m curious if you have figures for the lives lost in Ukraine as she did her part to defend Russia(USSR) during WWII. All I get is they laid down 6,000,000 lives for sure but the count was never verifiable. Estimates reached up to 14,000,000 Ukrainians perished defending and by starvation and disease. What would be a figure for those wounded on behalf of Russias’ defense?

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Isn’t that shortage of soldiers a reason to believe Putin might resort to nuclear weapons? Even more worrisome.

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TC, thanks for your analyses…I look forward to them.

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Don't forget that Putin can resort to battlefield nukes. He has already threatened to use them. Even though he is short on troops, he is not short on arms and can reduce the cities he wants to rumble, sad to say. Ukraine is at a serious disadvantage. Especially without air superiority. He is ruthless.

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You're right that Putin is probably capable of ordering such a thing, especially if he's losing. The Russians may play with tactical nukes and have worked out the strategy of escalate to de-escalate, but doing that in Ukraine might be the line the military won't cross.

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It would perhaps be more useful to them if they were facing classic, head-on opposition from the Ukrainian army. They could use them to destroy amassed tank battalions for instance or concentrated war planes on the ground. The demonstration effect to frighten the population would probably be counter-productive. These people already live with Chernobyl.

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Good point

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Mar 16, 2022·edited Mar 16, 2022

Putin is as likely to accept "loss" as chump.

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So the Russians will "lose" him and say it was his fault alone....next subject please!

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Does the Russian military have a vote in the ultimate decision? I doubt it.

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They are the sacrificial pawns.

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I would wager that NATO and the EU and the US would consider any use of any nuclear device in Europe a breech of sovereignty.

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The troops might rumble, turning cities to rubble.

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Thanks, TC, your analysis here gave me a boost I needed. I am getting very world weary these days.

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For an even stronger boost, subscribe to TC's That's Another Fine Mess, as many of us do. (No, I don't get a kickback.) believe in supporting those among us who help educate us so well. Oops, I just realized I'm heading for bankruptcy if I put my money where my mouth is. Thanks to all!

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I've done the same. I now have subscriptions to HCR, TC, and Timothy Snyder. There are a handful of others (Dan Rather, Lucian Truscott IV, the Roberts that I get on the free listing). I dropped my subscription to the Economist, which helps pay for those.

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Greg Olear puts out some excellent articles, as well.

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Vladimir Bonaparte?

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I wish that Petraeus is accurate that, in about 10 days, Putin’s army will grind to a halt. However, artillery and bombing are faceless assaults that can continue to destroy and kill. Murdering civilians can continue without face-to-face encounters. I am surprised, in the Russian/Ukrainian ‘cease fire’ talks, that Zelensky doesn’t say “Withdraw all of your troops immediately from Ukraine and here is my demand for war reparations.”

What a dreadful blood money ‘negotiation.’

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“Withdraw all of your troops immediately from Ukraine and here is my demand for war reparations."

I agree. Putin has no standing to negotiate; he has no right to be on someone else's property. Frankly, he shouldn't even be allowed to the negotiating table. He should be chased off, and made to pay reparations. Seized assets can go toward that.

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I’ve read that Putin is bringing in Syrians to reinforce his army. Not good news!

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It's more proof of his weakness. Bring a bunch of people from Syria to fight in sub-zero cold, in a place where they don't know the language, the people, or the battlefield. Plus those "deadly fighters" have yet to have won in Syria.

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He prefers to see them dead rather than raw Russian recruits. They will add to the mound that the Ukrainians will build with the Tchetchens. Discipline might be a trifle difficult to maintain among the Syrians ranks as they head for the Polish border to "emigrate" to EU.

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The irony of Putin recruiting cannon fodder from former ISIS fighters to fight in an imperialist war to support Russian conservative Christianity is too, too rich.

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Delicious! (Although conservative Christianity and ISIS have similar attitudes about women, and small percentages of adherents who actually read their New Testament or their Quran.

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More troops to support?? A plus if they die after killing 2 Ukrainians

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This whole mess amounts to sloppy control of population growth.

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60,000 Syrians.

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Maybe. Transporting them will be a problem. Turkey won't let him fly them over their country, and they won't let him use ship transport through the Bosporus - they have already invoked the Montreaux Treaty on the Bosporus, cutting off Russian navy ships from transiting in to the Black Sea. It's sure the Iraqis and the Iranians wouldn't let him fly over their countries. So how do you move 60,000 "deadly fighters" out of Syria? Look at the map. Also, removing 60,000 from a war that is still going on means the other side takes advantage.

It's an empty threat.

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Furthermore, there is the fact the Russians don't have the airlift capability to move that many people. For sealift, they can't get into the Black Sea. The most they could do is transport them through the Mediterranean around Europe into the Baltic to St. Petersburg, then transport them down to Ukraine. But that requires logistical competence they have not demonstrated. Not to mention the trip is all through NATO-controlled sea lanes. Many things might happen. The ships might have "accidents" and might sink as a result.

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It also takes a great deal of time to achieve. The Russians have demonstrated no competence in the organization of "foreign mercenaries" which is another important factor in medieval warfare....these guys wont be working for Wagner. They will be cannon fodder should a single one of them ever reach Ukraine...which I doubt. The effect sought was rather to "make the people cringe in fear" as with the fabled "vicious, bloodthirsty, inhuman chetchens"....more like one cringes when hearing a bad, tasteless joke.

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Mar 16, 2022·edited Mar 16, 2022

Stuart, you may have a point there with your reference to medieval warfare. While more developed countries focus on technology and manufacturing to advance in the world, Russia is still going for medieval land grabs. In that sense, Russia hasn't moved into the 20th or 21st century. It has no technology or manufactured products that the rest of the world might want, no products that might make it competitive in the world, other than natural resources, oil or natural gas.

The profits from oil and gas mainly fund the pockets of oligarchs; perhaps none of this money stimulates the Russian economy or reaches the masses. But in Russia the needs of the masses are inconsequential. The primary goal is to keep them in their place. So Russia isn't able to move toward a more advanced society:

simply, innovation doesn't happen when people must watch their step. It is in a sense, a medieval society.

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And how would they be paid? In rubles? That seems to me an insufficient inducement.

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Good point.

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Conscripts? Perhaps prisoners?

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With what funds?

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"in about 10 days, Putin's Potemkin army will grind to a halt,..."

One can hope.

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I just looked up the size of the Russian army. It was 900,000 active duty. Don't remember the source.

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Including reserves. The "active duty" was who I referred to. I don't think their reservists get the workout ours did the past 20 years.

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Lots of non-combattants therein, one supposes

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We have got to win seats at the midterm.

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For a big blue wave at midterms, we must get out the vote in the primaries. Every primary in every state. That means check your voter registration now and tell your friends to do the same. There is a massive amount of info at your board of elections or secretary of state’s website. ❤️🇺🇸

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And redistricting. The lines have changed and candidates are scrambling to be heard in places they hadn’t campaigned. What a mess!

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Maryland just delayed their primary’s because of a redistricting lawsuit.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/03/15/maryland-primary-governor-delayed-redistricting/

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Ohio is still suing and counter-suing over district lines. With a May primary in the offing no one (state or federal) knows where their districts will be.

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Good point!

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Yes., ScannyDo. That’s it in a nutshell. So we can. So we will.

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So glad we are have cooler heads in charge in the Biden Administration, and not a bunch of opportunistic politicians whose warhawk reflexes endanger all of humanity.

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Idk in all seriousness yes of course we have cooler heads in charge and want that but I understand people’s frustration with measured rhetoric from President Biden. Because for some of us -and not just kids, I’m granny-aged- measured rhetoric got us This Way For The Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen by Borowski

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I am thrilled we have a cool head in the White House. Do not confuse measured rhetoric with weakness.

• Why shouldn’t the United States institute a no-fly zone over Ukraine? That would entail firing on Russian planes. See: “No World War lll.”

• Why shouldn’t the United States say it might send troops even if it won’t? Presidents credibility with the American people is precious. Also: “No World War III.”

• So is United States abandoning Ukraine? No, we are sustaining Ukraine without getting into a shooting war with Russia.

• Aren’t you letting Vladimir Putin call the shots? No, we’re making the decision not to induce a world war.

Biden has made clear two principles that lawmakers eager to appear tougher than the White House would rather ignore. The first: We will not go to war against a nuclear power run by a desperate autocrat increasingly cut off from reality. As Biden succinctly explained last week, “Direct confrontation between NATO and Russia is World War Three, something we must strive to prevent.”

His determination that World War III would be the worst of all outcomes is one that everyone should strongly endorse.

Jennifer Rubin

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Thank you for this

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❤️

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Hey Laura, we live in a big world. And we have influence by consulting with that world. Not by "being the hammer and everyone else being a nail". Get it?

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Yes and no, Mike. I think another analogy is someone is the nail that sticks up just a little further, for example (Chinese proverb of course) and many of us nails don’t want to be that nail, but tank man was.

Or then to push that further, obviously we consult with that world, that’s why we read Prof Dr Heather Cox Richardson snd comments for one besides talking with our faborite maker of breakfast comfort food Lenin/Lennon (sp?) and we’re all nails…comrade…

Except: someone’s gotta be the hammer. The nails do not hammer themselves in. Now you may be a person of faith and say that there’s an almighty Carpenter and He makes the hammer and all respect if that’s your jam. But it’s not everyone’s. Pray to God, sailor, but row for the shore. Or don’t crap on someone who might think that if we don’t see a hammer, we’ll make one, but there’s gotta be a hammer (cue:you can’t touch this)

Billy Joel may have sung “We didn’t Start the Fire” and it’s a great song, but was the fire ex nihilo or did we build a match factory and did we make a Firestarter? (Cue The Prodigy)

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We have been the hammer. Biden and his team have done an incredible job of regaining American leadership in the world. But we need to respect our Allie's boundaries. Joe is walking the fine line while herding the cats. Clearly America has led the world in rebuking Vladdy.

I would guess that the meeting in Belgium will cover a NATO response to the use of a tactical nuke. My guess is that Russian ships will disappear and war will escalate. Personally, I am a devout atheist so I don't believe "thoughts and prayers " are any solution.

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Do love the "Pray to God, sailor, but row for the shore."

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Hammer days are over. It's a new world.

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You planning the symphony that will crumble Blue Meanie Putin at the borders of Pepperland? That would be sweet if he weren’t turning Ukraine to grey ash

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Where is "Pepperland".? Oh I see. I still don't get it.

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done with W/Dickie's hammer and nail. Their shock and awe still makes me heave

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Whose excess of testosterone makes them regularly raise the ante, besting each other. Them you mean?

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I think it is so interesting that Poland, Czechia, and Slovenia showed such strength by uniting to go to Kviv. Let’s not forget that Slovenia is where Melania Trump and her parents come from. That move must be making TFG just a little upset. I hope so.

What frosts me is the fact that we can’t pass the Voting Rights Bill but like Heather said, we can agree upon making DST permanent! Truly, what kind of BS is that? We must bring Putin to his knees before our own democracy is taken away from us and it better be before the elections.

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It is an interesting combination, but makes sense given that Hungary is refusing to "get involved." Victor Orbàn is running for reelection, and on German news ARD tonight they say he is doing well to say that he is not spending money and not sending troops in this war. I guess he is just too close to Putin, although he did vote against Russia in the UN. Hungary also has a lot of Ukrainian refugees who have relatives in Hungary. The Czech Republic just got rid of their similar right wing Oligarch, and Poland is having elections where their right wing Oligarch is on shaky ground from what I understand as is the one in Belarus. Poland is much more committed to supporting Ukraine. All of these countries are right next door, and from a tactical point of view they are poking the bear. In a sense they are testing whether Russia is going after them next. Which one will it pick of the three, or will it be all of them collectively. There is strength in numbers. Poland has almost 38 mil, Czech Republic has under 11 mil, and Slovenia has around 2 mil people. Together with Ukraine that makes almost 2/3 of Russia's population. I see that Ukraine now says they will not apply for NATO, however they have applied for and will get into the EU, if there is anything left of them. EU is sticking together too. That is what Austria, Switzerland, Sweden and Finland are counting. Still, what I cannot understand is how it is figured that there will only be 4 mil refugees from a country of 44 mil, where the people are not willing to be vassals of Putin and he is not willing to have any opposition. Is it expected that they will they end up like Finland in 1939? I would think a lot more millions would leave Ukraine than that if Russia keeps on bombing. Of course, they know that is what Putin wants. I am glad it is being finally said these are war crimes.

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If there is any justice in the world, the Ukraine will get back all it's lost territory, including the Crimea, plus some

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"Justice in the world." where, every time I turn on TV, there is Lindsey G spouting crap. and there is always another republican traitor lined up behind him....

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War crimes and crimes against humanity! Thanks for pointing out those countries populations. It is a very important piece of information. All of these countries are tired of being pushed around by these maniacal men. Modern technology, like social media and smartphones help to engage their people. Plus, they do not want to be left behind. They want protection too.

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You assume tRump 1. Gives a damn for Melania; 2. Gives a damn . . .

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Wondering how much cognitive dissonance there is with republicans regarding Putin and their golden calf. Maybe it's why chump is saying "there go my followers, I must be their leader." Well, or words to that effect.

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Not nearly enough to change their beliefs.

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I wite this every day as I share Heather's newsletter

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Yeah yeah yeah

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The Republicans would find a way to criticize Biden if he discovered the cure for cancer.

How different a world we would have today if we were living in the second term of the HRC Administration.

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I think of this, and of a Gore administration. We let Rupert's propaganda match Goebbels.

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Yes yes yes and people lose their uncles over that Hannitypap and Limbaughhate (roast in peace) and besides becoming a nation of imbeciles we are seeing families rent in twain

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Or Bernie❤️

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I shudder to think about how we’d be dealing with the situation in Ukraine if the Talking Yam still lived in the White House.

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The Talking Yam.🤣❤

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Indeed. Nightmares tonight if I think about this near miss too much!

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Nightly nightmare

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“…tonight Trump told Washington Examiner reporter David M. Drucker, “I think he’s changed. I think he’s changed. It’s a very sad thing for the world. He’s very much changed.”

Whelp…..I guess he’s changed, huh?

Good christ what a dumbass that con is….

His lack of awareness and the fact that pretty much the world hates putin is [always] breathtaking….

This ranks right up there with the importance of DST

Thank goodness for the Biden Administration. They hit the ground running in 01/21 - fanning out around the world to re-build relationships - and has that ever paid off in the concerted efforts FOR Ukraine.

And lastly….russian $$ to desantis, huh? The campaign ads pretty much write themselves, eh Dems?

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To see what a dumbass he actually is read the entire Washington Examiner article. It's staggering that people are still supporting him.

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Wish the Dem message writers would hire Luntz. He likely can be bought... and he knows how to zoom in on a target

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I want to thank HRC’s response to this! LOL

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Mar 16, 2022·edited Mar 16, 2022

Thank you Heather Cox Richardson for you daily briefs. I appreciate your insightful news each day. I just wish it was not all bad news. I wish that there was something good going on somewhere that we could celebrate.

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I am celebrating Jen Psaki. So refreshing and impressive after the former's dangerous clowns.

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The Queen of the take down!

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“May the Force Be With You, Jen”

She is the Force

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"They traveled to the city despite ongoing Russian shelling that has taken countless lives, including those of five journalists documenting the atrocities."

Those atrocities convinced the U.S. Senate today to pass a resolution condemning Putin as a war criminal, while a new U.S. funding bill appropriated an additional $13.6 billion in aid to Ukraine."

Esteemed readers of this forum: From 2015 to 2017 the United States of America, in Mosul, Iraq, leveled hospitals, schools, homes, including a famous and historic Mosque and killed thousands of "civilians" (i.e., women, children, men who were unarmed and undefended).

To see the devastation from satellite, if you have NY Times,

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/07/15/world/middleeast/mosul-before-after.html

Or, for those who cannot see the horrible images at that link, I extracted the the NY Times images and put them at this virus free google photos link that anyone can see.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Mfa4aQqMUxe4Qasm7

At the time I was, seemingly, the only one in America and certainly the only one among my friends that was following this devastation and I was further horrified that the news, except sometimes the NY times, was reporting on Mosul as if the US was having great luck in Mosul with killing all of our "enemies" there.

NOBODY here in America cared. One wit. Nobody could even explain why were were destroying Mosul (and all of the other cities in Iraq).

So, as the same people who cheered on the the death of an ancient beautiful city in Iraq AND its inhabitants vote to call Putin a "war criminal" PLEASE remember ......

WE.....ARE.....ALSO, yes we are war criminals too.

I know, nobody wants to hear this but I am committed to remembering past which happened only yesterday and nobody remembers. Nobody even cared about this city or the people living there in the USA and this happened only yesterday in history.

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Mike S, you are heard. And I remember the images nightly of Yemen, and of Aleppo, also. I believe Biden is especially careful to move forward with NATO for just such a reason. We have a tainted record acting arrogantly. Putin also knows this and it is probably a source of his brutish push. He wants to reestablish the Russian Empire. He’s playing a game with opponents who have played it badly also. So why not push the limits? Boys playing a game of chicken, who will not be the ones cleaning up the mess. They never are.

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... or our boys celebrating 4th of July over the skies of Baghdad ... oh, whooppeee!!!

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Thanks Kathleen.

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Thanks to you too Mike - it seems to me, the people who supported those atrocities are the same as those who support the trumpian gambit and the current tragedy in Ukraine ... I wonder if there is a way to frame the question in terms of contingencies rather than nation states or countries ... is it possible to single out those individuals with influence who promote these 'interests' and isolate them - or has the cancer metastasized into the hearts and minds of the general populace to the extent that 'we the people' actually believe it is in our best interest to allow it in our name ... and if not, how do we turn it around ...?

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Thank you.

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I look for your comments, Mike. I ,too, find it surprising how quickly we forget what we did in Iraq. But we are told that we are exceptional and we do what is necessary . If the world continues to think war is the answer, I question whether civilization can survive. Of course, Russia is committing war crimes, just as we did. But cheerleading for more war cannot be the answer to world ‘s problems.

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"EXCEPTIONAL" is the point where the chain reaction of evil begins.

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The birth of hierarchy

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The birth of self-appointed pseudo-hierarchies.

Diogenes went round Athens carrying a lantern in brilliant daylight saying "I'm looking for a man..."

And yes, a true human might look like a tramp, might look like a slut or... might look regal. Either way, appearances wouldn't be much help, would they?

When Alexander the Great came and stood before Diogenes who was sitting in the mouth of the big jar that was his home enjoying the morning sun, he offered the philosopher anything that it was in his power to give.

Answer: "Kindly get out of my light".

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Mar 16, 2022·edited Mar 16, 2022

The Russians are also being told that they are exceptional and they do what is necessary. The Trumpers are being told the same. That's how it works.

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Thank you.

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Mike, we can add the My Lai Massacre of 1968, massacres against Black communities, massacres against Native Americans, and more to your list. What’s your point that “we are war criminals too”—build empathy with Putin? We should not have participated in the Nuremberg Trials? We can learn from past atrocities and grow the culture of valuing human life while defending against aggressors. That includes having a disciplined military that holds accountable those who perpetrate sexual assault.

We can also already see that people care more now because the victimized populace is mostly white.

We remember the past to do better in the here and now. This is a pretty open-minded crowd. I’ll just speak for myself and put my energy into how to help in the here and now.

Timothy Snyder has new ways to help Ukrainians:

https://snyder.substack.com/p/helping-ukrainians-directly?r=6pp8t&s=r&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

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Yes.

First aid is the absolute priority now.

But if we all survive this, deeper issues of responsibility will have to be tackled head on, very much incuding those Mike has raised.

These issues have never been properly addressed, and the price we are now paying for this failure is horrendous.

Horrendous, but paltry by comparison with what will follow if we keep kicking the can down the road.

Pandora's can...

This action -- acceptance of universal responsibility, for ourselves, for all others -- will call for a forensic approach to history and the deep remedial changes that survival and healing demand.

Nor will it do to leave any nation out of the vast regeneration project that must be undertaken. Even if quarantine is called for, not only Ukraine will have to be raised from the ashes of war... Russia too. And our own diseased areas.

Something far greater than Marshall Aid.

I'm just pointing out the long road to global survival.

Pardon me if this seems unimaginable dreaming -- but is there any choice but to use our faculties of imagination?

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Mar 16, 2022·edited Mar 16, 2022

Such a lesson about the power of racism to direct what white America pays attention to. Ukraine, yes. Yemen, no. Black violence, yes. White violence, no. (Not that it was not ever so).

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Note your points. Unsettling though they are in memory. How to distinguish between acts of vengeance and acts of raw aggression? Maybe too fine a distinction to be meaningfully different in behavior or consequence among the fallen and that which has been returned to sand. That Biden and EU nations are unified (at least for now) in countering and calling out this war through sanctions, diplomacy, and fine use of the powers of a hammer (to pick up on another line from above) instead of a box of big hammers sets us out in front now. Always for me the question came back to me "who will be most damaged and how will lives be forever altered at the end of the devastation that is war?" Every month we were in Viet Nam and Iraq and Afghanistan I could not but see the costs rising in disproportion to our professed reasons to be there and to allow the destruction and horror you point to.

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Thank you, Mike.

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Thank you Ally.

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“I want to thank the Russian Academy for this Lifetime Achievement Award.”

Brava, Madam Clinton! Brilliant right uppercut! 😊🙏 Classic and classy.

While we, America, got backslid by 45’s almost slapstick ledger of f*ck ups, political subterfuge, gas and other noxious and hideous behaviors, choices and peccadilloes - what we will never truly appreciate is the loss of experiencing Hillary Clinton’s fine mind.

She is the one person out of the whole 2016 debacle in our national politics who would have enriched this nation with her gifts unfolding for years. She is a strong and intelligent woman with keen public interest (she works for her constituents) but with public appeal with absolutely zero traction.

Anyone who wants to argue her ability or appeal, um, as compared to 45 whose prison ID isn’t fully formed because we don’t know where we’re going pigeonhole that huckster? Please sit down. 45 is a cr*p stain in the American continuum.

I’ll always wonder what Hillary would have left us as a legacy.

That woman’s gotten drug through hell. By her husband, by her detractors. I hope she gets respect in the history chapters containing her name. Putin and 45 absolutely drug her through hell. She deserves better.

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Mar 16, 2022·edited Mar 16, 2022

So profoundly grateful to have this source. Being a lifetime resident of FL. I really feel like throwing up. But it goes without saying I’m sure we’re not the only one’s. Just maybe TFG’s grand entrance on an a down escalator will be symbolic to his end. As for Putin and the rest of them-there just isn’t any lower you can go that they haven’t already done. Just so damn sad all the lives that are being taken and ruined for power, money, Stuff !

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At least the Putin government remains consistent in stumping for the advocates of their one-party oligarchy that is still operating in the U.S. as right wing Republicans.

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Mar 16, 2022·edited Mar 16, 2022

Thank you, HCR! Glad to see that Hillary Clinton is “honored” to receive the “Lifetime Achievement Award” from the Russian Academy. Finally, recognition. And even TFG admits his buddy has changed. But important news is that President Biden and USA continue to work with NATO. The positive, united world response supporting Ukraine and Democracy and in opposition to the devastating crimes against humanity unleashed upon the Ukrainian people and country by Putin shows we are on the side of Peace and Justice. The world has come together including citizens of many countries to show their solidarity with Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. Here are links to two musical “gifts”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQSIeD-x6dQ

Violinists Across the World Play for Ukraine ++++++++++

https://youtu.be/_pWKVJFF-Pc

Europe Stands for Ukraine

And a note, too, about donations. Be sure you’re donating to groups that get as much aide as possible to the people. You can check Charity Navigator for ratings of some international groups. I have sent contributions through Doctors Without Borders and Save the Children. Others have posted many options.

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