Jenny Hawkins, you endorse Joe Biden's support for the anti-democratic far-right terrorist thug regime in Ukraine. How can you sleep at night?
"In January 2018, Azov rolled out its National Druzhina street patrol unit whose members swore personal fealty to Biletsky and pledged to “restore Ukrainian order” to the streets. The Druzhina quic…
Jenny Hawkins, you endorse Joe Biden's support for the anti-democratic far-right terrorist thug regime in Ukraine. How can you sleep at night?
"In January 2018, Azov rolled out its National Druzhina street patrol unit whose members swore personal fealty to Biletsky and pledged to “restore Ukrainian order” to the streets. The Druzhina quickly distinguished itself by carrying out pogroms against the Roma and LGBT organizations and storming a municipal council. Earlier this year, Kiev announced the neo-Nazi unit will be monitoring polls in next month’s presidential election."
I read the Nation article you linked. To summarize, it says there is a small faction of far-right, neo-nazis in Ukraine. Further, it says these neo-nazis have formed paramilitary groups and have some connections in the police and military. Basically, they are describing Ukraine’s version of our own Three Percenters or Proud Boys (you could easily read this article and substitute “Three Percenters” for “Maidan”). Neo-nazi groups like this can be found in every western democracy. These are not mainstream groups. Their existence does not mean that Zelenskiy is a “thug” (a Jewish neo-nazi? really?) or the Ukrainian government is a neo-nazi regime, any more than the existence of the Proud Boys means Biden is a neo-nazi thug. Your hyperbole is breath-taking.
Interesting sidenote - an account @John_Schmeeckle has been suspended by Twitter for behaving like a troll bot, focusing on attacking Ukraine and reposting Russian propaganda, going back well before Putin’s invasion, and linking to numerous articles from Sputnik News (amongst others). The same John Schmeeckle? Who knows.
Zelensky was presiding over the ongoing neo-Nazi atrocities in the Donbass (artillery shelling of civilian targets, like what the Serbs did to the Bosnians), until the Russian invasion made him stop.
Beyond that, the principal supporter behind Zelensky's rise to power was the same Ukrainian oligarch who funded the neo-Nazi Azov battalion:
Well John, one final comment. I think you are confused or again flipping a projection of facts. The Russian supported separatists in the Donbass, complete with Russian sniper corps and military supplies, was the first act of this Russian aggression.
As to Ukranian oligarch(s) supporting Zelensky, this is laughable. Zelensky won his election with 73% of the vote, and with a platform to fight corruption. You might find supporting right wing conspiracies, as evident of the articles in StationGossip, just that, conspiracies, versus the facts.
I think that Putin really thinks that Russia faces an existential threat from an expanding NATO.
Ukraine never kept its promises in the Minsk accords that ended the fighting in 2014, and there has been periodic artillery shelling (comparable to what the Bosnians did to the Serbians, provoking a NATO attack) ever since.
Before Russia attacked, Ukraine was building up troops along the Donbass line of control, apparently preparing to invade. (I remember reading that the IMF insisted that Ukraine re-absorb the breakaway region, so the eastern ethnic Russians could be taxed to help pay the unpayble debt.)
Finally, Ukraine publicly floated the idea of getting nuclear weapons again, just before Russia attacked.
I think it is clear that "democracy" in Ukraine is a sham. It seems clear that both neo-Nazi thugs in the streets and support from the USA were necessary for the 2014 coup/revolution to succeed. The neo-Nazis were put in charge of security, and nobody was punished for the Odessa Barbecue that terrorized the people throughout the country. Two pro-Russia politicians got killed, and nobody was punished.
It seems to me that the American leadership, in the White House and in both parties in both houses of Congress (and fully supported by the mainstream news media) is marching toward a nuclear war that we would probably lose, because of Russia's temporary advantage in military technology.
My assessment is that, if the American leadership remains unreasonably hostile to Putin's seemingly reasonable demands (for example, no re-run of the Cubsn missile crisis), Russia will not hesitate to (for example) declare that sanctions against Russia's banking sector are acts of war and launch a nuclear attack whenever they think it is to their strategic advantage.
I do not see the current regime as neo-Nazi. I do understand that there were problems before. What is troubling to me is that you are repeating Russian propaganda. I am an old school D, not related to anyone important except way back and long dead. I was brought up in a Republican state by Republican parents.
The way I see things, there was no real change when Zelensky was brought to power (through the help of a friendly oligarch), although some of the grosser violations probably stopped.
I think that Putin really thinks that Russia faces an existential threat from an expanding NATO.
Ukraine never kept its promises in the Minsk accords that ended the fighting in 2014, and there has been periodic artillery shelling (comparable to what the Bosnians did to the Serbians, provoking a NATO attack) ever since.
Before Russia attacked, Ukraine was building up troops along the Donbass line of control, apparently preparing to invade. (I remember reading that the IMF insisted that Ukraine re-absorb the breakaway region, so the eastern ethnic Russians could be taxed to help pay the unpayble debt.)
Finally, Ukraine publicly floated the idea of getting nuclear weapons again, just before Russia attacked.
I think it is clear that "democracy" in Ukraine is a sham. It seems clear that both neo-Nazi thugs in the streets and support from the USA were necessary for the 2014 coup/revolution to succeed. The neo-Nazis were put in charge of security, and nobody was punished for the Odessa Barbecue that terrorized the people throughout the country. Two pro-Russia politicians got killed, and nobody was punished.
It seems to me that the American leadership, in the White House and in both parties in both houses of Congress (and fully supported by the mainstream news media) is marching toward a nuclear war that we would probably lose, because of Russia's temporary advantage in military technology.
My assessment is that, if the American leadership remains unreasonably hostile to Putin's seemingly reasonable demands (for example, no re-run of the Cuban missile crisis), Russia will not hesitate to (for example) declare that sanctions against Russia's banking sector are acts of war and launch a nuclear attack whenever they think it is to their strategic advantage.
Everyone seems to be worried about a nuclear attack. However, whatever the problems in Ukraine, I cannot support Putin who has proven himself a bad guy in many ways. The Russians did interfere in the election in 2016 and yes, I know that's not the only reason death star won. This to me is unforgivable and that extends to any party that aided and abetted mafia don. I do understand that politics are not pure and all sorts of bad actors are often involved in Ukraine and everywhere else. Our record is certainly not pure either. As usual, ordinary people are paying the price. And I cannot support the idea that anyone will win a nuclear war. Frankly, I am tired of being in thrall to a relatively small number of people who make up the rich and powerful.
Looks that way. His posts are all over the internet. Many of those who believe as he does seem to think everyone else is as gullible as they are but won't admit to being.
JR, your comment reads like an attempt at Nazi-style disinformation in support of the Ukrainian neo-Nazi thug regime. I will quote from the second and third paragraphs of that article from The Nation, which you pointedly ignore:
"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."
JR, you come across as a McCarthyist bigot and an apologist for Ukrainian neo-Nazi atrocities. May you please change your tune.
The four year old Nation article described a minority group in Ukraine. Anti-Semitism has always been a factor in Eastern Europe and bears watching, just as it does in the United States. This is probably why the historic emigration of Jews from Europe came mostly from Eastern European countries and not from Germany or France. The Nation article does not justify opposition to today's Ukraine government.
Zelensky was presiding over the ongoing neo-Nazi atrocities in the Donbass (artillery shelling of civilian targets, like what the Serbs did to the Bosnians), until the Russian invasion made him stop.
Beyond that, the principal supporter behind Zelensky's rise to power was the same Ukrainian oligarch who funded the neo-Nazi Azov battalion:
As others have pointed out, that Nation article (2018) pre-dates Zelenskiy’s election and democratic reforms (which are a work in process, there’s a lot of resistance from oligarchs and right-wingers). The most recent Freedom House analysis of Ukraine calls it a “nation in transition”, with a rating of 39/100 on their freedom scale. Freedom House rates Putin’s Russia as “not free”, with a rating of 19/100. If we are going to call a country a “neo-nazi thug regime” then Putin’s Russia wins hands down. BTW, “may you please change your tune” is an unusual phrasing. не могли бы вы изменить свою мелодию?
What planet are you on? Not this one, surely. Remember that Stalin may have killed more innocent people than Hitler, but when Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, Churchill (who had been a life-long anti-Communist) noted that “If Hitler invaded Hell, I should at least make a favorable reference to the Devil in the House of Commons.” I war, you often cannot pick your allies.
I think you are misinterpreting Jon's comment. Stalin murdered millions of his own people. Churchill knew that Stalin was pure evil but Stalin chose to align with the Allies against Hitler. For that time Stalin was the lesser of two evils.
I don't understand how you can possibly interpret that comment as trolling.
Yes. It is a common occurrence for some members of this forum to call those they disagree with a troll. Lately, it becomes fashionable for some to accuse others of being unpatriotic or un American. It can be a very testy place, this forum. Gird your loins. And welcome!
I've lurked for quite a few months and compared to some other places this comment section is mostly respectful and extremely informative. I often suggest that to friends that they subscribe to HCR, one to support excellent journalism and two, to be a part of the comment community. Appreciative of all I've learned.
Daria, I was responding to the post above Jon's- from John Schmeeckle, and actually agreeing with Jon. Sorry, Jon, I frequently see your comments, and like all of them. I'm well aware of Stalin's tyranny, and know people whose parents and grandparents had been banished by him to Siberia from Lithuania. As you say, at least the monster aligned with the Allies. Otherwise we might all have been exterminated. I doubt that most people here think they need to "gird their loins" where I'm concerned.
Nancy, I'm sorry! Your comment didn't appear in the right sequence then. I actually thought that it was an odd comment for you to make!
About girding ones loins: there is some pretty testy stuff happening here, even today. People are telling others they don't belong here, people are questioning another's patriotism and whether or not they are "true Americans". WTF does that even mean? There is a good measure of meanness going these days. I was mean this morning as well.
Daria, I did respond to Jon's comment to John, mainly because I usually don't respond directly to troll-like comments. No sense in giving these disruptors "points" for their bad intentions. I know that you're always thoughtful and your answers are intelligent. You weren't "mean." These are fraught times, and I just pray that we can all ignore the trolls and naysayers and stay on the road for this dangerous trip. We need all of our energy to hold our majority, and it would be really nice to pick up a seat or two as insurance against those who claim to be on our side, but aren't.
Viewing the posts on his FB page as a whole are useful for understanding where he's coming from. The only *opinion* I can offer is that he loves trees.
I was responding to the post above Jon's- from John Schmeeckle, and actually agreeing with Jon. Sorry, Jon, I frequently see your comments, and like all of them.
These days, anti-Russian bigotry is fashionable. McCarthyism in the 1950s included labeling as "Communist" anyone who sounded socialist, and these days, anyone who criticizes Ukraine gets the "Putin's playbook" treatment. In Orwell's 1984, there was a character named Emmanuel Goldstein, whom everybody was expected to hate. Today in the USA, Putin is made to fill that "enemy image."
My absolutely last comment to you John today. On the contrary, I think concerns for the Russian people under a brutal dictatorship strips what might seem fashionable from your perspective. Putin, with all his illusions of grandeur, and the oligarchs and military supporting him out of necessity of life, are the problem.
Labels are just that...ambiguous, weak, simple, and performative. They sprout from no basis in reality...its rather sad actually. I do wish you well.
It won't surprise me if the Proud Boys, et. al. won't be "monitoring" polls in several states this November either. The fact that Ukraine's short history of independence from the Soviets hasn't qualified them to be acolytes is not a reason to paint them with the same brush as Putin. Our own history suggests that progress in a democracy is no fairy tale; it's more like 2 steps forward, 1 step back, sometimes with decades between steps forward. Intent matters; those who participated in Ukraine's revolution in 2014 demonstrated their intent, which is still playing out today, just as our revolution 230 some-odd years ago is also still playing out today. The West is lining up behind an ideal that was clearly demonstrated and is currently defended at cost of many lives and despite massive destruction by Russia. Focus all you wish on what's imperfect about them, but also acknowledge that the biggest thug in the neighborhood is the one who invaded their country.
The West has re-colonized the South, and the genocidal IMF (based in Washington, D.C.) has enslaved Ukraine. Once again, from Davison Budhoo's 100-page resignation letter from the IMF:
"To me resignation is a priceless liberation, for with it I have taken the first big step to that place where I may hope to wash my hands of what in my mind’s eye is the blood of millions of poor and starving peoples. Mr. Camdessus, the blood is so much, you know, it runs in rivers."
"The charges that I make are not light charges - they are charges that touch at the very heart of western society and western morality and post-war inter-governmental institutionalism that have degenerated into fake and sham under the pretext of establishing and maintaining international economic order and global efficiency."
"Will the world be content merely to brand our institution as among the most insidious enemies of humankind? Will our fellowmen condemn us thus and let the matter rest? Or will the heirs of those whom we have dismembered in our own peculiar Holocaust clamor for another Nuremberg?
"I don’t mind telling you that this matter has haunted me; it has haunted me particularly over the past five years. It has haunted me because I know that if I am tried I will be found guilty, very guilty, without extenuating circumstance."
"In guilt and self-realization of my own worthlessness as a human being, what I would like to do most of all is to so propel myself that I can get the man-in-the-street of North and South and East and West and First and Second and Third and Fourth and All Other Worlds to take an interest in what is happening to his single planet, his single habitat, because our institution was allowed to evolve in a particular way in late twentieth century international society, and allowed to become the supra-national authority that controls the day-to-day lives of hundreds of millions of people everywhere."
"We get away with our works of Dracula hiding behind the mask of Superior Technocracy and a Greater Wisdom striving for “financial balance” and “structural adjustment” in the Third World."
"And so it goes on and on and on. And nothing changes in the developing world except more death and destitution for the people in the slums, and more power for the Fund. And with the passing of every meeting our staff becomes even more reinvigorated; they wield a sharper and more bloodied tool; an even more terrifying Executor’s Axe stand poised for service everywhere in the South. And the children scream, Sir; my God, how they scream!"
(Budhoo is referring here to the incessant screaming of starving infants. When they stop screaming, you know that death is near.)
I strongly disagreed, and was inclined to not get into it. The 2014 coup/revolution wouldn't have been successful without the thug muscle of hard-core neo-Nazis. And then the neo-Nazis were put in charge of security -- Ministry of the Interior. The perpetrators of the Odessa Barbecue were never punished:
Jenny Hawkins, you endorse Joe Biden's support for the anti-democratic far-right terrorist thug regime in Ukraine. How can you sleep at night?
"In January 2018, Azov rolled out its National Druzhina street patrol unit whose members swore personal fealty to Biletsky and pledged to “restore Ukrainian order” to the streets. The Druzhina quickly distinguished itself by carrying out pogroms against the Roma and LGBT organizations and storming a municipal council. Earlier this year, Kiev announced the neo-Nazi unit will be monitoring polls in next month’s presidential election."
https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/neo-nazis-far-right-ukraine/
I read the Nation article you linked. To summarize, it says there is a small faction of far-right, neo-nazis in Ukraine. Further, it says these neo-nazis have formed paramilitary groups and have some connections in the police and military. Basically, they are describing Ukraine’s version of our own Three Percenters or Proud Boys (you could easily read this article and substitute “Three Percenters” for “Maidan”). Neo-nazi groups like this can be found in every western democracy. These are not mainstream groups. Their existence does not mean that Zelenskiy is a “thug” (a Jewish neo-nazi? really?) or the Ukrainian government is a neo-nazi regime, any more than the existence of the Proud Boys means Biden is a neo-nazi thug. Your hyperbole is breath-taking.
Interesting sidenote - an account @John_Schmeeckle has been suspended by Twitter for behaving like a troll bot, focusing on attacking Ukraine and reposting Russian propaganda, going back well before Putin’s invasion, and linking to numerous articles from Sputnik News (amongst others). The same John Schmeeckle? Who knows.
http://www.vicnims.com/profile/1467773232455598088
Mind you the Nation's article was written in February 2018, and Zelensky was elected in March 2019. JR's comment is spot on.
Replying to JR and Brad Christo:
Zelensky was presiding over the ongoing neo-Nazi atrocities in the Donbass (artillery shelling of civilian targets, like what the Serbs did to the Bosnians), until the Russian invasion made him stop.
Beyond that, the principal supporter behind Zelensky's rise to power was the same Ukrainian oligarch who funded the neo-Nazi Azov battalion:
http://www.stationgossip.com/2022/03/it-all-comes-together-hunter-burisma.html?m=1
Well John, one final comment. I think you are confused or again flipping a projection of facts. The Russian supported separatists in the Donbass, complete with Russian sniper corps and military supplies, was the first act of this Russian aggression.
As to Ukranian oligarch(s) supporting Zelensky, this is laughable. Zelensky won his election with 73% of the vote, and with a platform to fight corruption. You might find supporting right wing conspiracies, as evident of the articles in StationGossip, just that, conspiracies, versus the facts.
I think that Putin really thinks that Russia faces an existential threat from an expanding NATO.
Ukraine never kept its promises in the Minsk accords that ended the fighting in 2014, and there has been periodic artillery shelling (comparable to what the Bosnians did to the Serbians, provoking a NATO attack) ever since.
Before Russia attacked, Ukraine was building up troops along the Donbass line of control, apparently preparing to invade. (I remember reading that the IMF insisted that Ukraine re-absorb the breakaway region, so the eastern ethnic Russians could be taxed to help pay the unpayble debt.)
Finally, Ukraine publicly floated the idea of getting nuclear weapons again, just before Russia attacked.
I think it is clear that "democracy" in Ukraine is a sham. It seems clear that both neo-Nazi thugs in the streets and support from the USA were necessary for the 2014 coup/revolution to succeed. The neo-Nazis were put in charge of security, and nobody was punished for the Odessa Barbecue that terrorized the people throughout the country. Two pro-Russia politicians got killed, and nobody was punished.
It seems to me that the American leadership, in the White House and in both parties in both houses of Congress (and fully supported by the mainstream news media) is marching toward a nuclear war that we would probably lose, because of Russia's temporary advantage in military technology.
My assessment is that, if the American leadership remains unreasonably hostile to Putin's seemingly reasonable demands (for example, no re-run of the Cubsn missile crisis), Russia will not hesitate to (for example) declare that sanctions against Russia's banking sector are acts of war and launch a nuclear attack whenever they think it is to their strategic advantage.
copy, paste, repeat...
Professional, right?
Couldn't resist. John, nobody wins a nuclear war. It saddens me how conspiracies warp thinking; I do wish you well.
Bravo
Many thanks for this reply. I was thinking John was a troll. I can't think the last name is common. I found the post offensive no matter who he is.
Michele, I am who I am, and the Ukrainian neo-Nazi regime is what it is, and JR lies easily.
I think of myself as an old-school Democrat in the tradition of my grandmother's fourth cousin Franklin D. Roosevelt.
I do not see the current regime as neo-Nazi. I do understand that there were problems before. What is troubling to me is that you are repeating Russian propaganda. I am an old school D, not related to anyone important except way back and long dead. I was brought up in a Republican state by Republican parents.
The way I see things, there was no real change when Zelensky was brought to power (through the help of a friendly oligarch), although some of the grosser violations probably stopped.
I think that Putin really thinks that Russia faces an existential threat from an expanding NATO.
Ukraine never kept its promises in the Minsk accords that ended the fighting in 2014, and there has been periodic artillery shelling (comparable to what the Bosnians did to the Serbians, provoking a NATO attack) ever since.
Before Russia attacked, Ukraine was building up troops along the Donbass line of control, apparently preparing to invade. (I remember reading that the IMF insisted that Ukraine re-absorb the breakaway region, so the eastern ethnic Russians could be taxed to help pay the unpayble debt.)
Finally, Ukraine publicly floated the idea of getting nuclear weapons again, just before Russia attacked.
I think it is clear that "democracy" in Ukraine is a sham. It seems clear that both neo-Nazi thugs in the streets and support from the USA were necessary for the 2014 coup/revolution to succeed. The neo-Nazis were put in charge of security, and nobody was punished for the Odessa Barbecue that terrorized the people throughout the country. Two pro-Russia politicians got killed, and nobody was punished.
It seems to me that the American leadership, in the White House and in both parties in both houses of Congress (and fully supported by the mainstream news media) is marching toward a nuclear war that we would probably lose, because of Russia's temporary advantage in military technology.
My assessment is that, if the American leadership remains unreasonably hostile to Putin's seemingly reasonable demands (for example, no re-run of the Cuban missile crisis), Russia will not hesitate to (for example) declare that sanctions against Russia's banking sector are acts of war and launch a nuclear attack whenever they think it is to their strategic advantage.
copy, paste, repeat again...
Everyone seems to be worried about a nuclear attack. However, whatever the problems in Ukraine, I cannot support Putin who has proven himself a bad guy in many ways. The Russians did interfere in the election in 2016 and yes, I know that's not the only reason death star won. This to me is unforgivable and that extends to any party that aided and abetted mafia don. I do understand that politics are not pure and all sorts of bad actors are often involved in Ukraine and everywhere else. Our record is certainly not pure either. As usual, ordinary people are paying the price. And I cannot support the idea that anyone will win a nuclear war. Frankly, I am tired of being in thrall to a relatively small number of people who make up the rich and powerful.
JR, Thank you.
Looks that way. His posts are all over the internet. Many of those who believe as he does seem to think everyone else is as gullible as they are but won't admit to being.
Anyone who is on FB should browse this person's page/posts. There are two named J... Shm.... Choose the one who attended Dartmouth College.
My Facebook page is here:
https://m.facebook.com/710547829/
JR, your comment reads like an attempt at Nazi-style disinformation in support of the Ukrainian neo-Nazi thug regime. I will quote from the second and third paragraphs of that article from The Nation, which you pointedly ignore:
"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."
JR, you come across as a McCarthyist bigot and an apologist for Ukrainian neo-Nazi atrocities. May you please change your tune.
The four year old Nation article described a minority group in Ukraine. Anti-Semitism has always been a factor in Eastern Europe and bears watching, just as it does in the United States. This is probably why the historic emigration of Jews from Europe came mostly from Eastern European countries and not from Germany or France. The Nation article does not justify opposition to today's Ukraine government.
Zelensky was presiding over the ongoing neo-Nazi atrocities in the Donbass (artillery shelling of civilian targets, like what the Serbs did to the Bosnians), until the Russian invasion made him stop.
Beyond that, the principal supporter behind Zelensky's rise to power was the same Ukrainian oligarch who funded the neo-Nazi Azov battalion:
http://www.stationgossip.com/2022/03/it-all-comes-together-hunter-burisma.html?m=1
As others have pointed out, that Nation article (2018) pre-dates Zelenskiy’s election and democratic reforms (which are a work in process, there’s a lot of resistance from oligarchs and right-wingers). The most recent Freedom House analysis of Ukraine calls it a “nation in transition”, with a rating of 39/100 on their freedom scale. Freedom House rates Putin’s Russia as “not free”, with a rating of 19/100. If we are going to call a country a “neo-nazi thug regime” then Putin’s Russia wins hands down. BTW, “may you please change your tune” is an unusual phrasing. не могли бы вы изменить свою мелодию?
https://freedomhouse.org/country/russia/freedom-world/2022
https://freedomhouse.org/country/ukraine/nations-transit/2021
What planet are you on? Not this one, surely. Remember that Stalin may have killed more innocent people than Hitler, but when Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, Churchill (who had been a life-long anti-Communist) noted that “If Hitler invaded Hell, I should at least make a favorable reference to the Devil in the House of Commons.” I war, you often cannot pick your allies.
Troll alert
I think you are misinterpreting Jon's comment. Stalin murdered millions of his own people. Churchill knew that Stalin was pure evil but Stalin chose to align with the Allies against Hitler. For that time Stalin was the lesser of two evils.
I don't understand how you can possibly interpret that comment as trolling.
I'm new here, but is Nancy pointing out to Jon Margolis that John Schmeeckle is a troll?
Oh, indeed, I misread your comment entirely. It stacked incorrectly in my feed I apologized to Nancy.
Yes. It is a common occurrence for some members of this forum to call those they disagree with a troll. Lately, it becomes fashionable for some to accuse others of being unpatriotic or un American. It can be a very testy place, this forum. Gird your loins. And welcome!
I've lurked for quite a few months and compared to some other places this comment section is mostly respectful and extremely informative. I often suggest that to friends that they subscribe to HCR, one to support excellent journalism and two, to be a part of the comment community. Appreciative of all I've learned.
And not for the faint of heart....
Daria, I was responding to the post above Jon's- from John Schmeeckle, and actually agreeing with Jon. Sorry, Jon, I frequently see your comments, and like all of them. I'm well aware of Stalin's tyranny, and know people whose parents and grandparents had been banished by him to Siberia from Lithuania. As you say, at least the monster aligned with the Allies. Otherwise we might all have been exterminated. I doubt that most people here think they need to "gird their loins" where I'm concerned.
Nancy, I'm sorry! Your comment didn't appear in the right sequence then. I actually thought that it was an odd comment for you to make!
About girding ones loins: there is some pretty testy stuff happening here, even today. People are telling others they don't belong here, people are questioning another's patriotism and whether or not they are "true Americans". WTF does that even mean? There is a good measure of meanness going these days. I was mean this morning as well.
Daria, I did respond to Jon's comment to John, mainly because I usually don't respond directly to troll-like comments. No sense in giving these disruptors "points" for their bad intentions. I know that you're always thoughtful and your answers are intelligent. You weren't "mean." These are fraught times, and I just pray that we can all ignore the trolls and naysayers and stay on the road for this dangerous trip. We need all of our energy to hold our majority, and it would be really nice to pick up a seat or two as insurance against those who claim to be on our side, but aren't.
For anyone on FB, check out this man's FB page. There are two with this name, select the one who attended Dartmouth.
Judith, I'm not on FB. Anything you are comfortable sharing?
Viewing the posts on his FB page as a whole are useful for understanding where he's coming from. The only *opinion* I can offer is that he loves trees.
I was responding to the post above Jon's- from John Schmeeckle, and actually agreeing with Jon. Sorry, Jon, I frequently see your comments, and like all of them.
Ummm, er, Certainly in a playbook somewhere. Putin’s perhaps?
Dave Dalton, do I perceive the stench of Orwellian McCarthyist bigotry?
Perceive what you choose. Stench comes in many forms
I have no idea what Orwellian McCartyist Bigotry means
Hahahahaha. Perfect, Dave. Neither does he. Troll talk playbook.
These days, anti-Russian bigotry is fashionable. McCarthyism in the 1950s included labeling as "Communist" anyone who sounded socialist, and these days, anyone who criticizes Ukraine gets the "Putin's playbook" treatment. In Orwell's 1984, there was a character named Emmanuel Goldstein, whom everybody was expected to hate. Today in the USA, Putin is made to fill that "enemy image."
My absolutely last comment to you John today. On the contrary, I think concerns for the Russian people under a brutal dictatorship strips what might seem fashionable from your perspective. Putin, with all his illusions of grandeur, and the oligarchs and military supporting him out of necessity of life, are the problem.
Labels are just that...ambiguous, weak, simple, and performative. They sprout from no basis in reality...its rather sad actually. I do wish you well.
It won't surprise me if the Proud Boys, et. al. won't be "monitoring" polls in several states this November either. The fact that Ukraine's short history of independence from the Soviets hasn't qualified them to be acolytes is not a reason to paint them with the same brush as Putin. Our own history suggests that progress in a democracy is no fairy tale; it's more like 2 steps forward, 1 step back, sometimes with decades between steps forward. Intent matters; those who participated in Ukraine's revolution in 2014 demonstrated their intent, which is still playing out today, just as our revolution 230 some-odd years ago is also still playing out today. The West is lining up behind an ideal that was clearly demonstrated and is currently defended at cost of many lives and despite massive destruction by Russia. Focus all you wish on what's imperfect about them, but also acknowledge that the biggest thug in the neighborhood is the one who invaded their country.
The West has re-colonized the South, and the genocidal IMF (based in Washington, D.C.) has enslaved Ukraine. Once again, from Davison Budhoo's 100-page resignation letter from the IMF:
"To me resignation is a priceless liberation, for with it I have taken the first big step to that place where I may hope to wash my hands of what in my mind’s eye is the blood of millions of poor and starving peoples. Mr. Camdessus, the blood is so much, you know, it runs in rivers."
"The charges that I make are not light charges - they are charges that touch at the very heart of western society and western morality and post-war inter-governmental institutionalism that have degenerated into fake and sham under the pretext of establishing and maintaining international economic order and global efficiency."
"Will the world be content merely to brand our institution as among the most insidious enemies of humankind? Will our fellowmen condemn us thus and let the matter rest? Or will the heirs of those whom we have dismembered in our own peculiar Holocaust clamor for another Nuremberg?
"I don’t mind telling you that this matter has haunted me; it has haunted me particularly over the past five years. It has haunted me because I know that if I am tried I will be found guilty, very guilty, without extenuating circumstance."
"In guilt and self-realization of my own worthlessness as a human being, what I would like to do most of all is to so propel myself that I can get the man-in-the-street of North and South and East and West and First and Second and Third and Fourth and All Other Worlds to take an interest in what is happening to his single planet, his single habitat, because our institution was allowed to evolve in a particular way in late twentieth century international society, and allowed to become the supra-national authority that controls the day-to-day lives of hundreds of millions of people everywhere."
"We get away with our works of Dracula hiding behind the mask of Superior Technocracy and a Greater Wisdom striving for “financial balance” and “structural adjustment” in the Third World."
"And so it goes on and on and on. And nothing changes in the developing world except more death and destitution for the people in the slums, and more power for the Fund. And with the passing of every meeting our staff becomes even more reinvigorated; they wield a sharper and more bloodied tool; an even more terrifying Executor’s Axe stand poised for service everywhere in the South. And the children scream, Sir; my God, how they scream!"
(Budhoo is referring here to the incessant screaming of starving infants. When they stop screaming, you know that death is near.)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oJzvpfFzIKu76oE1CkzZlarRiVpYIggFMFzSt6OgHx0/mobilebasic"
uhhh...what's your point?
I could say the say the same thing about your blather about the Proud Boys.
I'm sad you didn't get the point...
I strongly disagreed, and was inclined to not get into it. The 2014 coup/revolution wouldn't have been successful without the thug muscle of hard-core neo-Nazis. And then the neo-Nazis were put in charge of security -- Ministry of the Interior. The perpetrators of the Odessa Barbecue were never punished:
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https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/neo-nazis-far-right-ukraine/
For anyone on FB, check out this man's FB page. There are two with this name, select the one who attended Dartmouth.