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.
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.
My understanding is that the claim that Putin interfered in the 2016 presidential election is a proven-false Big Lie, but the evidence isn't discussed in the mainstream news media. I understand that the ongoing Durham special investigation is likely to slowly bring forth new revelations about this.
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.
My understanding is that the claim that Putin interfered in the 2016 presidential election is a proven-false Big Lie, but the evidence isn't discussed in the mainstream news media. I understand that the ongoing Durham special investigation is likely to slowly bring forth new revelations about this.
Oh my, you just discredited yourself big time. The Durham investigation, really.
Really?? Why would anybody say something like that?
https://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-trump-really-was-spied-on-2016-clinton-campaign-john-durham-court-filing-11644878973