311 Comments

Once again Biden is acting responsibly, adroitly, sensibly, yes, presidentially, to a mess left by his predecessor. What will congressional Republicans do to try to hamstring Biden's efforts at re-establishing American diplomatic leadership? What will they do to try to trip him up if Russia does indeed invade Ukraine? Soon we may discover whether the Republican Party en masse has become a Russian agent.

One would want to ask Tucker Carson if Putin is paying him directley or through shell companies. Trump mortgaged his properties to Putin, Carlson appears to have mortgaged his soul.

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This is a critically important letter, Heather. Our collective amnesia regarding history that is older than a decade prevents us from grasping the weight of this moment. Thank you for laying out the big picture with such clarity.

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Mark Hertling (one of my bosses many, MANY moons ago, ) is correct--Putin & Gang are seeking to increase pressure and the opportunity for a chaotic flashpoint event. When Biden was elected, a potential scenario like this was a BIG reason I was glad it was him (sorry, Biden knew more about foreign policy and Russia in particular than all the other Dems put together). I specifically pointed out to a friend (we live in Romania--they worry too) that Biden wouldn't fall asleep on or easily acquiesce on Russia. I worry too that Poland, not exactly a democracy anymore, and Hungary will "accidentally" step in dog crap with statements/actions in the coming weeks. This bears watching, for sure.

I will add that we absolutely can see whatever the Russians are doing near the border and capable of exposing it (if we want to). If the administration wants to it can easily expose the lies they casually got away with in 2014 and after (like saying the Eastern Ukrainians were fighting organically, even though they clearly had T-64 tanks which are only used in Russian units).

Lastly, (I'm sorry, I can't hold this back--I"m still hot about it 7 years later), the president undoubtedly knows to NEVER do what his predecessor did and state that the US won't intervene militarily in Ukraine. There is a saying: "never tell your opponent what you won't do." Exactly.

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Listened to about the last half of Governor Abbott's Town Hall this evening. I missed some topics like voter fraud but did hear his answers on CRT, the 2nd amendment, the illegal immigrant threat and the radical liberals threat of socialism. Abbott did sound very scared of Beto and desperate about Beto running against him this year. Beto winning would be a risk of losing not just gun rights but all the rights in the greatest state in the history of the world. He said CRT was antagonistic to the US and a Marxist approach. Thought it interesting that he quoted MLKjr as the being right about "judge a man not by the color of his skin but by the content of his character". Personally, I don't see much demonstration of character here. He talked about having thousands of jail beds to place illegal immigrants and coyotes. He called Biden's DOJ paying the families of the illegal immigrant children separated from their parents insanity. It was a little hard to take all the fawning and thank you's from the people on the call who asked questions of Abbott. I hope Abbott's reelection chances are as desperate as he sounded. That was my big take-away -- Beto is a big threat to his reelection. Beto hasn't even declared his candidacy yet. I already have my selfie with Beto so I'm all set!

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In a few short paragraphs, this Letter from Dr. Richardson explains the complex situation regarding what is happening in Eastern Europe and why, and what is going on regarding refugees flowing through Belarus to Poland. This is the larger story that CNN, MSNBC, BBC, and the other news networks are failing to acknowledge, report, or explain. Bravo again!

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It appearsTrump and his cohort of cretinous traitors in Congress are willing to risk WW3 if it will make Biden look weak. They need to be jailed now.

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Thank you, Professor Richardson.

I’ve been following the increasingly escalating developments at the Poland/Belarus border closely and, given that I live in Germany, the threat level is very worrisome to say the least.

The EU finds itself in the touchy situation of having harshly criticized Poland for its pushback of migrants attempting to seek asylum at their border, in violation of EU and International law. Now, it is being forced to take a new approach. Just this week, the Belarus army marched 1,000 migrants to the Polish border and told them they would be shot if they attempted to return to Belarus.

Putin’s fingerprints are all over this brewing fiasco, as they are in Ukraine. The dangerous test we are facing is made more difficult by the disloyal, radical Republican members of Congress and the far right media. Our country is being torn apart from within – just as Putin had hoped by supporting the former President.

Will we – and by “we” I mean the country as a whole – support our government when it must finally counter Putin’s actions? Will our allies? Frankly, I have more faith in NATO and the European Parliament than I do Republicans in the US Congress. I hope I'm wrong - we will need them all.

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“Horrifically, to destabilize the EU and NATO further, Russia and its ally Belarus are weaponizing migrants.” It’s no surprise Tucker would support this…who is paying him ???

I hope the US Troops remain in the U.S. Perhaps, as others have suggested, to

help build infrastructure.

Dad was a World War II vet. Raising the U.S.flag started as a daily morning ritual when he was with us. Every Veteran’s Day he would dress in his Legion uniform and we would cruise on down to the local parade.

Several years ago we were sitting along the parade route when a campaigning Republican threw a promotional koozie at my feet. When I didn’t immediately reach for it, he snidely shouted out:”Pick it up, it won’t hurt you.” I made a note to self:This guy appears to have an attitude so let’s see how it goes if he’s elected.

Fast forward several years and he’s now a Florida House Rep .His self-professed greatest accomplishment is getting a Fl gaming bill passed which facilitates sports betting at your fingertips via an app.

He has also slandered and harassed a local school board member and a number of constituents. He’s proud of the pumpkin his son carved for Halloween with “Let’s Go Brandon”. The next generation ?

I contacted each Republican who voted for the infrastructure bill and thanked them for helping to bring us a better tomorrow.

Today we will spread dad’s ashes…and continue to hope for a better tomorrow.

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Yesterday a friend texted me saying none of his friends want to be reminded of January 6th. That dwelling on it was like beating a dead horse. This came after I forwarded Heather’s letter. Later in the day my husband handed me his Economist magazine saying I should read Lexington. The essay pointed out how many of the people who follow Trump’s shadow are ivy leaguers—oh sure I thought—people who love power. The so-called friend is a white man who lives in a gorgeous mansion by the sea and who made a ton of money in the securities industry. He lives in a wealthy enclave north of Boston. I guess they’re just somewhat fat and happy and see our democracy going Biden’s way as a threat to their way of life. How shortsighted and selfish is that? How piggish and ignorant. When I encounter him again I’ll be pleasant enough but I have lost a certain respect that I once had for him.

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Who is really paying Tucker Carlson? Follow the (Russian) money and stop this traitor.

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Good morning everyone. Nice to read HCR on foreign policy issues--even though they do ultimately turn around oleaginous house ferrets like Paul Manafort and Co. Surprised she didn't add Giuliani into the mix, as he was also involved in trying to keep Yanukovych in power. I am sorry to say that the "longue duree" history of Eastern Europe doesn't bode well for democratic institutions except in certain very specific areas, such as the Czech Republic (historically, Bohemia), which consistently pushed against imperial rule by the Teutonic Knights (the precursors of Prussia), the Holy Roman Empire/Kingdom of Hungary, and the German Empire. The citizens of Prague made their political views known by throwing opponents out the window of the town hall--the most famous defenestration of 1618, which supposedly started the Thirty Years' War, being only one of such actions. There are all kinds of people I would love to see tossed out of windows these days.

The rest of eastern Europe has been autocratic in complexion pretty much since the arrival of the Kievan Rus'--a combo of Germanic, Finno-Ugric, and Slavic groups who went a-Viking into the region and established a kingdom in the 9th century. Just as the so-called Arab Spring taught, the creation of functioning democracies is not an easy or short-term process. Tearing down the Iron Curtain in no way sufficed to convert those populations into democratically-inclined folks. It could be argued that there have been virtually no successful functioning democracies since the destruction of the Iroquois Confederation. Certainly Athens was not one, since about 10% of the population actually participated in the rule by the "demos."

Humans generally find it hard to do hard stuff. Maintaining democracies and empathy are two very hard things to sustain. It is far easier to fall back on dog-whistles and autocracy because then you can cluster with your tribe and complain about everyone else. For those wondering about the execrable Josh Hawley's motivations for proclaiming that "masculinity" (which he refuses to define) is "under attack" by all of us dangerous witchy feminists, there's your answer.

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Yesterday, NPRs On Point, reviewed China's increasing aggressive acts towards Taiwan and the difficult position that puts the US in for defending democratic nations in the Asian Pacific, plus that half of the world's semiconductors are made in Taiwan. This capacity is not being duplicated or replaced anywhere in western democracies. And our defense systems as well as industries and daily life depend on semiconductors from Taiwan.

Trump Republicans attacks on the US are aiding and abetting both Russia and China.

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Putin has a pattern. Where there is a crisis, exploit it and make it harder on your enemies, as he did in Syria, shelling cities. Adding millions of refugees to flood European countries. Then fund the right wings in those countries to criticize democratic leader’s humanitarian effort to stabilize the crisis.

In Ukraine, there wasn’t a crisis, so Putin manufactures one, then he will claim solving it and while doing so whip up the Nationalism domestically.

“When citizens can be kept uncertain by the regular manufacture of crisis, their emotions and behavior can be managed and directed”.- Solkov

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On this Veterans Day, I remember and salute every dang one of them. This is my home country of choice. And I thank our troops for defending democracy throughout what is now centuries, as flawed as systems of governance may be. May the freedom that we fight for bring peace to the generations ahead so that they flourish in that peace.

Love and Light on this day.

Salud! 🙋🏻🙋🏼🙋🏽🙋🏾🙋🏿

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Thanks for the great explanation. Being with a Lithuanian lady whose mother got the family out ten steps ahead of Stalin in 1945, I've definitely heard a lot about the wonders of Russia.

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As succinct a history of the region as I have read anywhere, so thanks (as always!). -- Let's hope that the economic sanctions and threats of even more will dissuade Putin from trying to use military force. The EU and NATO need to hang tough and undo the harm to these alliances caused by Trump.

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