On Biden’s weakness: Putin isn’t Corn Pop
The money angle on Putin and Ukraine:
Before Biden became President, the U.S. was energy independent and an exporter of energy. [Biden lowered] American production and remov[ed] Trump’s restrictions on the Nordstream natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany. His policies made other countries more reliant on Russian gas…[g]iving Putin leverage on other countries such as Germany and doubling the price. All that extra money went straight into Russia’s pockets. Those new profits helped Russia raise the funds to continue Putin’s dream of the greater Russia of the USSR.
On top of the higher prices and the increased dependence on Russian energy, the mishandling of the Afghan withdrawal and removing some of the Iran sanctions showed Biden to be a weak President. Putin is no idiot. All of Biden’s flawed policies and feeble foreign policy made the Russian president understand that if he was ever going to get Ukraine back in Russia’s clutches, this was it.
This seems pretty obvious.
How far this will go – whether it will be resolved at the last minute and both sides declare victory – I’m not sure. However, I assumed when Biden was elected that this sort of thing was going to be happening. Biden would be continuing Obama’s policies, only making it worse because we’re that much farther along on the leftist continuum and Biden is obviously confused and feeble.
More:
The White House has already ruled out sanctions on Russia for recognizing the autonomy of Donetsk and Luhansk and the peacekeepers seem to fall within the “minor incursion” parameters that Joe Biden established in January. I don’t know what level of risk the Ukrainians are willing to take by accidentally, or not, killing Russian troops. I’d just note that under the UN “peacekeeping” definition, both sides have to agree to a ceasefire before deployment. That hasn’t happened in this case which leads one to believe that the primary purpose of the Russian troops is to get some of them killed. So we haven’t seen the last of this melodrama.
Putin has created an “invasion-in-being.” In naval warfare, the analogous concept of a “fleet in being” is a force that projects menace without ever leaving port. Were it to fight it might lose and no longer influence but while it remains in port, one is forced to guard against it…
…[T]here is no way of telling whether this or that stand-to is the real thing because to be credible, it must always be potentially real…
Being an ex secret policeman, Putin knows much of his menace comes from unpredictability. The public can tolerate ordinary police because they know what the rules are and do not anticipate a midnight knock on the door. As with secret police, Ukraine and the Western public don’t know what the rules are. They are hanging on the caprice of a seeming madman, who curiously keeps going to the brink without crossing it for good reason; if he actually invades in a recognizable way the uncertainty is removed and the West knows what to do about aging overreaching dictators who’ve started something they can’t afford. By preserving ambiguity Putin has Biden spellbound, on the one hand reportedly convinced it’s on.
“Peacekeeping” forces? Whatever Putin calls them, what will they actually be doing?
On the other hand, Biden seems to think Putin can still be talked out of it. The wires announced a breakthrough summit brokered by French President Emmanuel Macron in which “President Biden has agreed ‘in principle’ to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the near future, provided Russia has not invaded Ukraine, the White House announced.” Taking all the elements together it seems, according to a former White House adviser, that “ultimately Putin wants some kind of deal. They think Biden is the kind of president who could actually make a deal. Trump never could.” Perhaps Putin’s first choice in the Ukraine crisis was always a deal.
Who knew the White House had such a sense of humor? “[Putin thinks] Biden is the kind of president who could actually make a deal. Trump never could.”
Not the kind of deal Putin wanted, anyway.
We do not know the end game yet. But Putin holds all the cards. Trying to say that Trump would have given in to Putin because Putin controlled Trump is absurd. But then that is what we have come to expect from the Left and the Never Trumpers.
This, coupled with the Truckers possibly causing havoc will lead to even higher prices, more draconian measures and more shortage.
I am so optimistic aren’t I.
Want to know why we’re in this mess? Here’s the text of a Tweet from Laurence O’Donnell, MSNBC host and card-carrying member of America’s political establishment:
“Is Putin smart?
What would make him smart?
His (weak) education?
Competition in the Russian marketplace of ideas?
Colleagues & Russian experts who challenge his thinking?
Has he had any valuable learning experiences anywhere in the world?”
https://twitter.com/Lawrence/status/1495844462630772738
Laurence O’Donnell thinks he is dramatically smarter than a former KGB agent during the Cold War who has been the dominant figure in Russian politics and government for more than 20 years. THAT’S why we’re screwed.
Mike
Trump knew how economics worked. That was his life before 2016. He knew how to apply sanctions. China evaded many of them by buying off his opponents here, especially in Congress. The Democrats in their looney Russia conspiracy plans tied Trump’s hands to some degree but he freed the energy industry and had us exporting oil and gas. That held Putin back as Russia is “a gas station with a foreign policy” to quote McCain. Biden/Obama reversed Trump’s policies and gave Putin billions to fund his adventures. Putin also knew that the Democrats were not interested in America’s future except the fantasy world of global warming. He is no dummy.
Putin wouldn’t dare to invade Ukraine if trump was the president, proof? It didn’t happen when trump was president.
I’ve long been an admirer of Richard Fernandez’s analysis. But not this time. I strongly disagree with his highly slanted analysis. He entirely ignores the national security factors for Russia, that would come into play if the Ukraine is granted NATO membership. That is what IMO is driving Putin’s actions. From Russia’s national security perspective, having NATO directly on its borders, less than an 8hr drive from Moscow is an intolerable national security risk. That is a valid concern for any nation faced with other nations gathered in an unfriendly alliance.
An alliance BTW, which has regularly and consistently violated its 1991 agreement with Russia to leave NATO’s borders unchanged. That, along with the Ukraine’s abandonment of nuclear weapons were the central assurances that led to the Soviets agreeing to peacefully grant the Ukraine its independence.
Instead, NATO has added 14 more nations to its membership, all stretching NATO’s border ever closer to Russia’s borders.
Adding to Russia’s paranoia is the fact that factions in NATO have long pushed for the Ukraine to be granted membership in NATO and the western installed Ukrainian President is openly lobbying for NATO membership. Once granted, nothing would prevent NATO from installing nuclear cruise missiles upon Russia’s very border capable of reaching Moscow in mere minutes, giving Russia little to no time to react. Nor does it matter whether NATO might ever take that step. What matters is that Russia can’t risk its very survival on assurances of permanent peaceful intent from an alliance whose behavior is questionable at best and which has directly and repeatedly violated its agreement with Russia.
So upon what basis should Putin extend trust to NATO’s assurances of peaceful intent?
If it were just a matter of Putin wanting to seize the Ukraine and Putin having no concern about the Ukraine gaining NATO membership, Putin is easily crafty enough to realize that waiting until Nord Stream 2 is up and running would make it much more difficult for Germany to get on board with sanctions against Russia. Instead, Germany has canceled completion of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline for the yet to be determined future. No more serious sanction of Russia exists.
Biden has now announced new sanctions but only against the area that Putin has invaded. In that announcement, he attempts to shift blame for the coming increases in inflation in America upon Putin. That is tellingly revealing.
NATO is not going to do anything without the US being on board. Given all of the above, it’s very clear that this whole ‘crisis’ has been created to deflect American’s attention from the severe domestic concerns that the democrat’s policies have fostered. And no better distraction from domestic concerns has yet been devised than a ‘safe’ war in a distant region.
That is what IMO is driving Putin’s actions.
If that’s what’s driving his actions, he’s been making lousy moves the last dozen years. The Russophile constituency in the Ukranian electorate was > 40% of the total in 2010. It’s now about 16%.
crosses my red line and i will punish you by drawing more red lines that you can’t cross – democrats’ solution to every foreign diplomatic crisis…
From Russia’s national security perspective, having NATO directly on its borders, less than an 8hr drive from Moscow is an intolerable national security risk.
The Ukraine is not a member of NATO. That aside, the borders of the Warsaw Pact countries were a similar distance from Bonn and Milan.
It’s bloody obvious that Western Europe, having stupidly and corruptly gotten rid of much of its reliable base load power generation *should* get its gas from Russia. What better possible mutual security guarantee and indeed mutual benefits could have been dreamed up in heaven?
Which tells you everything you need to know about the kind of people who would work overtime to smash Nordstream.
@GeoffreyBritain:
Richard Fernandez very obviously worked for one of your three letters during the Marcos years in the Philippine Underground. His job was to keep an eye on and report on the Communists and to be in the right place at the right time if it all came tumbling down. Also of course to help the more moderate opposition forces prevail.
After the fall of Marcos he magically found himself at the Kennedy School of Government on a scholarship.
Back before the Trump years, he wrote more than once in his columns about consulting for government agencies and also advising hedge fund oligarchs on how they could control their private armies after a collapse (answer of course those pencil necks could not).
He’s not a bad man. But he’s not your buddy either. Your bread and his bread are not buttered on the same side.
Which White House Advisor said Trump never could make a deal with Russia? Hasn’t every Democrat been accusing Trump of making deals with Russia for the past 5.5 years?
What’s clear is that your political class and foreign policy elites are evil and insane *and* incompetent — and a global laughing stock… Excepting that an epileptic Brony having a grand mal seizure on top of a pile nuclear red buttons might give the audience some cause for concern between guffaws.
Not being Canadian Hereditary Cringing Tory Forelock Tuggers and all, when y’all going to do the needful? 😛
Geoffrey,
While you make some valid arguments you state as a fact that NATO promised to leave its borders unchanged. That fact is in dispute.
https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2014/11/06/did-nato-promise-not-to-enlarge-gorbachev-says-no/amp/
I’m sure you can provide a link just as credible saying they did. Don’t bother. That is not my point. To state it as fact, and then proceed with an argument is either wrong or disingenuous.
Z can no doubt sing the praises of Vlad’s reliability as an energy supplier to the Fatherland. Not that Vlad, The Restorer of Roosia, would extract protection or expect obsequious compliance from the Deutch. Something about having them by the short hairs.
And of course Richard Fernandez must be disparaged, he is a Phillipino, one of those non-Chinese Asians of the lesser kind. Almost as bad as a Jew, eh, Z?
I’m going to respond working up.
Mike Plaiss,
“you state as a fact that NATO promised to leave its borders unchanged.”
There is some dispute as to whether that assurance was made just as you cite. Two reasons lead me to conclude that NATO representatives did it fact make that assurance. First, the Soviets never would have agreed to let the Ukraine go without firm assurances that NATO would not strive to attain highly advantageous strategic positioning by parking itself on Russia’s border. Secondly, NATO granting the Ukraine membership in NATO would be for Russia an intolerable national security threat. A reality that NATO leadership had to know was a deal breaker for the Soviets without firm assurances. It wasn’t a case of maybe but an absolute necessity if an agreement was to be reached.
Zaphod,
I’m somewhat familar with Fernandez’s CIA involvement. My admitation for him centers upon his geopolitical astuteness. This article came as a bit of a shock, since the bias was so evident and coverage of the issue notably incomplete.
Art Deco,
The Ukraine is not currently a member of NATO. Nor have I ever claimed it to be one. That’s either a strawman argument on your part or sloppy comprehension. That several factions within NATO have long pushed for NATO membership to be extended to the Ukraine is well known. That the western installed Ukrainian President (autocrat) has indicated numerous times, in fact just the other day that he is ‘open’ to the Ukraine joining NATO is easily verifiable. Given his position, he has to know how intolerable the Ukraine joining NATO would be for Putin’s Russia. I suggest deeper reading between the lines of what is being reported. The western media has been beating the drums of war in concert for some time now.
True, the borders of the Warsaw Pact countries were a similar distance from Bonn and Milan. The heavy US military presence in Germany ensured that the Soviets knew that an attack upon Western Europe had a high likelihood of precipitating a nuclear war. Plus, neither Bonn or Milan have the not so distant memory of invasion that the Russians have, truly brutal historical experience underlies Russian paranoia. You do not lessen paranoia by giving the paranoiac further evidence that they cannot help but feel will deepen their paranoia.
BTW, it’s not paranoia… IF they really are out to get you.
“The Russophile constituency in the Ukranian electorate was 40% of the total in 2010. It’s now about 16%.”
An irrelevance to what is driving Putin’s actions. What counts for Putin is NATO’s passive/aggression and the potential threat it presents.
Look, we can agree that Putin is a ruthless dictator who tolerates no opposition. It’s also true that as dictators go, he’s a “live and let live” dictator to those who accept his dominance. He takes Russia’s security seriously and NATO encamped upon Russia’s western border, so close to Russia’s capitol Moscow is simply an intolerable security risk. Only willful blindness can explain ignoring so obvious a consideration. One that for Russia supercedes all other considerations.
@GB:
Re Fernandez: Good.
I don’t particularly like or dislike him either. He’s just doing his thing. It’s up to us all not to be sheep and assume that because he said stuff we liked 15 years ago that he’s still on the side of the angels. I certainly don’t discount his courage back in the day in the underground.
For those who say there’s no Global American Empire or GloboHomo… take a look at the front page of the Murdoch flagship newspaper in Australia today:
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/
And the totally opposite mirror image Leftist Ascendency Head Tilt Press:
https://www.smh.com.au/
https://www.theage.com.au/
Seriously, WTF has Russia and Ukraine got to do with an Immigration Scam Property Bubble Ponzi Scheme masquerading as a sovereign nation at the other ass end of the world?
Richard Aubrey makes a point many here don’t seem to get:
“Look, we can agree that Putin is a ruthless dictator who tolerates no opposition. It’s also true that as dictators go, he’s a “live and let live” dictator to those who accept his dominance.”
Generally speaking the Russians and even the Chinese (albeit to a lesser extent) will *Leave you TF alone*… If you don’t @#$%^ with them. They don’t want to Invade the World / Invite the World. They have their distinct spheres of interest and are not remotely interested in telling the residents of Spokane, WA (Hello, Om) that they must get sex changes, or defund their police or have Trannie kindergarten teachers or else.
It’s not just about Putin and Xi and the Wicked Witch… It’s about looking in the mirror at what the West has turned into — something very ugly and which is utterly unable to resist the demonic urge to stick its nose into everyone else’s business.
I’ve addressed international relations in paras above. But even inside these two nations, the average citizen has the government less inside his head than in the West today. Let’s face it… Nothing anyone in this blog says has the slightest bearing upon what gets decided in the Imperial Capital on the Potomac. And never will. Same goes for John Chinaman in Chongqing. The difference is that John Chinaman in Chongqing can laugh at a Tranny or drive one out of his neighbourhood away from his children without having his life destroyed… because while his government is a Tyranny, it’s a sane and mostly healthy tyranny. Compare and contrast.
Zaphod:
I don’t know why you say that many people here don’t “get” the following: “Look, we can agree that Putin is a ruthless dictator who tolerates no opposition. It’s also true that as dictators go, he’s a ‘live and let live’ dictator to those who accept his dominance.'”
Most dictators tolerate no opposition and yet don’t bother those who don’t oppose them. I can’t say I’ve read every comment here, but I don’t see people saying that Putin wants to tell the people of Spokane what to do.
However, the left does. Part of what’s going on with the defunding movement and the rest you mention is the activity of the left, and the Soviets long ago were part of a group responsible for spreading that ideology around the world. They were certainly not the only ones, but it was one of their goals.
What Putin’s ultimate goals are isn’t especially known, including by you. I actually tend to agree with you, however, that he is more locally focused. The question is: what does he consider local? What will come next? What will the Russian leaders that follow him plan on doing? The old USSR certainly used to be interested in taking over other nations, and this bit of Ukraine brinksmanship conjures that up in people’s minds.
To me, however, right now what’s happening here and in Canada, as well as much of the west, is far more of a concern. I’ve been writing about the decline of the west and the increasing power of the left here ever since I began blogging, which was about 17 years ago.
Oh, and I would never describe China as having “a sane and mostly healthy tyranny.” Nor is ours.
Z sings the praises of Xi. He’s seen the future and it works! High speed rail, social credit, state surveillance and fear of saying the wrong thing; what’s not to like.
And since he’s seen the future, and knows what’s best for America (and his future) he cannot see the pushback to the woke going on in America. That won’t do in Z world.
Zaphod,
No bigee but it is my assertion to which you refer rather than to Richard’s.
I can’t agree that Xi and the CCP are willing to leave others alone who don’t screw with them. Communism’s most fundamental precept is that societal evolution must result in communism’s total domination of the world. I’ve seen no hard evidence that the CCP has changed since its actions in Tiananmen Square and its social credit system utterly reveals where their hearts lie.
My perception of Putin is that he wants his legacy to be one of having returned Russia to its equal superpower status. I think he envisions an equal tripartite leadership between Russia, China and the US.
You make a fundamental mistake in perception of the west. The west’s global elite and infiltration of its cultural, political and military leadership wishes world dominance. But not the dominance of a Hitler or Stalin. Rather they seek the type of tyranny of which C.S. Lewis spoke, “Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive.
It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies.
The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”
That in a nutshell describes Bill Gates, Trudeau, Merkel, Macron and perhaps Klaus Schwab, along with legions of devotees. They know better… for they have enlisted in the greatest secular cause ever conceived; to save the planet and humanity from the extinction event threatened by Climate Change.
Re: “Nothing anyone in this blog says has the slightest bearing upon what gets decided in the Imperial Capital on the Potomac.”
That’s somewhat true but misses the larger point. Those here and hundreds of millions in the West are far more aligned with reality than in China or Russia. Not because of any innate superiority but because by definition, aligning with reality is far more problematic under a dictatorship or totalitarian governance than in a society with a basic amount of liberty. Those millions aligned more closely with reality are a force for goodness in the world and right will, over time suppress (not eliminate) the dark. Were it not so, civilization would not have progressed and developed.
Finally, no tyranny is capable of sanity or health. That is because tyranny is antithetical to life.
@GB:
China is communist today the say way that your form of government is Constitutionally Republican. Outward Forms do not equal actual mechanics of Power or Economic arrangements either.
If Muh ‘Communism’ (which you erroneously conflate with CCP’s Leninist — a system of ruling party discipline and decision making which says NOTHING about economic or world-view ideologies — you do know that the Taiwan KMT under Chiang Kai Shek and Son was run on explicitly Leninist Lines, don’t you? Sure you do.) in China doesn’t work please kindly explain why all your factories and strategic industries are presently located there and not in your back yard?
Whatever you might think of other races and nations eating your lunch, ultimately they did not have a ruling class which beggared their own citizenry and swamped them in imported foreign savagery — in 2022…forget 1959 or 1966… what matters is NOW for a quick buck.
And ultimately that’s all that matters.
I’d like to be proven wrong that current technological developments do not inevitably result in tyranny. But before that I’d like to see the end of Tranny Story Hour and Cancellings and BLM and the beggaring of the Middle and Working classes.
Short version:
“It’s the (sheer) hypocrisy, stupid!”…
The Western elites are BETRAYING “the people” and “the people” (or many—most?—of us) are just beginning +/- to wake up to the fact (hence Trump’s election, etc.). That is, the Western elites have been trying to get away with this BETRAYAL sub-rosa for years (concealed by a whole lot of subterfuge and deception in the form of “patriotic” bluster and “trust-us” bromides); alas, of late—at least for those paying attention—it’s all come out in the open, no matter what the corrupt media has been trying to force feed us. The emperor is absolutely naked—except for that that manic grin…and the damascene sword he’s swinging around like a madman.
IOW, the elites are acting in their very own short-term interest and have been—spinning furiously, hysterically—trying to perfume their piggishness with high-minded rhetoric and patronizing slogans and a laser-like focus on “THE ENEMY” (AKA anyone who opposes them—thank you Saul Alinsky, and others), all this with the hyperactive, non-stop collusion of the professional prevaricating class, also known as “the media”.
OTOH, in China and Russia the elites have been BETRAYING “the people” forever—and this BETRAYAL (AKA the elites acting in their self-interest) is what the people precisely expect (not that they’re necessarily happy about it).
IOW, what else is new?—just keep yer heads down (but above water).
So…which “system” is better?
We’ll certainly have to give Putin and Xi HIGHEST MARKS for their—brutal—honesty(?)…. Moreover, one could argue that while both Russia and China have known destruction of various kinds throughout their fraught histories; our Western elites—our “betters”—are actively trying to sabotage and destroy (AKA “transform”) their own societies…FOR THE GREATER GOOD, of course….(Now where have we heard THAT before…?)
QED(?)
BTW, mightn’t the elephant in the room (AKA, perhaps, the purloined letter?) be that “Biden” has been facilitating—and not by accident—the latest mayhem, whose “end” has yet to be played out.
We’re not just talking about instituting policies that enrich Putin geo-politically and economically but a plan that advantages him geo-strategically.
Meanwhile, all this enables “Biden” and Trudeau to froth at the mouth and hyperventilate in the name of glorious “freedom” and “liberty”…and “sacrosanct” borders…
It’s a bedroom farce on the international level. (And they are most unconvincing—no, make that “terrible”—actors.)
At least Stalin was an actual student at an actual seminary…
On the other hand, maybe the “plan” is to hasten Putin’s failure precisely by enabling his “success”. (Yes, that “Biden” is a deep one!)
Of course, one could also argue that for “Biden”, Ukraine is a thorn in the heel. A big headache that has to be gotten rid of by any means possible. And so, enter stage East?
An alliance BTW, which has regularly and consistently violated its 1991 agreement with Russia to leave NATO’s borders unchanged.
So… Putin is angry because NATO acts like USSR (of which Putin was an agent)? It signs agreements, knowingly lying, then does what it wants anyway. Ha-ha. Putin’s angry because the West is no longer playing the sap.
The USSR’s primary “negotiating” tactic was “give us what we demand or hard-liners will rise to take it anyway.” Russia’s supply of hard-liners ends with Putin.
If the West had real leaders, it would use NATO for its purpose: the conquest and incorporation of Russia.
Z:
Check in with York handlers in Xi land:
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/44390/scores-of-dark-vessels-belonging-to-chinas-maritime-militias-are-operating-in-contested-waters
Xi and the CCP are really not a rapacious international
threat. Nothing to see, on the seas. Otay.
Geoffrey Britain @ 11:14pm,
Very well put.
Agree with Rufus regarding Geoffrey Britain @ 11:14pm, and was reminded of William F Buckley’s famous quote, which most people here know, but maybe some younger folks don’t.
He said he’d rather be governed by the first 200 people listed in the Boston phone book than by the faculty of Harvard, or something like that.
Great line.
As an observer; Geoffrey Britain, Barry Meislin, Zaphod and Om are making some valid points and, I think they all agree on two key points:
1. Nations tend to act in their own self-interests.
2. The U.S. (and some other Western nations) are not acting in their citizens’ best interests but are working to alter their current structure to become a nation acting in concert with other nations for global interests preferred by a cabal of often unelected “elites.”
Zaphod likes that China and Russia are still operating by the first principle.
Geoffrey Britain, Barry Meislin and Om dislike China and Russia because their interests are not the U.S.’s.
All seem to agree that the U.S. should adopt an “America First” type stance. Zaphod’s take: “say what you will about Russia and China, at least their leaders do that (Russia First/China First).” The others seem to feel that the U.S. Constitutional form of government (one where citizens are sovereign) is the only honorable system, so they refuse to look at Russia or China as systems that ultimately serve their citizens’ best interests.
(So, I think all 4 are pretty much on the same page, it’s just that Zaphod thinks the U.S. is where it is from natural law [it was designed to devolve to this point, and beyond] and the others think this is a hiccup in U.S. history and the U.S. can return to “this last best hope for man on Earth.”)
An irrelevance to what is driving Putin’s actions. What counts for Putin is NATO’s passive/aggression and the potential threat it presents.
You have trouble understanding causality. ‘Putin’s actions’ have wrecked the constituency in the Ukraine in favor of voluntary co-operation with Russia. There is no ‘NATO’s passive aggression’ outside your imagination.
Interesting debate above. I tend to agree that NATO incursion in Ukraine is a real threat to Putin, given the traditional paranoia of Russia. I agree the “Maidan Revolution” was organized by the CIA and Obama was behind it. I am also more concerned about the fascist trend in US politics. Now the Biden regime is claiming the inflation we have seen since Biden signed all those EOs on inauguration Day is caused by Ukraine. What we see in Canada may be a preview of Democrat plans for the USA. Certainly, the Trudeau regime is using the January 6 script.
Awesome retort at 10:36pm Neo.
the Soviets long ago were part of a group responsible for spreading that ideology around the world.
I’ve read that less than half of the old KGB budget was devoted to traditional spy operations. Most was spent on promoting social propaganda such as Prof. Hebert Marcuse’s nonsense. (I watched “Hail Caesar” a few night ago. The character of Prof. Marcuse has a few amusing scenes.) And the word propaganda doesn’t do it justice. The ideology Zaphod intimates as originating in the West are really the fruits of mostly Soviet “demon seeds” planted decades ago.
Neo’s also correct: Who and what comes after Putin? After much of the old satellite empire is reconstructed.
I agree the “Maidan Revolution” was organized by the CIA and Obama was behind it.
The agency which promoted Aldrich Ames multiple times?
People seem to forget that Victor Yanukovich was the only elected official bounced out of office in 2014, that he left the country when he realized the men in uniform were not going to spill blood for him, that his own political party would not go to bat for him, and that the Ukraine has held competitive elections six times since 2014. The significance of Euromaidan is that it was the point at which Russia began a campaign of harassment against the Ukraine which has continued to this day, i.e. when they gave up appealing to the Ukrainian public and adopted the pose of the creepy stalker ex-boyfriend.
Of course one big difference is that Corn Pop never existed.
TommyJay:
“Hail Caesar” is an excellent movie IMO. The Priest, Pastor, Rabi scene among many others.
Behold!
And here it is, folks!
“…Russia has had troops in Donbas for 8 years, U.S. official admits”—
https://justthenews.com/government/security/invasion-not-new-russian-troops-have-been-stationed-donbas-eight-years-us
Seems we’re living in a house of mirrors…
(Gosh, who knew?)
Oh heck, while we’re at it we’ll throw this in FOR FREE! (TODAY ONLY! JUST FOR YOU!!):
“Special Report: ‘The True State of the Union’ “—
https://justthenews.com/tv/watch-now-special-report-true-state-union
Zaphod,
“China is communist today the say way that your form of government is Constitutionally Republican. Outward Forms do not equal actual mechanics of Power or Economic arrangements either.”
Please. The behavior of the CCP in the recent Olympics alone demonstrates the falsity of that claim.
“a system of ruling party discipline and decision making which says NOTHING about economic or world-view ideologies”
The CCP’s widespread and growing “Social Credit” system demonstrates the falsity of that claim. Such a system results in ideological manipulation to an unparralled degree. It is exactly the type of system described in 1984. No apologia you can offer wiil change the basic reality of that system, nor its ideological purpose and inherent goal.
As for the West’s corrupt current governments, no one here disagrees with that assessment, so bringing up it as an attempted defense in discussing the ideological reality and inherent nature of the CCP is either an indication of an inability to offer a reasoned defence or intellectually dishonest.
Putin has famously said that the worst day for Russia was the dissolution of the USSR.
IMHO, Putin’s actions – regardless of the reasons he supplies for diplomatic/public consumption – are motivated by his goal to resurrect, as much as possible, the USSR.
He will cite NATO’s actions / goals / intent or whatever, but if Ukraine had never expressed any interest (have they? and if they have, what did NATO say?) in joining NATO, he would just find another reason.
Just as he did when he invaded Georgia.
Recall his excuse for invading parts of Georgia; he was just protecting Russians in those parts who wished to gain independence from Georgia.
This is also one of the reasons he has supplied for his present action in Ukraine. And it was similar to the reason he gave when he invaded Crimea in 2014.
Putin is one sly and very smart guy and he can spot weakness and stupidity (both of these qualities are found in copious quantities in the White House, State Dept as well as in the “leadership” of the US military – think General Milley and his boss, LLoyd Austin, both “supervised” the “successful” Afghan disaster) .
He realizes that NATO is a paper tiger presently being led – ideologically speaking – by a senile Obama puppet; which is to say, NATO is rudderless and clueless and being “led” by hate-America-first” leftists.
If Putin is motivated to rebuild the USSR, which I believe is true, his other main goal to “encourage” NATO to fall apart.
This should not be too difficult considering that the biggest economy in Europe and NATO member, Germany, basically has no army, zero intention of getting involved in any sort of military operation however tangentially, and of course, really really resents the USA; but they will send bandages and helmets as their contribution to any NATO effort.
Putin / Russia came away mostly unscathed after taking parts of Georgia, the Crimea and there he has no reason to believe his most recent exploits should produce a different outcome.
Keep an eye on Estonia and Latvia; both nations have a population of about 1/4 Russian. When the Russians there start staging demonstrations, etc.- all, of course, without the “help” of Putin provocateurs – Putin will be forced to send military aide there to protect Russians.
NATO, the USA, Europe will respond to this by enacting more meaningless, ineffective sanctions.
Putin must be laughing all the way to the bank as he watches Russian State revenues increase exponentially as joke bidet’s energy policies drive up the world price of oil and gas; recall that about half of Russia’s revenue is derived from oil and gas.
When you think about it, if Putin could have installed his man in the White House, he could have done no worse than selecting the senile moron Obama puppet, joke bidet.
om,
I was avoiding watching Hail Caesar I guess because I was luke warm on Oh Brother Where Art Thou. Another comedy featuring George Clooney. But I enjoyed it. It’s a little bit of a nostalgic homage to old Hollywood, but mostly a skewering of it. Good fun.
Now if you want to see a real work product of a couple old Hollywood commies (or commie sympathizers) that’s pretty good, check out “Thieves’ Highway” (1949). A grand drama that revolves around some pilfered apples (and some subtext). Workers throw off your chains!
Completely off topic. Apologies.
JohnTyler,
Putin is indeed on record as greatly desiring of Russia’s return to the former Soviet Union’s territorial boundaries and military and economic prowess. That agreed to does not preclude also having the motivation to resist NATO’s passive /aggression.
Elements within nature long expressed interest in the Ukraine joining NATO. The Western installed autocrat president of the Ukraine is on record repeatedly and most recently expressing his ‘openness’ to the Ukraine joining NATO. So that is not a case of Putin ‘inventing’ that concern out of thin air.
In addition, both Georgia and the Crimea lie on Russia’s border as well. If memory serves, Georgia also was being recommended for inclusion within NATO.
As for Putin’s expressed reasons for his actions, the Great Politics ‘Game’ is not played by revealing the actual reasons, rather what is offered is the most ‘acceptable’ moral rationale. Every nation follows that formula, as public opinion in an opponent’s nation can affect leadership’s response. Especially true in democracies.
Rather than encourage NATO to fall apart, I think Putin desires continuance of the status quo. A militarily toothless Germany and a weak US president manifestly serves Putin’s interests.
Putin may well have his eye on Estonia and Latvia, those would give Russia more options in access to the Sea.
I’m not suggesting that Putin isn’t a right bastard. Simply that the situation is more complex than appears on the surface.
Georgia’s territorial integrity has been gravely damaged by Russian-assisted encroachment on its territory (in the case of so-called South Ossetia, on Georgia’s northern border with Russia, but also with regard to the breakaway province of Abkazia in the NW of the country, bordering on the Black Sea, though reportedly, the Abkazis have grown less than enamored of their Russian “supporters”).
Same old story: using Russian or Russian-friendly segments of the host country to complain about discrimination and then demand their right to a breakaway republic, which “human” or “civil” right is firmly supported by Moscow (with both money and materiel, as well as boots on the ground).
This is why, as John Tyler mentioned above, Estonia, especially, but also Latvia, are likely getting more than a wee bit nervous. (OTOH, this was always something for them to worry about.)
Putin is indeed on record as greatly desiring of Russia’s return to the former Soviet Union’s territorial boundaries and military and economic prowess.
You’ve confounded Putin and Vladimir Zhirinovsky.
Georgia’s territorial integrity has been gravely damaged by Russian-assisted encroachment on its territory (in the case of so-called South Ossetia, on Georgia’s northern border with Russia, but also with regard to the breakaway province of Abkazia in the NW of the country, bordering on the Black Sea, though reportedly, the Abkazis have grown less than enamored of their Russian “supporters”).
About 55,000 people live in South Ossetia. They’re not ethnic Georgians. What’s curious about Abkhazia is that the territories ethnic Georgians were successfully expelled en masse by militias drawn from the much smaller Abkhaz population. What’s left of Abkhazia has a population of about 240,000. Georgia’s population is about 4 million and it is as we speak ethnically homogeneous enough to be courteous to its minorities; It’s also a great deal more affluent than the residue of Abkhazia. Best to let it go.
When the Russians there start staging demonstrations, etc.- all, of course, without the “help” of Putin provocateurs – Putin will be forced to send military aide there to protect Russians.
If I understand correctly, a majority of the (largely Russian) ethnic minority population in Estonia and in Latvia have taken out citizenship, a task which requires passing a proficiency test in the local language. The rest content themselves with residency permits; some have citizenship in other countries, some are stateless. Latvia’s Russian voters do collect in a couple of the country’s political parties; Estonia’s do not. There is a Russian-majority canton in the Estonian borderlands that Russia might seize. Russians in Latvia tend to live around the country’s capital and not near the borders. Note, the Russians in both countries are a colonial population which did not return home. The ethnic Russians in Central Asia did depart for Russia after 1992, by and large.