Capitol Hill Blue Forums Political Issues Foreign Policy & News The long and winding road to Dumbass

Not surprised.
You're doing a fine job defending Putin, which in any other circumstances would be..."it is what it is" but in this case,
it becomes a long and winding road to Putin doing to the rest of Europe's democracies what a hungry bear does
to a car loaded with groceries, even if you tossed a spare steak to him earlier in the day.

You trust him to be satisfied with a small partition of Donbass and Luhansk if you want to.
I trust him as much as I trust COVID to be a respecter of national borders.

No one's asking you to. Their record is our record. We're all aware of it. We're all ashamed of it where we should be and proud of it where we can be.

A million dead Iraqis don't make a million dead Ukranians okay.

NATO was formed to prevent Soviet encroachment on Europe. This is Soviet encroachment on Europe. When this is all said and done Russia might need to join the EU to save their economy.

Except after this, I can't imagine Europe accepting Russia, at least not Putin's Russia anyway. All well and good (sarcasm) because Putin can't imagine being part of Europe either...he will forever see himself as a tsar denied HIS birthright, absolute ownership of an Imperial Russian Empire, everything in it and every serf who walks on his land.

He's even famous for having a tsar's viewpoint on property ownership.

Former Kremlin banker: Putin is the richest person in the world till he leaves power

The fact that, as per Pugachev, Putin considers everything in Russia "to be his" might seem shocking, but it's important to note that the concept of property rights in Putin's Russia is rather different from that of the West.

"A prominent businessman ... said that Mr. Putin had eroded the very notion of property rights in Russia, even for those who displayed fealty. He said that Mr. Putin himself had described private ownership of strategic industries with the Russian word for "roost".
"‘A chicken can exercise ownership of eggs, and it can get fed while it’s sitting on the egg,’ he said, ‘but it’s not really their egg,’” according to the New York Times.

I expect Putin will always maintain a confrontational stance with Europe and the US.

But just like every one of these authoritarian types, their days are numbered and their power limited. I look for Putin to remain in power as long as he wants to remain in power, but in ten years or so he'll be done and gone.

History is a steamroller that flattens them all.

Ahhh, so taking the lazy route (HERE! Watch this one hour video) is exactly the same as reading two paragraphs.

🤣🤣😆😆😂😂


Do you think that the overwhelming majority of Ukrainians are neo-Nazis and antisemites?
Do you think that the Ukrainian people cast a fair vote in the Zelensky election?
Do you think that the Ukrainian desire for sovereign self determination is valid?

Nope, I don't think so.
1991 is 1991 all over again is more likely.
Russians have managed to enjoy a teensy bit more economic indulgence and power in the last couple of decades, and now they're looking
at a stark spectre of ruin.
Several here are certain that the price of a gallon of gas is the sole yardstick of whether this or that party holds power or takes it here.
Welp, there's a whole lotta ruination on the horizon in Russia for a lot more than just gasoline.

So, by the same token, if you're sure high gas prices can knock one party out of power, take a look at a country where across the board "currency collapse"
set off a nationwide revolution.

It's not that I think you're wrong, I just think few if any in Russia are going to let this drag on for ten years.

Some takes on the economic consequences of the economic warfare being waged by the west.

“ Commodity markets have been in turmoil since the Special Military Operation began. European natural gas jumped as much as 60% on Wednesday, as buyers, traders and shippers avoid Russian gas. A combination of sanctions and commercial decisions by shippers and insurers to steer clear has cut that contribution to global supplies sharply over the last week. A default cascade by western companies is perfectly possible. And Supply line disruption is inevitable….
…. The New York Times describes this impact on local businesses and industries as nothing short of “frightening”, as all kinds of small businesses across Europe (prior to last week’s events) have been forced to cease their operations as energy costs outweigh profits. Large industries have not been immune to sticker shock either. “Almost two-thirds of the 28,000 companies surveyed by the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry this month rated energy prices as one of their biggest business risks … For those in the industrial sector, the figure was as high as 85 percent.”
Burning Globalist Structures to Save the Globalist ‘Liberal Order

Hudson’s latest piece-

‘ The basic assumption of economic and diplomatic forecasting is that every country will act in its own self-interest. Such reasoning is of no help in today’s world. Observers across the political spectrum are using phrases like “shooting themselves in their own foot” to describe U.S. diplomatic confrontation with Russia and allies alike...
.. I had expected that the end of the dollarized imperial economy would come about by other countries breaking away. But that is not what has happened. U.S. diplomats have chosen to end international dollarization themselves, while helping Russia build up its own means of self-reliant agricultural and industrial production. This global fracture process actually has been going on for some years now, starting with the sanctions blocking America’s NATO allies and other economic satellites from trading with Russia.For Russia, these sanctions had the same effect that protective tariffs would have had.’
The American Empire self-destructs

Some sobering assessments of the current financial crises. Aside from the arms merchants profiteering thru expansion of NATO markets, the damage this will cause in the near and long term will far outweigh any advantages to one market sector. I’m convinced the neocons running this sh!tshow have not thought it out beyond their own narrow ideology.

As Doctorow wrote in my initial post- ‘Place your bets accordingly’

Now do Zelensky
Or are you a nazi lover?

Surely the press is giving even handed coverage of this champion of self determination and democracy defender, Zelensky’s? A guy that can quote Shakespeare and Churchill (and not at all pandering to Anglosphere audiences) who ran on battling corruption and illiberal oligarchs would have a proven track record? This guy wouldn’t be another Saddam Hussein, Putin, Pinochet or any other authoritarian our state department would in no way climb in bed with? We’re not repeating history? This will surely be the one time our escalation, provocations will be justified and righteous and not turn out to have been built on lies, ignorance and a complicit media pushing false narratives?

There’s no way this isn’t a bunch of rich arseholes having a fight that will be waged by average working class people?

Cuz Zelensky’s the real deal here and your either with us or against us? No way we’ve seen this one before? Totally worth risking a nuclear confrontation for, amiright?

“ Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rode to power on pledges to clean up the Eastern European country, but the Pandora Papers reveal he and his close circle were the beneficiaries of a network of offshore companies, including some that owned expensive London property.”
Pandora papers reveal offshore accounts

Yeah, I know, who’s these guys publishing this stuff. Must be fake news, look it that Russian alphabet stuff…

I know. What’s up with that site? Never heard of em.. probably fake news from a Putin apologist….

O.K. well….
Ukraine leader seeks to justify offshore accounts

Aljawhudda? C’mon chunks. Those are Arabs, their newspapers don’t count. Hell, Arabs don’t count. You can kill a million of em and no ones going to care too much about it.

O.K.
Revealed: ‘anti-oligarch’ Ukrainian president’s offshore connections


Now wait a minute Chunks, everyone knows that’s a limousine liberal pinko rag. C’mon man!

O.K.
Pandora Papers Expose Secret Wealth, Dealings Of Aliyev, Zelenskiy, Putin, Other World Leaders

Intermediaries, cut out companies, off shore accounts. Seems legit. Like a presidents boy with a coke habit appointed to a petroleum companies board of directors.

Nothing to see here. Move along cuz, move along…

Don't you a cheerleader for "both sides do it?' What's the problem?