Russia

[Scarlet]

4 hours ago, Notre Dame Joe said:

 

https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/ukraine-leader-calls-for-more-western-military-aid-1411055160

 

The decision reflects the Obama administration's long-standing concern that arming Ukraine would provoke Moscow into a further escalation that could drag Washington into a proxy war.

 

Maybe Biden is planning to smother Putin with a pillow.

Wasn't there a time when a president held up nearly $400,000,000 in military aid to blackmail Zelensky into playing ball for that president's personal gain?  I recall hearing the tapes of that conversation.  

[Archy1221]

10 minutes ago, Scarlet said:

Wasn't there a time when a president held up nearly $400,000,000 in military aid to blackmail Zelensky into playing ball for that president's personal gain?  I recall hearing the tapes of that conversation.  

If you recall that, I got a doozy of a video that shows our current President holding up money for a  quid pro quo.  

[Scarlet]

29 minutes ago, Archy1221 said:

If you recall that, I got a doozy of a video that shows our current President holding up money for a  quid pro quo.  

Oh let me guess, the one that has been debunked and investigated by Senate Republicans who found no wrong doing?  The one where Biden in his official role was requiring the removal of a Ukraine prosecutor because that prosecutor would not investigate corruption inside Ukraine?  That one?

[nic]

7 hours ago, Decked said:

It is apparently true. Also a ground soldier with 20+ confirmed Russian kills already. Add that with the 13 guard members on snake island & the lad blowing up an important bridge (& himself) to defend Kiev..these guys are brave beyond belief.  

I Heard about the bridge and snake island. Good stuff. The 16 year old boys in the US are seeing and talking about these stories too…..instead of the latest funny meme. They seem inspired. 

[Scarlet]

Meanwhile... doubling down on fascism

 

 

[BigRedBuster]

I’m seeing a lot of talk about potential cyber attacks on us if we help Ukraine. 
 

im also old enough to remember when a President thought it would be a great idea to have a joint task force with Russia on cyber security.  
 

yeah…thank god that didn’t happen. 

[commando]

6 hours ago, Notre Dame Joe said:

 

 

 

Maybe Biden is planning to smother Putin with a pillow.

you are confusing Biden with that my pillow guy.   

[ColoradoHusk]

1 minute ago, commando said:

you are confusing Biden with that my pillow guy.   

I've heard the guy running for Governor of Nebraska was palling around The My Pillow guy on January 6th. He could have a hook up. 

[Danny Bateman]

1 hour ago, nic said:

I Heard about the bridge and snake island. Good stuff. The 16 year old boys in the US are seeing and talking about these stories too…..instead of the latest funny meme. They seem inspired. 

 

Good! They should be. It's encouraging to have the youngs paying attention to some of this and better yet cheering on the good guys. If nothing else we should be more ready for if Red Dawn ever happens in real life

 

That Snake Island crew is the stuff of absolute legends. As is Zelensky: "I need ammunition, not a ride."

 

Balls so huge I can see them from here. Just incredible stuff.

[BigRedBuster]

So, the president is staying and fighting. 
 

My question is, what should our and Europe’s response be if they capture and kill him?  The ex president also.  

[Scarlet]

[Scarlet]

Gotta feel for some of these Russian conscripts.  They don't want to be there anymore than our troops would want go kill Canadians.  

 

Hopefully this will be Putin's fate

 

 

[TGHusker]

 

In reading this, I couldn't help to think of the comparisons between Putin and Trump and esp if Trump were to get a second term in office (God forbid that from ever happening)  The article is quoted in part below.  

See quotes in bold below as prime examples

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/the-world-may-be-witnessing-the-complete-unraveling-of-vladimir-putin/ar-AAUkTk4?ocid=entnewsntp

 

 

Quote

 

Shortly before he invaded Ethiopia in 1935, Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini stated, “I follow my instincts, and I am never wrong.” That war bankrupted the state, but it made him popular with Italians as the restorer of the Italian empire. It also further inflated his ego. In 1940, against the advice of many of his generals, Il Duce entered World War II alongside Adolf Hitler. He counted on a quick win and lasting glory, but instead dragged Italy through a disastrous war that ended with his own execution by anti-fascist partisans in 1945.

Over time, exerting this kind of power can lead an autocrat to believe his own propaganda and act on his worst impulses.

These dramatic events, and the terrible toll of strongman leadership, come to mind as Russian President Vladimir Putin embarks on a risky war against Ukraine. He is motivated by a desire to secure his place in history as the leader who revived a version of the Soviet empire. It could backfire on him in multiple ways.

After 22 years in power, Putin's governance style and structures resemble those that have led past autocrats to make bad decisions. The recent photographs of him at enormous tables, absurdly distant not just from foreign heads of state but from members of his own security council, suggest a state of isolation common among leaders who have exercised too much power for too long.

 

 

 

Quote

All strongmen build "inner sanctums" to manage day-to-day governance. Composed of flatterers, family members and cronies, all of them chosen for their loyalty rather than their expertise, they shield him from any unpleasant counsel — and share handsomely in the profits from his thievery. This is certainly the case in Russia, a fully realized kleptocracy: In 2018, 3 percent of Russians held about 90 percent of the country’s assets, with Putin's oligarchs owning the lion's share of those.

 

 

Quote

 

Over time, exerting this kind of power can lead an autocrat to believe his own propaganda and act on his worst impulses, leading not just to the destruction of his foreign enemies, but to destabilizing situations at home that can jeopardize his rule. We saw, for example, the thousands of Russians participating in anti-war protests over the past days. A Russian platoon allegedly surrendered to Ukrainian troops when they realized they were sent there to “kill Ukrainians.”

As is typical with strongmen, the present international crisis reflects Putin's private preoccupations — what haunts him, as well as what he takes for granted due to his arrogance.

Putin has long been inordinately fearful of Ukrainian democracy, seeing it as a threat on his border to his autocratic brand of power. What author Peter Pomerantsev called the Kremlin's "obsessive stalking of Kyiv" reflects this focus. Putin will only feel safe if he annihilates Ukraine as a sovereign entity, which he did, at the rhetorical level, in his Monday speech.

In 2018, 3 percent of Russians held about 90 percent of the country’s assets, with Putin's oligarchs owning the lion's share of those.

 

 

Quote

 

At the same time, Putin suffers from fantasies of grandeur. He obtained a nationalist high, and soaring approval ratings, following his 2014 annexation of Crimea. Perhaps he believes he can repeat the experience.

Yet Russia is a different place in 2022, both in terms of foreign preparedness to act against his kleptocracy and the degree of domestic disaffection with Putin's corruption and repression that have accelerated over the past few years.

 

Quote

 

In fact, the Russian president's formal lock on power, secured by his 2020 amendment of the constitution, has been accompanied by more, not less, violence against those who expose his corruption. This is a sign of insecurity, not of confidence.

His jailing of anti-corruption crusader Alexei Navalny, whose foundation released a video of what it called "Putin's Palace," a Black Sea mansion that reportedly cost $1.3 billion to build, is a case in point. At his February 2021 Moscow sentencing, Navalny denounced the "thieving little man in his bunker" who is too cowardly to face his opponents in free elections. While Putin's support held steady with older Russians, a Levada Center poll that month indicated disaffection with his brand of governance among younger people: 48 percent of respondents ages 18 to 24 felt that the country was going in the wrong direction.

 

 

[ZRod]

 

 

[Scarlet]

1 minute ago, TGHusker said:

 

In reading this, I couldn't help to think of the comparisons between Putin and Trump and esp if Trump were to get a second term in office (God forbid that from ever happening)  The article is quoted in part below.  

See quotes in bold below as prime examples

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/the-world-may-be-witnessing-the-complete-unraveling-of-vladimir-putin/ar-AAUkTk4?ocid=entnewsntp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amazing people can't see the similarities in personality type.  Policy comes in a far distant second when we're talking about paranoid, malignant narcissists in charge that only want to surround themselves with yes men.  Every brutal dictator has had the same psychosis.  It never ends well.  All I can come up with is some people can't see it because "birds of a feather"