Tag: russia

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I don’t know why Russiagate is such a big deal. It may be a little shady but it falls within the acceptable shadiness of American politics. I know Republicans want to arrest Barrack Obama and the Democrats are calling Tulsi Gabbard a liar. Gabbard is talking about Russia’s ability to hack voting machines while Democrats are talking about campaign money going to Trump or, at least, anti-Democratic PACS. Republicans will investigate and prosecute and will be disappointed.

The idea that the Russians were using cash to influence the 2016 election seemed like a weak argument to begin with. I agree that the Russians aren’t supposed to spend money on American politics but if they did and their candidate wins, I’m not sure where the problem is. The American people voted and, sadly, found the Russian propaganda more convincing. That is on the Democrats. They choose a terrible candidate and ran a shitty campaign.

Then again the Democrats accusing Trump of being a Russian mole is hardly refuted here. If the Russians contributed cash to anti-Democratic organizations, they were clearly hoping for a Trump victory. The Democrats have every right to tell the story and make the charge of Trump being a Russian asset. They may be wrong but when has hyperbole been absent in a political campaign. For example, Trump called Zoran Mamdani a Communist. Mamdani, by any reasonable assessment, is a Socialist but calling him a Communist makes hims sound so much more horrible. Trump knows it and that is why he used the word Communist.

It would be easier to consider Gabbard’s accusations against the Obama Administration’s use of government agencies against his political opponents if Donald Trump was a model of probity but he most certainly isn’t. Trump gleefully threatens anyone who opposes him with government investigation. Why is it OK for Trump to investigate and Obama can’t? Isn’t this just regular campaign malfeasance?

It is just more screaming about nothing that matters to the average man and woman on the street. It won’t convince Trump supporters to abandon him and it won’t elect Democrats to office. It is political noise. Distractions from the tariffs and Medicaid and anything that has an actual effect on people’s lives. This meaningless noise will absorb media attention until it doesn’t.

Oh yes, then there is the Epstein files. I pretty sure that the Democrats will be disappointed with any release of the Epstein files. If the Biden White House had evidence that Trump was having sex with underage girls, I am fairly certain they would have released it during the 2024 campaign. They may have evidence that he had been to Epstein’s island and that he was friends with Epstein but I doubt there is any smoking gun because if they had that evidence why in God’s name didn’t they release in the 2024 campaign? I mean not releasing it would be some serious campaign malpractice.

And don’t say it is because Democrats would never do that shit because I don’t believe you.

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Steve Witkoff, the man President Trump charged with negotiating the end to the Russian/Ukrainian war, says there are two sides to the story and we should be open to hearing Putin’s side. WTF. I mean WTF. Putin does indeed have a story. He has been telling this story for some time now. The problem is his story fails to make the case for an armed invasion of a sovereign country. Nobody is buying what Putin is selling.

Well, that is until Trump and Witkoff come along to tell us that we haven’t given poor Vlad a fair shake. Witkoff tries to remind us that traditionally the Ukraine was a part of Russia. The border areas between the Ukraine and Russia have a lot of native Russians. People in these border regions voted recently to join Russia instead of staying in the Ukraine.

So what? The Ukraine was a part of the Russian Empire and Soviet Union against the will of the Ukrainians. To say that should factor in to Russia’s claim on the Ukraine seems absurdly unfair to the Ukrainians. They didn’t like it then and they don’t like it now.

The border regions between any two nations have people on both sides of the borders. There are Ukrainians on the Russian side of the border as well. Do the Ukrainians on the Russian side of the border give the Ukraine a rightful claim to parts of Russia. Borders are messy businesses. There is no way to put up a border that makes everyone happy. Somebody is going to be on the wrong side. Always.

But, then, when Putin invaded the Ukraine, he was after more than the border regions. He wanted the whole kit and kaboodle. So after invading the Ukraine, bombing Ukrainian cities, and failing to achieve his real objective — the whole of the Ukraine, he will settle for the border regions. Why should he get anything?

Trump say says the Ukrainians are unable to win this war. He might be right about that but neither can the Russians. Neither side can win the war so why is Trump asking the Ukrainians to eat the shit sandwich while Putin steals Ukrainian land and hobbles their ability to join in a larger European security network? And what does the Ukraine get in return — empty promises that they won’t invade again.

Trump will say they will get peace. Putin has already invaded the Ukraine twice, so really, this is nothing. Peace, you say. Well, not likely to be a very lasting one.

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Donald Trump is trying to position himself as the realist in the ongoing dispute between Putin and Zelenskyy. He wants Zelenskyy to come to terms with his inability to win the war. OK. Fair enough. But Putin is in exactly the same position. Putin can not win it either. So why is he only applying pressure on Zelenskyy? And why is only one side making concessions in this great deal that Trump is working on.

Furthermore, why is Zelenskyy getting the blame for trying to start World War III? Putin invaded the Ukraine. Doesn’t Putin deserve just a little bit of the blame then. If nothing else, for being impatient. What kind of shit sandwich is Trump expecting Zelenskyy to eat?Surrendering more land to Putin is all I am hearing, so and, wait I forgot, wait there is some promise from Putin that he will never never invade again.

What a deal. I am sure that it sounds pretty empty to Zelenskyy whose county has been invaded twice in the last 10 years. I keep thinking I am missing something. If not, it seems like an incredibly bad deal with Zelenskyy conceding land for nothing. And, I can’t believe this one, Trump wants Zelenskyy to thank him for his help.

My mind is blown. What a nakedly apparent betrayal and humiliation of Zelenskyy. And Trump is loving every minute of it. He is taking revenge on the world with no concern for tomorrow. He has absolutely nothing to lose now.

Since he is a lost cause it would be helpful for the wise men in the Republican Party to step up. There comes a point when getting reelected seems secondary to the world and to the future. But I guess not. Silence. Mostly just silence. And some of these guys have nothing to lose. Senator Grassley is 91 years old. What is the risk? What a bunch of cowards. Lots and lots of cowards.

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I was worried that I was becoming too numb to the daily Trump outrages. I would see them but reacting to them seemed difficult. There is only so much nonsense you can take before tuning it all out. He is going to take over Greenland, then the Panama Canal, then Canada. I repeat CANADA. Then he renames the Gulf of Mexico. I just am unable to be outraged every day.

Then last week occurred. I am glad to report Trump has jolted me back into outrage.

Correct me if I am wrong but is he is making the case for Putin being the injured party for the Russian invasion of the Ukraine? Are we talking about the same Russian invasion? I know it was a couple years ago but my memory is very different than Trump’s. It was all on television for about a month. Now Trump wants me to change my mind without offering any compelling evidence to do so.

Even more shocking, and let me tell you I am pretty damn shocked at this point, is that the whole Republican Party, even formally strong Ukraine supporters, are mad at Zelenskyy for not being sufficiently servile to Donald Trump. They aren’t saying that Zelenskyy is wrong but that he didn’t have the good sense to grovel while his host was spewing nonsense. Bad manners and all that.

Despite the fact that J.D. Vance and Trump started this little slugfest and expected Zelenskyy to sit quietly and take the punches. They made the choice to publicly dress down Zelenskyy in public. Zelenskyy isn’t the type of guy to back down from a fight. Ask Vladimir Putin.

But Trump picked a public fight and he got one. His guest behaved badly. Well, yes, after his host called him ungrateful in front of the television cameras. There is also a certain etiquette on how you treat your guest. Not embarrassing your guest is near the top of that list.

Trump is being calculated and shockingly transparent here. He wants to distance the US from the Ukraine. He has begun the process. So, in a few months, I guess, we will abandon the Ukraine, despite Russian aggression, despite Putin being a dictator who kills his opponents, because Zelenskyy hurt Trump’s feelings.

If you are looking for Hitler comparisons, and I know you are, try this one. Trump is in the Neville Chamberlain role. Putin fills in for Hitler and Zelenskyy is Eduard Benes, the Czechoslovak leader in 1938. Trump will encourage the partition Ukraine to bring peace to Europe while doing nothing of the sort. At least, Chamberlain thought he was bringing peace to Europe. Trump doesn’t give a rat’s ass about peace in Europe.

Well, at least, I got out of my numbness and am back to outrage. That is something.

.6

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I am afraid the US is about to abandon the Ukraine. I would love for the Ukrainians to win but I don’t have much confidence in that happening. What they need costs too much money for the US to provide. So, people here in the United States, are rightfully asking why are we paying money on a losing cause. The bloom is off this particular flower.

Trump feels shit like this in his bones, Biden and his crew have to talk about our moral responsibility to Europe which highlights the big difference between the two positions. Biden has to explain his position and Trump is stating the obvious. Why spend billions of dollars for the Russians to win any way or, at least, grab big chunks of the Ukraine. If bad things are going to happen, you might as well get it over with. It isn’t nice but it is understandable while Biden’s position sounds like a waste of money. Billions of dollars to not exactly win but to not exactly loose either. So, the taxpayer reasonably asks, what am I paying for?

And when you try to bring up things like moral responsibility, Biden and his fellow Ukraine supporters are heading into choppy waters because well, it isn’t really a moral problem if all you are doing is giving money. The truth is we would like for the Ukrainians to win because they were invaded and their position better fits our understanding of how the world should operate. Big powerful countries shouldn’t invade smaller less powerful countries. But it isn’t so important that we should send troops. Once you put it like that, the moral calculation looses a little of its oomph. This ceases to be a moral calculation and becomes simply a preference. This a money moral problem not a troops morale problem. A big difference which the American tax payer can see without looking terribly hard. No explanation is needed.

Which means the best case scenario is the Ukraine will be cut up a little to satisfy Putin’s blood thirst and people will pat Zelenskyy on the back and say nice try and better luck next time. So, really, nothing moral about it. The Ukraine/Russian war became too expensive and there is no solution that allows both parties to come out with their dignity in tact. So Putin retains his, at least publicly, while Zelenskyy gets to eat the shit sandwich.

It is all sad but predictable. The Ukrainians will have to be satisfied with a stalemate. They proved their mettle which is a good thing for the world and for the Ukraine, they will come out of this with something tangible if not everything they deserved. The Russians couldn’t win either which is far more embarrassing. Hopefully there is some Russian intrigue going on behind Putin’s back. He wasted a lot of Russian troops, money and the world’s public standing while gaining little in return. He gets pretty much what he came into the war with, so his Russian pals might have their swords out looking for him. I suppose that is something to look forward to. Yeah, well, right?

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A Russian legislator has fallen from his window. Or maybe he had a heart attack. The Russians aren’t sure yet. Which, in and of itself, is a pretty remarkable admission. Falling from a window and a heart attack are two fates that don’t much look like the other. Unless we are to believe that the poor man was sitting on his window seal in Siberia in December and had a heart attack that propelled him from the window seal to the ground below. Siberia. December. Open window. Trying to wrap my head around that one.

It is all so confusing. I would think, and I know I am not a maniacal dictator who wants to dominate the world or at least the Ukraine, you would have your story straight before announcing the death and not leave it open to a multiple choice explanation. Using two very different possibilities here makes this report, from the get go, look a little suspicious, like you haven’t made up your mind about what you want to say so you throw out a bunch of possibilities and see which one is getting the most buy in as opposed to facts which you just state because they are true.

And really, falling out of windows, yet again. It happens too often to prominent Russians to be believable any more. Once or twice I might buy but when it happens on a fairly regular basis it only draws attention to its frequent use as a means of eliminating critics. Go to a window. Now imagine yourself accidentally falling out of it. It is pretty difficult. Not that Putin cares much what anyone thinks.

Herein lies the problem for Putin. When you are reduced to killing off your critics, you are in big trouble any way. Fear may work for awhile but everyone knows that you are afraid that people are scheming against you because you are going to the trouble of killing people. This also means you are so vulnerable that you think they might win. If the only thing keeping Putin in power is his ability to push Russians out of windows, he soon might find himself learning the dangers of open windows. In December. In Siberia.