Yes, that IS an excuse for Putin's aggression. And connecting a lot of largely unrelated dots scattered higgledy-piggledy across the table doesn't obscure the direct and substantial culpability of Trump and his REPUBLICAN "basket of deplorables" (Hillary called it right.), liars, and traitors in Congress who have and are encouraging Russ…
Yes, that IS an excuse for Putin's aggression. And connecting a lot of largely unrelated dots scattered higgledy-piggledy across the table doesn't obscure the direct and substantial culpability of Trump and his REPUBLICAN "basket of deplorables" (Hillary called it right.), liars, and traitors in Congress who have and are encouraging Russian aggression.
Of course, it's all the fault of Biden and the Democrats -- a fine dissertation in keeping with dead-enders' constantly-updating conspiracy theories and packs of lies straight out of the six-year Trump odyssey of fake presidency, the result of straight-up Russian propaganda that hopelessly divided America and weakened the US in the eyes of Putin. Bravo!
Let's count the ways: colluding with foreign powers to cheat US elections; blackmailing and bribing the struggling fledging democracy of Ukraine by withholding aid at a critical time of need, plastering a wide grin on Putin's normally stoic countenance; breaking important treaties left and right with allies and foes alike; massively weakening NATO materially and intellectually; praising the world's bad guys effusively; slandering the good guys relentlessly; and even inciting an unprecedented bloody insurrection against the seat of our own democracy, for fck sake! Well, that's all just fine, great foreign policy! Is there any bottom low enough?
Well you keep on your Putin-centered phobia and perhaps we will have some of those "beautiful" missiles Brian Williams of CBS alluded to when Trump bombed Syria for no apparent reason headed our way. Quoting Hillary Clinton, one of the most despicable of all warhawks, from her bizarre enthusiasm for the Iraq War to her cheery bombing of Libya to her record weapons sales to terrorist nations as Secretary of State while The Clinton Foundation received millions from these same countries, shows a shallowness and American Exceptionalism worthy of the Republicans. Which is what Democrats have largely turned into to support a president who says "we'll see what happens in a month" with sanctions while Ukraine is blown to bits. Perhaps someone needs to start thinking outside of the box in regards to these conflicts in lieu of the standard-issue bluster against the "bad guy" and the propping up of the "good guy." And if you think the death and inhumanity we spread and support around the world has nothing to do with a buildup to World War III and the violence and inequality here at home then perhaps you should read this: https://www.vox.com/2016/4/27/11497942/america-bad-allies
I don't think of you as anything -- not to value-judge other people in their essence, only expressed ideas, which are fair game.
Bothsidesism, whataboutism, harkening to past biases, gross misrepresentations, and other logical fallacies to muddy the waters (like an episode on Fux News) doesn't address the central argument of today's reality: As messy as it it is, the Democratic Party is the only hope in the time left to effect real progressive change. But it requires motivated human beings to get inside and do the hard work.
A parliamentary-type system that gives equal weight to a wider array of parties would better represent the people, offering more checks and balances against moneyed interests. Yes, under our system we got close with Bernie as an independent running within the establishment, but who was treated most unfairly, the victim of ruthless infighting.
The machinery of a party is only as good as the people running it. We can certainly do better. But at this stage of our own crumbling democracy, third parties have virtually no chance of growing, gaining power, and effecting real change. Sometimes, "thinking outside the box" only serves to dissipate the precious energy needed to win the larger war of progressive principles.
In these upcoming elections with the world on fire both literally and figuratively, anyone not casting their vote for Democratic candidates up and down the ticket, from city council to POTUS, is not seeing the bigger picture of humanity's plight.
OK then perhaps you could acknowledge that the Obama administration ousted a democratically elected president because he sided with Russia rather than the EU for economic stability which could have provoked Putin just a bit. To address a malady the proper diagnosis must be made, and a large part of this diagnosis is, per usual, our meddling in other country's democracies. Of course it is now up to Democrats to defend American Empire and our profit-motivated meddling and focus all their energy on the evils of Putin. I'll guarantee if a Russian coalition financed and staffed demonstrations to remove Joe Biden here in the US you wouldn't be condemning the US response. Here is a great reference detailing everything you and Thom and corporate media appear to be forgetting, that is not a knock on you of course: https://fair.org/home/in-ukraine-no-one-hears-that-there-is-a-diplomatic-solution/
Viktor Yanukovych was a hopelessly corrupt and increasingly isolated Russian stooge who enriched himself at Ukraine's expense and was viscerally hated by the majority of his own people, who rose up and chased his autocratic ass out of the country. Did we help them? No doubt about it. Did we make mistakes? Absolutely. Hypocrites? Yup.
One of the biggest blunders was not allowing Ukraine to join NATO when they had the chance. Then, Putin would not have attacked. That analysis is widely shared in our intelligence community. NATO exists solely because of Russia's aggressive policies of empire-building using force. NATO is a good alliance that should be celebrated, as it was meant as a deterrent to war. Putin is the problem, not the Western security alliance.
All sides fcked over Ukraine -- especially the US during Herr Drumpf's fake presidency of horrors. There's plenty of blame to go around, but most of it lands at the feet of Putin no matter how many analyses slice and dice the historical events leading up to where we are now. The article at FAIR provides important information but is offering no new insights not realized by those paying attention -- just one more piece of the puzzle to add to the mix of thousands. It is far from comprehensive. Bottom line: the past is unchangeable and the future is unwritten, so all the world can do is learn from the mistakes and hopefully deal with the new realities of today more intelligently going forward.
And Putin's unprovoked attack cannot stand. If so, what's to stop China from "annexing" Taiwan? Or any other ambitious tyrant with an army who decides on a whim to "expand" their "sphere of influence." We can't pussy-foot around him with halfway sanctions. He's an international pariah and needs to be completely isolated from any civilized accommodation, just like North Korea. Seize all the oligarchs' wealth, which largely resides outside of their country -- all their real estate, all their banking, all their investment accounts, and shut down all their money-laundering machines. Don't buy his gas and begin a massive push to wean the world off fossil-fuel energy. Don't worry about the Russian people; they're used to suffering under his dictatorship. But really, they also need to rise up in full-scale revolt and throw off the yoke authoritarianism, just as the brave Ukrainians did in 2014, as the American people did in 2020, and hopefully will follow through this November, again in 2024, and every election thereafter.
Yes, that IS an excuse for Putin's aggression. And connecting a lot of largely unrelated dots scattered higgledy-piggledy across the table doesn't obscure the direct and substantial culpability of Trump and his REPUBLICAN "basket of deplorables" (Hillary called it right.), liars, and traitors in Congress who have and are encouraging Russian aggression.
Of course, it's all the fault of Biden and the Democrats -- a fine dissertation in keeping with dead-enders' constantly-updating conspiracy theories and packs of lies straight out of the six-year Trump odyssey of fake presidency, the result of straight-up Russian propaganda that hopelessly divided America and weakened the US in the eyes of Putin. Bravo!
Let's count the ways: colluding with foreign powers to cheat US elections; blackmailing and bribing the struggling fledging democracy of Ukraine by withholding aid at a critical time of need, plastering a wide grin on Putin's normally stoic countenance; breaking important treaties left and right with allies and foes alike; massively weakening NATO materially and intellectually; praising the world's bad guys effusively; slandering the good guys relentlessly; and even inciting an unprecedented bloody insurrection against the seat of our own democracy, for fck sake! Well, that's all just fine, great foreign policy! Is there any bottom low enough?
And just in case you think me anti- Thom Hartmann the title of this piece is precisely my point.
Well you keep on your Putin-centered phobia and perhaps we will have some of those "beautiful" missiles Brian Williams of CBS alluded to when Trump bombed Syria for no apparent reason headed our way. Quoting Hillary Clinton, one of the most despicable of all warhawks, from her bizarre enthusiasm for the Iraq War to her cheery bombing of Libya to her record weapons sales to terrorist nations as Secretary of State while The Clinton Foundation received millions from these same countries, shows a shallowness and American Exceptionalism worthy of the Republicans. Which is what Democrats have largely turned into to support a president who says "we'll see what happens in a month" with sanctions while Ukraine is blown to bits. Perhaps someone needs to start thinking outside of the box in regards to these conflicts in lieu of the standard-issue bluster against the "bad guy" and the propping up of the "good guy." And if you think the death and inhumanity we spread and support around the world has nothing to do with a buildup to World War III and the violence and inequality here at home then perhaps you should read this: https://www.vox.com/2016/4/27/11497942/america-bad-allies
I don't think of you as anything -- not to value-judge other people in their essence, only expressed ideas, which are fair game.
Bothsidesism, whataboutism, harkening to past biases, gross misrepresentations, and other logical fallacies to muddy the waters (like an episode on Fux News) doesn't address the central argument of today's reality: As messy as it it is, the Democratic Party is the only hope in the time left to effect real progressive change. But it requires motivated human beings to get inside and do the hard work.
A parliamentary-type system that gives equal weight to a wider array of parties would better represent the people, offering more checks and balances against moneyed interests. Yes, under our system we got close with Bernie as an independent running within the establishment, but who was treated most unfairly, the victim of ruthless infighting.
The machinery of a party is only as good as the people running it. We can certainly do better. But at this stage of our own crumbling democracy, third parties have virtually no chance of growing, gaining power, and effecting real change. Sometimes, "thinking outside the box" only serves to dissipate the precious energy needed to win the larger war of progressive principles.
In these upcoming elections with the world on fire both literally and figuratively, anyone not casting their vote for Democratic candidates up and down the ticket, from city council to POTUS, is not seeing the bigger picture of humanity's plight.
OK then perhaps you could acknowledge that the Obama administration ousted a democratically elected president because he sided with Russia rather than the EU for economic stability which could have provoked Putin just a bit. To address a malady the proper diagnosis must be made, and a large part of this diagnosis is, per usual, our meddling in other country's democracies. Of course it is now up to Democrats to defend American Empire and our profit-motivated meddling and focus all their energy on the evils of Putin. I'll guarantee if a Russian coalition financed and staffed demonstrations to remove Joe Biden here in the US you wouldn't be condemning the US response. Here is a great reference detailing everything you and Thom and corporate media appear to be forgetting, that is not a knock on you of course: https://fair.org/home/in-ukraine-no-one-hears-that-there-is-a-diplomatic-solution/
Viktor Yanukovych was a hopelessly corrupt and increasingly isolated Russian stooge who enriched himself at Ukraine's expense and was viscerally hated by the majority of his own people, who rose up and chased his autocratic ass out of the country. Did we help them? No doubt about it. Did we make mistakes? Absolutely. Hypocrites? Yup.
One of the biggest blunders was not allowing Ukraine to join NATO when they had the chance. Then, Putin would not have attacked. That analysis is widely shared in our intelligence community. NATO exists solely because of Russia's aggressive policies of empire-building using force. NATO is a good alliance that should be celebrated, as it was meant as a deterrent to war. Putin is the problem, not the Western security alliance.
All sides fcked over Ukraine -- especially the US during Herr Drumpf's fake presidency of horrors. There's plenty of blame to go around, but most of it lands at the feet of Putin no matter how many analyses slice and dice the historical events leading up to where we are now. The article at FAIR provides important information but is offering no new insights not realized by those paying attention -- just one more piece of the puzzle to add to the mix of thousands. It is far from comprehensive. Bottom line: the past is unchangeable and the future is unwritten, so all the world can do is learn from the mistakes and hopefully deal with the new realities of today more intelligently going forward.
And Putin's unprovoked attack cannot stand. If so, what's to stop China from "annexing" Taiwan? Or any other ambitious tyrant with an army who decides on a whim to "expand" their "sphere of influence." We can't pussy-foot around him with halfway sanctions. He's an international pariah and needs to be completely isolated from any civilized accommodation, just like North Korea. Seize all the oligarchs' wealth, which largely resides outside of their country -- all their real estate, all their banking, all their investment accounts, and shut down all their money-laundering machines. Don't buy his gas and begin a massive push to wean the world off fossil-fuel energy. Don't worry about the Russian people; they're used to suffering under his dictatorship. But really, they also need to rise up in full-scale revolt and throw off the yoke authoritarianism, just as the brave Ukrainians did in 2014, as the American people did in 2020, and hopefully will follow through this November, again in 2024, and every election thereafter.