Putin's language of escalation highlights the danger that the GOP’s embrace of Trump and Trump’s ties to Putin have put the US and the entire democratic world in…
I believe we are on the brink of another world war, and this recent attack on Russian civilians will help Putin rally the Russian people against Ukraine. As for the Republicans withholding aid from Ukraine, remember they're on the side of the wealthy in the class war and the wealthy oligarchs always make tons of money from war.
Attached find a program I attended via zoom last week. Forgotten Democrats' National Chairman Fred Wellman was joined by independent journalist Martin Kuz, who covers the war in Ukraine at https://martinkuz.substack.com/
I have been saying that the Republican blockage of aid to Ukraine is going to lead to WW3 for some time. Mike Johnson and his caucus shouldn’t even be in Congress. They are traitors. They are insurrectionists who tried to overturn the will of the American people. Why they haven’t been charged yet is outrageous. They have NO legitimate right to be determining the future of the United States since they violated their oaths. Yes - WW3 is coming and they are complicit. European Nations see it. This terrorist attack still reminds me of the 1999 apartment bombings in Russia that Putin used to justify his invasion of Chechnya. Now it’s WAR with Ukraine. Stupid Republicans are getting us into WW3
The Conservatives/Republicans want a world war. The religious believe it is somehow "God's retribution" for what? Uppity women, gay people, divorce...satan-worshipping, blood-drinking liberals? Those families will provide the willing fodder; the others will be forced through conscription. I call this child sacrifice on behalf of their ideologies - not really different than the Inca or Mayans. The ruling elites believe there are too many peasants and there is a lot of money to be made, both in the destructiveness of war and the eventual rebuilding. The rich can and will shield their children from participating. It is only those poor people's kids who will suffer and die. Thus it ever is with war. I have a 15-year old grandson. We are doing better than many, but we are not rich enough to afford all the strategies the rich use to protect their kids. I am terrified for him.
I am starting to think the conflagration will happen within the next year. It is no consolation at all to know that the corrupt and insatiable plutocrats who will have caused it will die along with the rest of us. Their unique Chanel greed and arrogance blind them to everything else. Take comfort in your families and friends, because collectively,our species is a plague on this planet and ourselves. I am not so much depressed as infinitely sad. My time here is short, maybe five years, best case. But we have three great daughters and an adorable, impish grandson who calls me his best friend and for whom I would have loved a decent life. I see no way he will have one now, as I fear thanks to the GQP, Ukraine may fall soon, and the other dominoes will swiftly follow. Such a pity. And so utterly avoidable.
The "corrupt and insatiable plutocrats" won't die (unless it becomes all out nuclear war and even then, I'm sure they have contingency plans." That's the whole point - too many peasants.
Putin's Obnoxious Orange Poodle intersecting with the ghost of Neville Chamberlain is a match made in Hell - a lit match that could spawn an acceleration of our present into the darkest of all ages.
Anyone reading Thom Hartmann who has even the simplest of platforms, please use it to forward Thom's newsletters.
This bullshit brink of something awful has gone on for far too long. Enough of Trump. Enough of Putin. Enough of Netanyahu. Enough of all the evil few who wish for this world and all life within it to be their very own playthings.
Hope everyone is handling these moments without losing hope. Some days are tougher than other's.
Excellent "Reports"--both Saturday's & today's--, Thom ! What I think some might like know
is the view from about 30,000 miles above the Earth...'K? And here I'm referring to Neil Howe's
"The Fourth Turning Is Here"....in which he outlines (with examples / evidence) the 6 phases of a Fourth Turning: "a precursor" (which he claims was 9/11); a "catalyst" (which he claims was the Global Financial Crash of 2008); at least one "regeneracy" (which he claims Trump's Electoral College victory. in 2016 was one); a "consolidation" (not happened yet...but perhaps what you're anticipating, Thom...but in the last 4th Turning, it was the Dec. 7, 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor); a "climax" that "confirms the death of the old order and the triumph of the new"; and finally, a "resolution" in which "a triumphant or tragic conclusion separates the winners from the losers, resolves the big public questions, and establishes the new order." So, what this says is that we are at our "Pearl Harbor" phase of our current Millennial 4th Turning Crisis....and that usually happens, as you described on Saturday, Thom, as a great surprise to most people....but those at the top often know it's coming...and use it to their advantage. Putin could well use this theater attack by ISIS-K to attack Ukraine full scale....and demolish them as he did Chechnya in 2002...or helped Assad do in Syria later on. His official spokesman Peskov announced the huge change: he said Russia is now "at war"....while Putin falsely claimed Ukraine was behind the attack. This is extremely significant because, as you know, it's been unlawful up until now to call Putin's attack on Ukraine a "war"--else years in prison. Now it's "open season: on Ukraine....yeh? Putin is a brutal, inhuman entity ! And WWIII is not something beyond him starting !!
Glenn: So the only option then is surrender now, while we still breathe, there are a lot of people who go for that option. The better red than dead crowd. Not me.
Before artificial intelligence the right wingers could not tell the difference between reality and fantasy, they believed or wanted to believe anyway, all of Trump's lies.
Now with artificial intelligence, the right wingers believe what they want to believe, see what they want to believe and hear what they want to believe. While the facts will be called lies, even with video and audio.
The right wingers apparently don't care about the future of their children or themselves, then they wonder why their children have behavioral issues? It must be those teachers and leftists!
The GOP is still infected with Reagan's beliefs and notions. His administration had asserted that a nuclear war with the USSR could be winnable. Remember the "With Enough Shovels" crackpot ideas from within his administration? The notions live on today in the beliefs of "preppers", "survivalists" and too many Republicans.
Here's some reporting from 1982:
Thomas K. Jones, Reagan's deputy undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, famously said that if there was a nuclear war, "if there are enough shovels to go around, everybody's going to make it."
"... Mr. Jones told his guest that nuclear war was ''not nearly as devastating as we had been led to believe."
... The shovels were for digging holes in the ground, which would be covered somehow or other with a couple of doors and with three feet of dirt thrown on top. ... 'It's the dirt that does it,' he said.'' "
Even in a dictatorship such as Russia, public opinion can turn the tide and slow or stop a sociopathic madman bent on pursuing a suicidal policy for that country. The mechanisms and strategies which are in place or that are possible to establish communication and propaganda or other influence involving the Russian people should be expanded upon and maximized. In the same way our naïve dimwits and conspiracy theory suckers are being deceived by the bot farms and social media influencers from Russia and elsewhere, we should be telling the Russian people truths about Putin, democracy, history, and the horrors of wars initiated by paranoid and psychopathic leaders.
It is unimaginable that one fanatic person with too much power and influence can take millions of people into a war that may annihilate large parts of the planet and kill millions of people. However, that is exactly what can happen and has happened. Only when checks and balances are established everywhere to limit that kind of power accumulation and wealth will the planet be safe.
Since truth does not get us to safety, we need to use propaganda properly against our enemies. Sefton Delmer during WWII figured out how to give the German people actual news that they did not have and an excuse to listen as a fake Nazi station so they could not be jailed for simply listening to Nazi Party news. He showed "How to win an information War". Such movements are roles that the Party makes for people to play. The people know what safe roles the Party creates for them to play. The same is true of Trumpism. What we need are radio programs that show exactly how ridiculous these roles are and how the leaders are not holding to the values they pretend to uphold. Repubs know they are upholding false roles. They pretend their leaders uphold those values themselves and or the system will give that to them. You destroy them when you make it plain how false that is.
Quite the opposite Thom. It's your parroting of the propaganda of American empire and world domination in lieu of cooperation that will catalyze World War III. The Biden administration stopped peace talks between Zelensky and Putin in March of 2022, telling Zelensky this was to be a "long, drawn out war." After which Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, straight off his multi-million dollar stint as a board member of Raytheon, announced this was to be a "long, drawn out war." Within three months he was signing off on hundreds of millions in javelin missiles to be produced by Raytheon. You have shouted me off your program twice for telling the truth that everyone from Chris Hedges to Jeffrey Sachs to Normal Finklestein tells in that the issues are indeed NATO expansion and Ukraine's membership in NATO. Those who run our country have long wanted new leadership in Russia in the hopes that they can break the BRICS triad of India, Russia and China (among other things). Sending weapons to Ukraine will only result in more death and destruction, which is easy for you to navigate while you spout speculation on the radio to sell dog food. Every military expert agrees there is no way Ukraine will "beat" Russia, and this will be a stalemate of death for years to come. Meanwhile, Biden continues billions in military aid to assist Israel's racist genocide, and you barely mention it. Hope ad revenue is goof Thom.
Cutting to the quick. You are disgusting Boris. You take facts and spin them into lies and disinfo, but you do give yourself away, with this " Those who run our country have long wanted new leadership in Russia in the hopes that they can break the BRICS triad of India, Russia and China "
Your unyielding support for totalitarian dictatorships is duly noted. And you speak of blood shed, well there is nothing like the bloodshed of these dictatorships when visited upon their own citizens, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, Hitler and the sky's the limit when your man Putin can finally take the gloves off.
How about an honest discussion of Putin's reign of terror, his corruption and how he is using and milking the Russian people of Billions, he is possibly the richest man in the world, more so than MBS, Bezo's and the rest, because he owns Russia and it's satrapy republics, like Mao owned China. No deed with a name is required, not when you have the complete resources of a country at your beck and call, and a cowed or brainwashed population.
It of course is embarrassing to the Putin defenders to discuss WHY so many European countries have joined NATO..... Most of them had to jump through a number of hoops to be accepted into the organization, and membership cost them considerable money for defense spending. WHY would they go to that trouble.....? We all know why - they were terrified that eventually Russia would eye their territories and invade, as they have to Ukraine. Joining NATO, to which they had to apply and be accepted, was the most secure way to have the protection of several nations to deflect Russia's territorial ambitions.
You don't believe that is because the evil,blood thirsty, imperialistic, colonialist,military industrial complex, led by that evil master mind Joe Biden is not behind this whole affair. Well I have to rethink everything our resident expert Dr Boris has been telling us :)
Suzie, I knew it was Kaufman, but it wasn't really that clear. Problem is that you commented before I did. Regardless I've found that the way to get around the substack comment ordering problem is to prefix my comment as I did this.
You and I aren't the only ones with the problem, the problem exists on Robert Reich and other substacks.
Russia cannot win a world war - it will only accelerate the decline and destruction of the Russian people..... Putin invaded Ukraine in 2022 because in 10-15 years he would not have enough young men to field the army necessary to conquer any space, not just Ukraine. Russia's population is in terminal decline - they act now or they cannot do it in the future.....
It's likely Putin ignored our warning because he thought it was disinformation to undermine him in Russia. He is a psychopath with no perspective on our empathy for innocent Russians. That is the kind of disinformation he'd use, and the word empathy means absolutely nothing to him. He is a KILLING MACHINE.
There is no wise council helping Putin decide anything. No man is an island? This guy is the Island of Death.
The poor old world is caught in the grips of a psychopathic, greedy, pathetic man. He looks really stupid and unfeeling right now. Dangerous, since he has spent the last 25 years trying to convince Russians he isn't that guy. Thom's assessment is spot-on---this no time to ignore history.
Americans supporting Putin? Most of these folks are deluded by their sick ideology---those that aren't are just outright traitors.
I believe this turning is going to bring the best version of humanity so far, but we have to support truth, democracy, and the battle against the climate crisis.
I believe we are on the brink of another world war, and this recent attack on Russian civilians will help Putin rally the Russian people against Ukraine. As for the Republicans withholding aid from Ukraine, remember they're on the side of the wealthy in the class war and the wealthy oligarchs always make tons of money from war.
I find it hard to believe that Trump donors like Jeff Yass, whose people came from the region, would support Putin. https://www.carnegiecouncil.org/people/jeff-yass The guy is a peacenik libertarian. https://sig.com/
Attached find a program I attended via zoom last week. Forgotten Democrats' National Chairman Fred Wellman was joined by independent journalist Martin Kuz, who covers the war in Ukraine at https://martinkuz.substack.com/
https://vimeo.com/926576891
Fred has a Midasouch program every Friday night and he I are in the same veterans' discussion group. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL36GQAccexbwfbZk_lhXI_-1-rRwHZ7ea
I have been saying that the Republican blockage of aid to Ukraine is going to lead to WW3 for some time. Mike Johnson and his caucus shouldn’t even be in Congress. They are traitors. They are insurrectionists who tried to overturn the will of the American people. Why they haven’t been charged yet is outrageous. They have NO legitimate right to be determining the future of the United States since they violated their oaths. Yes - WW3 is coming and they are complicit. European Nations see it. This terrorist attack still reminds me of the 1999 apartment bombings in Russia that Putin used to justify his invasion of Chechnya. Now it’s WAR with Ukraine. Stupid Republicans are getting us into WW3
Called just now! Let’s try to keep Democracy intact.
The Conservatives/Republicans want a world war. The religious believe it is somehow "God's retribution" for what? Uppity women, gay people, divorce...satan-worshipping, blood-drinking liberals? Those families will provide the willing fodder; the others will be forced through conscription. I call this child sacrifice on behalf of their ideologies - not really different than the Inca or Mayans. The ruling elites believe there are too many peasants and there is a lot of money to be made, both in the destructiveness of war and the eventual rebuilding. The rich can and will shield their children from participating. It is only those poor people's kids who will suffer and die. Thus it ever is with war. I have a 15-year old grandson. We are doing better than many, but we are not rich enough to afford all the strategies the rich use to protect their kids. I am terrified for him.
I am starting to think the conflagration will happen within the next year. It is no consolation at all to know that the corrupt and insatiable plutocrats who will have caused it will die along with the rest of us. Their unique Chanel greed and arrogance blind them to everything else. Take comfort in your families and friends, because collectively,our species is a plague on this planet and ourselves. I am not so much depressed as infinitely sad. My time here is short, maybe five years, best case. But we have three great daughters and an adorable, impish grandson who calls me his best friend and for whom I would have loved a decent life. I see no way he will have one now, as I fear thanks to the GQP, Ukraine may fall soon, and the other dominoes will swiftly follow. Such a pity. And so utterly avoidable.
The "corrupt and insatiable plutocrats" won't die (unless it becomes all out nuclear war and even then, I'm sure they have contingency plans." That's the whole point - too many peasants.
Too many unhealthy peasants.
Sick from the deregulated food supply, yes.
I would like to add also too much unlimited greed, phony religion and insane parents also.
Putin's Obnoxious Orange Poodle intersecting with the ghost of Neville Chamberlain is a match made in Hell - a lit match that could spawn an acceleration of our present into the darkest of all ages.
Anyone reading Thom Hartmann who has even the simplest of platforms, please use it to forward Thom's newsletters.
This bullshit brink of something awful has gone on for far too long. Enough of Trump. Enough of Putin. Enough of Netanyahu. Enough of all the evil few who wish for this world and all life within it to be their very own playthings.
Hope everyone is handling these moments without losing hope. Some days are tougher than other's.
Is it just me, or does it seem Trump's more dangerous as a presidential candidate than he was as president?
Excellent "Reports"--both Saturday's & today's--, Thom ! What I think some might like know
is the view from about 30,000 miles above the Earth...'K? And here I'm referring to Neil Howe's
"The Fourth Turning Is Here"....in which he outlines (with examples / evidence) the 6 phases of a Fourth Turning: "a precursor" (which he claims was 9/11); a "catalyst" (which he claims was the Global Financial Crash of 2008); at least one "regeneracy" (which he claims Trump's Electoral College victory. in 2016 was one); a "consolidation" (not happened yet...but perhaps what you're anticipating, Thom...but in the last 4th Turning, it was the Dec. 7, 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor); a "climax" that "confirms the death of the old order and the triumph of the new"; and finally, a "resolution" in which "a triumphant or tragic conclusion separates the winners from the losers, resolves the big public questions, and establishes the new order." So, what this says is that we are at our "Pearl Harbor" phase of our current Millennial 4th Turning Crisis....and that usually happens, as you described on Saturday, Thom, as a great surprise to most people....but those at the top often know it's coming...and use it to their advantage. Putin could well use this theater attack by ISIS-K to attack Ukraine full scale....and demolish them as he did Chechnya in 2002...or helped Assad do in Syria later on. His official spokesman Peskov announced the huge change: he said Russia is now "at war"....while Putin falsely claimed Ukraine was behind the attack. This is extremely significant because, as you know, it's been unlawful up until now to call Putin's attack on Ukraine a "war"--else years in prison. Now it's "open season: on Ukraine....yeh? Putin is a brutal, inhuman entity ! And WWIII is not something beyond him starting !!
Glenn: So the only option then is surrender now, while we still breathe, there are a lot of people who go for that option. The better red than dead crowd. Not me.
Before artificial intelligence the right wingers could not tell the difference between reality and fantasy, they believed or wanted to believe anyway, all of Trump's lies.
Now with artificial intelligence, the right wingers believe what they want to believe, see what they want to believe and hear what they want to believe. While the facts will be called lies, even with video and audio.
The right wingers apparently don't care about the future of their children or themselves, then they wonder why their children have behavioral issues? It must be those teachers and leftists!
The GOP is still infected with Reagan's beliefs and notions. His administration had asserted that a nuclear war with the USSR could be winnable. Remember the "With Enough Shovels" crackpot ideas from within his administration? The notions live on today in the beliefs of "preppers", "survivalists" and too many Republicans.
Here's some reporting from 1982:
Thomas K. Jones, Reagan's deputy undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, famously said that if there was a nuclear war, "if there are enough shovels to go around, everybody's going to make it."
"... Mr. Jones told his guest that nuclear war was ''not nearly as devastating as we had been led to believe."
... The shovels were for digging holes in the ground, which would be covered somehow or other with a couple of doors and with three feet of dirt thrown on top. ... 'It's the dirt that does it,' he said.'' "
See full article here:
https://www.nytimes.com/1982/11/28/books/unthinkable-chitchat.html?ugrp=m&unlocked_article_code=1.fU0.HZB7.OvMJhOURtxmP&smid=url-share
BTW, note the description of Reagan "as a man of terrifying naivete, prone to exaggeration and outright invention..." !
Even in a dictatorship such as Russia, public opinion can turn the tide and slow or stop a sociopathic madman bent on pursuing a suicidal policy for that country. The mechanisms and strategies which are in place or that are possible to establish communication and propaganda or other influence involving the Russian people should be expanded upon and maximized. In the same way our naïve dimwits and conspiracy theory suckers are being deceived by the bot farms and social media influencers from Russia and elsewhere, we should be telling the Russian people truths about Putin, democracy, history, and the horrors of wars initiated by paranoid and psychopathic leaders.
It is unimaginable that one fanatic person with too much power and influence can take millions of people into a war that may annihilate large parts of the planet and kill millions of people. However, that is exactly what can happen and has happened. Only when checks and balances are established everywhere to limit that kind of power accumulation and wealth will the planet be safe.
Robert: Putin controls public opinion Just like Hitler did,
It happens over and over again.
Since truth does not get us to safety, we need to use propaganda properly against our enemies. Sefton Delmer during WWII figured out how to give the German people actual news that they did not have and an excuse to listen as a fake Nazi station so they could not be jailed for simply listening to Nazi Party news. He showed "How to win an information War". Such movements are roles that the Party makes for people to play. The people know what safe roles the Party creates for them to play. The same is true of Trumpism. What we need are radio programs that show exactly how ridiculous these roles are and how the leaders are not holding to the values they pretend to uphold. Repubs know they are upholding false roles. They pretend their leaders uphold those values themselves and or the system will give that to them. You destroy them when you make it plain how false that is.
Quite the opposite Thom. It's your parroting of the propaganda of American empire and world domination in lieu of cooperation that will catalyze World War III. The Biden administration stopped peace talks between Zelensky and Putin in March of 2022, telling Zelensky this was to be a "long, drawn out war." After which Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, straight off his multi-million dollar stint as a board member of Raytheon, announced this was to be a "long, drawn out war." Within three months he was signing off on hundreds of millions in javelin missiles to be produced by Raytheon. You have shouted me off your program twice for telling the truth that everyone from Chris Hedges to Jeffrey Sachs to Normal Finklestein tells in that the issues are indeed NATO expansion and Ukraine's membership in NATO. Those who run our country have long wanted new leadership in Russia in the hopes that they can break the BRICS triad of India, Russia and China (among other things). Sending weapons to Ukraine will only result in more death and destruction, which is easy for you to navigate while you spout speculation on the radio to sell dog food. Every military expert agrees there is no way Ukraine will "beat" Russia, and this will be a stalemate of death for years to come. Meanwhile, Biden continues billions in military aid to assist Israel's racist genocide, and you barely mention it. Hope ad revenue is goof Thom.
Cutting to the quick. You are disgusting Boris. You take facts and spin them into lies and disinfo, but you do give yourself away, with this " Those who run our country have long wanted new leadership in Russia in the hopes that they can break the BRICS triad of India, Russia and China "
Your unyielding support for totalitarian dictatorships is duly noted. And you speak of blood shed, well there is nothing like the bloodshed of these dictatorships when visited upon their own citizens, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, Hitler and the sky's the limit when your man Putin can finally take the gloves off.
How about an honest discussion of Putin's reign of terror, his corruption and how he is using and milking the Russian people of Billions, he is possibly the richest man in the world, more so than MBS, Bezo's and the rest, because he owns Russia and it's satrapy republics, like Mao owned China. No deed with a name is required, not when you have the complete resources of a country at your beck and call, and a cowed or brainwashed population.
It of course is embarrassing to the Putin defenders to discuss WHY so many European countries have joined NATO..... Most of them had to jump through a number of hoops to be accepted into the organization, and membership cost them considerable money for defense spending. WHY would they go to that trouble.....? We all know why - they were terrified that eventually Russia would eye their territories and invade, as they have to Ukraine. Joining NATO, to which they had to apply and be accepted, was the most secure way to have the protection of several nations to deflect Russia's territorial ambitions.
You don't believe that is because the evil,blood thirsty, imperialistic, colonialist,military industrial complex, led by that evil master mind Joe Biden is not behind this whole affair. Well I have to rethink everything our resident expert Dr Boris has been telling us :)
But, but - I thought Smokin' Joe was so old and senile that he could not tie his shoes..... I'm so confused.....
You don't give up do you Boris. You don't give a crap about the Palestinians, nor anyone except Putin and his agenda.
You don't tell Truth about anything Boris, all you do is spout selectively chosen propaganda.
Take Christ Hedges, or Noam Chomsky for instance. They may be correct or on track about somethings, but not everything.
Only a witless fool follows a pied piper into the mountain. And you are either a witless fool or a tool.
Your skewed analysis only proves my point that the ruling elites want a world war.
Suzie to whom are you responding. It apears that you are saying Thom's analysis is witless.
This is the problem with substack replies, it is diffiicult, sometimes impossible to know to whom one is responding unless you mention it up front.
I would hope and think that you are responding to Boris"O Kaufman"
William, it is pretty clear I am responding to Kaufman.
Suzie, I knew it was Kaufman, but it wasn't really that clear. Problem is that you commented before I did. Regardless I've found that the way to get around the substack comment ordering problem is to prefix my comment as I did this.
You and I aren't the only ones with the problem, the problem exists on Robert Reich and other substacks.
Russia cannot win a world war - it will only accelerate the decline and destruction of the Russian people..... Putin invaded Ukraine in 2022 because in 10-15 years he would not have enough young men to field the army necessary to conquer any space, not just Ukraine. Russia's population is in terminal decline - they act now or they cannot do it in the future.....
It's likely Putin ignored our warning because he thought it was disinformation to undermine him in Russia. He is a psychopath with no perspective on our empathy for innocent Russians. That is the kind of disinformation he'd use, and the word empathy means absolutely nothing to him. He is a KILLING MACHINE.
There is no wise council helping Putin decide anything. No man is an island? This guy is the Island of Death.
The poor old world is caught in the grips of a psychopathic, greedy, pathetic man. He looks really stupid and unfeeling right now. Dangerous, since he has spent the last 25 years trying to convince Russians he isn't that guy. Thom's assessment is spot-on---this no time to ignore history.
Americans supporting Putin? Most of these folks are deluded by their sick ideology---those that aren't are just outright traitors.
I believe this turning is going to bring the best version of humanity so far, but we have to support truth, democracy, and the battle against the climate crisis.