After 1 month: Russia, Ukraine, NATO, sanctions

[Kishkumen]

I don't see why you think that making an observation based assessment is defensiveness. I don't see anyone saying there is no decline here either.

Go figure.

I think I have been in a few conversations like this one. They all tend to go the same way.

Go figure.

[honorentheos]

Since the George W. Bush administration I've been of the opinion the administration is as critical, or more so, as the person being elected. I personally would love to see the list of likely appointees and their positions become expected of candidates in the same way we expect they will make their tax returns public. I'd like to know is we will have Wormwoods like Stephen Miller/ Paul Wolfowitz in the ear of the executive, for example. And frankly, who someone would hire to be their cabinet tells me more about them as an executive than anything they say in debates or as announcements.

I say that as background to my view on Biden. I think Kish is right, Biden is old and it shows in his cognitive expressions. Whether or not that is impactful beyond the news cycle is less concerning to me precisely because I think he formed a good cabinet of competent people who are advising him. In fact, I think this cabinet is better than the one Obama had in 2013/2014 including with Biden in the VP role which is why we went very transparent and bold in making the Russian activities leading up to the invasion front page news. I don't believe Putin expect the US to do this, and even Ukraine and Zelenskyy were downplaying the potential for an invasion actually occuring. Things like announcing intelligence of potential false flags Russia intended to use to falsely legitimize the invasion mattered and hopefully the long term result is the permanent delegitimization of Putin as a leader and actor on the world stage.

[Jersey Girl]

I don't see why you think that making an observation based assessment is defensiveness. I don't see anyone saying there is no decline here either.

Go figure.

I think I have been in a few conversations like this one. They all tend to go the same way.

Go figure.

That is easily remedied. Do you think that Biden is currently competent in fulfilling his role as President with regard to making decisions for this country?

[Jersey Girl]

I don’t see why people are so defensive about Biden’s cognitive state, as though a person of that age does not experience the natural impact of aging on the brain. I find it baffling to see “no decline here” entertained as a real possibility, let alone vociferously insisted upon.

I don't see why you think that making an observation based assessment is defensiveness. I don't see anyone saying there is no decline here either.

Go figure.

Um, Jersey? Here is what you wrote:

I could be talking out of turn here but I don't think Biden is in a state of cognitive decline. I think what we see is his stuttering and he gaffes when he is fatigued as he was on this latest trip. I'm purely amazed that a man his age can fly over the Pond and make any sense at all the next day. I sure cannot do that.

Okay that was pretty darn close. Chit.

[Chap]

... Russia (a nation that exists due to revolutions)

Ummm ... the what was that?

I think you may be equating Russia and the old Soviet Union.

You don't view the events leading to the dissolution of communism and the formation of what currently constitutes the Russian Federation as revolutionary? Ok

Russia was there before the creation of the Soviet Union, continued to exist during the Soviet era as the Russian Federation, and continues to be there after its fall. Unsurprisingly, Russia in 2022 is not identical with the country that existed before 1917, certainly. But the same could be said about pretty well any other country that has not spend the last century in a historical deep=freeze, including the US.

[Kishkumen]

Since the George W. Bush administration I've been of the opinion the administration is as critical, or more so, as the person being elected. I personally would love to see the list of likely appointees and their positions become expected of candidates in the same way we expect they will make their tax returns public. I'd like to know is we will have Wormwoods like Stephen Miller/ Paul Wolfowitz in the ear of the executive, for example. And frankly, who someone would hire to be their cabinet tells me more about them as an executive than anything they say in debates or as announcements.

I say that as background to my view on Biden. I think Kish is right, Biden is old and it shows in his cognitive expressions. Whether or not that is impactful beyond the news cycle is less concerning to me precisely because I think he formed a good cabinet of competent people who are advising him. In fact, I think this cabinet is better than the one Obama had in 2013/2014 including with Biden in the VP role which is why we went very transparent and bold in making the Russian activities leading up to the invasion front page news. I don't believe Putin expect the US to do this, and even Ukraine and Zelenskyy were downplaying the potential for an invasion actually occuring. Things like announcing intelligence of potential false flags Russia intended to use to falsely legitimize the invasion mattered and hopefully the long term result is the permanent delegitimization of Putin as a leader and actor on the world stage.

I agree with this.

[K Graham]

Since the George W. Bush administration I've been of the opinion the administration is as critical, or more so, as the person being elected. I personally would love to see the list of likely appointees and their positions become expected of candidates in the same way we expect they will make their tax returns public. I'd like to know is we will have Wormwoods like Stephen Miller/ Paul Wolfowitz in the ear of the executive, for example. And frankly, who someone would hire to be their cabinet tells me more about them as an executive than anything they say in debates or as announcements.

I say that as background to my view on Biden. I think Kish is right, Biden is old and it shows in his cognitive expressions. Whether or not that is impactful beyond the news cycle is less concerning to me precisely because I think he formed a good cabinet of competent people who are advising him. In fact, I think this cabinet is better than the one Obama had in 2013/2014 including with Biden in the VP role which is why we went very transparent and bold in making the Russian activities leading up to the invasion front page news. I don't believe Putin expect the US to do this, and even Ukraine and Zelenskyy were downplaying the potential for an invasion actually occuring. Things like announcing intelligence of potential false flags Russia intended to use to falsely legitimize the invasion mattered and hopefully the long term result is the permanent delegitimization of Putin as a leader and actor on the world stage.

Spot on. Honor, you're doing a great job filling in the void that was created when EAllusion left the board.

[honorentheos]

The only running up of the credit card under Trump was due to the stupid COVID shutdown. Donald Trump didn't get us into war. He actually helped bring peace in the mideast. He renegotiated trade agreements in favor of American citizens. He did everything he could to enforce the border. He reduced unemployment and shrunk the welfare state.

Had he remained in office with a Republican controlled Congress, the keystone pipeline would be completed, gas would still be $2/gallon, our trade deficit with China would be shrinking, inflation would not be where it is, a merit based immigration system would be in place, the stock market would be up, Afghanistan would still be under American control, and Russia would have never dared to invade Ukraine.

I read this earlier today and did the math on how much time it would take to debunk every claim then made a decision to do other, more productive tasks. But it needs responded to and I'm killing time now so why not at least touch on it, right?

The only running up of the credit card under Trump was due to the stupid COVID shutdown.
This by itself is wrong on multiple levels. For starters, when I say that Trump ran up the country's credit card I refer to the combined effects of his tax cuts, his push to keep interest rates low and strictly controlled during a period of positive economic growth which by itself is an inflation-causing action, push for increased government spending overall, and undermining regulation activities. And that combination is uniquely Trump's. When the Republicans won the House and Senate in 2016 I expected the tax "reforms" but left to Paul Ryan and other names you've probably forgotten about we'd also have seen lower spending and the Federal Reserve actions being left much more apolitically alone. COVID...while it certainly hurt Trump to see a hot economy cool rapidly, the administration's response was own-goal after own-goal. Don't

Donald Trump didn't get us into war.This is one of those funny conservative talk television points I find amazing. Trump didn't get us into war, he abandoned our allies and weakened us at almost every point. He left Syria to the Russians, the Kurds to Turkey, Western Europe and NATO to Russia (again with Russia), Hong Kong and Taiwan to the Chinese, his Saudi friend the crown prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud murdered Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi and shrugged, he gave Kim Jong Un international legitimacy and suspended joint maneuvers with South Korea as Kim Jong Un continued to advance their weapons capability under pretense of photo op diplomacy. Meanwhile, authoritarians the world over ascended on the updraft of his authoritarian signaling. This appeasement and making the world a less safe, less democratic place. Didn't get us into a war...good Jesus.

He actually helped bring peace in the mideast. This propaganda claim is based on the deal between Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates establishing diplomatic relations with Israel...only they already had diplomatic and economic relations with Israel. This was a formalizing of an otherwise non-hostile relationship. Missiles fell on Israel within days of the this "peace in the Middle East" treaty to remind the world of how stupid a person has to be to actually say this with a straight face. Just as the Trump administration armed the House of Saud in their conflict in Yemen and did everything possible to heat up tensions with Iran. Peace in the Middle East? Again, Jesus damned Christ.

He renegotiated trade agreements in favor of American citizens. Name one. I bet you can't. Why? Because almost every attempt Trump made at negotiating ended up hurting American trade in the short term and never paid off in the long term. Seriously. You believe this, name one without googling it. Then after you scramble to think of one, read this: https://www.forbes.com/sites/phillevy/2 ... d8c9a06350

That's before his failure to do anything meaningful with NAFTA reforms and the mess with China just as COVID took over the world. Another banger claim by ajax.

He did everything he could to enforce the border. Uh, wow. He did everything he could to enforce the border? Setting aside the stupidity of this as a metric, remember when the government shutdown was going on back in 2018/19? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018%E2%8 ... t_shutdown

And that one time when he was about to sign a deal to end it but because it didn't include funding for his wall the Fox News pundits called him names so he wadded it up and, "I'm not a pussy I'll show you!!!!" and led the longest shutdown in our history? What a damned leader that dope was, man. That's leadership right there. "Another Banger" - another banger by Ajax.

He reduced unemployment and shrunk the welfare state.Trump did what, now? Do you know how economics works? What's the welfare state, again, ajax? Sounds like something you have a handle on so explain to me what is included in that term so I can even understand just what a banger this claim is because right now it just reads like a propaganda headline.

2024 needs a reminder.