After 1 month: Russia, Ukraine, NATO, sanctions

[K Graham]

Let's see, a fanatic with a dream to restore the 19th century Russian empire, and country number 1 surrenders without a fight. And so then Putin has Ukraine's economy, and their entire untouched military at his disposal. Who's next?

Seriously! People amaze me! They want Putin to succeed in his imperial goals? They want millions more to suffer under his yoke? Where do these people come from?

You have to understand we're dealing with someone who suffers from FOX mania. After Russian media has been ordered by the Kremlin to air Tucker Carlson and Laura Logan, the only option left to them is to take Russia's side. Of course this exposes them to be the most unAmerican among us, but being patriotic was never anything more than a bumper sticker to these people. They only care about power, and the Right retains power by fearmongering and lying about most Americans simply because we refuse to vote Republican or buy into their BS. So they attack us. Call us communists, bla bla bla. Ajax just said he'd deport you if he could. Why? Because FOX keeps pumping BS into his head about how everything bad is because of Democrats and everything good is because of Republicans. They're literally being indoctrinated to hate not only immigrants and minorities, but also any American who doesn't agree with their political cult.

Ajax is supposed to be a grown adult but he comes across as spectacularly ignorant and very willing to let Hannity drag him around by his nose. It's sad and pathetic.

[Kishkumen]

It is extremely troubling. He jumps to not wanting me in his country because he drools over that Putin-shill Tulsi Gabbard, a total disgrace to the uniform. These cretins want Ukrainians to become Putin’s slaves instead of asserting their will to be free. I am shocked, honestly. So many people so openly treasonous in their mindset, so unworthy of the sacrifices of generations for freedom.

[K Graham]

It is extremely troubling. He jumps to not wanting me in his country because he drools over that Putin-shill Tulsi Gabbard, a total disgrace to the uniform. These cretins want Ukrainians to become Putin’s slaves instead of asserting their will to be free. I am shocked, honestly. So many people so openly treasonous in their mindset, so unworthy of the sacrifices of generations for freedom.

Well said. The country and the world will a much better place when they're gone.

[ajax18]

I don’t think you read and comprehended what I said. You are supporting a tyrant,

No I'm not. I just didn't think Ukraine was worth WWIII. But it's clear WWIII is in your best political interests.

[Kishkumen]

Don’t be stupid, Ajax. WWIII is in no one’s interest, and weakness before tyranny is only in the tyrant’s interest. Go back to slobbering over Putin with Tucker.

[Bret Ripley]

... gas would still be $2/gallon ...

Here is the list of countries that currently have an average gas price of $2/gallon (or less): Venezuela, Libya, Iran, Syria, Algeria, Kuwait, Angola, Nigeria, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Russia, Malaysia, Iraq, and Egypt. That's it. Would you say we can attribute their low gas prices to very-stable-genius-type leadership? I hope not.

Moreover, the average gas price worldwide is $5.04, and in the US it is .40 cheaper than that. I don't suppose you would care to take a stab at how many western industrialized countries enjoy cheaper gas prices than the US?

https://www.globalpetrolprices.com/gasoline_prices/

And no, I don't think you should attribute our (relatively speaking) comfortable gas prices to Executive Branch policy.

[ajax18]

Don’t be stupid, Ajax. WWIII is in no one’s interest, and weakness before tyranny is only in the tyrant’s interest. Go back to slobbering over Putin with Tucker.

Tucker doesn't like Putin and neither does Trump. He's a brutal dictator. He's wrong for going into Ukraine. But Ukraine put missiles on their border pointed at Russia. This could have been resolved peacefully if Ukraine had just not put missiles on their border, perhaps given up some the eastern territories, and agreed to not join NATO. He's not really giving anything up because NATO wasn't going to let Ukraine in any time soon. Putin took Crimea back in what year 2014? It was pretty clear that NATO was not willing to go to war with Russia over Ukraine.

Now what do we do? Do you think Putin is going to just get discouraged and quit? Do you think he's going to resign? I'm not sure you understand how Putin thinks. Russians have always taken heavy casualties. That's not going to stop him.

The only weakness before tyranny I've seen was first in the withdraw from Afghanistan and the fact that we elected a doddering old fool who belongs in a nursing home as our commander in chief. And this is the man we have negotiating with brutal dictators like Putin, Kim Jong Un, Xi, the Taliban, a man suffering so badly from dementia he literally can't even put a sentence together without a teleprompter or even walk off the stage without help. We can call Putin a lot of names but he's not senile and he's not stupid. Sadly Biden just hasn't been mentally up to the job of maintaining peace and order in the world as Trump was able to do, which the American people should have known. But not only that, the American people still do not realize what worthless institution the United Nations is.

[honorentheos]

Ajax, does it occur to you that all the consequences being realized we said would follow Trump running up the charges on the nations credit card, so to speak, is an indictment of Trump

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 Tiawan 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 manuevers 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 propoganda 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 propoganda headline.

[honorentheos]

This could have been resolved peacefully if Ukraine had just not put missiles on their border, perhaps given up some the eastern territories, and agreed to not join NATO.

"All this could have been avoided if they'd just stop hitting themselves," said the big brother sulking after getting in trouble. Jesus damned Christ.

Another banger by ajax.

[MeDotOrg]

Saw a short documentary on YouTube that said that the war was not quite as David and Goliath as it may appear. Since 2014 the Ukrainian military has had one simple purpose: to protect itself from a Russian invasion. They don't have the built-in kleptocracy and corruption of the Russian military. Ukraine has no navy to speak of. It has no foreign bases or power projection. It has no nuclear force. All of the money they spend has pretty much gone to the purpose for which it has been spent.

While Russia has a lot more troops, tanks and planes, their military budget also has to support a navy, a large nuclear force, an internal homeland security force, and research and development into stealth and advanced weapon technology. All of that spending is not helping them win a war in Ukraine. Add to that the Russian proclivity not to have the same level of logistical support as Western nations, and a rigid command and control structure is not adaptive to a rapidly changing battlefield, and the last month is less surprising.

There's a military axiom that says Generals always prepare to win the last war, and with respect to tank warfare, that may be true. Cheap drones and javelins have made large tank formations vulnerable to asymmetric warfare. Anti-tank weapons also operate without air superiority.

But while we may be getting a better picture of the hows and whys of the battlefield, I wonder if and how that information is being processed in Moscow.