Tuco

And you think anyone interpreted Biden's comment as a prelude to the invasion of a nuclear power? Really? It's a controversy for anyone desperate for a controversy.

The “damage” here is predicated on the idea that the US is negotiating with Russia to end this war. We aren’t. Turkey is hosting two party talks. We don’t have a seat at the table, and I don’t think we want one. Russia has to deal with Ukraine. Biden’s comments here are completely in line with referring to Putin as a war criminal. I believe the message is clear. There is nothing Putin will say or do that will reduce our current support for Ukraine. Therefore, any negotiations need to go through Zelensky. Putin isn’t going to peel our support back. Regime change obviously isn’t some official or unofficial position, but Biden’s hardline comments aren’t an accident.

The best opportunity for peace is for Russia to have its military capability reduced and for Putin to lose support in Russia. That’s the current direction. His invasion of Georgia was largely ignored in 2008, which is basically the same script of what we are seeing in Ukraine with Putin declaring support for separatist factions. Six years later, he annexed Crimea. And now he just wants to a greater portion of southern Ukraine, right? No. If Ukraine wants to deal, that’s cool. It’s their people getting killed. But fuck anyone who criticizes their resistance , or our extremely restrained support for their resistance. Ukraine surrendering a single fucking inch is not a path to peace.

Yeah, you’re a fucking troll.

They already had this vote in 1991. 92.3% of Ukraine as a whole voted for independence from Russia, with 54.2% of Crimea voting for it. Putin doesn’t get to dictate a fucking do-over through invasion 30 years later. Out of curiosity , did you already know that?

NE-1 Congressman Jeff Fortenberry was convicted on 3 counts today for lying to FBI agents about illegal foreign campaign contributions. Doesn’t matter in the larger scheme, as another Republican will take his place. But it’s nice to see, considering he has a history of trying to get activists charged for things like putting googly eyes on his campaign signs. https://images.app.goo.gl/JCounswnKZQbF21F6

CNN, FoxNews, Guardian…maybe try Google. Ukrainians claim there may also been a moral victory in that the ship displayed insignia indicating it was part of the original Crimea annexation.

My stepdad was drafted for Korea. Had some options and picked artillery, figuring it’d be way back from the front lines. The first day, his commander explained what a forward observer was, and how glad he was there were so many volunteers because they just couldn’t train them fast enough to keep up with how quickly the enemy would pick them off. (My stepdad must be part magic, because he somehow transferred out of there and spent most of his stint in Japan working in a general’s office. Lucky motherfucker, literally.)

Several months after Biden’s inauguration. If Brooks is telling the truth (who the fuck knows), it really demonstrates how fucking insane Trump is.

I wish I was that confident that the US will be a meritocracy in the future.

I think you are running with the extremely sanitized party line here. The sanctions will hit the Russian public first, and hardest. It will take years for the Russian military to degrade to the point where it would matter in Ukraine. Sure, the billionaire oligarchs will lose some boats, and considerable net worth, but they aren't going to be food insecure. Their kids will be ok. Sanctions move the viability line, which means they kill the vulnerable. Not as many as bombs, but it's not all about computer chips and yachts. For fucks sake, we're not talking about North Korea here (whose draconian sanctions have been status quo for decades). The Russians are an educated people with (until recently) access to the internet. Putin is a thug and murderer, but there are plenty of protestors who survive their actions. Pussy Riot was given an unreasonable sentence for something that was reasonably a crime, but they weren't beheaded in the town square. Do you want to compare the average Russian now versus the average Ukrainian in 2013? Or, more pertinently, the average Ukrainian now? And the fact is Putin is widely supported by the public, in part because the bread lines of the 90s are seen as the alternative. He is supported because of nationalistic fervor. He is supported because of his military bravado. He rules by consent of the masses. The idea that the masses are not part of this conflict is fantasy. And, no, I haven't been protesting the millions of people our country have been killing because our country isn't currently killing millions of people. I have protested our military adventurism, our border policy, and the lack of accountability of our police. I am disappointed more don't. If there is a specific issue you want to discuss, rather than just parroting Russian propaganda, let me know.

Biden, Trump, Pence, Harris Rate them based on intelligence.

Yeah, that’s how the Romanovs consolidated their power. Silly me. Out of curiosity, what do you all think the purpose of the sanctions are?

I have no idea if the average Russian civilian is against the war. I do know is that if Russians start lining up for bread again, they’ll start paying attention and be forced to make a decision if they’re going to do something about it. Every government derives its power from the public. Their government is killing thousands of innocent people. I haven’t seen mass demonstrations or strikes. Fuck them.

Sasse will confirm, unless he was harping on some interpretation of the Constitution. He’s bulletproof in Nebraska, and his superficial tifs with Trump makes him untenable in a national contest.

As Putin gets further from any reasonable version of victory, I can definitely the goal to shift more to breaking the country rather than taking it. If nothing else, to serve as a warning to others.

Related, I think dictators miss the crucial role the free press has in Quality Assurance. Remember how the Bradley fighting vehicle? Generals and defense contractors can cover that up. But one fucking journalism major can expose the flaws and improve the military. Despots might hate that, but the alternative is the tragic joke that is the Russian military with their 20 year old MREs.

{Meant to quote thatguys “intensive purposes”, but fucked it up. } It’s “intents and purposes”, which is more than just grammar-smack. There is no way he will achieve his intent or purpose of this invasion. Putin will never fully control Ukraine and his paper tiger military has been exposed.

Saddle matches the cop’s. It was likely the equestrian version of a ride-along.

I’m more worried about DeSantis as a candidate than I am Trump.

Thankyou. Reading through the comments was like watching the disinformation machine play out in real time. Fucking idiotvibes posts about the dollar crashing and how it's tied to Ukraine sanctions. People react to the sanctions part, without challenging the basis, which, of course, is just utter fucking nonsense. It's how disinformation becomes commonly accepted.

Do you believe direct engagement with Russian forces would be "actual peace keeping."

I know it's off-topic from the SC, but I am going to follow it anyway. First of all, a recent Pew Study indicated that 56% of US Catholics believe there should be legal in all or most cases. (Pew, 2020). So, if you are defining a liberal Catholic as someone who believes abortion should be legal, then "liberal" Catholics are massively underrepresented on the SC. I know that's not the perception because pro-life Catholics use their religion to bolster their position, while pro-choice Catholic politicians do not, but the fact is most actual, real life Catholics support abortion rights. And there are plenty who vote Democrat, with Gallup estimating that 52% voted Dem in 2020. (Gallup). Secondly, regarding the purge, you're not entirely wrong (if you replace "Catholic" with "pro-lifer"), but it misses the main story. Local politics have become national. Because of that, it is harder for local candidates to follow regional preferences if they conflict with national party preferences. Case in point, I volunteered for a mayoral candidate (Mello) in Omaha who had some pretty moderate views on abortion. He got some press. National pro-choice organizations raised a stink and Tom Perez backed off him. Whether that cost him the election, I don't know. His campaign wasn't great and he was going against an incumbent. So, sure, there is that dynamic. But you could say the same about the influence Grover Norquist or the NRA has on local Republican candidates. And a thirdly, you shouldn't just attribute changes in the last 30 years to the Democrats. The Church changed. I graduated from a Benedictine high school in 1990. I certainly knew liberal priests. I remember activist nuns who visited to talk about protesting nukes. Certainly there were conservative priests, including ones that protested abortion clinics. I remember paging through a liberal Catholic trade magazine (for the lack of a better term) that a priest had left out. My impression was that it was a cross section of politics. I don't get the impression it's that way now. My impression is that Conference of Catholic Bishops has been effective in pushing their bullshit down to the high school level. Hopefully I am wrong.

Just as a reality check, in this kind of situation, the goal is probably more like only losing 5 defenders to kill one invader. What the Ukrainians are signing up for is a very likely possibility that they will be killed before they are ever in rifle range of a Russian soldier. It is breathtakingly selfless.

Ok. So what? Does that really change the point about the cremation trucks?