Russia and American elections, now featuring radical republicans as co-stars

[HenryJames 66115]

1 hour ago, Biff Tannen said:

Weird that he’s posting in the middle of the night again. I’m on the other side of the world on vacation, so it’s afternoon for me, but interesting to see in real time. 

#humblebrag

[horn4life 3762]

18 hours ago, fattyflattie said:

Shit my pants hell. I can point to literally any thread in the CR and show extreme divisiveness from the left.  The fact y’all don’t want to admit to it or run a bit you started it campaign is such a weird flex.  Also, I know how markets work (and O&G specifically) so don’t know why you are lumping me in with that guy. 

I think he is a “center” guy. I think he is a puppet for his party, and the people pulling the stings are pretty far left. 

Cool. Now do congressional softball games. 

This is the result of far too much Fox News fattie.  You see AOC is not the leader of the party.  I know it seems crazy, to not believe the crazy shit, but come on man.  The ONLY fucking reason that the democratic far left has had the degree of influence they have had thus far, is..... wait for it... Because of complete dereliction of duty by, THE GOP! It's a good political tactic and it has good people believing a lie.  IF the GOP would even slightly engage then we would have the most moderate Presidency ever.  BUT what's good for America is often not good for the GOP (like lots of people legally voting). So better to demonize and mislead. Yeah the far left... (I would love names) has some degree of power.  But ONLY because of the vacuum crated by complete GOP disengagement. (with the exception of trying to stop all legislation)

Right now it seems that for many in the GOP, Patriotism is waving a flag, wearing a flag pin, or putting a flag bumper sticker on their car.  Democracy is good, but only if the right white people have much easier access to polls. Sadly that is exactly where more than half the GOP finds itself located now.  But when you live in a world where lies are promoted and embraced at the highest levels by a political party, you end up believing falsehoods.  Like Joe Biden is having his decision making dominated by the far left.  WHen honestly nothing is farther from the truth.

But that is exactly what the GOP wants.  Just like it wants bad things for our country now.  in the hopes of future partisan political power. Tht's why today you hear so many of the bumper sticker, flag pin, flag waving Republican's siding with Putin and again Biden.  Putin thanks both Pompeo and Trump for the fantastic propaganda! Huge swaths of the the GOP would rather have the US fail, simply to be able to say Joe Biden failed.  And that is fucking sad. 

[horn4life 3762]

oops

Edited February 23, 2022 by horn4life

[horn4life 3762]

oops

Edited February 23, 2022 by horn4life

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

4 hours ago, workswithseed said:

The party of compassion.

 

4 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

Unless you’re gay. Or poor.  Or….fuck I could be here all night listing the groups that Republicans hate.  

And being compassionate in the GOP these days gets you labeled as a RINO.  It’s all about being angry at somebody or something.  

Since this is the Russia thread......😉 It's only a one minute watch....

For the unaware, it's from Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga starring Will Ferrell, Rachel McAdams (seen here playing Sigrit) and Dan Stevens (seen here playing Alexander Lemtov)

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

I noticed one of the pro Putin  talking points circulating comes from his speech (paraphrasing: Ukraine was a part of Russia, we're simply bringing it back into the fold.) which made one internet pundit question whether the RW patriots supporting this are going to welcome Mexico resuming control of Texas.

Russia loved Ukraine so much it starved millions during The Holomodor. Putin is cut from the same cloth as Stalin. He does not see people, he sees assets. He does not see people, he sees threats--journalists, people like Navalny (his trial is underway and he's facing 15 years at this time); he is a strong man, a man who has been corrupt prior to his ever assuming office.

Putin does not see Biden as weak, he sees him as a threat. He has allies in his endeavors, as other countries gain with our infighting, our growing nationalism and isolationism. The long game of chess is not Trump playing--he's a self-dealing pawn-- it's Putin and he's pretty damn good at it.

 

 

Edited February 23, 2022 by Mrs Whiggins

[TXSG8R 3362]

It’s funny that the party that makes up shit like corporate communism gets all mumble mouthed when communist communism is right in their face. This should be the easiest of slam dunks, but instead we get dissembling. Strange.

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

Adding--I mistyped 'strong man' with a space out of habit, and it really should be 'strongman' to describe Putin, an authoritarian president.

Good piece by author, Ruth Ben Ghiat, who studies people like Putin and what to look for with respect to the narrative; italics prior to spoilers mine.

The Propaganda Points That Parallel Russia's Military Mobilization around Ukraine

But lies cannot conceal Russia's imperialism and brutality

Here you have a familiar grievance: "we're the victims!" and flooding the airwaves with it.

Quote

"What sense does it make for Russia to attack anyone?...Russia throughout its history never attacked anyone...it is the last country in Europe to even utter the word war," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov claimed on Feb. 20.

Quote

 

As Russia builds up its war machine around Ukraine, so have propaganda narratives meant to justify the invasion accumulated. Some of these stories were used to prepare the public to accept prior imperialist aggressions, by arguing that Russian interests and safety were imperiled.

Others, like Peskov's fairy tale of Russia's innocence and its victimization by the West, are key and ongoing Kremlin talking points. Russian President Vladimir Putin featured them in his Feb. 21 speech portraying Ukraine as an existential threat to Russia.

"Quantity does have a quality all its own," write the authors of a RAND study of Russian propaganda model they call the firehose of falsehood, which sends a continuous high-volume stream of untruths and rumors out to the public.

 

Explosions work, too:

Spoiler

Russia's information warfare playbook combines Communist and post-Communist methods. It cultivates an alternate reality, but also degrades the truth with an onslaught of conspiracy theories, half-truths, and fictions.

Encouraging people to feel that they can never know what's true and what's fiction comes in handy when you are an aggressor --an aggressor that already annexed a chunk of the targeted country, as Putin did with Crimea in 2014-- and you seek to fit your military operation into narratives about your country's victimization.

One narrative tradition involves explosions. No explosions had a bigger impact than the series of apartment building bombings in Moscow and other cities in 1999 that killed 300 people and helped to propel Putin into the presidency.

Putin had resigned from being head of the FSB (heir to the KGB) to run for office just three weeks before the explosions started. He was still an unfamiliar face when he appeared on television to blame the Chechens, even though the hard-to-obtain military explosive the bombs contained raised the possibility of FSB involvement.

Putin won the March 2000 elections with almost 53% of the vote. Accusations of voter intimidation and fraud anticipated his brand of governance, as did his strongman's skill at exploiting a calamity of mysterious origin.

Apparently, Ukrainian soldiers are under strict orders not to fire so as not to fuel claims of provocation, so Russia uses its own methods:

Spoiler

It's unsurprising that explosions have figured in the Kremlin's current quest to depict Ukraine as a threat to Russian stability that necessitates armed action. A vehicle explosion took place Feb 18 near the headquarters of the Donetsk People's Republic (the breakaway territory inside Ukraine recognized by Putin on Feb. 22, along with Luhansk, as an independent state). Both Ukrainian and US authorities have denounced it as a false flag operation.

A second disinformation vector fabricates mass killings of ethnic Russians living in targeted areas outside of Russia to justify military action on nationalist-humanitarian grounds. In 2008, Russia claimed it was forced into war with Georgia by mass killings of Russians in South Ossetia. The supposed genocide of Russian speakers in Donbas is the 2022 version.

These propaganda campaigns fuel popular anger that ideally becomes fury when the inevitable news breaks: soldiers of the country to be invaded have attacked Russian soldiers. The first "martyrs" of each chapter of this fable of Russian victimhood at the hands of neighboring aggressors always have a special significance.

 

One thing that our leaders have done in an attempt to stick a finger in the dike of information flooding:

Spoiler

The Joe Biden administration has countered this information warfare by swiftly declassifying and releasing intelligence on future Russian operations, and by telling the public to watch for falsified video and other "evidence" of attacks against Russia.

These are smart moves that get out in front of the lies and expose the manipulation by calling attention to how, why, and when such propaganda is deployed.

Although the Orwellian rhetoric continues - the Kremlin characterizes the forces now barreling into the newly "independent" Russian puppet states inside Ukraine as "peacekeepers"--  actions, not words, will speak the truth as Russia's murderous campaign to conquer Ukraine plays out.

And no words will suffice to express the tragedy for Ukrainians as Putin tries, through violence, to make the world conform to his brutal imperialist vision.

 

[Captainant 27680]

2 minutes ago, TXSG8R said:

It’s funny that the party that makes up shit like corporate communism gets all mumble mouthed when communist communism is right in their face. This should be the easiest of slam dunks, but instead we get dissembling. Strange.

It's almost like they don't actually have an argument or personal synthesis of the ideas and are just repeating whatever confused angry TV man says.

[TwiceHorn 31495]

15 minutes ago, Captainant said:

It's almost like they don't actually have an argument or personal synthesis of the ideas and are just repeating whatever confused angry TV man says.

Yeah, that's the thing.  They get all critical of "lamestream media," which is partially justified, and then go completely uncritical when fox or whatever "trusted" source (bwahaha) feeds them what they want to hear.

And the rest of us are all trust but verify.

[BehoId, The Underminer! 11669]

9 hours ago, sidis said:

unanimous senate votes against conviction twice,

Point of order. They were the only bipartisan votes to convict in our nations history.

[Pescado_Rojo 19422]

6 hours ago, henrygandorf said:

the right has one goal - owning the libs. that’s it and that’s all. 

they would support hitler if there was a chance he could make biden look bad. 

how many times do people have to tell us who they are before we say “oh ok”?

there is no plot twist, there is no quiet part, there is no bottom.

[Neonmoon 38129]

10 hours ago, Beantown Express 2.0 said:

It should really make people wonder why when a foreign leader is about to invade (or already has invaded a country) would Tucker Carlson go on TV to defend him to his United States audience.  I get free speech and all that but the CIA/NSA/FBI should really be looking into what Fox News is broadcasting at this point.  It seems like Putin is bankrolling Tucker (or the Republican party) and since this is considered “news” it is as dangerous as yelling “fire” in a crowded movie theater if not more so.  I have a hard time believing that someone could have given Walter Cronkite some money back in the day and then he would go on national TV and tell us all about how Khrushchev is really a good guy since he didn’t try and take your jobs or call you a racist.  I prefer not to throw the word, “traitor” around too lightly but between Trump/Tucker/etc… we really are seeing traitors to our country and they aren’t even hiding it.

Prior restraint forbids culling Fox News, but damn, someone has to be done, right? what can be done?

[WhatTheBuck 28788]

9 minutes ago, Pescado_Rojo said:

[TXSG8R 3362]

39 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

Yeah, that's the thing.  They get all critical of "lamestream media," which is partially justified, and then go completely uncritical when fox or whatever "trusted" source (bwahaha) feeds them what they want to hear.

And the rest of us are all trust but verify.

I know we are becoming immune to cognitive dissonance, but how do people simultaneously rail about communism 24/7 and then hear praise for Putin from the ironclad leader of the GOP and not bat an eye?  How do you bleat about inflation and the rising cost of gas in every news cycle and then completely ignore how the communist of all communists is destabilizing oil markets for the foreseeable future?  It’s almost like if you can’t blame it on Biden or the left it’s somehow not a news story according to certain fair and balanced news companies.

Putin ignores a sovereign nations borders and chooses to carve out more of it for himself and his communist empire?  “NIMBY, Putin doesn’t call me racist, why should we care?” Trudeau breaks up protests that are directly impacting US trade and inflation. LOOK AT THIS FUCKING COMMUNIST FASCIST FUCK INFRINGING ON FREEDOMS, LETS INVADE.

I don’t understand how their necks withstand the whiplash.

[WhatTheBuck 28788]

1 minute ago, TXSG8R said:

I know we are becoming immune to cognitive dissonance, but how do people simultaneously rail about communism 24/7 and then hear praise for Putin from the ironclad leader of the GOP and not bat an eye?  How do you bleat about inflation and the rising cost of gas in every news cycle and then completely ignore how the communist of all communists is destabilizing oil markets for the foreseeable future?  It’s almost like if you can’t blame it on Biden or the left it’s somehow not a news story according to certain fair and balanced news companies.

Putin ignores a sovereign nations borders and chooses to carve out more of it for himself and his communist empire?  “NIMBY, Putin doesn’t call me racist, why should we care?” Trudeau breaks up protests that are directly impacting US trade and inflation. LOOK AT THIS FUCKING COMMUNIST FASCIST FUCK INFRINGING ON FREEDOMS, LETS INVADE.

I don’t understand how their necks withstand the whiplash.

They admire Vladimir Putin while they accuse Justin Trudeau of being a tyrant. They’re living in an alternate reality. 

[Horn Dog 9875]

5 hours ago, Bravo said:

2014 Obama Crimea taken 

Trump nothing (Putin puppet) 

2022 Biden East Ukraine Taken

But Trump was bought and sold by Putin. 

Idiots. 

 Obama/Crimea

https://www.theatlantic.com/news/archive/2017/02/trump-obama-russia-crimea/516777/

Spoiler

Obama’s response to Russia’s invasion of Crimea in March 2014, and Moscow’s subsequent support of pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine was economic sanctions. Although the measures had an impact on the Russian economy, they were seen as woefully inadequate by some Republican lawmakers in Congress. Senator John McCain of Arizona, a harsh critic of Obama’s foreign policy, wanted the U.S. to send arms to Ukraine. But Obama viewed the Ukraine conflict through another lens. As Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic’s editor in chief, wrote in the Obama Doctrine:  “Obama’s theory here is simple: Ukraine is a core Russian interest but not an American one, so Russia will always be able to maintain escalatory dominance there.” Indeed, Obama told Jeff: “The fact is that Ukraine, which is a non-NATO country, is going to be vulnerable to military domination by Russia no matter what we do.” Despite their criticism of Obama, the Republican platform ahead of the 2016 presidential election didn’t call for U.S. weapons to be sent to Ukraine to fight Russian-backed rebels.

Trump- Nothing

https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-mocking-obama-over-crimea-backfires-russia-ukraine-crisis-2018-11

 

Spoiler

President Donald Trump mocked former President Barack Obama as being weak on Russia and standing by while Moscow illegally annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

But Russia's navy recently locked Ukraine out of the Sea of Azov, which Kiev relies on to feed its valuable port cities in the country's east.

During his presidential campaign in July 2016, Trump said of Putin: "He's not going to go into Ukraine, all right? You can mark it down, and you can put it down. You can take it anywhere you want."

How Trump's handling the Azov crisis

Essentially, Moscow used a military escalation to steal another chunk of Ukraine's sovereignty, building on its past annexation of Crimea, as it now controls both sides of the pivotal Kerch Strait.

In response, Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, condemned the move and called for action.

Trump on Thursday canceled a planned meeting with Putin on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina, saying he wouldn't meet Putin until the sailors were returned and the situation resolved.

But no real action has come forth yet to stop Russia's destabilization of Ukraine.

 

 

 

 

Biden- Ukraine response (so far)

-NATO unified response

- imposed sanctions 

- freeze russian banking

-  suspend German/Russian pipeline

 

So in summary, Obama and Biden respond to Russian aggression against Ukraine with sanctions. Trump responds by canceling a meeting.

The fact of the matter is there is very little we can do in response without starting WW3.  We are not sending troops and sending arms risks escalating Russia’s aggression.  You can disagree with Obama’s response but his rationale is perfectly sound.  Ukraine is a absolute red line critical  interest of Russia and they will go balls out to advance their perceived interests.  Ukraine is important, but is not a red line critical national interest to the US and we are not going to go to war over it. 

['stache 21819]

7 minutes ago, TXSG8R said:

I know we are becoming immune to cognitive dissonance, but how do people simultaneously rail about communism 24/7 and then hear praise for Putin from the ironclad leader of the GOP and not bat an eye?  How do you bleat about inflation and the rising cost of gas in every news cycle and then completely ignore how the communist of all communists is destabilizing oil markets for the foreseeable future?  It’s almost like if you can’t blame it on Biden or the left it’s somehow not a news story according to certain fair and balanced news companies.

Putin ignores a sovereign nations borders and chooses to carve out more of it for himself and his communist empire?  “NIMBY, Putin doesn’t call me racist, why should we care?” Trudeau breaks up protests that are directly impacting US trade and inflation. LOOK AT THIS FUCKING COMMUNIST FASCIST FUCK INFRINGING ON FREEDOMS, LETS INVADE.

I don’t understand how their necks withstand the whiplash.

You poor fool, they can and do blame everything--literally everything bad--on Biden and the left. You see it here on a daily basis. Currently, that means embracing a tyrannical dictator and historical enemy of the United States. Just think about that, this is the party of Ronald Fucking Reagan, taking Russia's side when they are trying to retake a former soviet republic by force. A republic which chose independence from Russia after the fall of the Berlin Wall, something on which Reagan is given enormous credit. There is nothing at all anymore that they can ever rally around for the good of the country. Nothing whatsoever. If China decided tomorrow they wanted to annex Hawaii and Biden tried to stop them, they'd take China's side. That used to sound like hyperbole, but it is exactly what would happen. 

[atomheartbevo 89726]

6 hours ago, Bravo said:

Interesting. Putin I guess waited until after his guy was out to invade. 

If it was simply about a Democrat being in office, he should have done it prior to 2017 or last year.  

Or maybe he was waiting until Nord Stream 2 was finished and about to come online, and upgrades to various military systems were mostly finished, among other reasons.   

[DDD Dad 14339]

15 minutes ago, TXSG8R said:

I know we are becoming immune to cognitive dissonance, but how do people simultaneously rail about communism 24/7 and then hear praise for Putin from the ironclad leader of the GOP and not bat an eye?  How do you bleat about inflation and the rising cost of gas in every news cycle and then completely ignore how the communist of all communists is destabilizing oil markets for the foreseeable future?  It’s almost like if you can’t blame it on Biden or the left it’s somehow not a news story according to certain fair and balanced news companies.

Putin ignores a sovereign nations borders and chooses to carve out more of it for himself and his communist empire?  “NIMBY, Putin doesn’t call me racist, why should we care?” Trudeau breaks up protests that are directly impacting US trade and inflation. LOOK AT THIS FUCKING COMMUNIST FASCIST FUCK INFRINGING ON FREEDOMS, LETS INVADE.

I don’t understand how their necks withstand the whiplash.

Putin is not a communist. He is an authoritarian dictator ruling over a corrupt oligarchy. 
 

carry on. 

[TwiceHorn 31495]

Just now, DDD Dad said:

Putin is not a communist. He is an authoritarian dictator ruling over a corrupt oligarchy. 
 

carry on. 

Yeah, that whole part of the political flat circle converges, though.  Communist?  Fascist? Same same.

[TXSG8R 3362]

1 minute ago, DDD Dad said:

Putin is not a communist. He is an authoritarian dictator ruling over a corrupt oligarchy. 
 

carry on. 

Corporations aren’t communist either, that’s never been the point of the label with that side. Pedantry noted though. 

[DDD Dad 14339]

2 minutes ago, TXSG8R said:

Corporations aren’t communist either, that’s never been the point of the label with that side. Pedantry noted though. 

Misuse of terms a common tool of propagandists. 
 

Words matter. 

[Guest Lobo]

I heard that Putin can't be a real communist unless he's exposed to CRT-Marxism.

[David Dennison 18922]

6 hours ago, Bravo said:

2014 Obama Crimea taken 

Trump nothing (Putin puppet) 

2022 Biden East Ukraine Taken

But Trump was bought and sold by Putin. 

Idiots. 

Why invade when having Donald Trump in office means you don't have to? This is going to cost Russia a lot more than it will cost the United States.

[TXSG8R 3362]

3 minutes ago, DDD Dad said:

Misuse of terms a common tool of propagandists. 
 

Words matter. 

You’re missing the forest for the trees. A large point was their rampant misuse of the term, but ignoring it when convenient. 

[TXSG8R 3362]

52 minutes ago, Pescado_Rojo said:

[DDD Dad 14339]

31 minutes ago, TXSG8R said:

You’re missing the forest for the trees. A large point was their rampant misuse of the term, but ignoring it when convenient. 

I get it. I just would prefer not perpetuating the rampant misuse. 

[WhatTheBuck 28788]

21 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

Yeah, that whole part of the political flat circle converges, though.  Communist?  Fascist? Same same.

Well, sort of. Authoritarianism is authoritarianism. Putin demonstrates the horseshoe model of the political spectrum. I’d say he’s a fascist dictator. Far right. With the fall of communism in Russia, the far left, they went from the state owning everything to private ownership. That transformation isn’t complete, e.g. Gazprom is still mostly owned by the state, but in the cases where industries have transitioned from state-owned to privately-owned, bribes and tributes have to be paid and the oligarchs in charge have to show fealty to the emperor. Not to the party as in communism but to the man; Putin. State-owned or privately-owned, what matters isn’t about “property” but “control.” I wouldn’t presume to lecture you on legal matters, but isn’t it the case that property is a legal construct while control is what matters in the real world, especially in an authoritarian state where the dictator is the law?

The Russian state is no longer responsible for assigning everyone to a job and providing housing, health care, pensions, etc. Their welfare system has been greatly diminished. I recently read or heard that they were again cutting their pension benefits. I can’t recall where. I’ve searched trying to identify what Russia is without success. It’s definitely not communist anymore. Governmentally it’s not democratic. Under Putin its autocratic. Economically they’re not free market capitalists. (Is anyone?) I don’t know but it seems like fascist dictatorship is the best description. 

[Longhorn_Fan68 33874]

 

[atomheartbevo 89726]

It really is creepy as fuck that Trump had to make sure Putin knew that Trump approved. But Trump had daddy issues, so it shouldn’t be that surprising.  

[WhatTheBuck 28788]

6 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

It really is creepy as fuck that Trump had to make sure Putin knew that Trump approved. But Trump had daddy issues, so it shouldn’t be that surprising.  

It’s not surprising from Trump. What’s surprising is that he’s a thought leader for so many Americans. It boggles the mind. People who once supported Reagan now support Russian aggression. I’ve said this before but Trump could stand in the center of Berlin and say, “Mr. Putin, rebuild this wall!” and they’d enthusiastically cheer their approval. 

[Red Five 40862]

6 minutes ago, WhatTheBuck said:

It’s not surprising from Trump. What’s surprising is that he’s a thought leader for so many Americans. It boggles the mind. People who once supported Reagan now support Russian aggression. I’ve said this before but Trump could stand in the center of Berlin and say, “Mr. Putin, rebuild this wall!” and they’d enthusiastically cheer their approval. 

He could go on tv and politely ask Putin to nuke Portland and most would cheer their approval. 

Well not the ones in Portland I guess. 

[Beantown Express 2.0 6559]

2 minutes ago, Red Five said:

He could go on tv and politely ask Putin to nuke Portland and most would cheer their approval. 

Well not the ones in Portland I guess. 

I’m pretty sure the few Republicans living in Portland would cheer for this even as the mushroom clouds engulfed them.

[Brisketexan 105154]

2 minutes ago, Red Five said:

He could go on tv and politely ask Putin to nuke Portland and most would cheer their approval. 

Well not the ones in Portland I guess. 

No, the ones in Portland would cheer it too.  Because they are that fucking stupid.  They have been cheering for a boatload of stuff against their own interests for years, no way they change path now.

[DDD Dad 14339]

1 minute ago, Brisketexan said:

No, the ones in Portland would cheer it too.  Because they are that fucking stupid.  They have been cheering for a boatload of stuff against their own interests for years, no way they change path now.

@workswithseed approves.

[Dutchrudder 11141]

So how much will the sanctions on Russian banks impact the GOP's election campaign funds in 2022 and 2024?

[Longhorn_Fan68 33874]

Just now, Dutchrudder said:

So how much will the sanctions on Russian banks impact the GOP's election campaign funds in 2022 and 2024?

hopefully a fucking lot

[Blotto 23559]

4 minutes ago, Red Five said:

He could go on tv and politely ask Putin to nuke Portland and most would cheer their approval. 

Well not the ones in Portland I guess. 

workswithseed would volunteer to paint the bullseye on his roof. Well....after he got his gofundme up and running to afford the paint. 

[WhatTheBuck 28788]

Just now, Dutchrudder said:

So how much will the sanctions on Russian banks impact the GOP's election campaign funds in 2022 and 2024?

Has the NRA been disbanded? If not then it won’t matter. 

[Longhorn_Fan68 33874]

2 minutes ago, Blotto said:

workswithseed would volunteer to paint the bullseye on his roof. Well....after he got his gofundme up and running to afford the paint. 

"Could you add in another benjamin to cover materials?"

[aggie08 21505]

3 minutes ago, Dutchrudder said:

So how much will the sanctions on Russian banks impact the GOP's election campaign funds in 2022 and 2024?

Speaking of cognitive dissonance: Russia has invested considerable time, effort, and money in bot farms and misinformation campaigns to prop up Trump and the GOP...but they really wanted a "weak" leader like Biden before acting. Makes sense.

[Goredho 17408]

8 minutes ago, DDD Dad said:

@workswithseed approves.

I'm starting to think workswithseed has worked with a bit too much weed.

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

2 minutes ago, Goredho said:

I'm starting to think workswithseed has worked with a bit too much weed.

Did you know that consuming Ipomoea (Morning Glory) seeds gives hallucinations? Shouldn't eat them, it's apparently like LSD.

[Longhorn_Fan68 33874]

5 minutes ago, Goredho said:

I'm starting to think workswithseed has worked with a bit too much weed.

he must be doing it wrong because some of my best ideas have come to me when high. highdeas, if you will

[Longhorn_Fan68 33874]

Just now, Mrs Whiggins said:

Did you know that consuming Ipomoea (Morning Glory) seeds gives hallucinations? Shouldn't eat them, it's apparently like LSD.

[Pig Bellmont 8719]

50 minutes ago, WhatTheBuck said:

Well, sort of. Authoritarianism is authoritarianism. Putin demonstrates the horseshoe model of the political spectrum. I’d say he’s a fascist dictator. Far right. With the fall of communism in Russia, the far left, they went from the state owning everything to private ownership. That transformation isn’t complete, e.g. Gazprom is still mostly owned by the state, but in the cases where industries have transitioned from state-owned to privately-owned, bribes and tributes have to be paid and the oligarchs in charge have to show fealty to the emperor. Not to the party as in communism but to the man; Putin. State-owned or privately-owned, what matters isn’t about “property” but “control.” I wouldn’t presume to lecture you on legal matters, but isn’t it the case that property is a legal construct while control is what matters in the real world, especially in an authoritarian state where the dictator is the law?

The Russian state is no longer responsible for assigning everyone to a job and providing housing, health care, pensions, etc. Their welfare system has been greatly diminished. I recently read or heard that they were again cutting their pension benefits. I can’t recall where. I’ve searched trying to identify what Russia is without success. It’s definitely not communist anymore. Governmentally it’s not democratic. Under Putin its autocratic. Economically they’re not free market capitalists. (Is anyone?) I don’t know but it seems like fascist dictatorship is the best description. 

He’s imperialist. This expansion isn’t about the USSR it’s about asserting Russian nationalism to expanding/former territories. 

[Sbbruin 21861]

13 hours ago, LTbear said:

Holy mother of god there are so many absolute fucking morons in this country. 

The fact that Tucker the Fucker can just throw out simpleton specious comments like that and his audience will be all "yeah, Putin's not the enemy, Biden is!" is so sad.  I f feel like I'm going down the @Brisketexan road of despair.

[DDD Dad 14339]

Just now, Pig Bellmont said:

He’s imperialist. This expansion isn’t about the USSR it’s about asserting Russian nationalism to expanding/former territories. 

The rising tide of nationalism seems to be a worldwide problem.  

[Goredho 17408]

Just now, aggie08 said:

Speaking of cognitive dissonance: Russia has invested considerable time, effort, and money in bot farms and misinformation campaigns to prop up Trump and the GOP...but they really wanted a "weak" leader like Biden before acting. Makes sense.

I was driving through Denver yesterday and this dude came on the radio

He was hammering home these points to his audience

• Russia/Ukraine is a shiny object the media is using to distract you from the real crisis; Almost all Ukranians want Russian rule
• Justin Trudeau and in fact all the leaders of Western democracies are your enemy and a clear and present danger to you and your family
• Be ready for what you are seeing in Canada, and worse, to happen here in the US

I'm not saying he's a fucking Russian agent, but he couldn't promote Russia's interests here any harder if he was.