Politics

[CoElkHunter]

Our worthless, useless brain dead president on the job, making friends all over the world. FFS!!!!

MSN

Unbelievable! Maybe Brandon should bring along Fetterman (Bailey) with him on his world tours, dressed in a hoodie, shorts and sandals. They would complement each other in the Brandon and Bailey Circus.

 

[Doug3006]

Oh, I think Thomas Jefferson had it exactly correct - "The government you elect is the government you deserve." Like everything he wrote, it was well considered and he deliberately chose to use the second person singular rather than a collective pronoun. He was pointing that finger at me just as surely as any other citizen of this country.

Joseph de Maistre believed the same was true of every government - "Every country has the government it deserves."

I'll use the collective. Look at this thread of ours. It is a place where seemingly angry older men come to complain about their government and culture. We are adept at coming up with not particularly clever nicknames for democrats or Biden; some of us are seemingly obsessed by communists: we post sometimes funny memes and sometimes juvenile ones; and we argue endlessly. But how many of us are actually doing anything about situation? Who last attended a city counsel meeting or participated in a voter registration drive or volunteered even a few hours to support a particular campaign? Heck how many of us even support a SCI legislative initiative by engaging our congressional delegation?

I am sure some of us do, but I am equally sure, most of us do not.

And yes, this absolutely applies to Russia as much as the US or any other country. The Russian people have chosen, primarily through apathy, to be governed by the equivalent of a bureaucratic mafia ruled by a Don in the Kremlin. They have allowed that mafia to steal their future posterity for their personal enrichment and to plunge them into a useless war that to date has achieved the exact opposite of the goals established for the Special Military Operation. The question is how long will the Russian people tolerate this.

I agree that we in the West are accountable for the governments we elect. The Western experience from Greece toThe Enlightenment to today has given us the concepts of the rule of law, one man one vote, democracy, liberty, and the value of life. Here in the US, we have had a couple of centuries to create a near perfect system based on these ancient ideals. If we screw this up it’s on us.

I‘m not so sure the same goes for the Russians. They’ve known nothing but dictators and tyranny since the dawn of time. Even the Russian version of the Enlightenment was progress done at the point of a sword. Peter the Great was progressive, but also an iron willed autocrat. How does a people who’ve never known liberty suddenly shake off the only system the’ve ever known?

 

[sestoppelman]

View attachment 558944

You reckon you guys have had enuf of that twit yet?

 

[mark-hunter]

some of us are seemingly obsessed by communists:

The better part of entire posts caught my interest by this statement, but this was the key sentence!


But a first small digression.
When I read some other posts on the forum, like "in 1971, i shot my first elk", or "in 1963 I bought nice winchester m70"... I then get the idea of the age of some forum members.

The fact is, communism is dead. (surprise, surprise!)
From my part of the world, and I came from collapsed communist state (Yu), i can really say, first hand, communism is dead.
Remaining communist countries of the world are (only) China, Vietnam, Cuba, North Korea and Laos.

Soviet union does not exist, and Russia, is not communist state.

So, basically what we have on the forum, I believe, with forum members of older generation is a cold warrior mentality. But of course, the elder generation, cannot change their views.

 

[Ray B]

the elder generation, cannot change their views.

I change my views all the time. I am constantly amazed and in awe of the myopic abilities of some people- young and old. I find that the amount of credit that I would apply to a person is in constant need of revision downward.

 

[sestoppelman]

MSN

 

[fourfive8]

Many countries may be called commie but I think the older generation with enough experience knows what fascistic tyranny looks like. Call it whatever you like but true Communism is an idea that never fomented fully in its original concept anywhere... so what's the point of splitting nomenclature hairs? What ever name they are given is of no importance. Most if not all of the so called commie countries that get labeled as such devolve so quickly into what appears to be some form of fascistic tyranny that whatever they are called is of no practical consequence.

I just use Marxist-socialist or commie as a general term to describe those ideologies that have devolved into what we currently see as fascistic tyranny. Call it what you will, it is easy to recognize.

I noticed also that Zelensky is becoming fond of playing to the politics when he visits here. He posted in a public forum a rhetorical question to Trump that went something like, "Well, if you know how to resolve the Ukraine war please share it". If I were Trump I would have shot back immediately with something like, "Sorry Volod ole buddy, ole pal, too late. The last time I talked to you about Ukrainian corruption and issues pertaining to the US, I released the verbatim transcript of the call and was impeached for it". "You, Joe and Hunter figure it out".

 

[Red Leg]

Many countries may be called commie but I think the older generation with enough experience knows what fascistic tyranny looks like. Call it whatever you like but true Communism is an idea that never fomented fully in its original concept anywhere... so what's the point of splitting nomenclature hairs? What ever name they are given is of no importance. Most if not all of the so called commie countries that get labeled as such devolve so quickly into what appears to be some form of fascistic tyranny that whatever they are called is of no practical consequence.

I just use Marxist-socialist or commie as a general term to describe those ideologies that have devolved into what we currently see as fascistic tyranny. Call it what you will, it is easy to recognize.

I noticed also that Zelensky is becoming fond of playing to the politics when he visits here. He posted in a public forum a rhetorical question to Trump that went something like, "Well, if you know how to resolve the Ukraine war please share it". If I were Trump I would have shot back immediately with something like, "Sorry Volod ole buddy, ole pal, too late. The last time I talked to you about Ukrainian corruption and issues pertaining to the US, I released the verbatim transcript of the call and was impeached for it". "You, Joe and Hunter figure it out".

That seems like a pretty legitimate question - particularly if I am leading a country in an existential war with my one of my ally's two most dangerous potential adversaries. Like Zelensky, I too am also curious how Trump plans to end the war in 24 hours. As far as I can tell, he has failed to share his international diplomacy acumen with anyone.

You and I will agree that the impeachment effort with respect Ukraine was ridiculous. But that has no more to do with our national interests than does the political party of whomever is sitting in the White House. National interests are by definition apolitical. That doesn't mean political or personal biases or decisions driven by such bias can't change how that interest is pursued, but the fundamentals remain the same.

For instance, stability in the Middle East has been an abiding national interest since the thirties - regardless of the party in control in Washington. Following 911, the neo-con driven effort to make Iraq into a pro-American Middle East bastion was embraced as a means to help achieve that goal. It was considered sufficiently compelling to trigger an invasion and occupation of the country. Instead of stabilizing the country, the Levant was thrown into twenty years of instability and Iran has become far more emboldened. But our fundamental national interests in the region have not changed, and they will not until oil is no longer a commodity capable of affecting our economic prosperity.

Likewise, this country has an abiding national interest in preventing Russia from regaining a position of prominence controlling Eastern Europe and militarily dominating Western Europe. This interest is particularly true today because of a resurgent Russia's potential alliance with China. In bilateral talks prior to the Olympics, Xi essentially green-lighted the Russian invasion of Ukraine. From the perspective of Chinese interests, an ascendant Russian military power in Europe would be a distraction, perhaps even decisive threat, to the United States and of course Europe, enabling China to pursue its goals unhindered in the Pacific. That is true regardless of who occupies the White House.

Indeed, it is hard to imagine an administration less capable of decisively opposing Russia than the current one - unless it would be the Trump administration. My concern with Trump is that the personal seems far more important to him on many issues than what is in the actual interests of this country.

Zelensky, in what I think has proven a Churchillian effort, has effectively fought a great power to a standstill while managing the political distractions offered by the 31 member states of NATO, the EU, and, of course, the United States. Trump, on the other hand, seems obsessed with Zelensky's failure to involve himself in what was and remains a US internal political issue. By definition, that is a form of pettiness and self-indulgence that hardly furthers this country's international goals and objectives.

 

[CoElkHunter]

Question: Why isn't the EU, US and other countries funding the Ukraine's military with seized Russian (including the Oligarchs) assets? And don't bring up some nonsense about International rule(s) prevent that from happening. Putin hasn't adhered to any rules enacted by the UN for two decades. That's why we now have his invasion of Ukraine. A useless, toothless UN with a war criminal running Russia STILL seated on the Security Council with veto powers. Unbelievable!

 

[bowjijohn]

Question: Why isn't the EU, US and other countries funding the Ukraine's military with seized Russian (including the Oligarchs) assets? And don't bring up some nonsense about International rule(s) prevent that from happening. Putin hasn't adhered to any rules enacted by the UN for two decades. That's why we now have his invasion of Ukraine. A useless, toothless UN with a war criminal running Russia STILL seated on the Security Council with veto powers. Unbelievable!

I have some sympathy with your frustration

Many years ago I was on a course on international law of the sea

It was at Bristol University in the UK

We were a small and unusual bunch comprising some intelligence folk, some fast jet pilots; a couple of flag officers; a few hooligans from Hereford and a total nutcase from one of the seal teams (and he was truly crackers!)

Anyway…

We were arguing about the merits of int law without military enforcement to back it up

At one point the int law professor, who lead the course, threw his hands in the air and complained that

“….teaching int law to you lot is like trying to teach morality to a group of kleptomaniacs…. “

I understood his frustration if not his characterisation

 

[Brent in Az]

Zelenskyy returns to Washington D.C to mooch for more money. GTFO.

 

[Boyd Brooks]

You reckon you guys have had enuf of that twit yet?

I had enough when his stepdad was in power. He is in so far over his head he could never climb out of the well. His only life experience was a part time drama teacher for a couple semesters. A real POS.

 

[PARA45]

Old Communist are the new Progressive Group.

 

[Brent in Az]

 

[Red Leg]

Another short clip that says a lot about Western technology vs. that of Russia. Approximately a week ago, the Ukrainian air Force struck Russian S400 air defense systems in Crimea with Storm Shadow cruise missiles launched from Ukrainian aircraft and drones launched from southern Ukraine. Four days ago, using the same cruise missiles, they destroyed the 775 Popucha-class landing ship "Minsk" and the 877 Kilo-class submarine "Rostov-on-Don" which were both in drydock at the Russian naval base in Sevastopol (likely also causing significant damage to the drydock). This morning the Ukrainian Air Force struck the headquarters of the Black Sea fleet itself in Sevastopol, reportedly killing among others, the Admiral commanding the Fleet. One would assume the staff also suffered grievous casualties. This would appear to also be a Storm Shadow attack.

Every few evenings, Russia launches cruise missiles and Iranian designed drones against Ukrainian cities - usually targeting "infrastructure" - though a surprising number of apartment buildings and city squares seem to intercept their flight path. During any given attack, Ukrainian Air Defense systems will destroy 75-90% of those weapons before reaching target.

Storm Shadow, like the rockets fired by HIMARS, seem to be largely untouchable by Russian air defense systems. Perhaps more importantly, Ukrainian Mig 29's were able to approach within launching range of such a key target.

https://www.reddit.com/r/UkraineWarVideoReport/comments/16pi295

https://www.reddit.com/r/UkraineWarVideoReport/comments/16pg907

Ukraine Strikes Headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in Crimea

The cruise missile attack is the latest of several Ukrainian strikes on major Russian military targets.

www.wsj.com

 

[jpr9954]

Dressing for the job…

 

[Pheroze]

 

[jpr9954]

 

[shootist~]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1705406778903544076

 

[Ray B]

If past performance is an indicator, the DemonRats will engineer the election to the point that they will win, so everyone can save their emotional currency and focus on things to do to adjust to DemonRat domination.