Politics

[flatwater bill]

The fervor with which posters on this site both hate Russia (and sometimes Russians), and love Ukraine is evidence of the sway of MNM. Russia has similar propaganda. Most Russians that I have talked with recently believe that the CIA/Ukraine was instrumental in killing their children. @Wheels makes some very good points. .....FWB

 

[freefall]

Fresh from the "You just can't make this shit up" department. Trump is selling Bibles to pay his legal bills. Gotta be good for a laminated all-access pass to heaven, doncha spose?
Oy,vey!

 

[Tanks]

... Most Russians that I have talked with recently believe that the CIA/Ukraine was instrumental in killing their children. @Wheels makes some very good points. .....FWB

I am sure that most Russians you talked to also believe Ukraine invited to be invaded by Russia and it is Ukraine and not Russia that is responsible for the war and its consequences.

 

[Tanks]

Fresh from the "You just can't make this shit up" department. Trump is selling Bibles to pay his legal bills. Gotta be good for a laminated all-access pass to heaven, doncha spose?
Oy,vey!

As mentioned before, if he was available, I would hire Trump as a salesman. The man can sell A/C units to Yupiks in Siberia in Winter.

 

[wesheltonj]

Another situation that wouldn't be happening under a Trump Presidency.

Trump could crush the Mexican economy with the stroke of a pen.

View attachment 595796

Well, he could stop remittiturs to Mexico, which would certainly put it dent in their economy. But he would have a hard time stopping trade crossing the border as too many companies are dependent upon production in Mexico. I’m afraid we would feel a lot of that pain.

 

[steve white]

20 Billion dollar demand...
Take sanctions off Venezuela...
Legalize illegal aliens in US...

If we only had a President who would stand up to this. Neighbor to the south firing off demands to ne met or they will continue to push the migrants across.

View attachment 595667

OTOH, I thought the cartel was really in control....so who to cowtow to? (lol)

 

[Red Leg]

Russians largely believe what they are told to believe. The West, and Americans particularly, believe what their chosen news, information, and opinion outlets tell them that fits their belief biases - right or left. One is probably about as bad as the other.

To believe that the US intelligence services instigated and managed the Ukrainian Dignity revolution against a pro-Russian regime is the height of conceit. Did we support it? Of course we did. But, I would simply point to the battlefield where the Ukrainian army and people have for more than two years successfully defended themselves against a brutal Russian invasion ordered by Vladimir Putin. They are daily voting with their lives to preserve their and their children's right to chart the future of their country with Western Europe. To imply that they were coerced into booting a Putin puppet or resisting naked aggression is an insult to that sacrifice whatever Tucker Carlson, Revolver, Newsmax, or Gateway Pundit might have to say about it.

I have no doubt any number of Third World countries believe any number of lies about this nation. After all, we have our own incomprehensibly ignorant citizens who have allowed themselves to believe that the CIA orchestrated 911, that the NSA is monitoring the metallic material in the new harder to counterfeit currency, that the Sandy Hook shootings were a hoax, and Hillary Clinton ran a child sex ring. I have no doubt any number of them could be persuaded to believe the CIA orchestrated a massive terror attack. I am certain that the Kremlin would be delighted to take advantage of such naïve gullibility - here and abroad.

Are the US intelligence services active abroad? You bet they are. But the overwhelming effort is just that - intelligence gathering. Have the agencies been involved in more active operations? Yes. All too often to our regret. But, they do not slaughter young men and women at concert venues.

 

[Brent in Az]

Well, he could stop remittiturs to Mexico, which would certainly put it dent in their economy. But he would have a hard time stopping trade crossing the border as too many companies are dependent upon production in Mexico. I’m afraid we would feel a lot of that pain.

True. But just the threat of it would have the Mexican President singing a different tune. But then again, if Trump was president, Mexico wouldn't be extorting the U.S.A

 

[Tanks]

...

I have no doubt any number of Third World countries believe any number of lies about this nation. ...

What is amazing is that citizens of those countries while hating USA and being anti-USA jump at the chance to enter Green Card lotteries. Go figure.

Now, some of the criticism we deserve. We should have never started the last Gulf war.

 

[Red Leg]

What is amazing is that citizens of those countries while hating USA and being anti-USA jump at the chance to enter Green Card lotteries. Go figure.

Now, some of the criticism we deserve. We should have never started the last Gulf war.

I'll amend that a bit. We had to go to Afghanistan. The people who attacked us were there. We should have stayed no more than 18 to 24 months, killed as many as we could, and left until when and if we had to go back. Perhaps had we killed Bin Laden in Tora Bora we would have had the sense to do so, but likely not.

Iraq, on the other hand, was a totally unforced error. A Sunni regime in Iraq, regardless who controlled it or how, with an implacable hatred of Iran, would be a nice thing at the moment.

 

[Red Leg]

What is amazing is that citizens of those countries while hating USA and being anti-USA jump at the chance to enter Green Card lotteries. Go figure.

Now, some of the criticism we deserve. We should have never started the last Gulf war.

As do the hate America first crowd on the far right and left in this country. Very few seem to be packing up to leave.

 

[Doubleplay]

People in other countries who are thinking this was a CIA operation are probably watching too many American Spy movies.
However the movies they watch are far from reality about CIA and how it operates.

 

[CoElkHunter]

People in other countries who are thinking this was a CIA operation are probably watching too many American Spy movies.
However the movies they watch are far from reality about CIA and how it operates.

Yeah, watching reruns of "Get Smart" on Nickleodean doesn't truly depict the way the CIA operates. Although, I'm sure they still use some version of the "Dome of Silence" as depicted on Get Smart? LOL

 

[Wheels]

Looks like NBC figured out that Ronna McDaniel was a no go about seven years faster than it took the RNC.

Former RNC chair Ronna McDaniel axed by NBC after intense backlash

Severe criticism followed hiring as pundit of McDaniel, who headed Republican National Committee during Trump years

www.theguardian.com

 

[Scott CWO]

The fervor with which posters on this site both hate Russia (and sometimes Russians), and love Ukraine is evidence of the sway of MNM. Russia has similar propaganda. Most Russians that I have talked with recently believe that the CIA/Ukraine was instrumental in killing their children. @Wheels makes some very good points. .....FWB

Sway of the media? My distrust of the Russians came from their actual actions over my lifetime. Where were you all for the past 60 years??

 

[Rocked and Loaded]

Sway of the media? My distrust of the Russians came from their actual actions over my lifetime. Where were you all for the past 60 years??

 

[Corey0372]

-Brezhnev
-Russian

Oh Richard, if only you could live to see the Irony

 

[Corey0372]

To believe that the US intelligence services instigated and managed the Ukrainian Dignity revolution against a pro-Russian regime is the height of conceit. Did we support it? Of course we did.

How would you describe the role of the National Endowment for Democracy in Ukraine?

In 1991 when NED founder Allen Weinstein, referring to NED, told the Washington Post "A lot of what we do today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA", was he just kidding around or was there some sincerity there?

 

[Red Leg]

How would you describe the role of the National Endowment for Democracy in Ukraine?

In 1991 when NED founder Allen Weinstein, referring to NED, told the Washington Post "A lot of what we do today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA", was he just kidding around or was there some sincerity there?

What an extraordinary revelation. I personally had not seriously considered that it was the NED that caused the vast majority of the Ukrainian population to turn on Russia, toss out a Kremlin puppet, embrace Western values, advocate for EU and NATO membership and fight the Russian Army to the death in Eastern Ukraine. Or perhaps not.

 

[Corey0372]

What a forehead slapping moment. I had not seriously considered that it was the NED that caused the vast majority of the Ukrainian population to turn on Russia, toss out a Kremlin puppet, embrace Western values, advocate for EU and NATO membership and fight the Russian Army to the death in Eastern Ukraine. As I say, American conceit is almost unimaginable.

You didn't really give an answer about how you would describe their role in the country.

I'm talking specifically about Maidan, you really believe the US had zero to do with that? Nothing? I've heard you call out Trump specifically about the events around Jan 6, and I'd say fair enough.
But if one guy and a handful of his influencers can cause that much of a disruption, you honestly don't think millions of dollars being spent coupled with years of NGO efforts and intelligence operations could cause people to carry out a Jan 6 on steroids like Maidan? Especially when the people carrying it out are being actively encouraged by the West? 200k people in the street isn't always "the will of the people" it may just be 200k people in the street (some of whom are in contact with US handlers).

You also leave out the huge swaths of the country who were against the 2014 coup, because they knew it was a coup. The US drastically underestimated just how much of an issue this was going to be. US leadership believed a shakeup of the Kiev government, coupled with a blind eye to the violence perpetrated by groups like Right Sector and Azov against those "Kremlin stooges" in the East, would make the problem just sort of go away.