Politics

[VertigoBE]

It was indeed a massive attempt, but hardly revenge. Even assuming some exaggerated reporting by Ukraine air defenses, independent reporting on the war indicates The UA was extremely successful shooting down the barrage. The most dependable of those indicate the successful intercept of 99 of 115 "Kaliber" cruise missiles; 1 of 3 Kinzal hupersonic missiles; 1 of 3 KH 22 balistic missiles, 1 of 6 Iskander ballistic missiles; and 99 of 109 Shahad Iranian designed drones. That is very close to the Ukrainian reporting in the BBC article.

Also, had anything like that number of assets made it into their targets, the international press would be full of casualty count reporting. Instead, their are clips of crashing cruise missiles and drones such as the one in the article.

Assuming the intercept count is generally correct, that represents a success rate (assuming the remainder all hit their targets) of only 15% by the Russians. That strike also clearly represented a maximum effort on their part. I wonder if his commanders will offer Putin and accurate BDA briefing.

I wonder if Putin will be able to keep hold of the reigns until next spring...

 

[mdwest]

shy of full blown revolution or a military coup.. Putin will remain in office until Putin decides he wants to leave, or Putin dies..

such is the nature of dictators..

 

[deewayne2003]

FYI Trump was on the Shawn Ryan show and probably one of the best political interviews I've ever seen.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Putin will remain in office until Putin decides he wants to leave, or Putin dies..

I keep thinking it will be the latter. Some sort of accidental lead poisoning. An oligarch is going to do what it must to maintain lifestyle.

 

[Red Leg]

I wonder if Putin will be able to keep hold of the reigns until next spring...

shy of full blown revolution or a military coup.. Putin will remain in office until Putin decides he wants to leave, or Putin dies..

such is the nature of dictators..

He will be in charge until he isn't. In less than a century Russia went through two dramatic transformations - one incredibly bloody and the other rather mild, but no less consequential than the first. The oligarchy has benefited enormously from the second. The current angst among that cadre must be enormous.

Two of these leaders of private army/security forces have now released videos critical of the SMO and even Putin; that is with the example of Prigozhin in near term memory.

If something happens within the Kremlin, it will be dramatic and quick.

He also needs to worry about the army. In many ways commanders already seem to be going through the motions, however bloody. They too could simply refuse to carry out any more of these suicidal attacks.

We'll see.

Interesting short discussion of this topic.

 

[wesheltonj]

If Trump were smart or serious about getting more support from Jewish voters, he would have Ivanka and Jared out there aggressively making the case for him.

Not sure what more he needs to do or can do. I know lots of Jewish folks and I can count on one hand the number that will vote R. The rest are voting D.

Every president that I can remember has promised to move the embassy to Jerusalem and only one did, and that was Trump. Started the Abraham Accords, again Trump. And still won’t vote for him.

 

[wesheltonj]

I wonder if Putin will be able to keep hold of the reigns until next spring...

As long as the good citizens of Moscow and St. Petersburg are not effected too much as long as he wants.

 

[bob meadows]

If Trump were smart or serious about getting more support from Jewish voters, he would have Ivanka and Jared out there aggressively making the case for him.

if jewish voters have to be convinced to vote for trump, I would take that to mean they feel harris is the best choice.......the jewish vote is puzzling, they vote dem....party of gun control, party of hamas,iran etc......I guess they know what's best for them....bob

 

[Datchew]

shy of full blown revolution or a military coup.. Putin will remain in office until Putin decides he wants to leave, or Putin dies..

such is the nature of dictators..

With his kgb history, his being well connected to carve up the industries to oligarch buddies when the collapse occurred, and with his time in power, I imagine the dirt and leverage he has is massive.

And likely creepy and bizarre.

 

[Tbitty]

It also points out a potential problem four years from now: If Trump doesn't get elected in 2024, will he run again in 2028.

I've been saying this since before the Primaries. One advantage of Trump being reelected in 24 would mean the GOP can officially move on from him in 28 and beyond. I do believe that if he had been ousted by either Haley or DeSantis, he probably wouldn't try again in 28, but would have ran as an Independent in 24 and taken his extreme loyalists vote with him (and away from GOP). Now that he's made it onto the ballot as R candidate, we may have the same issue in 28 if he doesn't win this November.

 

[TOBY458]

Well…. It looks like Tulsi has endorsed Mr. Trump now. How do the Never Trumpers respond to this news?

 

[Red Leg]

Well…. It looks like Tulsi has endorsed Mr. Trump now. How do the Never Trumpers respond to this news?

I am not a never Trumper - merely think he is a flawed candidate and will be a marginal president. I am convinced Halley would be ahead by 10 now and would not have support from either RFK jr or the fetching Ms. Gabbard. You tell me what that says about Trump, clearly grateful for democrat support, who is either within the margin of error or behind Harris at this point depending upon the poll.

 

[TOBY458]

I am not a never Trumper - merely think he is a flawed candidate and will be a marginal president. I am convinced Halley would be ahead by 10 now and would not have support from either RFK jr or the fetching Ms. Gabbard. You tell me what that says about Trump, clearly grateful for democrat support, who is either within the margin of error or behind Harris at this point depending upon the poll.

My comment wasn’t aimed at anyone in particular. Just wanted to know what people who are not inclined to support Trump thought about this turn of events. Do you think it will help or hinder him? Does the fact that he’s getting support from people who would at one time never have supported him, change how you see how this all shakes out?

 

[Corey0372]

Halley would be ahead by 10 now

You could be right, but that's a bold claim!
The vote R no matter who crowd would pull the lever for either obviously. But I'd wager there's more people in the "screw it, this country is f'ed under Harris, I'm voting Trump" Libertarian/ Independent crowd than there is in the disgruntled "Trump is nothing like Reagan" Republican crowd.

 

[Corey0372]

And if people think it's out of the ordinary and a little bizarre for a Kennedy to come out in support of a Republican candidate......

Wait until you you find out who Richard Spencer and his crew have been pulling for since 2020 and into 2024

 

[Red Leg]

You could be right, but that's a bold claim!
The vote R no matter who crowd would pull the lever for either obviously. But I'd wager there's more people in the "screw it, this country is f'ed under Harris, I'm voting Trump" Libertarian/ Independent crowd than there is in the disgruntled "Trump is nothing like Reagan" Republican crowd.

I do not think it is bold at all. I base it on the her polling vs Trump's polling against Biden. On January 18th she polled 17 points ahead of Biden in the WSJ Poll. In the same poll Trump had a four point lead (as did DeSantis). Trump remains plateaued under 50%, and is behind Harris in most national polls. Yet the republican party, because of its primary format, seems to have picked the least competitive candidate to oppose Biden and now Harris because of the don't confuse me with facts 35% who are totally committed to Trump. Or perhaps you have other evidence or another interpretation of that polling.

 

[Red Leg]

My comment wasn’t aimed at anyone in particular. Just wanted to know what people who are not inclined to support Trump thought about this turn of events. Do you think it will help or hinder him? Does the fact that he’s getting support from people who would at one time never have supported him, change how you see how this all shakes out?

I am a Reagan conservative. In RFK Jr and Gabbard, Trump has support of two progressives who represent almost nothing I support with respect to the economic and national interests of this country. You tell me what that means.

 

[Corey0372]

I do not think it is bold at all. I base it on the her polling vs Trump's polling against Biden. On January 18th she polled 17 points ahead of Biden in the WSJ Poll. In the same poll Trump had a four point lead (as did DeSantis). Trump remains plateaued under 50%, and is behind Harris in most national polls. Yet the republican party, because of its primary format, seems to have picked the least competitive candidate to oppose Biden and now Harris because of the don't confuse me with facts 35% who are totally committed to Trump. Or perhaps you have other evidence or another interpretation of that polling.

I don't have any polling data from the WSJ or anywhere else on tap, but I also don't hold most political polls in high regard to be honest. Not that they're all flawed or anything like that, I'm sure many are pretty close. I just think we're living through a period of time where they're becoming a tool that is less and less effective, similar to messaging through cable news networks.

Of the people polled I'm sure the WSJ numbers are solid. I just think they're probably looking through a straw lens.

 

[Ridge Runner]

With his kgb history, his being well connected to carve up the industries to oligarch buddies when the collapse occurred, and with his time in power, I imagine the dirt and leverage he has is massive.

And likely creepy and bizarre.

You mean kinda like Killary and Piglosuiee?

 

[TOBY458]

I am a Reagan conservative. In RFK Jr and Gabbard, Trump has support of two progressives who represent almost nothing I support with respect to the economic and national interests of this country. You tell me what that means.

I get your point. But my question was, how do you feel about this in regards to helping or hurting Trump’s chances with people who are on the fence? I know you are a republican, as am I, so I in turn would like our republican candidate to win. Does this help or bender his chances?