tw wrote:

Henry Quirk would have us invading Ukraine to drive out the Russians.

Nope, quite the opposite. Right now, with Smokin' Joe callin' the shots, we need to stay the hell out of it.

What I would have preferred is a chief executive who...

1-can do the job

2-isn't a house plant

3-didn't wag the dog

Mostly, though, I want the legislators and executives (all of 'em, everywhere) and their lackeys hanged.

Merkel previously noted that Putin was living in another world.

He's livin' in the same world as all the leaders: the one where they're entitled to lead and you and I are obligated to follow.

the...only next step is all out nuclear war.

Thank Smokin' Joe (or his handlers) for that.

Trump

Say what you like about ORANGE MAN but when he had the Big Chair Putin didn't do diddly.

In fact, durin' his 4 years, a whole whack of the sociopaths in power didn't do diddly.

Now? Russia takes Ukraine; China moves toward Taiwan; Islamists are gettin' noisy again.

What's different? Certainly not Putin's aspirations (he's wanted to reconstruct the Soviet Union for years); certainly not the overall composition and skew of world governments. No, the one difference is we no longer have our sociopath in the Big Chair to counter all the other sociopaths. We traded ORANGE MAN for the House Plant.

It's ridiculous that one old fart should control so much of what happens in the world. It's ridiculous we have to counter their sociopath with our sociopath just to keep the Bomb in a silo.

Most ridiculous of all: that this absurdity is normal, that we not only accept it as normal but that we'll fight tooth & nail to keep it as normal.

henry_quirk wrote:

What I would have preferred is a chief executive who...
1-can do the job
2-isn't a house plant
3-didn't wag the dog

So you want a president who 
1) lies constantly
2) uses the presidential office only for his own personal gain
3) wanted to destroy NATO
4) destroyed an alliance that would have created both economic and military stability in the western Pacific
5) praised Kim while all but making it easy for him to build nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.  Including guarantees of no harm to N Korea even if they built more missiles and atomic bombs
6) Leaked to Kim the existence of a new American nuclear weapons.  So secret that few even in American knew of its existence.
7) demeans American allies
8) obstructs one of America's greatest source of strength (economic, political, and military) - immigrants
9) creates tax cuts and other financial fiascos that only enrich the rich
10) has no problem doing what Nazis also did to obtain and maintain power - attack the Capitol
11) lies on his taxes - for decades
12) does not pay his contractors
13) never once ran a successful company (and only enriched himself even at the expense of stockholders
14) routinely cheats on all his wives (which he trades in like a used car every ten years)
15) is condemned / criticized even by the Pope (as a sinner with no remorse)
16) is a racist - praises Nazis, KKK, and White Supremacists.
17) gives the most sensitive secrets to the Russians - even in the Oval Office
18) obtains power only by insulting others - never by recommending anything constructive
19) has a less than 30 second attention span
20) does not write anything down so as not be prosecuted
21) was caught in possession of secret documents that were suppose to remain in secure (and secret) locations
22) lied repeatedly about Covid - constantly contradicting patriots - people who learn facts before making a conclusion
23) fires people when they tell him a truth rather than what he wants to hear
24) declared American intelligence people as "enemies" - an exact quote
25) openly stated that he wanted to pull American troops out of S Korea (after praising Kim)
26) "My fucking generals are a bunch of pussies.  They care more about their alliances than they do about trade deals." - a quote provided by a senior staff member for DoD 
27) put tariffs on aluminum and steel - thereby harming productive American companies in those industries
28) Fired Comey because he would only work for America; not for Trump
29) Repeatedly ordered his staff to obstruct justice and perform crimes - especially those for political purposes
30) Was routinely played by Putin, Xi, and Erdogen according to Trump's Director of National Intelligence.  Even confiscated and destroyed his translators notes when he met with Putin for hours - without any other Americans in the room.  A fundamental violation of White House rules.
31) Tried to pull out of Afghanistan immediately without even informing some 70 plus allied  nations who were also there as American allies at America's request.  Even days after the Sec of Defense had obtained a guarantee from Canada to remain.
32) Stiffed (did not pay) most contractors who worked on Taj Mahal in Atlantic City.
33) Is smarter than all his generals
34) Moved the American embassy to Jerusalem
35) Tried to destroy the World Health Organization
36) Encouraged people to drink Clorox as a cure for Covid
37) Removed people in charge of Security Clearances because they would not approve clearances for some of his family - for good reasons
38) Ordered National Guard and Capitol police to attack demonstrators so that he could have a photo op in front of St John's Church
39) Claimed he did more for people of color than everyone except Lincoln
40) claimed the murder of kids on Sandy Hook was a conspiracy; maybe by those parents
41) Has no moral compass

Some examples that I remember.  That say why an extremist would so love and praise Trump.
 

henry_quirk wrote:

Say what you like about ORANGE MAN but when he had the Big Chair Putin didn't do diddly.

In fact, durin' his 4 years, a whole whack of the sociopaths in power didn't do diddly.

Now? Russia takes Ukraine; China moves toward Taiwan; Islamists are gettin' noisy again.

What's different? Certainly not Putin's aspirations (he's wanted to reconstruct the Soviet Union for years); certainly not the overall composition and skew of world governments. No, the one difference is we no longer have our sociopath in the Big Chair to counter all the other sociopaths. We traded ORANGE MAN for the House Plant.

tw wrote:

An ideal president for anyone who wants to "fuck up everything".

Yep.

Interestin', though...

henry_quirk wrote:

...when he had the Big Chair Putin didn't do diddly.

In fact, durin' his 4 years, a whole whack of the sociopaths in power didn't do diddly.

Now? Russia takes Ukraine (and preps his atomics); China moves toward Taiwan; Islamists are gettin' noisy again.

What's different? Certainly not Putin's aspirations (he's wanted to reconstruct the Soviet Union for years); certainly not the overall composition and skew of world governments. No, the one difference is we no longer have our sociopath in the Big Chair to counter all the other sociopaths. We traded ORANGE MAN for the House Plant.

What, dear TW, is America's newest and most secret weapon?

Obviously all preparation and planning for this invasion was done while Trump was president.  Who called the intelligence community liars.  He believes Putin before he believes the American intelligence community.  Openly said so.  And then said he was smarter than all the generals.

Only the most naive (extremists) would not know that.  But then Hitler also knew how to obtain power.  Mock and disparage the bourgeois and intelligencia.   So that only the most naive and ignorant (extremists) will empower a dictator.

Apparently Henry agrees with Trump.  Putin is more honest  than American intelligence and military people..  Extremists love lying dictators.  Obviously preparation and planning for this invasion was ongoing when Trump president.  He then called the American intelligence community liars.  Henry again ignores facts to promote a liar's self serving  agenda.  To "fuck up everything".

Putin has decided to deploy everything.  He was surprised by the ferocity of Ukrainian resistance.

Meanwhile Biden has finally gotten most American allies (ie Germany) to change their tune.  To finally admit what Biden said as necessary IS necessary.  Still, a few nations refuse to implement necessary sanctions.  Including Turkey.  Even though Turkey and Ukraine were close friends.  But then that is Erdogen.  Who, American intelligence say, easily played on Trump's ego for his own advantages.
 

henry_quirk wrote:

tw wrote:

Obviously all preparation and planning for this invasion was done while Trump was president.

It took fours years to plan an invasion...right, sure, okay.

It hasn't been four years since Trump was president.
 

"While Trump was President" is less than four years ago.
 

Happy Monkey wrote:

"While Trump was President" is less than four years ago.
 

 
I see what you mean. When the Moderate said Obviously all preparation and planning for this invasion was done while Trump was president. I took it to mean the KGB Agent spent the whole of ORANGE MAN's 4 years preppin'. Obviously, the Moderate leans in that direction since he points out He the KGB Agent was planning this for maybe ten years.

I'll bet I know the details, number of years etc. MUCH more than you non-knowing know-nothings about Russian military and KGB stuff about which I know a lot--at least a MILLION times more than you all. Check back after the dust settles so you can say, "GOSH, that guy was an EXPERT who put us all to shame!" and then you commit seppuku, and then I laugh, "HA ha ha!"

106 nations sponsored a resolution that was taken up by the eleventh emergency session of the UN.  That 1 March vote resulted in 141 members of the UN General Assembly voting to condemn the Russian war. (In Russia, calling it a war can result in a prison sentence.)

Four nations are so despot as to vote against it: Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea and Syria.

However 35 other nations also have no balls - remain despictable. Including Algeria, Mali, Senegal, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Sudan, South Sudan, Central African Republic, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Angola, Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Madagasgar, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi, Armenia, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Laos, Bangladesh, Vietnam,  Mongolia, China, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Cuba, and Boliva.

Hungry and Serbia, who have close relationships with Russia, voted against Russia. Even Brazil, Turkey, and Myanmar voted against Russia. 

China's influence being glaringly obvious in much of Africa. 

Also absent were 12 nations: Azerbaijan, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Eswatini, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Morocco, Togo, Turkmenistan, and  Uzbekistan. Venezuela has no voting rights.

Surprisingly, only 73% of UN member nations voted to condemn Russia.

Last edited by tw (3/02/2022 7:32 pm)

Ukraine is a big country...


...with the capitol city about the size of Chicago.


That 40 mile long convoy outside the capitol, just sitting there...


Made me think of Saddam's convoy leaving Kuwait after refusing to give up weapons.
Remember what that looked like when the Warthogs got done?