The Russians need to face up to the fact

[pecksniff]

That Russia is no longer a world power, and never will be again. Even France has a better chance of staging a comeback in that regard.

I don't think the Russians ever really have learned that lesson. Even in the Cold War, they were not exactly defeated, not like Germany was in WWII, they just kind of gave up. They were not invaded or conquered or occupied -- nobody since the Mongols has ever managed to conquer Russia. It must be easy for them to pretend they're still a great power.

 

[mayfly13]

I'm glad you brought up the topic.

btw Actually, I think it's the reverse.
You don't mess with Russia backed by China, both having the nukes and resources like Nordstrom2 or the Silk Road.

Most people have been in shock all week.
And I don't think it's just because the hallucinating, gigantic exodus and human displaement, and the invasion of a sovereign European country in this day and age!
But subconsciously, we realized that the World has definitely changed last week.
Until now it was "the rise of Russia and China", now it's "the "the NWO has changed".

 

[ll74]

I'm glad you brought up the topic.

btw Actually, I think it's the reverse.
You don't mess with Russia backed by China, both having the nukes and resources like Nordstrom2 or the Silk Road.

Most people have been in shock all week.
And I don't think it's just because the hallucinating, gigantic exodus and human displaement, and the invasion of a sovereign European country in this day and age!
But subconsciously, we realized that the World has definitely changed last week.
Until now it was "the rise of Russia and China", now it's "the "the NWO has changed".

Putin needs an asswhooping

 

[mayfly13]

Putin needs an asswhooping

You might be right, actually.
I keep oscillating between extremes, it's so annoying.

 

[icanhelp1]

Putin needs an asswhooping

nah! Putin needs 290 grains of lead poisoning.

 

[Dribble]

Change will only happen from within there. Send all Russian and Belarusian citizen back home. Tax all businesses that do business with either country double, and use that money to provide Ukrainians with weapons. Any country that does business with either Russia or Belarus, they too should be taxed at a higher rate. Force those that enable Putin, to pay for Putin

 

[pecksniff]

I find myself wishing Napoleon had won, and conquered Russia.

I'm just this close to wishing Hitler had won, and destroyed Russia.

 

[WillJ8787]

nah! Putin needs 290 grains of lead poisoning.

For once, I agree with you....take him out!

 

[mayfly13]

I find myself wishing Napoleon had won, and conquered Russia.

well said.
I'm a Rusophile as in I like their arts, intellectuals and laypeople. But we don't need their boots on our throats.
And even Russian laypeople would have done much better, had that happened. During the Soviet Union they had a miserable standard of living, and under Putin: one of the lowest in Eastern Europe.

 

[mayfly13]

btw
Just watched RT news from last night, and a few shows (over here you can, yandex wasn't banned yet).

And I have to admit, they were quite convincing about Donbas and Crimea.
Donbas was a clusterfuck, local Russians and Ukrainians fighting each other, both sides committed genocide.
Then two outside countries US and Russia jumped in.
Crimea was also strategic, given that NATO was surrounding Russua.

All good until their take on the Ukraine invasion.
Even their more experienced pundits were dittering like fools and had an awkward body language, when trying to gloss over the killings of civilians and the refugees crisis.


Also.
Wtf. Chris Hedges and Ross Ashcroft.
They are now trying to JUSTIFY Russian invasion.
One thing is to go to RT because your massmedia is censoring you, the other to try to serve Russia.

Wtf. Are they on Russian Intel payrol‽

 

[pecksniff]

I don't think Putin is really all that popular -- it's just that most Russians are too apolitical/indifferent/go-along-to-get-along to actively oppose him. Most people are like that everywhere, and most tyrants depend on that fact, more than on actual active public enthusiasm for them.

But a ruler can always go too far and change that.

 

[The_Trouvere]

Putin needs an asswhooping

As long as Putin has his finger on the nuclear button he is extremely dangerous. What the world needs is for his generals to overthrow him. That almost happened to Hitler at Munich. If Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union has provided a unified front against giving Hitler the Sudetenland, his generals intended to overthrow him. That was only known after World War II.

 

[pecksniff]

As long as Putin has his finger on the nuclear button he is extremely dangerous. What the world needs is for his generals to overthrow him. That almost happened to Hitler at Munich. If Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union has provided a unified front against giving Hitler the Sudetenland, his generals intended to overthrow him. That was only known after World War II.

Well, how do we know how the Russian generals today see it?

 

[Champakian]

They are a world power period.
They have sophisticated nukes, for a starter.
What we are witnessing is the hubric repercussion
of going in too light assuming that reputation leads to capitulation.
As Russian assets continue to pour in, Ukraine will fall unless the West sends troops in.

We lack that political will. Putin does not. As he bogs down, support flags, but victory will be a reputation enhancer.

 

[Chobham]

They are a world power period.
They have sophisticated nukes, for a starter.
What we are witnessing is the hubric repercussion
of going in too light assuming that reputation leads to capitulation.
As Russian assets continue to pour in, Ukraine will fall unless the West sends troops in.

We lack that political will. Putin does not. As he bogs down, support flags, but victory will be a reputation enhancer.

His victory is looking more and more like a Pyrrhic victory.

 

[Champakian]

I'm not so sure.
Our weakness/vacillation is going to "trigger"
a lot of other bad players if he even appears to win.

China and North Korea come to mind, maybe even Pakistan/India...

They all have scores to settle and humiliations to reverse.

 

[Chobham]

Define 'winning.' He will most certainly succeed in wrecking Ukraine just as he did Georgia. But at what cost to Russia?

 

[Champakian]

At what point will a cost be discernible in Russia?
The children of the elites will still be schooling and partying in Europe
and the common man will continue centuries of struggle for survival against the odds.

 

[Champakian]

How our best and brightest viewed Russia and any potential threat from them:

When Mitt Romney came along and described Russia as our “No. 1 geopolitical foe” in 2012, the world laughed itself silly....

In a debate, Obama responded to Romney, “The 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back.” To hoots of laughter at the Democratic National Convention, he accused Romney of being “stuck in a Cold War mind warp.” Then-Sen. John Kerry joked, “Folks, Sarah Palin said she could see Russia from Alaska. Mitt Romney talks like he’s only seen Russia by watching ‘Rocky IV.’”

Ann Coulter

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/03/02/ann-coulter-if-only-putin-had-invaded-mexico/


You can ignore reality, but you cannot ignore the results of ignoring reality.

After over a decade of denial over the danger Russia represents to the world,
the blood of the Ukrainians is on the hands of the West and its deluded leaders.

 

[ll74]

How our best and brightest viewed Russia and any potential threat from them:

When Mitt Romney came along and described Russia as our “No. 1 geopolitical foe” in 2012, the world laughed itself silly....

In a debate, Obama responded to Romney, “The 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back.” To hoots of laughter at the Democratic National Convention, he accused Romney of being “stuck in a Cold War mind warp.” Then-Sen. John Kerry joked, “Folks, Sarah Palin said she could see Russia from Alaska. Mitt Romney talks like he’s only seen Russia by watching ‘Rocky IV.’”

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/03/02/ann-coulter-if-only-putin-had-invaded-mexico/


You can ignore reality, but you cannot ignore the results of ignoring reality.

After over a decade of denial over the danger Russia represents to the world,
the blood of the Ukrainians is on the hands of the West and its deluded leaders.

In the immortal words of some right wing guy....

“It may be worth asking yourself, since it is getting pretty serious, what is this really about?
Why do I hate Putin so much?
Has Putin ever called me a racist?
Has he threatened to get me fired for disagreeing with him?"

 

[mayfly13]

How our best and brightest viewed Russia and any potential threat from them:

When Mitt Romney came along and described Russia as our “No. 1 geopolitical foe” in 2012, the world laughed itself silly....

In a debate, Obama responded to Romney, “The 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back.” To hoots of laughter at the Democratic National Convention, he accused Romney of being “stuck in a Cold War mind warp.” Then-Sen. John Kerry joked, “Folks, Sarah Palin said she could see Russia from Alaska. Mitt Romney talks like he’s only seen Russia by watching ‘Rocky IV.’”

Ann Coulter

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/03/02/ann-coulter-if-only-putin-had-invaded-mexico/


You can ignore reality, but you cannot ignore the results of ignoring reality.

After over a decade of denial over the danger Russia represents to the world,
the blood of the Ukrainians is on the hands of the West and its deluded leaders.

Now I'm Finally starting to understand why America is investing so massively in Defense.

I used to be critical of it, while some patients can't afford medications.
But gosh, no more.

 

[The_Trouvere]

Well, how do we know how the Russian generals today see it?

From what I have read, the kind of people who support Putin in Russia are the same kind of people who support Trump in the United States: they are less educated, older, and let us face it, less intelligent. Nevertheless, Putin lacks a constituency Trump has: this is the constituency of rich people who benefited from his policies. Trump cut taxes for the rich, and the stock market grew. Everyone in Russia is suffering from the sanctions.

From what I have also read, most intelligent, well educated people in Russia are opposed to the invasion. They know that even if Putin had gotten away with a quick easy victory and a Ukrainian capitulation, the benefits to the Russian people would have been slim to none. They also know that at this point, any Russian victory will be a Pyrrhic victory.

Putin seems to be surrounded by sycophants who tell him what he wants to hear. I think it is reasonable to assume that Putin's generals are not among these yes men; they are intelligent, well educated, and skilled at weighing risks. They know that the invasion has not gone well on the ground, and that the international response has been harmful to the Russian economy.

As a result of this invasion what the generals most feared has come to pass. This is a revitalization of NATO.

 

[phrodeau]

Ann Coulter, “best and brightest,” speaks volumes.

 

[Dribble]

Ann Coulter, “best and brightest,” speaks volumes.

We already knew her allegiance.

 

[hobbit.]

You might be right, actually.
I keep oscillating between extremes, it's so annoying.

no. you are annoying. a fake, but annoying WUM.