Kirk Gallaway

That's pretty intriguing Matt, What's your source?

I've posted the broader conference. His mother was told in 1963 that they are now going to war in Vietnam, that it will last 10 years, and it would end in 57,000 deaths! Too omnipotent , too prophetic, too much a low hanging fruit for the conspiracy hungry. Sorry I don't buy it. Of the 3 major points as to Bush's early ties to the agency, he confused the details of the FBi Hoover memo with Bush's Parrot accusation. But I suppose that could happen to anybody. Yo Mama!

Yes, it would have been good if we could have seen an ongoing narrative about the horrors of war in Baghdad or Aleppo. Unfortunately I think it's just human nature that people discount the suffering of people who don't look like them , or have their lifestyle. To put it crudely, there can be a rationaiization when they see poorer areas like Syria undergoing bombing that "these people didn't have a pot to piss in the first place", and that their lives aren't as precious. I think this gruesome scenario being played out in a European country for the world to see could be valuable in what's a long term trend away from War as a means to settle disputes, but it won't happen soon and there are lots of bottlenecks along the way. Unfortunately it looks like Ukraine is going to be the sacrificial lamb.

I don't mean to act like everything is simple.But... Here's an ethnic map of Ukraine. The Russian speaking area is what 10%? and Russia already took over Crimea, the island at the bottom. So what is it now 2-3 %? Nobody should have to go because of their background, but if it was that bad, why haven't they? It's not like pre war Jews isolated in Munich! They'd have to relocate all of 0-50 miles to their Motherland Russia next door. Who here has relocated 50 miles in their lives? I have! More recently, Russia crosses the border, tells people they're in great danger, buses them to Russia, feeds them and interviews them and broadcasts it over and over on RT.

Russia to the U.S.: For 20 years, We've been waiting for you to admit the Ukraine to Nato. In the last 13 years, you've only admitted Montenegro. Montenegro ? what an insult! It's too late now! We're going to invade Ukraine without you! Anybody here ever had a relationship like that? I confess, I have.

Yeah Joe, Check this out! Ben I know it's been a tough week, with W. and I tag teaming, first W. exposing Matt Taibbi's confessing, in his zeal to expose the Deep State, he got completely punk'd by Putin. Then my expose' of Glenn Greenwald starting out as a corporate lawyer defending Goldman Sachs, then backing Citizen's United and taking money from the Koch's for starters. But I must continue with the carpet bombing blitzkrieg and pick on some low hanging fruit and expose the hypocritical turnaround in rhetoric from you favorites Tucker Carlson and Mike Pompeo, not to mention Trump, who I assume you're over with. Aaron Mate will come in time. *In fairness to Ben, he has not been among the pro Putin apologists here. https://youtu.be/XS9d6h8ZwPU

So to clarify Ron, this is in Prague tonight people listening to an address from Zelensky! And in going to the twitter link, I see this is from Tbilisi Georgia, allegedly tonight as well. Yow! This is a real West PR coup. At first one almost thinks all these people are singing! Ha

What a plot for a book! , and then a movie! if there was an assassination, obviously somebody would be ready to assume power.? Unless it was a LN, which of course doesn't seem likely being that Putin seems very paranoid of public exposure. But bear with me. Then there might really be chaos! Certainly it wouldn't be an oligarch taking power right? They can't be that popular, you would think. There might be a period when the assassin(s) are reluctant to reveal their (his) identity because they (he)will be unsure of prevailing forces. Imagine the manhunt that would ensue online among the West pro Putin people! They'd overlook fellow oligarchs and people close to Putin and would be searching for that LHO American patsy gold! Then they start a rumor mill online that the Americans are behind it, and the Russian person in the street is more likely to accept that Americans are behind it because it's coming from an American source, and there becomes a more militant right wing faction forming to take over the country! Whew!

That would be nice, Ty. But what would Oliver , Jim and Jeff say? heh heh Sorry i just couldn't help injecting forum politics into this. Seriously, if there was an assassination, obviously somebody would be ready to assume power.? Unless it was a LN, Then there might really be chaos! This is the stuff great books are made of! Certainly it wouldn't be an oligarch taking power right? They can't be that popular, you would think. imagine the manhunt that would ensue online among the West pro Putin people! They'd overlook fellow oligarchs and people close to Putin and would be searching for that LHO American patsy gold! heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh!

Right now there are firefights on a nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine. The foreign minister has put out a plea to the Russians to stop firing on the plant in order to allow officials to put the fire out, and there is said to be elevated levels of radiation. We'll see how this develops. Now a CORRECTION, there are not elevated levels of radiation at this time. But there is a fire, and the firemen who are trying to put the fire out are being fired at point blank by Russians.They're being asked to stop firing.

Hey, hate to bring it up, but I want this to be a Putin free free speech zone. Oh good grief! the Litvin forces have gotten a hold of this Stone interview before Russia invaded Ukraine and it's rather embarrassing. I warned Jim to just stay put when the "Destiny Betrayed" 4 hour was soon to come out. But I didn't think Oliver needed warning. ****** Abby Martin: Well, especially because Operation Northwoods was revealed by the JFK Records Act and it revealed a false flag operation that was being proposed, which is mocked relentlessly, the idea of conspiracies in the U.S. media. Meanwhile they accused Putin of bombing his own apartment buildings, they accused them of concocting a false flag to invade Ukraine right now they are calling for preemptive strikes on Ukraine right now. What lessons can we glean from JFK today with what we're seeing come full circle, Oliver, we're in the middle of cold war 2.0. **This unfortunately is what happens when people who think exactly alike get together, a lot of reinforcing. First off, what a kiss butt leading question to ask. It's so unprofessional. It comes of as an infomercial. Oliver Stone: Exactly, exactly except they're not communists, they're capitalists. It's no longer the Soviet Union it's Russia so it's continue, maybe it's about money in the end that they have to keep this thing going and they need an enemy and they have to build up this enemy with China, Russia, Iran, Venezuela, ... Cuba. It doesn't end, I mean Syria … there's all kinds of false flags have been planted for years now and it's just it's getting stupider and stupider and it gets really, as you say it's very scary right now, Ukraine. I've been following that situation since 2014 and it's scary beyond belief because it's so irrational what we're doing, for example we've been saying that Russia is going to invade Ukraine for about three months now; building it up in the media like it's like a build-up, a campaign for an advertising, ignoring completely the Ukrainian on the ground situation which is that the Ukrainian armies on the border of a autonomous what would like to be an autonomous republic inside Ukraine, These people are Russian people, they're born - they speak the Russian language, their loyalty is to Russia and it's been that way for forever, since World War II. They were robbed of their democracy when the, when the American protests at Maidan Square happened. They, you know what happened, the Americans came in, supported the bill, put five billion dollars into Ukraine, and created this demonstration, this monstrosity with a lot of false information - that the President of Ukraine was a was a thief and a bum and he had he agreed to go to early elections and it was ignored in in the media, and now here we are in a situation where we replaced him in a coup d'etat and we put a guy in who had no, he was not, no standing among the in the eastern part of Ukraine - they didn't want him. So it's not, it wasn't a democracy anymore it turned out they'd been elected the original guy had been elected, now they have a counterfeit leader, they don't believe in them, but no one tells you that they were killed. A lot of people were murdered when that coup happened, that they were burned to death in Odessa, yeah, they burned the the uh and who burned them a lot of them were neo-Nazis we find that out they we find out that a large portion of the military situation in of the military of the Ukrainian army is fascist. Abby Martin: It's insane when you look at the imperial arrogance of the United States to look at a country bordering with Russia and say we need to do something about that. ***** Yes insane, Thank you Abby, Who can spin this imperialistic Russian invasion as the actual work of the imperialist U.S.? Yes, It's so obvious it's the U.S. Nato aggression,when there's been one lame admission (Montenegro) to Nato in the last 13 years, and there was no prospect of Ukraine. No one from the Putin camp will dare ask, why now?.. Now Stone has put out his views on his Facebook page. I assume people on his facebook page are largely his fans, unlike with twitter. I would say the response from his normally partisan audience is about 60-40 against. The nays seem a bit more articulate. The yays seem or more appreciative or maybe dependent. https://www.facebook.com/TheOliverStone/posts/508790867270967 I fear the "Destiny Betrayed" 4 hour will only further attract die hard Trump Q anoners without any research discipline, which may be good for Jim, but not the JFKAC.. Thanks a lot. These are questions any professional reporter would ask Stone. Stone:we've been saying that Russia is going to invade Ukraine for about three months now; Like Jeff, Stone thought Putin was so virtuous, he was confident. Neither had much more foresight is about all I can say. Stone: America put five billion dollars into Ukraine, and created this demonstration, and what proof do you have?, do you have any receipts? does it say on the line for Demonstration/ revolution.? Stone got this from RT. The facts are the U.S. spent 5 billion from 1991 to 2014 in Ukraine to "support Ukrainians as they build democratic skills and institutions, as they promote civic participation and good governance", You can snicker at that if you want to, but it was over 23 years! That would seem as a lot of money to RT, but to the U.S. it's a drop in the bucket and there's no proof it went to the overthrow of the Ukrainian government. Stone:with a lot of false information - that the President of Ukraine was a was a thief Yanukovych plundered his mother country, and Stone naively gave him a platform in exile through an interview. Toppled Mafia President caused Ukraine up to 100 billion. Prosecutors said: That's with a "b"! https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ukraine-crisis-yanukovich/toppled-mafia-president-cost-ukraine-up-to-100-billion-prosecutor-says-idUSBREA3T0K820140430 Check out the mansion he left behind. he knew he would be investigated and fled. Stone: now they have a counterfeit leader, they don't believe in them, --a lot of them were neo-Nazis Stone bought the Putin fascist kool aid. They elected a Jew with 82% of the vote! Get real! Stone:These people are Russian people, they're born - they speak the Russian language, their loyalty is to Russia and it's been that way for forever, since World War II. They were robbed of their democracy! Right and Putin was going to take back just those Russian provinces, right Oliver? And now Putin's devastating the entire country! "They were robbed of their democracy".??? But let's talk about the Russian population. Here is an ethnic map of Ukraine. The Russian parts aren't' even 10%! And now that Russia has taken Crimea 2-3%. We told you you couldn't trust him. So now we're going to have to roll our eyes, and respect another conspiracy, like the Trump conspiracy, where people gave themselves over to an illusion and naively trusted Putin and now just can't admit it was a human disaster.?

Steve concerning Trump's new social media company. It's being funded by a Fugitive Chinese billionaire Geng Wengui, associate of Steve Banon. I wonder if it was his yacht they busted Banon on. But i suppose Banon may have many Chinese billionaire friends. Trump world app is bankrolled by fugitive Chinese Billionaire https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumpworld-app-is-bankrolled-by-fugitive-chinese-billionaire

Ben: that is quite a brief you have written. No, most of it is excerpts from the article. Ben:Yes, some of my heroes have made mistakes. At least they admit it. Your only hero we're talking about is Glenn Greenwald. That's the central point, unlike Taibbi, he didn't admit it! I can't imagine a more bs excuse for endorsing the Iraq War, he wasn't into politics at the time? But moreover, he's not particularly tolerant for a guy with such dirty affiliations. Ben: DC globalists spell out seemingly good reasons for the US to send troops somewhere, it turns out to be poison. I agree, she didn't advocate removing our 5000 troops from Afghanistan, but neither did Obama or Trump. But technically I would say she will probably not be an advocate for sending boots on the ground in Ukraine.We'll see. Ben: She is a mouthpiece for the corporatist global security state. I would say she's for the global security state and Glenn, corporate lawyer, defending Goldman-Sachs, who takes money from the Koch's and Ebay founder Pierre Omidyar, and is an advocate for Citizens United, is a corporate shill. He does do good things for open government, but is deceptive about his own affiliations. Ben: Ukraine looks bad. Putin is a thug. I hope his troops decide to go home. That's the one sentence I completely agree with. I've been vainly hoping this doesn't get to the point of no return. But it looks like we're going to CWll !

Ben, I actually agree with what Fiona Hill wrote. Being able to agree with someone about a specific point and not agree with their macro view is sort of akin to me like walking and chewing gum. Yes she was a witness against Trump in his impeachment trial, if you remember Trump was withholding arms funds to Ukraine in his exchange for Ukraine finding dirt on Joe Biden! ( I don't suppose there would be a conflict there with Putin?) But since we're impugning sources. Ben, you've literally told us 6-7 times that your big 3 journalistic influences were Glen Greenwald, Matt Taibbi and Aaron Mate. Now that Matt Taibbi admits he was completely punk'd by his all consuming "deep state"that he completely was completely blinded to the threat of Putin. Now I'd like to see Matt admit he was also punk'd by his deep state narrative to be blinded by the threat of Trump. Incidentally, I place you more in the latter category. I'm wondering, since it was so long ago, were you in favor of GWB's War in Iraq? Well Glenn Greenwald was. This is his quote. (excerpt) I had not abandoned my trust in the Bush administration. Between the president's performance in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, the swift removal of the Taliban in Afghanistan, and the fact that I wanted the president to succeed, because my loyalty is to my country and he was the leader of my country, I still gave the administration the benefit of the doubt. I believed then that the president was entitled to have his national security judgment deferred to, and to the extent that I was able to develop a definitive view, I accepted his judgment that American security really would be enhanced by the invasion of this sovereign country. Fast forward to 2013, and Greenwald apparently didn't actually give the Bush administration the 'benefit of the doubt', 'trust and defer to them', or 'accept their judgement' that the invasion of Iraq would have 'enhanced' US security. In a piece titled 'Frequently Told Lies', Greenwald penned a lengthy retort to a number of supposed myths told about him by progressives. Amazingly, he stated: These claim [sic] are absolutely false. They come from a complete distortion of the Preface I wrote to my own 2006 book, How Would a Patriot Act?... When the Iraq War was debated and then commenced, I was not a writer. I was not a journalist. I was not politically engaged or active. I never played any role in political debates or controversies. Unlike the countless beloved Democrats who actually did support the war - including Obama's Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton - I had no platform or role in politics of any kind. I never once wrote in favor of the Iraq War or argued for it in any way, shape or form.Ask anyone who claims that I "supported" the Iraq War to point to a single instance where I ever supported or defended it in any way. There is no such instance. It's a pure fabrication. So Greenwald didn't technically support the war because he wasn't yelling on MSNBC that America should trust George Bush, and you can't find written record of him saying it either. You see, Greenwald can't be painted with the same brush he paints everyone else who supported the war with, because was apathetic at the time and didn't have a blog. ****** https://thedailybanter.com/2013/04/glenn-greenwalds-hilarious-denial-about-his-support-for-iraq-war/ Greenwald: "I had not abandoned my trust in the Bush Administration?" Good lord!, it makes me want to puke! But what's also more telling is his lying denial. Ben Also for someone so down on the tech giant, which I can understand. Did you know of Glenn's staking by Ebay founder , Pierre Omydiyar? I'm afraid it gets worse. It is also quite right for journalists to question Greenwald on his ties to the libertarian movement. Greenwald has taken money from the Koch funded CATO institute (for work related to ending the drugs war), supported the Citizens United ruling (making the incredibly dubious parallel between illegal wiretapping and preventing corporations from exercising 'freedom of speech') , and has now gone into business with a notorious libertarian billionaire. Guess what else? "The truth is that Greenwald is, and always has been incredibly comfortable around the enormously wealthy. He began his career as a corporate lawyer defending the likes of Goldman Sachs and other Wall St investment banks, has been a business owner, and has shopped himself around as a journalist to the highest bidder. " *** Ben: It's important to understand. This is what i mean when I say identifying the government as the source of all problems (NSS, Deep State") you actually are denigrating the only potential recourse, (however remote it may seem) we will ever have against the multi national corporate state, and so you are playing right into the elite's hands, and you end up being a corporate shill. Just like Greenwald, though wittingly in his case. The most cogent complaint you can have about the Government is that it is run by corporations. Your area of focus always seems to be the NSS, Defense, which is good, but that's because it's as big of a corporate boondoggle as exists in government.

Jeff, a lot of links to throw around, but I'm not sure how they contradict anything I've said, but that's your job. If you're saying false promises were made,I agree. I was referring to Jim's excerpts from his clip of Vladimir Pozner, who I like, where he highlighted a speech by Putin made in 2007 as the unequivocal objection made. I know there are regrets at choosing to give up their empire, but that would easily have passed if it wasn't for their catastrophic mismanagement of their economy, and the resultant chaos and hardship of their people for the next decade afterward. As I've said they had a legitimate safety net as a Socialist country and it seems they threw the whole baby out with the bathwater to emulate us. If you want, you can blame the US. or the Madison Avenue firm who ran Yeltsin's campaign. Whatever, But i just don't think anything they did after they let go of their satellites was very well thought out.

I think the contention of those who think this was a series of incidents that were allowed to get out of hand would say because article 5 says an attack against one will be viewed as an attack against all. Putin's joining the alliance would be a pledge to leave them alone. I can understand skepticism but it would be harder to justify invading a fellow Nato member, But of course to Putin, this would have no bearing on Putin justifying invading Ukraine.

Admitting they were wrong about Putin in no way absolves their contention that U.S. or Nato did take advantage of situations when they could have been more conciliatory. I would expect if Oliver Stone made such an acknowledgment, Jim would follow suit as his political views have been virtually identical to Stone over the last 7 years, and we've sort of been the beneficiary of that relationship with these films, which have advanced the JFKAC cause. As I've said, The whole situation is unfortunate, We did take advantage of the situation when they were weak.But the facts are Yeltsin and Putin waited 10 years before they formally said anything about it.,and there's only been 3 new countries admitted since,Albania and Croatia 2009, and Montenegro 2017. (Sh-t was that worth it!? Otherwise they could say they haven't admitted anyone in 18 years!) The significance of those admissions is BS anyway IMO,The stigma of Nato is just fear creating fear. It's too late now. Or maybe a missiles in Turkey thing. The Democrats can make a deal with Putin that if he gets out of Ukraine and agrees to fix the next U.S. election for the Dems. They'll agree to not expand nato anymore, and after a couple years, it will be near impossible to undo it). heh heh Joke It seems incredibly naive, but I suppose you have to give credit to Putin for asking to be admitted into Nato. I've had a few situations when I was young that sort of parallel this experience. Were you ever approached by anyone who wanted to join a club or association you were in, but you knew nobody else in your group wanted him? Well, let's just take it further, suppose the reason they wanted admission in your group in the first place, was specifically to get away from that person? It seems like people in Eastern Europe are grateful for the protection of Nato and grateful to the U.S, for being head of it. Whereas there's a solid chunk of Western Europe sophisticates that are asking why Nato at all and why the busybody protective U.S.? I did think the general thrust of Trump wanting to see how serious Nato is about protecting itself , and paying their way, was a good thing. But it's not hard to understand given Europe's historic inability at self rule over the last century and really forever, throughout history, that the U.S. is skeptical and doesn't want to be sucked in again to WW3. How to defuse this? A possible answer to all this, but off in the future.. It would be nice to see Europe actually being able to structure some consensus and leave the US cocoon, or decouple, with an understanding that the U.S. under an emergency would supply weapons. But that's probably unthinkable in Europe. They're very dependent on the U.S. Maybe it's time for them to stop bitchin' and complaining and move out of their parent's house. As for the nuclear threat, normally it would be BS, IMO. but nobody would ever say that. We went 40 years to prove neither of the major superpowers was willing to use nuclear weapons. We all realized the futility of mutually assured destruction. Despite Putin's fears, Any conventional war between Russia and Europe would be bs too, if not for a crazed lunatic Russian President. If you have a Kim Jong Putin, obviously all bets are off. Then after this is hopefully over, I think of a situation in the future, as far as Europe getting a piece of the international trade and services pie. How are they not going to get economically steamrolled by the Chinese in the next 20 years? What have they really got? Is it their hope that they'll be the world boutique tourist destination forever even after the Chinese have visited them 3 more times and taken every photo that they're ever going to take? I don't mean to be glib, I'm just saying I could see other problems coming up in Europe as well, and what is our responsibility?

Wow W.! The first of his kind to admit he's made a tragic mistake.But knowing the personalities of some of the journalist holdouts and some people here. I don't expect many more apologies. Putin has meddled with the primal forces of nature as prophecized in "Network" ! The rubles collapsing. Interest rates are doubling, probably to plummet the economy into recession. .. Neutral Switzerland is freezing Putin's assets. Putin prepared by lowering his debt ratios to give himself 650 Billion in foreign reserves to use . Now it's going to be hard for him to use it. Middle class Russians are running the banks or being notified their assets are frozen. His only offset will come from higher oil prices, which haven't been meddled with yet because of mutual blowback. Ben said:On financial markets--S&P 500 futures off marginally, Nasdaq futures down 1% Nikkei 225 down 0.3% mid-session in TokyoLooks like a down day on Monday but not by much. In truth, Ukraine is not important to Western prosperity, and Russia only because they sell oil and gas. Since Westerners are unwilling to block Russian oil and gas...the market seems to be saying "meh." Remember, before the Russian invasion, the markets "discounted" prospects. The reality, sad as it is, is not a wider conflagration, or a ban of Russian oil and gas. Unlike China, Russia is not important in the global economy, and does not have extensive ties that bind America's elites. Whew! Ben, so you're an anti global trade, market watcher! How did you manage to swing that? I fully expect the Republican Party to pull you from exile and run you as a candidate! heh heh Ben: The reality, sad as it is, is not a wider conflagration, Hmmm, maybe you spoke a bit soon on that. But yeah, no oil. Mystic George W. Bush on Putin: "I looked into his eyes and was able to get a sense of his soul".

So they overwhelmingly elected a Jew as their President! Keep spouting the old Putin pablum Jim. Jim said: Those nutty neo Nazis we backed in Ukraine are about to light tinder to a conflagration they will lose in spades.(roughly 2017) Nothing but antiquated enemies, completely deaf to present reality. In debating Jim's often has used a diversionary tactic called a gish gallop. He's throwing everything out there but the kitchen sink of everything he's ever read, whether it has any relevance to present day reality or not. The question is always why now? There was no increased threat that Ukraine was joining Nato. What I always get from ideologues like Jim and Jeff is that the reality of everyday people, in this case the Ukrainians, are just pawns in their greater geopolitical game. Their fates are secondary to their desires to just be right.

Oh really Jim, but for years, to hear you tell it, that was a very good thing!. And now the economic collapse of the Russia was brought on Condi Rice, Jim? Everybody including Russia is just helpless, before the U.S. right Jim? Just as people never blame Trump for anything. You can't make any support for that argument. As for Gorbachev, the U.S. liked him until his end which was brought on by his allying with right wing forces, then being kidnapped by them, and totally discrediting himself before the Russian people, which brought a populist uprising and Yeltsin. You can't blame the U.S. for that. Yeltsin was elected in their first Democratic election, then Clinton embraces Yeltsin, and he later turns out to be an incompetent drunk, steps down,in disgrace,crying at the mess he made, and never blames the U.S., Jim. And then hand picks his own successor, Putin! Jim:They would not be content unless Russia was decimated and sold off piece by piece like a salvage sale. Which is what happened under the drunken fool Yeltsin. And as so often with your innuendo, Jim, who are they? No Jim, just another mad race to connect a lot of dots. You can't specifically substantiate any of it. There was a period when the USSR was a terrible victim of the US, but that was probably before you were born. Woulda coulda shoulda Jim. we've already talked about the U.S. mistakes made along the way. But the bottom line is, you haven't been right about anything yet. Why should we put any more faith in your narrative than we would Bill Krystol on MSNBC?

Well Jim, Where have you been? I thought you were wise to keep out of this unless you're set on ruining the response to the "Revision" 4 hour version and polarizing it with new "johnny come lately" Trump crazed Q anon followers which may serve you well but ultimately will ruin the JFKAC!. I noted a wise reluctance to steer away from these matters in interviews with Stone lately. I certainly hope Stone uses better judgment than you. But it's not too late, Jim. Jim has never been one for nuance, grey areas or both sides of a story and at least use to push his narrative like inbox boner pills. How nice it must be to be so certain! This is a quote from Jim probably around 2017! Jim said: Those nutty neo Nazis we backed in Ukraine are about to light tinder to a conflagration they will lose in spades. Yes Jim and Ollie Stone, like Putin have been warning us about a fascist takeover for now 8 years! But what happened, Jim? The Ukranian people overwhelmingly elected a comedian no less, and overturned over 80% of their parliament. You got to admit, that sounds pretty cool. Some of us, including me, would like to see that happen in our country. Jim for years, was parroting the Putin "de Nazification"' propaganda that we've been hearing from our newly crazed Putin. At one time, I remember Bob Ness and I were talking about the huge estate left by Yanukovych upon his exile, after pilfering his native country for billions. Jim then defended Yanukovych and said all would be explained if we watched Stones "Ukraine on Fire". We both scoffed at the idea that one movie should so radically change our viewpoint. Well I did watch "Ukraine on Fire", and though it was a while back, and I'm not in awe of everything Stone does so it wasn't that entertaining but I remember Stone really bought the Putin Russian pablum and his chief narrative was the the Maidan protestors who overthrew the Yanukovych government were neo nazis, citing the fact than an old historic nationalist Maidan controversial hero figure was a poopoo, when upon later research I found he embraced the Nazis against the collectivist purges during Ukraine's Stalin imposed great famine years. So is it any wonder Russia and Putin would use that as propaganda? Whatever threat they posed 8 years ago, real or imagined. Upon research later on I found the group became a militant right wing minority within the movement that later formed a fledgling party in their last election that was handily defeated by Zelensky. They got a total of 2% of the popular vote! As stated in the article below: In Ukraine’s 2019 national election, a far-right political alliance including Azov’s political arm only received 2 percent of the vote. There is no evidence that Zelensky’s government is engaging in large-scale extermination of Russians; no international human rights group nor credible expert has made such a claim. https://www.vox.com/2022/2/24/22948944/putin-ukraine-poopoo-russia-speech-declare-war

Ben:From the very-most pinnacle of moral righteousness, where you are firmly perched if not ingloriously impaled Well, I see I've stepped on a few toes! It was a simple question. But very floridly and righteously written indeed! Ben, I could be wrong, but I always sense you fell in love with the "idea of Donald Trump?" Which is easy to do from far away, and you don't have to live with him. You continually rave about Trump as anti globalist, and both you and I share a fear of China economically , but Trump pronouncements and hype mean nothing unless it gets results. You might sit down. This could mean letting go of a lot of illusions, but ultimately I don't expect it will in any way effect your talking points for the next 6 months. But the truth is: Trump's treaty with China was a miserable failure. Hard bargaining Trump got punk'd by Xi and the CCP. In the end, Bown calculates, China bought only 57% of all the exported goods and services it had committed to purchase under the deal, “not even enough to reach its import levels from before the trade war.” https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2022-02-16/column-trump-trade-deal-china Hmmm, I'm " ingloriously impaled in righteousness?" But I didn't call anybody "squalid" It isn't fair! heh heh

There weren't demonstrations throughout the world for Kyle Rittenhouse. So squalid people like George Floyd aren't deserving of basic rights, Ben?

Matt, that "Woman in Kiev" twitter was really stirring for me! Everyone should check it out! Wouldn't that be something if people all over the world started to denounce the invasion? Just like they did with George Floyd? Man! that would be an uplifting human development! Right Ben? Jeff?

Sandy, Another phrase that Ben uses is the the "Donks" and the "Phants". In all my life I don't know any Americans who have ever even referenced in conversation the Donkeys and the Elephants to symbolize the 2 parties. Before Ben, I would have thought the only people referring to those terms would be some English speaking European trying to ingratiate himself to Americans, by knowing our inside nomenclature. Either that or some cornball Conservative, in a tweed suit and a bow tie, who probably also makes continual references to "the Constitution" and then maybe the Bible.