W. Niederhut

Well, I'm relieved to see that our Russian propaganda dupes have finally taken the time to read my fourth re-post in response to their question about putative peace negotiations for Ukraine. Yet, none of our dupes has answered my old question on this thread. Is Putin open to negotiating an end to his invasion of Ukraine?

Chris, I'm triggered by bullsh*t. I often do what I can to clean it up.

Chris, You really don't understand American politics very well. White working class Trump voters are a case study in false consciousness. They have been tricked by Trump's racist dog whistles and flag-waving into voting against their own economic interests. Trump's signature legislative achievement was the massive 2017 GOP tax cut for billionaires and corporations.

Marx called it "false consciousness." The white working class Trump cult voters in the U.S. are a case study.

Kirk, Far from being stale, the conflict between Putin's Russian Federation and the West in Ukraine appears to be the most serious geopolitical crisis of our day. It's like 1939 with nukes. Yet, the critics of the U.S./NATO response to the Ukraine crisis seem strangely silent on the subject of Putinism. It's an odd unipolar, anti-American focus on one side of the conflict-- perhaps owing to the fact that this forum is comprised of experts on the history and crimes of the CIA and the U.S. military industrial complex. But what we need is a more multi-polar focus that includes an understanding of Putinism and the 21st century regression of the Russian Federation from the Yeltsin-era democracy of the 1990s to the Kremlin police state that bombs civilians, relocates civilians to prison camps, and throws dissenters out of windows. I'm hopeful that we can engage in a more multi-polar analysis, on the grounds that John Cotter has repeatedly expressed an interest in "multi-polarity." 🥸

Russ Baker nails it today. This is, precisely, what I have been trying to explain to our one-eyed Putin apologists-- John, Chris, and Paul Rigby. To wit, the crimes of the U.S. military industrial complex don't justify the crimes of Putin's totalitarian police state in Ukraine. Both are deplorable. Western and Russian Imperialism: Our Wrongs Don’t Make Putin Right - WhoWhatWhy

Well said, Pat. I see that I'm not the only lib around here who has been absurdly mischaracterized by our myopic, international man-of-mystery, Chris Barnard. Chris's modus operandi is to accuse Americans who disagree with him of being "paranoid, emotional" dupes. Ironically, Chris's main American fans on the forum are the paranoid, emotional Trumplicon dupes.

Our Putin apologists across the pond-- John, Chris, and Paul-- seem to be strangely allied with right wing Trumplicon MAGAts in the U.S. when it comes to blaming the U.S. for Putin's 20 year-old goal of annexing Ukraine. Both mass delusions are a result of Russian propaganda, which has focused on; 1) dividing U.S. society along racial and cultural fault lines, and 2) isolating the U.K. from the U.S. and EU. Putin's annexation of Ukraine and his propaganda strategies in the U.S. and U.K. are clearly described in Aleksander Dugin's 1997 Putin playbook, The Foundations of Geopolitics.

Not a single comment from our Putin apologists, eh? That's about what I would expect from the guys who have refused to study Catherine Belton's well-researched history of Putin's FSB police state. This is a good example of confirmation bias-- assiduously avoiding any examination of the contrary evidence debunking a paradigm.

Paul, I have long been a critic of Paul Wolfowitz and the Project for a New American Century behind the phony Bush/Cheney/Neocon "War on Terror." PNAC and the "War on Terror" has been a neglected, almost forbidden, topic on this forum in recent years, which I have occasionally raised. However, what you and the other Putin apologists on the forum are missing is any knowledge or insight into the dark history of Putin's neo-Soviet police state. The obvious sins of the PNAC Neocons are no meaningful justification for Putin's bloody, FSB-aligned police state, or his brutal invasion of Ukraine. And thus far, the only response you have had to references about Putin's dark history (e.g., Belton's book, Putin's People) is to post a steaming pile of KGB propaganda by Helmer denying the history of Putin's FSB police state.

Yeah, Kirk, I noticed that Ben and Mathew Koch have been as quiet as mice this week about the truly shocking Fox News Emails relating to the Dominion lawsuit. Rupert Murdoch and his Fox propagandists -- Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, et.al.-- deliberately lied about Trump's "Stop the Steal" scam because they were afraid to offend their delusional Trumplicon fans by telling them the truth about Trump losing the election. And Murdoch was desperately concerned about Republicons regaining control of the Senate in 2020. Just the kind of "journalism" America needs... Fox News has functioned, essentially, as a sleazy Republican Super PAC.

What's truly embarrassing is the poor reading comprehension skills of some participants on this thread. I'll ask again, for the (?) fourth time. Is Putin currently open to negotiating a peaceful end to his brutal invasion and decimation of Ukraine? Yes or no? If so, I'm all for it. Let him have his Russian naval base in Crimea, and full geographic access to it, (which he already had one year ago when he launched this criminal invasion of Ukraine.) Unfortunately, Putin's longstanding goal-- in accordance with Aleksander Dugin's 1997 playbook-- has been the total annexation of Ukraine. That process began in 2014, with his illegal annexation of Crimea. You two gentlemen seem to have difficulty grasping the concept that I want what is best for the Russian and the Ukrainian people. Putin's war and his totalitarian police state ain't it.

Great Moments in U.S. Presidential History JFK in Berlin/1963-- "Ich bin ein Berliner!" Biden in Kyiv/2023-- "Slava Ukraini!" Trump in Helsinki/2018-- "My name is Reek"

John, Have you had your vision checked lately? Your myopia is starting to remind me of Benjamin Cole's. Here's another article for you, among the wide array of references on the subject of "Putin's brain." You're more than a decade behind in understanding the literature on the subject, but with corrected, full-spectrum vision, you might still catch up... 🤓 Putin's Brain: Alexander Dugin and the Philosophy Behind Putin's Invasion of Crimea (foreignaffairs.com)

I answered both of your questions, John. Go back and re-read my answers. Meanwhile, you didn't even listen to my recording of the Smolensk Izhe Keruvimi. https://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=14553230 Do you really think a Russophobe could sing that in four-part harmony? In truth, I want nothing but the best for Russia, and for Ukraine. That is why I am so disappointed with Putin. There was a time when I admired the man, prior to 2007. See if you can figure that one out.

John, I understood your "best friends" sarcasm perfectly well. It's an old adage in the U.S. But my response sailed over your head. You still don't seem to understand my history in the Russian Orthodox Church. Here's another one of my favorite Russian Orthodox chants-- the Smolensk Izhe Keruvimi-- which I probably chanted at Russian Orthodox liturgies more than 300 times over the years. It begins as a monophonic Znameny style chant, then morphs into quite harmonious polyphony. https://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=14553230 Meanwhile, your question about whether I'm a U.S. intelligence asset is highly amusing to me. I have always been a progressive, liberal Democrat, and I remain convinced that I some how ended up on Bush & Cheney's "No Fly" list after 9/11. (The police pulled me out of a long line of passengers at the Cancun Airport in January of 2002 after scanning my passport-- frightening my wife and daughters.) I think I got flagged by the U.S. security establishment for my involvement in a movement to free Nelson Mandela in college, and/or subscribing to a socialist newspaper.

John, There's a wide array of published material on the subject of Dugin and Putin's totalitarian police state. I'm pleased to see that you are finally acquiring some intellectual curiosity about Putin-ism and Russian Federation concepts of "full spectrum dominance" in Europe. It's one small step for the Education Forum, but a giant leap for you, Ben, and Paul Rigby. 🤓 Russian intellectual Aleksandr Dugin is also commonly known as 'Putin's brain' : NPR

How about my former Russian priest and confessor? My former Russian bishop and archbishop? How about yourself? Have you ever been to Russia, John? You seem to know so little about it. Have you ever attended a Russian Orthodox wedding, vigil or liturgy? Have you known any Russians during the past quarter century? My old Russian Orthodox parish here used to be comprised of (White) Russian emigre families--mostly second and third generation-- and a number of American converts, like myself. We all got along famously, and we always chanted services in both Russian and English in the old days (about 50-50) before Putin seized the ROCOR in 2007, declaring that, "Religion is one of Russia's most important weapons of self-defense!" It was one of the strangest comments I had ever heard. The Russian Orthodox Church was to serve as a "weapon of self-defense?" Against what, exactly? And the neo-Soviet Putinists, apparently, didn't want any Americans in the parish. No enemies allowed. That was when I first realized that Putin's Russian Federation was devolving into a fascist police state that had no real interest in positive, convivial relations with Western Europeans and the U.S. Former KGB Lt. Col. Putin has, appardntly, always viewed Western democracies as enemies--adversaries. He's stuck in his Stalinist KGB past, when ran agents in Dresden.

Well, unfortunately, Jeff Carter continues to ignore my key questions and my deconstruction of Kalinin's survey results, while overgeneralizing from Kalinin's limited "data." How many Russian "elites" surveyed by Kalinin would provide honest answers to survey questions about invading and annexing Ukraine, for example? More importantly, what do Putin and his inner circle believe about Dugin's theses? Those are the guys formulating and enforcing Russia's foreign policies. The "elites" serve Putin, or they get defenestrated.

So, Jeff Carter did not answer any of my key questions (1-3) above about his paper. Jeff did post a link to this survey paper by author Kiril Kalinin. Much appreciated. In reviewing Kalinin's survey, I noticed that he did find a stronger correlation between Dugin's theses and beliefs among Russian military and government "elites" than among business "elites," as I suspected. Of course, the key question regarding Dugin's opus and Russian foreign policy is what Putin believes about Dugin's work. Putin is an autocrat. He calls the shots. When Russian "elites" disagree with Putin, they get thrown out of windows. Interestingly, Kiril Kalinin also specifically mentions the prestige and importance of Dugin's work in Russian military and government circles-- including Kalinin's own Volgograd Academy of Public Administration.* So, Jeff Carter's attempt to downplay the significance of Dugin's work in Putin's Russian Federation looks like more of Jeff's usual misleading pettifoggery. * "One of the most prominent proponents of this ideology is Aleksandr Dugin, whose textbook, Foundations of Geopolitics, celebrated the 20th anniversary of its publication in 2017. Dugin’s Eurasianist ideas penetrated the halls of power in Moscow with ease, and quickly found fecund soil fertilized by geopolitical ressentiment (resentment). By forging close personal ties with pillars of the presidential administration and parliament, the secret services, and the Russian military (Dunlop 2004), Dugin made his book available as a practical guide for rebuilding the Russian empire. Even in my years as a student at the Volgograd Academy of Public Administration, Dugin’s text was used as an international relations primer. The combination of historical grievances, a confrontational geopolitical climate, and rising political demands for coherent ideologies may have made Russian elites susceptible to his radical ideas." -- Kiril Kalinin

Just heard that comedian/actor Richard Belzer has died. I read his book, Hit List, several years ago, when I first got interested in studying the JFK assassination. Not a literary masterpiece, but it probably generated public interest in the cover up of the JFK assassination. Was this pop history book ever reviewed at Kennedys and King? Amazon.com: Hit List: An In-Depth Investigation into the Mysterious Deaths of Witnesses to the JFK Assassination eBook : Belzer, Richard, Wayne, David, Charnin, Richard: Kindle Store

Get your vision checked, dude. You may need some readers. 🙄 Also, regarding my alleged "Russophobia," here's a Russian Orthodox chant that I recorded in four part harmony back in 2000, at a time when a number of Americans in my ROCOR parish abruptly left the church. I chanted the Russian services for roughly a decade-- part of my Russophobia. This is the Velichi Dusha Moya Gospoda-- i.e., the "Magnificat." https://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=14552828

Jeff Carter's un-linked use of a Stanford paper to downplay the significance of Dugin's work on Putin's foreign policy is misleading on several counts-- although it's difficult to critique Jeff's paper without having the full text and the methodology. 1) Who were the "Russian elites" surveyed in Jeff's paper? Do they determine RF foreign policy? Were they being honest in the survey? 2) Who actually determines Russian Federation foreign policy, other than Putin and, perhaps, General Gerasimov? 3) What does a survey of Russian military elites indicate about Dugin's influence, where his Foundations of Geopolitics is part of the standard curriculum in the Putin era? As an Ivy League guy, I'm less awed by Stanford papers than Jeff, but here's a far less sanguine Stanford academic paper about Aleksander Dugin that Jeff should read. (Bold italics mine.) Aleksandr Dugin's Foundations of Geopolitics https://tec.fsi.stanford.edu/docs/aleksandr-dugins-foundations-geopolitics January 31, 2004 Conclusion In a moment of exultant imperial elan, Dugin revealingly trumpets at one point in his book, "The battle for the world rule of [ethnic] Russians has not ended" (213). It is necessary to speak the unvarnished truth. An official adviser on geopolitics to the speaker of the Russian Duma is a dangerous Russian fascist. As has been noted, Dugin also reportedly enjoys close ties to elements in the presidential administration, the secret services, the military, and the parliament. Although Dugin's influence should not be exaggerated, it also should not be understated. One is required to ask whether Russian fascism--a tendency which exhibits contempt both for international borders and for international law--has a realistic chance of emerging as the "new political thinking" in international affairs in Vladimir Putin's Russia. In late 1998, Russian academic Andrei Tsygankov appropriately warned that the discourse of Dugin and of like-minded "Eurasians" is in reality "the discourse of war." 50 Interviewed by a journalist from the army newspaper Krasnya zvezda in May 2001, Dugin patiently explained: "Eurasian space is the territory of Russia, the countries of the CIS and a part of the adjacent territories to the West and to the South, where there is no clear-cut geopolitical orientation. All of this comprises Eurasian strategic space broadly understood." 51 The army reporter offered no objections to this quite mad schema. Aleksandr Dugin's Foundations of Geopolitics, to summarize, represents a harsh and cynical repudiation of the architecture of international relations that was laboriously erected following the carnage of the Second World War and the emergence of nuclear weapons. Dugin and his "system," it seems, resemble the combustible interwar period and the rise of fascism in Europe, with the lurid imperial fantasies of the Duce, the Fuhrer, and other fascist demagogues. Could a reversion to a destructive past be the "dividend" which Russia and the West are to receive for having finally and with enormous effort put an end to the Cold War?