Douglas Caddy Posted October 24, 2022 Share Posted October 24, 2022 (edited) delete Edited October 24, 2022 by Douglas Caddy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Koch Posted October 24, 2022 Share Posted October 24, 2022 MSNBC can't even convince their own focus group panel that Jan 6 was an insurrection and attempted coup. LOL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Bulman Posted October 24, 2022 Share Posted October 24, 2022 Roevember's coming? He was right in 16, unfortunately. Maybe he will be again. 'I’m deadly serious': Michael Moore doubles down on his prediction of a blue 'tsunami' in the midterms (msn.com) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W. Niederhut Posted October 24, 2022 Share Posted October 24, 2022 2 hours ago, John Cotter said: William, Thanks for replying to my questions. You say: “I agree that the U.S. would view this as an existential threat, but Mearsheimer's analogy is absurd on several counts.” I should begin by saying I’m not sure that it was Mearsheimer’s analogy or my analogy based on Mearsheimer’s thesis. Whatever about that, the important thing is that you agree that the USA would consider the progressive domination by Russia of south and central America an existential threat. Your argument relating to the acquiescence or agreement of eastern European countries to membership of NATO is a separate matter. It concerns a comparison between the political cultures of western so-called democracy and Russian so-called autocracy. I’ve already repeatedly explained why I’ve used the adjective “so-called” in each of these cases. In this regard, for example, I’ve adverted to the fact that western “democracies” are actually plutocracies or kleptocracies. In my own little country we’ve got a few billionaires and a considerable number of millionaires; but we’ve also got tens of thousands of poor souls on a minimum wage which is far less than the officially determined “living wage”, the minimum amount considered necessary to be able to afford the bare necessities of life. These “Untermenschen”, are arguably in a worse position than slaves, since most slave owners ensured their human chattels were well enough fed and housed to be able to work productively and maintain their monetary value in the slave market. Our modern neoliberal slave owners and slave drivers don’t have to worry about that, since the casualties of their oppressive enterprises will be “cared for” by dysfunctional underfunded public health, welfare and education systems. And those who fall through the cracks in the system die homeless on the streets. Since western “democracy” and global capitalism go hand in hand, one should bear in mind that in that socio-economic system 20,000 people die every day of hunger or hunger-related diseases, while in the same system Wall Street fund managers “earn” up to a billion dollars a year. Can you really defend such a murderous socio-economic system? And pointing to another allegedly worse system is no defence. It’s easy to see why poor benighted souls in eastern Europe could be seduced into thinking that western “democracy” is Sugarcandy Mountain by western propaganda entities such as the government and plutocracy controlled mainstream media, Hollywood, the illusory American Dream and the “culture industry”, and blinded to the ugly underlying realities. But as I said, all of the foregoing jeremiad is irrelevant to the nub of the matter, which is that, as you have agreed, the Russians were justified in viewing NATO expansion in eastern Europe as an existential threat. It follows that in view of that existential threat, and in view of the fact that Ukraine was complicit in that threat, the Russian invasion of Ukraine can be justified as an act of self-defense. John, In my case, you're preaching to the choir about the dark side of capitalism and the exploitation of the working classes, but I also agree with Churchill that, "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for every other form of government." Seriously, would you have opted to live in Dresden or Munich in the post-WWII era? The Soviet Bloc or the Western democracies despised by Putin? Soviet communism was a socio-economic experiment that failed miserably, and Putin has, certainly, turned the Russian Federation's nascent democracy into a totalitarian, neo-Soviet style dictatorship. No one knowledgeable about the RF doubts that tragic reality. Look at Navalny's case! As for Putin's destruction of Ukraine, IMO, it was never about feeling threatened. It's about Russian nationalism, grandiosity, and militant imperialism. Putin wanted to restore the Crimea and contiguous territory in the Donbas to the Russian empire. And he is contemptuous of the Ukrainian people, the people who were starved to death by the Soviet government in the 1930s. I have had some direct, personal experience with Russian nationalists through my involvement in the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. I tend to think of that subset of recent emigres as the "neo-Soviets." And they are quite different than the older generation, non-Soviet "White" Russians. I have even, at times, listened to neo-Soviet Russian nationalists whose speeches closely resemble those of Mussolini. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Allison Posted October 24, 2022 Share Posted October 24, 2022 4 minutes ago, W. Niederhut said: As for Putin's destruction of Ukraine, IMO, it was never about feeling threatened. It's about Russian nationalism, grandiosity, and militant imperialism. Putin wanted to restore the Crimea and contiguous territory in the Donbas to the Russian empire. And he is contemptuous of the Ukrainian people, the people who were starved to death by the Soviet government in the 1930s. This ^^^^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglas Caddy Posted October 24, 2022 Share Posted October 24, 2022 Former Republican Congressman says there are still three dozen GOP House members that must be investigated (msn.com) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglas Caddy Posted October 24, 2022 Share Posted October 24, 2022 Ted Cruz gets booed at Yankee Stadium during Houston Astros game (houstonchronicle.com) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Bulman Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 19 minutes ago, Douglas Caddy said: Ted Cruz gets booed at Yankee Stadium during Houston Astros game (houstonchronicle.com) That link wouldn't let me see the article. But this is funny. You can watch both aspects on this one. Thanks Doug for alerting us all to it. Senator Ted Cruz is heckled at ‘The View’ and booed at a Yankees game during New York visit (msn.com) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Cole Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 2 minute readOctober 25, 20222:43 AM GMT+7Last Updated 5 hours ago U.S. liberal Democrats urge Biden to seek negotiated Ukraine settlement 2 minute readOctober 25, 20222:43 AM GMT+7Last Updated 5 hours ago U.S. liberal Democrats urge Biden to seek negotiated Ukraine settlement By Patricia Zengerle FILE PHOTO - U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks to the Democratic National Committee (DNC) Winter Meeting in Washington, U.S., March 10, 2022. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst WASHINGTON, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Thirty liberal U.S. congressional Democrats urged President Joe Biden on Monday to shift his strategy for the Russia-Ukraine war by pursuing a negotiated settlement along with his current provision of military and economic support to Kyiv. ---30--- Kremlin agents and Moscow stooges? Sad to say, it looks like the volitional Russian invasion of Ukraine will generate a quagmire. The war may have more legs than a centipede. Interesting question: Who is effectively running US foreign-military policy re Ukraine? President Biden? In the Bush jr. days, it seemed Cheney was running the Mideast show. But I think we can rule out Kamala Harris running the Ukraine show. But Biden seems adrift. The national security state? They are always influential, maybe even dominant, in military situations, such as Ukraine. The White House is curiously opaque. Rob Klain? A smart guy, but not a military guy. Lloyd Austin seems like a nonentity. Blinken? The recent K-street lobbyist? Interesting times Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Koch Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 When our friend Max Boot isn't writing reviews of Oliver Stones 'Destiny Betrayed', he gives highly intellectual takes about how Democracy dies.. by VOTING! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Cole Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 If the current trends hold up, Republicans are likely to take over at least the House and quite possibly the Senate, too, along with many state offices. This is how democracies die, both at home and abroad.---Max Boot Rather abject fear-mongering. And Boot is the very picture of a CIA-Deep State mouthpiece. A reasonable concern is the coopting of the modern Democratic Party and M$M by the national security state. Take your voting cues from Max Boot---vote for the Democratic Party! Really. No, the GOP may not be any better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Allison Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 53 minutes ago, Benjamin Cole said: f the current trends hold up, Republicans are likely to take over at least the House and quite possibly the Senate, too, along with many state offices. This is how democracies die, both at home and abroad.---Max Boot He's right. Do you hate democracy and prefer fascism? Then the GOP is for you. https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2022/10/17/kari-lake-midterm-election-denier-trump-2020-huppke/10521078002/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W. Niederhut Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 3 hours ago, Ron Bulman said: That link wouldn't let me see the article. But this is funny. You can watch both aspects on this one. Thanks Doug for alerting us all to it. Senator Ted Cruz is heckled at ‘The View’ and booed at a Yankees game during New York visit (msn.com) Not too surprising that any Houston Astros fan would get booed in Yankee Stadium, but it couldn't have happened to a sleazier ass clown... 🤥 'Coward' Cruz! Ted Cruz hid in closet amid insurrection then fueled Trump's big lie | Watch (msn.com) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Cole Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 3 hours ago, Matt Allison said: He's right. Do you hate democracy and prefer fascism? Then the GOP is for you. https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2022/10/17/kari-lake-midterm-election-denier-trump-2020-huppke/10521078002/ Matt-- I am uncomfortable when establishment figures, long associated with the national security state, define a victory at the polls by one party or the other as the "death of democracy." Elections are ungood? What is the next step? Do away with elections? More control of the media? More censorship---as determined by who? Does the Democratic Party now march lockstep with the Max Boots of the world? The LIz Cheneys? Where does this end? Why the predictions of civil and nuclear wars? If you are willing to trade freedom for security...soon you will be left with neither. I am deeply skeptical of the two establishment parties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirk Gallaway Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 (edited) To elaborate on Doug's them of Ted Cruz in Yankee Stadium. Listen to the ribbing these Yankee fans give Cruz, as only Yankee fans can. Edited October 25, 2022 by Kirk Gallaway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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