Soy bugmen like Noah Smith and Mark Ruffalo think the world is a Marvel movie. They are fine getting us all nuked in the process. Hate to say it, but Putin is far more clairvoyant than any Western leader - especially President Senile Teleprompter and Vice President Word Salad: https://yuribezmenov.substack.com/p/how-to-be-a-soy-bugman
Regardless of the "liberal" rhetoric occasionally spilling from the mouths of Western celebrities, they nonetheless regularly exhibit the narcissism that causes utterances of utter moronic disconnect from the complexity of the international nexus of authoritarian saber-rattling, missing what is obvious to any critical thinker --- that at the center of every threat to both the biosphere and the human species sits the imperious figure of Uncle Sam and his ultra-bloated military.
If you mean that the cast is doing that when they're off the clock, I agree.
If you mean the movies themselves are...well, I haven't seen them all, but I don't think there's a pro-war message in any of the ones I've seen? That's all three Iron Mans, Spider-Man Homecoming, all three Captain America movies although "Civil War" was really about lots of established characters and not just Cap, first two Thors, both Guardians Of The Galaxy flicks, first Avengers movie, first Dr. Strange, Black Panther, and I think that covers every one I've seen.
I know from the dialogue in Civil War that something pretty bad happened in this fictional country called Sokovia during the earlier Age Of Ultron, which the Avengers were blamed for. Half of the Avengers responded to that by saying "Yeah, our being there DID get a lot of people killed and we should try to make sure it never happens again." I think that if they were created to make people think military interventions were a good idea, it would have been less that and more "Hey, we went into Sokovia and it was totally justified because we beat the bad guy!"
EDIT: Mind you, I'm not saying that there aren't Hollywood movies that are pure propaganda. Zero Dark Thirty is the first one that comes to mind, and I know there are plenty of others. I'm just not sure that the MCU movies in particular qualify. But again, I haven't seen every last one of them, so I could be wrong about that. I guess Black Panther almost kind of did by having a CIA agent tagging along for the ride, but at the end of the day he *did* only tag along pretty much, and it wasn't a "CIA saves the day because they're so awesome!" story.
I havnt seen any of them, but every time I try to use the "Have you ever seen a film?" Argument from the "Are we the baddies" sketch to point out that something is too absurd to work as a film storyline, someone inevitably tells me that there is an MCU film with that exact plot.
Biden is really saying when is Russia going to capitulate and submit to our overwhelming force of propaganda, and economic sanctions . Hell even with the threat of nuclear Armageddon as he wears his aviator glasses Russia isn’t backing down in the face of our aggression !
Biden blinked.
The 80% of the world and many in the West would like a Regime Change in America and await the Midterm Election results with a morbid curiosity .
I'm not optimistic about the midterms, the outcome is going to be either the conservative pro-war party or the bugfuck insane pro-war party. Not much of a choice.
Russia could withdraw its entire military within the walls of the Kremlin and Biden and his neo-cons would still complain that wasn't far enough.
Midterm Elections? Could they make a difference? As a citizen of a member of AUKUS, the first 'A' (for Australia) waiting excitedly for our nuclear subs to arrive in 2040, I would be keen to better understand what can possibly happen in a US midterm election of benefit to the world.
Surely the majority of voters in the USA can see what they have elected and are disenchanted with the feeble and totally confused Biden. He is not what I view as a worthy, respected figurehead, rather seen as a weak manipulatable geriatric. And it shows every day.
The real danger, even more than the current incumbents with their Israeli-trained Neocon brigades would be the likely Trump versus Clinton battle .....further down the track.
My many visits to the US have always been enjoyable, the people amiable in the main and most of their values worthy of respect. But I admit, that was some time ago.
How quickly things can change. I would suggest you do a McCarthy-style purge, as in the 1950's (as excessive as they were), this time not with Communism as the target but with the objective in forcing the Neocons to disclose their primary loyalties...........
1. US or Israel? 2. The American people or the Military/Industrial profiteers.
As the predominant theme for a Midterm Election, that result would be of great interest to all.
OMG, I lived through the McCarthyite purges. Never again!
Instead, I suggest that all those who want to make real change watch How to Start a Revolution the DVD documentary, and read From Dictatorship to Democracy, the book by the late Dr Gene Sharp. You can buy a copy on eBay or from the Einstein Institution in Boston MA USA.
I think the American people are still nice. But we're getting fed up. Not fed up enough to make those who enjoy a comfortable life to give it up to make real changes to the system. (Read Blaming the Victim.)
Used your information to watch the whole video and was mightily impressed with Gene Sharp, his principles and his dedication to those same principles over all that time.
He has influenced so many over time and it is such a shame that his health seemed to be so challenging for him over all that time before he died.
One would like to think that the office is still serving a purpose along the lines he commenced.
Certainly there is a real need for some of those lessons to be applied around the world.
"The midterm elections"! You can't vote your way out of this. It will take more than just going into a polling booth and pulling a lever to bring about the change we need and the world wants. Voting is the lazy man's way of trying to change things.
We need to get out there and work at changing this country, but here's the rub:
Bilbo Baggins said in The Hobbit, "Adventures! Nasty uncomfortable disturbing things! Make you late for dinner!" That's what Americans think about OUR OWN regime change. We can sit in front of our TVs and admire the people of Sri Lanka for rising up against their government, but we aren't going to do the same. We don't want to be inconvenienced by an uprising of our own creation.
Much better to go into that polling booth and make a futile gesture!
Man! The delusions, ego, and ignorance of our Hollywood elites is astounding. But they at least provide us a service, frequently offering clear examples of elite thought in the US while offering themselves up for complete ridicule. There's that, at least.
The shitlib reply to that one is, of course, "Oh, that was a long time ago. Plus, they started it."
The second part is leaving out how the US cut off oil to Japan before Pearl Harbor, of course. But these dumbasses never think America is to blame for anything.
They seriously remind me of Republicans in the Bush years who would always ask why you were sticking up for the terrorists if you criticized the government's foreign policy. Now instead of Republicans doing that, it's "Why are you defending Putin?" being asked by Democrats and their brain dead supporters while we now have Republicans being against the war in Ukraine, at least. Never mind that it isn't all of the Republicans, and never mind that the ones who are criticizing the Biden administration might start a war of their own once they get in power, whether they start wrecking a country using American forces or whether they do so via proxy.
At this point I seriously hate Blue MAGA more than Original MAGA. Original MAGA being against this war isn't the only reason for that (there's also Blue MAGA being pro-censorship and focusing only on identity politics and idolizing the Cheneys and so on), but it's a big one.
And even though it has nothing to do with Caitlin's post, I just thought of this next thing and I'm itching to post it.
SHITLIB: "Some things are worth dying for. I'm willing to risk nuclear war!"
NON-SHITLIB: "Okay, what about the First Amendment? Do you agree, as Americans have believed since a handful of years ago, that we shouldn't restrict speech and that the freedom to be able to say whatever you want without fear of government reprisal is worth the risk that somebody might say something which causes trouble? Perhaps somebody might even say something that gives some unstable individual the idea that they should go and shoot people? Is that worth dying for?"
SHITLIB: "No, absolutely not, free speech is DANGEROUS and I'm scared of what might happen if we let people say whatever they want! I'm not willing to risk dying for that!"
So, they're scared of words and they're not scared of nuclear war. This isn't even a strawman; according to Kurt Metzger in a recent Jimmy Dore segment, he was watching a comedian he didn't name who said something like "I don't care if you're some conservative who believes in free speech..." before going on to, presumably, talk about why free speech was bad. Metzger and Jimmy were both like "Since when was belief in freedom of speech a CONSERVATIVE position?"
I really enjoy Mark Ruffalo as an actor. But man, his political awareness is that of a 2nd grader. And like many of these Hollywood types, they are always so damn sure of themselves. Likely because they live in their wealth bubble in L.A., and rarely get out enough - to view all the homeless tents under overcrowded LA freeways.
And the sad thing is that Ruffalo is better than most of the people in Hollywood if you go issue by issue. At least he was praising Bernie back before Bernie became a simp for his good friend Joe while most of his colleagues were talking about how Bernie was some kind of misogynist or racist or whatever, and he's criticized Israel for what it's done to Palestinians while most of his colleagues attend fundraisers for the IDF.
Seeing him weigh in on those issues years ago made me think that he might have his head on straight, and I started admiring him. That's what makes it so sickening to see him spew this bullshit now. Same with Jon Stewart. I thought they were smart enough to know better.
I'm a recovering democrat, I'm seeing them for what evil they truly are.
I recently learned that we are the most propogandized country in the world and that us' imperial ambitions thru war is the top reason.
Btw, what episode of jimmy dore was that, I'd like to go back and listen to it. I know that "shit-libs" absolutely hate jimmy dore. Never heard "shit-libs" before, they certainly have proven that a truth tho.
Putin is, or at least appears to be, the only world leader that knows, and is responsive to, the history of the Donbass. Stalin apparently just gave the area away in the hopes that a cobbled together Ukraine would become communist. The people of the Donbass didn’t want that. Their resistance, in many forms, have been fought by the current leader since. Putin’s role has been attempted negotiation. Apparently, the day after he signed the Minsk agreement Zelensky stated he had no intention of sticking to it. ( Someone should check my history. ) The Donbass has been the target of bombing for years. Putin finally had enough - it was obvious no one in the West was interested in negotiation/peace. And Putin’s “aggression” has been vilified on a daily basis by every western leader. So now what? Looks to me like Biden ( and those pulling his strings? ) can choose. Who should “back down” ?
The Donbass was added to Ukraine by Lenin, to dilute the ethnic Ukrainian vote in the Politburo. Stalin added the western third of Ukraine by hacking off part of Poland for the same reason. Khrushchev added Crimea, and somewhere along the way I think a province or two from Moldova was added.
Zelinskyy campaigned on a peace platform, saying that he was going to implement the Minsk II accords. Since he was financed by the same oligarch who funded the Azov Battalion it's doubtful that he ever intended to follow through.
Not Zelensky, he was playing piano with his tool when Minsk II was signed. Petro Poroshenko was the goon whom Zelenskyi replaced. He's the one who confirmed it was a conspiracy to defraud Russia carried out with France and Germany's acquiescence.
The stupidity to think that Russia should just leave. Leave what? Russia? Because that is what it is now. Kiev has shown how much it loves and values the Donbas and its citizens by shelling the hell out of it for over 8 years...hmm...could it be a reason they didn't want to be part of Ukraine anymore? Ungrateful scoundrels! I'd like to see how loyal the Hollywood celebs would be to Washington if Biden gave the order to start heavy shelling of LA..for eight years.
I watched it and was astounded by how harsh Putin's denunciation of the US and EU/NATO elites was! Truly a must watch to understand the Russian historical, cultural and political perspective!
It would be a good idea to get this text more broadly read -
Humorously, Estonian PM Kaja Kallas recently said citizens are resomsible for the things their governments do which is a weird door to open when it condemns all of their grandparents for Stalin
A perfect war! Ukraine doesn’t matter strategically, only white people are being killed, no Americans are being killed, it causes the rest of Europe to vastly increase expenditure on American weaponry, it’s narrative of democracy promotion is virtuous, (no empire here) and they get to humiliate the autocrat Putin, who is a douche bag.  The liberals finally got it right. Professor Deenan - post liberal substack - calls it the “Gnostic of the liberal
I think a resurgent peace movement needs to go hard after the DNC and make the neoliberals...name them, mock them, hound them...uncomfortable. Biden recently named a black man from South Carolina the new DNC chair, and since Rep. James Clyburn is a force within the DP, he needs to hear the disgust and anger that this moment warrants. If ever there was a time to call, write, email all members of the DP, it is now. Write letters to the editor to the NYTimes and LA Times and WAPO. Call a DP pol repeatedly. Organize protests, leave no means of messaging untried. If you’re alive, do something.
The US desperately needs a peace movement, a reincarnation of the 60's and 70's, but I see nothing. And more singer/activists like Phil Ochs, who wrote "Love me, I'm a liberal." Don't see it happening here, not even an inkling. I believe it will happen in Europe, when people are fed up with the US's proxy war in Ukraine.
This is more like entering the 50s in the States. There are some beatnik type trends, but the movement doesn't come till later.
The Democrats are going into a semi-wilderness moment. As a party and as a collective plurality, it will have to figure out how to become the champion of free speech and bodily autonomy for all, before it gets out of the coming wilderness.
NBC ran a poll showing support among blacks for Dems has dropped significantly in the past two years. Republicans are not the solution, but the going trend is to get rid of the problem in front of you first, and that's what is incoming this midterm.
The fact that the GOP is on the whole, pro-war doesn't bring any comfort. Proof: the entire eight years of Hell named the George W Bush-Dick Cheney Administration.
Right. But its less pro-war than the Democratic party now on the whole, which is pretty wild. Ah, things are going to shift here radically. We will see violence in the cities come Dec.
Biden should concern himself with why he continues to shake hands with invisible people. The sanctions against Russia are a complete failure. The reason it is a failure is the U.S. is fighting a natural resource rich country with food and energy to spare with a fiat currency that no one wants any longer!
Soy bugmen like Noah Smith and Mark Ruffalo think the world is a Marvel movie. They are fine getting us all nuked in the process. Hate to say it, but Putin is far more clairvoyant than any Western leader - especially President Senile Teleprompter and Vice President Word Salad: https://yuribezmenov.substack.com/p/how-to-be-a-soy-bugman
Regardless of the "liberal" rhetoric occasionally spilling from the mouths of Western celebrities, they nonetheless regularly exhibit the narcissism that causes utterances of utter moronic disconnect from the complexity of the international nexus of authoritarian saber-rattling, missing what is obvious to any critical thinker --- that at the center of every threat to both the biosphere and the human species sits the imperious figure of Uncle Sam and his ultra-bloated military.
Im reasonably confident that the "MCU" is dumbing down the population with drastic consequences
If you mean that the cast is doing that when they're off the clock, I agree.
If you mean the movies themselves are...well, I haven't seen them all, but I don't think there's a pro-war message in any of the ones I've seen? That's all three Iron Mans, Spider-Man Homecoming, all three Captain America movies although "Civil War" was really about lots of established characters and not just Cap, first two Thors, both Guardians Of The Galaxy flicks, first Avengers movie, first Dr. Strange, Black Panther, and I think that covers every one I've seen.
I know from the dialogue in Civil War that something pretty bad happened in this fictional country called Sokovia during the earlier Age Of Ultron, which the Avengers were blamed for. Half of the Avengers responded to that by saying "Yeah, our being there DID get a lot of people killed and we should try to make sure it never happens again." I think that if they were created to make people think military interventions were a good idea, it would have been less that and more "Hey, we went into Sokovia and it was totally justified because we beat the bad guy!"
EDIT: Mind you, I'm not saying that there aren't Hollywood movies that are pure propaganda. Zero Dark Thirty is the first one that comes to mind, and I know there are plenty of others. I'm just not sure that the MCU movies in particular qualify. But again, I haven't seen every last one of them, so I could be wrong about that. I guess Black Panther almost kind of did by having a CIA agent tagging along for the ride, but at the end of the day he *did* only tag along pretty much, and it wasn't a "CIA saves the day because they're so awesome!" story.
I havnt seen any of them, but every time I try to use the "Have you ever seen a film?" Argument from the "Are we the baddies" sketch to point out that something is too absurd to work as a film storyline, someone inevitably tells me that there is an MCU film with that exact plot.
They really do want you to EAT THE BUGS. Listen to Tim Pool:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyyYSVBeh3M
Biden is really saying when is Russia going to capitulate and submit to our overwhelming force of propaganda, and economic sanctions . Hell even with the threat of nuclear Armageddon as he wears his aviator glasses Russia isn’t backing down in the face of our aggression !
Biden blinked.
The 80% of the world and many in the West would like a Regime Change in America and await the Midterm Election results with a morbid curiosity .
I'm not optimistic about the midterms, the outcome is going to be either the conservative pro-war party or the bugfuck insane pro-war party. Not much of a choice.
Russia could withdraw its entire military within the walls of the Kremlin and Biden and his neo-cons would still complain that wasn't far enough.
Midterm Elections? Could they make a difference? As a citizen of a member of AUKUS, the first 'A' (for Australia) waiting excitedly for our nuclear subs to arrive in 2040, I would be keen to better understand what can possibly happen in a US midterm election of benefit to the world.
Surely the majority of voters in the USA can see what they have elected and are disenchanted with the feeble and totally confused Biden. He is not what I view as a worthy, respected figurehead, rather seen as a weak manipulatable geriatric. And it shows every day.
The real danger, even more than the current incumbents with their Israeli-trained Neocon brigades would be the likely Trump versus Clinton battle .....further down the track.
My many visits to the US have always been enjoyable, the people amiable in the main and most of their values worthy of respect. But I admit, that was some time ago.
How quickly things can change. I would suggest you do a McCarthy-style purge, as in the 1950's (as excessive as they were), this time not with Communism as the target but with the objective in forcing the Neocons to disclose their primary loyalties...........
1. US or Israel? 2. The American people or the Military/Industrial profiteers.
As the predominant theme for a Midterm Election, that result would be of great interest to all.
OMG, I lived through the McCarthyite purges. Never again!
Instead, I suggest that all those who want to make real change watch How to Start a Revolution the DVD documentary, and read From Dictatorship to Democracy, the book by the late Dr Gene Sharp. You can buy a copy on eBay or from the Einstein Institution in Boston MA USA.
I think the American people are still nice. But we're getting fed up. Not fed up enough to make those who enjoy a comfortable life to give it up to make real changes to the system. (Read Blaming the Victim.)
Thanks Susan.
Used your information to watch the whole video and was mightily impressed with Gene Sharp, his principles and his dedication to those same principles over all that time.
He has influenced so many over time and it is such a shame that his health seemed to be so challenging for him over all that time before he died.
One would like to think that the office is still serving a purpose along the lines he commenced.
Certainly there is a real need for some of those lessons to be applied around the world.
Yes, there is such a need: exactly so!
That's why I try to get everyone I can to find out about his work and to pass on the information.
Thanks for taking the time to do this!
"The midterm elections"! You can't vote your way out of this. It will take more than just going into a polling booth and pulling a lever to bring about the change we need and the world wants. Voting is the lazy man's way of trying to change things.
We need to get out there and work at changing this country, but here's the rub:
Bilbo Baggins said in The Hobbit, "Adventures! Nasty uncomfortable disturbing things! Make you late for dinner!" That's what Americans think about OUR OWN regime change. We can sit in front of our TVs and admire the people of Sri Lanka for rising up against their government, but we aren't going to do the same. We don't want to be inconvenienced by an uprising of our own creation.
Much better to go into that polling booth and make a futile gesture!
""So simple," Ruffalo says."
Man! The delusions, ego, and ignorance of our Hollywood elites is astounding. But they at least provide us a service, frequently offering clear examples of elite thought in the US while offering themselves up for complete ridicule. There's that, at least.
One of the dipshits that said 'its so simple, just take the vaccine' too.
Hubris is one hell of a drug.
Ain't THAT a fact...!!!
Who is the only country in the world to drop two nuclear bombs on another country's civilian population?
The shitlib reply to that one is, of course, "Oh, that was a long time ago. Plus, they started it."
The second part is leaving out how the US cut off oil to Japan before Pearl Harbor, of course. But these dumbasses never think America is to blame for anything.
They seriously remind me of Republicans in the Bush years who would always ask why you were sticking up for the terrorists if you criticized the government's foreign policy. Now instead of Republicans doing that, it's "Why are you defending Putin?" being asked by Democrats and their brain dead supporters while we now have Republicans being against the war in Ukraine, at least. Never mind that it isn't all of the Republicans, and never mind that the ones who are criticizing the Biden administration might start a war of their own once they get in power, whether they start wrecking a country using American forces or whether they do so via proxy.
At this point I seriously hate Blue MAGA more than Original MAGA. Original MAGA being against this war isn't the only reason for that (there's also Blue MAGA being pro-censorship and focusing only on identity politics and idolizing the Cheneys and so on), but it's a big one.
And even though it has nothing to do with Caitlin's post, I just thought of this next thing and I'm itching to post it.
SHITLIB: "Some things are worth dying for. I'm willing to risk nuclear war!"
NON-SHITLIB: "Okay, what about the First Amendment? Do you agree, as Americans have believed since a handful of years ago, that we shouldn't restrict speech and that the freedom to be able to say whatever you want without fear of government reprisal is worth the risk that somebody might say something which causes trouble? Perhaps somebody might even say something that gives some unstable individual the idea that they should go and shoot people? Is that worth dying for?"
SHITLIB: "No, absolutely not, free speech is DANGEROUS and I'm scared of what might happen if we let people say whatever they want! I'm not willing to risk dying for that!"
So, they're scared of words and they're not scared of nuclear war. This isn't even a strawman; according to Kurt Metzger in a recent Jimmy Dore segment, he was watching a comedian he didn't name who said something like "I don't care if you're some conservative who believes in free speech..." before going on to, presumably, talk about why free speech was bad. Metzger and Jimmy were both like "Since when was belief in freedom of speech a CONSERVATIVE position?"
Not to mention threatening to launch WWIII over missiles in Cuba.
With no actual need too!
Because blowing up a pipeline one can shut off and then use as a bargaining chip is Economics 101. Just ask the "superior mind"!
Who is the superior mind?
Sorry, reference to a commemt in a different article that Carbon Copy and others are familiar with.
No worries but I am still curious
I agree but my statement was meant for the "nuclear bombs dropped on Japan" above!
I really enjoy Mark Ruffalo as an actor. But man, his political awareness is that of a 2nd grader. And like many of these Hollywood types, they are always so damn sure of themselves. Likely because they live in their wealth bubble in L.A., and rarely get out enough - to view all the homeless tents under overcrowded LA freeways.
And the sad thing is that Ruffalo is better than most of the people in Hollywood if you go issue by issue. At least he was praising Bernie back before Bernie became a simp for his good friend Joe while most of his colleagues were talking about how Bernie was some kind of misogynist or racist or whatever, and he's criticized Israel for what it's done to Palestinians while most of his colleagues attend fundraisers for the IDF.
Seeing him weigh in on those issues years ago made me think that he might have his head on straight, and I started admiring him. That's what makes it so sickening to see him spew this bullshit now. Same with Jon Stewart. I thought they were smart enough to know better.
Stewart & Colbert were the real heartbreaks for me. Shells of their former selves now.
Life-time supply of free rim jobs, coke, etc will do that to a person, just as Bill Clinton.
Well I don't know Ruffalo personally, so can't comment on that. But Bill Clinton ... guilty as fuck.
I'm a recovering democrat, I'm seeing them for what evil they truly are.
I recently learned that we are the most propogandized country in the world and that us' imperial ambitions thru war is the top reason.
Btw, what episode of jimmy dore was that, I'd like to go back and listen to it. I know that "shit-libs" absolutely hate jimmy dore. Never heard "shit-libs" before, they certainly have proven that a truth tho.
Thanks
I think that Jimmy might have invented the name "shit-libs."
Putin is, or at least appears to be, the only world leader that knows, and is responsive to, the history of the Donbass. Stalin apparently just gave the area away in the hopes that a cobbled together Ukraine would become communist. The people of the Donbass didn’t want that. Their resistance, in many forms, have been fought by the current leader since. Putin’s role has been attempted negotiation. Apparently, the day after he signed the Minsk agreement Zelensky stated he had no intention of sticking to it. ( Someone should check my history. ) The Donbass has been the target of bombing for years. Putin finally had enough - it was obvious no one in the West was interested in negotiation/peace. And Putin’s “aggression” has been vilified on a daily basis by every western leader. So now what? Looks to me like Biden ( and those pulling his strings? ) can choose. Who should “back down” ?
The Donbass was added to Ukraine by Lenin, to dilute the ethnic Ukrainian vote in the Politburo. Stalin added the western third of Ukraine by hacking off part of Poland for the same reason. Khrushchev added Crimea, and somewhere along the way I think a province or two from Moldova was added.
Zelinskyy campaigned on a peace platform, saying that he was going to implement the Minsk II accords. Since he was financed by the same oligarch who funded the Azov Battalion it's doubtful that he ever intended to follow through.
I think you answered the whole thing. Thanks
Not Zelensky, he was playing piano with his tool when Minsk II was signed. Petro Poroshenko was the goon whom Zelenskyi replaced. He's the one who confirmed it was a conspiracy to defraud Russia carried out with France and Germany's acquiescence.
FACT check, as requested:
"the day after he signed the Minsk agreement Zelensky stated he had no intention of sticking to it."
WRONG.
Minsk 2 was singed Feb 2015
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minsk_agreements
Zelensky was elected until April 2019
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volodymyr_Zelenskyy
Thanks Bill. I do some back checking, and try to find what I think I remember. Maybe nothing. I’ll see.
The stupidity to think that Russia should just leave. Leave what? Russia? Because that is what it is now. Kiev has shown how much it loves and values the Donbas and its citizens by shelling the hell out of it for over 8 years...hmm...could it be a reason they didn't want to be part of Ukraine anymore? Ungrateful scoundrels! I'd like to see how loyal the Hollywood celebs would be to Washington if Biden gave the order to start heavy shelling of LA..for eight years.
Folks - Slightly off topic, but a reader in a prior essay posted a link to video and text of Putin's speech on annexation, see:
https://matthewehret.substack.com/p/putins-historic-speech-must-be-experienced
I watched it and was astounded by how harsh Putin's denunciation of the US and EU/NATO elites was! Truly a must watch to understand the Russian historical, cultural and political perspective!
It would be a good idea to get this text more broadly read -
Hard to read, but he's only giving back some of what what he's been given for the past six years.
Sanna Marin is an idiot. Really the entire leadership class of the Baltic states are very stupid.
The same applies to the rest of Europe.
And the West generally.
Humorously, Estonian PM Kaja Kallas recently said citizens are resomsible for the things their governments do which is a weird door to open when it condemns all of their grandparents for Stalin
A perfect war! Ukraine doesn’t matter strategically, only white people are being killed, no Americans are being killed, it causes the rest of Europe to vastly increase expenditure on American weaponry, it’s narrative of democracy promotion is virtuous, (no empire here) and they get to humiliate the autocrat Putin, who is a douche bag.  The liberals finally got it right. Professor Deenan - post liberal substack - calls it the “Gnostic of the liberal
the “Gnostic aggression of the liberal imperium”
Gotta love this one! This is so funny but horrible at the same time! If only they were on a different planet and we were watching this on Netflix!
I think a resurgent peace movement needs to go hard after the DNC and make the neoliberals...name them, mock them, hound them...uncomfortable. Biden recently named a black man from South Carolina the new DNC chair, and since Rep. James Clyburn is a force within the DP, he needs to hear the disgust and anger that this moment warrants. If ever there was a time to call, write, email all members of the DP, it is now. Write letters to the editor to the NYTimes and LA Times and WAPO. Call a DP pol repeatedly. Organize protests, leave no means of messaging untried. If you’re alive, do something.
The US desperately needs a peace movement, a reincarnation of the 60's and 70's, but I see nothing. And more singer/activists like Phil Ochs, who wrote "Love me, I'm a liberal." Don't see it happening here, not even an inkling. I believe it will happen in Europe, when people are fed up with the US's proxy war in Ukraine.
This is more like entering the 50s in the States. There are some beatnik type trends, but the movement doesn't come till later.
The Democrats are going into a semi-wilderness moment. As a party and as a collective plurality, it will have to figure out how to become the champion of free speech and bodily autonomy for all, before it gets out of the coming wilderness.
NBC ran a poll showing support among blacks for Dems has dropped significantly in the past two years. Republicans are not the solution, but the going trend is to get rid of the problem in front of you first, and that's what is incoming this midterm.
I think its coming. In my view, we have a big red wave coming and a minority Dem party. They will have this fight, no doubt about it.
The fact that the GOP is on the whole, pro-war doesn't bring any comfort. Proof: the entire eight years of Hell named the George W Bush-Dick Cheney Administration.
Right. But its less pro-war than the Democratic party now on the whole, which is pretty wild. Ah, things are going to shift here radically. We will see violence in the cities come Dec.
Saying Russia just needs to leave Ukraine is like telling a relentlessly stalked woman she just needs to stay home
Biden should concern himself with why he continues to shake hands with invisible people. The sanctions against Russia are a complete failure. The reason it is a failure is the U.S. is fighting a natural resource rich country with food and energy to spare with a fiat currency that no one wants any longer!