taibbi.substack.com
He’s a left-winger. Does that make him a Putin apologist? You decide.
Let’s Not Have a War
The American foreign policy establishment, chasing decades of failures, appears to be seriously considering the unthinkable in Ukraine
I suggest you take about an hour and watch the lecture Alpha Woke posted. Nobody is arguing against Putin being a thug. But the lecture may help clarify and change your mind about who is driving this crisis.
I dont'have an hour to watch a video. I don't do videos. Kliff's? Putin is moving military forces to the Ukraine border, are you gonna tell me it's someone else's doing?
I’m curious where you got the information that led you to the opinion you have and how much time you spent absorbing it.
One of the things in the lecture you refuse to watch is the explanation that Putin is a thug of a country that is declining into third world status, that he would seek to increase his power in other parts of the world, but he knows he doesn't have the ability to do it, and so he doesn't try. The situation in the Ukraine is not his doing, but Ukraine is considered to be of vital national interest to Russia (not just Putin), and as such they will not back away from conflict no matter how much the USA pushes them.
He made it clear from the day he took office that Ukraine would never be allowed to join NATO.. The USA dismissed his concerns and demands and continued to push. Ukraine as part of NATO is a red line Russia will not back away from, even if it means going to war, which it doesn't want and has never wanted. This idea that Putin is clamoring to invade Ukraine is a false flag being planted by the US intelligence community as part of propaganda to lure unsuspecting Americans into accepting their global vision.
So russian forces have not mobilized on Ukraine's border? What's the false flag now? Putin is obviously being aggressive.
You’re wanting to debate against an argument about which you don’t want to know anything. The lecture, if you wanted to attend it, answers your questions with great clarity.
Ok.
So, Putin gets to dictate to Ukraine and the rest of the world what Ukraine, a sovereign state, can and cannot do? I'd like to read your reasoning on how this attitude by Putin doesn't make him directly responsible for what is occurring
Bwaaaaahahahahahahahaha!!!! And there it is!!!! MuH rUsSiA!!!! Still waiting on those piss tapes for your spank bank?
My observation on this, in terms of the domestic political conversation occurring in our country right now about Russia/Ukraine, is that the conversation is filled with a lot of contradictions and hypocrisy. Everyone, especially those critical of Biden, are trying to position themselves into a place where they can either criticize Biden for what he does/doesn't do or they can defend Biden for whatever occurs. So they are staking out positions based on where they think all of this is heading, but then when something changes, that positions then shifts. People are all over the place on this to the point that I have grown tired reading and listening to most of what everyone is saying. Most of them don't have a clue what is going to happen or why and their principles seem to shift with the wind.
Did you watch the video I posted or the lecture Alpha Woke shared? It will provide you with the reasoning. This is not a crisis that can be summed up in sound bites.
Yes I did. I've watched way too much
I think you stopped short. The professor gets to the part where he talks about the Monroe Doctrine and how America has made it very clear that it will accept no foreign military intervention in our hemisphere. This is our hemisphere, hands off! Russia insists on having a strategic buffer zone with the same ferocity as we do. Actually, based on your comment I don’t believe you watched the lecture. I think you’re lying.
No I didn't.
Yes, all true.
No, I’m not going to play games with a liar.
🤣🤣
Come back when you’ve really watched the lecture and are no longer lying about it and we’ll talk.
Again, I watched the video.
Again, you’re a liar. If you watched the lecture you wouldn’t need to ask the question, you’d know the answer. In fact, you say you watched the lecture. You tell me what the professor said. If you pass this test - which should be easy to do since you say you watched the lecture all the way through - then I’ll put it in my words for you. If you can’t do that it will prove you’re lying.
Now who is playing games? We both know Dan there is nothing that I could say about that video that would past your test.
Won’t do it because you can’t do it because you’re lying about having watched it. I’ll tell you what, it’s late and I’m going to bed. That’ll give you all night to watch it, prepare your notes and we’ll talk about it in the morning.Now who is playing games? We both know Dan there is nothing that I could say about that video that would past your test.
I asked you two simple questions related to a claim you made. I will ask them once again, just like you do to posters when they make claims on here and refuse to accept anything but their own words. I will be more than glad to talk with you about anything in that video, but only after you answer the simple questions I asked:
Does (what you referenced) Putin get to dictate to Ukraine and the rest of the world what Ukraine, a sovereign state, can and cannot do? And if so, how does this attitude by Putin not make him directly responsible for what is occurring?
And these two questions will still be waiting on you in the morning...
Dan, those are obvious, good faith, common sense questions that shouldn't require an hour long video.
Of course they are. And if he is so convinced about his claim, he should have no problem simply answering the questions. Instead, he is playing his usual passive aggressive games (while claiming I'm the one playing game simply by asking questions lol). Talking about me passing some test of his regarding the video too. It appears he is doing anything to keep from simply backing up his claim.
Sys, if you would bother to watch the lecture you would see that it was given in 2015, predating anything having to do with Donald Trump or MAGA. To this point what naked aggression has Russia promulgated? To this point there has been no invasion, although if you would watch the video/interview I posted of Aaron Mate with a retired Colonel (forgot his name) you would be given additional historical evidence of why Russia is behaving the way it is to counter American/NATO aggression. I have not once called Putin a good name, I don't think he's a good guy. But Russia is responding to American/NATO aggression with the same defiance that America had when the USSR attempted to put missiles in Cuba. Russia has said for years it would not tolerate offensive missiles on its border, just as America imposes the Monroe Doctrine to protect its borders. America is testing to see if Russia means what it says. We're about to find out.
