Here is what it all boils down to for me. Although I didn't agree with policies and methods of previous presidents. I believed without a doubt they were doing what they thought was best for this country. They may have been wrong. They may have been misguided, but they fully believed what they were doing was in the best interest of this country. I believed this until the Grifter in Chief. A man who throughout his entire life has shown he doesn't give a damn about anyone but himself. A man who believes anyone who disagrees with him is the enemy. A man who so so divided this country that there is no longer any discourse.
A leopard doesn't change its spots. Trump has always been out for Numero uno. He has always lied and found ways to screw people over to make a buck. He's lived his entire life profiting off the fortunes of others in getting them to invest in his schemes. That will never change. It's not in his nature to really give a damn about anyone but himself. He only like the ones who pump his ego, give him money, and promote his lies.
Here is what kills me. Based on the defense of DJT by the GOP then Charles Manson should have never been convicted. He didn't overtly order anyone to be killed and he didn't kill anyone himself. "The prosecution contended that, while Manson never directly ordered the murders, his ideology constituted an overt act of conspiracy."
Putin wants to establish a Russian controlled puppet government in Ukraine. See Georgia and Belarus. If Putin could, he would re-establish the Soviet Union. Putin wants to get the band back together. It is what it is. What is preventing peace in Ukraine? Foremost, the invasion of the Russia army into Ukraine and the Ukrainian military and citizen response. Also as long as Putin wants to control Ukraine, any peace or cessation of Russian military aggression will only be temporary. Ukraine realizes this and will continue to attack Russian troops until Putin sues for peace on Ukrainian terms. BTW those "Russian citizens of Ukraine" were just Russian speaking Ukrainians prior to 2014. To say anything else is Russian propaganda.
This is not likely to drag out for very much longer - unless we interfere in ways that causes it to drag out, which appears to be our current policy. Instead of working towards peace, we are working towards extending this war by proxy. I have seen it said a number of times that we are committed to fighting Russia in Ukraine down to the last Ukrainian. That would no doubt be a nice distraction in the runup to the November election, which the Democrats are clearly desperate to sustain, but the cost is unacceptable. If we want to take Russia out of their position of dominance here, we will have to commit ourselves to an all out war with Russia to accomplish that. They are ready and willing, because to them, this is that important. If we are not willing to make that sacrifice, which would be insanity on our part in this situation, then we have to accept that Ukraine is part of the Russian sphere of influence in that region and will continue to be so, whether we or they like it or not. If the Ukrainians want to fight back, that is of course very reasonable. We would in the same circumstances, at least for a while. But the Russians are just going to be too strong here, while we are too weak. We need to be realistic and stop acting out based on emotions, and based on the flawed imaginations of the North Atlantic globalist elites that Russia is somehow beholden to their dictates and is not a serious regional power that has to be respected or militarily defeated. The deranged, megalomaniacal aspirations of these arrogant, incompetent people should not be allowed to interfere with the resolution of this conflict in a realistic way that makes way for peace in that region.
Ill make it clear. I dont care about trump. i dont care if he gets elected. I dont care if he doesnt get elected. All you fools do is keep electing crappy politicians. Your problem. Not mine
Oh, we are all clear on your position. But we don't want a criminal as president. And/or someone that has so directly attacked America's democracy. I guess I am funny in that. Apparently republicans don't care... as long as the guy has an R next to his name. But keep blaming the party that didn't nominate him and didn't elect him... you can always avoid responsibility.
I do not agree with you framing this as a Russia versus US conflict. Europeans see the Russian invasion of Ukraine as their 911. Right or wrong. NATO countries like Poland do not want Russia to be emboldened and for them to look for their next ex-Soviet Union country to invade. Poland would certainly invoke NATO Article 5 if Russia started moving troops to the Polish border. Putin has made several massive strategic errors: 1. Assumed Ukrainians would embrace the Russia Army with hugs and flowers. 2. Assumed that Russia could achieve their military objective in a matter of days. 3. Assumed that Europe by extension via NATO the US would be too weak to respond. The Russian Army has struggled with logistics (supplying their troops) and meeting objectives, taking and holding major cities. Where they have struggled, they have switched strategies to just bomb the crap out of cities, hoping that if they killed enough civilians Ukraine would capitulate. This has shown limited success so far. What have the Russians lost so far? 1. A not insignificant number of military equipment like tanks, helicopters, planes and ships. You know the stuff that is super expensive and hard to replace. 2. Face. The vaulted Russian Army has struggled. An outnumbered and marginally equipped opponent is currently battling them to a stalemate. 3. Economy. The economic sanctions are not going away any time soon. The damages could take a decade or more to repair. My best guess is the Ukraine Russia War will end in a stalemate. Russia will still control the Donbas and Crimea regions. Ukraine cities outside of those regions will likely be bombed back to the stone age. Putin will begin planning on the next invasion.
On Wednesday, Jeremy Fleming, the head of the U.K. Government Communication HQ, made a series of statements about Russia, and Vladimir Putin that seem all to credible and reflective of where things stand 37 days into the unprovoked invasion. “It increasingly looks like Putin has massively misjudged the situation,” said Fleming. “It’s clear he’s misjudged the resistance of the Ukrainian people. He underestimated the strength of the coalition his actions would galvanize. He underplayed the consequences of the sanctions regime. And he overestimated the abilities of his military to secure a rapid victory.”
https://www.reuters.com/business/ae...l-aid-ukraine-uk-defence-minister-2022-03-31/ LONDON, March 31 (Reuters) - Britain and its allies have agreed to send more lethal military aid to Ukraine to help defend it against Russia's invasion, British defence minister Ben Wallace said on Thursday. "There'll be more lethal aid going into Ukraine as a result of today. A number of countries have come forward either with new ideas or indeed more pledges of money," Wallace told reporters after hosting over 35 international partners at the second International Defence Donor Conference for Ukraine (IDDCU). The aid will include the provision of air and coastal defence systems, longer-range artillery and counter battery capabilities, armoured vehicles as well as wider training and logistical support. …
Mojoman: "It's the Democrats who keep drawing out these Trump crimes. If they would just give in and let Trump be dictator, he wouldn't have to commit crimes to gain power!"
Honestly, no one gives a **** what Russia wants, because what they want is petty and absurd. They do not get to decide who is and isn't a buffer and who does or does not join NATO. I find it funny that you seem to think that the rest of the world should bend over backwards for what Russia wants. It isn't going to happen, and it really isn't what "Russia wants" anyway, it is what Putin wants. He can wish in one hand and **** in the other.
And you don't think that Putin is an arrogant deranged megalomaniac? Seriously you're blaming victim here, Ukraine, for prolonging a fight against the Russians as somehow us prolonging things. Ukraine might not be winning this fight but Russia isn't either. Why this fight is still going isn't just because we are arming the Ukrainians it's because of Russian incompetence and low morale of their troops on the battlefield. That should tell you how willing they are to actually fight for this land. What all of your post though boil down to again is that you don't believe in Ukrainian or any of the other former USSR or Warsaw pacts states as having sovereignty. That you are stuck in a cold war mindset that this is still a battle of a Russian centric Federation versus the West and that all of those other countries and people are pawns that should be surrendered to Russia so "Atlantic Globalists" don't take power. As I reminded you earlier those Globalist you are so fearful of are getting more powerful because of the invasion. NATO is more united than ever and Finland and Sweden just joined NATO in major war games close to the Russian border while the Baltic states are being reinforced.
I will agree though with Mojo that we do need to be very careful about this and I am still very very leery of directly intervening in Ukraine, through ground troops or through a no-flyzone. That said given how poorly the Russians are doing direct intervention might not be needed.