It is fascinating to me how what goes around comes around. Again and again. I first blogged about Russian meddling as long ago as 2017. And here, and here, and here and finally here.
When I started blogging further about the pro-Putin caucus, Marjorie Taylor Greene and other fringe GOP sympathizers of the Russian dictator it cost me a couple of relationships. Those posts are all still out there and easy to find using the search tool (upper left corner) or the tags in the left margin.
Maybe there's something to it after-all. A guy that knows more about it than I do is certainly speaking out.......
Honestly, I should hope there's nothing to any of this. But it sure makes you think...
The Cliff Notes for everyone watching these episodes.
Last Friday's Oval Office meeting between President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelensky was ostensibly intended to discuss peace negotiations concerning the Russia-Ukraine conflict and to finalize a natural resources agreement. However the meeting devolved into a heated exchange with Trump accusing Zelensky of being ungrateful and risking global conflict by not pursuing peace with Russia. Vice President JD Vance criticized Zelensky for discussing policy matter publicly, leading to an abrupt end to the meeting without a signed agreement.
Naturally, the incident drew significant attention both here and abroad with numerous world leaders expressing support for Zelensky and criticizing President Trump's approach. Leaders from countries such as Canada, Norway, Lithuania, Poland, Spain and Moldova condemned Trump's remarks and reaffirmed their commitment to supporting Ukraine against Russia's invasion.
Given the contentious nature of the meeting, the choreographed timing of Vance's entry into the fray gives the appearance of not merely a theatrical performance, but a planned public setup. The first thing that came to mind was the boardroom scene of the Final Episode following another lame season of The Apprentice. I digress.
The lack of any substantive outcomes and subsequent international reaction seems to imply that the meeting had significant implications beyond just the political theater. Precisely what they are remains to be revealed. Is Trump ten moves ahead in a three dimensional chess match; or is he simply chaotic? You pick.
Nonetheless, I sort of saw it coming; like a slow moving train wreck. There were earlier signals from Secretary Hegseth, the US joining both North Korea and Russia in the vote at the United Nations (China abstained), along with Trump's parroting of Kremlin talking points. I shared with a couple of pals that I figured Trump was going to orchestrate things in a way that Putin would get the whole shebang in the end. Time will tell.
Does this suggest we've signaled to the world that we're done with 70+ years of transatlantic alliances; trading all of it for an alliance with a ruthless blood-soaked gangster like Vladimir Putin and his rapidly failing Russian state?
Or was this a garden-variety Mafiosi protection racket? Listen-up youse. Give us your raw earth minerals, or your dry-cleaning shop, izza gonna burn down, see.
Why does Trump have a hard-on for Putin?
Why isn't Putin being held to account?
Does Zelensky understand a bad deal is better than a good war?
Judging from the reaction in the cesspool called Face Book, the base is loving the red meat. Of course the base has also turned a blind eye, or loves, (you pick) the forcible abduction and deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia. Similarly, supporters of Ukraine were quick to post their own collection of cut and paste unoriginal memes. Although I didn't note anyone volunteering to send their children or grandchildren over there to join the fight.
It's too soon and uncertain to know where this takes us. Although for the first time this year I watched all the Sunday morning talking heads on both sides as White House spokespeople twisted them selves in convoluted knots in an attempt to explain this is ten moves ahead three dimensional chess and not simply chaos.
What I've learned over the years is that Trump means what he says and he closed the Friday drama with this:
This is going to be great television. I will say that.
Thanks for reading and stay-tuned. Hardly a dull moment nowadays.
A couple of weeks ago Russian President Vladimir Putin sat down with Tucker Carlson for an interview. I finally got around to watching it myself.
Having been critical over the years of those who are cozy with the former KGB Colonel I was curious as to what Carlson was going to say and what the interview might reveal. Heretofore, Carlson has been largely critical of any aid or support for Ukraine's defense. In November of 2019 he said he was rooting for Russia. Since Putin launched his war on Ukraine almost two years ago Carlson has been supportive of Putin and claimed (without any evidence) that financial support for Ukraine went to Ukrainian President Zelensky and his wife. Let me be clear, Carlson is not a journalist; he's a commentator. I wanted to watch the interview in its entirety and form an opinion afterward.
Key takeaways include the following:
In a rambling forty minute homily Putin justified his invasion of Ukraine arguing that Russia has a historic claim to much of western Ukraine reaching back to the 13th century. And that Ukrainian territory bordering the Black Sea has no historical connection to Ukraine whatsoever.
Furthermore, Putin claimed that it was Ukraine, following Russia's annexation of Crimea, that instigated the war in 2014. He denied any responsibility for provoking hostilities.
Carlson did push back on Putin's revisionist history lecture including Russia's role in WWII and the formation of the Soviet Union asking what history had to do with what happened a couple of years ago.
Putin also complained about the eastern expansion of NATO and that Russia had to push back against this expansion; again. leading up to the war in Ukraine.
Finally, Putin played the Nazi card claiming that one of Russia's goals is the de-Nazification of and prohibition of Neo-Nazi movements in Ukraine.
Carlson asked Putin if he has evidence supporting the claim that the CIA was responsible for the destruction of the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea. Putin offered no tangible evidence but claimed that Russia should look for someone who's interested and has capabilities.
Asked if Putin would be willing to release Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, Putin told Carlson a prisoner exchange would probably lead to his release and is essentially controlled by the US authorities.
So, was this a propaganda win for Putin? A blockbuster interview for Carlson? My sense is that Putin saw this interview as an opportunity to telegraph to the US that there is no further point to assisting Ukraine with more weaponry and financial support as the war will continue regardless. Putin is in for the long term and is willing to wait, at least until after the 2024 election, with the hope that Donald Trump is returned to the White House. I think Putin believes Trump and a far right congress will be more pliable and sympathetic to Moscow's narratives. He views Americans as fundamentally weak.
And speaking of elections, Mr. Putin has a presidential election next month. The outcome of which cannot be in any doubt. That said, he has to play to his Russian audience as a leader with a global platform. State-controlled media outlets breathlessly hyped Carlson's visit as if it were that of a head of state.
On balance I call this a win for Putin and given the state-sponsored lecture from one of the world's great villains; a disappointment for Carlson. The interview was lame; it was one-sided and anticlimactic.
I've never understood the far right's fatuous admiration and embrace of Putin. Of course, I don't understand the far left's pro-Hamas love affair either. I guess the fringe has a high tolerance for stone-cold killers and war criminals. Which would explain why they're the fringe.
So,
is Tucker Carlson a useful idiot? Consider the history of this term.
It originally applied to Western intellectuals who naively supported the
Bolsheviks and Soviets by ignoring the universal truths of a brutal
dictatorship. Stalin despised such people yet considered them helpful
in advancing his message. Yesterday the death of Russian
dissident Alexei Navalny was confirmed. Until then I would have characterized Mr.
Carlson as a garden variety Putin shill. Today he has been promoted to useful
idiot.
Perform your own due diligence and watch the interview in its entirety here. My readers are smart enough to draw their own conclusions.....
One of my pals, with knowledge of my interest in military history, recommended this book. He cautioned that it wouldn't inspire any warm feelings about the Russians.
Based-upon hours of oral history shared by his father, Lee Trimble and British historian Jeremy Dronfield corroborated the events compiled in this true story of veteran Eighth Air Force bomber Captain Robert Trimble's efforts to save the lives of allied POWs and refugees in eastern Europe.
As the Soviet army advanced across Poland in 1945 they freed thousands of POWs, slave laborers and concentration camp survivors. The Red army reserved a particular contempt for the allied POWs considering them cowards or spies. Denying them shelter, food and medical care they were left to die. Violent atrocities were committed. From an airbase in Ukraine Trimble's task was to locate survivors sheltered by Polish and Ukrainian civilians and bring them safely home.
Working for the OSS and with virtually no covert training Trimble secretly survived by canniness, courage and perseverance, outwitting the Soviet secret police to exfiltrate an estimated thousand individuals in less than two months.
Post-Yalta the relationship between the USSR and the US was exceedingly strained. Roosevelt understood all too clearly that when word of Russian barbarism inflicted upon their allies was revealed public sentiment would turn against them.
Lordy, I didn't need another reason to dislike the Russkies. Then, as today, insofar as war crimes go it appears some things haven't changed. This book was as difficult to put down as it was to read. It is inspiring.
Anybody who knows me would know that 95% of my T-shirt inventory is comprised of bike ride shirts.
Not this.
I
wasn’t particularly thinking about it when we stopped at the Sturgeon
Bay Farmers Market this morning when all of a sudden total strangers all
over came up to me to compliment and share their approval. Same for
folks at the grocery store.
There
are plenty of descriptors for Old Vlad that are inappropriate around
children and social media. Nevertheless, there seems to be near
universal agreement that Putin Is A Dick.
Related to today's video from Peter Zeihan As a presidential candidate the senator from Utah was equally Prescient. In 2012, he noted that Russia was the biggest geopolitical adversary to
the United States. Today that threat has been magnified in scale and should be a source of great concern to
both Republicans and Democrats.
Romney was and is spot-on. Given the magnitude of consequence of a
nuclear strike, our potential options merit thought, by our leaders and
by American citizens alike. If Putin uses a nuke or weaponizes a
Ukrainian nuke plant NATO should give thoughtful consideration to obliterating the Soviet military from the
face of the earth.
By conventional means.
Better yet, Russian military leadership should eliminate the cancer in their midst, retreat to 2013 borders and reach a negotiated settlement to repair and rebuild the destruction they inflicted-upon the Ukrainian people.
Short of that I would be confirmed in my belief that the Russians are garden variety barbarians. Rape, brutality and depravity is embedded in their DNA. Godless they are.
Russia announced today that it has banned 963 Americans from entering Russia — a largely symbolic move
featuring a wide-ranging collection of Biden administration members,
Republicans, tech executives, journalists, lawmakers who have died,
regular U.S. citizens and even actor Morgan Freeman - and would continue to retaliate
against what it called hostile U.S. actions.
Mitch McConnell returned to Washington this week following a rare overseas trip that included additional Senate GOP leadership
determined to stomp the isolationist wing that is poisoning the Republican party.
The Republican leader is
determined to stamp out a pro-Trump wing of his party that has pushed
back on $40 billion in aid to Ukraine.
As the barbarity of Russian war crimes and atrocities continues to be revealed to a civilized world the Trump-Putin Wing of the GOP has become slightly less strident in their support for their Soviet Savior.
Why do you suppose this is?
Has it simply become more difficult to rationalize the looting, rape and horrific noncombatant death toll to a rational audience?
Maybe it makes polite individuals uncomfortable?
No need to over-analyze these sociopaths; the Trump-Putin apologists are basically loud-mouth cowards.
For instance an intellectual MAGA heavyweight had this to say...
“So far, Putin hasn’t killed as many people as the Clintons.”
Only 5 percent of Republicans support Russia over Ukraine. Fortunately it is a minority. I can only hope it is a shrinking minority. Nevertheless, the Trump-Putin wing of the GOP has continually sided with Putin and against Ukraine.
From MAGA land there is a near limitless supply of this...
Putin is a very strong leader. He’s been in charge for a
long time. And he’s not going to put up with the nonsense he’s seeing in
Europe.
Mike Flynn, former Trump National Security Advisor
The GOP that I associated myself with for more than four decades no longer has a place for me.
Translation: If you do not demonstrate sufficient fealty and obeisance to the Orange Man Child there is no room for you. You have no role. Exile is your fate.
Blind obedience is what passes for Republicanism nowadays.
From MAGA World and the Trump-Putin wing of the GOP there is this...
Putin is taking over a country for two dollars worth of sanctions. I’d say that’s pretty smart.
As a candidate, president and ex-president, Trump has repeatedly gushed over Putin. Praising him for being "strong,” “savvy” and “genius.” Trump has also echoed
Putin’s ideology, by harshly criticizing NATO. He suggested that in his second term of office he would withdraw the US from the NATO alliance.
Conspicuously, Trump has not denounced nor condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Crickets.
The quote in this post and Trump's passive-aggressive dance with friendly Fox media speaks volumes. I don't know about you but I find this approbation and adulation of a vile and murderous war criminal disturbing.
Maybe some of the inhabitants of MAGA world have an affinity for the conduct of Russia in their unprovoked aggression against Ukraine?
The butchery of thousands of civilians and flattening of Mariupol. This is the Russian way of war.
The gruesome discoveries in Bucha, Troyanets, and other Kyiv suburbs
newly freed from Russian occupation have shifted the discourse on
Russia’s war in Ukraine, putting the focus on Russian atrocities against
the civilian population.
The horrific photos and videos - bodies
buried in mass graves or lying by the roadside, some victims with hands
tied execution-style behind their backs - have been seen around the world
and have shocked the conscience of everyone except the habitual Kremlin
apologists and the Trump-Putin wing of the GOP.
Gosh, I hope this continues to remain a shrinking minority of individuals. Maybe some day the fever will break. Who knows? But I digress.
This is how Putin’s forces fought in
Chechnya and Syria — and before that, how Soviet forces fought in Afghanistan and in central Europe during
World War II.
They commit war crimes to terrorize the noncombatant civilian population into
surrender. Barbarity is embedded in their DNA.
Not a bit of this comes as a surprise to this blogger. I expected it as it was entirely predictable.
And so far it hasn’t worked in Ukraine.
Russia’s savagery has simply
caused the Ukrainians to resist all the harder because they know they
are fighting not just for their freedom but for their very survival.
I am reminded of a subjugated collection of colonies throwing-off the yoke of tyranny two and a half centuries ago.
Godwin's law, short for Godwin's law (or rule) of Nazi analogies,is an Internet adage asserting that as an online discussion grows longer (regardless of topic or scope), the probability of a comparison to Nazis or Adolf Hitler increases to near certainty.
I have some trouble with individuals flippantly making Nazi analogies. Or associating those who behave badly with Nazis. Fundamentally, it is lazy thinking. A cop-out. Not every bad actor is necessarily a Nazi. Nevertheless, it hasn't stopped congresswoman, thinker of lazy thoughts and championship Trump supporter Marjorie Taylor Greene.
From MAGA land and the Trump-Putin wing of the GOP there is this:
NATO
has been supplying the neo-Nazis in Ukraine with powerful weapons and
extensive training on how to use them. What the hell is going with these
#NATONazis?
Greene, Trump, Putin and their Kremlin apologists call for the deNazification of Ukraine -- and ironically advocate Nazi-like methods
to do so.
Russia has applied such methods in Mariupol and Bucha. War crimes like rape, torture, murder and the indiscriminate slaughter of civilian noncombatants to terrorize the population into submission.
Perhaps Greene and Trump need to be mindful that Putin's mind works like this - every Ukrainian who has taken up arms against Russia's aggression must be eliminated.
Rubbed-out.
By definition, the Soviet de-Nazification campaign means the destruction of the idea of Ukraine and
its national identity. It calls for the elimination of the country’s
political elite and the infliction of all of the horrors of war on
Ukraine “as a historical lesson and atonement for their guilt.”
As a consequence should not Greene, Trump and Putin be wary of channeling Nazi analogies?
Russian soldiers invading Ukraine spent weeks in the Chernobyl Exclusion
Zone, digging trenches and bunkers in one of the most toxic places on
earth, seemingly without concern for their own safety.
Russian Checkpoint - Exclusion Zone Photo New York Times
As reported in the New York Times - as the staging ground for an assault on
the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, one of the
most toxic places on earth, was probably not the best choice. But that
did not seem to bother the Russian generals who took over the site in
the early stages of the war. The Russian war criminals dug it up anyway.
“We told
them not to do it, that it was dangerous, but they ignored us,” Valeriy
Simyonov, the chief safety engineer for the Chernobyl nuclear site, said
in an interview.
Apparently
undeterred by safety concerns, the Russian forces tramped about the
grounds with bulldozers and tanks, digging trenches and bunkers — and
exposing themselves to potentially harmful doses of radiation lingering
beneath the surface.
As the assault on Kyiv collapsed and the Russians fled their toxic accommodations in retreat the imbeciles looted and sacked the place for radiated souvenirs.
These goobers are angling for first place in the 2022 Darwin Awards.
The thing about the Trump-Putin wing of the GOP is that the supply of material is virtually endless.
These Kremlin apologists have their noses so far up the back sides of Trump and Putin it isn't funny.
Not that it was funny from the get-go.
I'd never put my nose there. Gross! Of course, I haven't demonstrated anywhere near sufficient obeisance, fealty and humiliation before the Orange God King either. I don't worship false idols. But I digress.
Consider this...
I think we should probably take the side of Russia, if we have to choose between Russia and Ukraine.
Yeah. Old quote, old news. Yet just like Donald Trump he hasn't changed his tune either.
This guy is nothing more than a tired, Russian propaganda mouthpiece. Putin's useful idiot.
The rapes at gunpoint, murder of civilian noncombatants, looting and other war crimes have made it more cumbersome to self-identify with the Trump-Putin wing of the GOP. Nevertheless, there is no shortage of Republicans who feel an affinity for the Russian president.
After the dismantling of the Soviet Union, as Ukraine emerged as a sovereign nation, its military operated by the tactics and strict top-down strategy of the Soviet Union.
The Russian military is still run on that Soviet model.
The Ukrainian military partnered with western armed forces, and trained in western military principles that empower strong on the ground leadership and ability for non commissioned officers and troops to make decisions in real time on battlefield.
I listened to an interview of HR McMaster* the other day on Sirius XM radio and he juxtaposed civilized warfare (there is such a thing) with the undisciplined barbarity of the Soviet invaders. He not only pointed-out the unprofessional conduct of Russian military forces but he also shared his observation of the total breakdown of Russia's military command and control. He reminded Sirius listeners of the rules of war:
No targeting of civilians
No torture or inhumane treatment of detainees
No attacking hospitals and aid workers
Provide safe passages for civilian non-combatants to flee
Provide access to humanitarian organizations
No unnecessary or excessive loss and suffering
Having violated every single rule of warfare it appears that Russian barbarians have demonstrated that cruelty and depravity is an integral component to their manner of prosecuting a war.
Ukrainian forces know and understand the rules of conduct and warfare taught by our own citizen soldiers.
It shows.
Thank you and respect to all of the citizen solders who serve and have participated in these exercises with our allies in other countries.
Especially to Ukraine for courage and fortitude...
*McMaster is a retired United States Army lieutenant general who
served as the 26th United States National Security Advisor to President Trump from 2017 to
2018.
The Soviets engage in the destruction of entire cities, intentional targeting of civilian noncombatants, rape, looting, murder, an entire breakdown of command, control and discipline. In MAGA world this is our fault.
That's the strongest peace force I've ever seen. There
were more army tanks than I've ever seen. They're gonna keep peace all
right.
Putin is now saying, 'It’s independent,' a large section of Ukraine. I said, 'How smart is that?' And he’s gonna go in and be a peacekeeper... We could use that on our southern border. Here’s a guy who’s very savvy.
This is genius.
- Donald Trump
Having more than a month to shell unarmed civilian populations and reduce their cities and homes to rubble the Soviets now abandon their own dead to retreat, regroup and rearm.
They left their comrades to rot while they looted people’s homes and businesses.
Yes, these lowlife abandon their own dead.
They have murdered bound civilians with a single shot to the back of the head.
They mine and booby-trap Ukrainian dead to kill and maim first responders and aid workers.
The rules of war:
No targeting of civilians
No torture or inhumane treatment of detainees
No attacking hospitals and aid workers
Provide safe passages for civilian non-combatants to flee
Provide access to humanitarian organizations
No unnecessary or excessive loss and suffering
Having violated every single rule of warfare it appears these Russian barbarians have demonstrated that cruelty and depravity is embedded in their DNA.
These ruthless communist savages do not belong in the G-20 or any other civilized global community.
Beyond appalling.
No words.
Scum.
Isolate this godless country completely.
To my Putin and Trump apologists I have this to say:
Putin and Trump are board-certified sociopaths.
Disagree?
Feel free to use the comments to explain to the vast interweb your approval of this aggression. And for any of you who outwardly wrap yourselves in Jesus you should share with all of us what article of your faith calls for the support of war crimes.
Last
week there were arrests in the Fifth Directorate.
This week there is
continued turmoil in the upper ranks of Putin’s government.
Now
it's official - Kommersant confirmed Gavrilov resigned (his detention
is yet to be confirmed). Putin humiliated the director of the SVR,
placed two FSB generals under house arrest and had Zolotov, the National
Guard, to fire his deputy -- in the first three weeks of the war.
Three
independent sources report that the deputy chief of Russia's Rosgvardia
(a unit of RU's interior army which has had tremendous losses in
Ukraine), General Roman Gavrilov has been detained by FSB. Gavrilov had
also previously worked in FSO, Putin's security service.
Arresting generals is not a sign of either stability or strength.
And in further news spring arrives tomorrow - both here and in Ukraine.
Yes, spring.
And as the frost goes out of the ground the vaunted Soviet mechanized conscript mob will be confined to paved roads.
The killers of civilian non-combatants and children will become targets of opportunity.
I’m just a retired financial guy but none of this strikes me as rocket science.
Posts
