“We need a strong democracy in the United States to win the global argument with autocracy … By contrast, a weak and fractured democracy at home will only embolden our adversaries and invite further aggression.” #FailedCoup
I have been a supporter of you and generally appreciate and agree with you. However, your mentioning of Indira Gandhi in the same sentence with Margaret Thatcher was a bit disingenuous. You may want to brush up on history.
Another point, you said you didn’t have any answer, but 20 minutes later suggested Russia should leave Ukraine alone. So the question remains, what would we do if Russia or China creates a defense pact and tries to recruit Mexico, Canada, or even any central or South American countries into that pact?
BTW, about the “democracy” BS we talk about, two words, Hamas & Morsi, both elected through democratic process, but we didn’t stood by their side. And the other BS we talk about, human rights, where are we on Palestine, occupied by a violent apartheid regime continuously and systematically chipping away all kinds of property, economic, and human rights with our support; and India ruled by a Brown Trump, violently trampling the minorities as we say or do nothing…
The break up of the Soviet Union came about after Reagan and Gorbachev agreed that the countries leaving the Soviet Union would not join NATO. The reality however, is far from this agreement and over the years successive U.S. governments have played a part in promoting some of these countries to come in the fold of NATO the expansion of which on the borders of Russia has always been unacceptable to the Russians.
We all remember the Cuban missile crises where Cuba did not border the U.S. but despite that our government took the same position that Russia is taking against Ukraine. These proxy conflicts between super powers cause untold destruction and misery for the common people who are used as pawns in this process. There is no accountability on behalf of the ordinary people who are the ultimate losers while big governments and their leaders are absolved of any responsibility.
The U.N. has not been effective in this regard and as long as the veto power is given to some select powerful countries the world will continue to see conflicts in which only the Military Industrial Complex is the winner.
In my opinion, NATO and the US caused this invasion of Ukraine by being intransigent towards Russia's security concerns which are real! The US flat-out ignored the verbal agreement not to expand NATO eastward towards Russia. Actually, this is a provocation by NATO. A concerted effort to get a treaty between Ukraine and Russia should have been pushed by the US to ensure Russia never invaded Ukraine but also that Ukraine would never become a member of NATO. This should have started after Maidan in 2014. But the CIA and national security maniacs wanted to further weaken Russia and further encircle China, as Obama started by pivoting to Asia. It's an obvious failure of American Foreign Policy that this conflagration happened and the MSM seems to be fully onboard trying to stir up another Cold War.
It's even worse than what you said about Russia and Putin. What you said was accurate but didn't even go far enough. Putin has been robbing the old Soviet Union and now Russia blind for years and years and years and years. He is now a multi-multi-multi-Mega-billionaire. The method he uses is very scary and ingenious: he could not very well put it into accounts labeled Putin abroad. Instead he gives his oligarch buddies his billions "for safekeeping". It's about lining his pockets. And that's it. On paper Russia is a first world country but in reality, the place is pathetic. Everything's broken. Everything is like the toilet paper. Of course they could be more like us but if they did Putin would not make his billions. So no deal. No wonder Trump loves Putin – he longs to the be just like him. Putin wants his toy Soviet Union back. Trump wants America to be just like Russia so he can rob it even more than he has. Two loonies – great and they will prevail when good people stand by watching and do nothing. Will America rise up also?
I followed Micheal's link to the music "Servant of the People", then looked for the song with English subtitle. I landed on this trailer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JinkCAN6Bx0) and was shocked recognize the current Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is the star of this Ukrainian comedy movie series!!!
"In fact, as part of his role in Ukraine's hit TV series, Servant of the People, he played a teacher who becomes Ukraine's president after a video of him ranting about the government goes viral." from "Who really is Volodymyr Zelensky? - The unconventional rise from comedian and actor to president of the Ukraine." https://www.marca.com/en/lifestyle/world-news/2022/02/26/621a328ae2704e53788b45c9.html
Yes, Russia is a "third world" country and they are (justifiably?) paranoid about being surrounded by NATO-wannabes, but, just like Kim Jong-un of North Korea, Russian leaders over decades have poured all the country's wealth into their military and we know they can build rockets (first in space and our only means of reaching the ISS for a long time). So we (and Ukraine) SHOULD be afraid - especially, as is now abundantly self-evident - that another madman is in control of this lethal machinery. I agree that dangling NATO membership for Ukraine in front of Putin was idiotic, provocative and unnecessary and its withdrawal could (would) go a long way towards de-escalating the war, but let's not forget that Zelinsky could have canceled his intent on joining NATO. Why he didn't, when his nation's survival is at stake, is beyond my comprehension.
I continue to be frustrated by your statements that all we have to do to correct the death-spiral of our culture and civilization is "vote for the right people". OK - and protest. But what is missing is that, at its root, and not discounting the legions of decent, sane activists and citizens, is that the failure is US - not the politicians. Politicians never lead; they follow. The vote is secondary. The rot is in our tolerance (or loony support) for Trump; our denial of a still killer pandemic virus (open the bars, go unmasked to a football game, etc.) and most of all, pretending that massive climate change is not going to overwhelm us. Until WE, the people of America, detach ourselves from our insatiable, selfish hunger for material toys to the exclusion of everything else and value fact over fiction again, the future is bleak. This is individual citizen failure - yes, abetted by the media, generic misinformation, conspiracies and a plethora of hucksters - but not a "system" failure. Maybe, if we are reduced to having to use a pit toilet like the backward Russians, there a corrective lesson lurking for us if it all comes apart.
Michael, I think you are equating things you shouldn't be here. While I agree that the US should not unilaterally land troops in Ukraine to defend it, there is an enormous difference from the case of a legitimate, Democratically-elected government of a sovereign nation which chose to reform (Revolution of Dignity, 2014) begging for the help of Europe and the United States to keep if from being destroyed by a superior military of a world power next door, and the lie-based US invasion of Iraq. These are not the same things. Indeed, I oppose the invasion of Ukraine by Russia for the same reasons I opposed our invasion of Iraq: I think it is wrong for any nation to invade another. This is too much like Poland being invaded by Germany and Russia in WWII. You are wrong Putin could have been talked out of this. You need to read more Fiona Hill and Michael McFaul. Putin wants the Empire back together and thinks Ukraine belongs to Russia. The people of Ukraine seem to hold a different opinion.
The US and NATO had been saying "Ukraine's not going to be part of NATO" for years. In 2014, when Putin took Crimea. In 2015, in the agreements that were violated three days ago by the invasion. And for the last several months. But the people in Ukraine seem like maybe they'd prefer to be their own place, and maybe even in NATO. Should the UN be able to stop a huge nation from swallowing a small one? Yes. Can it? No, especially not when one of the nations has a veto. This isn't the first time Putin has tried to swallow a neighbor, and he succeeded in the others (Georgia, Chechnya). The question is what do we, as the US, stand for? Do we actually stand for the idea that, as you frequently argue for people in our country, we deserve rights? Do we stand for self-determination and democracy? Isn't that why the US exists in the first place, why France had a revolution after we did, why WWII was fought? What should be the entry fee for mutual defense of our individual sovereignty? I am frankly disgusted that you would side with Trump on welching on our Article 5 NATO responsibilities should this conflict spread. The millitaries in NATO countries are partially constructed with NATO in mind. If Poland were invaded and didn't want our help, that would be something else. We all thought we lived in a world that had evolved past this, but we haven't yet. My heart is broken and I am terrifed for the future, but hopefully this disaster pushes us closer, after, to a place where the UN has the power to solve these problems, but until then, we have to use other tools, like NATO, to make sure there's enough nations who are past imperialism. Think what a difference it would make if the UN or some national alliance had the ability to control the air space over Ukraine. (By the same token, we have to use the power of NATO to put pressure on member states whose democracies are having issues.)
Been living with this Rumble #231 for the past few days. Appreciate first-hand reports.
As we enter March together, for any who may wish to read, to hear, to see, to feel less alone:
1. scheerpost Feb 28 2022 @2:13 am Chris Hedges "The Greatest Evil Is War".
(his firsthand report as a war correspondent for 2 decades--16 graphic raw paragraphs. PTSD vulnerable may prefer to skip it).
2. scheerpost Feb 28 2022 @11:11 am Ralph Nader "Everyone Loses In The Conflict Over Ukraine".
3. On YouTube Jackson Browne and Leslie Mendelson " A Human Touch" from 5B-- Official Music Video. (4:41) From the documentary "5B"- care workers (doctors, nurses) responding to the AIDS crisis in the 1980's. Another time of great fear and unknowns.
4. The Guardian Feb 28 2022 IPCC Report
Written pieces by Fiona Harvey (environment correspondent) and another by Damien Carrington (environment editor).
5. Take good care. Keep the faith, whatever that is for you, as we sit in the unknowing, together.
Hold steady to your core. Find one natural thing to steady you when you begin to rock. Remember to breathe. And stay hydrated. Those are my suggestions. Peace to ALL.
The issue here is not that we don't know the right thing to do in this (and other situations as Palestine, Lybia,etc) it is that weapon manufacturee, fossil fuel giant, bug pharm are the one controling things and they do not care about us (the common people of the world) but care only to feed their addiction to greed. While Biden is better than dump, he could be doing more. Conservative dems want us to think we have a choice and that they are our good choice, but that is another lie .... we need a progressinve persident with balls to stand up for what is right and a Progressive Congress...... the problem is how do we get there? Time is running out.
Our planet is in extreme ecological trouble right now but wars are easier to get our heads around, I guess. Everyone is going to lose the real war being waged on our beautiful blue marble home.
Timothy Snyder (of "On Tyranny" fame) turns out to be an expert on Ukrainian history, and is well worth listening to, about the bigger picture, including how the US has no idea how the world sees us:
WOW....we're living through Fermi's Paradox! Humanity is so bent on doing itself in and becoming an intergalactic statistic. Shame...shame...shame. But my blessings and prayers are still with the Ukrainian people.
“We need a strong democracy in the United States to win the global argument with autocracy … By contrast, a weak and fractured democracy at home will only embolden our adversaries and invite further aggression.” #FailedCoup
#ButHerEmails! 😎
I have been a supporter of you and generally appreciate and agree with you. However, your mentioning of Indira Gandhi in the same sentence with Margaret Thatcher was a bit disingenuous. You may want to brush up on history.
Another point, you said you didn’t have any answer, but 20 minutes later suggested Russia should leave Ukraine alone. So the question remains, what would we do if Russia or China creates a defense pact and tries to recruit Mexico, Canada, or even any central or South American countries into that pact?
BTW, about the “democracy” BS we talk about, two words, Hamas & Morsi, both elected through democratic process, but we didn’t stood by their side. And the other BS we talk about, human rights, where are we on Palestine, occupied by a violent apartheid regime continuously and systematically chipping away all kinds of property, economic, and human rights with our support; and India ruled by a Brown Trump, violently trampling the minorities as we say or do nothing…
We are boundlessly hypocrite…
The break up of the Soviet Union came about after Reagan and Gorbachev agreed that the countries leaving the Soviet Union would not join NATO. The reality however, is far from this agreement and over the years successive U.S. governments have played a part in promoting some of these countries to come in the fold of NATO the expansion of which on the borders of Russia has always been unacceptable to the Russians.
We all remember the Cuban missile crises where Cuba did not border the U.S. but despite that our government took the same position that Russia is taking against Ukraine. These proxy conflicts between super powers cause untold destruction and misery for the common people who are used as pawns in this process. There is no accountability on behalf of the ordinary people who are the ultimate losers while big governments and their leaders are absolved of any responsibility.
The U.N. has not been effective in this regard and as long as the veto power is given to some select powerful countries the world will continue to see conflicts in which only the Military Industrial Complex is the winner.
In my opinion, NATO and the US caused this invasion of Ukraine by being intransigent towards Russia's security concerns which are real! The US flat-out ignored the verbal agreement not to expand NATO eastward towards Russia. Actually, this is a provocation by NATO. A concerted effort to get a treaty between Ukraine and Russia should have been pushed by the US to ensure Russia never invaded Ukraine but also that Ukraine would never become a member of NATO. This should have started after Maidan in 2014. But the CIA and national security maniacs wanted to further weaken Russia and further encircle China, as Obama started by pivoting to Asia. It's an obvious failure of American Foreign Policy that this conflagration happened and the MSM seems to be fully onboard trying to stir up another Cold War.
It's even worse than what you said about Russia and Putin. What you said was accurate but didn't even go far enough. Putin has been robbing the old Soviet Union and now Russia blind for years and years and years and years. He is now a multi-multi-multi-Mega-billionaire. The method he uses is very scary and ingenious: he could not very well put it into accounts labeled Putin abroad. Instead he gives his oligarch buddies his billions "for safekeeping". It's about lining his pockets. And that's it. On paper Russia is a first world country but in reality, the place is pathetic. Everything's broken. Everything is like the toilet paper. Of course they could be more like us but if they did Putin would not make his billions. So no deal. No wonder Trump loves Putin – he longs to the be just like him. Putin wants his toy Soviet Union back. Trump wants America to be just like Russia so he can rob it even more than he has. Two loonies – great and they will prevail when good people stand by watching and do nothing. Will America rise up also?
I followed Micheal's link to the music "Servant of the People", then looked for the song with English subtitle. I landed on this trailer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JinkCAN6Bx0) and was shocked recognize the current Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is the star of this Ukrainian comedy movie series!!!
"In fact, as part of his role in Ukraine's hit TV series, Servant of the People, he played a teacher who becomes Ukraine's president after a video of him ranting about the government goes viral." from "Who really is Volodymyr Zelensky? - The unconventional rise from comedian and actor to president of the Ukraine." https://www.marca.com/en/lifestyle/world-news/2022/02/26/621a328ae2704e53788b45c9.html
Yes, Russia is a "third world" country and they are (justifiably?) paranoid about being surrounded by NATO-wannabes, but, just like Kim Jong-un of North Korea, Russian leaders over decades have poured all the country's wealth into their military and we know they can build rockets (first in space and our only means of reaching the ISS for a long time). So we (and Ukraine) SHOULD be afraid - especially, as is now abundantly self-evident - that another madman is in control of this lethal machinery. I agree that dangling NATO membership for Ukraine in front of Putin was idiotic, provocative and unnecessary and its withdrawal could (would) go a long way towards de-escalating the war, but let's not forget that Zelinsky could have canceled his intent on joining NATO. Why he didn't, when his nation's survival is at stake, is beyond my comprehension.
I continue to be frustrated by your statements that all we have to do to correct the death-spiral of our culture and civilization is "vote for the right people". OK - and protest. But what is missing is that, at its root, and not discounting the legions of decent, sane activists and citizens, is that the failure is US - not the politicians. Politicians never lead; they follow. The vote is secondary. The rot is in our tolerance (or loony support) for Trump; our denial of a still killer pandemic virus (open the bars, go unmasked to a football game, etc.) and most of all, pretending that massive climate change is not going to overwhelm us. Until WE, the people of America, detach ourselves from our insatiable, selfish hunger for material toys to the exclusion of everything else and value fact over fiction again, the future is bleak. This is individual citizen failure - yes, abetted by the media, generic misinformation, conspiracies and a plethora of hucksters - but not a "system" failure. Maybe, if we are reduced to having to use a pit toilet like the backward Russians, there a corrective lesson lurking for us if it all comes apart.
Sorry ... can't resist ... your Russian accent sounds entirely German.
Michael, I think you are equating things you shouldn't be here. While I agree that the US should not unilaterally land troops in Ukraine to defend it, there is an enormous difference from the case of a legitimate, Democratically-elected government of a sovereign nation which chose to reform (Revolution of Dignity, 2014) begging for the help of Europe and the United States to keep if from being destroyed by a superior military of a world power next door, and the lie-based US invasion of Iraq. These are not the same things. Indeed, I oppose the invasion of Ukraine by Russia for the same reasons I opposed our invasion of Iraq: I think it is wrong for any nation to invade another. This is too much like Poland being invaded by Germany and Russia in WWII. You are wrong Putin could have been talked out of this. You need to read more Fiona Hill and Michael McFaul. Putin wants the Empire back together and thinks Ukraine belongs to Russia. The people of Ukraine seem to hold a different opinion.
The US and NATO had been saying "Ukraine's not going to be part of NATO" for years. In 2014, when Putin took Crimea. In 2015, in the agreements that were violated three days ago by the invasion. And for the last several months. But the people in Ukraine seem like maybe they'd prefer to be their own place, and maybe even in NATO. Should the UN be able to stop a huge nation from swallowing a small one? Yes. Can it? No, especially not when one of the nations has a veto. This isn't the first time Putin has tried to swallow a neighbor, and he succeeded in the others (Georgia, Chechnya). The question is what do we, as the US, stand for? Do we actually stand for the idea that, as you frequently argue for people in our country, we deserve rights? Do we stand for self-determination and democracy? Isn't that why the US exists in the first place, why France had a revolution after we did, why WWII was fought? What should be the entry fee for mutual defense of our individual sovereignty? I am frankly disgusted that you would side with Trump on welching on our Article 5 NATO responsibilities should this conflict spread. The millitaries in NATO countries are partially constructed with NATO in mind. If Poland were invaded and didn't want our help, that would be something else. We all thought we lived in a world that had evolved past this, but we haven't yet. My heart is broken and I am terrifed for the future, but hopefully this disaster pushes us closer, after, to a place where the UN has the power to solve these problems, but until then, we have to use other tools, like NATO, to make sure there's enough nations who are past imperialism. Think what a difference it would make if the UN or some national alliance had the ability to control the air space over Ukraine. (By the same token, we have to use the power of NATO to put pressure on member states whose democracies are having issues.)
Thanks, Mike, and all at Rumble.
Been living with this Rumble #231 for the past few days. Appreciate first-hand reports.
As we enter March together, for any who may wish to read, to hear, to see, to feel less alone:
1. scheerpost Feb 28 2022 @2:13 am Chris Hedges "The Greatest Evil Is War".
(his firsthand report as a war correspondent for 2 decades--16 graphic raw paragraphs. PTSD vulnerable may prefer to skip it).
2. scheerpost Feb 28 2022 @11:11 am Ralph Nader "Everyone Loses In The Conflict Over Ukraine".
3. On YouTube Jackson Browne and Leslie Mendelson " A Human Touch" from 5B-- Official Music Video. (4:41) From the documentary "5B"- care workers (doctors, nurses) responding to the AIDS crisis in the 1980's. Another time of great fear and unknowns.
4. The Guardian Feb 28 2022 IPCC Report
Written pieces by Fiona Harvey (environment correspondent) and another by Damien Carrington (environment editor).
5. Take good care. Keep the faith, whatever that is for you, as we sit in the unknowing, together.
Hold steady to your core. Find one natural thing to steady you when you begin to rock. Remember to breathe. And stay hydrated. Those are my suggestions. Peace to ALL.
Independent American & Russian Women Call for Peace - how can we get Biden to this in his next speech?
https://www.codepink.org/independent_american_russian_women_call_for_peace
The issue here is not that we don't know the right thing to do in this (and other situations as Palestine, Lybia,etc) it is that weapon manufacturee, fossil fuel giant, bug pharm are the one controling things and they do not care about us (the common people of the world) but care only to feed their addiction to greed. While Biden is better than dump, he could be doing more. Conservative dems want us to think we have a choice and that they are our good choice, but that is another lie .... we need a progressinve persident with balls to stand up for what is right and a Progressive Congress...... the problem is how do we get there? Time is running out.
My spouse texted me a screenshot of a social media post encouraging people due to rumors to take cash out of the bank.
Having not slept well the night before and having only seen headlines pop up all day on my phone I just replied saying it’s “hysteria.”
What’s important you won’t hear about. What’s not important they’ll cram down your throat.
Another great episode. Thanks for the inspiration from a totally confused liberalterian.
Our planet is in extreme ecological trouble right now but wars are easier to get our heads around, I guess. Everyone is going to lose the real war being waged on our beautiful blue marble home.
Timothy Snyder (of "On Tyranny" fame) turns out to be an expert on Ukrainian history, and is well worth listening to, about the bigger picture, including how the US has no idea how the world sees us:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/15/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-timothy-snyder.html?smid=url-share
WOW....we're living through Fermi's Paradox! Humanity is so bent on doing itself in and becoming an intergalactic statistic. Shame...shame...shame. But my blessings and prayers are still with the Ukrainian people.
Word counts from the text of "Remarks by President Biden Announcing Response to Russian Actions in Ukraine" https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2022/02/22/remarks-by-president-biden-announcing-response-to-russian-actions-in-ukraine/
What does this list say to you? What key words did I miss?
[And please note math or word count errors - I used 'Find']
Russia(n), 42
Putin, 9
total, 51
America(n), 2
United States, 4
I (Biden), 19
allies, 8
NATO, 6
United Nations, 1
total, 40
Ukrain(e)(ian), 22
Zelenskyy, 2
total, 24
climate, 0
environment, 0
emissions, 0
nonrenewable, 0
total, 0
gas, 2
oil, 1
energy, 2
economy, 1
business(es), 1
consumer(s), 2
total, 9
Ukrainians, 0
Americans, 0
Russians, 0
Europe(ans), 0
population(s), 0
people (millions of), 1
world, 2
total, 3
peace, 1
freedom, 1
diploma(cy)(tic), 2
negotiat(e)(ion(s)), 0
(im)moral(ity), 0
deter, 0
care(ful), 0
sol(ve)(ution), 0
resol(ve)(ution), 0
implication(s), 0
future, 0
total, 5
war, 5
military, 5
troops, 2
aggression, 2
attack, 3
(rein)force, 7
weapons, 0
total, 24