It’s Time to End Magical Thinking About Russia’s Defeat

I don't think so given the clear intent of the OP about how to define Russia is whether winning or losing the war in Ukraine. And the war in Ukraine really has nothing to do with our southern borders, That is mutually exclusive to the topic at hand.

 

Given the choice of rightly blaming Putin or wrongly blaming Biden they'll pick Joe every time.

 

I am the CFO of a successful oil and gas company. We will let you invest in the company. We will use that investment to make our company even more profitable. You will share in our profits, and you will make far more than half of my annual income, and, with that income, you may hire all the servants you want.

 

Except that the up tick in oil prices started a year earlier.

 

Get back to me when they cancel elections, Meanwhile politically motivate witch hunts of elected officials you don't like and can't other wise beat is banana republic crap.

 

So how long do you think that we should be engaged in this proxy war?
Is there a dollar amount you think we should stop at or a time limit?

 

A. Biden is doing everything he can to fix that thriving economy.
B. Illegal immigration in 2020 was at a 40 year low. Biden fixed that too.
C. Team Biden tends to fix things by breaking them and then demanding more money to fix them. And that includes things like the border that they have no intention of fixing ever.

 

Well then we must not cling to "democratic values" either.

Our Supreme Court cannot override what is in our Constitution, they can only act to interpret what is in it.

If enough states convene to add a Constitutional amendment, our courts don't have the power to override that either. Currently, the Israeli supreme court can.

Our government appoints supreme court justices. That's what the Israeli reforms do. Currently the courts in Israel appoint their supreme court justices.

Additionally, what the **** is being able to overturn laws passed by the Israeli government using "reasonableness"? WTF is that garbage? The courts don't like it so we're not going to let it happen.

As usual, our low information posters get another swing and a miss.

Sounds like you're more in favor of a 15 member monarchy.

 

DHS has received $300B in the same time period, not that one thing has anything to do with the other. But now that you mention, the new bill which the GOP rejected included money for Israel, Ukraine AND US Border protection.

It sounds like your view is that helping our allies is simply too expensive, and we should pull the plug. Is that correct?

 

No, it was during invasion when Russia started taking land in 2014, stopped for the entire Trump presidency, and then started back up when another weakling was in the Oval Office.

 

*shrug* I realize that leftists are supporting actual Nazis and that Ukraine isn't the "good guy" that the left tries to portray them as.

I'm only looking at this through the lens of battlefield capabilities of two opposing sides. I have no emotional attachment to this conflict at all.

I understand that a lot of the info we get is pure Pravda, but my honest assessment here is that it is not going well for the Russians. A fighting force with zero spirit to continue the fight outside of the reach of a CO is not a positive indicator.

As I understand it, there have been a number of Ukrainian breakthroughs in the last few days, with attacks ramping up on Crimea bases.

So far they've adopted an Eisenhower method of pressing the entire front line of the Russian defenses and exploiting holes in those defenses.

It makes sense that it has been a stalemate for a while due to the 3 levels of defense over 100km or so that Russians are sitting behind. Ukraines strategy of focusing on Russian artillery has been VERY effective, and now most of the Russian areas are very susceptible to HIMARS and, even worse for Russia, ATACMS. Putin went into a hissy fit over ATACMS because he knows what it means.

The Ukrainians have also been far more adaptable than the Russians. They have destroyed a **** load of Russian vehicles and tanks using $500 drones and the drones they got from Turkey.

Like I said, the results are still up in the air from what I can see, but Russia is in deep trouble.

 

Well done-- but your reply makes my analogy no longer applicable to the Russia/Ukraine situation, since there is nothing that Ukraine could offer Putin, in lieu of its non-aligned neutrality, and non participation in the EU, which could match the appeal of your counter offer. Besides, you were not really serious about your offer. While I know that my original conditions sounded farcical-- that was the analogy's point. When someone begins a negotiation, that great a distance from reality, the reaction is more often to dismiss the offer, as not being a serious; most people, for instance, if they get an offer of $100 for their house, are not going to bother following up with a $349,900 counter offer.

 

Oh I don't disagree that there are plenty of war mongers on the right, or that the whole NATO thing didn't play a large part.

I'm just saying that it is the left that was 24/7 threatening Russia, publicly, for YEARS.

 

I guess we'll find out soon enough. Can't wait for the MSM/pentagon spin.

 

I think I know how they're going to avoid saying they've been lying about how it's been going in Ukraine for 21 months

They're going to move the goal posts.

Russia has spent time and materials building the Surovikin Line to defend Donetsk and other
areas, that indicates that Russia had not planned to take over the whole of Ukraine,

But to save face the US politicians and media could claim success in preventing Russia
from taking over France or something, claiming that was Putin's original intention.

 

if you need to pretend that the mass protests in Israel were in opposition to Likud imposing democratic reforms, you are confused. Surrendering power over the Supreme Court to politicians is anti-democratic.

Here’s Israel’s judicial proposal that drew people to protest​

Large weekly protests have been taking place in Tel Aviv since the start of the year after Netanyahu announced plans to pass legislative changes that protesters and the opposition have said would undermine the state’s democratic system and diminish checks and balances.

The proposed changes would limit the Supreme Court’s powers to rule against the legislature and the executive, giving the Israeli parliament (Knesset) the power to override Supreme Court decisions with a simple majority of 61 votes out of 120

A second proposal would take away the Supreme Court’s authority to review the legality of Israel’s Basic Laws, which function as the country’s constitution.

The reforms would also change how Supreme Court justices are selected, giving politicians decisive powers in appointing judges.​

​

 

Instead of copy/paste, why don't you try and present an argument in your own words?

I know that requires thought but give it a try.

Explain, in detail, in your own words, which parts of the reform are bad, and why.

I'm predicting another swing and a miss, or a diversion, or taking your toys and going home.

Go ahead and give it a shot.

 

When did it change? I remember as recently as 2012 election year Obama was mocked for being too soft on Russia and Romney too tough saying Russia was #1 threat. Some time after that the GOP became far more comfortable with Russia, to a point where many bend over backwards to defend their policies and they come across pro-Russia, while Dems are criticized for being too tough on foreign policy.

Neo-con is a term to describe former Dems back in -60s (Vietnam era) and -70s who had tough view on foreign policy and switched parties because they thought Dems were too soft on foreign affairs. Lot of politicians at that time were WW-2 vets, who would not let anyone threaten the US and they were all for preemptive involvement and proxy wars (like Reagan was). Are we seeing that again from Dems, even though GOP is far softer on foreign policy than they have ever been (because of raise of populism and pseudo-conservatism). You know......Dems becoming more conservative and GOP more liberal?

 

Expressing opinions devoid of substantive sourcing is easy.

If you need to explain in your own words why there were mass protests against Netanyahu's anti-democratic "reforms," I'll accept them for what they're worth.

The Israeli electorate was eager to dump the rightist autocrat even before his failure to provide national security was so horrifically exposed.

The End of Israeli Democracy? Netanyahu's Latest Reforms

Israelis stage giant protest against Netanyahu court reform

Netanyahu’s Attack on Democracy Left Israel Unprepared

Netanyahu's government is a 'threat to Israeli democracy' ​

 

Actually if you read the bill the money has nothing to do with fixing the problems and more to do with making sure no one else can fix them.

 

Let me offer one more analogy, before-- if it doesn't change your thinking-- just agreeing to disagree. While, of course, any break in fighting can be used, for some benefit; that doesn't mean that there might not be a greater benefit, in continuing to fight, if your side has the advantage, because the other side is running out of ammo.

So, think about two boxers. Certainly, any rest break, can help restore a boxer's energy & focus. Nevertheless, if one of the boxers has just run out of steam, so that the other starts pummelling him-- it is definitely not to the advantage of the one on the attack, to call a time out, just as his opponent starts losing his legs.

 

That's true. Just remember, the Russians really haven't done very well so far. It certainly did not turn out as they had hoped. 120,000 dead. 300,000 total casualties. Hundreds of millions, if not some number of billions, worth of equipment lost or spent on this war. A rebellion that they seemed powerless to stop, and they got lucky on that one. New NATO countries. Of course, if Putin can wait out the West until it won't subsidize the war anymore, he'll win.

So we should remain steadfast, but we should be trying to negotiate an end to this war at the same time.

 

No. My point is that progressives don't believe that cutting the Ukrainian support budget will provide any benefit to their goals for this country. There will be no real benefit to poor or middle class Americans by depriving Ukrainians of that support, unless that money is either allocated to programs that help poor or middle Americans or targeted to reduce the tax load on them. Taking that money designed to support a fellow democracy invaded by Putin and handing out even more lucrative fiscal candy canes to Walmart, Exxon, Pfizer, and Chase, or a bunch of billionaires is not tempting to us.

An American Daddy Warbucks or pharma corporation gets another tax break instead of hundreds of dying Ukrainian women and children getting vital meals and medicine. Hmmm -- no thanks. Not interested.

 

That's why the Ukrainians' running out of ammunition, is exactly the kind of break, they need.

 

Dude you can't cut beyond zero and almost all of big Pharma's donation go to Democrats.The Ukrainians women and children are mostly in Poland at the moment.