Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“Loving your country does not mean lying about it’s history.”

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

Every reporter and pundit should have to declare if they ever vacationed with a billionaire.

Their boy Ron is an empty plastic cup that will never know pudding.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Baby steps, because the Republican Party is full of angry babies.

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires.

Russia bombs Ukraine’s maternity hospitals; Republicans in the House can’t sort out supporting Ukraine.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

I was confident that someone would point it out and thought why not me.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

An unpunished coup is a training exercise.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread

Open Thread

by | 286 Comments

This post is in: 

So apparently the last thread title was a notorious earworm. I had no idea. Why don’t you guys wash it out with this.

Open thread.

***Update***

Maybe it is too soon to speculate, but it appears YouTube forgot to renew its domain registration and it got scooped up by a Bulgarian malware developer, and that is why you cannot see the video.

Reader Interactions

286Comments

  1. 1.

    Wag

    I’m at work and so can’t link to it, but the mashup of seven nation army by the white stripes and sweet dreams is amazing.

  5. 5.

    raven

    Generally, these periods of downtime tend to be quite short for major services like YouTube, but that’s little consolation when you’re left with nothing to do but work when all you wanted was stupid videos. Or you could just watch them on your phone or tablet – the iOS and Android apps seem to be working just fine.

  8. 8.

    Cacti

    @Punchy:

    Trout, Kershaw, or Cabrera for the #1 overall pick in my fantasy draft?

    Spend your #1 on an every day player.

  10. 10.

    Hill Dweller

    Your liberal media:

    The Affordable Care Act enrollment figures for February were released yesterday afternoon, and for the most part, the numbers looked pretty good for those hoping to see the U.S. system succeed.

    But news consumers can be forgiven for thinking the opposite. The Hill ran this headline: “ObamaCare enrollments dip.” The Washington Post had a similar message: “Obamacare enrollment drops off in February.” The conservative Washington Examiner told readers: “Obamacare signups slow down in February.”

    Sounds discouraging, doesn’t it? January’s enrollment totals were heartening, but if you just skimmed the headlines out of D.C., you’d think February represented a step backwards.

    The reality:

    The facts are right but the interpretation is not. The months HHS has been using for tabulation don’t correspond precisely to the calendar, because of state reporting methods and where weekends fall. As it turns out, “February” is actually February 2 through March 1. That’s 28 days. “January” is actually December 29 through February 1. That’s 35 days. Plug in the numbers, and you’ll see the average daily enrollment for January was 32,744 and for February it was 33,673. As you can see in the graph, the pace actually increased a bit. Among the very few who noticed were Charles Gaba of ACASingups.net and Sy Mukherjee of ThinkProgress.

  14. 14.

    Tommy

    @Cacti: I don’t know how you don’t pick Trout. Maybe I am getting old, cause when I read a few St. Louis Cardinals blogs I have to have Wikipedia open just to understand all the stats folks are now using. But looking at his stats against Cabrera, even though Cabrera has jaw-dropping offensive numbers, taking into account win share Trout seems to be superior by the numbers.

    But I also don’t see how you lose with either of them.

  15. 15.

    ulee

    Here in Augusta, Maine it is snowing so hard it looks like cotton falling. If those x-flares hit us there will be no youtube for a long, long time.

  16. 16.

    Belafon

    @Tim:

    So apparently the last thread title was a notorious earworm. I had no idea.

    As notorious ear worms go, it’s not a bad one. But it does mean that you need to see the Lego Movie.

  19. 19.

    PaulW

    I can’t see it anyway, I’m at work and the library has a video filtering system to stymie the attempts at porn viewings. Even the wireless access. Why do people with wireless capable laptops go out of their way to watch porn in public places when they could do it at home like well-adjusted perverts like you and me?

  21. 21.

    geg6

    I am half-suicidal after looking at the available mother-of-the-bride/special guest dresses online. It seems I have a choice between very-old-and-fat-lady, middle-aged-cougar-wearing-the-tightest-thing-she-can-find and wanna-be-prom-queen-minis.

    I really find this to be the most depressing thing I’ve done in years.

  22. 22.

    Tommy

    @SatanicPanic: To expand on my other comment about this, I would say it depends on how the league “scores” things. By the super wonky numbers Trout seems to be superior. Far better defense. Far better base running. Hits into fewer DPs. But I’d need to know if the Fantasy league takes things like that into account.

  23. 23.

    Elmo

    Via the magic of 4G, I am reading and commenting while sitting in a dentists chair waiting for my face to finish numbing up. I broke a tooth.

    Why is dentistry so phobia-inducing?

  24. 24.

    Trollhattan

    Speaking of music, and special notice to Das Blogvater, PopMarket.com has the Little Feat Warner Bros catalogue on CD (remember those?) for fifty bucks, today. Includes an expanded edition of “Waiting for Columbus” and an outtakes collection in addition to all the studio albums–thirteen discs in all. Almost all my L.F. in on vinyl or cassette (what?!?) so this is a no-brainer. The family will think otherwise.

    And yeah, you have to register to view it, so no whinging.

  26. 26.

    Cacti

    @Bob In Portland:

    Remember all the fun the cold warriors had a couple weeks ago in Ukraine?

    OSCE has labelled the upcoming “referendum” in Crimea illegal and won’t be sending observers.

    Of course, the Putinists have been a little schizophrenic on whether they actually want them there, alternating between invitations and threatening to shoot them.

  27. 27.

    Trollhattan

    @ulee: And “Little Shop of Horrors.” As my dentist put it, “We just recovered from ‘Marathon Man’ and now, this!”

  28. 28.

    SatanicPanic

    @Tommy: Yup. Trout is probably better overall, but if it just counts hits and homeruns then Cabrera is the guy. I should add that I’m a Padres fan so I’m hoping Kershaw has a lousy year.

  31. 31.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @geg6: do you sew, or know a good tailor or seamstress? You might be happier (and probably save a bunch of money) by selecting a pattern and fabric you really like and having the dress custom-made.

  33. 33.

    Tommy

    @Trollhattan: I’ll have to check that out. From the type and kind of music I listen to you’d assume I’d have a ton of Little Feat. I don’t actually have a single album. But I have to admit I find myself listening to less and less albums. I’ve use a service like Pandora for years, but got a Bluetooth speaker system for my house about a year ago, and that seems to be all I listen to these days.

    I am a jam band, jazz, and ambient music person (well all music really). And the ambient channels on Pandora are amazing.

  34. 34.

    Roger Moore

    @Tommy:

    I don’t know how you don’t pick Trout.

    Because he’s playing fantasy baseball, not real baseball. Fantasy baseball tends to lean heavily on traditional offensive stats rather than more modern general measures that include defense and non-steal base running.

  35. 35.

    raven

    @PaulW: There is a well known local wingnut, ex-Green Beret officer (once court-martialed for executing a VC counter agent) and frequent insane contributor to the local rag. he got popped for watching kiddie in the public library and then got nail for selling automatic weapons. He would be in jail.

  36. 36.

    ? Martin

    @Elmo:

    Why is dentistry so phobia-inducing?

    Because dentists show no remorse when they are inflicting pain.

    With a drill. In your face. And then you have to pay them while they chastise you for not flossing enough.

    If any business needed to have a happy ending legalized, it’s dentistry.

  38. 38.

    Bob In Portland

    @Cacti: So what? How about that recent “election” in the streets of Kiev? That was legal and official. What does legal mean? How about bombing Serbia for three months in order for Kosovo to secede? Why, that was legal! Ah, maybe the election in Crimea is illegal because Putin didn’t bomb Kiev for three months.

    The Crimeans, except for the Tatars on the House of Saud’s payroll, have had enough of Ukraine and want out.

    Crimea is now part of Russia. When the fascists in Kiev who blame their problems on the “Jewish-Russian mafia” start using someone else’s blood to solve their problems then the eastern section of Ukraine will also want out. Actually, they want out now.

    And then the US will have a rump state of Ukraine that owes the West fifty billion with no way to repay it. Then the turnip will be squeezed, just like Spain, Italy and Greece. Enjoy. Wave that flag.

  39. 39.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Cacti: Don’t call them Putinists. I’m sure comrade Bob can trot out some RT propaganda to cite that those guys wearing identical unmarked uniforms and carrying Russian military weapons are nothing more than Crimean self-defense forces, nothing more than a community watch group.

    Oh, and please make sure you don’t pay attention to “tourists” such as Pavel Gubarov in Donetsk, either. I’m sure he’s as pro-democracy as the rest of the comrades.

  41. 41.

    raven

    (CNN) – Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer said on Wednesday that she will not seek reelection.

    There were questions about whether she would be eligible for another term, but said it was time for her to pass the torch of leadership.

  45. 45.

    Bob In Portland

    @Gin & Tonic: Wave that flag. I bet the new regime marches with a crispness in their step that just warms your heart. It must be great being free of the “Jewish-Russian mafia”, eh Gin?

  49. 49.

    gogol's wife

    In her review of Obama’s appearance on “Between Two Ferns,” Alessandra Stanley in the New York Times (I won’t link it) went full-metal “damaging the dignity of the presidency.” He’s become the “salesman-in-chief,” as if he were peddling ginsu knives and not AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. He let Galifianikis be disrespectful to him, and the healthcare number wasn’t flashed until after the credits, because apparently comedians have more respect for their own integrity than the president does (she didn’t mention that the whole thing was only 6 minutes long, so waiting to the end wasn’t a big deal). AARGH!

  52. 52.

    geg6

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Sadly, I don’t sew and don’t know of anyone who does. I’m going to have to find a seamstress or tailor, though, because no dress ever fits me. I’m much larger on top than my bottom and no dresses ever fit me off the rack.

    That’s why I never shop for dresses.

  54. 54.

    ericblair

    @Belafon:

    As notorious ear worms go, it’s not a bad one. But it does mean that you need to see the Lego Movie.

    I look forward to decades of its unironic use at corporate team building exercises worldwide.

  55. 55.

    SatanicPanic

    @? Martin: I got some pushback the other day for calling doctors glorified mechanics, but that goes doubly for dentists. Damn teeth mechanics. I’d actually prefer going to a place called Jiffy Tooth-Cleaning.

  56. 56.

    Bob In Portland

    Must feel great standing shoulder to shoulder with McCain.

    Yet Moscow still (foolishly?) believes international law should be respected – presenting to the UN Security Council classified information on all Western intel/psy-ops moves leading to the coup in Kiev, including “training” provided by Poland and Lithuania, not to mention Turkish intelligence involvement in setting up a second coup in Crimea. Russian diplomats called for an unbiased international investigation. That will never happen; Washington’s narrative would be completely debunked. Thus a US veto at the UN.

    Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also called for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe to objectively investigate those snipers shooting everyone on sight in Kiev, as revealed by Estonia’s foreign minister to EU foreign policy supremo Catherine “I love Yats” Ashton. According to Russia’s ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin, “a completely different picture would be drawn compared to what is being depicted by American media and, unfortunately, by some American and European politicians.” Needless to say, there will be no investigation.

    Hi, I’m your good neo-nazi
    Everyone remembers the “good Taliban”, with which the US could negotiate in Afghanistan. Then came the “good al-Qaeda”, jihadis the US could support in Syria. Now come the “good neo-nazis”, with which the West can do business in Kiev. Soon there will be “the good jihadis supporting neo-nazis”, who may be deployed to advance US/NATO and anti-Russian designs in Crimea and beyond. After all, Obama mentor Dr Zbigniew “The Grand Chessboard” Brzezinski is the godfather of good jihadis, fully weaponized to fight the former Soviet Union in Afghanistan.

    As facts on the ground go, neo-nazis are definitely back as good guys.

    For the first time since the end of World War II, fascists and neo-nazis are at the helm of a European nation (although Ukraine most of all should be characterized as the key swing nation in Eurasia). Few in the West seem to have noticed it.

    The cast of characters include Ukrainian interim defense minister and former student at the Pentagon Ihor Tenyukh; deputy prime minister for economic affairs and Svoboda ideologue Oleksandr Sych; agro-oligarch minister of agriculture Ihor Svaika (Monsanto, after all, needs a chief enforcer); National Security Council chief and Maidan commander of Right Sector neo-nazis Andry Parubiy; and deputy National Security Council chief Dmytro Yarosh, the founder Right Sector. Not to mention Svoboda leader Oleh Tyanhybok, a close pal of John McCain and Victoria “F**k the EU” Nuland, and active proponent of an Ukraine free from the “Muscovite-Jewish mafia.”

  58. 58.

    ruemara

    I’m nearly at the point where I’m going to show up at places that have outright rejected me without even an interview and simply beat an explanation out of the HR reps. 3.5 months of employ to go and nothing. However, since I talked to an agency last week, it’s pretty much what I guess. “Your main duties weren’t print design, so we’re only thinking you do video, screw the 10+ years you have in advertising. Now GFY, until we have something really low paying and we’re desperate to fill it.” I may be glossing what they said a bit. Did I mention how much I hate humanity? I do.

  59. 59.

    NotMax

    @geg6

    Is it mandatory to get an outfit at a wedding/bridal place?

    Might give you a chuckle if tell about the single ugliest dress I’ve ever seen.

    Backstory: A thrift shop near the summer camp I worked at had a clearance sale every year. Whatever you could stuff into a brown grocery sack was $1 for the entire bag. We used to haunt the place each year, scooping up items which might be of use (in whole or as material for costumes for when we put on plays).

    The item I recall most vividly we guessed was made as a prom dress or formal for a, um, full-figured girl. One whose measurements were in the neighborhood of 32-48-44.

    Sleeveless, it came to to above the knee and was horizontally striped in alternating colors of salmon and dark grey, each stripe being about 6 inches wide.

    Just ghastly.

  60. 60.

    geg6

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    Here’s where we get into the whole “geg6 is just too picky” thing. Yes, the Ann Taylor/JCrew/Banana Republic stuff is very cute. In fact, those stores/sites are where I get all my clothes, basically. But I have several problems with buying dresses:

    1) If I get a dress to fit the top, it will be much too large for my bottom. By about four sizes. So, unless I get something custom made, I can only get certain cuts of dresses, usually with a v-neck or halter with an empire waist and something puffy or flowing on the bottom to cover how my rear end is too small for the dress.

    2) The wedding is outdoors during the day on August 30. I really need something that won’t show the sweat I will surely be sweating in buckets and I’m trying like hell to avoid anything made of taffeta or satin or damask. Ideally, I’d find something in a silk, I guess. But silk shows sweat, so I’m stumped.

    3) I hate dresses. Like really hate. Really, really, really hate.

    And the only dresses I seem to have found on a site a friend sent me to (modcloth.com) that I like are in navy. That’s the color the bride’s actual mother (John’s ex) is wearing and I have been forbidden to wear navy because the ex-wife will go insane.

    ;-)

  61. 61.

    Gin & Tonic

    @gogol’s wife: Hey, here’s great security camera footage of Yanukovych’s staff moving his shit out of his palace for three days, even before he signed the Feb 21 deal. I think if you squint really, really hard you might be able to see the shadows of Stepan Bandera ordering the movers to hurry up.

  62. 62.

    Tommy

    @ruemara: Oh I was a suit on the agency side for 15+ years. MBA. Lost my job when the agency went belly up. I had references that would say I could walk on water. Went in for an interview (one of many). I had print, outdoor, interactive, video, trade show, event planning, and radio experience. But no TV.

    The lady said it was a deal breaker. I was like (and pissed at this point) I am not doing the story boards. Running the camera. Editing the video. I am an account service person. I can write the creative brief after sourcing with the client. Manage the project. Keep it on budget. Deliver a stellar product.

    I am not the creative director.

    She eventually said I was almost 40. And that the salary I wanted, well they could hire 2 people for the same price. At least she was honest with me after some pushing.

  63. 63.

    Bob In Portland

    @schrodinger’s cat: That is such a lame ad hominem.

    I guess you think the US government would never lie to you. And even if they did the NY Times and WaPo would let us know. I’m old enough to remember how the US reacted when the USSR put missiles in Cuba. Why, I remember the great dangers the US faced from Grenada, and how those Sandinistas were only a day’s drive from the Rio Grande.

    Wave that flag. Put on that armband.

  65. 65.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @geg6: So you’ve rejected the idea of having one made to your specs?

    ETA: Apologies, on re-reading I see that you said “unless I get something custom made.”

  69. 69.

    geg6

    @NotMax:

    Sleeveless, it came to to above the knee and was horizontally striped in alternating colors of salmon and dark grey, each stripe being about 6 inches wide.

    OMG, that’s a horrible combination for anyone, let alone someone who isn’t shaped like a supermodel.

  70. 70.

    gelfling545

    @geg6: It took me nearly a year to find a dress for my sister’s wedding that did not make me look like my own mother or show body parts I had no intention of displaying. Also, sleeves or straps on a formal dress appear to now be obsolete.

  71. 71.

    bemused

    @geg6:

    When oldest got married a few years ago, I searched and searched and couldn’t find a thing so I can relate. It was a March wedding and wouldn’t you know the spring clothing came out right after with a lot more choices. Now the youngest is getting married and future dil said I should come down to the big city where they live and go shopping with her. Sounds like a great idea to me.

  73. 73.

    ? Martin

    @Bob In Portland:

    presenting to the UN Security Council classified information on all Western intel/psy-ops moves leading to the coup in Kiev, including “training” provided by Poland and Lithuania, not to mention Turkish intelligence involvement in setting up a second coup in Crimea. Russian diplomats called for an unbiased international investigation. That will never happen; Washington’s narrative would be completely debunked. Thus a US veto at the UN.

    So, Russia was completely innocent in propping up Yanukovych and pushing him for policies that favored Russia over Ukraine? They had nothing to do with Yushchenko’s poisoning? Look, everyone makes sausage here. And that’s a very different thing from occupying a region that you are now trying to annex.

    Your warnings are only sensible if you assume that the US and the west are the only ones interfering in Ukraine. Do you really believe that? Do you really believe that Russia has just been sitting there passively awaiting the decision of the Ukrainian people?

  74. 74.

    bemused

    @geg6:

    Does it have to be a dress? I have seen dressy skirts and top combos that looked appropriate for weddings.

  75. 75.

    geg6

    @MomSense:

    Good question. The wedding is a sort of shabby chic theme and my style is very tailored and classic, usually. I’d say fancy British garden party is what I’m looking for. As for price, no more than $150-200.

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I just have no idea how to go about such a thing. I don’t know of any seamstresses around here. I used to have one, but she moved and no one has been able to refer me to another. I’d give her a lot of business if I could find one though. I lost quite a bit of weight (2 sizes) in the last couple of years and would love to get some of my pants altered. I have some really great career clothes that I can’t wear any more because they fall off me. But I refuse to toss them or give them away because I love them.

  78. 78.

    Cacti

    @Bob In Portland:

    The Crimeans, except for the Tatars on the House of Saud’s payroll, have had enough of Ukraine and want out.

    I see you have your RT-approved talking point on the Tartars for when the ethnic cleansing starts again.

  80. 80.

    Tommy

    @geg6: LOL. A good tailor is hard to find :). I am not a women, but a short male and there has never been a time I bought any clothing that fit correctly without taking it to a tailor. I am 5’4. 29-30 inch waist and often the pants I get are a 8-10 inches too long. I am like what freaking person could wear these exactly.

    So in a round about way, I feel your pain.

  81. 81.

    MomSense

    @geg6:

    What about Adrianna Papell? She has some nice dress collections. You can go to her website and see if there is a shop that carries her things near you.

  82. 82.

    Bob In Portland

    @Gin & Tonic: That all you got?

    Yanukovych is gone. You should be worrying about all those neo-Nazis in the current regime. Or don’t you worry about Nazis?

  84. 84.

    Cacti

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Don’t call them Putinists. I’m sure comrade Bob can trot out some RT propaganda to cite that those guys wearing identical unmarked uniforms and carrying Russian military weapons are nothing more than Crimean self-defense forces, nothing more than a community watch group.

    That’s our Bob.

    Who could possibly question the legality of a plebiscite taking place under the bayonet of Russian occupation, that offers the option of secession or annexation by Russia, but no option of the status quo.

    It’s almost like they don’t want people of a certain opinion to have a real choice.

    But who cares, right? They’re all “nazis” or “on the payroll of the house of Saud”.

  87. 87.

    schrodinger's cat

    @geg6: A fit and flare dress, that will fit your top half should work, you probably wouldn’t even need an alteration for the bottom. Did you check the green silk chiffon dress that I had linked earlier?

  88. 88.

    Cacti

    @Bob In Portland:

    You should be worrying about all those neo-Nazis in the current regime. Or don’t you worry about Nazis?

    Everyone’s familiar with the well known Russian hatred of Nazis…

    If you omit the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.

  89. 89.

    Cacti

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    I will answer your question after you tell us why you trust Putin.

    Haven’t you heard? If you oppose Putin’s plans for imperialist expansion, it’s obviously because you’re a nazi or on the payroll of the house of Saud.

  90. 90.

    Cassidy

    @geg6:

    1) If I get a dress to fit the top, it will be much too large for my bottom.

    I’d vote too tight cougar.

  91. 91.

    mouse tolliver

    @NotMax:

    Sleeveless, it came to to above the knee and was horizontally striped in alternating colors of salmon and dark grey, each stripe being about 6 inches wide.

    Gah! Sounds like Beetlejuice designed that outfit.

  93. 93.

    Amir Khalid

    FY WordPress for eating my daily MH370 summary.
    Here we go again:

    The shorter: “We Still Ain’t Found Jack Shit.”

    The longer: For want of something to write about, the international news media have now taken to critiquing the official Malaysian response, in particular the confusing and contradictory statements attributed to Royal Malaysian Air Force chief General Tan Sri Rozali Daud and another, unnamed officer about military radar contacts with MH370. Rozali says he was misunderstood or misquoted by a local paper (this I can believe) whose story then got picked up around the world.

    (There’s certainly room to nitpick the official response, and MAS’ for that matter, but it doesn’t seem the most urgent thing to me. Ditto any investigation into First Officer Fariq Hamid’s flirting habits, as seen on Aussie TV.)

    So, did MH370 really change course and fly west across Peninsular Malaysia instead of north to Beijing? Maybe, maybe not; the military radar contacts don’t actually ID the plane as MH370. But the likely places for MH370 have been searched without success. As Thailand and Vietnam wind down their SAR ops, RMAF are now expanding theirs to the less (and less) likely places, because what else can they do?

    On the “phantom calls” to passenger’s cellphones that got a ringtone, a CNN analyst has pointed out that it could be the called network, not the cellphones themselves, responding. So (AD Walter Skinner’s voice) I don’t see the X-File there, Agent Mulder.

    On another note, the air in KL has been quite hazy for the past few days, with a distinct smoky smell. I see people out and about in their filter breathing masks; mine are still all in my backpack.

  94. 94.

    Mnemosyne

    @geg6:

    Online, try eShakti — pick your dress, provide your measurements, and they will make you a custom dress in about 2 weeks. You can also do things like lengthen sleeves, lengthen/shorten the skirt, etc.

  95. 95.

    Tommy

    @mouse tolliver: I can’t imagine what it would be like to be a women. At least for me, I am a “classical” kind of dresser when it comes to suits. Like my grandfather used to do (but no bow tie). What I wear might not be cutting edge fashion, but alas a classical look never seems to go out of style. It seems women’s fashion changes by the minute.

  96. 96.

    jl

    Just an FYI:

    Yanukovych says still president, expects return to Kiev

    Rostov-on-Don (Russia) (AFP) – Ousted Ukrainian leader Viktor Yanukovych on Tuesday said that he was still the country’s legitimate president and commander-in-chief, predicting he would be able to return to Kiev soon.

    “I remain not just the sole legitimate president of Ukraine but also commander-in-chief,” he said in his first public appearance in over a week, in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don.

    “As soon as the circumstances allow — and I am sure there is not long to wait — I will without doubt return to Kiev,”…

    http://news.yahoo.com/yanukovych-says-legitimate-ukraine-president-expects-return-094551247.html

    Edit: My own cynical view is that if this guy running around is an excuse for more prolonged diplomatic wrangling and investigations, and international monitoring and snooping around, then… fine.

  97. 97.

    Mnemosyne

    @gogol’s wife:

    They did show the phone number (and the website) during the actual interview. Either Stanley didn’t watch the whole thing, or she doesn’t recognize numbers when they’re spelled out (i.e. “one” instead of “1”).

  98. 98.

    Roger Moore

    @jl:

    Ousted Ukrainian leader Viktor Yanukovych on Tuesday said that he was still the country’s legitimate president and commander-in-chief, predicting he would be able to return to Kiev soon.

    The Ukrainian government would be happy to send him a tumbrel for the journey.

  99. 99.

    catclub

    @Bob In Portland: “You should be worrying about all those neo-Nazis in the current regime.”
    In the previous iteration, the Nazis had the Wermacht behind them and tended to invade other countries. Now which countries will those nazis in Ukraine be invading, and which similar war machine will they use? Now, who else seems to be invading other countries at the moment?

  101. 101.

    bemused

    @geg6:

    Really? Mine wouldn’t notice the difference, ha. Still, I know I’ve seen skirt/top matching outfits that really looked great and wedding dressy that you have to look twice to realize is not actually a dress.

  107. 107.

    geg6

    @Mnemosyne:

    Ooooo. I’m gonna look at that one. That’s what I need. Custom.

    @bemused:

    John is a very unusual man. He actually likes to shop with me and has definite opinions about what he likes on me and what he doesn’t.

  110. 110.

    Suffern ACE

    @schrodinger’s cat: Well, the West is hypocritical, so clearly a referendum where the ballot is “Yes. Join Russia” and “Yes. Leave Ukraine and Join Russia” must be considered “fair”.

    Also, if I remember right, the Serbians were trying to keep Kosovo in Serbia, but without the Kosovars physically remaining there. So this is exactly the same.

  111. 111.

    the Conster

    @geg6:

    For my daughter’s wedding I found several possibilities at Nordstrom’s online, and ordered them to try on and send back. They make the whole process very easy and hassle free for returns. I found one from them, and had it slightly shortened at a tailor. I looked at Lord & Taylor’s store, but that was the only store I actually shopped in.

  112. 112.

    Hazel

    @geg6: why not get a really nice suit jacket and pair it with a skirt? My mother did this for my sister’s wedding; a fierce velvet jacket and short black skirt, and she looked stunning. For those of us whose tops and bottoms are different sizes (I’m definitely that way), separates are often much easier; it’s such a struggle to find a dress.

  113. 113.

    bemused

    @geg6:

    Mine learned about the first Christmas after we were married that he hasn’t a clue how to buy clothes for me and don’t ever try it again. Now he just tells me he likes what I choose.

  114. 114.

    Shana

    @geg6: I haven’t read all the way to the bottom of the thread yet, but would a dress that has a waist seam so that you could buy two dresses of the same style, one to fit the top and one to fit the bottom and have the correct sizes put together into one dress work? I saw your budget which makes it somewhat difficult, but possible.

  115. 115.

    ruemara

    @Tommy: There is no one that’s going to admit that I’m both over 40, female and the greatest failing-scary black woman. So overexperienced/underexperienced. And I’m not even setting a specific salary. That’s for people like you, used to some feeling of agency. I’ve always been a cheap, exploitable resource, making compromises so I can be employed, willing to make deals for potential future rewards that don’t seem to happen. Now I’m excrement.

  116. 116.

    Tommy

    @geg6: Sounds like I am a lot like John. I love to shop for cloths. And shoes, don’t get me started on my love of shoes. If I ever get married we would have to fight over closet space and our shoe budget :).

    Just as an aside, last time I went shopping with this women I was dating was embarrassing. I had bought some new jeans and I needed one of those super wide belts. I had to go to the junior section to find one that fit. When you are 44, well that is embarrassing. She had a few days of poking me and laughing about it endlessly.

  117. 117.

    NotMax

    @geg6

    (Just idle reminiscence.)

    A step-sibling’s first wedding was outdoors in the height of summertime. I wore a seersucker suit jacket. The older guests and relatives all cluck-clucked about it, but I was the only one cool and comfy.

  118. 118.

    Violet

    @geg6: How about a wrap dress. Like Diane von Furstenberg’s wrap dresses. Those look good on most women, you can get a variety of colors, patterns, plain, whatever, and you can dress it up or down with accessories. It might fit the “shabby chic” style because of the flowing nature of the dress and depending on what print you pick. They come in a variety of materials. A little above your budget, but maybe there will be a sale before the wedding.

  119. 119.

    geg6

    @Hazel:

    The only problem with separates is that I can’t see me wearing a jacket (or pants, for that matter) outside all day on August 30 here in Western PA. It is very likely to be in the 90s with humidity somewhere around 100%. A dress seems the most comfortable choice for the likely weather. It’s also why I’m not real happy with the materials that most of these types of dresses are made of.

  120. 120.

    Amir Khalid

    @ericblair:
    Some 20 years ago, I was at an IBM media event in Rochester, Minnesota, home of Big Blue’s bestselling AS/500 series of “mini” computer. The event’s theme song was the 1980s classic The Future’s So Bright (I Gotta Wear Shades). The kind of people who organise such events are not good at understanding sarcasm.

  121. 121.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)

    @ruemara: Fuck HR. This morning I had a woman at a temp agency come as close to telling me that I’m unemployable as a functionary at a temp firm is physically capable of. My resume isn’t straightforward and since people who do hiring don’t actually know the jobs they’re hiring for (her words) all they want is straightforward. She suggested I move my education to before my work history. Oh, she also told me that my Excel expertise is critically important and I need to put it on there, since I don’t have it listed at all. She also said that I should list my expertise in an accounting software package that’s been dead for ten years.

    The seventh line on my resume is: “Advanced Microsoft Excel user, including programming macros directly in Visual Basic”

    Has anyone stopped to consider just how fucked we are as a society if hiring decisions are made by people who don’t understand the jobs they’re hiring for and if whether you have your education before or after your work experience really makes a big difference in whether you get hired?

  123. 123.

    Tommy

    @NotMax: My brother and his wife got married in August on a beach in Florida. Very informal. Only family and a few friends. We have no connection to FL, they just wanted to get married on a beach. I was in slacks, polo, and flip flops. I was the dressed up person. Every other wedding I’ve been to is a huge, multiple day affair. The why my brother did it is the only way to do it IMHO. It was wonderful.

    We were there a week, but the wedding didn’t even take 15 minutes. We had all rented condos right on the beach and spent the time being beach bums. In bathing suits. Eating oysters at happy hour on the beach. Getting sun burned. And just, well enjoying life.

  124. 124.

    geg6

    @Violet:

    I love those! I have one that I got on eBay for a song and I wear it to everything. Not quite what I’m looking for in this instance, but they are truly awesome.

  125. 125.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Cacti: I find it comical (in a black-comedy sense) that Russian propaganda in Ukraine is mostly oriented against the ghost of somebody the KGB assassinated 55 years ago. I guess when somebody spends 75 years attacking you, including for 55 years after they kill you, that must signify something.

  128. 128.

    raven

    My first wedding I wore a powder blue cowboy shirt with yella flowers, jeans with my keys hangin off my belt, purple chucks with red laces and I put my hair in a ponytail just for the ceremony in the Foo Dog Garden. She wore Blue eyelet. Poco’s Good Feelin to know was the sermon and there were nearly as many dogs as people.

  129. 129.

    Violet

    @geg6: Well, keep it in mind. You don’t have to go full mother-of-the-bride do you? You can be the cool mother of the bride.

    Are you familiar with Flax? They have a lot of stuff in linen. Flowy, swingy stuff–might be really good for an outdoor summer wedding.

  131. 131.

    Roger Moore

    @Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN):
    It’s mostly a problem of there not being enough jobs. When unemployed people are scrambling for anything available and HR departments have dozens of resumes for every opening, they can afford to throw away applications for minor problems just to thin things down to a manageable number. If the shoe were on the other foot and HR departments were scrambling to find enough available people for all the jobs they need to fill, they’d be glad for anyone remotely close to qualified. One more reason we can’t afford to treat 6.5% unemployment as the new normal.

  132. 132.

    Cacti

    @catclub:

    “You should be worrying about all those neo-Nazis in the current regime.”
    In the previous iteration, the Nazis had the Wermacht behind them and tended to invade other countries. Now which countries will those nazis in Ukraine be invading, and which similar war machine will they use? Now, who else seems to be invading other countries at the moment?

    The part of WWII history that the Bobs of the world don’t like to talk about is prior June 1941, when the Red Army and the Wermacht were holding joint military parades in the cities of Poland, or when Uncle Joe was launching wars of aggression against Finland, and the Baltic States, and demanding territorial concessions from Romania under threat of force.

  137. 137.

    RSA

    Open thread topic: Joan Walsh on Salon today:

    Elon James White and the team at “This Week in Blackness” uses video and radio humor to subvert the media’s white-centric conversation on race.

    A nice mention in an article about Fox News and their “Angry Grandpa” freakout.

  139. 139.

    Violet

    @schrodinger’s cat: I used to work at a store that sold Flax. It’s not intended to be unrumpled. It’s got a loose, rumpled–but not messily so–look. It’s a casual kind of look but you can dress it up with accessories. Think some of the flowy stuff at Chico’s–like that. Maybe worth finding a store if it’s convenient and seeing how it looks and if it’s at all practical for you. You’ve still got time before the wedding and the spring/summer stuff would work better than the winter stuff.

    Edit: was thinking I was replying to geg6, but the advice on the Flax linen works for everyone! Regular linen just gets rumpled.

  144. 144.

    Trollhattan

    @Roger Moore:

    Amen. Charles Pierce links today to this piece, by former Tigerbeat on the Patomac reporter who was drubbed out by R-Money’s campaign Joseph Williams, who took a never-quite-fulltime job at a large national retailer.

    http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/03/my-life-as-a-retail-worker-nasty-brutish-and-poor/284332/

    We must help the working poor, somehow. They’re trapped and it’s not because “they’re simply not working hard enough to become successful.”

  147. 147.

    Tommy

    @schrodinger’s cat: The hand steamers work well. One of those products I thought I would never buy. I mean they couldn’t work could they? But used to travel a lot for work and got one to take with me. Again I never thought it would work. It in fact did work and I kick myself for not getting one sooner.

  149. 149.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @MattF: The sooner Bill Donohue is strapped to the rack, stretched out a bit, and then left to die, the better.

    What a vile sack of shit he is.

  151. 151.

    Gravenstone

    @MattF: Poor Billy. He must be beside himself, given that Fox is going out of their way to broadcast it on all of their media platforms. The same Fox that he relies on daily to parrot his hatred to all comers.

  152. 152.

    Bob In Portland

    @? Martin: How many corrupt governments has the US propped up in your lifetime? Oh, that heroin coming out of Afghanistan. Pretty strong, eh?

  156. 156.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Cacti: I wonder if Bob’s last name is Romanov or Jugashvili? Because he really is taking the Russian line on all this.

  158. 158.

    Bob In Portland

    @Cacti: Perhaps you have a more benign reading of the “Jewish-Muscovite mafia”. Please explain.

    And an election under Russian bayonets at least makes the pretense of an election. How many votes put the current regime in power? Oh, no election? Well, never mind.

    Why do you think swastikas and Confederate flags were hoisted in city hall in Kiev? To show what a democracy really is?

    When the US votes for aid to Ukraine, remember, these are the same blowhards that cut foodstamps for the poor, kids, and vets. Maybe Ukrainians have a “culture of poverty” and if the US and EU loan them anything they’ll just waste it. Anyway, we bought it, we own it. Enjoy. Wave that flag.

  159. 159.

    ? Martin

    @Bob In Portland:

    How many corrupt governments has the US propped up in your lifetime?

    So the antedote is to only let Russia prop up corrupt governments? That’s going to make these places better?

    I’m not defending our actions here, but you seem to be completely glossing over Russia’s invasion while attacking the US for doing something to stop it. I don’t see how that isn’t a tacit approval of Russia’s invasion.

  160. 160.

    bemused

    @RSA:

    Walsh had me laughing out loud. And she’s right Obama that can reach younger people more than the most previous presidents.

  161. 161.

    MomSense

    @ruemara:

    I read somewhere that now they just run your resumes through some sort of program that finds key words in the job description/notice to see how many matches there are. I took that to mean that we now have to modify our resume for each posting using the lingo from that job posting.

  163. 163.

    ? Martin

    @Bob In Portland:

    And an election under Russian bayonets at least makes the pretense of an election. How many votes put the current regime in power? Oh, no election?

    The elected legislature put the current regime in power. They didn’t assume it. That’s not ideal, but it’s still an elected body, and it’s technically more democratic than the Electoral College and selection by the House of Representatives in the event of a tie.

    How many votes were cast for the Russian Army now in Crimea given that they now are effectively in power?

  164. 164.

    Bob In Portland

    @Villago Delenda Est: So dig an inch and all the good liberals at Balloon Juice are just cold war stooges?

    Why don’t you turn on Rachel Maddow? I’m sure she’s beyond the reach of the Mighty Wurlitzer.

    You people are as liberal and free-thinking as your next fashion accessory.

    Do you remember how the war in Syria started? When unidentified gunmen (who surely belonged to Assad) shot into a crowd of protesters. You remember that, right? Does that sound familiar to you?

    Are you unable to entertain the idea that when Nuland said the US had put five billion into the coup and they were going to put “Yats” into power that she in fact was telling the truth?

    The US unseated an elected government (albeit corrupt) so that oligarchs and fascists financed by the US (and Mr. Omidyar!) could take control and be a thorn in Russia’s side. Your tax dollars paid for the coup. You own it. Wave that flag.

  165. 165.

    Cacti

    @Bob In Portland:

    And an election under Russian bayonets at least makes the pretense of an election.

    This should go to #1 on Bob’s greatest hits of Putin apologia.

  166. 166.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Bob In Portland: Do you disbelieve the reporting that Tim Snyder has been doing that indicates that protesters who overthrew the Yanukovych regime came from a broad political spectrum?

  167. 167.

    Cacti

    @Bob In Portland:

    You people are as liberal and free-thinking as your next fashion accessory.

    I had no idea that being a lickspittle for the authoritarian, president for life of Russia was a liberal position.

  170. 170.

    Gin & Tonic

    @? Martin: How many votes were cast for the Russian Army now in Crimea

    You obviously didn’t get the memo, Martin. The Russian Army isn’t in Crimea to any degree greater than its lease agreement allows. All those uniformed, armed people driving Russian military vehicles, boarding trains and stopping all traffic at the border, planting landmines, they’re just local self-defense forces.

    Which led today to an interesting dilemma. The commander of a Ukrainian Air Force installation on Crimea was told by the Russian forces to surrender and transfer his weapons and the base to the control of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. He responded that he hasn’t seen any such personnel that he could surrender to, just local self-defense forces that won’t show him any identification, so he declines to surrender.

  172. 172.

    Mnemosyne

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    I’m willing to accept a little twee in exchange for dresses that actually fit. I have the same problem as geg6 — big on top, small on the bottom, so dresses never fit me right. Right now, I’m about a 12/14 on top and 4/6 on bottom.

    ETA: And as far as I can tell, ModCloth doesn’t do custom dresses.

  174. 174.

    schrodinger's cat

    @Mnemosyne: I have the opposite problem, size 4 on the top, 6/8 on the bottom, so thankfully not as big a differential.

    ETA: The other name for ModCloth is ModCrap. I have never bought anything from e-Shakti, so I don’t know how good their stuff is. Their retro-chic style is not my cup of tea. Of course YMMV.

  176. 176.

    Cacti

    @Gin & Tonic:

    You obviously didn’t get the memo, Martin. The Russian Army isn’t in Crimea to any degree greater than its lease agreement allows. All those uniformed, armed people driving Russian military vehicles, boarding trains and stopping all traffic at the border, planting landmines, they’re just local self-defense forces.

    It’s truly a mystery why Poland, Hungary, Romania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and the Baltic States went leaping into the arms of NATO with all possible haste after the fall of the USSR.

  177. 177.

    Roger Moore

    @Bob In Portland:

    And an election under Russian bayonets at least makes the pretense of an election. How many votes put the current regime in power? Oh, no election? Well, never mind.

    That’s a lot of fail to cram into one paragraph. For one thing, the current Ukrainian government isn’t a bunch of self-appointed thugs off the street; they’re more or less the previous, properly elected Parliament that decided to kick the corrupt President out on his ass. They’ve also promised new elections to replace themselves about as soon as elections could plausibly be held. That’s a pretty sharp contrast to what’s happening in Crimea, where the election is all pretense; it’s being held sooner than one could plausibly be organized, without a full set of choices, under threat of violence, and with deliberate disenfranchisement of any group that’s suspected of threatening the preferred outcome. It’s ridiculous to suggest that’s somehow better than what’s happening in Ukraine.

  178. 178.

    Gin & Tonic

    @schrodinger’s cat: This line of the thread seems like more fun. All I can contribute is that my wife also had a real bear of a time finding a mother-of-the-bride dress that she liked and that didn’t make her feel old and fat. I can’t help very much on what she ended up with, but it took months. In the event, though, she looked wonderful, and managed to survive an outdoor wedding on the hottest day of the summer. I was distinctly less comfortable in my tuxedo.

  179. 179.

    Bob In Portland

    @Gin & Tonic: Your best argument is that because the US overthrew an elected government that… what? Russia took over Crimea and it’s not going back to the fascists.

    Hey, enjoy it. Why, Gin, you seem to have some Ukrainian in you, why aren’t you over there volunteering martyr blood for your revolution? You can march into battle under a swastika. I’m sure the US will provide you with a gun and a uniform. You can write to us and tell us how the crusade is going.

  180. 180.

    Trollhattan

    @Mnemosyne:

    The U.S. invaded kindergarten? Damn, missed that.

    Today I learn that the Real Vlad is preferable to potentially possible Ukranian Confederates (wut?). I’m clearly somebody with much to learn (and so little time).

  181. 181.

    Cacti

    @Mnemosyne:

    And, no, The US did it to Iraq! is not an excuse any more than it is in kindergarten.

    If our Bob were logically consistent, he’d be a supporter of the invasion of Iraq too.

    But in Bob world, only yankee imperialism is to be condemned.

  183. 183.

    Roger Moore

    @Cacti:

    But in Bob world, only yankee imperialism is to be condemned.

    Is it only Yankee imperialism that is to be condemned, or is it only Russian imperialism that’s to be supported?

  185. 185.

    Mnemosyne

    @Bob In Portland:

    Russia took over Crimea and it’s not going back to the fascists.

    Next comes a rousing round of Russia’s national anthem. Sing along with Bob!

    I’m still trying to figure out why “RUSSIA! FUCK YEAH!” is morally superior to “AMERICA! FUCK YEAH!” Because of the fascism, I suppose.

  187. 187.

    Bob In Portland

    @Roger Moore: So you like fascists too. Or don’t you know what’s happening in the Ukraine? Did the US lie to you about Afghanistan? Syria? Iraq? Did you believe them every time?

    And here we have a phone call of Vicky Nuland outlining how the coup was going to go months before the coup and you seem to be unable to process that. But that’s okay, you’ve been well-trained. Eurasia has always been Oceania’s enemy. “Hate hate hate.”

  188. 188.

    schrodinger's cat

    My friend, who has family in Russia was there for three weeks recently, agrees more or less with Gin and Tonic’s view point, as does one of his relatives who lives in Moscow and actually works for the Government. So I am taking everything that BIP is saying with a tub of salt. Besides, BIP hasn’t told us the reason for his touching faith in Putin, yet.

  190. 190.

    chopper

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    bill looked the man in the eye. he found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy. they had a very good dialogue. bill was able to get a sense of his soul; a man deeply committed to his country and the best interests of his country.

  191. 191.

    Gin & Tonic

    Here’s a pointed question from Arseniy Yatseniuk, Ukraine’s Acting PM, speaking in DC today: We gave up our nukes for promise of foreign protection. How will you stop other countries from proliferation now?

  192. 192.

    scav

    All I gather is that the apperaence of any involvement of neonatzis at all (eeeekkk!) in political events (esp if rowdy) means it’s 1000000% legitimate for strong bare-chested leaders to entirely not roll in and dictate all future events, all hail legitimacy. Parts of Montana are no doubt looking over their options.

    Weird new boy bands people are falling in love with anymore. Fascism!!! Communusm!!! Grizzy-wrestling pin-ups!!!

  193. 193.

    geg6

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    Yeah, my friends with Ukrainian ties (and there are lots of them here in Western PA) also agree with G&T’s point of view. They laugh their asses off at the wingnuts who are suddenly so horrified about the rightwing nuts in Ukraine. That bunch is such a miniscule part of this whole revolution (not that they aren’t there, but they aren’t in charge or have the numbers to even fantasize about being in charge). This is about young people, from everything I’ve been told by people who actually know. And they know because their families still live there and they visit there often.

  194. 194.

    cckids

    @geg6: Go outside the “mother of the bride” dress type & find something you like. The sellers tend to typecast, don’t let them!!

  195. 195.

    Mnemosyne

    @Roger Moore:

    I have to admit, I’m pretty fascinated by Bob’s insistence that having Parliament run the president out of town is horrible, horrible fascism, but having armed men invade Crimea and confiscate people’s passports is A-OK and totally not fascism you guys because shut up, that’s why.

    And if anyone wandering into this thread wonders why no one is bothering to refute Bob’s points with links, that’s because he’s been keeping this up for two weeks and has been completely impervious to all of the actual facts that people have provided to him on multiple occasions, so the only thing left is mockery.

  197. 197.

    geg6

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    Not really what you’d call tall, but I’m 5′ 51/2″ without heels. With heels, probably about 5′ 8″ or so. And I will be wearing heels. I love me some heels. Now shoe shopping is a whole other story. Much happier!

  201. 201.

    Bob In Portland

    @Mnemosyne: Eurasia has always been Oceania’s enemy.

    So, Mnem, tell us. Did the US tell the truth about Afghanistan? Simple question. Yes or no. How about Iraq? Yes or no. How about Vietnam? Yes or no?

    And now you’re getting the truth about Ukraine because….? When Nuland said we paid five billion for the coup and we were going to put “Yats” in, how did you interpret that? As a gesture of democracy?

    Now here is the hard part, Mnem. What did you expect Russia to do?

    Oh, and have the sanctions against Cuba been lifted yet?

    It’s easy to be a hypocrite when you’re a true-believer cold warrior. You probably didn’t even know you were. Don’t presume that because I am appalled that the US intelligence community put fascists in power in Kiev that I’m some sort of Russophile. Confederate flag in Kiev’s city hall. Hello? You think they’re holding a reenactment? Yeah, they are. How about you figure out what war they’re reenacting?

  202. 202.

    askew

    @geg6:

    I’d suggest getting it at Nordstrom’s. They’ll usually tailor it for free for you and they dresses that aren’t horrifying.

  203. 203.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Mnemosyne: having Parliament run the president out of town

    They didn’t even do that. They voted to recognize that he had abandoned his post, after he ran (well, flew) himself out of town, after spending three full days packing his stuff while still going to the office and negotiating with the opposition and the European FM’s. How many coups or putsches are preceded by the ex-leader spending three days packing up his house?

  205. 205.

    ? Martin

    @Mnemosyne:

    Because of the fascism, I suppose.

    Whose fascism are we opposed to here? Ukrainian fascism or Russian fascism? I’m getting lost.

    And Bob needs to look a little closer to home for other agitators in Ukraine. He’s a fan of Omidyar and Greenwald exposing the US lies, but Omidyar has been a large backer of the Ukranian uprising, and been a large backer in conjunction with the feds. And Greenwald gets caught out defending this, because, something. Who needs a foreign nation to support an uprising when your local billionaire is capable of doing that all on his own.

    These are Omidyar’s so-called fascists, and now by working so hard to shield him from scrutiny they are Greenwald’s as well.

    I’m not defending nor attacking Omidyar here, but Bob seems to have his sights specifically set for the US government regardless of facts. It’s difficult to cast blame on the 40 million Ukrainians that got into this spot through their own elections and actions, or on the huge cast of groups that intervened from the US to the EU to Russia to billionaires (both ours and Russias) to a zillion other groups, and a lot easier to pin it all on a single target of one’s choosing. The real question for Bob, really, is why single out the US government here? We had less to do with it than the EU – it was their trade deal that got scuttled, they were trying to prop up a whole other cast of characters, as Russia was as well. Why avoid criticism of everyone else? Why is the US solely deserving of all of the blame?

  206. 206.

    cckids

    @geg6: Do you live somewhere with a college that has a design department? I used to make extra cash designing & making dresses for moms, proms & weddings when I was in design college.

    Edit to add: If you call the head of the department, he/she can maybe refer you to someone.

  207. 207.

    Chyron HR

    @Bob In Portland:

    Did the US tell the truth about Vietnam? Yes or no?

    Gosh, I think most Americans have finally accepted that “We must annihilate this country to save the world from Communism” was a shitty, shitty IDEA but I’ve never heard anyone suggest that it was cover for some ulterior motive. What, were we really invading to seize their vast natural supply of shaky beef?

  210. 210.

    cckids

    @Mnemosyne:

    They did show the phone number (and the website) during the actual interview

    Not to mention, Obama rattled off the website & phone number at least once. Plus, anyone who can google can find it instantly, it isn’t hidden away for gods sake.

  211. 211.

    Suffern ACE

    Well, I for one am a cold warrior and can’t wait for Russian overreach in the Baltics so we can invade, divide the country and enslave Russians everywhere. I mean, I don’t necessarily believe Russian paranoid propaganda on our designs, but the propaganda is such a good story, why not just agree with it?

  212. 212.

    Bob In Portland

    @Bill Arnold: Bill, did that article get clearance from Langley?

    I asked Mnem this and I’ll ask you: Did the US government tell Americans the truth about Vietnam? Did it tell us the truth about the military overthrow in Indonesia? How about all those coups in Latin America? How about Iraq? How about Afghanistan? You arm in arm with the freedom fighters in Syria?

    How many times does the propaganda machine have to lie to you before you recognize a lie?

    And please, don’t say I’m a Russophile as some kind of defense for your inability to sort through the various levels of US propaganda. I just recognize why they don’t want NATO and a bunch of fascists on their border hunting down Russians and Jews. You know, “the Jewish-Muscovite mafia”.

    Please answer the above questions regarding the truthfulness of the US to the American people.

    Remember in “The Wire” when the drug lord said, “If it’s a lie then we go to war on that lie”? Maybe that’s your line of thinking.

    You know what Putin’s going to do? Let Ukraine collapse. We own it now. Hooray. Wave that flag.

  213. 213.

    ? Martin

    @Chyron HR: Let’s be honest here, the US lied extensively about Vietnam. We lied about Gulf of Tonkin. We lied about invading Cambodia and Thailand. We lied about how the war was proceeding. We lied about too many things to count.

    Thankfully we have Russia, who has never lied about anything since the 1960s. They never lied about Vietnam or Afghanistan or shooting down a Korean airliner or Chernobyl or Georgia or anything else. They are paragons of truthfulness and we should always take their word over the US government.

  214. 214.

    Bob In Portland

    @Chyron HR: Well, you must certainly be glad that Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction won’t be destroying Tony Blair’s place. And I bet you’re happy now that we’ve eliminated all that sexism in Afghanistan and stopped the heroin trade.

  216. 216.

    Mnemosyne

    @Bob In Portland:

    Don’t presume that because I am appalled that the US intelligence community put fascists in power in Kiev that I’m some sort of Russophile.

    Actually, because you believe that US intelligence is in control of thousands of ordinary Ukranians, what I really think is that you’re fucking Looney Tunes.

    Also, it’s fascinating that the person who thinks the US is in total control of the hearts and minds of Ukranians in the street is claiming that I’m a “cold warrior.” That’s straight out of Soviet propaganda circa 1956. Because there’s no way the Ukranians could possibly have decided on their own that they were fed up with their totally corrupt president. I mean, to believe that, you’d have to think that Ukranians were actual people with minds and thoughts and beliefs of their own, and that can’t possibly be true in Bobworld.

  217. 217.

    Bob In Portland

    @? Martin: So your point is that as long as you are going to believe lies and get behind lies, you prefer the “go along to get along” concept and thus the lies of the US.

    That billion in aid that Congress just voted. That’s not real money like the kind that goes to pay for food stamps, is it?

  218. 218.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Bob In Portland: Are you suggesting that anything produced by anyone involved with Western media is corrupted by Western intelligence agencies? Information from Russian media is not suspect?

    I am sorry but you come off as a bit of a paranoid crank. Oddly, you also manage to come off as totally credulous regarding Russian propaganda.

  219. 219.

    gogol's wife

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    Yes, and I tried to comment but couldn’t. I have an ancient laptop that now doesn’t allow me to comment on a lot of sites, like the NYTimes Crossword blog.

  222. 222.

    catclub

    @Chyron HR: “vast natural supply of shaky beef?”
    Pho. and now they have brought their restaurants here, our plan is fulfilled.

  224. 224.

    gogol's wife

    @eemom:

    Looks as if Stephen Cohen (husband of the editor, publisher, and part-owner of The Nation) has gone round the bend.

  228. 228.

    Bob In Portland

    @Mnemosyne: Don’t exaggerate what I say. Who is in the coup government? Look at the names.

    But you didn’t answer my questions. Did the government lie to us about Vietnam? Did they lie to us about El Salvador? Guatemala? Nicaragua? Did they lie about the cocaine coup in Bolivia? How about Chile? How about Argentina? And all those other countries?

    Answer the question. I must have been looney tunes about all those wars and coups, right? Probably long before you noticed. It doesn’t do any good that you finally recognize the hustle a decade after the war is done and the killing is over. Not if you don’t see it the next time around.

    Gee, the boys are coming back in body bags. That harshes my buzz.

    Well, maybe you can drill a victory fracking well in your backyard for the patriotic cause. The US just overthrew an elected government in Ukraine with the backing of oligarchs and actual genuine fascists. What are you going to do?

  229. 229.

    Gin & Tonic

    @eemom: What is endlessly fascinating to me is how many people who speak and understand neither Russian nor Ukrainian, who know no actual Ukrainians, can read no primary sources, and have never set foot in the country feel free to tell people like Timothy Snyder how wrong he is, or otherwise print authoritative-sounding views on the subject.

  230. 230.

    gogol's wife

    @Gin & Tonic:

    You don’t mean Cohen, do you? He’s an actual Russianist. But this piece is disgusting. I love his citing Putin’s approval rating. YES, WHEN YOU HAVE TOTAL CONTROL OF ALL MASS MEDIA YOU CAN HAVE A PRETTY GOOD APPROVAL RATING.

  231. 231.

    Cacti

    @eemom:

    You may not have a dog in this fight, but Stephen Cohen certainly does.

    And what of Barack Obama’s decision to send only a low-level delegation, including retired gay athletes, to Sochi? In August, Putin virtually saved Obama’s presidency by persuading Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to eliminate his chemical weapons. Putin then helped to facilitate Obama’s heralded opening to Iran. Should not Obama himself have gone to Sochi—either out of gratitude to Putin, or to stand with Russia’s leader against international terrorists who have struck both of our countries?

    Might as well be Bob writing that one.

  232. 232.

    Cacti

    @gogol’s wife:

    You don’t mean Cohen, do you? He’s an actual Russianist. But this piece is disgusting. I love his citing Putin’s approval rating. YES, WHEN YOU HAVE TOTAL CONTROL OF ALL MASS MEDIA YOU CAN HAVE A PRETTY GOOD APPROVAL RATING.

    Kim Jong-un recently got 100% of the vote in North Korea’s last “election”.

  233. 233.

    gogol's wife

    @Cacti:

    I saw him once on a plane to Moscow. But I only saw him because he was taking a stroll through steerage — he was in first class, unlike your typical academic.

  234. 234.

    Bob In Portland

    @schrodinger’s cat: Yup. Chile, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Indonesia, Argentina, Bolivia, the Congo, Chile, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Guatemala, Cuba. Didn’t we back a military coup in Brazil back in the sixties? I know I’m missing a few here. An endless loop. Only you’re in it too and you don’t even have the wits to recognize it.

    Well, I’m sure in six months or two years, when Ukraine goes that final half-mile to hell that you’ll be “tsk-tsking” those cold warriors you believe now. Maybe you’ll even say, “Hey, I didn’t know there were real fascists there.” And you’ll be semi-detached and somewhat outraged until the next wave of propaganda gets you to waving the flag again. I pity the fool.

  235. 235.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Cacti:

    either

    out of gratitude to Putin,
    Sweet jesus

    o stand with Russia’s leader against international terrorists who have struck both of our countries?

    Katrina Vanden Heuvel’s husband pimping the GWOT in the pages of the Nation?

    I saw this guy on the Tweety show and he was actually pretty sensible, he seemed to want to talk down all the wing nuts who wanted to make this into a pissing contest.

  236. 236.

    Cacti

    @gogol’s wife:

    Also too, since Putin is so deeply concerned about the principle of “self-determination”, I’m sure he’ll be announcing a Crimea-style referendum for Chechnya any day now.

  238. 238.

    Steeplejack

    @geg6:

    As a guy, I will say that perhaps John’s “in a dress” could very well include “skirt and blouse,” because to many guys “in a dress” means “not in the casual slacks/jeans you usually wear.” Also, to many guys “dress” includes both dresses and skirts. Just sayin’.

  241. 241.

    Cacti

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    Even if the United States Government is as awful as you say it is, how does that make Putin automatically angelic? You still haven’t answered that question.

    I imagine he’ll address that one right around the time he reconciles Russia hating fascism with the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.

  242. 242.

    Bob In Portland

    @Gin & Tonic: Share with us, Gin. How did you learn Ukrainian? Decide to take it in high school? Were your grandfolks brought here under the Congress For Freedom? Maybe Project Paperclip? There were bunches of those programs after WWII. You didn’t have to be a rocket scientist to get into the US. Look at von Spakovsky. His parents were just White Russians. God knows what they did in the war.

    You’ve probably been trained from birth for this war, so I really hope you get the chance to go over there and become a martyr for the cause.

    Meanwhile, it would behoove some of you to read Christopher Simpson’s Blowback. He also wrote a great book about the post-WWII propaganda machine, The Science of Coercion, but it’s long out of print and apparently no one here thinks that the folks in our intelligence services lie to us. Gin knows what I’m talking about because he doesn’t answer questions either.

  243. 243.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Cacti: Hey, he not only got 100%, there was 100% turnout in his constituency. Democracy in action. I’m sure the 2.4 million ballots printed for the 1.4 million voters in Crimea will display democracy as well.

  245. 245.

    Bob In Portland

    @Cacti: I never said that Putin was angelic. He took over Crimea because it has been historically Russian for hundreds of years and has a majority of ethnic Russians there. Russians can remember back to WWII even if you can’t.

    What did the US do when the Soviet Union put missiles in Cuba? Well, now the US is stirring up shit in Russia’s backyard. Well, front yard. What do you think the US would do if, for example, it perceived that, say,US medical students, were in danger in Grenada?

    How’s that victory fracking well going in your backyard?

  246. 246.

    Cheryl from Maryland

    @ruemara: Exactly. Geg6, go Bodenusa.com. They have linen wide legged pants which are cool and comfortable.

  247. 247.

    Cacti

    @Bob In Portland:

    He took over Crimea because it has been historically Russian for hundreds of years and has a majority of ethnic Russians there

    And the Tartars who were there before the ethnic Russians, well, they’re “on the payroll of the house of Saud” and don’t even count as people, ammiright?

  249. 249.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Cacti: The Tatars who were there before were on the payroll of Genghis Khan from the 13th Century on. How anti-Russian can you get?

  250. 250.

    Bob In Portland

    @Cacti: Short list of wars, coups et al. So your logic is we can overthrow the elected government in Ukraine because…?

    The argument about Russia taking Crimea is essentially equal to US arguments for the Mexican War, and they’ve got a more legitimate argument than we did. I’m guessing the Americans in Texas and California were happier in the US than in Mexico. You ready to ready to rewrite that history?

  251. 251.

    Cacti

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    The Tatars who were there before were on the payroll of Genghis Khan from the 13th Century on. How anti-Russian can you get?

    Once the annexation of Crimea is complete, Bob will move on to playing apologist for the ethnic cleansing of the Tartars.

  253. 253.

    Bob In Portland

    @Cacti: Well, maybe the Russians can give them a little enclave if the fascists in Kiev give an enclave to the Russians in eastern Ukraine. And maybe the fascists can promise not to kill the remaining Jews on their way out.

    You don’t get a say in what Russia does, but you do get a say in what America does. All you have to do is talk, and apparently you are quite happy with that five billion spent to put “Yats” and his fascist cronies in power. Well, you own it, so enjoy it!

  255. 255.

    Bob In Portland

    @Omnes Omnibus: Must take an asshole to oppose the Vietnam War, eh? Or our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And to oppose coups financed by our government. I must have been a real asshole for opposing the overthrow of Allende in Chile.

    Contrarily, you must have liked the idea of putting Lumumba in the trunk of a car, right? You were just fine with the US supplying the list of people to be killed in Indonesia.

    Oh, or maybe I’m just being indiscreet here. It makes me an asshole to know the history of the Banderist and what they did the last time they were in power.

    Like I say, you bought it (for five billion dollars). You own it. Enjoy it!

  257. 257.

    Cacti

    @Bob In Portland:

    Must take an asshole to oppose the Vietnam War, eh? Or our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

    But at the same time willing to swallow whole the invasion and annexation of Crimea.

    Because IOKIYAR (It’s Okay If You Are Russia).

    Yep, it takes a huge one.

  258. 258.

    Bob In Portland

    @Cacti: Let me see. Since you want to go back to WWII, how about telling us who the bankers were who financed Hitler? Who handled Nazi investments in America in WWII in violation of the Trading With The Enemy Act? Who wanted that Cordon Sanitaire across Europe? What were the Dulleses doing before the war? How about the Harriman Bros, Cromwell and Sullivan?

    At this point you will make a joke about what you don’t know. I pity the fool.

  259. 259.

    Cacti

    @Bob In Portland:

    Well, maybe the Russians can give them a little enclave

    Really, Bob? Their very own little enclave?

    Maybe they can even hold the pretense of elections there.

    Nah, more likely I think they’ll get it like Grozny if they’re not on board with the “you’ll be Russian and like it!” bandwagon.

    I wonder when Chechnya gets their plebiscite on whether they want to belong to the Russian Federation or not. Oh wait, I forgot. Crimea doesn’t get that choice. Options A and B on the referendum are “annexation by Russia now” or “annexation by Russia later”.

  260. 260.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Bob In Portland: If you cannot grok that I was not referring to you as an asshole because of your views, then you are a dolt as well.

    I don’t know enough about the region or what is happening there to form a definitive opinion, but reputable sources seem to contradict much of what you are stating as fact. At this point, I am left with the option of listening to the reputable sources and keeping an open mind or believing the word of a crank who seems to believe that the CIA controls everything. I know which choice makes sense to me.

  261. 261.

    The Thin Black Duke

    I can’t tell you how grateful I am that there’s a guy sitting in the White House who’s smart enough not to listen to people like Bob.

  262. 262.

    ? Martin

    @Bob In Portland:

    So your point is that as long as you are going to believe lies and get behind lies, you prefer the “go along to get along” concept and thus the lies of the US.

    I’m not taking as fact anything coming out of the State Dept or out of the WH, and I haven’t referred to any of that to back up my arguments. You, on the other hand, are taking Putin at his word and denying everything that reporters on the ground are saying, the UN, Ukraine’s neighbors, etc.

    That billion in aid that Congress just voted. That’s not real money like the kind that goes to pay for food stamps, is it?

    So I’m defending the Tea Party now? Don’t flail so badly when you lose an argument. It only makes it clearer to everyone that you’re losing the argument.

  263. 263.

    Cacti

    @Bob In Portland:

    Let me see. Since you want to go back to WWII, how about telling us who the bankers were who financed Hitler? Who handled Nazi investments in America in WWII in violation of the Trading With The Enemy Act? Who wanted that Cordon Sanitaire across Europe? What were the Dulleses doing before the war? How about the Harriman Bros, Cromwell and Sullivan?

    Good point, Bob. While the US had some individual bad actors, we had a Trading With The Enemy Act prohibiting assistance to the Third Reich, as opposed to an official pact of cooperation with them. Do you regret not being alive for the Red Army/Wermacht parades through Brest-Litovsk, Grodno, and Pinsk?

    Must have been quite the spectacle.

    Or to have been in Kombrig Krivoshein’s tent when he toasted the German officers on their successes over “capitalist England”.

    I can imagine the tears welling up in your eyes as I type.

  264. 264.

    Bob In Portland

    @Cacti: Okay, were you against US interventions that I listed above? Then what makes overthrowing the elected government of Ukraine different? And why doesn’t Russia’s actions flow from the coup?

    Like I say, you are (presumably) American. You have a say in what America does. If America overthrows an elected government on the border with Russia you expect them to do nothing? What do you think the ultimate goal of putting fascists in control of Ukraine is? To make this a kinder, gentler world?

    Five billion for the coup. Another billion the other day. How many school lunches would that buy? Puff up that chest, boy. You live in a country that has invaded and overthrown other countries around the world since you were born, and long before that. And you get upset with Russia? I bet your were sore when the Afghans shot back.

  268. 268.

    Cacti

    @Bob In Portland:

    I bet your were sore when the Afghans shot back.

    Speaking of invasions of Afghanistan, were you against the one that happened from 1979 to 1989? Or was that another one of those “for the greater good” ones?

  269. 269.

    Cacti

    @Bob In Portland:

    Or how about Czechoslovakia in 1968. Since you were opposed to US involvement in Vietnam, you must have been equally appalled at the USSR and the Warsaw Pact nations sending in 200,000 troops and 2,000 tanks to crush a domestic reformist movement.

    Or were they fascists too?

  270. 270.

    opiejeanne

    @geg6: I found a dress in my closet that worked brilliantly and didn’t scream Mother of the Bride. I’d had it for years but had gotten a bit too large to wear it until then because I was pretty sick that year. I had bought a dress for the purpose at David’s, thought it looked ok in the store, got it home and HATED IT. It made me look like I’d put on weight rather than lost it, and it was matronly.
    So, I dug through my closet and opened a suitbag for some reason. I don’t know why it was in there or why I thought to open it. I mean, it should have had a men’s suit in it.
    There it was, blue silk, flattering cut, hem at top of my knee, somewhat classic design. I had worn it to my son’s HS graduation in 1988, and this was 2005. I looked pretty good, other than my face and hair. Chemo ages you, even the tiny amount they give you for Hep C..

  271. 271.

    Mnemosyne

    @Bob In Portland:

    Bob is now reminding me of an exchange from the original Bedazzled.

    Stanley Moon: You’re a nutcase! You’re a bleedin’ nutcase!
    George Spiggott: They said the same of Jesus Christ, Freud, and Galileo.
    Stanley Moon: They said it of a lot of nutcases too.

    Yes, yes, Bob, you’re right, no one has any agency or free will of their own except Americans. America controls everything and everyone in the world. Go lay down with a cold cloth on your head now.

  272. 272.

    Mnemosyne

    @Bob In Portland:

    You’ve probably been trained from birth for this war, so I really hope you get the chance to go over there and become a martyr for the cause.

    Yes, you don’t sound paranoid at all when you start accusing people of being Ukranian nationalist moles. Good job keeping your insanity under wraps! No one will ever guess!

    ETA: Also, I am curious when you learned to read Russian. You are reading original sources and not just depending on what you’re reading in English, right? You’re at least reading translations of original articles and not depending on others to interpret for you?

  273. 273.

    Gin & Tonic

    Here is part of the remarks by notorious fascist Barack Obama this afternoon.

    I think all of us have seen the courage of the Ukrainian people in standing up on behalf of democracy and on the desire that I believe is universal for people to be able to determine their own destiny. And we saw in the Maidan how ordinary people from all parts of the country had said that we want a change. And the Prime Minister was part of that process, showed tremendous courage, and upheld the principles of nonviolence throughout the course of events over the last several months.

    Obviously, the Prime Minister comes here during a very difficult time for his country. In the aftermath of President Yanukovych leaving the country, the parliament, the Rada, acted in a responsible fashion to fill the void, created a inclusive process in which all parties had input, including the party of former President Yanukovych. They have set forward a process to stabilize the country, take a very deliberate step to assure economic stability and negotiate with the International Monetary Fund, and to schedule early elections so that the Ukrainian people, in fact, can choose their direction for the future. And the Prime Minister has managed that process with great skill and great restraint, and we’re very much appreciative of the work that he has done.

  275. 275.

    Bob In Portland

    @Cacti: And you were braindead during Iraq, Afghanistan and the current war in Syria? And I guess you don’t have access to history. Or maybe you only read state-approved histories. At any case, if you have no understanding of how the invasion of Crimea flowed from the US’s overthrow of the elected government in Kiev then you’re a true-believer. You bought Ukraine, you own it. Enjoy it. Should be lots of fun.

  277. 277.

    Bob In Portland

    @Mnemosyne: No, you should listen and maybe ask questions.

    I’m not sure how old you are, but when the media says a story has only one side, whether you get your news from MSNBC or Fox, I try to understand why only one side is getting reported. It apparently doesn’t trouble you enough to look further.

    http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&biw=1024&bih=448&tbm=isch&tbnid=8Z5IWbAHLOYkJM%3A&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Foriginal.antiwar.com%2Fjustin%2F2014%2F03%2F04%2Fa-monster-reawakens-the-rise-of-ukrainian-fascism%2F&docid=x6XXekoYXwEExM&imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2Fs0sR7dL.jpg&w=4272&h=2848&ei=w_IgU_aQF4-EogTGoYCABQ&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=13876&page=3&start=19&ndsp=12&ved=0CI0BEIQcMBM

    Looks a little like Glen Beck in that photo, eh? Well, you own it. You paid for it. Enjoy it.

  278. 278.

    Cacti

    @Bob In Portland:

    And you were braindead during Iraq, Afghanistan and the current war in Syria? And I guess you don’t have access to history. Or maybe you only read state-approved histories.

    Since we’ve crossed over into the realm of nonsense questions, tell me Bob, what were you doing to oppose slavery in the southern states prior to 1861?

    And why didn’t you try to stop Scipio Africanus from sowing Carthage with salt at the end of the Third Punic War?

  280. 280.

    Cacti

    @Bob In Portland:

    Looks a little like Glen Beck in that photo, eh? Well, you own it. You paid for it. Enjoy it

    Maybe he could tell Putin that he just wants to invade Poland and split it with the Russian Federation.

    Worked last time, no?

  281. 281.

    Bob In Portland

    @Mnemosyne: Have you read Simpson’s BLOWBACK? There was a book about WACL by the Anderson Brothers? Know anything about international fascism? Do you think Pinochet was the rightful leader of Chile? That was another coup the US backed. How about the Shah of Iran? You were okay with the Savak?

    In the late forties and early fifties the CIA brought in thousands of people from eastern Europe after WWII. Lots of them showed up in the Republican Ethnic Heritage wing. Remember them? Many of them were stone fascists who fought with the Nazis against us during WWII. Most of that generation is dead now, but their offspring are still here, and many of them have been waiting for this day. Gin can apparently read and write Ukrainian. That’s a pretty useless language here in the US. So how does Gin know Ukrainian? He probably learned at a Ukrainian language school, probably because he’s the son of a Ukrainian immigrant that the CIA imported after WWII. That’s why I asked about the Congress For Freedom and Operation Paperclip. You know anything about that?

    But you probably know none of this, nor will you take the time to read about this because it’s… troubling. Better to bleat with the chorus. So, like I say, you own it. Enjoy it.

  282. 282.

    Bob In Portland

    Here. Start your education.

    From Publishers Weekly

    The postwar recruitment of Nazis and collaborators by agencies of the U.S. government stemmed, the author illustrates, from intense East-West competition after the German surrender, prodded by the prospect of war between the superpowers. Simpson, a freelance journalist, reveals that many covert operations of the early Cold War era involved the use of operatives known to have committed crimes against humanity during the Second World War. The underlying theme here is the corruption of American ideals in connection with this hushed-up recruitment policy in the name of anticommunism. In elaborating the policy’s “negative blowback,” Simpson emphasizes the long-term corrosive effect on American intelligence agencies in particular.

    From Library Journal

    As the story of Andrija Artukovic, the high-ranking fascist Croatian who found refuge in the United States, and books by John Loftus, Howard Blum, and others tell us, a disgraceful chapter in U.S. Cold War history lies in the systematic use of Nazi and fascist war criminals to help the anti-Soviet aims of American intelligence and national security agencies. Germans and East Europeans were eagerly recruited into and rose to key positions in the Cold War crusade. Simpson’s careful research which underscores the part of the Catholic Church and reveals the role of George Kennan in this policy raises profound questions for scholars, lawmakers, and citizens alike. Henry Steck, SUNY Coll. at Cortland.

  283. 283.

    Cacti

    @Gin & Tonic:

    I think you’re on the mark with your assessment of Bob as a LaRouchie.

    His missionary zeal for “here read XYZ and you’ll know the truth as I know it” seems a dead giveaway.

  284. 284.

    Gin & Tonic

    Folks, it’s far deeper than even comrade Bob can imagine. I can read and understand Old Church Slavonic, so I am obviously a sleeper agent of Michael Keroularios, waiting patiently for any opportunity to scuttle ecumenical reconciliation. I was too young to be able to kill Patriarch Athenagoras, but my time will come. You’ll see.

  285. 285.

    Mnemosyne

    @Bob In Portland:

    I’m not sure how old you are, but when the media says a story has only one side, whether you get your news from MSNBC or Fox, I try to understand why only one side is getting reported.

    Actually, I’ve seen at least three sides being reported. For convenience’s sake, let’s call them the Maidan side, the Yanukovych side, and the Russian side. And now we have a fourth and fifth side being reported from Crimea, with one side saying they want either independence from Ukraine or to rejoin with Russia and the other side saying that they want Crimea to stay with Ukraine. So, at a minimum, we have five (5) interrelated and competing sides all trying to get their story into the news.

    As far as I know, the only person here claiming there are only two sides, the US vs. Russia, is … you.

  286. 286.

    chopper

    @Gin & Tonic:

    According to mclaren I’m a CIA employee working out of the pentagon who is paid to disagree with him on the internet. Nice to meet another agent.

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