Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Conservatism: there are some people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

Fight them, without becoming them!

Republicans do not pay their debts.

A last alliance of elves and men. also pet photos.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Let’s finish the job.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

with the Kraken taking a plea, the Cheese stands alone.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

Ron DeSantis, the grand wizard, oops, governor of FL

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

Joe Lieberman disappointingly reemerged to remind us that he’s still alive.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

When we show up, we win.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / Foreign Affairs Open Thread: The March February of Folly

Foreign Affairs Open Thread: The March February of Folly

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  1. 1.

    Baud

    There were comments yesterday about reports that the long waiting game has demoralized the Russian troops. Hopefully, that’s true and will work to Ukraine’s advantage.

  2. 2.

    NotMax

    Should worst come to worst, apart from the immediacy and horror of human carnage, I am extremely concerned that Chernobyl may be classified as a target of opportunity by invading forces.

  3. 3.

    Another Scott

    ⚠️ Putin meeting with security council just started. They are all sitting far away from him in a big room. https://t.co/n95qk6hbvD

    — Ilya Lozovsky (@ichbinilya) February 21, 2022

    The tweet has a YouTube link.

    Russian state media claims that RU forces destroyed two Ukrainian fighting vehicles that they allege crossed the border into Russia.

    One thing that I find astonishing is that Kremlin seems to think it needs 10,000 completely implausible pretexts before launching invasion https://t.co/lSMTnNhREz

    — Dmitri Alperovitch (@DAlperovitch) February 21, 2022

    Both via VladDavidzon

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  5. 5.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Baud: Part of what made Eisenhower go ahead with the invasion on Normandy on June 6, 1944 despite the marginal weather was the fact that troops could not be kept in readiness for the invasion on the ships and in secluded camps for ever.

  8. 8.

    Roger Moore

    @Another Scott:

    One thing that I find astonishing is that Kremlin seems to think it needs 10,000 completely implausible pretexts before launching invasion

    I think they were hoping they’d be able to fake one or two big events that would convince people Ukraine was provoking them their allies in Donbass, thus forcing them to act.  Instead, US intel describing what they were planning wrong footed them.  Now they’re hoping they can concoct a whole series of events, and the sheer number will convince people they’re justified.  It’s not going to work, but I’m not surprised they’re still trying.  From their standpoint, the benefit of success and the low cost of trying justifies continuing, even with a low chance of success.

  11. 11.

    Baud

    @Roger Moore:

    I’m just speculating here, but I think Putin at this point is kind of hoping he can drag this out long enough for the rest of the world to get bored with it. In general, not a bad idea, because it does seem like non-evil people tend to lose their focus pretty quickly.  But I don’t think it’ll work in this case.

  17. 17.

    Yarrow

    the drumbeat of extremely specific intelligence continues

    I’m impressed with how the Biden administration has so much specific intelligence and is dropping it at key times.

  19. 19.

    Roger Moore

    @Baud:

    I’m just speculating here, but I think Putin at this point is kind of hoping he can drag this out long enough for the rest of the world to get bored with it.

    The problem with that idea is that the people likely to get tired of it fastest are his soldiers.  We’re able to sleep in the comfort of our beds every night.  Not to mention that he’s committed a large fraction of the Russian military to the area around Ukraine.  The longer he keeps that up, the more likely one of his other neighbors is to take advantage of the forces in their neighborhood being depleted.

  20. 20.

    Baud

    @Roger Moore:

    Oh, I agree.  That’s one reason why I think it wouldn’t work in this case.  It’s just hard for me to understand Putin’s thinking with regard to timing.  I’m certainly no military expert, but this strikes me as one of the most ham-fisted military strategies I can recall.

  21. 21.

    oldster

    Watching the canned rehearsal of implausible pretexts, thinking that Churchill still has it right:

    “jaw jaw is better than war war.”

  22. 22.

    hueyplong

    A cynical person would say Putin is throwing out multiple rationales so Tucker Carlson can pick the one that suits him/FoxNews best.  Surely Putin realizes that he isn’t a master of reading the room without help when it comes to American opinion.  Trump isn’t president anymore.  Putin can’t just jerk the leash and bark instructions in a private conference.

  23. 23.

    zhena gogolia

    @Baud: Do you realize how badly he runs his country? For 22 years now? The only thing he’s good at is stealing elections and crushing protest.

  24. 24.

    Baud

    @Roger Moore:

    The longer he keeps that up, the more likely one of his other neighbors is to take advantage of the forces in their neighborhood being depleted.

    Mongolia be like: We’re back, baby!

  25. 25.

    germy

    So JD Vance got into a dustup with one of the retired generals.

    Vance accused the general of sipping “fine wine” while working class young guys were fed into the meat grinder in the Middle East.

  28. 28.

    zhena gogolia

    @germy:

    You piece of shit. He nearly lost his arm in Vietnam. He led the 24th ID in our massive assault into Iraq in Desert Storm. You…were briefly a fucking PAO in an air wing. I can’t wait to see your loser ass absolutely shamed on election day. Coward.— Fred Wellman (@FPWellman) February 19, 2022

  29. 29.

    Baud

    @zhena gogolia: He’s prety decent at spreading disinformation too.

    Anyway, while the optimum outcome by a mile is no invasion, the second best outcome is an invasion where Russia is thoroughly defeated by Ukraine.  Hopefully, Putin’s incompetance makes that a possibilty.

  31. 31.

    Another Scott

    They look like they are about to recognize Luhansk and Donetsk republics https://t.co/SKVtNuHsmh— Vladislav Davidzon (@VladDavidzon) February 21, 2022

    Not unexpected, but a significant escalation if it happens. And a way for them to claim that Ukrainian forces in Ukraine are actually in Russia. I have little doubt that the west will accept that, but I wonder how many of these provocations will accrue before “swift” sanctions are turned on.

    I assume that all the good guys have gamed these things out already.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  32. 32.

    The Thin Black Duke

    Putin is playing checkers. The US is playing chess. With Trump gone, Putin isn’t the smartest guy in the room anymore.

  35. 35.

    tokyokie

    Seize every last asset that every last Russian oligarch has in a Western country, and within a week, Vladimir Vladimirovich will suffer a mysterious fall through an upper-floor window.

  37. 37.

    MattF

    It’s been noted that Putin now has put most of Russia’s troops on Ukraine’s borders, and the numbers are increasing. Looks to me like he’s going for broke.

  38. 38.

    zhena gogolia

    Six people were arrested today in Moscow for trying to picket with anti-war/anti-govt signs. Sad to see how Russian civil society has been destroyed over the past decade. There’s no good reason to drag away these peaceful demonstrators. None. pic.twitter.com/8apbN0jbhh— Kevin Rothrock (@KevinRothrock) February 20, 2022

  41. 41.

    Another Scott

    KyivIndependent news feed:

    17:13
    external Russian stock market plunges 12-15%. The market is sinking as the Russian Security Council is considering recognizing the Russian-occupied regions of eastern Ukraine as independent states on live TV.

    Money talks.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  42. 42.

    lee

    The invasion of Ukraine has got me thinking about something.

    We’ve got government folks working in Ukraine right now doing all sorts of things. There is a non-zero chance that if hostilities increase they’ll get killed either on purpose or by accident.

    Does the Dept of State (as an example) swap out folks when situations like this occur? I’m sure they reduce their head count. Do they have a ‘things might go pear shaped’ team they ship in to at least keep the lights on and forms filled out?

    Honestly I could see myself doing something like this.

  43. 43.

    The Pale Scot

    @NotMax:

    Should worst come to worst, apart from the immediacy and horror of human carnage, I am extremely concerned that Chernobyl may be classified as a target of opportunity by invading forces.

    Since the prevailing westerlies would carry the majority of the radiation to Moscow..

  44. 44.

    JoyceH

    I saw on the news that Russian disinformation about troop movements is failing because the locals keep posting real video on Tik-Tok. Hard for armies to sneak around these days. Wondering if the Ukrainians couldn’t just get some miles ahead of the tanks with bulldozers and dig some deep ditches.

  45. 45.

    JoyceH

    @MattF: That’s what’s so weird – he’s got most of his troops involved and it’s nowhere NEAR enough to take and hold Ukraine.

  49. 49.

    Roger Moore

    @Baud:

    It’s just hard for me to understand Putin’s thinking with regard to timing.

    The way to think about it is that we’re already at war, even though the shooting hasn’t started.  Putin expected to be able to start the shooting part of the war on favorable terms by winning the information war leading up to it.  His basic plan was to isolate Ukraine from potential allies, destabilize it internally by stoking existing divisions, and then create a provocation that would justify whatever military action he wanted.

    You can see why he thought this would work.  He’s done it before, and his opponents didn’t even realize the war had started until they were already well on their way to defeat.  The difference in this case is that NATO intelligence figured out what was happening early enough to counter-attack, and NATO’s capabilities have been far more impressive than Putin expected.  Instead of having the war mostly won before the shooting started, he’s actually losing the information war.  He doesn’t want to start the shooting on unfavorable terms, so he’s holding off.  Maybe he’ll be able to pull off some big information win that will let him start the war on favorable terms, but he’s either going to be forced to retreat before the shooting starts or start it on much less favorable terms than he hoped.

  50. 50.

    pajaro

    @Another Scott:

    So is it possible that plan B for Putin is to recognize the breakaway areas in Ukraine as separate states, like he did in Georgia with Abhazia and South Ossetia and overtly provide aid to them, but not attempt to engage directly with Ukrainian forces in the rest of the country?

  51. 51.

    lee

    @MattF: Here’s my wild-ass guess:

    Russian forces are already in Ukraine. They have been occupying Crimea for 8 years now. Putin is doing this so that when he backs down from taking more Ukrainian land he hopes that the current occupation becomes the norm and he keeps Crimea.

  53. 53.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    About 20 to 25 years ago or so, I’d been appointed as guardian ad litem in a guardianship proceeding for an old gent suffering Alzheimer’s. He’d been a senior level engineer in his working days, nattily turned out and well-spoken.

    Couldn’t tell you what year it was, what he’d eaten for breakfast or remember my name a few minutes after I gave it BUT…

    …he’d been a young major on the SHAEF planning staff, working with Eisenhower on the D-Day invasion. Could tell you who was there and who was in what rooms as each decision was made. Honestly, I wish I had put him on a recorder just to get those incredibly sharp recollections.

  54. 54.

    dmsilev

    @JoyceH:  There are also several commercial outfits with “spy” (i.e. imaging) satellite constellations. Pretty easy for a news organization or whatever to source their own imagery of the region and say “look: tanks!”, without having to tell their audience “trust the US intelligence community”.

  56. 56.

    Roger Moore

    @tokyokie:

    Seize every last asset that every last Russian oligarch has in a Western country, and within a week, Vladimir Vladimirovich will suffer a mysterious fall through an upper-floor window.

    Depends on the country.  The place this would be most devastating is the UK, but they’re going to be very reluctant to cause the London property market to crash, even though that would actually be a huge win for working and middle class Londoners.

  57. 57.

    topclimber

    I wonder whether part of Putin’s calculus is the asymmetry of the economic warfare that follows an invasion.

    As I get it, Putin’s big ace is cutting off energy supplies to Ukraine and the rest of Europe. With winter almost over, perhaps that’s not much of a threat over the next 6-8 months. There would still be negative economic consequences for the West, but no one freezing.

    Whereas Western financial sanctions will hit almost immediately–and in ways he cannot be sure he knows.

  59. 59.

    Roger Moore

    @JoyceH:

    That’s what’s so weird – he’s got most of his troops involved and it’s nowhere NEAR enough to take and hold Ukraine.

    The goal most likely isn’t to take and hold Ukraine.  The goal is most likely to install a puppet government after capturing and imprisoning or executing as many pro-Western leaders as possible.  I’m not 100% sure if they’ll annex Donbass or let it stay with their puppet government.

  60. 60.

    dmsilev

    @topclimber: That thought occurred to me as well. Also, with regards to the seasons, he really has to either pull the trigger while the ground is still frozen or once the thaw begins wait another couple of months until the mud dries out.

  62. 62.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    Sort of shades of 1914 – Austria-Hungry was advised by Germans to ether invade Serbia before Serbia’s allies could decided what to do so the Serbia allies would be presented with a fait accompli , or just drop it.  Instead Austria-Hungry dithered, Serbia  allies got organized and then, once it was clear Russia would go to war to support Serbia, Austria-Hungry invaded anyway starting WWI.

    This sounds like Putin is channeling his inner Conrad von Hotzendolf.

  63. 63.

    Another Scott

    @pajaro: I think that is part of the plan, but he could have done that at any time, IMHO.  Everyone knows that Russian forces have been in the east for going on 8 years.  He could perhaps have ramped that up with little blowback if he did it less overtly.

    No, I fear that his aim is to replace the government in Kyiv.  He’s hoping that everything changes if a government is friendly to him, rejects the EU and NATO, and becomes “compliant” like Belarus.  “It’s not an invasion!  We were invited!!1”  I don’t know his timeline (obviously), but that has to be his goal.

    I don’t know if he thinks time is on his side and that the West will tire, but I have to hope that Biden and NATO have planned for a creeping-coup type of situation.  (I.e. sitting in Donbas and Luhansk for a few weeks/months, then Ukraine’s leadership suddenly suffering some crisis, then some friendly puppet claiming to take over and wanting help “to restore stability” and suchlike from VVP.)

    We’ll see.  :-(

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  64. 64.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    From where I’m standing (a little ways off to the southeast, but a little close for comfort if a wider war breaks out), it looks like old V.V. may perceive some sort of pressure from some direction that we’re not aware of here in the jackaltariat. Is he trying the “short victorious war to stem the tide of revolution” gambit, the wag-the-dog strategy to distract from some internal political pressure? Does Kyiv falling further out of Moscow’s orbit have some immediate adverse effect on Putin, or maybe his backers? Putin looks from our perspective like he’s domestically secure at the top of the power pyramid, but how secure is he?

    What the hell is the scenario that will be averted by invading Ukraine without any viable diplomatic cover?

  65. 65.

    Miss Bianca

    Is it bad that every time I see the word “Dombass” my brain reads it as “Dumbass”?

    Yes, it is bad, I know it.

  67. 67.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Roger Moore:

    According to Glenn Greenwald, neither ethnic minorities, religious minorities nor the working class/working poor are entitled to protection from the uncriticizable firehose of ethno-nationalist and economic glibertarian  propaganda from the oligarchic forces on the right. Their only recourse is to meekly say “we don’t suck, truly, don’t smash us” while not criticizing the content of the torrents of all the paid for torrents of free speech directed at them.

    Sure woulda been nice if those NSA programs that Snowjob blew up could identify the malefactors.

  69. 69.

    Bill

    I have read that crimea is majority ethnically russian while donbass and the eastern regions in ukraine are not majority ethnically russian. Is this correct ?

  70. 70.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Another Scott:

    No, I fear that his aim is to replace the government in Kyiv.

    I see this a lot, and I don’t understand it. “The government” in a parliamentary democracy with a population of 40 million is a large thing. Then you have 24 oblasts, each with its own administrative structure. Let’s say you install a pliant President and Prime Minister, then what? You have a 450-member legislature, you have myriad departments and agencies, and in every one you can count on about 80% of the people to be vehemently opposed to Russia. How do you run this?

  72. 72.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @dmsilev: They can’t just stay at the border until June.  Logistically, they need a go order soon or they will need to pull back to some degree.  Feeding and supply an army of that size in the field is a big task.  The armored and wheeled vehicles are going to need more than field maintenance.  The soldiers themselves will start to get stale from being at full readiness and not really training.    Once it gets muddy, all of those things will be worse.

  73. 73.

    Gin & Tonic

    @pajaro: If he recognizes the DNR and LNR, then he’s stuck paying the bill. There are plenty of Ukrainians outside those areas who will say (quietly) let him have them. They’re a basket case anyway.

  75. 75.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Gin & Tonic:

    “We are all ethnic cousins with a similar language and much shared history dating back to before the writing of Primary Chronicle 1200 years ago. Together, we can improve life for the people of this region of the Motherland.”

  76. 76.

    Another Scott

    @Gin & Tonic: I’m no expert, obviously, but my assumption is that Yanukovich II would try to find a way to impose rule from the top.  Suspend the Constitution (or equivalent), attempt to remove the opposition, etc.

    My impression is that VVP thinks he can impose his will on Ukraine, and ultimately that means controlling the government there.

    Thanks for the pushback.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  77. 77.

    Gin & Tonic

    And there it is: Volodin’s official request as speaker of lower house for Putin to recognize D/LNR.
    Now comes speaker of upper house.
    Right up the chain—stunning, almost Stalinist choreography.
    — Dan Peleschuk (@dpeleschuk) February 21, 2022

  78. 78.

    Frank Wilhoit

    @Roger Moore: This is one reason why — past the Talking Phase — we do not have as many allies as we think we do.  Recipients of Russian money or gas: NOT allies.  Hungary and Poland: NOT allies.  If Putin pulls the trigger, NATO will crumble.  That is his long game, if he has one, which he may not.

  80. 80.

    MattF

    @Gin & Tonic: You run it on the Soviet model. Ukraine would have a government that is a smaller-scale replica of the current Russian government— thieves, thugs, etc. And a Genius of the People in charge.

    ETA: Or perhaps just declare that Ukraine is part of Russia.

  81. 81.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Another Scott: A lot has changed since Yanukovych. Again, it’s a nation of 40 million over nearly a quarter-million square miles, and 75-80% don’t want you there under any circumstances. That’s a difficult problem.

  83. 83.

    Roger Moore

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    One thing that has to have the generals on tenterhooks is what happens if there’s a thaw after the invasion but well before they reach their objectives.  They aren’t going to be running a blitzkrieg attack through deep mud, but their plans will have been revealed and their troops exposed.

  84. 84.

    Roger Moore

    @MattF:

    The question is how many Russian troops Putin would need to lend his Ukrainian puppet to keep things under control.  I think it would be a prohibitive number, and they’d need to be there for a good long time.

  85. 85.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Nataliya Vasilyeva @Nat_Vasilyeva 54m

    Sergey Naryshkin, head of Russia’s foreign intelligence agency SVR, in a stunning exchange with President Putin said stuttering he supports “incorporating Donetsk and Luhansk into Russia.”
    “We’re not talking about it yet,” Mr Putin interrupted him.

  86. 86.

    ThresherK

    @Another Scott:Ukrainians..crossed the border, on purpose, to be sold as invading  Russia?

    Great. Putin is creating his own Gleiwitz Incident. I mean, that’s always a good look.

  89. 89.

    Another Scott

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Naryshkin, who seems very, very nervous, says that LNR and DNR should be incorporated into Russia. Putin says – whoa, we're not talking about that, only recognizing independence. Can't want to see if/when this idea comes back again in a bit.

    — Hannah Thoburn (@HannahThoburn) February 21, 2022

    Yup. :-(

    Interesting thread.

    (via VladDavidzon)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  92. 92.

    Kalakal

    @Frank Wilhoit: I think you’re overstating it. Certainly as far as the UK goes, the economic hit from trashing the top end of the property market is nothing compared to what a pissed off US govt could do. If Putin goes ahead the ensuing bloodbath would make being seen to  side with Russia about as popular as anthrax to UK voters of any party. The Tories would be distancing themselves from oligarchs at warp 10

  96. 96.

    Another Scott

    @Baud: Yup.

    I saw that number when I was looking into the pre-Iraq invasion testimony.  (No time to dig it up again, but) Some article I found said it went back to the US Sector occupation of Germany.  A lot has changed since then in warfare, but it still seems like a sensible ballpark estimate.

    It’s extremely easy for armies and air forces to break things these days, but it’s still really hard for occupiers to get individual people to do what they want.  That takes a large, visible presence of people around them all the time.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  98. 98.

    Brachiator

    @Gin & Tonic:

    I see this a lot, and I don’t understand it. “The government” in a parliamentary democracy with a population of 40 million is a large thing. Then you have 24 oblasts, each with its own administrative structure. Let’s say you install a pliant President and Prime Minister, then what?

    How should this affect US or NATO decisions with respect to Putin’s aims?

  99. 99.

    Another Scott

    It looks like the FORTE11 USAF Global Hawk (surveillance drone) is leaving Sicily and heading back to Ukraine.

    Live – FlightRadar24

    [eta] Or maybe it’s doing something else. It wasn’t showing up at all for me earlier today.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  101. 101.

    Thor Heyerdahl

    @Frank Wilhoit: Poland being a prickly pain in the ass with the EU is not the same as supporting Putin. They’ve been in this situation with Russia multiple times over the last 500 years… and with the Smolensk plane crash happening just over a decade ago (which was supposed for a commemoration of the Katyn massacre 82 years ago), Russian support would be a no go.

  104. 104.

    Yarrow

    @zhena gogolia:

    I don’t get the impression Americans are paying much attention one way or another.

    Agreed. However I do think it has broken through somewhat. A friend who never pays any attention to the news but knows I do asked me what was going on with Russia and Ukraine the other day. This person is probably the most opposite of a news junkie type of person you could imagine. If it’s broken through to that kind of person people at least know something is happening even if they don’t know what.

  105. 105.

    debbie

    @Baud:

    Late last night on the BBC, they were talking about “face-saving” strategies for Putin. Fuck that. Losing his face should be the price to pay for what Putin’s subjecting all of Europe and Russia to.

  106. 106.

    artem1s

    @Baud: ​
     
    I think Putin at this point is kind of hoping he can drag this out long enough for the rest of the world to get bored with it. to effect the outcome of the midterm elections.
    In my mind, it’s not coincidental that he has chosen to ramp up the conflict over Ukraine right at the beginning of Biden’s second year in office. Also just when the details of the conspiracy surrounding the insurrection are starting to come out. The GOP needs some BUTHEREMAILS or BENGHAZI-911!!!!!!!!!!!! to use in their campaign ads. Putin wants a soft on Russia GOPer in the WH and if he can’t have that, he’s going to do everything he can to marginalize the power of the executive branch. Losing the Senate and having Moscow Mitch back in charge would be an enormous face saver for him.
    Expect GOPers to be screeching ‘war monger’ and ‘you lie’ from the house floor during the SOTU speech when Ukraine comes up.

  107. 107.

    New Deal democrat

    @Baud:

    Lawyers have a rule of thumb in litigation: the party who asks for settlement negations first is the weakling. Putin apparently asked for a summit with Biden. He is worried.

    As others have said, every day Russia doesn’t invade, the weaker the situation for Putin.

    Which means that not only can Biden and the West categorically rule out any concessions, but they can press for concessions themselves, most particularly, Ukraine’s right to join NATO, with the territorial particulars of that right being what Putin is left to negotiate.

  110. 110.

    Miss Bianca

    @Kalakal:

    The Tories would be distancing themselves from oligarchs at warp 10

    You think? I mean, I’d like to think so, but these are the Tories we’re talking about here.

  111. 111.

    trollhattan

    Biden/Putin summit will end with Biden announcing withdrawal of Russian troops from the Ukraine border after joint agreement that Glenn Greenwald is a “ginormous annoying dick-head and don’t even get us started on that fucking idiot Bari Weiss…”

    TBogg, predicting Biden and Putin find common ground at long last.

  113. 113.

    hueyplong

    @artem1s: If Putin were really just screwing with the midterms I’d call this a case of premature escalation because I don’t think he can last that long.

  114. 114.

    jonas

    @germy: Vance spent the weekend getting his ass dragged from one end of the internet to the other and back again for that comment, mostly by vets pointing out that McCaffrey has multiple purple hearts and kids that served under him in Iraq. Did he even delete it?

  115. 115.

    Another Scott

    KyivIndependent news feed:

    18:20
    external Putin’s Security Council meeting could be pre-recorded. Russian President Vladimir Putin held the meeting to discuss recognizing the Russian-occupied parts of eastern Ukraine as independent states. The meeting was supposedly streamed in real-time, however, independent Russian media outlet TV Rain (Dozhd) reported that the watch of one of the council members was five hours behind the current time in Moscow.

    Yet another reminder that one should never blindly accept video as being authentic these days.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  125. 125.

    cain

    @Gin & Tonic: Never mind that Russian forces have spilledf Ukrainian blood. I don’t think that’s going to go down well with the majority populace if a new govt just shrugs and say it’s time to move on and love our Russian neighbors.

  128. 128.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    It occurred to me; watch, with the Ukraine the Anti Vaccine crazies will stop because they aren’t getting attention.  And I got me wondering; Putin did a lot to create the World Wide Right Wing Paranoid movement and his own monster came back and bit him on the ass with Covid running amok in the Russian Federation. Maybe Putin real goal in the Ukraine is to distract his own domestic crazies and have an excuse to pressure the Russian population to get vaccinated.

  129. 129.

    Ksmiami

    @Frank Wilhoit: Wrong Wrong Wrong Wrong. Putin’s actions have reinforced the need for NATO and a strengthening alliance. Europe isn’t America- they have more recent memories of war-torn life and have no interest in going back to that. And domestically, Fox and it’s adherents are about to be known as a fifth column…

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