All purpose news and politics thread part VI: This Is Not The Time For Posing

[thwhtGuardian]

Whether he gets his "cake" or not, I wonder if Putin felt confident he'd somehow successfully tailor or at least be able to later salvage the optics of this, cause right now it doesn't look in his favor (at least not from my corner of the woods).

I mean the world largely forgot that he captured the Crimean peninsula so it's sadly not out of the realm of possibility that he'd face no real consequences yet again. The west understandably doesn't want WWIII so there will not likely be any real military consequences and with more money coming into Russia from China than the west financial punishments don't have much of a punch.

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

I know it is only a day into Russia's invasion of the Ukraine but has anyone else seen low level panic buying because of the threats of a Cyber attack on out power and water grids?

I saw a decent amount of people stocking up heavy on canned goods and bottled water today. Like more then normal and there were a couple people who said it was because if the water and power went out because of an attack.

Possibly regional. There's a winter storm passing through the country.

[Ragged Maw]

I mean the world largely forgot that he captured the Crimean peninsula so it's sadly not out of the realm of possibility that he'd face no real consequences yet again. The west understandably doesn't want WWIII so there will not likely be any real military consequences and with more money coming into Russia from China than the west financial punishments don't have much of a punch.

Not necessarily sure if its the same ballgame, what with Crimea being much smaller and having been largely Russian in population even before Putin moved in on it. Also, as an accent to this current mess, Russia's currently flirting with an infamous radioactive hazard that might attract even more negative attention than the current leadership cares for.

[JB]

I mean the world largely forgot that he captured the Crimean peninsula so it's sadly not out of the realm of possibility that he'd face no real consequences yet again. The west understandably doesn't want WWIII so there will not likely be any real military consequences and with more money coming into Russia from China than the west financial punishments don't have much of a punch.

It's true. Putin has been pivoting and strengthening relations to the east to buffer economic sanctions from the west. The SCO is just one of a bunch of organizations Russia is part of. And then he uses the sanctions as an excuse to continue building relations eastward.

"The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), also known as the Shanghai Pact, is an Eurasian political, economic, and security alliance."
Members: China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, India. Afghanistan, Mongolia and a few others are also loosely aligned as observer states.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

I know it is only a day into Russia's invasion of the Ukraine but has anyone else seen low level panic buying because of the threats of a Cyber attack on out power and water grids?

I saw a decent amount of people stocking up heavy on canned goods and bottled water today. Like more then normal and there were a couple people who said it was because if the water and power went out because of an attack.

Not to make light of such a thing, but those are probably the same people who clear out store shelves like locusts when the forecast calls for a major winter storm. The chances of people losing water and power as a result of aging and collapsing infrastructure are better than from cyberattacks.

[Xheight]

It's pathetic when someone has fallen so far into their derangement that you can predict not only the actions they will take, but the very talking points they will use.

The only thing that is predicable is the series of facts that have been ignored, inverted or invented to seem like they are Trump's failings. There is a direct line of lies and cover-up from the Steele dossier, the Zelensky call on to spoiled meetings with Putin when it is Democrats who have used Russia as a boogey man and ignored the real harm it has inflicted in their typical hypocrisy. Syrian rebel's deaths are on the Obama for giving Russia a pass to help the regime and Today's Ukraine is much more about Biden than anything Trump did or did not do. Americans chose to ignore how corrupt Biden is and now someone else is paying for it.

The indictment charges Danchenko, a Russian citizen who lives in Virginia, with lying to FBI agents back in 2017 about some of the sources of information that he passed on to former British spy Christopher Steele.

[GindyPosts]

This invasion seems pretty stupid. Have the Russians forgotten their war in Afghanistan so quickly?
Ukraine, being the largest European country, has a lot of territory to conquer and if he manages to do that, he still has to maintain control. But why waste the energy when he could've benefitted from trading with them as friendly neighbors instead?
I just don't see this as a winnable situation given the economic retaliation from the West and possible resentment from the Russian Oligarchy at home. Looking at the cost vs the benefit, it makes no sense.
There's an ulterior motive we can't see here.

It's all thanks to Putin having the textbook traits of your average dictator/autocratic ruler; he wants to show off massive feats of strength in order to maintain his cult of personality... as well as show off the world his dick size to compensate for some ego complex. Sure, he could get what he wants through mutually favorable economic agreements and political negotiations that would allow a democratic Ukraine to be allowed to join NATO and the UK in exchange for the more Unionist parts of the country to be annexed by Russia, but where's the fun in that?

He wants to do this in order to show off the strength of his country and to prove on the global stage that sanctions and legislation mean nothing. If there's something he wants, he'll get it, regardless of the consequences to himself or his people. History isn't going to look kindly at Putin beyond the inevitable revisionist or partisan narrative that has already been planned out, so his legacy is more about what he can accomplish while he's alive.

Sadly, that’s highly unlikely. Qpublicans have demonstrated a vested interest in Putin’s vile actions because they believe it hurts Biden who was unable to prevent this conflict from happening through diplomatic terms, even though Putin had already decided from day one to invade Ukraine and all the diplomatic entreaties from the U.S. and NATO countries went in one ear and out the other. As a retired military man, I worry about the possibility of our troops getting mixed up in this mess, something I sorely hope doesn’t happen, but yeah, I hope this ends soon before it devolves into a monumental catastrophe.

Remember when Russia was the country Republicans hated so much that Republican Jesus himself would spend weekly "sermons" discussing how awful it was to live there and allowed terrible dictators to take over as long as they would not allow anything resembling socialism in their new governments instead of a good chunk of the nation looking up to it for some forsaken reason?

[Robotman]

It's all thanks to Putin having the textbook traits of your average dictator/autocratic ruler; he wants to show off massive feats of strength in order to maintain his cult of personality... as well as show off the world his dick size to compensate for some ego complex. Sure, he could get what he wants through mutually favorable economic agreements and political negotiations that would allow a democratic Ukraine to be allowed to join NATO and the UK in exchange for the more Unionist parts of the country to be annexed by Russia, but where's the fun in that?

He wants to do this in order to show off the strength of his country and to prove on the global stage that sanctions and legislation mean nothing. If there's something he wants, he'll get it, regardless of the consequences to himself or his people. History isn't going to look kindly at Putin beyond the inevitable revisionist or partisan narrative that has already been planned out, so his legacy is more about what he can accomplish while he's alive.



Remember when Russia was the country Republicans hated so much that Republican Jesus himself would spend weekly "sermons" discussing how awful it was to live there and allowed terrible dictators to take over as long as they would not allow anything resembling socialism in their new governments instead of a good chunk of the nation looking up to it for some forsaken reason?

No surprise that Trump and co have their lips glued to his ass. He's their kind of people. Narcissistic sociopaths. The scary thing is that Putin is actually intelligent and capable of pulling off these horrible actions. The guy is former KGB, so he knows how to play dirty.

The amount of control he has exerted over the West is truly scary. He has half of the GOP and probably 1/3 of the American public cheering him on. All thanks to his massive misinformation campaigns which have stoked America's super racists and xenophobic tendencies.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

handled dear sir, the only comedy is the foolishness that the mockers now have on their faces as it is surely tragedy for the Ukrainians that rooted for Biden and held out on handing over the dirt on Hunter.

So when did Hunter Biden become President the last 4 years and deal with Putin ? When did he become the President of the United States and had any deals with Putin in that span where he didn't believe his US Intelligence officials for years ?

[Amadeus Arkham]

[Zelena]

I mean the world largely forgot that he captured the Crimean peninsula so it's sadly not out of the realm of possibility that he'd face no real consequences yet again. The west understandably doesn't want WWIII so there will not likely be any real military consequences and with more money coming into Russia from China than the west financial punishments don't have much of a punch.

In the short-term, Putin is indeed the winner… In the long-term, he has justified the very existence of the NATO.

The question is: does he really want to keep the whole Ukraine or will he use the non-secessionist parts as a bargain?

[JackDaw]

In the short-term, Putin is indeed the winner… In the long-term, he has justified the very existence of the NATO.

The question is: does he really want to keep the whole Ukraine or will he use the non-secessionist parts as a bargain?

Yes, of course he means to keep it all. And a great more besides.

He’s consistently said he wants to re-assemble the Soviet Union. He’s not like the Donald on the legendary wall…just saying things for rhetorical effect…he’s been completely open about his intentions for years now.

Putin probably regards Ronald Reagan as the devil incarnate. Certainly he intends to do whatever he can to reverse the land losses of that era.

Deep down I suspect a lot of Russians agree with Putin, one guy can’t bend a nation of that size to his will, he has to be pushing in a direction many people want to go.

If it was all down to Putin, there would be a strong case for assassination. But it isn’t all down to him, and that dark path would make things even worse I think.

[CaptainEurope]

Of course Ukrainians by and large preferred Biden. So did Germans. And the vast majority of countries, other than Hungary and Poland, in the EU. And Ukrainians had more reason than others not to want a Putin lapdog in the WH anymore.

[CaptainEurope]

An entire Ukrainian Orphanage is being evacuated to Germany today. People in the Freiburg area were publicly asked to foster those kids.

[shooshoomanjoe]

In the short-term, Putin is indeed the winner… In the long-term, he has justified the very existence of the NATO.

The question is: does he really want to keep the whole Ukraine or will he use the non-secessionist parts as a bargain?

But NATO hasn't done anything except send soldiers to Eastern Europe. I haven't heard of any countries helping Ukraine.