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

[Gray Lensman]

Putin literally declared Ukraine a non-existant state that belongs entirely to Russia but it's *TOTALLY* about nazis, you guys!

Sure, Ukraine may be a made up country, but the same can be said for ALL countries. Nations, as opposed to kingdoms/empires, are a relatively new concept for humanity. We tend to forget that point.

[JackDaw]

He also rigged, at least, his first elections, same as Yeltsin, but that was OK with the west, as long as they played ball.

That sounds like quite a faulty filtering process, it's better to get everything and see where each source usually "gets it wrong".



I've had more than one altercation with people taking off their masks in public transport, as soon as they get past the driver. At the same time, I think Nazis run Ukraine. "Run" in the sense that they do what they want with impunity and despite what the "freely" elected president might ask of them.

What’s your take on how Mother Russia is governed?

On the surface to me it looks a few totally unelected oligarchs have ripped vast wealth out of the country, and Putin treats any opposition totally ruthlessly.

Yes…you could well argue that US, UK, etc is just as bad. But I’m baffled how you could really believe Russia have a moral case for invading Ukraine.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

While Bad Vlad is on the front burner, let's not forget the High Court's pending killshot on Roe v. Wade which has women hating Qpublicans creaming their boxers in anticipation, leading to this meme I saw on Twitter last night:

[Ozymandias]

Putin literally declared Ukraine a non-existant state that belongs entirely to Russia but it's *TOTALLY* about nazis, you guys!

It was a result of the Treaty of Versailles, so it didn't exists. It was part of Russia. That was a century ago, so several generations have come and gone, nowadays some parts of Ukraine no longer have much in common with Russia (other that the language the Ukronazis banned on day 1). Where did Putin say he wanted those parts for Russia? As in all of Ukraine? In fact, when did he say any part of Ukraine should go back to Russia?

[Tendrin]

It was a result of the Treaty of Versailles, so it didn't exists. It was part of Russia. That was a century ago, so several generations have come and gone, nowadays some parts of Ukraine no longer have much in common with Russia (other that the language the Ukronazis banned on day 1). Where did Putin say he wanted those parts for Russia? As in all of Ukraine? In fact, when did he say any part of Ukraine should go back to Russia?

Dude, he literally invaded a whole ass country while saying it had no right to exist while pre-planned media blitzes spoke as if it was already conquered. Also 'ukronazis'. Lol.

[Gray Lensman]

Dude, he literally invaded a whole ass country while saying it had no right to exist while pre-planned media blitzes spoke as if it was already conquered. Also 'ukronazis'. Lol.

Don't forget ordering the school textbooks changed so that there is no longer any mention of Ukraine in them. I think we can level the Nazi charge more readily upon Russia.

[Tendrin]

Don't forget ordering the school textbooks changed so that there is no longer any mention of Ukraine in them. I think we can level the Nazi charge more readily upon Russia.

Meanwhile, Russia cultivated and co-opted its own home brand of neo-nazis and hard right nationalists, (astutely using the law to batter some figures and groups) while adopting policies that would draw their supporters, utilizing things like it's own 'don't say gay' laws to do exactly that, and has spent decades backing hard-right nationalists and neo-nazis throughout europe as a means to destabilize those countries (and this is a known strategy laid out by one of Putin's closest advisors alongside cultivating dependence on Russian energy supplies), *and* the fact that the single greatest asset to Ukranian neo-nazis gaining traction and power is *literally Putin himself having invaded the country*. To believe that he actually gives a **** about stopping hard-right nationalism or neo-Nazism, or a batallion that was literally established after he invaded the first time when his puppet government collapsed in the face of overwhelming desire for ties to Europe instead of Russia, and when he amplifies it in his own country and elsewhere, is just absurd.

[Ozymandias]

What’s your take on how Mother Russia is governed?

On the surface to me it looks a few totally unelected oligarchs have ripped vast wealth out of the country, and Putin treats any opposition totally ruthlessly.

Yes…you could well argue that US, UK, etc is just as bad. But I’m baffled how you could really believe Russia have a moral case for invading Ukraine.

Better than in the past, worse than they deserve. But then again, don't people tend to get what they actually deserve? If they have a history of slavery (serfdom was only abolished around the time the American Civil War started) maybe they don't know how to live without a strong authoritarian figure ruling them, be that a Czar, a General Secretary or Putin. Look what happened when Gorbachev tried to change pace.

In the '90s, unscrupulous people (both from within and without) robbed the Russians blind. My father in law, for example, lost half his life savings from one day to the next. That's the situation Putin had on his hands when he arrived. He basically told the oligarchs, keep the money but don't interfere with politics. Jodorkowsky was made an example of, for not following suit. Is that ruthless? Not compared with what his predecessors would've done (with the exception again of Gorbachev). Is it ideal? No. Is it avoidable? I doubt it.

As for morals. Let's get back to slavery. Lincoln had a very good cause to rally his troops behind, but was the American Civil War waged because of that? All I'm saying is that Putin had a reason for doing what he did, whether that's THE reason why he did it...

[Ozymandias]

Dude, he literally invaded a whole ass country while saying it had no right to exist while pre-planned media blitzes spoke as if it was already conquered. Also 'ukronazis'. Lol.

So he didn't say any of that, he stated historical facts while conducting a "Special Military Operation". I don't get the reference to "pre-planned media blitzes".

[Ozymandias]

Meanwhile, Russia cultivated and co-opted its own home brand of neo-nazis and hard right nationalists, (astutely using the law to batter some figures and groups) while adopting policies that would draw their supporters, utilizing things like it's own 'don't say gay' laws to do exactly that, and has spent decades backing hard-right nationalists and neo-nazis throughout europe as a means to destabilize those countries (and this is a known strategy laid out by one of Putin's closest advisors alongside cultivating dependence on Russian energy supplies)

All I can say about that is that he learned from the best, when it comes to meddling in foreign countries internal affairs (the US of A). How did he go about "cultivating dependence on Russian energy supplies"?

[Tendrin]

So he didn't say any of that, he stated historical facts while conducting a "Special Military Operation". I don't get the reference to "pre-planned media blitzes".

Kyiv, and Ukraine, have deeper historical roots than Moscow, dude. So, no, he wasn't spitting historical fact.. You're historically blind. State media released premature victory declarations stating Ukraine had 'returned to Russia'. You can find these on the internet, though state owned entities tried to scrub them. And spare us the rest of your whataboutism, as if Russia didn't have a long imperial history of its own to draw on. Just ask anyone in Finland how they feel about the policies of Russification.

[worstblogever]

Either someone is gaslighting us the past few days, or they're incredibly dim and susceptible to being gaslit by foreign powers that gaslight the globe.

Can't decide which it is.

[Gray Lensman]

Either someone is gaslighting us the past few days, or they're incredibly dim and susceptible to being gaslit by foreign powers that gaslight the globe.

Can't decide which it is.

Either way, I could just respond to every post with Bender promising to laugh even harder and it would work, even without reading them.

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, as well as 2020, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day”posted profiles of the current U.S. House Representative for Texas’ 17th District, Bill Flores, who we noted prior to reaching office in the 2010 Tea Party Wave, worked as an executive in the energy industry, including as a CEO of a fracking company, and another oil drilling company that he ran so well, it declared bankruptcy at a cost of $7.6 million to taxpayers. Flores has already shown us the depths of his hypocrisy, voting against disaster relief aid for victims for Hurricane Sandy, and then only a few months later, crying out for disaster relief for the man-made disaster of no oversight that caused an explosion at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas. Flores was talking about impeaching President Obama for "violating the Constitution" in 2013 town halls, and alongside Louis Gohmert proposed legislation that would offer $1 million dollars to anyone who could provide information about IRS Commissioner Lois Lerner's long deleted e-mails. Lastly, during riots in Baltimore after the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody, Bill Flores went on the Family Research Council's "Wall Builders" show with Tony Perkins to explain the cause of civil unrest was actually... GAY MARRIAGE. Yeah, he said that. As well as putting out a press release after the Obergefell v. Hodges ruling calling it an "unfortunate display of judicial activism". On February 22nd, 2017, Bill Flores ditched his own town hall to meet with his constituents, citing “a scheduling conflict”, and left the good people of Texas’ 17th to hold the town hall with their representative in absentia. We’ll note that within a year, Rep. Flores has become so flippant in regards to his constituents that he’ll block them from his social media accounts for having the nerve to criticize him, at all. Bill Flores managed five terms in office, before retiring in 2020.

On this date in 2021, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” profiled David Fegan, a 2020 GOP candidate for Texas’ 24th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, one of five separate Republicans vying to replace the retiring Congressman Kevin Marchant. He is also the latest of people FRED will profile that report on someone who is in the center of the diagram of “2020 GOP Congressional candidate” and “Qanon Conspiracy Theory Supporter”. On July 4th, 2020, David Fegan posted Independence Day thanks on Twitter to Donald Trump, noting he “leads our #Q movement”. That wasn’t the only conspiracy theory he was trying to spread on Twitter, as he was trying to make people believe there’s actually some merit to the “BidenUkraineScandal” in October, in the run-up to Election Day. David Fegan finished second in the GOP Primary for TX-24, getting only 20% of the vote in the effort. His inability to win over Republican Primary voters was not likely due to his love of deranged conspiracy theories, but probably because those blood-red district Texas voters could not support a guy who “loved immigrants. The legal ones”. As he has not made another bid for office, we will set aside his profile at this time to cover another wacky Republican today instead. (Current crazy/stupid scoreboard, is now 1099-55, since this was established in July 2014.


Mark Middleton

Welcome to what is the 1099th original profile here at “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day”, where we’ll be discussing Mark Middleton, a 2022 candidate for the Texas House of Representatives from District 68 of that body. His qualifications for office? He was indicted on federal charges for entering the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, 2021. Among the charges he awaits trial on include nine counts involving assault of a law enforcement officer, interference with a law enforcement officer during civil disorder, obstruction of an official proceeding, unlawful entry on restricted grounds, and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. Middleton also is currently advocating for Texas to secede from the United States.

Mark Middleton somehow still got 13.3% of the vote in the GOP Primary for this seat, in spite of being up on federal charges of sedition. Again, that speaks more to the headspace of Republican voters these days than anything else.

[Tendrin]

Either someone is gaslighting us the past few days, or they're incredibly dim and susceptible to being gaslit by foreign powers that gaslight the globe.

Can't decide which it is.

Btw, WBE, do you have Susan Delemus in the queue?

https://www.fosters.com/story/news/2...eo/9661689002/