." will puncture this narrative of the advantages of authoritarian government"
The utter insanity of those who argue for "the advantages of authoritarian government" in our time is revealed by their actions on the ground. In their libraries, they dream of a Philosopher King. In the real world, they are apologists for fucking Donald Trump.
There's a little bit of burying the lede with that JD Vance tweet. Because that's what Putin is counting on, right? A Republican controlled Congress stepping in to reduce aid, and then perhaps a reversal in 2024 with a president who may actually support Russia, at least rhetorically, and end all support for Ukraine?
The Ukrainian forces needed to show the west it could defend and push the Russians back to their side of the border. I believe they have done that and we should be all in on supporting the Ukrainian people with advanced weapons systems to continue their efforts to repel the Russian invaders. Winter will soon be here and the more ground the Ukrainian forces gain the better the country will be able to protect itself from attacks and keep the west engaged on their side.
JD Vance not caring about the war in Ukraine is pretty representative of conservatives IMO. It goes right along with America First. If elected Republicans seemed to have shifted this stance in the last 40 years, I think it was only from societal pressure to appear to care about genocide, hunger, etc.
My greatest fear has yet to play out. I do believe that Putin is losing the war and I think that to be something different than Russia is losing this war.
Putin and Trump have this thing in common which is lashing out in denial. I believe that Putin is incredibly dangerous right now in that this is personal for him. In that regard, I doubt that he would care at all if the last act was to directly attack the nuclear plant and unleash a far greater event than Chernobyl.
There is only one way I see to stop him and it would have to come from within The Kremlin itself in taking his life. Keeping people around who are as toxic as either Trump or Putin will end in outsized tragedy.
Both are ticking time bombs and they aren't imaginary.
Whatever else is true, we continue to see that Russian troops will not stand and fight and Ukrainians will. Russian will always have more bodies and possibly more bullets. But they cannot produce willing fighters by simply drafting more bodies. Historically, Russia would hurl its soldiers at the enemy, but except in WW2, they did not really do all that well. And in WW2, they were defending their homes. They are not doing so now.
I think it would not be possible to count the number of times that people have put someone into power who they thought would do their bidding, only to find out that the "patsy" they backed had plans of their own.
The "adults in the room" seem to lose control more often than not.
Many revolutions seem to end badly, one of the rare exceptions being the American Revolution... only history seems to be catching up with that one as well.
Authoritarianism looks very attractive if you can get the perfect person to run things. That is extremely rare. Most of those who are attracted to such situations are usually NOT the type of person that you want running things--just as (most of the time) the type of person that runs for elected office is basically NOT the person that you want in office.
WANTING and working for either of those jobs (dicatator or elected official) should, IMO, be an immediate disqualifier for it.
As a culture we need to move away from the idea that voting for politicians is somehow "democratic." The Athenians (and other earlier democrats) would disagree with that idea. It is a popularity contest for the elite, rich, and powerful (or their bought tools)--a trophy to hang on their wall and an object of competition for the sake of status rather than good governance. If your society does not have an elite, institute elections for office and it soon will have one.
personality and politics need to be kept at a distance from each other. One of the beauties of the English system (where the head of government and head of state are different people--and the head of state has no real power) is that you can get the show and entertainment and personality--the grand spectacle of nationhood, without some of the pernicious effects of the entertainment/power/politics complex.
It isn't fully that way 9witness BoJo) but they have tended to do a better job at it than us most times.
Ideally, people should be voting on policy, not on popularity/entertainment masquerading as policy.
Regarding the "failure" of Truth Social, I just don't get it. Trump put in no money of his own, got paid up front by investors for use of his name and doesn't manage it day-to-day.
Where's the failure? The only people who are losing out on this are people like Devin Nunes and the investors. Nunes is the day-to-day guy and, although he was promised a big payday, is probably not going to get it. The investors' money is gone. Easy come, easy go.
This thing will ultimately collapse under its own weight and the money Trump made on it will finance his next scam.
So glad that there's nothing in the newsletter about the Queen. No offense to the late Queen, but I find the British monarchy to be incessantly stupid. We fought a war to get away from the British monarchy. That so many people revere people for the accomplishment of being born into a particular British family is morally repugnant.
That J D Vance comment is simply pathetic and inexcusable.
There are real people in real danger in this world who did nothing to deserve the views of this jerk or to ever see him gain any type of power over public policy.
So heartening to read Morning Shots this morning. Loved reading Zelenskyy’s words. Had to watch this again several times over.https://youtu.be/tLv9IqcoNe8
In reading the batsheet-crazy comments the Sessionist-in-Chief makes on an almost a daily basis, continually of the last court scene of "Inherit The Wind," based on the "Scopes Monkey Trial" of the 1920s
In it, after a null verdict came in the William Jennings Bryant character started babbling biblical quotations apropos to nothing until be collapsed.
The difference between the film and Trump is that the religious loon's supporters walked away from him after realizing he was crazed.
What worries me most is that short of somebody plugging Putin there is no winning this war--no defeat of Russia. Negotiated settlements must have something for everyone: I suggest Ukraine get all of its territory back, get reparations; and that the Russians be allowed to lease back their Black Sea naval base, Gitmo style.
As wonderful as Ukraine's successes have been these last 96 hours, it's worth noting the more Ukraine wins, the greater risk there is for Russia to break out warheads. This isn't the beginning of the end as much as we wish it was
There have been many emperors, kings, dictators, and authoritarians throughout history whose reign only ended after losing a war of choice, whether by their nation being conquered or by being overthrown by their own people after the hardships they endured only resulted in failure. Putin may try to resort to one or more of the many various horrific doomsday scenarios in an attempt to upend the chessboard before checkmate, but fear of the retaliation that would come after such an attempt might finally focus the minds of Russians enough to motivate them to remove him.
." will puncture this narrative of the advantages of authoritarian government"
The utter insanity of those who argue for "the advantages of authoritarian government" in our time is revealed by their actions on the ground. In their libraries, they dream of a Philosopher King. In the real world, they are apologists for fucking Donald Trump.
There's a little bit of burying the lede with that JD Vance tweet. Because that's what Putin is counting on, right? A Republican controlled Congress stepping in to reduce aid, and then perhaps a reversal in 2024 with a president who may actually support Russia, at least rhetorically, and end all support for Ukraine?
The Ukrainian forces needed to show the west it could defend and push the Russians back to their side of the border. I believe they have done that and we should be all in on supporting the Ukrainian people with advanced weapons systems to continue their efforts to repel the Russian invaders. Winter will soon be here and the more ground the Ukrainian forces gain the better the country will be able to protect itself from attacks and keep the west engaged on their side.
JD Vance not caring about the war in Ukraine is pretty representative of conservatives IMO. It goes right along with America First. If elected Republicans seemed to have shifted this stance in the last 40 years, I think it was only from societal pressure to appear to care about genocide, hunger, etc.
That quote from President Zelenskyy is amazing!
My greatest fear has yet to play out. I do believe that Putin is losing the war and I think that to be something different than Russia is losing this war.
Putin and Trump have this thing in common which is lashing out in denial. I believe that Putin is incredibly dangerous right now in that this is personal for him. In that regard, I doubt that he would care at all if the last act was to directly attack the nuclear plant and unleash a far greater event than Chernobyl.
There is only one way I see to stop him and it would have to come from within The Kremlin itself in taking his life. Keeping people around who are as toxic as either Trump or Putin will end in outsized tragedy.
Both are ticking time bombs and they aren't imaginary.
Whatever else is true, we continue to see that Russian troops will not stand and fight and Ukrainians will. Russian will always have more bodies and possibly more bullets. But they cannot produce willing fighters by simply drafting more bodies. Historically, Russia would hurl its soldiers at the enemy, but except in WW2, they did not really do all that well. And in WW2, they were defending their homes. They are not doing so now.
I think it would not be possible to count the number of times that people have put someone into power who they thought would do their bidding, only to find out that the "patsy" they backed had plans of their own.
The "adults in the room" seem to lose control more often than not.
Many revolutions seem to end badly, one of the rare exceptions being the American Revolution... only history seems to be catching up with that one as well.
Authoritarianism looks very attractive if you can get the perfect person to run things. That is extremely rare. Most of those who are attracted to such situations are usually NOT the type of person that you want running things--just as (most of the time) the type of person that runs for elected office is basically NOT the person that you want in office.
WANTING and working for either of those jobs (dicatator or elected official) should, IMO, be an immediate disqualifier for it.
As a culture we need to move away from the idea that voting for politicians is somehow "democratic." The Athenians (and other earlier democrats) would disagree with that idea. It is a popularity contest for the elite, rich, and powerful (or their bought tools)--a trophy to hang on their wall and an object of competition for the sake of status rather than good governance. If your society does not have an elite, institute elections for office and it soon will have one.
personality and politics need to be kept at a distance from each other. One of the beauties of the English system (where the head of government and head of state are different people--and the head of state has no real power) is that you can get the show and entertainment and personality--the grand spectacle of nationhood, without some of the pernicious effects of the entertainment/power/politics complex.
It isn't fully that way 9witness BoJo) but they have tended to do a better job at it than us most times.
Ideally, people should be voting on policy, not on popularity/entertainment masquerading as policy.
Regarding the "failure" of Truth Social, I just don't get it. Trump put in no money of his own, got paid up front by investors for use of his name and doesn't manage it day-to-day.
Where's the failure? The only people who are losing out on this are people like Devin Nunes and the investors. Nunes is the day-to-day guy and, although he was promised a big payday, is probably not going to get it. The investors' money is gone. Easy come, easy go.
This thing will ultimately collapse under its own weight and the money Trump made on it will finance his next scam.
So glad that there's nothing in the newsletter about the Queen. No offense to the late Queen, but I find the British monarchy to be incessantly stupid. We fought a war to get away from the British monarchy. That so many people revere people for the accomplishment of being born into a particular British family is morally repugnant.
That J D Vance comment is simply pathetic and inexcusable.
There are real people in real danger in this world who did nothing to deserve the views of this jerk or to ever see him gain any type of power over public policy.
So heartening to read Morning Shots this morning. Loved reading Zelenskyy’s words. Had to watch this again several times over.https://youtu.be/tLv9IqcoNe8
In reading the batsheet-crazy comments the Sessionist-in-Chief makes on an almost a daily basis, continually of the last court scene of "Inherit The Wind," based on the "Scopes Monkey Trial" of the 1920s
In it, after a null verdict came in the William Jennings Bryant character started babbling biblical quotations apropos to nothing until be collapsed.
The difference between the film and Trump is that the religious loon's supporters walked away from him after realizing he was crazed.
What worries me most is that short of somebody plugging Putin there is no winning this war--no defeat of Russia. Negotiated settlements must have something for everyone: I suggest Ukraine get all of its territory back, get reparations; and that the Russians be allowed to lease back their Black Sea naval base, Gitmo style.
As wonderful as Ukraine's successes have been these last 96 hours, it's worth noting the more Ukraine wins, the greater risk there is for Russia to break out warheads. This isn't the beginning of the end as much as we wish it was
There have been many emperors, kings, dictators, and authoritarians throughout history whose reign only ended after losing a war of choice, whether by their nation being conquered or by being overthrown by their own people after the hardships they endured only resulted in failure. Putin may try to resort to one or more of the many various horrific doomsday scenarios in an attempt to upend the chessboard before checkmate, but fear of the retaliation that would come after such an attempt might finally focus the minds of Russians enough to motivate them to remove him.