The Global War on Terror 5.0: Putin on the Risk

[Rover]

Re: The Global War on Terror 5.0: Putin on the Risk

What part of "there are plenty of ways to stand up to Putin that don't involve loan guarantees and don't involve military force" is so hard for you to understand?

You do have room for that under your umbrella, don't you Neville?

Are you and Opie dating? You're starting to use some of his moldy expressions that were popular 70 years ago so I was just wondering....

But I'll play along! What, aside from military action and loans, would you have the US do? Beyond sanctions which are already being worked on, we're all ears.

[Priceless]

Re: The Global War on Terror 5.0: Putin on the Risk

First of all, I wasn't aware Putin was a terrorist. But since he's apparently the next Hitler, I guess he is.

Second of all, I want to see every Congress critter who just voted to give the Ukraine a billion dollars try to demagogue on the national debt come election time. I hope their constituents throw this vote in their face.

[joecct]

Re: The Global War on Terror 5.0: Putin on the Risk

First of all, I wasn't aware Putin was a terrorist. But since he's apparently the next Hitler, I guess he is.

Second of all, I want to see every Congress critter who just voted to give the Ukraine a billion dollars try to demagogue on the national debt come election time. I hope their constituents throw this vote in their face.

Did Congre$$ authorize or appropriate $1B? In Fed Gov Speak, there is a difference. Authorize means you can spend it - when you get the money. Appropriate means actually giving the money.

[ScoobyDoo]

Re: The Global War on Terror 5.0: Putin on the Risk

What part of "there are plenty of ways to stand up to Putin that don't involve loan guarantees and don't involve military force" is so hard for you to understand?

ROTFLMAO. That's funny.

[FreshFish]

Re: The Global War on Terror 5.0: Putin on the Risk

First of all, I wasn't aware Putin was a terrorist.

Oh, really?

Just ask a Russian journalist for his/her opinion.

Oh, wait. You can't!

The list of journalists killed under Putin is too long to fit here; it exceeds the limit of 10,000 characters.

19 in 2000
12 in 2001
23 in 2002
12 in 2003
13 in 2004
6 in 2005
14 in 2006
5 in 2007
3 in 2008

22 during the Medved Presidency

One more under Putin in 2012

Several of the ones in the first set were killed in Chechnya or were "incident not confirmed" but I didn't go through to cull them out.



I guess you are right and I am wrong, Putin is just a genial, gentle soul who does nothing wrong and is woefully misunderstood by people like me, eh?

I mean, who would ever expect the former head of the KGB to engage in targeted assassination. After all, didn't George Bush assure us he "looked into Putin's soul" and liked what he saw there? and you have so much respect for GWB's good judgment, right?

"I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy. We had a very good dialogue. I was able to get a sense of his soul, a man deeply committed to his country and the best interests of his country," Bush said, adding a few sentence later, "I wouldn't have invited him to my ranch if I didn't trust him."

How far does your sycophancy extend, anyway?

[joecct]

Re: The Global War on Terror 5.0: Putin on the Risk

Terrorist is a relative term. If your side loses, you're a terrorist. If you're side wins, you're a freedom fighter.

One thing you can say about V. V. Putin - he does not speak in shades of grey. If he draws a red line, he will make sure it's your blood that does the drawing -- unless you got a bigger schwangsticker than he does. Then he'll cave.

[Hopkinja]

Re: The Global War on Terror 5.0: Putin on the Risk

Everytime I think about what Putin is doing, I'm reminded of the old quote by Stalin, "F the pope. How many divisions does he have?"

Substitute Moldova, Georgia, and now Ukraine and you pretty much has Vlad's attitude.

[Priceless]

Re: The Global War on Terror 5.0: Putin on the Risk

Did Congre$$ authorize or appropriate $1B? In Fed Gov Speak, there is a difference. Authorize means you can spend it - when you get the money. Appropriate means actually giving the money.

You think voters are going to parse words like authorize and appropriate? They voted to give a billion dollars to the Ukraine. Period.

Oh, really?

Just ask a Russian journalist for his/her opinion.

Oh, wait. You can't!

The list of journalists killed under Putin is too long to fit here; it exceeds the limit of 10,000 characters.

19 in 2000
12 in 2001
23 in 2002
12 in 2003
13 in 2004
6 in 2005
14 in 2006
5 in 2007
3 in 2008

22 during the Medved Presidency

One more under Putin in 2012

Several of the ones in the first set were killed in Chechnya or were "incident not confirmed" but I didn't go through to cull them out.



I guess you are right and I am wrong, Putin is just a genial, gentle soul who does nothing wrong and is woefully misunderstood by people like me, eh?


How far does your sycophancy extend, anyway?

Are the Chinese terrorists? We still do plenty of business with them. I thought we didn't do business with terrorists. For that matter, we're still doing business with Russia. I'm pretty sure we have been doing business with both countries since the Berlin Wall crumbled. Yet we're still doing business with them. Tourists still go there. I guess we just have different definitions of "terrorists".

For the record, I have made no secret about the fact that I'm a liberal. I do not consider it a dirty word. *I* do not to pretend to be something I'm not. I don't say I'm a liberal and then make arguments counter to everything a liberal typically believes. I do not parrot the talking points of the RNC or post the latest from the Wall Street Journal op-ed page. I think we know how far your sycophancy extends.

[Bob Gray]

Re: The Global War on Terror 5.0: Putin on the Risk

Foreign aid is an inconsequential part of the federal budget deficit and IMHO is generally money better spent than many other things in the federal budget.

[Priceless]

Re: The Global War on Terror 5.0: Putin on the Risk

Key questions: Are people who speak of their admiration for Putin terrorist sympathizers? If they are elected officials, is it treason?

[FreshFish]

Re: The Global War on Terror 5.0: Putin on the Risk

Here's the perspective of our Secretary of State emeritus:

Hillary Rodham Clinton [condemned] Russian President Vladimir Putin for using the excuse of protecting people with Russian ties to mask expansionist motives.....Clinton said she was "urging people to have a little historic perspective."

The ex-secretary of state and likely 2016 presidential candidate specifically lashed out at Russia’s plan to issue passports to ethnic Russians in Crimea.

“Now, if this sounds familiar, it’s what Hitler did back in the ‘30s,” Clinton said during a California fundraiser on Tuesday.

“All the Germans that were … the ethnic Germans, the Germans by ancestry who were in places like Czechoslovakia and Romania and other places, Hitler kept saying they’re not being treated right. I must go and protect my people, and that’s what’s gotten everybody so nervous,” she said, according to The Long Beach Press-Telegram.

[FreshFish]

Re: The Global War on Terror 5.0: Putin on the Risk

Key questions: Are people who speak of their admiration for Putin terrorist sympathizers? If they are elected officials, is it treason?

Hmm...that sounds familiar.

Now of course these people can't openly cheer for [Vladimir] Putin, because that would constitute outright treason...

Gee, what a coincidence!

[Priceless]

Re: The Global War on Terror 5.0: Putin on the Risk

Hmm...that sounds familiar.



Gee, what a coincidence!

Hey, they had the same thought I did! So, what's the answer? Is it treason?

[Rover]

Re: The Global War on Terror 5.0: Putin on the Risk

I have to agree that there's been some downright treasonous comments out of the conservative knuckledragger crowd. Its pretty sad when collectively the opposition party is cheering on Putin instead of the President. Not too surprising though. One has to wonder if the Fishies and Opies of this board feel the same way and are sporting their "Rootin' for Putin" T-shirts that they're giving away at the CPAC conference.

[FreshFish]

Re: The Global War on Terror 5.0: Putin on the Risk

MOSCOW—Russia's upper house of parliament will support Crimea in its bid to join Russia and award the Black Sea peninsula the full powers of any other Russian region, the speaker of Russia's upper house said Friday, the highest-level confirmation yet that Crimea could soon become part of Russia.

Well, that didn't take long. Fait accompli as they say. Oh, well, who cares, right?


By the way, who better to understand long-term strategy than a chess grandmaster and world champion? Great article today by Garry Kasparov in the Wall St. Journal on how to stop Putin from annexing any more territory without using military force.