Putin did not invade so he could annex the Russian-speaking areas of eastern Ukraine. He finally came to realize that NATO was hell-bent on the destruction of Russia and he was better off attacking than waiting. He's been proven right as Ukraine's army has been devastated and Russia's economy is holding it's own. Europe will be sliding into depression without Russia's cheap energy. Russia can continue to wipe out any NATO army with their superior artillery and control of the air. Russia has no interest in annexing any area unless the people are Russian speakers that desire to join.
I love the detailed history of the assassination. I had no idea who did it, that there had been a previous grenade attack, or that he killed Ferdinand's wife too. I had no idea about the cyanide, the sandwich, or much of any of this. All I knew was a guy killed Franz Ferdinand, and everything went downhill from there. This is fascinating.
Don, its hard to disagree more with what you have written. The supposition here is that Russia will end its expansionist efforts into expanding its borders, as if it could have stopped after Crimea, Georgia, one of the Stan's, etc. There is always one more. This reality seems to be missing from most of the end of the war scenarios of Dr. K.
As for who buys Treasuries in the future? Where else can you get 5%? China, Russia, the EU? Where? Don't misunderstand me, we certainly have a spending problem our politicians of either side have no interest in stopping. However, we could also argue that they realize there is much less danger to the debt than is typically argued, because the US drags in so much capital and the dollar is THE global currency. So, they take short term actions for their own benefit, because their entire worldview is the next election.
To take a Russian advantageous truce presumes the Russians will finally stop. Zero evidence supports them stopping until they have plugged all their perceived security risks. The last of these are on NATO ground. While I cannot for certain say they will not stop, I can point to 20 years or more of Russian history documenting they won't. It trumps any argument you, or Dr. K can muster.
I think you are overboard on this. I agree that Ukraine is and was no poster child for democracy. It was ruled by a Russian stooge for a long time before the Z-man. No one should be surprised that Biden's son got the deal he did at Burisma. No one should think it was a job obtained on merit. That's just how things are in Ukraine. It has been trying for EU membership for a while - turned down because it was not open enough - not democratic enough.
Every country has 'well paid' politicians... there is a reason the US has no political reform, can't 'drain the swamp, and that political leaders leave office as millionaires. We are no different...
LOOK AT A MAP. You do not want Russia owning Ukraine. And while you quote Kissinger, you could quote Soros who is on the other side urging fight and drive the buggers out. Kissinger is adept at giving Russia someone else's property ( for an unstable peace??!!). He will not be around so he will not deal with the consequences of rewarding Russian aggression.
It makes sense to to stop Russia now and roll back their gains as an INVESTMENT in peace for the future. Letting them stay is asking for more trouble in the future. Remember the Maine!! ...and Crimea! Crimean sanctions were a joke, no wonder Putin went back for 'seconds.' If Ukraine capitulation happens because US support is pulled its a very bad message for the future letting everyone (wink, wink, China!) know we can be had and we have our limits. No this is a job that must be finished. Kissinger is wrong to look at it and say it is no longer worth it. The present value of future conflict avoided by expelling Russia is a valuable gain he ignores. - RAB
So here I was, all set to compliment Don his masterful analysis of the situation in Ukraine and his historical comparisons supporting his position when, what to my wondering eyes appeared but a string of comments upbraiding him for daring to criticize Robert E. Lee! No wonder our country is in the mess it is; people are distracted by every shiny object that appears in their path. I take second chair to nobody in my regard for Lee as an honorable man and a military genius (except for that third day at Gettysburg, in which his hubris overcame all his training and experience), but it true that he was integral to the leadership of the Southern Confederacy and thus integral to the ruination of hundreds of thousands of lives and billions in property losses. Having said that, I return to my original purpose, inasmuch as I came here to add my agreement to Don's analysis. The USA has NO, repeat and emphasize NO interest in the hostilities between Ukraine and Russia, which has taken on greater and wider proportions with each passing week. The Biden cabal, dominated as it is by neocon warhawks who are stuck in time back in the Cold War, when they imagined themselves the saviors of Western Civilization against the global communist threat (not that global communism was not a threat, but the people in charge of opposing it in our State Department and elsewhere were either idiots, utterly deluded or fifth columnists working for the communists--Alger Hiss, I'm looking at you. Biden himself is a mere cypher in the equation, exerting no real influence but rather merely bearing the public face of his neocon masters. He fell under the spell of the Obamunists when he was playing vice-president and has never emerged from his hypnotic state, which has been compounded by advancing senility. I pray to God that He protect the remnant of His faithful followers residing in this country, because I see no other source of help for us. May He open the eyes of those in positions of power to oppose and curtail the present madness of escalation upon escalation before it is too late.
Don't pretend like we didn't goad Russia into the Ukraine. Now the globalists want to loot Russia, and are manipulating NATO into being the tool to pry open the doors. If you look at what passes for Western culture these days, I can see why Russia is trying to push back. Drag queen story hour, anyone?
Putin was not in a corner. NATO was never a threat to Russia, and wasn't after he came into office. Russia is the threat and why Finland and the Swedes applied for NATO membership.
"His statue reminds me of the statues of Robert E. Lee, who led the South to its ruin."
You do so well, then throw BS like that out like it's some sort of master play fact. Lee did his duty as a soldier. Even a die hard Yankee should understand that.
The Zelensky and Ukraine is stuff is also utter BS. You really need to learn what is actually going on. Putin started the war, forcing Ukraine to fight a war it did not provoke. If you don't want it to rise to WW3, you need to have a good talk with Putin. But, a bit of warning before you try. You can accomplish as much by talking to your living room wall, and it's lot cheaper since there is no travel and lodging expenses.
Actually, the WW3 ship has already sailed. It's at the shooting stage only in Ukraine, but other things are waiting in the wings to fire up.
Your complaint that Russia has looked east is risible. There is nothing there for Russia. China has already told Putin to pound sand on military aid, and much of his hydrocarbon sales can not be redirected to China as there is no transmission infrastructure. It's the west, or the pumps have to shut down. Last time they did that, the wells in permafrost were destroyed and they didn't reach the same production levels as the USSR until December 2021. Stuff like that, and the very heavy losses in Ukraine, have raised a serious red flag for Putin, but he's ignoring it.
A nit: Clinton did not balance the budget. He increased the domestic national debt because he still had to borrow to make ends meet. Turns out he overborrowed resulting in a "surplus." Remember when he told us he couldn't return the surplus to taxpayers because we might not spend it "correctly"? That's because there was no surplus to return and the money went back to the treasury to offset the debt his borrowing had created.
Comparing Lee to Princip is a clear demonstration that Don Surber is completely ignorant to the South and its causes for the war. This is typical of a public-school-educated-Yankee. The union victory brought about centralization and empire which is what Don spends his time criticizing today. You cant have it both ways, Don
Lee didn't start the war. He faithfully served his country (Virginia). George Washington served a similar separation movement against all odds. Washington's opponents weren't as ruthless and willing to use scorched earth tactics as was Lincoln.
You are living in the past, my friend. Russia, outside of its vast store of natural resources and tactical and strategic nuclear weapons, has an economy smaller than California. In other words, they survive on energy exports, like every third world country, but retain the ability to destroy civilization. So it is foolish to speak of Russian "expansionism" in any seriously threatening way. For the better part of a century, the USSR controlled the Baltics, Poland, Hungary, Romania and East Germany as well as Ukraine and we were able to survive and prosper as a nation. What was then the urgency to push Ukraine into NATO? And what is now the point in funding Ukraine's (really, NATO/America's) war against Russia? There never will be any possibility that Russia rolls tanks through into western Europe in your or my lifetimes; so the fact that Putin wanted a buffer between his country and NATO is entirely reasonable. He told us time and time again of his concerns as well as his intentions should we ignore them. How would you react if China decided to put nuclear weapons into Mexico or Canada? That is how Putin viewed NATO (i.e., America) installing tactical nuclear weapons into all the countries on his western border, and clearly signaling that it wanted to do so in Ukraine as well. What do you think will happen when "we" (I speak of the Biden cabal, not most Americans) "force them to spend their last full measure" (of whatever) there"? That Putin and his supporters will suddenly decide, "Oh, snap! I guess I shouldn't have done that; now I'll just go and retire somewhere"? Your analysis is superficial, supercilious, jingoistic and dangerously misguided. I submit in all due respect that the brinkmanship you recommend is more than likely designed to escalate into a situation where Putin calls our (again, I refer to the cabal of fools who control our foreign--and domestic--policy in DC) bluff. Who do you think is going to back down then? And if you think it is Putin, you really need to step back and reflect thoughtfully instead of thumping your chest and shouting, "USA! USA! USA!" This isn't the hockey finals in the 1980 Winter Olympics, after all. If it should come to a nuclear confrontation, nobody is going home with a trophy. Are you willing to wager your future and that of your children on your strategy? I, for one, am not. Let Russia and Ukraine work out their own political destinies while we here in America work on correcting the many missteps we have taken over the past two years by concentrating on rebuilding our own country, politically, ethnically and economically. That is where our interest lies as well as our strength, not in meddling in the affairs of two otherwise irrelevant countries on the other side of the globe.
What a load of shit. Russia has not been a force of equilibrium since 1970. Instead it's been a force of chaos, misery, and death. Every major terrorist group then in western Europe was funded by the USSR. Every one of them collapsed or went mainstream after the cold war because their support was cut off.
The people in eastern Europe see Russia as a malicious predator and they refuse to be its next meal, so they gravitated to the West and NATO. NATO is not a threat to its neighbors unless they choose to be aggressive. Russia has been a predator since 1920, invading at least 10 of its neighboring countries. It has practiced murder, torture, forced expulsion of minorities and sent entire ethnicities to Siberia.
Ukraine chose to oppose that future presented to them starting with Maidan and Putin's puppet. The current president of Ukraine is not leading, but following the will of his people to escape the murderous grasp of the current tsar/commissar. Putin winning in Ukraine would have placed him right on the Romanian border and his next victim would have been Moldova.
No one is making Putin continue this war. He could end the fighting and withdraw right now. His people are so cowed that would accept any rationalization he proffers. His ego is the sole reason he can't climb back down. And for that reason he has not presented a single credible offer to end the war. What he wants is victory handed to him by the weak West.
Your comparison with Lee is way off the mark.
Putin did not invade so he could annex the Russian-speaking areas of eastern Ukraine. He finally came to realize that NATO was hell-bent on the destruction of Russia and he was better off attacking than waiting. He's been proven right as Ukraine's army has been devastated and Russia's economy is holding it's own. Europe will be sliding into depression without Russia's cheap energy. Russia can continue to wipe out any NATO army with their superior artillery and control of the air. Russia has no interest in annexing any area unless the people are Russian speakers that desire to join.
I love the detailed history of the assassination. I had no idea who did it, that there had been a previous grenade attack, or that he killed Ferdinand's wife too. I had no idea about the cyanide, the sandwich, or much of any of this. All I knew was a guy killed Franz Ferdinand, and everything went downhill from there. This is fascinating.
Don, its hard to disagree more with what you have written. The supposition here is that Russia will end its expansionist efforts into expanding its borders, as if it could have stopped after Crimea, Georgia, one of the Stan's, etc. There is always one more. This reality seems to be missing from most of the end of the war scenarios of Dr. K.
As for who buys Treasuries in the future? Where else can you get 5%? China, Russia, the EU? Where? Don't misunderstand me, we certainly have a spending problem our politicians of either side have no interest in stopping. However, we could also argue that they realize there is much less danger to the debt than is typically argued, because the US drags in so much capital and the dollar is THE global currency. So, they take short term actions for their own benefit, because their entire worldview is the next election.
To take a Russian advantageous truce presumes the Russians will finally stop. Zero evidence supports them stopping until they have plugged all their perceived security risks. The last of these are on NATO ground. While I cannot for certain say they will not stop, I can point to 20 years or more of Russian history documenting they won't. It trumps any argument you, or Dr. K can muster.
Don, good move. This is the right place for your blog. Good luck.
Let's stop eating the shit sandwiches Zelensky is feeding us.
I think you are overboard on this. I agree that Ukraine is and was no poster child for democracy. It was ruled by a Russian stooge for a long time before the Z-man. No one should be surprised that Biden's son got the deal he did at Burisma. No one should think it was a job obtained on merit. That's just how things are in Ukraine. It has been trying for EU membership for a while - turned down because it was not open enough - not democratic enough.
Every country has 'well paid' politicians... there is a reason the US has no political reform, can't 'drain the swamp, and that political leaders leave office as millionaires. We are no different...
LOOK AT A MAP. You do not want Russia owning Ukraine. And while you quote Kissinger, you could quote Soros who is on the other side urging fight and drive the buggers out. Kissinger is adept at giving Russia someone else's property ( for an unstable peace??!!). He will not be around so he will not deal with the consequences of rewarding Russian aggression.
It makes sense to to stop Russia now and roll back their gains as an INVESTMENT in peace for the future. Letting them stay is asking for more trouble in the future. Remember the Maine!! ...and Crimea! Crimean sanctions were a joke, no wonder Putin went back for 'seconds.' If Ukraine capitulation happens because US support is pulled its a very bad message for the future letting everyone (wink, wink, China!) know we can be had and we have our limits. No this is a job that must be finished. Kissinger is wrong to look at it and say it is no longer worth it. The present value of future conflict avoided by expelling Russia is a valuable gain he ignores. - RAB
So here I was, all set to compliment Don his masterful analysis of the situation in Ukraine and his historical comparisons supporting his position when, what to my wondering eyes appeared but a string of comments upbraiding him for daring to criticize Robert E. Lee! No wonder our country is in the mess it is; people are distracted by every shiny object that appears in their path. I take second chair to nobody in my regard for Lee as an honorable man and a military genius (except for that third day at Gettysburg, in which his hubris overcame all his training and experience), but it true that he was integral to the leadership of the Southern Confederacy and thus integral to the ruination of hundreds of thousands of lives and billions in property losses. Having said that, I return to my original purpose, inasmuch as I came here to add my agreement to Don's analysis. The USA has NO, repeat and emphasize NO interest in the hostilities between Ukraine and Russia, which has taken on greater and wider proportions with each passing week. The Biden cabal, dominated as it is by neocon warhawks who are stuck in time back in the Cold War, when they imagined themselves the saviors of Western Civilization against the global communist threat (not that global communism was not a threat, but the people in charge of opposing it in our State Department and elsewhere were either idiots, utterly deluded or fifth columnists working for the communists--Alger Hiss, I'm looking at you. Biden himself is a mere cypher in the equation, exerting no real influence but rather merely bearing the public face of his neocon masters. He fell under the spell of the Obamunists when he was playing vice-president and has never emerged from his hypnotic state, which has been compounded by advancing senility. I pray to God that He protect the remnant of His faithful followers residing in this country, because I see no other source of help for us. May He open the eyes of those in positions of power to oppose and curtail the present madness of escalation upon escalation before it is too late.
Don't pretend like we didn't goad Russia into the Ukraine. Now the globalists want to loot Russia, and are manipulating NATO into being the tool to pry open the doors. If you look at what passes for Western culture these days, I can see why Russia is trying to push back. Drag queen story hour, anyone?
Putin was not in a corner. NATO was never a threat to Russia, and wasn't after he came into office. Russia is the threat and why Finland and the Swedes applied for NATO membership.
"His statue reminds me of the statues of Robert E. Lee, who led the South to its ruin."
You do so well, then throw BS like that out like it's some sort of master play fact. Lee did his duty as a soldier. Even a die hard Yankee should understand that.
The Zelensky and Ukraine is stuff is also utter BS. You really need to learn what is actually going on. Putin started the war, forcing Ukraine to fight a war it did not provoke. If you don't want it to rise to WW3, you need to have a good talk with Putin. But, a bit of warning before you try. You can accomplish as much by talking to your living room wall, and it's lot cheaper since there is no travel and lodging expenses.
Actually, the WW3 ship has already sailed. It's at the shooting stage only in Ukraine, but other things are waiting in the wings to fire up.
Your complaint that Russia has looked east is risible. There is nothing there for Russia. China has already told Putin to pound sand on military aid, and much of his hydrocarbon sales can not be redirected to China as there is no transmission infrastructure. It's the west, or the pumps have to shut down. Last time they did that, the wells in permafrost were destroyed and they didn't reach the same production levels as the USSR until December 2021. Stuff like that, and the very heavy losses in Ukraine, have raised a serious red flag for Putin, but he's ignoring it.
A nit: Clinton did not balance the budget. He increased the domestic national debt because he still had to borrow to make ends meet. Turns out he overborrowed resulting in a "surplus." Remember when he told us he couldn't return the surplus to taxpayers because we might not spend it "correctly"? That's because there was no surplus to return and the money went back to the treasury to offset the debt his borrowing had created.
Comparing Lee to Princip is a clear demonstration that Don Surber is completely ignorant to the South and its causes for the war. This is typical of a public-school-educated-Yankee. The union victory brought about centralization and empire which is what Don spends his time criticizing today. You cant have it both ways, Don
Lee didn't start the war. He faithfully served his country (Virginia). George Washington served a similar separation movement against all odds. Washington's opponents weren't as ruthless and willing to use scorched earth tactics as was Lincoln.
You are living in the past, my friend. Russia, outside of its vast store of natural resources and tactical and strategic nuclear weapons, has an economy smaller than California. In other words, they survive on energy exports, like every third world country, but retain the ability to destroy civilization. So it is foolish to speak of Russian "expansionism" in any seriously threatening way. For the better part of a century, the USSR controlled the Baltics, Poland, Hungary, Romania and East Germany as well as Ukraine and we were able to survive and prosper as a nation. What was then the urgency to push Ukraine into NATO? And what is now the point in funding Ukraine's (really, NATO/America's) war against Russia? There never will be any possibility that Russia rolls tanks through into western Europe in your or my lifetimes; so the fact that Putin wanted a buffer between his country and NATO is entirely reasonable. He told us time and time again of his concerns as well as his intentions should we ignore them. How would you react if China decided to put nuclear weapons into Mexico or Canada? That is how Putin viewed NATO (i.e., America) installing tactical nuclear weapons into all the countries on his western border, and clearly signaling that it wanted to do so in Ukraine as well. What do you think will happen when "we" (I speak of the Biden cabal, not most Americans) "force them to spend their last full measure" (of whatever) there"? That Putin and his supporters will suddenly decide, "Oh, snap! I guess I shouldn't have done that; now I'll just go and retire somewhere"? Your analysis is superficial, supercilious, jingoistic and dangerously misguided. I submit in all due respect that the brinkmanship you recommend is more than likely designed to escalate into a situation where Putin calls our (again, I refer to the cabal of fools who control our foreign--and domestic--policy in DC) bluff. Who do you think is going to back down then? And if you think it is Putin, you really need to step back and reflect thoughtfully instead of thumping your chest and shouting, "USA! USA! USA!" This isn't the hockey finals in the 1980 Winter Olympics, after all. If it should come to a nuclear confrontation, nobody is going home with a trophy. Are you willing to wager your future and that of your children on your strategy? I, for one, am not. Let Russia and Ukraine work out their own political destinies while we here in America work on correcting the many missteps we have taken over the past two years by concentrating on rebuilding our own country, politically, ethnically and economically. That is where our interest lies as well as our strength, not in meddling in the affairs of two otherwise irrelevant countries on the other side of the globe.
What a load of shit. Russia has not been a force of equilibrium since 1970. Instead it's been a force of chaos, misery, and death. Every major terrorist group then in western Europe was funded by the USSR. Every one of them collapsed or went mainstream after the cold war because their support was cut off.
The people in eastern Europe see Russia as a malicious predator and they refuse to be its next meal, so they gravitated to the West and NATO. NATO is not a threat to its neighbors unless they choose to be aggressive. Russia has been a predator since 1920, invading at least 10 of its neighboring countries. It has practiced murder, torture, forced expulsion of minorities and sent entire ethnicities to Siberia.
Ukraine chose to oppose that future presented to them starting with Maidan and Putin's puppet. The current president of Ukraine is not leading, but following the will of his people to escape the murderous grasp of the current tsar/commissar. Putin winning in Ukraine would have placed him right on the Romanian border and his next victim would have been Moldova.
No one is making Putin continue this war. He could end the fighting and withdraw right now. His people are so cowed that would accept any rationalization he proffers. His ego is the sole reason he can't climb back down. And for that reason he has not presented a single credible offer to end the war. What he wants is victory handed to him by the weak West.