29-12-2015, 09:03 PM
Well, here it is. Although not a close student of Russian politics, I would say I really like what I see of Putin. His statements are direct and to the point. He doesn't seem to have any obvious talking points or make rote statements that insult the intelligence of his audience (listen to any speech by 90% of American politicians) or Russian citizens.* I agree with his position on Syria and if the reports from sources like RT and consortiumnews are accurate, the Russians are kicking the crap out of the Islamic Republic by orders of magnitude greater than "we" ever did. So far, I have heard of no complaints of civilian "collateral damage" such as are regularly lodged against American drone attacks.
*He's smart as hell too!
Liberals like Rachel Maddow and Huffington Post resolutely despise Putin (Lauren and Magda: you're in good company. Not.) and have nothing whatever good to say about him, but I have yet to hear one accusation of lying or betrayal of commitments such as Obama's promise to close Guantanamo. As for Obama's "hope and change", how about his nomination of Mary Jo White to head the SEC?
"WASHINGTON -- Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) stunned Wall Street this week with a scathing letter to Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary Jo White. The letter said White had been soft on high finance felons, but raised eyebrows in the nation's capital for another reason -- publicly accusing White of "misleading" Warren in a private meeting.
White identifies as a political independent and frequently votes with the SEC's Republican commissioners, creating a 3-2 majority that thwarts the agency's Democratic appointees. The commission has granted a host of waivers shielding big Wall Street banks from what would have been the automatic consequences of wrongdoing." (HuffPo June 3, '15)" Thanks Bam.
Do you fault Putin's actions toward Ukraine and Crimea? Wasn't that whole mess created by one Victoria Nuland, a dedicated neocon and her machinations to overthrow the elected president there? (Nuland was appointed to her post by---you guessed it, Barack Obama. Her hubby is Robert Kagan. Oh, you don't know who he is? Well, he's one of the original founders of the Project For A New American Century, and collaborated on the infamous policy statement "Rebuilding America's Defenses". Never mind, let's get back to bashing Putin 'cause he's like Yeltsin!) And even if Putin had ordered units of the Russian army into Crimea, so what? (They had a referendum to unite with Russia, didn't they?) At least Crimea directly borders on Russia. What would be the response of Washington and all you Putin-haters if we sent troops into, say Mexico, and Putin reacted with outrage and demanded that we leave at once? Wouldn't our response be, "Mind your own goddam business, Mexico is nowhere near you"?
As Putin has pointed out, the US has hundreds of military bases in foreign countries, mostly circling Russia. Russia has exactly two. How many aircraft carriers does the US have? 11. How many does Russia have? 1. That's ONE. And Putin is accused of being expansionist and aggressive. Please!
And, as Vonnegut would say, so it goes. On and on.
*He's smart as hell too!
Liberals like Rachel Maddow and Huffington Post resolutely despise Putin (Lauren and Magda: you're in good company. Not.) and have nothing whatever good to say about him, but I have yet to hear one accusation of lying or betrayal of commitments such as Obama's promise to close Guantanamo. As for Obama's "hope and change", how about his nomination of Mary Jo White to head the SEC?
"WASHINGTON -- Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) stunned Wall Street this week with a scathing letter to Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary Jo White. The letter said White had been soft on high finance felons, but raised eyebrows in the nation's capital for another reason -- publicly accusing White of "misleading" Warren in a private meeting.
White identifies as a political independent and frequently votes with the SEC's Republican commissioners, creating a 3-2 majority that thwarts the agency's Democratic appointees. The commission has granted a host of waivers shielding big Wall Street banks from what would have been the automatic consequences of wrongdoing." (HuffPo June 3, '15)" Thanks Bam.
Do you fault Putin's actions toward Ukraine and Crimea? Wasn't that whole mess created by one Victoria Nuland, a dedicated neocon and her machinations to overthrow the elected president there? (Nuland was appointed to her post by---you guessed it, Barack Obama. Her hubby is Robert Kagan. Oh, you don't know who he is? Well, he's one of the original founders of the Project For A New American Century, and collaborated on the infamous policy statement "Rebuilding America's Defenses". Never mind, let's get back to bashing Putin 'cause he's like Yeltsin!) And even if Putin had ordered units of the Russian army into Crimea, so what? (They had a referendum to unite with Russia, didn't they?) At least Crimea directly borders on Russia. What would be the response of Washington and all you Putin-haters if we sent troops into, say Mexico, and Putin reacted with outrage and demanded that we leave at once? Wouldn't our response be, "Mind your own goddam business, Mexico is nowhere near you"?
As Putin has pointed out, the US has hundreds of military bases in foreign countries, mostly circling Russia. Russia has exactly two. How many aircraft carriers does the US have? 11. How many does Russia have? 1. That's ONE. And Putin is accused of being expansionist and aggressive. Please!
And, as Vonnegut would say, so it goes. On and on.