Rising fascism in the US

This really doesn't make any sense. The post is a nothing burger.

Quote:

This post is a nothing burger.

In other words:

I'm better than you,
na-na, na-na, boo-boo,
stick your head in doo-doo.

George Santos
@Santos4Congress
Aug 30, 2021
BIDEN IS A PATHOLOGICAL LIAR!

The Rand Corporation: Extending Russia

https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR3063.html

Extending Russia
Competing from Advantageous Ground

This report examines a range of possible means to extend Russia. As the 2018 National Defense Strategy recognized, the United States is currently locked in a great-power competition with Russia. This report seeks to define areas where the United States can compete to its own advantage. Drawing on quantitative and qualitative data from Western and Russian sources, this report examines Russia's economic, political, and military vulnerabilities and anxieties. It then analyzes potential policy options to exploit them — ideologically, economically, geopolitically, and militarily (including air and space, maritime, land, and multidomain options). After describing each measure, this report assesses the associated benefits, costs, and risks, as well as the likelihood that measure could be successfully implemented and actually extend Russia. Most of the steps covered in this report are in some sense escalatory, and most would likely prompt some Russian counter-escalation. Some of these policies, however, also might prompt adverse reactions from other U.S. adversaries — most notably, China — that could, in turn, stress the United States. Ultimately, this report concludes that the most attractive U.S. policy options to extend Russia — with the greatest benefits, highest likelihood of success, and least risk — are in the economic domain, featuring a combination of boosting U.S. energy production and sanctions, providing the latter are multilateral. In contrast, geopolitical measures to bait Russia into overextending itself and ideological measures to undermine the regime's stability carry significant risks. Finally, many military options — including force posture changes and development of new capabilities — could enhance U.S. deterrence and reassure U.S. allies, but only a few are likely to extend Russia, as Moscow is not seeking parity with the United States in most domains.
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Gee, I wonder if the BLUE NO MATTER WHO crowd will admit Biden is running a proxy war with Russia while laundering billions for himself and his criminal buddies while Americans, Ukrainians, and Europeans starve, freeze, and die.

Former President Trump, and others in the US including some Democrats as well as Republicans, have criticized continued US support for Ukraine in its war with Russia. They have called for military and financial support to Ukraine to be cut, even ended. They downplay the risk from Russia and argue that the money should be spent at home.

Yet from numerous perspectives, when viewed from a bang-per-buck perspective, US and Western support for Ukraine is an incredibly cost-effective investment. 

Altogether, the Biden administration received Congressional approval for $40bn in aid for Ukraine for 2022 and has requested an additional $37.7bn for 2022. More than half of this aid has been earmarked for defense. 

These sums pale into insignificance when set against a total US defense budget of $715bn for 2022. The assistance represents 5.6% of total US defense spending. But Russia is a primary adversary of the US, a top tier rival not too far behind China, its number one strategic challenger. In cold, geopolitical terms, this war provides a prime opportunity for the US to erode and degrade Russia’s conventional defense capability, with no boots on the ground and little risk to US lives.

Nice try, no dice.

He wasn’t talking about me, your excuse for his hatred.

What I most like about this sentence you've quoted is the final portion...
"Trumpsters and other non conformists".

Indeed. Whenever I think of neo-Nazis, coup plotters, religious bigots, book banners, gay bashers, anti-Semites, serial liars, pushers of fake health remedies, racists, Jewish space laser theorists and the 'lock her up' screamers the very first descriptive term that comes to mind for this set of people is "non conformists".

————————

Set. Of. People.

Nice to see your comfort level lying, though.

When Gudkov surveyed the mood among the people of Russia shortly after the war began, it was a snap, he says. 68 percent of those polled supported the attack on Ukraine. After almost ten months, the picture he paints is even bleaker.

Gudkov: State propaganda still succeeds in creating a broad consensus. Most recently, a majority of 53 per cent of respondents thought that the military operation in Ukraine was successful. These are mainly people who watch state television, have hardly any access to the internet, older Russians. But there is also the other, smaller part of society, a third of those surveyed, who say that the operation is unsuccessful.
[...]
SPIEGEL: The war itself is not questioned.

Gudkov: No, the attacks on Ukraine and the massacres do not play a role. The Russians have hardly any sympathy for the Ukrainians. Almost no one here talks about the fact that people are being killed in Ukraine.

SPIEGEL: Please put a figure on that.

Gudkov: The percentage is just 1.5 to 2 per cent of those surveyed. And only an average of ten per cent of the population feels guilt and shows empathy - so Russian society is amoral. Of course, it does not want war, but people behave submissively, passively, do not want to enter into open conflict with the state.
[...]
SPIEGEL: Young people are more critical.

Gudkow: You have to look at the ratio: Among 18- to 24-year-olds, 59 per cent recently supported the war, 34 per cent opposed it. In comparison, among Russians of retirement age, 79 per cent were in favour of the war, 16 per cent were against it. At the same time, however, 65 percent of young people thought that the attacks in Ukraine should be stopped in order to start negotiations. This shows the contradiction in people's minds, their double thinking: on the one hand, there is their identification with the state, on the other hand, there is the personal level, the concern for their own lives. They are potentially liable to military service and can be drafted. They cannot like the war. They are not clear about the aims of the war, which are constantly changing, sometimes fighting against the fascists in Ukraine, then against Nato. Added to this is the growing anti-Putin sentiment. Only five years ago, most Putin supporters were found in this age group. I was talking about the Putin youth back then, but now it no longer exists. And the negative attitude is also growing among the somewhat older, up to the 30-year-olds.
[...]
SPIEGEL: What is the prevailing mood in society?

Gudkov: Uncertainty. People are very afraid that the economic situation could deteriorate further, that this war could escalate into an all-out war with the entire West. This is a very painful reaction to Putin's threat to possibly use nuclear weapons.

SPIEGEL: That means this fear also has a strong internal impact? Not only towards Western countries like Germany?

Gudkov: The war was feared here even before it began. In the collective consciousness it was there for a long time. People were prepared for it: All the talk about blowing up America and turning it into nuclear dust if something happened was there years before. The fear of nuclear war has been built up here since the annexation of Crimea. Soviet stereotypes were served, such as the complex of Russians supposedly living in a besieged fortress, being victims and not being liked by anyone. These are deep-seated mechanisms based on a militaristic and anti-Western ideology. They are taken for granted, especially by older people, and do not need any confirmation or argumentation. According to the motto: We have always known how it is.
[...]
SPIEGEL: So the real enemy was always the West, not Ukraine.

Gudkov: The responsibility is seen as lying with the USA, NATO and Europe. Ukraine is not seen as a sovereign state.

SPIEGEL: This anti-Ukrainian sentiment has been fuelled for years.

Gudkov: Even at the end of 2013, when the Maidan began in Kiev, an absolute majority of 75 per cent said it was not necessary to interfere in Ukraine's internal affairs. The question of integration into the EU was their business. Only 22 percent thought that this should be prevented by all means, including the military. With the flight of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, who was loyal to the Kremlin, the tone changed drastically. The propaganda spoke of a coup d'état initiated by the USA. There was talk of fascists coming to power. A label that absolutely dehumanises the enemy.
[... ... ...]

What democrat party are speaking of? I am speaking to you personally, not a whole party of whatever kind of political view you represent. You have a huge hang-up with the "DNC" ever since your big change from the Republican Party. It is like you changed some of your political views but kept all rancor and hatred for the DNC and the Clinton and surrounding allies and amped it up a thousand degrees.

Lash wrote:

Your reading comprehension continues to be a barrier, but I decided to address this. I only really changed one important belief: I realized that war is evil and it should be avoided whenever possible. I already had a deep distrust of politicians in general and Clintons specifically. That hasn’t changed. I was already ‘socially liberal,’ I already espoused a lot of ‘liberal’ views, but my foreign policy was arguably fear-based and I thought military might was a good deterrent to aggression. Continued curiosity and reading informed me that I don’t need to look outside the US to find the global villain. My opinions are supported by the smartest, most authentic public policy critics and best investigative journalists living.

You seemingly can't just express your disagreements without insults to every single left poster except yourself for expressing leftward views you claim to represent and act as though you are the only enlightening intelligent progressive on this platform.

Lash wrote:

What an incredibly dishonest word salad. You describe your friends, not me, though recently, I care much less about the etiquette sensibilities of those who I’ve encountered here. I can bring hundreds of personal attacks against me by your chums, most of which were in response to posts by me, containing no such insults. Of course, sometimes I gave as good as I got—and good for me.

It's in every single post you post and of course it gets people's back up.

Lash wrote:

Most insults are by them—not to them.

The only time it seems you agree with the leftist progressives is if it is against what main democrats want or espouse.

Lash wrote:

Now that Edgar is gone, I am the sole ‘leftist’ here.

Most of your posts are always filled with negatives articles about the DNC or Biden and/or some particular high ranking democrat in congress.

Lash wrote:

You’ll find that’s true of all ‘leftists’. You’ll know that if you ever educate yourself to what an American Lefty (or leftist) actually is. You talk so much for someone who knows so little.

If you do bring an article about you believe in, you preface and or add commentary at the end with insults to leftist here on this platform and all the above I already mentioned.

Lash wrote:

Again, no leftists here but me.

You are just like the rest of us.

Lash wrote:

I’m nothing like you and them. I have no sacred politicians. I follow facts where they lead. If a person says something true or lies, I don’t adjust my response based on their political affiliation—and in that way, I am better than you and the Blatham crew.

I have no sacred politicians.

I follow facts where they lead.

Look up the meaning of sacred

This proves your bias, not mine.

The Rand Corporation: Extending Russia

This report examines a range of possible means to extend Russia. As the 2018 National Defense Strategy recognized, the United States is currently locked in a great-power competition with Russia. This report seeks to define areas where the United States can compete to its own advantage.

Of course, this wouldn’t have worked without a well-planned massive propaganda machine demonizing Russia for the last decade as plans were finalized and financed. Hunter Biden’s laptop was only important because of his connection to preparation for the war in Ukraine.