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I think this is the sticking point for a lot of the isolationists. They suggest we will demonstrably harm our economic interests by "taking sides," in this case, the side of defending sovereignty, but they forget that the very wealth they seek to protect was gained explicitly through the stability provided by a world that respects sovereignty. You make it sound like there are only two choices, but obviously there are not. We aren't launching cruise missiles into Russia. There are many steps between unrestricted interaction and nuclear war. But we should not be supporting a country (and trading with the US is absolutely a form of support) that does not acknowledge sovereignty at a minimum. We are also providing material support to the Ukrainians, which we should. We do this because we hope it will lead to a Russian failure, which would be a win for the concept of sovereignty. The isolationists (FLEA being the most breathless example here. Similar to Tucker Carlson, who I also frequently agree with) keep asking what we are willing to sacrifice for Ukrainians. Not much, honestly. Ukrainians should sacrifice for Ukrainians, and they are. But for the geopolitical norm (sovereign borders) that has yielded unfathomable wealth and human flourishing for Americans and foreigners alike? Yes, for that we should sacrifice a lot. And that concept of sovereignty came from the enlightenment-era moral revelation of the sovereignty of the individual. Turns out when you base your society around that morality, wealth and growth follow. We should not be so quick to let it wither.

Putin

I wonder if some of you guys have ever been to places like Poland or Latvia or Georgia, or ever spoken with people from those places? I spent a fair amount of time in former Warsaw Pact countries as they were in the process of joining NATO. For them, NATO’s purpose has always been very clear. A decade or two free of the Soviets was not nearly enough time to convince them that the Russians had changed their ways. In fact, the former client states knew very well (vs much of “old” NATO) that the Russians would be a threat for generations to come. For them, NATO “expansion” was far from needless. It was absolutely necessary if they were to survive as independent and free nations. I always respected this position but admit that I just didn’t share quite the same anti-Russian zeal for a long time. Then Putin invaded and occupied parts of Georgia. Then he did the same in Crimea and eastern Ukraine. Now that he has outrightly invaded Ukraine, I can see that my Polish and Latvian friends were not exaggerating the threat at all. NATO’s purpose has never been more clear & the West bears ZERO responsibility for Russian aggression. If the Russians are truly concerned about Western expansion, it’s only because they know their system is broken and backwards and they cannot possibly offer their neighbors the same kinds of fruitful and healthy relationships that the West can.

I always ensure that my collection of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps is prominently displayed in the background of my video conferences to flex on people.

Dude, this invasion is the definition of totally premeditated and unprovoked - there is no middle ground here. Provoking something necessarily involves you doing something illegitimate. Ukraine determining their own destiny is fully legitimate. "NATO expansion" is a pretext to BS foreign policy goals Russia has long held. So regardless of the total lack of moral logic required to suggest that a country executing their own ambitions is justification for a hostile invasion, you've got Russia who has knowingly, and legally, signed agreements that have disallowed nothing the West has done. So this notion that NATO expansion is somehow responsible or culpable for Russia's current actions is fully hollow. Worth about eight minutes of your time from this mark. For real? Sorry, did I miss the major news story that China has invaded a sovereign country (unprovokedly) and is shelling civilians in a criminal manner? I get China ain't our friend, but this comparison exemplifies "specious." Call me when China starts dropping cluster munitions in Taipai...I'll get on board with your theme.

What was the whole video context before that propaganda site edited their hot take and took his comment out of context?

What if the Kremlin says something about Biden that is true? Am I required to say the opposite just so I'm not agreeing with some villain? Just looking for clarification.

Why so? Overall, I thought it a good race up and down the list. Those pigs simply will not turn under braking. Catching a few people out.

Before the war we had Special Forces (Green Berets) there training Ukrainian's not to fight like Russians. If you believe all the talking heads in DC, they don't believe the Russians have yet begun to fight by not sending their best troops 7 dead Generals and a Col. ran over by his own troops later.

best-22 i'm curious why the down vote on this picture? seems....immature to say the least. it's not great that Biden's WH, his own sec state, and now the french president have to walk back his comments.

Ah, understand now. edited to add: BTW, Haas in the points again, 2 for 2. So suck it Mazipin...

Agree Checo got hosed, but he’s not the first or the last to get screwed by a safety car. Unfortunately for him, the virtual safety car right after his pit happened at the worst possible time. His luck just couldn’t have been worse. But he’s a great driver in arguably the best car on the grid. He should have some more chances at the W this season.

The One China policy is an American product, borne from a time when we thought the natural order of things was the liberalization of mainland China. Since they are going backwards, why should we force ourselves to continue this policy? What’s to stop us from recognizing Taiwan as an independent country (should they decide that’s the direction they want to pursue) & establishing normal relations while encouraging other enlightened countries to do the same? Up to this point in history I would’ve said that scenario was just about impossible, as too many nations had major economic interests in China and would balk at the idea before it ever got any traction. But given recent events, my hope is that more of the world is willing to recognize and challenge the bad actors on the geopolitical stage. China is committing genocide on its Western frontier, has quashed democracy in Hong Kong (and ruined a once great world city), has been irresponsible (at best) with pathogens and unleashed a deadly plague on the entire world, routinely intimidates its neighbors and ignores their legitimate territorial claims, constantly commits industrial espionage/steals intellectual property, and overtly threatens Taiwan with war. They’ve also refused to denounce the Russian invasion and appear to have taken the Russian side in its conflict with Ukraine. If there were ever a time that the world could get behind Taiwanese independence, now is it. I would go so far as advocating for cementing our defense agreement with Taiwan in no uncertain terms and permanently placing US military assets in Taiwan & the straight. The American people have signaled they’re willing to make sacrifices in order to support freedom around the globe (another thing that makes this place uniquely special). I wonder if the CCP can equally afford to sacrifice its own economic interests in the name of Taiwanese reunification? My guess is absolutely not.

Not that I ever want to get shot down but if someone is going to do it...

You guys keep calling it propaganda when they’re actually quotes the President said. Quotes. Not made up. Quoted on video.

Yeah. Absolutely. Taiwan is for all intents and purposes an independent country & one of the most successful and thriving democracies in Asia at that. The One China policy & Chinese claims to the island are demonstrably absurd to any informed observer & it’s long past time to call a spade a spade. But your point is taken. I get that nuance and sensitivity are often required when it comes to international politics. Sometimes though, directness and strength are the correct approach. The current situation in Ukraine is one of those times. And if we’re honest, it’s probably just about time for the same tack when it comes to Taiwan.

ok Taiwan wants to join the free world and completely cut off China. They want a seat at the UN and full, independent recognition from the West. Ready? In a perfect world i dont disagree with you, but the complexities of international politics don't fix so nicely into your idealistic box.

Absolutely. Any nation that truly wants to join the free world deserves our support. The more countries that want to participate in the civilized world, the better off we all are. They did. I think Boris Yeltsin honestly wanted to liberalize and modernize Russia. If the West made a mistake, it was by not engaging further with Russia when there was an actual window of good will open. That lack of engagement probably helped open the window for someone like Putin to ascend to power. But as stated above, once Putin took power, the geopolitical picture absolutely changed & all bets were off.

Second order effects coming Ukraine War Causing Food Shortages In Fragile Middle East https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2022/03/28/ukraine-war-causing-food-shortages-fragile-middle-east/ Cold War 2 / Turbulent 20s needs a strategy for recognition & management Good thing we have an august group at the helm to lead us… Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I think Ukraine is showing the purpose of the growth. Countries should be allowed to self determine. If Ukraine had wanted to be Russia’s bestie like Belarus, more power to them. But they didn’t want that, and it’s not Putin’s decision to force them to align the way he wants.

Another good video of Russians cooking.

Fair enough, agree to disagree on your previous second point then. I do not believe that Putin was ever serious about negotiating and I believe the final decision to invade was made weeks, if not months before the actual invasion date. I don’t necessarily have a problem with Article 5 being nebulous; it gives us flexibility. I think anything that gives Putin doubt or makes him hesitate to escalate against NATO because he’s unsure of the response can be positive at times. If an armed Russian military aircraft violates Polish airspace then it should be intercepted and forced to turn back across the border or forced to land. If it doesn’t comply then the Poles should take whatever measures they deem to necessary defend themselves, including shooting it down. If Russia has a missile malfunction and hit Poland, they’d better apologize and demonstrate real quick measures on how they’ll avoid future fuck ups or NATO should be free to shoot down any missiles approaching a NATO border. If Russia jams all of Eastern Poland (very hypothetical) then that’s an act of war and the jammer locations should be targeted and destroyed if the Russians refuse to cease buzzer. Cyber attacks should be responded to in kind. If Russia detonates a nuclear warhead for the express purpose of EMP damage to a NATO country that’s an act of war and we should respond in kind. Russia isn’t “boxed in” by NATO. Russia enjoys large water bodies on its northern and eastern flanks. It has largely neutral or friendly states on its southern borders. NATO is not organizing to invade or attack Russia; Putin is using Russia’s history/fear of invasion as a cudgel/excuse to reestablish a greater Russian empire. Hitler, Napoleon, and Ghengis Khan are no longer in charge of their respective countries. If anything, this invasion is rapidly making Russia less secure due to Putin’s gross miscalculation. Generally I agree that talking is always preferable to fighting. But we and the Ukrainians have no obligations to listen to absurd demands just for the sake of listening. Putin was in the driver’s seat with regards to the invasion timeline, I don’t believe us stringing him along would’ve pushed D-Day to the right much, if at all.

The photo the article used is from the 2017 ejection at EFD, not this particular accident.

Tell me once where I have disagreed with anything you have said? I have repeatedly said Putin is a bad guy and Russia is in the wrong for the invasion. But we can still discuss what motivates them without discounting it as just straight tyranny…something about being able to better understand your enemy? And just because I don’t want to see our economy further suffer with what’s going on with Europe doesn’t make me pro-Putin or pro-Russia…it does though make me pro-USA. Oh and tell me where I am wrong with the media bias? And tel me where I’m wrong by not fully trusting the media after the lies they intentionally told to push an ideological narrative? Progressives love the binary Ukraine is good and is doing well (vice versa for Russia) because they were against Russia well before the invasion and are still upset that Mueller couldn’t find any evidence of Trump Russian collusion. The left also needs a scapegoat for how bad things are going with the economy, and Russia is their best bet. And as I’ve said before, the Lyndsey Graham warhawk types on the right have always loved a good war. Remember when Bush was labeled by the left as a war criminal for invading Iraq…well, it’s not like Saddam was good, so why wasn’t the left on board?

You have to be careful not to become so anti-Biden that you stop looking at things objectively and instead just wait for any small mistake to pounce on and scream about how terrible he is. If you aren't careful you might find yourself accidentally spreading russian propaganda and Kremlin talking points simply because it makes you feel good to trash on Biden. Take it too far and you might find yourself more aligned with Russia's interests than America's.

For clarity, that is not the argument I'm making. Just contrasting it to the OAN/Fox News interpretation of Trump when he went off script. Judging by your post history, you likely watch those networks exclusively so I was just trying to find a common political language to talk to you in.

Nice shilling for the Russians here. It boggles my mind that so many Americans have bitten off on this hunk of Russian hot garbage propaganda, to include an influential portion of the media. Covert support of revolutions? Sorry bro, but we unapologetically supported the candidate that wanted to make democratic reforms over the Russian lapdog. This does not equate to supporting a “revolution” and it’s one of the things I expect and want my government to do. Also, doesn’t Ukraine get a say in who it decides to ally itself with? Or are you of the mind that great powers should still be carving smaller nations up for their own conveniences? If you’re not into American values and all that, that’s fine. Just don’t expect much sympathy here.

Then enlisting doesn't seem to be a good option for you either.

Admin Note: Sorry brabus, there's no way in hell I am going to delete a post with this picture in it!

You see that , I always tell kids who want to get a degree to be a English major.

https://twitter.com/greg_price11/status/1508525310295351298?s=21&t=IJhwbxrBFTHBB-2d4oLuVA

Yeah man I currently work extensively in those countries. I get why they joined NATO. It's in their interests. Was it in ours? However, it was a bit dishonest or in bad faith for us to agree to parlay with Russia after the Cold War when all along we still believed we needed a military alliance to overcome them. Russia was, in their mind, actively trying to deescalate the world, and the US was not. If you truly believe the US bears no responsibility, then you need to accept that we made a tremendous mistake in agreeing to end the Cold War, establish normal ties, and introduce Russia into the global markets. Oh by the way, remember, Russia allowed EVERY single former Soviet state to hold free elections to decide secession on their own. So what changed the geopolitical picture?

Yes he did say it, but you are the one bleating about how the US president is inept and spreading panic about how this will escalate things. I'm not saying Putin is personally handing you talking points, just saying you have to be careful not to let US domestic politics be the only lense you're looking through. Always circling around to COVID policy and Hunter Bidens laptop and dunking on "crazy Joe" makes it seem like you might be in the partisan politics game a little too deep. I didn't think my last sentence would be controversial honestly. It's not even that hard to imagine considering we have American newscasters being featured on Russian state media and using nearly identical talking points on their own show: https://theintercept.com/2022/02/24/russian-tv-uses-tucker-carlson-tulsi-gabbard-sell-putins-war/ https://www.google.com/amp/s/news.yahoo.com/amphtml/tucker-carlson-indistinguishable-russian-state-183629992.html Please tell me we all agree that hating Biden so much that you end up saying the same things as the Kremlin about your own president has potential to be taken too far?

I guess we're going to put troops into Ukraine after all... https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/1507386975753494533