#my country is bordering with ukraine and my government is so idiotic and stupid that i fear all the time that

[szczekaczz]

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[qqueenofhades]

seriously HOW are the Squad™️ so fucking stupid? they HAD to have known how their letter was going to be viewed by putin and the gop and every citizen of the country actively fighting for their existence rn (not to mention how it was going reflect upon their party with midterms and the house race so close) - who in the WORLD thought that writing and releasing this letter was a good idea?

Evidently even the Congressional Progressive Caucus themselves realized that it was a big fat turd, because they've already tried to withdraw it, and Jamie Raskin (who I otherwise respect, especially for his work on the January 6 committee) issued this statement. Which about accurately sums it up, but Jamie, my man, if you knew all this, why did you sign that terrible letter in the first place??? Especially with Kevin McCarthy running his idiot mouth about cutting support for Ukraine if the GOP (god forbid) wins control of Congress. If you're agreeing with Qevin on anything, it's time for a serious rethink.

Unfortunately, I believe that a number of the Squad do privately hold in some degree to the leftist/tankie belief that This Is An Unjust U.S. Proxy War, because the U.S. invaded Iraq that one time, it was very clearly a war crime, and so when Putin does the exact same thing but even worse, something something if the U.S. government opposes it, it must be a good or at least somehow justifiable thing. Believe me, I am NO apologist for the American military-industrial complex, and anyone who reads my blog knows that I blast the American government for the actual bad things that it does on a daily basis. But if the extent of your moral reasoning is that "war is bad, war supported by America is bad, and therefore we should tell the people fighting for their survival that they should just Stop and Be Nice and Talk to the guy who has said at every opportunity that he wants to wipe out their entire existence while his troops commit war crimes by the bushel," that is. Not Good. It dresses up old colonial-era arguments about how the resistance is the problem, and if they just stopped fighting the colonizer, there would be peace, so if those ungrateful natives insist on their own sovereignty, they're the actual problem. Not the actual invader and imperialist power who's actively destroying them, who they can't stop resisting if they don't want to be eradicated, but the people trying to stop that destruction. Right.

I don't know what anyone is smoking if they think they can just get Putin in a room and "talk to him" and he'll suddenly agree that oh yes, the entire strategy that I've pursued for 20+ increasingly autocratic years in sole power is wrong, my bad. As nice as it sounds, there's no way that, as circumstances stand, anyone can reach a "negotiated settlement" that everyone's happy with and allows for a "sovereign Ukraine." Putin and his warmongers have said over and over that they think there is no such thing, and have proved it by their actions. Why on earth do you think the current iteration of the Russian Federation would respect ANYTHING it signed, when it has arrantly broken international law left and right and faced no real consequences? Not to mention, suggesting a ceasefire right now, when Ukraine is having considerable success on the counterattack, only gives Russia time to regroup, regather its forces, and invade again next spring. We all want the war to end, so why the hell would you try to freeze it, stop Ukraine from the progress it's making, and let Russia get its breath and try again? That will only make it longer! Besides, it will also turn it into a "frozen conflict" of the type that Russia is deliberately maintaining in Georgia and Moldova, and which keeps those states out of NATO/the EU because they don't have territorial integrity or full control of their borders. It's a cheap and easy maneuver that's worked many times before, so of course they would do it to Ukraine!

"Nobody wants a nuclear war!!!" everyone says. Okay! No they don't! So why doesn't somebody Nicely Tell That to Putin, who has resorted to threatening to use nuclear weapons at almost every opportunity? Ukraine doesn't even HAVE them; they gave up their share of the USSR-era nukes in 1994 in exchange for security guarantees to respect the result of their independence referendum in 1991. Which, we might note, has not happened. Putin is the only person who consistently uses nuclear blackmail, then blames the West for "escalating tensions," which, again, has been his go-to move since he came to power, and plays on literal centuries of Russian grievances and Russian reactionary sentiment against the West. I cannot believe that people are actually taking any Kremlin narratives about this war remotely seriously, but they are, and there's a huge appetite for Russian propaganda on the American left, because it makes the U.S. establishment look bad and that's as far as their critical thinking extends. No matter that Putin is an old-school, orthodox, imperialist fascist, has repeatedly interfered in American electoral processes and other democratic nation-states all over the world in order to very successfully destabilize them, and the current Republican party are big fans of him not only since he clearly has Trump under his thumb as a controlled intelligence asset, but because they clearly recognize that his goals and methods mirror their own.

Anyway, maybe it's because I do actually know a damn thing about Russian history and Russian ambitions/narratives/justifications, but yeah, I can't believe that people who call themselves liberals and leftists are falling over themselves to help Putin out, and implicitly (and oftentimes explicitly) agree with the idea that Ukraine is to blame for resisting, instead of just rolling over and letting itself be conquered. Right now, Ukraine is almost totally dependent on U.S. financial and military aid to keep existing at all (there are other contributors, but America is the biggest one), and since every settlement liberated from the Russians reveals evidence of massive war crimes, maybe, uh, understand why they can't talk to the people who are busily trying to conduct genocide on them for absolutely no reason other than Putin's grandiose imperial delusions? Refusing a dialogue which will be absolutely pointless anyway does not mean they're Not Trying For Peace, which the international order prizes every time over justice.

Anyway. It was a stupid fucking letter, it made me very mad, I don't know whose stupid fucking idea it was, I'm glad it got pulled, and glad as well that Biden has said about half a dozen times in the last 24 hours that unyielding support for Ukraine is still the order of the day. I am in despair over the so-called critical thinking skills of the Online Leftists and their cohorts in Congress, but then, I usually am, so hey.

[awkwarddystopianwarlord]

Convoying For “Freedom”

Since I don’t watch the news, I didn’t know why I heard a honking ruckus three blocks down. When I eventually ventured out with friends that Saturday I could finally see what said ruckus was. Trucks and cars honking as they drove through the city and all the way to the Parliament building. I didn’t know that’s where they were going until we made our way towards the touristy part of town. That whole block along with the entire front of the Parliament building was full of people and trucks and posters and flags. The honking was everywhere and the dogs and infants these folks thought would be smart to bring into that chaos looked around in confusion. It was brought to my attention by my three friends, that don’t live in as much of a bubble as I do, the hullabaloo we were witnessing was known as the “Freedom Convoy”.

Now that it’s been over a month since this stupid idiot parade began, I reckon we all know why to some extent. I heard multiple times that ninety percent of truckers were vaccinated thus leaving me to believe this was the remaining ten plus every other ignoramus that wants to live by their own rules. People were insulted that vaccines were required for those driving long distances and over borders with all the bullshit we keep ordering online. People were tired of wearing a piece of cloth over their face to protect themselves and those around them from various forms of this cursed virus. People wanted all the mandates to be taken down so they could freely infect and possibly kill all the immunocompromised, the old, the young, and the sick. It was a weekly rebellion to show the world every Saturday who the most selfish people are.

Seeing these foolish mortals strut around with their Canadian flags and “freedom” banners was hilarious and infuriating. These people had the audacity to claim we had a tyrannical government that was oppressing us and all our rights were taken away. They said this as they casually flooded the yard of a government building and filled the downtown area with their incessant honking, none of which brought consequences. We’re apparently living in a 1984-Big-Brother-is-watching/Hunger-Games/Nazi-era-part-two situation and yet these people could protest without getting arrested or shot or gassed or tasered. These self identifying  oppressed people brought concert worthy speakers to the front of that Parliament building three weeks in and were having a dance party to classic 2000’s songs whilst police patiently and politely stood on the other side of the street and watched should someone get riled up. The fact this parade of absolute dickishness has been allowed to continue every Saturday, now with officers following along to keep the peace, shows how much of a free country this is.

Referring to my previous post, it’s like these nincompoops want to be oppressed, want to have an evil government that forces the peasants to take arms and rise up to protect what they love and believe in at all costs. These assholes are so privileged that they think our current state of living is the same as Nazi Germany. They think having to wear a mask indoors and getting vaxxed to work so that the pandemic can pipe the fuck down is oppression. And now, what with the horrors in Ukraine going on, this whole thing is even more asinine and insensitive. To be so butt-hurt that the government is more strict now for the purpose of saving lives and helping relieve the pressure on essential workers speaks volumes about how little some care about anyone but themselves.

There’s a reason everyone is short staffed right now. It’s because serving ungrateful, selfish bastards like those making up that wretched convoy broke the employees. Now healthcare is shit because it’s near impossible to find a clinic or a doctor to help with anything. Retail is shit because there are limited cashiers and merchandisers to help so lines are long and dealing with stock is slow. And those remaining are treated like shit. Because the same pieces of garbage that sucked the life out of the first wave of workers get mad and impatient that they can’t have everything they want delivered in the span of a second.

It’s a privileged mindset to think that having a very difficult, worldwide problem to solve won’t require sacrifices and hardships of the everyday person. It's even more privileged a mindset to think that the inconvenience of wearing a mask is worthy of massive protests. Sure vaccines are their own can of worms, but you have people preaching about their love for this country as they call for mild anarchy that are willing to do anything for their “lost freedom”. Yet they aren’t willing to do anything to help save humanity and end the suffering that has ruined so many of us? There is no proper logic or research that can fuel a valid argument for these people so this show of Canadian Pride featuring: to Hell With Canada has no proper foundation and is all for naught.

In the end it’s just a herd of stereotypically southern American farmers but they’re actually Canadian in Canada whining about the pandemic being bad and blaming all the wrong people for that. As a result the Canadian flag is just as annoying to look at as the American one since it’s a challenge to separate the flag from the fools. So congratulations convoy crew, you’ve made me, an American/Canadian half breed, unable to be proud of either country I’m a citizen of. Thanks a lot.