#putin toady

[tomorrowusa]

Quit fixating on Putin's nukes FFS.

Donald Trump and his MAGA minions are trying to imply that aid for Ukraine will lead to nuclear war. This is bullshit which is meant to bolster Putin's illegal war of aggression against a peaceful neighbor.

We hear MAGA Russophiles repeat this whenever new aid or new weapons systems are sent to Ukraine. The last time I checked, Putin hasn't nuked San Diego or Memphis. And we have crossed more of Putin's "red lines" than Trump has red neckties.

Even a delusional imperialist like Vladimir Putin understands that the ultimate outcome of any nuclear war would leave him as a shirtless congealed blob of radioactive fat. ⚛

With nuclear option unlikely, Putin struggles to defend his red lines

“There has been an overflow of nuclear threats,” said a Russian official speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject. “There is already immunity to such statements, and they don’t frighten anyone.” A Russian academic with close ties to senior Russian diplomats agreed, calling the nuclear option “the least possible” of scenarios, “because it really would lead to dissatisfaction among Russia’s partners in the Global South and also because clearly, from a military point of view, it is not very effective.”

The United States and its NATO allies have no intention of giving nukes to Ukraine.

What we don't hear from scare-mongering MAGA zombies or Putin-friendly tankies is that the war in Ukraine would end immediately if the Russian invaders simply left Ukraine. Anybody who truly wants peace should be telling Russia to get the fuck back to their own country.

This week, Trump and former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote in an op-ed for the Hill that a decision to grant Ukraine permission to use Western long-range missiles “would put the world at greater risk of nuclear conflagration than at any time since the Cuban missile crisis” and called for direct negotiations with Moscow instead.

The only thing to "negotiate" with Moscow is a short ceasefire while Russia withdraws all its invading troops. The bottom line is that Russia has no business in Ukraine. The invasion is in violation of numerous international laws, treaties, and memoranda.

As for technology, Russia's means of using ICBMs in nuclear war just ain't what it used to be.

Latest Russian ICBM Test May Have Failed, Satellite Images Suggest

Russia is a third-rate power which happens to have nukes and a lot of empty territory that looks deceptively impressive on a map. Its ability to handle any atomic technology competently is questionable. Even during the glory days of the Soviet Union it gave the world its worst nuclear disaster at Chernobyl in 1986.

Chernobyl is in northern Ukraine which became independent in 1991. Ukrainians had done a good job of cleaning up much of the radioactive mess left by Moscow.

But Russia then temporarily occupied the area around Chernobyl in the early part of the invasion. Russian occupiers there did incredibly stupid things like dig military trenches in radioactive soil and loot radioactive materials to take home as souvenirs.

Russia has few serious competitors for the Darwin Awards this year. 🎖  ⚛️

What we should worry more about is another nuclear accident inside Russia caused by recklessness or incompetence. The sooner Ukraine is victorious, the more likely Russia will be able to tend to its own problems at home.

^^^ красные линии = red lines

[beauty-funny-trippy]

We Americans need to send a loud and clear message in the upcoming election — "We've had enough of your bullshit." And we've had enough of your immoral, corrupt, traitorous, egomaniacal, wannabe dictator, and all you Republican politicians that support him.

We're tired of you Republicans sending "thoughts and prayers" to parents of murdered children, then encouraging more school shootings by blocking commonsense gun legislation. We're tired of you making laws that force women to give birth against their will, and send them to prison if they don't comply. We're tired of your corrupt Supreme Court Justices. We're tired of your attacks on voting rights. We're tired of your treatment toward people of color, military veterans, and the lgbtq community. We're tired of your tax breaks for billionaires. We're tired of your willful negligence about climate change. We're tired of your attacks on affordable healthcare. We're tired of you crying for immigration reform out of one side of your mouth, while out of the other side of your mouth you call out to block it. We're tired of your Big Lie about the election being stolen. We're tired of your blatant hypocrisy, your shameful cowardice, and your obvious lies. We're tired of it all.

Recently, Trump again refused to rule out using political violence as a means of obtaining the presidency. —Let. That. Sink. In.— It should set off alarm bells and red warning flags, but Republicans treat it with a shrug. Apparently, Trump has normalized violence. It's important to note that, questions about using political violence were not even asked of candidates prior to Trump entering politics.

Your unwavering support of a traitor who has encouraged violence, claims to be above the law, and wants to be a dictator like his idol, Vladimir Putin, can only mean one thing — you have all surely gone mad.

The only way America can move forward, away from the threat of a Republican dystopia, is when Donald J. Trump, and all his toadies, are tossed onto the ash heap of history.

For generations, Americans have given their lives to preserve democracy for us. Now it is our turn to preserve democracy for future generations.

We can do it America. WE JUST NEED TO VOTE.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Walter Einenkel at Daily Kos:

Donald Trump nominated former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, an apologist for Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, to be his director of national intelligence on Wednesday, in yet another example of how horrible his administration will be. The former Democratic-congresswoman-turned-right-wing-hack endorsed Trump in August. Gabbard has been dogged by stories questioning her financial connections to an alleged Russian agent as well as her penchant for parroting Putin’s talking points.

Donald Trump picks former Congresswoman and Putin toady Tulsi Gabbard to be DNI. Gabbard recently became a Republican officially after being a de facto one for several years, and was previously a Democrat, in which she ran for that party’s nomination in 2020.

See Also:

HuffPost: Trump To Nominate Tulsi Gabbard As Director Of National Intelligence

The Guardian: Trump chooses Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence

[qqueenofhades]

Apparently Wagner gave up and are going back to base, what hell is going on?

Once again: Hell if I know?

The story currently seems to be that Belarusian dictator and noted Putin toady Alexander Lukashenko "brokered a truce" with Prigozhin, who "agreed that it was a bad idea to spill Russian blood," and having presumably properly put the fear of God into the military establishment, decided to withdraw. Which.... may be true, it may not, but there's no way in hell that this is the end. Putin already used his "Prigozhin is a traitor who needs to be destroyed" card, and he told the Wagnerites/Russian army to get rid of him. So is he just gonna let him go back to the battlefield, at liberty to try this all over again the next time he gets megalomaniacal delusions of grandeur?

Likewise, Prigozhin looks like a fucking idiot who can't carry things through/had the Russian establishment by the throat and then took a sweetheart deal for himself, while the ordinary Wagnerites may not be as keen to just call it off and go home. This is not what happens when things are going well or your government is stable, and there's no way to say how this will play with the Russian oligarchs/remaining Putin inner circle, the Russian military, or anything else. Things have decidedly entered the Find Out stage, we just don't know when the final straw will break the camel's back, and literally anything could happen next. As I said, if Putin doesn't kill Prigozhin, he looks incredibly weak. If he does, he alienates Wagner and loses the only effective part of his war criminal brigade. So there's not really any way that this ends up well for him, regardless of what is next.

[doylewesleywalls]

You Could Vote for an Honest, Mature, Intellectual Adult with Gravitas Who, on Philosophical Grounds, Actually Happens to Be a Conservative, If It Weren’t for the Fact that for Some Reason You Desperately Need a Shitstorm by Doyle Wesley Walls Via Flickr:

accepts & invigorates hate groups if they like him

doesn’t understand freedom of the press 

demands loyalty to himself instead of the U.S. Constitution 

admires authoritarian leaders, wants to be one 

driven by spite 

selfish 

mean-spirited 

makes classless, rude remarks about the physical appearance of the wife of one of his political opponents; goes on to compare her to his own wife 

insensitive 

vulgarian 

obstruction of justice 

takes a red carpet with him on his airplane 

unread 

Said “Two Corinthians” instead of “Second Corinthians” 

poor vocabulary; poor communicator 

racist 

abusive toward women 

philistine 

poor businessman 

cheater (on wives & business associates) 

delusional 

egotistical 

refuses to return classified documents that belong to the American people; keeps these documents in locations that are not secure; shows them to people who are not authorized to see them in order to make himself look important and innocent of wrongdoing; someone with a knowledge of history should explain the saying "loose lips sink ships" to him 

braggart 

immature 

born on third base, thinks he hit a triple 

dangerous 

tells an anxious nation to drink bleach to fight COVID 

profits by dividing Americans against each other 

needy brags repeatedly about acing a simple test used to detect mental impairment; “Person. Woman. Man. Camera. TV,” Trump kept saying for us as if he were a Rhodes Scholar 

considered a jackass on an international stage 

placed his name on a joke of a university 

insecure 

has a toady for a doctor and directs the toady to release a health report that makes him sound like the best physical specimen ever to serve as President 

called for violence instead of the peaceful transfer of power 

liar 

manipulator 

attacks a female journalist from the Fox "News" Network (of all places) for asking an appropriate, legitimate question at a presidential debate; Trump suggests she might have asked him that tough question because she was probably menstruating; he routinely insulted journalists publicly for asking tough questions 

crybaby 

makes arrogant claims about himself 

withheld $391 million in military aid to Ukraine over “favor” 

kisses Putin’s ass 

disrespected the scholarly process we call “science” 

disrespected Evangelicals behind their backs 

disrespected American soldiers who died fighting Nazis 

con man milking the poor for their money and votes

stochastic terrorist

[mightyflamethrower]

Joe Biden lied repeatedly when he claimed he knew nothing of his son Hunter’s influence-peddling businesses.

The President further prevaricated that he had no involvement in Hunter’s various shake down schemes.

Yet, the media continued to misinform by serially ignoring these facts.

Had journalists just been honest and independent, then candidate Joe Biden might have lost a presidential debate and even the 2020 election. The public would have learned that Hunter’s business associates and his laptop proved Joe was deeply involved in his son’s illicit businesses.

Later, as the evidence from IRS whistleblowers mounted, the White House stonewalled subpoenaed efforts and sought to craft an outrageous plea deal reduction in Hunter’s legal exposure.

Reporters ignored the Ukrainians who claimed Joe Biden himself talked to them about quid pro quo arrangements.

They again discounted Hunter’s laptop that explicitly demonstrated that Hunter was whining that he had handed over large percentages of his income to his father Joe—variously referred to as the Big Guy and a “ten percent” recipient on many deals.

They played dumb about Joe Biden’s use of pseudonyms and alias email accounts to hide thousands of his communications to Hunter and associates.

They attacked the former Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin, who now claims Biden was likely bribed by Ukrainians.

Yet the media can no longer hide the reality that the President of the United States likely took bribes to influence or alter U.S. policy to suit his payers. Those two crimes—bribery and treason—are specifically delineated in the Constitution as impeachable offenses.

In denial, the media has instead pivoted with hysterical glee over various weaponized prosecutions of Donald Trump.

But now, to use a progressive catchphrase, the proverbial “walls are closing in” on Joe Biden.

So will we at last expect the media finally to confront the truth?

Answer—only if Joe Biden’s cognitive and physical health continues to deteriorate geometrically to the point that he can no longer finish his term or run for reelection—and thus becomes expendable.

Such a cynical view of the media is justified given their record of both incompetence and unapologetic deceit.

From 2015 to 2019, we were suffocated 24/7 with lies like “Russian collusion,” “Putin’s puppet,” “election rigging” and the “Steele dossier.”

When all such “evidence” was proven to be a complete fraud cooked up through Hillary Clinton’s stealthy hiring of and collusion with a discredited ex-British spy, a Russian fabulist at the Brookings Institution and a Clinton toady in Moscow, did the media apologize for their untruth?

Was there any media confessional that perhaps Robert Mueller and his leftwing legal team (the giddy media-dubbed “all-stars,”  “dream team,” and “hunter killers”) proved a colossal waste of time?

Not at all.

Instead, the media went next right on to “the phone call” and “impeachment.”

The country then wasted another year.

The same biased reporters now claimed that the heroic Andrew Vindman had caught Donald Trump fabricating lies about the Bidens—given Joe Biden was a possible 2020 opponent—to force Ukraine to investigate them or lose American foreign aid.

On that accusation Trump was impeached.

Then the truth emerged that unlike Joe Biden, Trump never threatened to cancel aid, but merely to delay it.

Trump was right that the Bidens were knee deep in Ukrainian bribes and influence peddling.

And that the whistleblower had no first-hand knowledge of the Trump call but was spoon fed a script cooked up by the gadfly Vindman and Rep. Adam Schiff.

The result was journalistic glee that we impeached a president for crimes that he did not commit but exempted another president, Joe Biden, who had actually committed them.

Then came the next hoax of the Russian fabricated facsimile of Hunter’s laptop.

The 2020 Biden campaign along with an ex-CIA head rounded up “51 intelligence authorities” to mislead the country into believing that Russian gremlins in the Kremlin had fabricated a fake laptop.

Ponder that absurd fantasy: Moscow supposedly had created fake nude pictures, fake photos of Hunter’s drug use, and fake email and text messages from Hunter to the other Bidens.

The media preposterously convinced the country that the Russians and by extension Donald Trump had once again sandbagged the Biden campaign.

No apologies followed when the FBI later admitted it had kept the laptop under wraps for more than a year, knew it was authentic, and yet said nothing as the media and former spooks misled the country and warped an election.

Now we are enmeshed in at least four court trials on cooked-up charges that could as easily apply to a host of Democrats as to Trump.

For the last eight years, a discredited media has never expressed remorse for any of the damage they did to the country. And they will not again, when their latest mythological indictments are eventually exposed.

[gaykarstaagforever]

Wagner update:

We don't get reliable information out of the Putinverse and there are new rumors and suppositions every day, but

It seems that right now, Prigozhin went from being in Belarus briefly to being back in St. Petersburg, and isn't facing any charges. And Belarus offered Wagner fighters an old Soviet army camp there, and they were supposed to move there, but just haven't, and are still in Ukraine. I guess still active in the war. I assume the soldiers who marched on Moscow with Prigozhin just...went back there? And haven't faced any charges either.

Meanwhile there has been a purge of some kind of people in the regular army, eliminating anyone who supported Prigozhin's rebellion.

There are also rumors that Putin wants Prigozhin assassinated but Putin wants everyone to think he is that sort of guy so it doesn't mean much. Like, sure. But if he hasn't done that already, he clearly has other plans for this.

My guess is that Prigozhin's Rebellion actually worked the way he intended. It made the point that the regular army needs to support Wagner in their racist war-crimes that are the invasion of Ukraine. Putin had sided with the generals against Wagner, but when Prigozhin refused to roll over for them, Putin suddenly realized how valuable Wagner and Prigozhin is to this thing he started and can't end. Even if they remain an independent militia, he goddamn needs them. Because the regular Russian army is dogshit. The WHOLE THING was that Wagner was supposed to submit to regular army command; Prigozhin refused. It was never an anti-Wagner thing until Prigozhin told the generals to go fuck themselves.

This really was a slap-fight between competing Russian military contingents that Putin let get out of hand. And now he's stepped up to sort it out. Yes, Prigozhin pissed him off with the rebellion, but Prigozhin has the loyalty of his guys and Putin needs those guys. So Prigozhin is probably safe until Putin can figure out how to replace him with someone else. Which could be tricky since the Wagner guys are in large part personally loyal to Prigozhin.

The regular army goons who backed Prigozhin involved themselves in this shit and aren't vital to the war effort (because they are toadie fuck-ups in general), so Putin has to get rid of them: they can't be trusted to sit still and shut up when the rowboat flips over.

The Lukashenko connection here was either a plot by Putin to get Prigozhin to settle down for a minute so they could talk, or maybe Lukashenko legit offered to mediate and Putin took advantage of it. Either way, it provided a show method of diffusing the situation and making Putin look more secure than he is. And it was certainly never more than that.

I don't think Putin is at actual risk of losing power. All of these factions seem pro-Putin, because they are all rabid Russian Supremacists who want to rebuild the Soviet Union, but with more them building giant mansions. And that is all Putin is. Where he's at risk is losing control of the various competing factions of the military. These guys already get away with siphoning money off into secret bank accounts and being creative about when and how they follow orders. They are more gang members than soldiers. Putin has to continuously balance out heavy-handed control of them and letting them get away with shit so they think they are "with" him and stay loyal. Like a mob kingpin has to do. Because Russia has been a mobocracy since Putin took power. That's how he runs things.

This whole mess was basically a mafia civil war. It exposes Putin's weaknesses. That could potentially put him at risk NOW, if someone realizes the old man is slipping. But I still think they all still need each-other to do whatever it is they are all jointly failing at. Putin is safe until someone stronger stands up, and Putin still seems good at cutting those guys down. And Prigozhin had no interest in being that guy in the first place.

[prophet-one]

Scariest thing about Putin

while most people would like to see Putin gone as leader of the Neo-USSR; I am scared that might actually happen.

The scary thing about Neo-USSR is that Putin is one of the “good-guys” compared to other potential leaders. Consider the Wagnar group with control of the Neo-USSR stockpile of nuclear weapons. They have been pushing to be allowed to use tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine. Now image the case where they actually have control of those weapons.

Ideally, Russians would pivot to support Alexei Navalny with the demise of Putin. But that won't happen. If Putin is deposed, it will be at the hands of the oligarchs not the people. The oligarchs (or FSB or Wagnar) will install their own man into the Kremlin.

The potential “alternatives” to Putin are invisible; as anyone who is potentially an alternative is quickly disposed of in one manner or another (poison, suicide, jail). Even so, names and profiles of Putin supporters provides insight into what the pool of alternative leaders could be. Reading about these toadies is like reading about the Third Reich. When Putin is gone, Neo-USSR will be under the control of someone that is absolutely ruthless and amoral. It will be a very scary period for the world to navigate.

[tinystarshiningbright]

I don't know if it's just the recent polarization in the US or if it's always been this way and I just haven't noticed, but I see so many people saying things that boil down to "the candidate isn't perfect and doesn't perfectly reflect my own beliefs so I won't vote for them". And I just - do you all not understand that no one - NO ONE - will reflect your views perfectly? That governing in a democracy (or democratic republic of whatever the fuck ever the US is) is, at its heart, about compromise. Do you all not know that?

Sure there are times to reject a candidate that doesn't match your views. Like when multiple views don't match. Sometimes you get the luxury of choosing from candidates who are all fine and won't fuck things up too much. And it doesn't matter that much who's elected because of the compromises that will have to be made to get anything done. In those elections, pick whichever candidate you like the look of, or whichever one has the best tattoos, or whatever the fuck ever criteria you want to use.

But the US 2025 election is not that year. This year, that luxury does not exist because Trump and his Republican Party really is that bad. They're an existential threat to US democracy because Trump wants to be the godfather of the country. A dictator. His toadies (which is the party) don't care to govern or compromise: they are obstinate children.

You may not agree with everything Harris says: it's too much, or not enough. But she's smart, she gets stuff done, and she knows how to govern. She can be reasoned with. And if you truly support Palestine, know that the Republicans fully support Netanyahu (and Putin). They would be happy to see Israel take over all of Palestine because that would end the war.

Harris isn't perfect. People will need to apply pressure to all elected officials to get more support for Palestine and less for Israel if she's elected. At least everyone will get the chance to do that if she's elected; protests aren't allowed in a dictatorship so what do you think will happen if you try to apply pressure to Trump and his goons?

y’all are gonna vote Kamala now that she’s called for a ceasefire and has condemned Israel’s actions, right? you’re going to vote for her because she’s said she hears the calls for a ceasefire, right? or will you find another excuse to now do your civic duty for this country that directly affects you and everyone around you. i am begging you to please vote in this election because we are literally between a man who has been charged with 34 felony counts, had more on the table, and wants to become a dictator if hes elected on day one and a woman who is sane, rational, and competent at her job and supports everything this man is against. if you want Palestine to be free, you’re going to get off your ass and vote.

[tomorrowusa]

Another day, another Russian war crime. This time Putin killed a two-month old baby and injured his mother.

The baby's body was pulled out of the rubble of the three-storey building in the village of Zolochiv, said Kharkiv regional governor Oleh Synehubov. Two other women were hurt when Russia fired two S-300 missiles, he said, hitting the hotel and nearby buildings. Attacks on the Kharkiv region have intensified since the end of 2023. Zolochiv is only 20km (12 miles) from the Russian border and too close for Ukraine's air defences to offer sufficient cover. The S-300s that hit the hotel in the early hours of Tuesday were originally produced as surface-to-air missiles for Russia's air defences, but they have been adapted to hit Ukrainian targets on the ground. They are seen as cheaper than more accurate cruise missiles.

So Russia is running low on cruise missiles and is forced to substitute S-300s which were originally meant to his targets in the air.

Putin may be low on cruise missiles but one of his top US cheerleaders is in Moscow to pay homage to him.

Tucker Carlson reminds me of those US pro-Hitler commentators who would use their radio shows in the 1930s to extol the virtues of fascism.

Tucker is supposed to interview Putin but he isn't waiting for the interview to spread lies about the US news media. CNN's Abby Phillip does an effortless debunking of Tucker Carlson's Kremlin bullshit and then speaks with Russia specialist Julia Ioffe.

There's an entire ecosystem of far right mendacity which includes Putin, sex offender Donald Trump, Tucker Carlson, Speaker "MAGA Mike" Johnson, and various Congressional toadies like Marjorie Traitor Greene. They are united in their hatred of democracy and will tell any lie to damage it.

[mongowheelie]

Meet the Republicans Who Voted Against Condemning Putin's Illegal Abduction of Children

Putin's toadies

[hostor-infotech]

Jimmy Kimmel Answers Tucker Carlson's Insult With A Scathing New Supercut

“If it weren’t so brazen, it would almost be funny coming from this loathsome un-American Moscow mule,” Kimmel said, then played a supercut video of Carlson repeatedly toadying to Russian President Vladimir Putin and taking Russia’s side in the war against Ukraine. “There he is, Putin’s favorite little nesting doll,” Kimmel said. See more in his Tuesday night monologue:

[eagletek]

Jimmy Kimmel Answers Tucker Carlson's Insult With A Scathing New Supercut

“If it weren’t so brazen, it would almost be funny coming from this loathsome un-American Moscow mule,” Kimmel said, then played a supercut video of Carlson repeatedly toadying to Russian President Vladimir Putin and taking Russia’s side in the war against Ukraine. “There he is, Putin’s favorite little nesting doll,” Kimmel said. See more in his Tuesday night monologue: #Jimmy #Kimmel #Answers���

[qqueenofhades]

[kendrixtermina]

Oh, I so hope that it will!

I've only seen things get worse in my lifetime. Most in my generation probably have. It's hard to imagine that things getting better was ever a reality.

I long for a future when a free & equal Palestine can be safely visited along with rebuilt cities in Gaza, and a Hebron & Al-Quds/Jerusalem that are no longer segregated. I hope they knock all the ugly walls & checkpoints down, leaving just a few as a historical reminder.

(In that Future, Netanyahu is remembered much like Hitler, Stalin & Putin, an Joe Biden & Olaf Scholz are, of course, shamefully recalled as the spineless toadies they are, like we now think of Chamberlain (the british PM who sould out the Czechs to Hitler))

As a Black South African, watching these horrific events unfold, I cannot but reflect on my country’s own violent past. I recall the relentless planning and violence that accompanied the last decades of white South Africa’s attempts to make apartheid work. I remember the fears that grew among white South Africans as they put their trust in a sophisticated military capability, a conscription army, a nuclear weapons capacity and steadfast friends in the West, particularly the United States, Britain and France. It was the height of the Cold War and South Africa claimed to be the only democracy in Southern Africa, protecting “civilisation” from the encroaching threats surrounding it. Its military might and expansive police force were accompanied by a series of policies designed to maintain white minority rule. Each attempt to impose new such policies failed in the face of mass resistance. The more they failed, the more brutal the violence meted out by the military and the police with the encouragement of white politicians and a terrified white electorate. The “terrorists”, as the national liberation movements were referred to, could not be crushed by the mightiest army in Southern Africa. By mid-1985 a significant section of the white electorate and some in the ruling party realised that the problem of Black resistance was not going to go away. Something more drastic was going to be required.

. . . continues at Al Jazeera (16 Nov 2023)