Comments

1

Today Ukraine is the front line in the fight for freedom and democracy. Today we are all Ukrainians.

Some links for anyone considering providing assistance to the people of Ukraine:
https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation-politics/heres-how-wa-residents-can-help-the-people-of-ukraine/

https://twitter.com/Ukraine/status/1496817739419295751?t=y_0LcBd6RatyMrkCaLY75g&s=19

https://ukraine.ua/news/support-the-armed-forces-of-ukraine/

You, dear reader, be the judge of whether any of this is worth supporting. I'm not here to debate you

2

Though very rewatchable, that Rick Scott video is from 2016.

3

I wonder if Rich understands what passive income is or how it's generated.

4

My heart bleeds for the newborn baby and his / her mother in the Kyiv subway.
What a shitty way to start life.

My heart bleeds for Ukrainians everywhere, in addition to those in Washington State, and the protesters who gathered at the University of Washington.

5

the CHENEY/bush team
drug US into Iraq with the
Largest Protests the Planet'd
ever witnessed a 'focus group'
gee dubya bush identified it. we
went anyway and were there for
an Eternity for some one million Iraqis.

it Stings when the Commies do it too

can they keep this little War civilized
or will they Nuke Earth back to
the Stone Age and/or Beyond

can we Trust
our 'Leaders'?

6

Inslee needs to trust the science. March 21 is a gimmick. First Day of Spring…YAY!

7

one comment on the article:
Four Times Opinion Writers Analyze Russia’s
Invasion: ‘The World Has Changed Overnight’
Feb. 24, 2022

“If we had moved away from fossil fuels decades ago, we wouldn’t be in this position now.

But the billionaires wanted their billions. And they own the governments.

It all comes down to unbridled greed.

Rein in the oligarchs. Reduce energy consumption and eliminate fossil fuels.

Move away from capitalism and towards sustainable economies.

Growth for the sake of growth and profit was always going to destroy the earth, eventually we run out of not only fossil fuels but trees and clean water and everything else which supports life.

The only way we survive is to take back our countries and governments from the oligarchs, in Russia, but also in the US, Europe, etc.

The people must rise up and must NOT be led into endless wars. See 1984. It’s happening right before our very eyes.
--TJ; Bronx; Feb. 24

8

https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/02/22/insurgency-ukraine-war-russia/

9

@7: "Move away from capitalism and towards sustainable economies."

Such as what nation?

10

@9 -- Sweden.

Denmark and Norway are up there as well.

By no means is any country doing what they should do, but the fact that the Scandinavian countries (well known leftist democracies) are well ahead of most countries is telling. (This sounds like a Winter Olympics competition. Sweden takes the gold....)

11

kristofarian @5 @7 Please, just go away with your incoherent babble. I hate to break it to you, but not everything in the world is about you and your struggle against The Man.

A megalomaniacal dictator has invaded a democratic sovereign nation, millions of people are suffering, and you want to talk about Dick Cheney in 2003? No kidding. You want to imagine a fantasy world where it's only because of the bogeyman billionaires and "capitalism" that we're not off fossil fuels so that now you can reduce our modern-day Hitler in Vladimir Putin to something you can understand. Your unhinged buddy Professor History sure loved to consume vast amounts of fossil fuels. Was he a billionaire?

Again, here's what you wrote earlier about this conflict:
surely hope ol'
Smokin Joe ain't
reachin' for a little War
just to Stay in the Oval Office

https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2022/02/18/66978601/slog-pm-biden-believes-russia-plans-to-attack-kyiv-spd-clears-12th-and-jackson-the-choco-taco-returns/comments/19

This sort of hateful, clueless garbage is clearly the product of a sick mind. Please create a Facebook page or something where you can spend the day sharing your ramblings with the audience it deserves. Or better yet, set aside your pride, take a look at yourself, and ask yourself whether you can get outside your own head.

12

@9 Forgot to include the link: https://ccpi.org/ranking/. As of now, Denmark is the best in this regard. It is funny how those Scandinavian countries just do things better than us. Better quality of life, better health care system, better, more effective police force, etc., and yet the U. S. still talks shit about democratic socialism.

Sweden did fuck up their response to the pandemic though -- they ended up essentially being average (fucking embarrassing, really).

13

Oh, and kristofarian, feel free to spend your weekend now lashing out at me, if that's what you feel is a productive use of your time and the time of however few people read these comment threads. I have better uses of my time than reading or responding.

Responding more constructively to @9 and @10, it's well established that Norway and Sweden have market-based economies with a strong social safety net. Those nations are really examples of both capitalism and socialism, both well-practiced and well-balanced.

14

@9 -- what @10 said

b. this is what TJ
from the Bronx said:

"The people must rise up
and must NOT be led
into endless wars."

there's a Finite
amount of War
when you got
them Nukular
Options.

tempest in a tea cup
one little mess up
the whole thing
Goes. adiosa
Barbarossa

15

"... feel free to spend
your weekend now
lashing out at me... "
--above

sounds like Fun!
thnx! [again!]

16

@13 Don't waste your time on Kristocrazy.

17

@10: Well, they're social democracies sautéed in capitalism: IKEA, Ericsson, Volvo, Equinor, Danske.

18

here's what I wrote
earlier about this conflict:

surely hope ol'
Smokin Joe ain't
reachin' for a little War
just to Stay in the Oval Office

“This sort of hateful, clueless garbage is clearly the product of a sick mind.”

I concur.
FOX’s Tucks Carlson
had already pinned
that tale on Prez

mine was an honest
question pre-web search

followed up by

my Hope is that he's
above that and it looks
like he is…

&
but I’ll continue to question Derr Leader and I don’t care if it’s Bernie Fucking Sanders --- who I Fucking ADORE -- why should They get a Free fucking Pass?

we’ve been Fooled
too many times
haven’t we?

Oh and really thanks
For all the free advice
Worth every penny:

The Check’s [aga] in the mail!

19

@16 -- go eat
another poor
helpless calf

20

@18: (referring to President Joe Biden)

"my Hope is that he's
above that and it looks
like he is…"

He's always been above that and you know it.

To believe any sincerity in that you would have just dropped in from Mars and never became acquainted with Joe Biden's career starting in the 70's as a Senator, VP, and now president that he would torpedo his standing in history with a wag-the-dog escapade?

Your backpedaling just tangled you into a corner. There's an easy fix for that, just say you misspoke.

21

okay dewey

well you can
ask Anita Hill*
& after you do
you can kindly
Fuck Off with your
'you know this!' bullshit.

thnx!

*there's prolly
more but idgaf

22

o & please don't turm your
incomprehension into
my 'mispeaking'

23

Oh I comprehend your desperate babble quite clearly.

Anita Hill! OMG. What other imperfections about Biden can you take an off-ramp on? How about Hunter?

24

s'all in the Comprehension
[or Severe Lack
there-of]
Dewey:

*there's prolly
more but idgaf

good Luck
yur gonna
Need it

25

oh -- you were
Homeschooled

sorry -- no
Worries

26

don't put 'em on
a Fucking Pedestal

27

Moving on here's what
Bernie has to say a out it:

As you know, invading Russian military forces are moving across Ukraine. What we are witnessing is the most massive military operation in Europe since World War II.

There must be no ambiguity in acknowledging that what the whole world is seeing is nothing less than a blatant violation of international law and of basic human decency.

This war will likely kill thousands of people, and create millions of refugees.

At a time when the global community is already struggling with the global pandemic and climate change, this war could plunge Europe into long-term economic and political instability.

Make no mistake about it, the effects of this war will be felt here in the United States and countries throughout the world.

No matter what flimsy justification Putin may offer, this war is clearly an act of premeditated aggression against Ukraine and its people.

So where do we go from here?

Now is the time to maintain unity with our allies and impose severe sanctions on Vladimir Putin and his government.

Now is the time to isolate the Russian economy and freeze access to the billions of dollars that Putin and his oligarch cronies have stashed in European and American banks — the billions they have stolen from the people of Russia.

Now is the time to stand in solidarity with the incredibly brave Russian people who are bravely resisting this aggression by holding huge anti-war protests in 40 different Russian cities. In an authoritarian country like Russia, protest is an extraordinary act of courage.

In the midst of all this horror, one area that American leadership can be very helpful, is in providing aid for those refugees fleeing war.

Now is the time to work closely with our international partners in providing humanitarian relief for the Ukrainian people, and we must also commit to accepting more refugees here in our own country.

Many of you are no doubt wondering what you can do to help to end this terrible conflict.

In my view, the most important thing we can do right now is stand in solidarity with the Ukrainian people against this war, and with the Russian people who are risking so much to demonstrate against this corrupt, reckless president who started it.

Putin and his oligarch friends seek a divided world and the destruction of democracy.

We seek a different world.

At the end of the day, it will be that common humanity based on the principles of justice that brings us together and enables us to prevail.

In solidarity,

Bernie Sanders

28

oh no Wonder trumpfy's
so assy-kissy with Put-in:

"Now is the time to isolate the Russian economy and freeze access to the billions of dollars that Putin and his oligarch cronies have stashed in European and American banks — the billions they have stolen from the people of Russia." --Bernie

them chickens
is comin'
Home t'
Roost

yip-pee

29

here's Ralph explaining vastly
more deftly than I ever might
wtf's Happening over there:

When two scorpions are in a bottle, they both lose. This is the preventable danger that is growing daily, with no end game in sight between the two nuclear superpowers, led by dictator Vladimir Putin and de facto sole decider, Joe Biden.

Putin’s first argument is, Washington invented the model of aggressive, illegal invasions, and destruction of distant countries that never threatened U.S. security. Millions have died, been injured, and sickened in defenseless countries attacked by U.S. armed forces.

George W. Bush and Dick Cheney killed over a million innocent Iraqis and devastated the country in so many ways that scholars called it a “sociocide.”

Putin’s second argument is that Russia is being threatened on its sensitive western border, which had been invaded twice by Germany and caused the loss of 50 million Russian lives.

Soon after the Soviet Union collapsed, the West’s military alliance against Russia began moving east. Under Bill Clinton, NATO (The North Atlantic Treaty Organization) signed up Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic in 1999 leading to major arms sales by the U.S. giant munitions corporations.

More recently, Putin sees U.S. soldiers in these countries, ever closer U.S. missile launchers, U.S.-led joint naval exercises in the Baltic Sea, and intimations that Ukraine and Georgia could soon join NATO. (Imagine if the Russians were to have such a military presence around the U.S. borders.)

Even often hawkish New York Times columnists – Thomas Friedman and Bret Stephens made this point this week about the brazen U.S. history of military hypocrisy while tearing into Putin. Stephens brought up the Monroe Doctrine over the entire Western Hemisphere, in raising repeatedly the question, “Who are We?”

The chess game between Russia and the West has become more deadly with Putin’s military moves followed by immediate Western sanctions against some Russian banks and oligarchs close to Putin.

Travel bans and freezing the completion of the second major natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany are in place with promises of much more severe economic retaliation by Biden.

These sanctions can become a two-way street. Western Europe needs Russian oil and gas, Russian wheat, and essential Russian minerals such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel.

Sanctions against Russia will soon boomerang in terms of higher oil and gas prices for Europeans and Americans, more inflation, worsening supply chains, and the dreaded “economic uncertainty” afflicting stock markets and consumer spending.

The corporate global economy gave us interdependence on other nations, instead of domestic self-reliance under the framework of corporate-managed free trade agreements.

So how many billions of dollars in costs and a weakened economy will Joe Biden tolerate as the price of anti-Putin sanctions that will blowback on the American people? How much suffering will he tolerate being inflicted on the long-suffering Russian people?

What will be the impact on the civilian population of more severe sanctions? And who is he to talk as if he doesn’t have to be authorized by Congress to go further into this state of belligerence, short of sending soldiers, which he said he would not do?

Is Congress to be left as a cheerleader, washing its hands of its constitutional oversight and foreign policy duties? Also, watch Republicans and Democrats in Congress unify to whoop through more money for the bloated military budget, as pointed out by military analyst, Michael Klare. What energy will be left for Biden’s pending “Build Back Better” infrastructure, social safety net, and climate crisis legislation?

In recent weeks, the State Department said it recognizes Russia’s legitimate security concerns but not its expansionism. Well, what is wrong with a ceasefire followed by support for a treaty “guaranteeing neutrality for Ukraine, similar to the enforced neutrality for Austria since the Cold War’s early years,” as Nation publisher and Russia specialist Katrina vanden Heuvel urged.

(See: Katrina vanden Heuvel’s Washington Post article and her recent Nation piece).

Putin, unable to get over the breakup of the Soviet Union, probably has imperial ambitions to dominate in Russia’s backyard. Biden has inherited and accepted the U.S. Empire’s ambitions in many other nation’s backyards.

Events have polarized this conflict over Ukraine, which is not a security interest for the U.S., into two dominant egos – Putin and Biden – neither of whom want to appear weak or to back down.

This is a dangerous recipe for an out-of-control escalation, much as it was in the lead-up to World War I. Neither the people nor the parliaments mattered then, as seems to be the case today.

Putin isn’t likely to make a cost-benefit assessment of each day’s militarism. But Biden better do so. Otherwise, he will be managed by Putin’s daily moves, instead of insisting on serious negotiations.

The Minsk II Peace Accords of February 2015 brokered by Germany, France, and the United Nations that Russia and Ukraine agreed to before falling apart due to disagreements over who should take the first steps, still makes for a useful framework.

It is too late to revisit the accords to stop the invasion. But it should be proposed to introduce a climate for waging peace.

Already, New York Governor Kathy Hochul has spoken about an increase in cyberattacks and ransomware demands in her state in recent weeks.

Has Biden put that rising certainty in his self-described decades-long foreign policy expertise?

Watch out for what you can’t stop, Joe.

Ralph Nader

30

well
it Has
been fun!

thnx
cressy
could Notta
done it withoutchya!

32

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2O4x7TkIqE

33

@31 -- you'll likely get few arguments

but ya don't Gotta read their
dribble just scroll merrily past
which is why I have an Avatar
--psa

34

Ralph Nader fucked us by helping to elect W through hubris and poor judgment. I’m disinclined to listen to him now.

35

your bitterness
is duly noted

at least,
you gave
him a Chance

but he Does make Fucking Sense.
and HE'S ON OUR FUCKING SIDE.

36

@35, He really doesn't make sense. For example, 'Putin’s first argument is, Washington invented the model of aggressive, illegal invasions, and destruction of distant countries that never threatened U.S. security.'

I'd point out that Iraq wasn't the first time in human history where a country attacked another. How about something a bit more relevant, like the Molotov Ribbentrop pact where the Soviets worked out with the Nazis which parts of Eastern Europe they'd take... and then took them. The Soviets invaded Poland and the Baltic states and tried to take Finland, dominating Eastern Europe until 30 years ago. I'd classify this as an aggressive, illegal invasion of the type Mr. Nader credits the US with inventing. Maybe 30 years is too long ago to be relevant, but then why is the Monroe doctrine being brought up?

This invasion wasn't about Russia's security concerns. Ukraine wasn't a threat to Russia when it invaded it in 2014 and annexed the Crimea and it isn't now. Georgia wasn't a threat to Russia when it was invaded in 2008. If Russia doesn't want its neighbors to join NATO, perhaps they should stop invading them.

Also, this isn't Iraq and has nothing to do with Iraq. This is about Putin's ambitions to rebuild the Russian empire, he has said so. For some reason, we were able to talk about the invasion of Iraq as an act of aggression without trying to excuse the US actions based on some previous conflict, except maybe the first Iraq war which was pretty relevant. Whenever Russia invades its neighbors, for some reason a bunch of idiots pretend it's all because of Iraq, it isn't.

37

@16: Down, Muffy, down.

@34 dvs99: I am largely inclined to agree with you about Ralph Nader's involvement in getting Dubya into the White House instead of Al Gore. Just imagine how much healthier our planet could be now if Gore had rightfully been sworn in as the 43rd President of the United States.
I do, however, offer Nader and his family condolences over the Boeing 737 MAX disaster that senselessly took the life of his grandniece. At least if nothing else, Nader has done a tremendous lot in looking out for the public as a consumer protections advocate. You're right, though--he should never have run for President in 2000.

38

from Alternative Radio
Audio Energy for Democracy

on Mobilizing People:

"Concentrated wealth and power undermine
democracy and advance plutocracy.

The 1% have inordinate influence over the
rest of us. Wall Street dominates Main Street.
How do ordinary people break through the oligarchic
system to assert their interests over the interests of the
super-rich? As Ralph Nader says, 'However we look at it,
the wealthy few use the relentless mechanism of commercialism
to trample democracy, the natural environment, and the common good.

Our grievances are many, and the power of
citizenship, community, and national pride
should be enough to mobilize the
population to organize resist-
ance and change.'”

yeah it Oughtta be 'enough'
but you know how fickle
people can be

worth a Listen
https://www.alternativeradio.org/products/nadr025/

39

37 - You're absolutely right about Nader's consumer protection work. He did a lot of good in raising awareness and starting to make manufacturers get their shit together. I also don't fault him for running in 2000. Third-party candidates can raise important issues and shift the discourse.

However, once it was clear that the election was going to be very close, he did the country a huge disservice by not asking his followers to help ensure that Bush was not elected. Sure, they were behind him largely because they didn't like either choice that the two major parties put up. But there is no way in hell that the things Nader and his supporters wanted were not harmed much more by Bush than by anything Gore would have done. And that is the point at which hubris makes third-party candidates stay in the race and ultimately harm the things they are working towards.

40

when TWO 'parties' (wholly-owned by
Themselves & UN-accountable to the
Electorate) are In-CHARGE of our
Democracy here in the USOFA
the non-Corporate're are
seemingly Powerless.

it's easy to Forget our
Strength lies in
our Numbers.

41

@39 dvs99: Agreed and seconded.

@40 kristofarian: SO true.

42

& shit Begins
to hit fan:

BACKLASH AGAINST RUSSIA GROWS

E.U. to Ban Russian Flights as Battles Rage Across Ukraine

Ukraine Agrees to Talks With Russia; Putin Puts Nuclear Forces on Alert

Ukrainian officials agreed to talks with Russia on the Belarus border even as President Vladimir Putin issued a new threat to the West.

The Ukrainian Army said it was targeting Russian supply lines while fighting to keep control over Kyiv and Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city.

The E.U. said it would finance the purchase and delivery of weapons to Ukraine and close E.U. airspace to Russian aircraft. Here’s the latest.

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/02/27/world/russia-ukraine-war

43

gosh
now NPR's gonna tell us
how to* Deal w/Radiation
tomorrow in the AM but there'e
Really nothing to Worry about Folks
nothing to Fear Here ('cept for Fear itself).

countin' on You
Smokin' Joe!
don't let US
Down. k?
*worst case!

44

One reader’s comment from the nyt’s: Putin Declares a Nuclear Alert, and Biden Seeks De-escalation:

When the Russian leader ordered his nuclear forces into “special combat readiness,” the U.S. could have gone on high alert. Instead, the administration tried not to inflame him.

There are nearly 8 billion humans living on planet earth. That one single man can threaten, and have the capability, of exterminating them all, should tell us where we need to head as a global community if survival is what we crave.

Nobody should have this capability.”

-- An Observer; WY

well that's a
BINGO

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/27/us/politics/putin-nuclear-alert-biden-deescalation.html#commentsContainer

45

@44 kristofarian: BINGO, Over, and Out.

46

@39: At least the White House east wing got by the grace and charm of Laura Bush rather than the cringing Tipper Gore.

47

Technically, Russia was never a signatory to the UN, nor admitted formally to the UN Security Council.

The USSR was.

Russia itself is only one of the parts of the USSR, and should not have a veto.

48

@47: Great point!

49

@46 - I'm no fan of Tipper, but that's like saying Melania's boobs excused Trump's list of crimes.

51

@surely hope ol'
Smokin Joe ain't
reachin' for a little War
just to Stay in the Oval Office

from the nyt’s Paul Krugman:
Russia Is a Potemkin Superpower
Feb. 28, 2022

Biden has been strategically brilliant in sounding the alarm and denouncing Putin without stealing the thunder from our allies, which has allowed the EU, Britain, Australia, Japan, South Korea, even Singapore, to take action without it appearing to be under American pressure.

The best kind of leadership is cooperative and inclusive, not coercive and bombastic. Thanks to Biden, it's the world vs. Putin, not the US vs. Russia.

Biden's refusal to take Putin's nuclear weapons posturing seriously projects confidence and strength, and isolates Putin further as a desperate madman who's lost his grip.

The Russian people have no appetite for a nuclear exchange, not just between the US and Russia, but with all Western nations with nuclear weapons. Even China, which is economically dependent on global stability, is appalled and alarmed by Putin's nuclear saber-rattling.

Remember the campaign ad that asked: "It's 3 a.m. and your children are safe and asleep...But there's a phone in the White House and it's ringing. Who do you want answering the phone?"

The vast majority of sane Americans made the right choice.

--Yuriasian, Bay Area; Feb. 28

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/28/opinion/putin-military-sanctions-weakness.html

turns out Smokin Joe’s
PRECISELY The Right
Guy for The Job

well Fucking
Done sir

52

@51 is a Reader's Comment on Krugman's Essay

53

@46 & @48: Elmer, I think you've been sniffing too much of Orange Turd's propagandic glue lately. Your ultra-marooniness has gone into warp drive.

@50: PrincessAngeline#2 for the WIN!! You GO, girl!

@51 kristofarian: Amen!
and @52 kristofarian: I love Paul Krugman's commentaries. He is so consistently spot ON.


Please wait...

Comments are closed.

Commenting on this item is available only to members of the site. You can sign in here or create an account here.


Add a comment
Preview

By posting this comment, you are agreeing to our Terms of Use.