For the last four hours? How about putting the fucking phone down?
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Then hand me down my dunce cap, 'cause I want us out of that thing.
What, and give up on liberal democracy and capitalism and like, lights? 
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I hope you feel the same about Taiwan, because once the US starts abandoning its commitments, it’s all over.
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I think my feelings about Taiwan are kind of complicated a mess. But I’m a child of the '60s, and our entanglements back then, and in subsequent decades as well, have contributed heavily to my duncehood.
This thread is almost as easy to follow as the first rendition of “SARS is back in China” or whatever COVID 1.0’s thread was called…
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No true Scotsman!
Begs the question!
Your arguments are all fallacies. This one is possible a Burden of Proof fallacy.
Obviously it’s a joke, but he’s still a traitor and should be executed. Trump as well for that matter and Johnson. I’ll do it.
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At least Putin cock suckers don’t have to go down too far on the short arse prick
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Have been wondering about the morale of the Russian soldiers from the beginning. Invading a country that has been very close to one’s own without being provoked, that’s something very weak to get behind and risk losing your life over. The more Russian soldiers die and the longer it takes to capture the capital, the more likely it is to backfire. Hope Russian soldiers revolt and stage a coup at home. Would be a good warning for China too.
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I honestly fear that Putin’s pride and fragility regarding losing so much face in front of the world will push him into plotting and, if left unchecked, doing the unthinkable in the next few days…god I hope I am wrong.
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From today’s Guardian:
Why Vladimir Putin has already lost this war
The Russians may yet conquer Ukraine. But Ukrainians have shown in the past few days that they will not let them hold it.
Mon 28 Feb 2022 06.00 GMT
Summary
Less than a week into the war, it seems increasingly likely that Vladimir Putin is heading towards a historic defeat. He may win all the battles but lose the war. Putin’s dream of rebuilding the Russian empire has always rested on the lie that Ukraine isn’t a real nation, that Ukrainians aren’t a real people, and that the inhabitants of Kyiv, Kharkiv and Lviv yearn for Moscow’s rule. That’s a complete lie – Ukraine is a nation with more than a thousand years of history, and Kyiv was already a major metropolis when Moscow was not even a village. But the Russian despot has told his lie so many times that he apparently believes it himself.
When planning the invasion of Ukraine, Putin could count on many known facts. He knew that militarily Russia dwarfs Ukraine. He knew that Nato would not send troops to help Ukraine. He knew that European dependence on Russian oil and gas would make countries like Germany hesitate about imposing stiff sanctions. Based on these known facts, his plan was to hit Ukraine hard and fast, decapitate its government, establish a puppet regime in Kyiv, and ride out the impotent rage of western sanctions.
But there was one big unknown about this plan. As the Americans learned in Iraq and the Soviets learned in Afghanistan, it is much easier to conquer a country than to hold it. Putin knew he had the power to conquer Ukraine. But would the Ukrainian people just accept Moscow’s puppet regime? Putin gambled that they would. After all, as he repeatedly explained to anyone willing to listen, Ukraine isn’t a real nation, and the Ukrainians aren’t a real people. In 2014, people in Crimea hardly resisted the Russian invaders. Why should 2022 be any different?
With each passing day, it is becoming clearer that Putin’s gamble is failing. The Ukrainian people are resisting with all their heart, winning the admiration of the entire world – and winning the war. Many dark days lie ahead. The Russians may still conquer the whole of Ukraine. But to win the war, the Russians would have to hold Ukraine, and they can do that only if the Ukrainian people let them. This seems increasingly unlikely to happen.
Each Russian tank destroyed and each Russian soldier killed increases the Ukrainians’ courage to resist. And each Ukrainian killed deepens the Ukrainians’ hatred. Hatred is the ugliest of emotions. But for oppressed nations, hatred is a hidden treasure. Buried deep in the heart, it can sustain resistance for generations. To re-establish the Russian empire, Putin needs a relatively bloodless victory that will lead to a relatively hateless peace. By spilling more and more Ukrainian blood, Putin is making sure his dream will never be realised. It won’t be Mikhail Gorbachev’s name written on the death certificate of the Russian empire: it will be Putin’s. Gorbachev left Russians and Ukrainians feeling like siblings; Putin has turned them into enemies, and has ensured that the Ukrainian nation will henceforth define itself in opposition to Russia.
Nations are ultimately built on stories. Each passing day adds more stories that Ukrainians will tell not only in the dark days ahead, but in the decades and generations to come. The president who refused to flee the capital, telling the US that he needs ammunition, not a ride; the soldiers from Snake Island who told a Russian warship to “go fuck yourself”; the civilians who tried to stop Russian tanks by sitting in their path. This is the stuff nations are built from. In the long run, these stories count for more than tanks.
The Russian despot should know this as well as anyone. As a child, he grew up on a diet of stories about Russian bravery in the siege of Leningrad. He is now creating more such stories, but casting himself in the role of Hitler.
The stories of Ukrainian bravery give resolve not only to Ukrainians, but to the whole world. They give courage to the governments of European nations, to the US administration, and even to the oppressed citizens of Russia. If Ukrainians dare to stop a tank with their bare hands, the German government can dare to supply them with some anti-tank missiles, the US government can dare to cut Russia off Swift, and Russian citizens can dare to demonstrate their opposition to this senseless war.
Unfortunately, this war is likely to be long-lasting. But the most important issue has already been decided. The last few days have proved to the entire world that Ukraine is a real nation, that Ukrainians are a real people, and that they definitely don’t want to live under a new Russian empire. The main question left open is how long it will take for this message to penetrate the Kremlin’s thick walls.
- Yuval Noah Harari is a historian and author of Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
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Putin is a little man, as are those who support him. Reminds me of Mussolini.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky Did Voice Paddington
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Putin may be a smart man but I think the world now really realizes that Putin is truly a not so smart megalomaniac…even more so than previously thought. Combine that with a less than stellar results of Russia’s economic progress on the world stage left Russia going back to its old playbook of trying to war its way to more power. If Russia just opened up more to the west, stopped hacking companies worldwide, and not trying to destroy NATO…hell…everyone would be happy including the oligarchs in Russia. If Putin had not annexed part of Ukraine and just put Russia on more friendly terms with his neighbors Russia would be more powerful. But no…try to claim NATO is threatening Russia…and everyone is against us…well, that line can only be popular in Russia among the hard right for so long…eventually the population will get tired of Putin spending money on tanks when the economy is getting cut off.
Yes, the other guy is committing no true scotsman, don’t know if you’ve noticed. Or no true refugee.