Yesterday, Vladimir Putin warned that NATO and the United States will be “at war” with Russia if restrictions on the use of medium range missiles are lifted and Ukraine begins firing U.S.
I’d argue that Putin's “chief puppet” is Trump, and that’s why Trump made sure to mention Russia’s nuclear stockpile when Ukraine came up in the recent debate.
Putin's secret weapon, which is not really so secret, is Trump. If Trump loses, and Putin will do everything possible to see that he doesn't, they are both 'dead men walking".
I don’t remember which swing state has a significant population of Ukrainian descent. JD said he didn’t care what happens to Ukraine. Hmmm. Kamala Harris mentioned what Putin wants to do to Poland, when addressing Pennsylvanians of Polish ancestry.
It looks like Pennsylvanians should be hearing about this too, as well as New Jersey, NY and CA, but those are blue leaning states. However, with values, I bet a lot of Ukrainians vote red. This election should try to turn that around.
They should mention Ukraine in Texas, Virgina and Ohio. Right now the battle is between fears of Immigrants and Support for Abortion in many states. Which issue will win is a matter of who gets the most voters out.
Hi Richard, I just went to the link you shared and subscribed to Kyiv Independent. It was interesting that my credid card info showed in the payment box, last four. I hope this was Substck is linked. I was going touse that card anyway, but hmmmm..
Putin is frightened of Kamala Harris, who is not afraid of either him or Trump. Along with interfering in our election, he is no doubt making plans for a Harris win. Hopefully he is looking for an exit.
Like Trump, Putin is a bully and a bluffer. You saw Trump wilt when Kamala stood up to him, and Putin would wilt in the same way if we and NATO stand up against him too. It's time.
Putin’s basic problem, like all reactionaries & wld B authoritarians, is that he doesn’t know how to govern. He knows how to rule (& give orders) but is clueless about how to keep the water clean, the traffic lights working, & factories producing basic goods & war material. He runs a kleptocracy based on fear & obsequiousness. Since only his opinion matters there is nobody down stream who has any inclination to show initiative. To the contrary, anyone showing that will have a very short life.
The other major problem W Reactionary/Authoritarian Government is corruption & apathy.
That’s what happens dumb fuck when you put all of your eggs in one basket !
My thoughts exactly, Janet.
He put his entire life-being into destroying this country and his useful idiots are not going to plan - he’ll nuke the shit out of the whole world before he admits defeat. I’ve always thought this after reading Annie Applebaum’s book.
I long for both of them to get thrown out a window … hand-in-hand !
My question is whether that Paper Tiger has reached the point of being willing to "blow everything up" with any sort of Russian or Russian allied weapon attack on a Western nation. Is he that crazy? I do not believe Putin's threats should dictate NATO actions. Saving Ukraine protects NATO's borders. I fear/am concerned for/am furious about what could happen.
Personally, I don't think Putin is actually crazy. He loves the good life and wants to protect it for himself and his minions. I think he's just eager to look fearsome and he's angry because his puppet is mentally breaking down and losing. Bummer for him. He had it all set up but the American public is not going to let that happen again. I hope. Vote Blue no Matter Who.
Agree. Putin is wily, calculating, and sane, which makes him dangerous in a different way. Which makes having tRump on the national scene so perilous not only for America but for Ukraine and Europe too, because tRump is no match for Putin. Putin has been playing him like a violin for years, because of kompromat and being much smarter than the shallow, ignorant, egotistical tRump. Kamala said it so well at the debate. Putin eats him for lunch, and he's too dumb to know it.
Currently enrolled in post-Soviet Russia: a survey of the Yeltsin-Gorbachev feud is on the menu this week.
The back-stabbing is the stuff legends are made of.
But in all sincerity, the struggle for representative government is ongoing. And to quote a poet whose demise only increased his influence: “The path of true love never did run smoother!
You’ve got to give them credit, Russian literature is classic and the opening of the secret files was a breakthrough for historians! “Just the facts” was given new meaning in 1991 and scholars flooded in to pour over classified documents.
As always, thank you for the overview and truth-telling about Putin and his capabilities. I don't take any stock in what the corporate media 'reports', and even less from the WH mouthpieces. I am curious, though, what direction he takes when Donvict loses in Nov.
Next, Please! For sure. It is time for Putin to go and the Russian people know it. His puppet, Trump is having his strings clipped my a Black Womam, no less.
There’s another thing I’m curious about. Ukrainians had taken a huge area inside Russia several weeks ago.
The vast majority of Putin’s troops are in the northern regions of Donbas in the middle of nowhere defending two crossroads, that make no strategic sense any of the experts.
Meanwhile, why is Putin not using the last of his troops ( he’s had enormous losses) to defend the land inside his own beloved Motherland?
Keep in mind the info on this conflict is sketchy at best. For a 21st-C conflict, there is little independent confirmation of the claims made by both sides. And that includes KIA, WIA, MIA, POWs, and civ casualties.
The land areas involved are too expansive to expect accurate info. That's the reason the sides battle 24/7 over the information space for domestic and foreign consumption.
Wrote yesterday am encouraged by the possibility of Western mil contractors being part of another tranche of advanced weaponry. And reminded people it's far faster and easier to insert Western mil contractors into Uk, than it is to locate weapon systems to transfer or to build.
FTR: Ru doesn't release their causality numbers. Those found in the media come from Uk. Uk doesn't release their mil casualty numbers. Those in the media come from Ru. Both Ru and Uk selectively release civ casualty numbers. The veracity of which is highly suspect.
"huge area inside of Ru" Gentle reminder: Ru covers a huge area of land and ice. Not sure Rus sees that slice as huge or strategic. Uk hasn't said how many troops are inside that zone. Considering the disparity in troop numbers it's fair to ask if they are better utilized elsewhere. Haven't see any report of that force attempting to isolate a chunk of Ru forces currently on Uk's dirt in order for Uk forces to destroy or capture.
Larger point is that niithah mil is a professional fighting force nor includes a solid echelon of command. That's been obvious since before the major invasion and ever since. That's the primary reason weaponry (quality/quantity) whether advanced or older GENs hasn't made ANY difference. And will NOT. (Firepower gives some a chubby. Am not in that group now or ever have been. Wars are won between the ears.
Thank you for your detailed insight into this Shadowcloud. I hope Ukraine will prevail in the end. I hate wars and wish disputes could be solved at the debate table without the brutality of lives lost. Once again, as in the past, I hope the mothers will end this.
Am grateful for your thoughts and kind words. Am joining w/your hope of peace driven by wimmin in both countries and around the Blue Marble.
Of all the 4-lettered words hate is by far the strongest therefore should be saved for the worst of the worst, war as you have, Lori. Due to being overused and misapplied to food, to movies, to colors, to weather, to people, (...) by the time it's properly used w/war the word hate is neutered.
Suredafuq doesn't help that 99 and 44/100ths of war flics and war stories (literature) omit the true horrors and the most victims of war, children and wimmin. This is on that does not: The Flowers of War.
Lucian, full disclosure. I am not a military strategist or all that familiar with the technology being used by both sides in this war. But, your analysis of the current status quo leads me to ask a fundamental question.
Given the current stalemate should we not admit that a status quo favors Putin because he has the larger reserves of cannon fodder for a protracted war AND that so long as the Ukrainians are unable to strike Russian depots, missile launch sites and airfields from which Russia can launch planes with those glide bombs the Ukrainians will never be able to put enoough pressure on Putin to force him to the bargaining table. Or, put another way if we continue to constrain Ukraine to only defending its terriroty within its borders are we not consigning Ukraine to slowly bleed itself white?
Remember the sanctuaries around Hiphong Harbor? The places we chose not to hit because it might enrage the Chinese or Russians? That got a lot of American flyers shot down and killed for what purpose. The North Vietnamese continued to supply their troops and the Viet Cong and we snuck out of dogge after a decade or so of American blood letting.
I believe your point about Putin's pleasure palace needs to be considered. Along with his personal fortune of an estimated 60 billion dollars (not rubels) and his 41 year old mistress and two rumored love children he has a hell of a lot more to live for than some dirt in Ukraine. But, he will not be moved to make any deal until his militaryis degraded more and the body bags start to pile up in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
So, in a future column make the case for us allowing the Ukrainians to become more proactive againstg bases in Russia (no, not hitting Moscow itself) vs. the option of continuing to nickle and dime a man with 60 billion in the bank.
It looks like another Russian revolution may me in the making. Ain’t a whole lot of difference between Putin and the Czar with Putin’s oligarchs cast in the role of Russian Aristocracy
I've talked about history and Putin's faulty memory before. The war in Ukraine was supposed to last two weeks and Putin was going to ride into Kyiv in triumph. But he forgot the lesson of WWII and the strategy Stalin employed against Hitler. Ukraine allowed him to gain some territory, the Donbas. But then they made him throw thousands of troops into the meatgrinder. Ukraine is defending its home. Russian conscripts are fighting for ...? This will not end well for Vlad as it didn't end well for Adolph.
You have to wonder if our excessive caution over provoking Putin goes back to our historical fear of Russia and nuclear annihilation. When I was growing up we nuclear war drills in grade school where we had to cover our heads under our tiny desks, and our parents were building backyard bunkers. It takes a while to adjust to where Russia is no longer a threat to us. Didn't MacArthur claim that the problem in war was always in being "too late," and so often great powers are trying to fight the last war? Ukraine has the strategic advantage here in defending it's homeland and we need to help Ukraine to make this Putin's problem as to how to end this stalemate.
I’d argue that Putin's “chief puppet” is Trump, and that’s why Trump made sure to mention Russia’s nuclear stockpile when Ukraine came up in the recent debate.
Helping Putin saber rattle.
Putin a paper tiger which Trump would never learn about until Putin hangs him out to dry...film at 11!
Same. As soon as he brought it up I thought- Putin’s instructions.
Putin's secret weapon, which is not really so secret, is Trump. If Trump loses, and Putin will do everything possible to see that he doesn't, they are both 'dead men walking".
From your lips to God's ears.
They are now.
👍👍👍
https://kyivindependent.com/?attribution_id=66e42a43f045e0ac04ac9cd7&attribution_type=post
Exactly, and little wonder Vladonald Trumpski and Shady Vance side with Putin against Ukraine.
I don’t remember which swing state has a significant population of Ukrainian descent. JD said he didn’t care what happens to Ukraine. Hmmm. Kamala Harris mentioned what Putin wants to do to Poland, when addressing Pennsylvanians of Polish ancestry.
Pennsylvania has a large Ukrainian population.
Hmm, San Francisco has a number of Ukrainians and a couple of churches.
Here is the link that shows the population of Ukrainians in each state.
https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/ukranian-population-by-state
It looks like Pennsylvanians should be hearing about this too, as well as New Jersey, NY and CA, but those are blue leaning states. However, with values, I bet a lot of Ukrainians vote red. This election should try to turn that around.
They should mention Ukraine in Texas, Virgina and Ohio. Right now the battle is between fears of Immigrants and Support for Abortion in many states. Which issue will win is a matter of who gets the most voters out.
Wow, thank you, Linda! I was thinking upper Midwest, as Canada has had many Ukrainian immigrants.
Thinking of you and yours, Allen Hingston!
Hi Richard, I just went to the link you shared and subscribed to Kyiv Independent. It was interesting that my credid card info showed in the payment box, last four. I hope this was Substck is linked. I was going touse that card anyway, but hmmmm..
That didn’t happen to me.
I have no idea how that cc stuff works, but I subscribed last winter and then cancelled briefly, and then subscribed again, no problems.
Putin is frightened of Kamala Harris, who is not afraid of either him or Trump. Along with interfering in our election, he is no doubt making plans for a Harris win. Hopefully he is looking for an exit.
Like Trump, Putin is a bully and a bluffer. You saw Trump wilt when Kamala stood up to him, and Putin would wilt in the same way if we and NATO stand up against him too. It's time.
Putin’s basic problem, like all reactionaries & wld B authoritarians, is that he doesn’t know how to govern. He knows how to rule (& give orders) but is clueless about how to keep the water clean, the traffic lights working, & factories producing basic goods & war material. He runs a kleptocracy based on fear & obsequiousness. Since only his opinion matters there is nobody down stream who has any inclination to show initiative. To the contrary, anyone showing that will have a very short life.
The other major problem W Reactionary/Authoritarian Government is corruption & apathy.
He KNOWS he’s losing!
That’s what happens dumb fuck when you put all of your eggs in one basket !
My thoughts exactly, Janet.
He put his entire life-being into destroying this country and his useful idiots are not going to plan - he’ll nuke the shit out of the whole world before he admits defeat. I’ve always thought this after reading Annie Applebaum’s book.
I long for both of them to get thrown out a window … hand-in-hand !
My question is whether that Paper Tiger has reached the point of being willing to "blow everything up" with any sort of Russian or Russian allied weapon attack on a Western nation. Is he that crazy? I do not believe Putin's threats should dictate NATO actions. Saving Ukraine protects NATO's borders. I fear/am concerned for/am furious about what could happen.
Personally, I don't think Putin is actually crazy. He loves the good life and wants to protect it for himself and his minions. I think he's just eager to look fearsome and he's angry because his puppet is mentally breaking down and losing. Bummer for him. He had it all set up but the American public is not going to let that happen again. I hope. Vote Blue no Matter Who.
Agree. Putin is wily, calculating, and sane, which makes him dangerous in a different way. Which makes having tRump on the national scene so perilous not only for America but for Ukraine and Europe too, because tRump is no match for Putin. Putin has been playing him like a violin for years, because of kompromat and being much smarter than the shallow, ignorant, egotistical tRump. Kamala said it so well at the debate. Putin eats him for lunch, and he's too dumb to know it.
It’s Flattery and Favors, as Kamala Harris said. Putin might not need the kompromat.
Currently enrolled in post-Soviet Russia: a survey of the Yeltsin-Gorbachev feud is on the menu this week.
The back-stabbing is the stuff legends are made of.
But in all sincerity, the struggle for representative government is ongoing. And to quote a poet whose demise only increased his influence: “The path of true love never did run smoother!
You’ve got to give them credit, Russian literature is classic and the opening of the secret files was a breakthrough for historians! “Just the facts” was given new meaning in 1991 and scholars flooded in to pour over classified documents.
Exactly! A double dip here, vote for Kamala, get rid of two dangerous bad guys.
As always, thank you for the overview and truth-telling about Putin and his capabilities. I don't take any stock in what the corporate media 'reports', and even less from the WH mouthpieces. I am curious, though, what direction he takes when Donvict loses in Nov.
Donvict...PRIMO!
Maybe the Ukrainians should target the villas?
Next, Please! For sure. It is time for Putin to go and the Russian people know it. His puppet, Trump is having his strings clipped my a Black Womam, no less.
There’s another thing I’m curious about. Ukrainians had taken a huge area inside Russia several weeks ago.
The vast majority of Putin’s troops are in the northern regions of Donbas in the middle of nowhere defending two crossroads, that make no strategic sense any of the experts.
Meanwhile, why is Putin not using the last of his troops ( he’s had enormous losses) to defend the land inside his own beloved Motherland?
When they’re no where to be seen there?
Keep in mind the info on this conflict is sketchy at best. For a 21st-C conflict, there is little independent confirmation of the claims made by both sides. And that includes KIA, WIA, MIA, POWs, and civ casualties.
The land areas involved are too expansive to expect accurate info. That's the reason the sides battle 24/7 over the information space for domestic and foreign consumption.
Wrote yesterday am encouraged by the possibility of Western mil contractors being part of another tranche of advanced weaponry. And reminded people it's far faster and easier to insert Western mil contractors into Uk, than it is to locate weapon systems to transfer or to build.
FTR: Ru doesn't release their causality numbers. Those found in the media come from Uk. Uk doesn't release their mil casualty numbers. Those in the media come from Ru. Both Ru and Uk selectively release civ casualty numbers. The veracity of which is highly suspect.
"huge area inside of Ru" Gentle reminder: Ru covers a huge area of land and ice. Not sure Rus sees that slice as huge or strategic. Uk hasn't said how many troops are inside that zone. Considering the disparity in troop numbers it's fair to ask if they are better utilized elsewhere. Haven't see any report of that force attempting to isolate a chunk of Ru forces currently on Uk's dirt in order for Uk forces to destroy or capture.
Larger point is that niithah mil is a professional fighting force nor includes a solid echelon of command. That's been obvious since before the major invasion and ever since. That's the primary reason weaponry (quality/quantity) whether advanced or older GENs hasn't made ANY difference. And will NOT. (Firepower gives some a chubby. Am not in that group now or ever have been. Wars are won between the ears.
Thank you for your detailed insight into this Shadowcloud. I hope Ukraine will prevail in the end. I hate wars and wish disputes could be solved at the debate table without the brutality of lives lost. Once again, as in the past, I hope the mothers will end this.
Again, thank you. 💙
Am grateful for your thoughts and kind words. Am joining w/your hope of peace driven by wimmin in both countries and around the Blue Marble.
Of all the 4-lettered words hate is by far the strongest therefore should be saved for the worst of the worst, war as you have, Lori. Due to being overused and misapplied to food, to movies, to colors, to weather, to people, (...) by the time it's properly used w/war the word hate is neutered.
Suredafuq doesn't help that 99 and 44/100ths of war flics and war stories (literature) omit the true horrors and the most victims of war, children and wimmin. This is on that does not: The Flowers of War.
Lucian, full disclosure. I am not a military strategist or all that familiar with the technology being used by both sides in this war. But, your analysis of the current status quo leads me to ask a fundamental question.
Given the current stalemate should we not admit that a status quo favors Putin because he has the larger reserves of cannon fodder for a protracted war AND that so long as the Ukrainians are unable to strike Russian depots, missile launch sites and airfields from which Russia can launch planes with those glide bombs the Ukrainians will never be able to put enoough pressure on Putin to force him to the bargaining table. Or, put another way if we continue to constrain Ukraine to only defending its terriroty within its borders are we not consigning Ukraine to slowly bleed itself white?
Remember the sanctuaries around Hiphong Harbor? The places we chose not to hit because it might enrage the Chinese or Russians? That got a lot of American flyers shot down and killed for what purpose. The North Vietnamese continued to supply their troops and the Viet Cong and we snuck out of dogge after a decade or so of American blood letting.
I believe your point about Putin's pleasure palace needs to be considered. Along with his personal fortune of an estimated 60 billion dollars (not rubels) and his 41 year old mistress and two rumored love children he has a hell of a lot more to live for than some dirt in Ukraine. But, he will not be moved to make any deal until his militaryis degraded more and the body bags start to pile up in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
So, in a future column make the case for us allowing the Ukrainians to become more proactive againstg bases in Russia (no, not hitting Moscow itself) vs. the option of continuing to nickle and dime a man with 60 billion in the bank.
I think I'm finished with Putie for a while.
I think we all are...
Unfortunately the Ukrainians are not.
Hope so.
It looks like another Russian revolution may me in the making. Ain’t a whole lot of difference between Putin and the Czar with Putin’s oligarchs cast in the role of Russian Aristocracy
I've talked about history and Putin's faulty memory before. The war in Ukraine was supposed to last two weeks and Putin was going to ride into Kyiv in triumph. But he forgot the lesson of WWII and the strategy Stalin employed against Hitler. Ukraine allowed him to gain some territory, the Donbas. But then they made him throw thousands of troops into the meatgrinder. Ukraine is defending its home. Russian conscripts are fighting for ...? This will not end well for Vlad as it didn't end well for Adolph.
You have to wonder if our excessive caution over provoking Putin goes back to our historical fear of Russia and nuclear annihilation. When I was growing up we nuclear war drills in grade school where we had to cover our heads under our tiny desks, and our parents were building backyard bunkers. It takes a while to adjust to where Russia is no longer a threat to us. Didn't MacArthur claim that the problem in war was always in being "too late," and so often great powers are trying to fight the last war? Ukraine has the strategic advantage here in defending it's homeland and we need to help Ukraine to make this Putin's problem as to how to end this stalemate.