Sunday, March 23, 2025

Inconvenient Truths

 h/t WRSA


That's both cute, and on-point.

Now do one for the rest of Europe, including Ukraine, on who thinks Russia is trustworthy, honorable, and peaceful. As opposed to just being the Mexico of Europe, except with nuclear weapons and a desire to re-form the former Soviet Union.

Funny how the most stridently anti-Russian countries are all right on Russia's border, including all the satellite republics they keep attacking to keep as part of that country.

Go ahead, we triple-dog dare you. Show it.

We'll wait over here while you work out where Baby Duck Trump has his whole head completely up his own ass, and can't remember anything that happened from 1946-1991, while he bargains another country away as if they have no say in the matter, and then tell me how many other current U.S. alliances are going to survive the next 20 years.

Then tell the class about who the last four or five countries were, who bargained with Russia to divvy up someone else's country like they were Monopoly cards, and tell the class how that worked out all around in each case. 

This should be entertaining.

For the Common Core grads: History - still a thing.

But hey, keep on siding with Russia and Hamas in preference to countries that oppose both, and tell yourself you're on the right side of history and common sense.

I'm still trying to recall the last world leader who was allied with both the Arabs and Russia, but I'm betting some people's historical ignorance - or deliberate blind eye - did Nazi that one coming.

{To the Usual Suspects: -10 points and a stiff-armed salute - but no space - for every knee-jerk "Joooooooooos!" response in comments. Mine your underpants as expected, and live up to all my expectations.}

16 comments:

Skyler the Weird said...

T.E. Lawrence?

Anonymous said...

Syria under Assad? I guess I’m trying to suss out your point. I miss it sometimes with regard to your Russia takes. Not a common core grad but I lost those books in the divorce and the memory is not what it was.

Anonymous said...

As if the US is the same country it was between 1946 and 1991. We approve and take for granted now things that we reviled in 1960. Even 1991. I suspect we're more "communist" now than Russia in many ways.

Anonymous said...

Your disdain for Russia and Putin's dream of recreating the Soviet Union is all fine. Acknowledged that he's an ex-KGB thug and killer. But...that seems to leave very limited options in how we handle the Ukraine invasion. Do we, Europe and the U.S., put boots on the ground? Do you want us to go face to face because like the argument for Vietnam (which I well remember having been in the military during same) if "we let them take Ukraine the dominoes will fall and there goes the Baltics?" What I'm getting at is you can't have it both ways, that Russia/Putin is a paper tiger on the one hand, and at the same time rail on about what an existential threat eastern Europe is facing. As to Trump negotiating and caving to Putin, you are probably right about that. Trump is a wanna-be Putin, fantasizing about invading Canada and Greenland, blowing up the economy with tariffs, and otherwise imagining his little real estate development fortune made by screwing suppliers and buying off politicians makes him as ruthless as the man with his shirt off riding a pony in Russia. Pathetic. However, I'm willing to wait and see what his team comes up with. Trump did pick some good people who will only be pushed so far, and that is especially true of Rubio.

Rhea said...

Witkoff seems pretty witless and needs to be relieved from duty. And Trump needs to put his ego away and punish the Democrats who actually persecuted him and stop making Ukraine his scapegoat. "Miney went missing!1!" - yes, and the Bidens were in the White House. Was there a point here?

Ronald Reagan is turning in his grave.

~Rhea

Landroll said...

Good one Aesop! I'm waiting for Trump to come down the boarding stairs waving a bunch of papers proclaiming "There will be peace in our time." Regards Anon's comment think Mufti of Jerusalem, bad Germans, and worse Soviets.

Grey Fox said...

A certain Austrian-born German painter-turned-politician with a funny mustache and a tendency to forget where the borders of his country were, whose name escapes me. Schicklegruber or something like that.

Aesop said...

My point isn't that hard to suss out.
Herr Shickelgruber and Stalin divvying up Poland, certainly. That worked out so well.
The US, Britain, and France portioning out Germany. Russia adjusting Poland's post-war borders.
US, UK, and Russia dividing out the post-war world.
Britain bargaining away the Sudetenland (not theirs to sell, just theirs to sell out).
Britain and France seeing to the dismantling of the Austro-Hungarian empire.
Then splitting the Middle East between them.
Then the U.S. joining in for handshake agreements on the former German colonies.

Countries A and B deciding how to part out country C never ends well.
Especially for Country C.

Trump is a world-class assclown for doing it to Ukraine.
It's like twisting the girl's arm to get her to kiss and make up with her rapist.

Aesop said...

Boots on the ground? Not a chance in hell.
Putin and his minions have already hinted explicitly that the Baltics are coming back into Russia's pocket. Maybe some of Eastern Europe.
Once you're willing to throw Ukraine under the bus, where do your draw the line?
And after you throw Ukraine under the bus, who in their right mind believes you when you say, "Well, your country would be different. Trust us."
Russia is a paper tiger, in conventional terms.
Europe has let itself become a paper chihuahua.
So yes, I can have it both ways, and point out the existential threat Europe is facing by encouraging Putin's military adventurism and opportunism.
Once conventional opposition becomes a non-starter, things go nuclear in about 5 minutes.

And Marco ScrewYoubio, the man who was willing to sell America out to unconditional amnesty, is America's champion?
Sh'yeah, right, when monkeys fly outta my butt.
We'd be better off with Mr. Haney from Green Acres bargaining for us.
And Ukraine is liable to find out they've been sold to Russia for some Magic Beans.

Aesop said...

https://i.imgur.com/BGmNGH7.jpg

maruadventurer said...

I would find Aesop's proposal at minimum entertaining, an more likely very enlightening.

America has had for the longest time a blind spot when it comes to geopolitics - ethnicity. Americans are in the main living in a country that has few discords due to ethnic personage. That can't be said for the balance of the world. Examples -- Yugoslavia bust up, Czechoslovakia split, any discussion between chinese/japanese/koreans, hell the ME is one massive parlor game of ethnic conflict. Same goes for portions of Ukraine.

The concept of The New Soviet Man attempted to paper over the ethnic ying-yang but after 80yrs of trying failed. So for a deeper view it might be worth while to not only understand why the former Warsaw pacts hated Marx's dream world but also was it nationalism or ethnicity that pushed against that yoke.

Grey Fox said...

Poland was partitioned up between Prussia, Austria, and Russia back in the 18th century, in three stages, too. I am not sure it really fits your thesis, since i don't think it led to any more conflict between the three nations then they might otherwise have be expected - those three were constantly fighting each other anyway - but it hasn't been forgotten over in Poland and I expect the Poles are getting pretty twitchy just now.

I expect that Poland is likely to be among the first to go nuclear, if they survive long enough.

Anonymous said...

OK, you say no boots on the ground in Ukraine. What exactly is YOUR plan then? You don't have faith in Trump's team, and especially Little Marco. Back in 2013 when he was a newbie to the cesspit of Washington he did screw up by thinking he could trust Schumer. He's not the same guy today as witness his chat with Bukele on the veranda and Trump's follow up planeload of Tren de Aragua scum to prison there. My biggest gripe about defending Europe in another of their centuries long and endless internecine squabbles is who the hell cares anymore? Let them fight it out and hopefully self-destruct. We need to hunker down and quite pretending that we are successors to the British Empire, stop being drawn into every effing conflict Europe has spread over the world, and stop sacrificing our young men's lives in these useless wars. 50,000 dead and 250,000 wounded in Vietnam, thousands dead and maimed physically and psychologically in Iraq and Afghanistan. And for what? Bragging rights that we have the meanest, badass military? Fuck all of them. JD's little speech over there was a warning. Now we'll hopefully get the follow through.

Aerschig said...

And yet in recent years the AfD has become more pro Russian, so the message of the strong support for it in the former East Germany is not unambiguous.

Aesop said...

Right.
And a nuclear Poland, because we're backing out of Europe, throwing promises and Ukraine under the bus, and have demonstrated that giving up nukes means "devil take the hindmost", makes the world more safe, or less so...?

This is Trump shooting himself in the foot, rewarding Russia's military flexing, and greasing the slippery slope to Armageddon, all in one jackass move. The last time we saw foreign policy this well-executed, we abandoned Afghanistan in 24 hours.

Aesop said...

We should be doing everything short of boots on the ground to make Russia wish they'd never invaded.
Putin wouldn't be pissing himself and whining so hard if it wasn't working. When the guy you're trying to curb (and if we aren't, then why the hell have sanctions??) is crying like a little girl, that's not the time to take your foot off his junk.
First he agrees to peace, and pulls the fuck out for good, then you talk about what he gets in exchange for that.
Trumps has his head so far up his ass on this he's already handed over the cow, and now he's trying to beg for some magic beans.

Even Jack wasn't that stupid.