FYI, I just watched a FOX useful idiot Tucker Carlson interview with a retired Colonel, Doug Macgregor claiming him to be a non-partisan, truth telling military expert who will tell us what is really going on re Russia and Ukraine. What he does not say is that Doug Macgregor is a long time Russian sympathizer often appearing on Russian RT television, argued for the execution of immigrants who crossed the Southern US border, wanted Russia to annex Eastern Ukraine (Dombas etc) and Crimea, was a strong supporter of the Iraq war of 2004. Basically he sees things from the Russian perspective without understanding that US interests are not the same as Russia’s. He accepts Putin’s invasion of Ukraine as reasonable as a protection against NATO. He does not seem to understand that NATO is defensive and NATO and the USA have no intention of invading Russia so there was no need for Russia to invade Ukraine. Like useful idiot Tucker Carlson, Doug Macgregor unwittingly works for the Russians.
Category: General MC3 Blogging
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I always wonder what people mean when they criticize a leader for “leading from behind”. Leadership can be complicated and there is no one way to lead. If one leads, does it really matter if one leads from behind or from the front unless it is about ego? If you get what you want to you really need to get the credit? Just as it is sometimes best to let someone believe your idea is theirs. Is it not better to let the leader of Germany announce the cancellation of North Stream 2 instead of an American President? The whole strategy of getting everyone on the same page with regard to sanctions means letting every country feel they have a say and not to bully them into what the United States wants. President knew that, and how necessary it was since the Trump Presidency.
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As usual Sean Hannity can only say over the top negative statements about the Democrats and President Biden. I wish he was not so predictable. I always know what he is going to say before he says it. Please Mr. Hannity, surprise me sometimes so I can watch your rants more often. Your glib solutions to issues you are ignorant of and are impossible to do means I can only watch you for a few minutes before I change channels. A growing number of Fox shows are now watchable – give good coverage and real news.
Too bad Hannity is not one of them.What I found most amusing was Hannity’s listing of things President Biden did not mention during the State of the Union speech. Hey Sean, what about not ever mentioning that President Trump wanted to terminate NATO? That he always said how great Putin was? That he held up arms to Ukraine unless they “did him a favor”? That he didn’t ever fulfill so many election promises – like having a great and cheaper health care plan, never replaced the Iran nuclear deal, building the wall and making Mexico pay for it? ending the war in Afghanistan etc etc.
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Dear Fox News, I am watching your excellent reporting from the Ukraine, with your reporters risking their lives in what must be ever increasingly dangerous situations. I see the clips showing the devastation, terrorized women and children fleeing, the bravery of the Ukrainians.
Meanwhile I watched part of the Tucker Carlson show on your network yesterday where he said we were NOT to believe what we were hearing, that video clips were being doctored and were “fake news”. He asks why Putin is hated with a clear inference that he supports Putin. So that means your own reporters are giving us “fake news”? Then he gave air time to a retired Col. Greg Macgregor who he says is the only one we can trust to give us the real news. A simple investigation of this person shows that he is a long time Russian sympathizer with some really radical views, and often appearing on RT, Russian news. Mr. Carlson is also often seen on Russian news showing support for Putin.
Meanwhile all your other newscasters and pundits state clearly that Putin is a “thug”, a “killer” and has entered the ranks of Hitler. They answer the question of why Putin is so “hated”. BECAUSE he is killing innocent people in Ukraine and commuting war crimes as he does it!! So why is this useful idiot Tucker Carlson still on Fox News saying the opposite to ALL your other coverage on what we are seeing?
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Dear Mr, Sean Hannity, I will admit that I disagree with many of your views but watch you as I do all the networks as well to get a cross section of views. My question is this. You complain that the US and European countries should do more, should cut off the Russian oil sector etc. Meanwhile the network you broadcast on has a major show, Tucker Carlson, who questions the Ukraine news your network is airing as fake news. Tucker Carlson is so supportive of Putin and that he is aired constantly on TV by Russian state media as a means to support what Putin is doing in Ukraine. So how do you square that? If you believe more has to be done by governments to support the brave Ukrainians and stop the horrific atrocities that are being inflicted upon them by Putin’s troops surely you would also insist that your broadcaster should also be supportive and definitely NOT have a show that helps Putin and belittles you and what all of your reporters are saying.
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The USA has had its share of stupid wars. Iraq was a war of choice that did not need to be fought. It was a war sold to the American people under false pretenses. It was a war launched by the Political leadership not in defense of a threat. President Bush’s reputation will never fully recover from such a stupid war.
Now it is Russia’s turn to have a stupid war. A war launched by its political leadership under false pretenses. As it is a war with a next door neighbor that has a similar people (brothers Putin called them) it is even more stupid than the Iraq war which is saying something. Iraq was a really stupid war! Like Bush, Putin’s reputation will never recover. One thing for sure. In no way was it “genius”. In no way can the leader that launched it be called “smart”.
Putin stated his reasons for the invasion of Ukraine in a speech just over a week ago. They were historically incorrect and the idea that Ukraine was a threat to Russia’s security totally bogus. Add the assumptions we believe Putin had to encourage him to think an invasion was easy and a good idea – like NATO was weak and divided, the US was week and would not respond, sanctions would never be applied in any really harmful way, that the Ukrainians would not resist, etc etc. All his reasons turned out to be wrong and every one of his goals ended up with the opposite happening.
It is hard to believe that any leader would get it so wrong and launch such a stupid war. In fact most countries and indeed the Ukrainians could not believe it could happen. It makes it all to apparent that Putin is in fact NOT smart. That anyone who thinks he is is himself not smart. Donald Trump’s reputation will never be able to live down his statement that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was “genius”. When we see dead Ukrainian civilians, women and children in panic, old folks in bomb shelters wondering how this could happen the message will be obvious. Putin is a bad guy and
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The news from Ukraine is getting worse. It will continue to get worse from now on. It will go on even if Russia conquers all of Ukraine. There is only one solution now. The removal of Putin from power. Some Russian leader needs to step up to arrest or assonate Putin. If we think there is another way out we are kidding ourselves. German generals came to this conclusion themselves in 1945 but unfortunately failed. The Russians cannot fail.
All the nonsense about cutting off Russian oil is just that; nonsense made to score political points. In the first place there are countries that will not go along with it. The US is not the only game in town. Second, any move to cut off Russian oil supplies will not have any immediate impact. People are being killed in Ukraine now. There is only one way out and that is the removal of Putin.
The danger for Russia is how the world’s reaction against Putin will grow as we see even more atrocities committed in Ukraine. There is a breaking point – and the danger is Russia is a nuclear power and Putin might be deranged. Russians have to act before we do something stupid.
Though the US and other Western nations cannot openly say it but we can be sure that the CIA, MI5 and others are working right now on ways to cause an overthrow. Putin knows this as well. AND lets not forget Putin has used assassination himself to get rid of adversaries. There are some other things we can do. First is take over the nuclear deal negotiations with Iran. Iran can be a major oil exporter and now is the time a deal can be made that works for both Iran and Europe AND for Israel and the USA.
Secondly, going after the oligarchs is a good idea but to make the point, AND avoid a nuclear war, sink the yachts. That will get their attention. As they move them from Europe to other places, hit them there. That will also show that we are not kidding without putting us in any risk.
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Interesting to see that Putin stated his reason to invade Ukraine was the Denazification of the country. To rid it of neo Nazis running the government etc. Yet the biggest Putin supporters in the West are neo-Nazis, White supremacist’s, and the like. At the AFPAC convention last week, where such speakers included Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar they even chanted “Putin, Putin, Putin”. Said he was being compared to Hitler “how bad could that be?”
On a similar note: interesting to see how Israel, the recipient of more US weapons for free than any other country in the world, and while Ukraine has a Jewish President, has failed to join the US and Europe in sanctioning Russia – for fear of hurting its economic relations with Russia.
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The US is a market oriented economy where the Government can interfere to a limited degree. That has its advantages and its disadvantages. There are a number of Russian oligarchs that have expensive properties in New York. The idea of seizing their assets and preventing Russians from buying property if the US sounds great – except if you are a real estate developer. Lets not forget that the Trump organization sold properties to Russians and boasted about Russia as a main source of income.
Then listening to someone like Nicky Haley who says Russia should be thrown out of the UN. I am reminded of an old saying – “keep your friends close and your enemies closer”. Meanwhile Russia is too important a country to pretend it does not exist AND to imagine Putin will be running the country forever.
The Republicans can bitch all they want, but climate change is real and it is already having economic impact everywhere. Not dealing with it will cost more in the future then now. So one needs to consider if solving one problem just creates another. It is not weakness to listen to warnings of the consequences of climate change, it is weakness to not head those warnings.
Russia is a nuclear power with a potentially deranged person at the helm. Time for a cool head who works with allies and NOT alone. Support Ukraine without triggering a nuclear confrontation. Not easy. One thing for sure, we don’t want someone to be President who thinks Putin is a genius and wants to build a tower in Moscow. We also don’t want pundits who say they side with Putin and “why should I care about Ukraine?”.
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I don’t think the Western world has really come to grips of what the Russian invasion of Ukraine has done. The Ukrainians are not people in far away lands, with foreign religions, wearing clothes that are different, that look different – when we look at our TV screens even the hardest core Ku Klux Clan, white supremacist, racist sees a population being murdered, terrorized, women and children dying that are Christians and white. If racism does indeed play a big part in the thinking of some – or subliminally in the many – then what is happening in the Ukraine is a complete shock that can’t be escaped from. Europeans are seeing women, children, grandmothers, that look like their next door neighbors. More than sympathy is happening – it is greater and greater anger.
The end result can only be the end of Putin. There is no off ramp for him any more than there was one for Hitler after he invaded Poland., The same goes for the Putin supporters in Russia, Europe and indeed in the United States. It is bad now, but when it gets even worse with more and more Ukrainians killed and terrorized, indiscriminate shelling of residential areas, ANY positive association with Putin will become anathema. That means Tucker Carlson and the right wing pundits and extreme right in general who have said nice things about Putin will become shunned. It means that Donald Trump cannot run for President and his supporters will find they have chosen the wrong side of history. You cant say Putin is “smart” and a “genius” and have a great relationship with him and not pay a steep price for such sentiments. You also can’t belittle the importance of NATO, of not having strong relationships with our allies, of thinking Americans need only think of ourselves. Our TV screens will make that impossible from now on. The world has seen that the “king has no clothes”. Big corporations and political donners will not want to be seen supporting such views. We are ANGRY. That is reality.
If Putin stops now and pulls back his troops do we imagine that the Ukrainians, the US and Europe are not going to insist on War Crimes punished? Who is going to rebuild all the destruction the Russians have done to Ukraine? What about the hundreds of people killed? Everyone will call for Putin’s head.
If Putin takes Ukraine do we imagine it will all stop and peace will descend? That we will move on and forget what Russia did? No; everyone is too angry. Russia will never recover until Putin and his supporters are good and truly gone.
If Putin kills President Zelensky, or jails him that will make everyone even more angry. If he is not arrested, killed by Russians, removed from power and executed for his crimes than he will spend his life waiting for the assassins bullet. Putin is finished. We just have to hope that he is never allowed to get his finger on the nuclear button while he is still in power. The Putin supporters need to realize just how angry the world has become and how much more anger will grow in the coming days. When Switzerland – who stayed neutral throughout World War II, has joined sanctions, when Sweden (also a long time natural country) is sending arms to Ukraine that alone should show the extent of the anger. Even Fox news is facing up to the reality of what is happening and except for a few of its pundits pulling for the Ukrainians. The world has been forced to wake up and get angry. About time!
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