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Let’s be honest. The sanctions announced by the US were weak and terrible.
It was not until the Germans decided to impose the SWIFT sanctions and to cut off Russian access to its reserves and the monetary system that there were any real sanctions with teeth. Now the US wants to jump on the bandwagon.
The first is from Politico. The second, from WaPo. Our president leads from behind and then tries to jump in front of the parade when it picks up steam. pic.twitter.com/sdRS8OK2dJ
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) February 28, 2022
To all those trying to put this on Trump, I present:
Bill Clinton calls Vladimir Putin “highly intelligent, deeply, deeply patriotic in terms of Russia…" https://t.co/UbJ1NJYzHl
— John Ashbrook (@JohnAshbrook) February 24, 2022
Seriously, though. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Trump works with a–holes, and knows how to play a–holes, because he’s a narcissist like them (and a lot of politicians). But Biden has painted himself into a corner.
Eight seconds that will live in infamy. pic.twitter.com/pXABuqNIXT
— BDW (@BryanDeanWright) February 24, 2022
We’re not going to sanction the flow of energy. Because you’ve tanked America’s energy independence, and allowed Germany to shoot themselves in the foot on the energy front post-Fukushima. Merkel was a complete fool. While France went big on nuclear, Germany chose “renewables.” Now they’re dependent on Russian gas and oil.
Ooooo. Sanctions on stuff that doesn’t actually inflict any pain on the Russian economy. Some oligarchs had to cancel their vacations. Start seizing oligarchs’ assets in the West. Kick out the oligarchs’ kids. Renege on the Uranium One deal in the name of national security. Stop buying Russian oil (which we’re now dependent on). Also, Ted Cruz trapped the Dems with his Nord Stream 2 sanctions bill that Biden had the Dems FILIBUSTER.
Everyone warned us Biden is a foreign policy disaster waiting to happen. It was worse than predicted.
I, for one, will take BTD’s word that the thread is in the spirit of this board. I will disagree that the roots go only back to the Bush administration. The roots go back to the Russian foundational legend (the Kievan Rus), and the post-Mongol division of the area between the Polish-Lithuanians and what became the Russians. The Russians have always wanted warm water ports (hence Kaliningrad), and the Crimea was the first step to re-establishing the Russian navy’s ability to project power in the Mediterranean year round.
Nevermind that Russia will be one of the primary beneficiaries of global warming, because it will open up their northern lands to a potential “Arctic Silk Road.”
Many of the currently existing environmental disasters are in Russia (nuclear accident sites, Lake Baikal, etc.). So to h— with the environment, Russia is going to Russian.
I DO foresee a Chamberlain-like result with no war, but concessions wrung out of nothing. Putin doesn’t really want a shooting war, and the Ukrainians are crazy enough to bog them down. That being said, one of the craziest things to come out of this was Biden’s apparent offer to let the Russians inspect NATO bases in Romania and Poland for cruise missiles. His instincts re: foreign policy and military matters are so bad.
Biden is an unmitigated foreign policy disaster. But we knew this was coming.
From 2021: CBS’s “Face The Nation” host Margaret Brennan asked Gates if he stood by a statement from his memoir that Biden has “been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades.” Gates stood by that statement.
By drafting Obama’s B-team, he’s set the world back on fire. We’re about to make another deal with Iran… after they now have enough nuclear material for a bomb (not material useful for generating electricity). The early concessions to Russia (and knee-capping our own energy independence) is what lead to the current Ukraine situation. Also, deep state / Col. Vindman? How are you enjoying the fruits of impeachment? Giving China a free pass for COVID / Hong Kong has emboldened them across the globe. Our first meeting with the Chinese was a disaster because Anthony Blinken steps in it every chance he gets. Jake Sullivan? How is he qualified (other than being part of the origin and sale of Russian collusion)? The Palestinians are now getting terrorism bounty money again, ISIS is back in Syria (and has doubled its ranks in Afghanistan… so much for the Taliban being our allies against ISIS-K), and the Houthi rebels are shelling the UAE. Even North Korea is testing missiles again. Our relationship with Central and South America is terrible.
So what do you expect will happen in Ukraine? The eastern half of the country will be Russian, possibly enough to create a land corridor to the Crimea (remember the Crimea?). We’ll see what Putin’s end game really is, and whether he sees himself as the next Stalin. After all, it was Stalin who emptied out half of Ukraine during the Holodomor so Russians could settle there, setting up the situation now.
Oh, and the idiots running Germany, who got rid of their nuclear plants, creating an energy crisis, realize they will be energy dependent on Russia. If we lose Germany as an ally (their economic ties to the US are fading as our manufacturing economy fades), what’s the point of NATO?
I want to believe this as much as anybody, but we should be cautious about this study.
Meta-shmeta analysis. They claim they find that lockdowns reduced mortality in Europe and U.S. only by 0.2%. After browsing through their methodology and results though, it's obvious they aren't doing what they claim they're doing and their analyis is deceptive. /1 pic.twitter.com/D0hRS6uJ1f
— Andreas Backhaus (@AndreasShrugged) February 2, 2022
There IS some more academically rigorous evidence that lockdowns didn’t work.
https://ourworldindata.org/excess-mortality-covid
Check the excess mortality comparisons between the US and Sweden. They’ve done much better without lockdowns in terms of total excess deaths. Granted, they have a healthier population, but that’s adjusted for in the excess expected deaths calculation.
Katy Tur of MSNBC apparently read Cuomo spin on the air.
I would add that it wasn’t the drone footage that exonerated Rittenhouse, it was the footage from Drew Hernandez, Richie McGinnis, and others who decided to cover the riots in a non-narrative way. Last summer, in addition to the two described above, Shelby Talcott, Julio Rosas, and Brendan Gutenschwager filmed footage and livestreamed the riots. Without their footage, the media narrative would have buried Rittenhouse.
It’s a parody of Zuckerberg’s Metaverse rollout. It’s very well done. Still should have bought Greenland when we had the chance.
2016 election. Rittenhouse. Covington. Russian collusion. Vaccines. Bounties on US soldiers. Lab-leak theory. Jussie Smollett. The Pulse shooting. The Atlanta shootings. Hunter Biden laptop. Inflation. Steele Dossier.
The MSM got every single one wrong.https://t.co/U5YJUtFQOD
— Andrew Sullivan (@sullydish) November 12, 2021
Incredibly, these two Washington Post journalists — whose article has now been effectively retracted — received a PULITZER for their Russiagate reporting from exactly the same time period (2017). Kinda makes you wonder what else they got egregiously wrong, doesn't it? pic.twitter.com/tor7tqY9C7
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) November 12, 2021
I have a hard time understanding why the media rushed to judgment on Rittenhouse, and why the usual suspects are doubling down that he’s a murderer.
Last night, Neri and I watched several hours of .#Kylerittenhouse direct testimony and cross examination. We came away believing that #Kyle is telling the truth and that he acted in self defense. We found him to be a civic-minded patriot with a history of
— Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) November 11, 2021
It’s amazing, as well, how much the media mislead the public about the facts in the case… and how much highly educated, very smart people were willing to just accept the media narrative rather than wait to see what the evidence showed.
Again: look how many people are saying that they feel completely betrayed and misled by a year's worth of media coverage about the Rittenhouse case, now that they're watching the trial.
Maybe this should cause a bit of media self-critique? Yeah, I know.https://t.co/SWTfVcBryN
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) November 11, 2021
https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/1458520663506014211 (I also agree that Ana Kasperian is brave for acknowledging her error).
I am highly educated and reasonably perceptive, and it was only today that I learned the Kyle Rittenhouse victims were white.
My progressive bubble made this seem like a very different case than it is.
— Sarah Beth Burwick (@sarahbeth345) November 11, 2021
The only thing I can think of is that the media NEEDS a guilty verdict to stave off some libel suits. This is potentially Nick Sandmann on steroids. And it’s not just the mainstream media, it’s the very online people on Twitter. Earlier in the week, they started attacking the judge for admonishing the prosecutor. A law professor whose Twitter handle is “EvidenceProf” tried saying that the judge was wrong, because a prosecutor is allowed to comment that the defendant that testifies sat through trial and can comment that the defendant tailored his testimony to the evidence and testimony of others. Only the judge was (correctly) yelling at the prosecutor for commenting on the defendant’s Fifth Amendment right to remain silent, which is clear Griffin error, and one of the fundamental no-nos for prosecutors. Now the anti-judge floodgates / media narrative has begun.
We’ll see what the jury does, but in my view, this is a clear case of self-defense. All of it.
We just don’t have the players anymore. I take that back, we don’t have a strength and conditioning coach that can mold young talent into players anymore.
To the extent anecdotal evidence is of value in this discussion, for your consideration:
Aaron Rodgers says he's listening to Joe Rogan's advice on how to battle COVID-19 and he's also taking Ivermectin.
Prepare for media heads to explode. pic.twitter.com/DXjGJrwif6
— David Hookstead (@dhookstead) November 5, 2021
Aaron Rodgers is dating Shailene Woodley, about as left a person out there. Again, anecdotal evidence is of limited use, but my guess is that, as an athlete, Aaron Rodgers will be fine (as would Ms. Woodley) based on age, fitness, etc.; and that it’s not going to move the needle (pun intended) one way or the other.
On another note: here’s an article about why the US failed at rapid testing.
