Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[iam416]

Geraghty on the wonderful timing of The Chairman's infrastructure spending spree: https://www.nationalreview.com/the-m...pending-spree/

(I.e., let's pour a ton of demand onto very specific goods that are already experienc\ing huge inflationary pressure and do it with public money so that we continue our traditional of coming late and a fuckton over budget on infrastructure projects)

[THE_WIZARD_]

Just a quick note -- early voting in Georgia is 160% of what it was in the 2020 PRESIDENTIAL election and is on pace to actually see more votes in the mid-term than Presidential. Apparently the R voter suppression strategy in Georgia, i.e., JIM CROW ON STEROIDS, i.e., MOVE THE ALL-STAR GAME!!! (to a state w/ more restrictive voting laws), i.e., WHITE SUPREMACY!!!! -- apparently that shit isn't exactly stopping early voting.

But, hey, The Chairman gonna Chairman.

C'mon man you a junkie?

[crashcourse]

Fact Checking the Fact Checkers: Debunking AP's '2000 Mules' Hit Piece – RedState

i'll watch the movie when it becomes free.
but all i know is if you told CGVT and froot that the only way they could stop trump from being president is to go out and stuff a bunch of ballot boxes theyd be first in line

far as president goes my vote would be for manchin

that guy has stood up for his contingency. I think hes about the only one ive seen who has no political ties whatsoever

[Dr. Strangelove]

Fact Checking the Fact Checkers: Debunking AP's '2000 Mules' Hit Piece – RedState

i'll watch the movie when it becomes free.
but all i know is if you told CGVT and froot that the only way they could stop trump from being president is to go out and stuff a bunch of ballot boxes theyd be first in line

far as president goes my vote would be for manchin

that guy has stood up for his contingency. I think hes about the only one ive seen who has no political ties whatsoever

All you need to know is the evidence was gathered by the wonderful Gregg Phillips and you know you're dealing with a pro!

Check this out, crash. They caught a ballot harvester, oops sorry, ballot trafficker, and people are getting fired! Not some bullshit to put in a movie, like, this is actually real!

GOP staffers fired after possible ‘ballot harvesting’ operation found in Pa. (syracuse.com)

[froot loops]

I only needed one vote in Michigan to cast against Trump. Most of the concerns about fake ballots from kooks like crash course are projection. The dude is so gullible.

[Obi-Jon]

Looks like another Russian ship, the Vsevolod Bobrov, is soon to be promoted to submarine.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/russia-naval-ship-fire-ukraine-b2077948.html

[THE_WIZARD_]

STFU

[THE_WIZARD_]

Just to clarify to radical progs…abortion is not healthcare so stop referring to it as such. Healthcare is about saving lives.

[foxhopper]

It's all about to come crashing down.

[Dr. Strangelove]

It's debatable how much influence this Girkin guy still has in Russia (he's just a private citizen now) but he was heavily involved in leading the Russian takeover of Crimea in 2014 and for a time in Donbas. He has an international warrant out for his arrest for being directly involved in the shootdown of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17. He got called back to Russia not long after that.

He's very much a warmonger but has also relentlessly criticized Russia's incompetent military. In his latest post he barely stops short of accusing Defense Minister Shoigu of treason

[THE_WIZARD_]

What isn't debatable is how much of a twatwaffle you are...

[Jeff Buchanan]

In other Ukrainian battle space news, the Russians were thwarted in an attempt to cross the Severski-Donets river in the Donbas region of E Ukraine. The Ukrainians have purposely blown up the bridges that cross this river to prevent the Russian Army from encircling Ukrainian forces S and E of Izyum (currently one of several axis of Russian attack in a SE direction). This has forced Russian Army engineering units to attempt to float pontoon bridges big enough to allow armor and artillery to cross as the Russian army attempts to carry out an encircling tactic and cut off a large portion of the Ukrainian Army deployed in the SE part of Ukraine - the Donbas. The article below details the extent of this catastrophe for the Russian army ..... a continuation of the story of Russian military leadership incompetence.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/13/ukraine-has-repelled-russias-attempt-to-cross-donbas-river-uk-confirms

With that as a background, I posted yesterday about political objectives being obtained by Russia throughout the Donbas region and WSW to Kherson and Odessa, despite this military incompetence, that could produce circumstances for Putin to declare victory. These involve the installation of Russian administrations in major previously Ukrainian controlled towns that the Russian Army has established control of, the replacement of Ukrainian currency and banking systems with Rubles and Russian computer infrastructure and brutal repression of dissent and partisan activity.

A guest essay I read today in the NYTs offers that global condemnation that is being offset by not a small amount of global support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine is insufficient to stop Putin from seizing more Ukrainian territory. This provides him with additional leverage at some future negotiating table. Putin's goals are also being aided by a skillful and effective Russian propaganda effort on social media platforms. This circumstance and it's predictable outcome - a claimed Russian victory - stands in stark contrast to Zelenski's who vows to return all occupied Ukrainian territory to Ukraine. It is also a contrary position to Europe's most outspoken nation, Great Britain, whose Minister of State, Liz Truss, is calling for western steps to be taken to insure Russia does not end up better off after the war than before it. IOW, weaker, militarily and politically.

The essay argues more needs to be done including "completely cutting off Russia from global supply and energy sales that will allow it to replace equipment lost in their war and permit its continuation." That essayist offers the collection of opponents of Russia appear to be satisfied with allowing a long war of attrition to burn out both sides - pulverizing additional Ukrainian infrastructure and indiscriminately killing many more thousands of civilians. Part of the problem is that the west, not unlike the Balkans wars of the late 90s that took 3y to conclude, is not articulating a clear end game such as preventing the Russian army from seizing and controlling more Ukrainian territory and obtaining a significantly damaged post war Putin and a pariah Russian Federation incapable of mounting new imperialist aggression against the rest of Europe - a stated Putin goal cloaked in lies about his real intentions.

The key in this preventative strategy is more money and more weapons for Ukraine. The Russian army has demonstrated the Ukrainians, properly equipped, is capable of defeating the Russian army and preventing it from obtaining both tactical and strategic objectives without introducing NATO forces. Fear of escalation to a nuclear conflict should not deter the west's pursuit of these goals. In large part Putin has no intention of using nuclear weapons but he is perfectly skilled and capable of playing on western fears of this. That, in turn, limits some aspects of the west's willingness to both clearly articulate the kinds of goals the contributing essayist mentions above and providing the support to Ukraine to facilitate obtaining them.

[THE_WIZARD_]

...

[Obi-Jon]

Wow Wiz, you look just like Biden.

[THE_WIZARD_]

Stick to your day job...comedy ain't yer thang...