Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[Hannibal]

Every Republican in the country should be running this ad. I don't know about other states, but JD Vance and Oz are running garbage campaigns that would benefit from this type of clear messaging.

[THE_WIZARD_]

damn anti-democracy neo-fascist Trumpers

[Mike]

Every Republican in the country should be running this ad. I don't know about other states, but JD Vance and Oz are running garbage campaigns that would benefit from this type of clear messaging.

It should be like shooting fish in a barrel.

[THE_WIZARD_]

Well here we are...officially into midterm season...and we have the platforms of both parties very clear:

ACTUAL ISSUES OF AMERICANS:
INFLATION
CRIME
THE BORDER
CHINA

DEM PLATFORM:
TRUMP IS BAD.

REP PLATFORM:
BIDEN IS BAD.

Soooo....therefore the battle will be won based on who swing voters hate more.

[Mike]

Yeah, it’s pretty astounding that they can’t come up with something to run on other than wildly unpopular abortion policy. Maybe they’re just waiting til closer to the election but I’m seeing a lot of ads for Ds and virtually none from the R candidates.

[Tom W]

Yeah, it’s pretty astounding that they can’t come up with something to run on other than wildly unpopular abortion policy. Maybe they’re just waiting til closer to the election but I’m seeing a lot of ads for Ds and virtually none from the R candidates.

If only they would come out and say "Hey, all that the Supreme Court said is that it's not a Federal issue. Handle it at level whatever level your state decides. If you want choice, here it is. Put it on a ballot and vote on it."

But no, that would make too much sense.

[THE_WIZARD_]

Dems/Progs...scaring the voters since FDR...

[crashcourse]

people are starting to revert back red --herscel leading/ oz closing even blake masters closing.

if repubs can message abortion to ok the first half maybe they have a chance in the senate

[THE_WIZARD_]

shaddup

[Hannibal]

59f7838357c4439b.jpg

[THE_WIZARD_]

STFU

[Dr. Strangelove]

Bannon to surrender to NY authorities tomorrow on charges related to his "Build the Wall" scam (Trump pardoned Bannon before there was even a verdict in his federal case but none of his co-conspirators. Two of them already took guilty pleas).

https://apnews.com/article/steve-bannon-new-york-manhattan-city-donald-trump-a8132ba5dc1f8818ca04747f4e04be02

[Dr. Strangelove]

Trump reportedly had a secret document at Mar a Lago describing an unnamed country's defense and nuclear capabilities. Assuming that's true, who's the best guess as to which country it was?

A) North Korea
B) Iran
C) Israel
D) India/Pakistan
E) China

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/09/06/trump-nuclear-documents/

[Dr. Strangelove]

Ukraine appears to have launched a sneaky counter-offensive southeast of Kharkiv (in the northeast) after diverting lots of attention to the Kherson region down south.

[Jeff Buchanan]

On the ZNPP: Immediately below is a copy of ISW's assessment of the situation there following the release of the IAEA's post inspection visit report. The second paragraph is the most interesting part. Following this, I've written a political assessment of where the situation in Ukraine is and where it's heading and it's not good despite recent Ukrainian tactical successes on the ground there:

The IAEA report demonstrates that Russian officials have placed military equipment in locations inhibiting access to essential facilities, installed their own personnel to oversee the plant’s operations in ways that the IAEA judges could undermine effective response to a nuclear emergency, restricted the Ukrainian operating staff’s access to key parts of the facility, and shifted the emergency center to a location lacking essential components vital to an effective response to a serious nuclear emergency. The Russians have thus created conditions at the ZNPP that increase the risk that an emergency could occur and significantly increase the danger that the operating staff will be unable to respond efficiently and effectively in such an event.

Russian President Vladimir Putin could seek to use the fears that his actions are causing to coerce the IAEA and the international community into a de facto recognition of Russia’s right to be involved in the operation of the ZNPP, which he might seek to portray as de facto recognition of Russia’s occupation of southern Ukraine. The somewhat coded language of the IAEA report reflects the fact that Ukraine remains the operator of the ZNPP and the party responsible for its safe operation and for complying with the IAEA under international law. The IAEA cannot directly engage Russia regarding the plant’s operation without at least tacitly admitting that Russia has some right to be consulted.

I think what this ISW assessment of the ZNPP situation does is to elevate discussion about it away from the day to day military activity in and around the ZNPP to Putin's political and strategic aims in Ukraine. At an economic forum of Russian trade administrators and manufacturers in Vladivostok on the 7th, Putin self assesses where he sees Russian progress there. It's revealing and a compelling assessment for nations that have remained either supportive (3) or neutral and/or unwilling to engage in the punitive sanctions actions of the west - about 1/3+. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe...st-2022-09-07/

To Putin, tactical setbacks in Ukraine are of little meaning in the progress of the larger scheme of things. Putin seems at complete ease with these and where the endgame is: political forces will compel the west to undertake a process analogous to the Minsk Accords that established the “ceasefire” in Ukraine following Russia’s 2014 invasion. The Minsk and Minsk II agreements treated Russia as a neutral party rather than a participant, thereby tacitly accepting Putin’s assertion that Ukraine was in civil war rather than the victim of Russian aggression. Putin might seek to use the conditions he has created at the ZNPP to establish a parallel international framework undermining Ukraine’s sovereign rights over the much greater expanse of Ukrainian territory Russian forces now occupy.