Like any dysfunction we need to start at home. I have been saying since January 6th insurrectional republicans should be arrested put in front of a firing squad and executed as traitors. Republican fascists have declared war on Americans democracy. Shouldn’t we at least acknowledge and fight back. They are hell-bent on suppressing voter’s rights. That’s a clue. Let me say it again “ start at home”. Ever hear of the ripple effect? Anti fascism will spread across the world if America demonstrates great leadership. So you want fascist’s at home to hold fellow fascists accountable. Be honest Robert does that make any sense? Of course not. Voting them out is insulting, weak and incompetent. We need to clean up our own act, set a great example of zero tolerance and those dynamics will change everything. Putin will be meaningless. First things first. Start at home. Forget Ukraine and Putin for now. Huston! We have a problem. Put out the fire starter and not just the fire. Simple solution
It is easy to see why the Republicans who support tRump are also in favor of Putin. If money can be so easily hidden in the U.S. and there are no ways to limit their financial power, even as it threatens our voters and people worldwide, and democracy itself. The rule of law has been turned against justice when wealthy people's assets cannot be traced, taxed or frozen. When the Supreme Court itself can prop up the system wherein money buys elections (even from outside our country), and money can buy legislation, there is no way to stop the criminal destruction not only of America, but the world's inhabitants. there is no real accountability for the powerful oligarchs, even those outside our country. Out laws have been bought to serve criminals.
What have American oligarchs gotten out of their campaign contributions? In addition to what you said, they have also gotten six Supreme Court justices who were chosen for the purpose of using their power to make our oligarchs even richer and more powerful. They have gotten Citizens United and deregulation, deregulation, deregulation.
Putin's military is not as powerful and prepared as he apparently thought. I attribute this at least in part to Putin and his oligarchs siphoning money from the Russian government that might otherwise have been used to ensure that his military was the best it could be (Just to be clear, I am not supporting Putin here). We should take a lesson from that. With our own oligarchs siphoning money from our government, along with another corrupt and incompetent president like Trump, government functions, including our military, could suffer.
Until the American public realizes that they're being fed BS about how this country is ruled, and how the economy is stacked against them, there won't be any significant changes. Economic education needs to be upgraded, along with political understanding. Columns and chat rooms like this are fine for exchanging views among people who are already tuned into the realities of political life. They help provide the vocabulary and arguments for change. Getting this out to the larger population who aren't tuned in is a more difficult proposition. Emotional appeals still have a disproportionate influence, and their reliance on biased new sources makes it hard to break through with responsible opposing viewpoints. Politics and governance will always be as much a battle for hearts and minds as the routine implementation of policy and law. That applies here, in Ukraine, and even in Russia.
"Putin is not synonymous with the Russian people."
Not all of them perhaps, but certainly some of them, specifically, those jerks inside Ukraine purposely killing civilians and children. I suppose you saw that gut-wrenching front-page photo in the NYTimes of the Ukrainian family gunned down while trying to flee Ukraine. It's unforgettable in the worst way. I'm angry at that guy; if God existed, I would be angry at Him, too, for allowing it, but that way madness lies, plus it's an exercise in futility, chasing holy ghosts.
Such atrocities cannot be rectified or even mollified. For this invasion, Putin and his barbarians can never be forgiven. There may not be a heaven, but Putin has created hell on Earth, for which there'll be the devil to pay. This ain't over: Justice will ultimately conquer; it can't be denied or stopped.
This is a very important article for people to read. It should not have taken an invasion of Ukraine and clear actions against the Russians to teach us how important immediate action is. I agree with Ed S (below). The republicans would not have hesitated to take his action had our deadly insurrection been carried out by BLM or any non-right wing group. The Trump Traitors are armed, they’ve directly threaten the lives of specific Democratic party members. They got frighteningly close to carrying it out. They continue to try to overthrow the election. Putin could see that the US did nothing and even without puppet Trump, felt bold enough to attack.
But what a shock for him to see, he has no world wide support. Like deluded Trump and his rag-tag gun toting followers, they don’t have anywhere near majority support. We need to show that with arrests from top down not bottom up.
I will add, we must all remember, many Russian citizens are protesting Putin and my hatred is toward the leaders and enablers, not many of the good citizens in Russia. I think most of us here understand that.
Your oligarchy presentation has great clarity. Perhaps have some young students work on it and make it more like Tik Tok and play it on TV as often as a drug commercial and you would get more mileage out of it. Allowing money to collect in the pockets of so few has consequences that affect every area of our society. Wealthy people have undue influence over government and then government passes laws that allow the wealthy to build even greater wealth and to make sure that they there are no programs for America facing a life-stressing event to fall back on. The only message the rich have to offer average Americans is that we must work, work until we die. Since the Great Factory Migration to nations with new markets and cheap labor, wealthy Americans do not have the loyalty to America they once had. They are now global citizens whose loyalties belong to whichever nation offers the best profits. I worry that we will once again have aristocrats and serfs. I also worry that, since these wealthy people refuse to accept how rapidly earth's climate is changing, they will use the weight of their wealth to keep fossil fuels flowing. Changing energies would change the profit equation and we can't have that. Trump just said that rising oceans will be great - more oceanfront property will be made available, more beaches. Now that these people own all this wealth there seems to be little we can do to make a new economic deal with them. Perhaps the climate changes they deny will eventually be the great equalizer.
PS. In times of war price controls are necessary. A 90 lb bag of Portland cement has gone from $9 to $15. A sheet of 15/16 plywood from $24 to $60. Gas is over $4 a gallon. these are basic commodities that will cause major damage to our economy. In addition to freezing individual Russian assets as you have recommended and going after the oligarchs Biden has to remove tariffs on Canadian wood products and boost solar investments on a war time footing. Incidentally stopping price gouging is how Senator Truman got his reputation for practicality and made it to the vice-presidency. Kamela?
You have just identified another reason why current Biden administration policy absent a dramatic change will not bring Putin's gambit to a close. In my opinion relying upon the self-interest of the Russian oligarchs, whom your chart clearly shows we created with Yeltsin privatization of state assets policy in the Clinton administration will not work. Only the Russian military can bring an end to Putin's gambit.
And here the decisive factor is NATO expanding to the borders of Russia. The Russian military will not accept that. The idea that you can expand NATO to countries you cannot defend is now a spectacularly obvious failure. Our elite may not have gotten it yet but clearly Putin has. That is why he is in the Ukraine reasserting imperial control. Only on the ground military setbacks will weaken his support amongst the generals. But even that will not be enough.
Washington needs to abandon the expansion of NATO. Have you heard anyone in Washington break with Cold War orthodoxy? No.
If Washington came up with a new policy, NATO retreat to countries that can defend themselves, buffer neutral states between Russia and those NATO states, then the Russian generals would have a way to retreat from Ukraine. Putin's gambit would then be viewed as an economic disaster for Russia and Putin would be retired like Khrushchev.
So tell your friends in Washington to wake up. President Manchin wants the US air force to clear the sky over the Ukraine. That is escalation! As I said before pressure to escalate as more Ukranians die will box in Biden. He has to move American foreign policy into the 21st Century as much as he is wedded to the concept that on his watch nothing will change.
You say, "Perhaps we should be more ambitious." Omg, the morass is so thick that it defies climbing out of. How about an end-run around it?
I am posting everywhere to be looking for outside-the-box solutions. Many soldiers don’t know where they are and who they are fighting who are largely their blood relatives. Treat Russian soldiers like family – Ukrainians bring food to the convoy, drop leaflets to tell them who they’ve been sent to kill. Look at this: "Ukrainians returning captured Russian soldiers to their mothers": https://tinyurl.com/muhjd4bu. What else? Some worldwide meditation to send love to Putin? Come on, we can be the spiritual grownups. Put our money where our mouth is – use this as a time to test out theories we have about distant healing and the power of love.
Economic sanctions will have no impact on Putin and his Oligarchs. Sanctions will cripple the Russian economy and the poor Russian people will be again be standing in Bread lines as they did back in the days after the Soviet Collapse. If Putin and his Oligarchs cannot sell oil, they will start selling arms even nukes in the global market to make money for them. Do you think the world is going to be safer that way? In the past, these types of economic sanctions and embargos never worked against any other countries. Cuba, Iran, North Korea are examples. It only made the authoritarian regimes in those countries more powerful. Similarly, Its only going to affect the poor Russian people who have nothing to do with the Ukraine War. Suppose the Economic Sanctions and embargos make the Russian people revolt against their government and dethrone Putin. Now you have a failed State in hand, with 5977 Nuclear warheads floating all over the world, which will threaten our lives for generations to come.
Although I believe that we must execute sanctions against the Russian oligarchs, I do feel compassion for the ordinary Russian citizens who are suffering from the sanctions. I wish that the media and everybody in the world would start referring to the Ukrainian/Russian War as PUTEN'S WAR. IF WE CALL IT WHAT IT IS, THEN MAYBE THE RUSSIAN OLIGARCHS AND ORDINARY RUSSIAN CITIZENS WILL TAKE THIS TYRANT OUT, ONE WAY OR THE OTHER!
I just watched your short video in today's letter. I sent it out to several Trump supporters who would be lost in your normal vernacular. Your simple video will make sense. . . maybe. Thanks
Like any dysfunction we need to start at home. I have been saying since January 6th insurrectional republicans should be arrested put in front of a firing squad and executed as traitors. Republican fascists have declared war on Americans democracy. Shouldn’t we at least acknowledge and fight back. They are hell-bent on suppressing voter’s rights. That’s a clue. Let me say it again “ start at home”. Ever hear of the ripple effect? Anti fascism will spread across the world if America demonstrates great leadership. So you want fascist’s at home to hold fellow fascists accountable. Be honest Robert does that make any sense? Of course not. Voting them out is insulting, weak and incompetent. We need to clean up our own act, set a great example of zero tolerance and those dynamics will change everything. Putin will be meaningless. First things first. Start at home. Forget Ukraine and Putin for now. Huston! We have a problem. Put out the fire starter and not just the fire. Simple solution
It is easy to see why the Republicans who support tRump are also in favor of Putin. If money can be so easily hidden in the U.S. and there are no ways to limit their financial power, even as it threatens our voters and people worldwide, and democracy itself. The rule of law has been turned against justice when wealthy people's assets cannot be traced, taxed or frozen. When the Supreme Court itself can prop up the system wherein money buys elections (even from outside our country), and money can buy legislation, there is no way to stop the criminal destruction not only of America, but the world's inhabitants. there is no real accountability for the powerful oligarchs, even those outside our country. Out laws have been bought to serve criminals.
What have American oligarchs gotten out of their campaign contributions? In addition to what you said, they have also gotten six Supreme Court justices who were chosen for the purpose of using their power to make our oligarchs even richer and more powerful. They have gotten Citizens United and deregulation, deregulation, deregulation.
Putin's military is not as powerful and prepared as he apparently thought. I attribute this at least in part to Putin and his oligarchs siphoning money from the Russian government that might otherwise have been used to ensure that his military was the best it could be (Just to be clear, I am not supporting Putin here). We should take a lesson from that. With our own oligarchs siphoning money from our government, along with another corrupt and incompetent president like Trump, government functions, including our military, could suffer.
Until the American public realizes that they're being fed BS about how this country is ruled, and how the economy is stacked against them, there won't be any significant changes. Economic education needs to be upgraded, along with political understanding. Columns and chat rooms like this are fine for exchanging views among people who are already tuned into the realities of political life. They help provide the vocabulary and arguments for change. Getting this out to the larger population who aren't tuned in is a more difficult proposition. Emotional appeals still have a disproportionate influence, and their reliance on biased new sources makes it hard to break through with responsible opposing viewpoints. Politics and governance will always be as much a battle for hearts and minds as the routine implementation of policy and law. That applies here, in Ukraine, and even in Russia.
"Putin is not synonymous with the Russian people."
Not all of them perhaps, but certainly some of them, specifically, those jerks inside Ukraine purposely killing civilians and children. I suppose you saw that gut-wrenching front-page photo in the NYTimes of the Ukrainian family gunned down while trying to flee Ukraine. It's unforgettable in the worst way. I'm angry at that guy; if God existed, I would be angry at Him, too, for allowing it, but that way madness lies, plus it's an exercise in futility, chasing holy ghosts.
Such atrocities cannot be rectified or even mollified. For this invasion, Putin and his barbarians can never be forgiven. There may not be a heaven, but Putin has created hell on Earth, for which there'll be the devil to pay. This ain't over: Justice will ultimately conquer; it can't be denied or stopped.
This is a very important article for people to read. It should not have taken an invasion of Ukraine and clear actions against the Russians to teach us how important immediate action is. I agree with Ed S (below). The republicans would not have hesitated to take his action had our deadly insurrection been carried out by BLM or any non-right wing group. The Trump Traitors are armed, they’ve directly threaten the lives of specific Democratic party members. They got frighteningly close to carrying it out. They continue to try to overthrow the election. Putin could see that the US did nothing and even without puppet Trump, felt bold enough to attack.
But what a shock for him to see, he has no world wide support. Like deluded Trump and his rag-tag gun toting followers, they don’t have anywhere near majority support. We need to show that with arrests from top down not bottom up.
I will add, we must all remember, many Russian citizens are protesting Putin and my hatred is toward the leaders and enablers, not many of the good citizens in Russia. I think most of us here understand that.
Your oligarchy presentation has great clarity. Perhaps have some young students work on it and make it more like Tik Tok and play it on TV as often as a drug commercial and you would get more mileage out of it. Allowing money to collect in the pockets of so few has consequences that affect every area of our society. Wealthy people have undue influence over government and then government passes laws that allow the wealthy to build even greater wealth and to make sure that they there are no programs for America facing a life-stressing event to fall back on. The only message the rich have to offer average Americans is that we must work, work until we die. Since the Great Factory Migration to nations with new markets and cheap labor, wealthy Americans do not have the loyalty to America they once had. They are now global citizens whose loyalties belong to whichever nation offers the best profits. I worry that we will once again have aristocrats and serfs. I also worry that, since these wealthy people refuse to accept how rapidly earth's climate is changing, they will use the weight of their wealth to keep fossil fuels flowing. Changing energies would change the profit equation and we can't have that. Trump just said that rising oceans will be great - more oceanfront property will be made available, more beaches. Now that these people own all this wealth there seems to be little we can do to make a new economic deal with them. Perhaps the climate changes they deny will eventually be the great equalizer.
PS. In times of war price controls are necessary. A 90 lb bag of Portland cement has gone from $9 to $15. A sheet of 15/16 plywood from $24 to $60. Gas is over $4 a gallon. these are basic commodities that will cause major damage to our economy. In addition to freezing individual Russian assets as you have recommended and going after the oligarchs Biden has to remove tariffs on Canadian wood products and boost solar investments on a war time footing. Incidentally stopping price gouging is how Senator Truman got his reputation for practicality and made it to the vice-presidency. Kamela?
You have just identified another reason why current Biden administration policy absent a dramatic change will not bring Putin's gambit to a close. In my opinion relying upon the self-interest of the Russian oligarchs, whom your chart clearly shows we created with Yeltsin privatization of state assets policy in the Clinton administration will not work. Only the Russian military can bring an end to Putin's gambit.
And here the decisive factor is NATO expanding to the borders of Russia. The Russian military will not accept that. The idea that you can expand NATO to countries you cannot defend is now a spectacularly obvious failure. Our elite may not have gotten it yet but clearly Putin has. That is why he is in the Ukraine reasserting imperial control. Only on the ground military setbacks will weaken his support amongst the generals. But even that will not be enough.
Washington needs to abandon the expansion of NATO. Have you heard anyone in Washington break with Cold War orthodoxy? No.
If Washington came up with a new policy, NATO retreat to countries that can defend themselves, buffer neutral states between Russia and those NATO states, then the Russian generals would have a way to retreat from Ukraine. Putin's gambit would then be viewed as an economic disaster for Russia and Putin would be retired like Khrushchev.
So tell your friends in Washington to wake up. President Manchin wants the US air force to clear the sky over the Ukraine. That is escalation! As I said before pressure to escalate as more Ukranians die will box in Biden. He has to move American foreign policy into the 21st Century as much as he is wedded to the concept that on his watch nothing will change.
You say, "Perhaps we should be more ambitious." Omg, the morass is so thick that it defies climbing out of. How about an end-run around it?
I am posting everywhere to be looking for outside-the-box solutions. Many soldiers don’t know where they are and who they are fighting who are largely their blood relatives. Treat Russian soldiers like family – Ukrainians bring food to the convoy, drop leaflets to tell them who they’ve been sent to kill. Look at this: "Ukrainians returning captured Russian soldiers to their mothers": https://tinyurl.com/muhjd4bu. What else? Some worldwide meditation to send love to Putin? Come on, we can be the spiritual grownups. Put our money where our mouth is – use this as a time to test out theories we have about distant healing and the power of love.
Economic sanctions will have no impact on Putin and his Oligarchs. Sanctions will cripple the Russian economy and the poor Russian people will be again be standing in Bread lines as they did back in the days after the Soviet Collapse. If Putin and his Oligarchs cannot sell oil, they will start selling arms even nukes in the global market to make money for them. Do you think the world is going to be safer that way? In the past, these types of economic sanctions and embargos never worked against any other countries. Cuba, Iran, North Korea are examples. It only made the authoritarian regimes in those countries more powerful. Similarly, Its only going to affect the poor Russian people who have nothing to do with the Ukraine War. Suppose the Economic Sanctions and embargos make the Russian people revolt against their government and dethrone Putin. Now you have a failed State in hand, with 5977 Nuclear warheads floating all over the world, which will threaten our lives for generations to come.
Please read my Article on this
https://hram.substack.com/p/we-dont-need-another-world-war-especially?s=w
Brilliant commentary and video. We need to make this comparison present in all media outlets.
Could we seize NRA assets because of the Russian money that helps float their lethal paranoia?
Although I believe that we must execute sanctions against the Russian oligarchs, I do feel compassion for the ordinary Russian citizens who are suffering from the sanctions. I wish that the media and everybody in the world would start referring to the Ukrainian/Russian War as PUTEN'S WAR. IF WE CALL IT WHAT IT IS, THEN MAYBE THE RUSSIAN OLIGARCHS AND ORDINARY RUSSIAN CITIZENS WILL TAKE THIS TYRANT OUT, ONE WAY OR THE OTHER!
Your oligarchy video was excellent, as usual.
I just watched your short video in today's letter. I sent it out to several Trump supporters who would be lost in your normal vernacular. Your simple video will make sense. . . maybe. Thanks
Finally, our democratic oligarchs have gotten religion. https://www.axios.com/trump-election-lawyers-disbar-5c2b9252-d15d-495f-a759-2446d9fa62e8.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axiosam&stream=top