You do know Putin promoted and forced COVID vaccines on Russians right? Vaccines that you constantly peddle against on these forums but somehow when Putin does it, he is not evil at all!
Pro tip: Ad Hominem attacks are probably the easiest rhetorical fallacy to spot. Rhetorical fallacies are the mark of poor arguments, ergo using ad hominem reveals someone who considers their position too weak to stand on its merits (probably unconsciously in most cases). Therefore they rely on such vulgar methods. Sad, but it's the modern age. (I do admit to feeling the urge to say nasty things as well at times, but I make it a practice to have at least some dignity, hard as that is on ET.) Wouldn't it be nice if ET'ers had some decent comportment and disagreed in a more gentlemanly manner? translation: I miss Zelda. I think the toxic atmosphere chased her away. I often think of going, too, but I rather like the practice of being ad hominemed to death over vaccines and simply having a balanced perspective over Russia / Ukraine. It's like training in equanimity. Hard, but ultimately worthwhile.)
Your comments, posts, and demeanor are and have been in support of a genocidal regime and war that seeks to exterminate a population right as we speak. It is one of the most morally bankrupt and reprehensible ways that a person can conduct themselves and places them at the very bottom rung of humanity. Those who do that are free to do so. But those who see it for what it is are also free to speak against it. You should call yourself to a higher order rather than getting uppity and retreating up on to Mount Olympus to lecture us or me anyway on how to "have some decent comportment." You lick the boots of those who most definitely are not showing "decent comportment" to innocent civilians. You may think that the war in Ukraine is just one more video game. It is not.
On the eve of Putin drastically expanding the draft in Russia to add thousands of unwilling Russian victims to his meat grinder, all the vatniks are showing up with the latest Kremlin talking point of their masters. Currently the endless Russian propaganda being shoveled is laughable. Of course, these tankies continue to push Putin's fantasy devoid of reality. The vatnik claims about Ukraine's military members are insane in context that there are numerous videos of Russian draftees being chased down in the streets by police & military in Russian cities and being forced to serve as cannon fodder in the Russian army -- many die within weeks with inadequate food, training clothing, or weapons to be effective soldiers. In context of the situation is the fact that Russia is one of the few nations on the face of the earth which refuses to allow people with debt to leave the country -- currently this is over 8 million people being effectively contained in Russia. The Russian losses are so bad that the military cannot bury or cremate is dead soldiers fast enough. Russia is purchasing dozens of mobile crematoriums from China. Of course it is just as likely that the crematoriums are being used to cover up the evidence of Russian war crimes --- the dead bodies of civilians being dug up everywhere is hard for Putin to explain. The war crimes by Putin's regime are endless. Western nations and the International Court of Justice have outlined the ethnic cleansing and war crimes being committed by Russia in Ukraine. The latest reported atrocities by Russia includes the forcible deportation of 400 children who have been handed over to Russian families -- despite having parents. Of course, elderly Ukraine civilians are still being rounded up and held in Russian prisons for no reason. Ukraine, a sovereign and democratic nation, is defending itself from violent aggression by Putin's Russia. Russia can end this situation by stopping its brutal attack - but this will only happen when Putin is removed from power. The economic reality in the Russian Federation is that Russians are freezing and starving this winter. And it is only going to get worse for the Russians as their entire economy sinks as their oil is fetching a mere $34 per barrel at best. Putin is in trouble and he knows it, the Russian economy will lead to his downfall. The Russian future involves the dissolution of the Russian Federation. Regions are openly plotting their plans to split from Russia. This will lead to civil strife, internal armed conflict, and further starvation and economic deterioration in Russia. After Russia loses the Ukraine war there will be large numbers of disillusioned, armed men returning to the oppressed regions who want nothing to do with Moscow. At this point the dissolution of Russian Federation will be put into full gear; instead of underlying discontent it will be open revolt. China will be glad to pour money into fomenting the revolts in the eastern regions to move things along.
This reads like NATO propaganda, I am old enough to remember a time like this. Russian may not win outright, a Korean solution to stop fighting.
In theory........but don't underestimate the ability of the Russians to replace Putin with someone even worse. The Russians have a long history of trying to get the maximum amount of suffering possible into their lives. There are several characters waiting in the wings to take Putin's place and most of them - in the Russian tradition- don't think either the enemy or the Russian people themselves are suffering enough. They want to fix that.
Come on. Russia failed to keep its influence in Ukraine and its ambition to keep a mini USSR through economic and defense pacts. The problem always was Russia never had anything good to offer former USSR states. The example of Poland coming closer to the EU and the west and transforming that country’s quality of life was the biggest influence on Ukrainians wanting to cut ties with Russia. https://www.britannica.com/place/Ukraine/The-Maidan-protest-movement
Yes, IMO you are correct. Some of the Putin alternates waiting in the wings are even worse than him. For the most part these hard liners, who have been his advisors, have the inside track to replace Putin -- whether via a coup or via selection.
This war is going to go on for a couple more years, minimum. What is interesting is that the Russians have an election coming up in 2024. Okay, let's stipulate in advance that I get how elections work- or rather do not work- in Russia so I don't need a splainer there. Nevertheless even the pretense of an election presents a scenario where other candidates can declare and the population can show support for them. Yes, Putin will win because he controls the ballot box but the election run-up in this kind of environment creates all sorts of scenarios where the state will need to work overtime to keep any shows of support for others that could easily crop up spontaneously much to the embarrassment of Putin. Putin already has Navalny in prison so he is trying to plan ahead a bit. And there will be other candidates too. I repeat- none of them will win- but I do think the level of opposition to Putin will nevertheless seep through. As an aside, I am not one who buys into the story of the day about Putin dying of cancer etc. Nevertheless, I think he is struggling with something so I am going to go full Rumsfeld and say that "there are known knowns, known unknowns, and unknown unknowns ahead." I may have botched the quote a bit but you get the drift.
5 pages on this thread and not one mention of Trump. That last Windows update must have f'd up Tony and Gopher's algos.