For once I actually agree with Lindz there; Putin needs to go, but it really cannot be an outsider that does it. But the Russians themselves, after these sanctions wipe out their economy and every oligarch gets booted from the three comma club? I can see them choosing to take action. But with Putin gone, who gets control of the nukes?
Lindsay Graham needs to shut the fuck up, though, and let the State Dept. and the Administration handle it. The last thing we need is some retard causing an escalation. He should stay in the playground of Saying Stupid Things and ride the see-saw with Stacey Abrams.
Okay, yes. I was writing quickly at work, but I meant that somewhere in the chain of command there had been a discussion about the logistics of a “what does it look like if we kill Putin” plan. I concede that there’s not some sniper looking through a scope at Putin, or even anyone over there. And yes, the “CIA funding the local extremist group” plan is likely at the top of that pile.
The BCU's 45 second time limit has nothing to do with the firing process. It's simply an engineering decision during development of the system that if you haven't engaged the target within 45 seconds of turning it on, the target is more than likely out of range if not long gone, or you're dead. The video is a Marine unit going through a live fire/familiarization of the stinger. The only thing they could've added was a view through the reticle of the two "canoes" the instructor is talking about.
Can anyone tell me if there’s a real argument against NATO expansion for some of these smaller countries? It seems like all these other dictator types keep saying that their neighbor country joining NATO threatens their own security. So they better not join up. But then they only terrorize non-NATO countries. Just happened with Serbia and Putin has been saying that shit too. I say if they are willing to join, let ‘em. I don’t see how it’s bad.
Yeah, because Ukraine was really getting in Russia's business right before this... Can anyone think of anything that could have avoided this? I remember hearing someone say that excluding/ isolating Russia during the Bush and Obama years caused them to be more aggressive. But even if we were more receptive to them, what would be the point? It seems like all they ever do is hack/ cyberattack us, fuck with our politics, and troll our social media?
Ah, the Ronald Regan method. Albeit he was better at simply replacing leaders with CIA agents. He had a good chunk of South America covered before people started catching on.
Putin has been more or less saying for years that he was going to do exactly what he did. We probably should have taken it seriously. The November agreement with Ukraine probably didn’t go over well either.
The thing is, he can say as much as he wants, but nobody can do shit until he actually does something.
I’m not just referring to military action, but it’s as if Europe woke up from a stupor and suddenly realize that Russia is a problem.
So with all this “sanctions are declaration of war, and a no-fly zone is active participation” talk, is Putin trying to goad NATO to fully commit, and now getting impatient?
He will keep talking shit and moving the goal posts as to what he considers “NATO involvement”. Meanwhile, the Russian stock market has no intention of opening ever again. Their domestic airlines are in danger of being completely grounded as they can no longer receive spare parts. Microsoft and oracle have ceased operating in Russia. Putin won’t even be within 30 feet of his most trust advisors. He’s being forced to pull into service his oldest most poorly maintained vehicles from far away parts of the country. The bodies are piling up. I don’t know where it goes from here though. Because everyone is super afraid of him having nukes. Quite frankly, the Russian military has been a tremendous embarrassment. They have piles of artillery and whatnot and can do damage. But it’s old as shit. Largely unguided munitions and of poor quality.
But wait, I thought Putin was sending the obsolete crap driven by teenagers to get them out of the way, then he was going to send the Spetznaz rolling in with the good equipment... Also, do you have a source for that 30 foot radius claim? That's hilarious if it's true, and I'd love to read it.
I don't know if there's a confirmed policy or anything, but in all the recent videos he's sitting at comically large tables or across the room from his advisors.
he’s horribly afraid of Covid (as he should be) but even though people close to him are tested like crazy, he still makes them sit super far away. There’s been a lot of speculation that he is physically ill right now, and if he’s undergoing chemo or otherwise immunocompromised, that would certainly explain it. Regardless, it’s a… weird look.
Putin’s tough guy persona is as central to his politics as Trump’s Twitter account and weird relationship with his daughter were to his. Putin knows that nobody wants a nuclear war - and the continuing smack talk is essential to maintaining his hard as nail Russian badass motif - especially when he won’t let anyone sit close enough to him to be photographed by someone with a conventional lens. All the recent wide angle photography from the next room only makes him look weak, or at least less like the propaganda he’s built about himself, even if it is probably a sensible way to manage the COVID risk at his age. Putin is a propagandist first and foremost. He deeply understands how controlling perceptions and imposing narratives is key to both his domestic politics and his foreign policy. He also probably knows that he can’t out shoot America - much less any kind of American/European coalition of the willing. But the Russian involvement in western political propaganda has been so successful in making everyone unstable and reluctant to take chances, the anti mask/anti vax propaganda has everyone still fucked up from the Pandmic and unwilling to engage with new voluntary problems, and the western military interventionist types are all still recovering from twenty years in Iraq and Afghanistan even if they did want to put boots on the ground and gamble that Putin isn’t actually nuts enough to go nuclear. The low key deranged aggressive tough guy routine also probably helps keeps potential swinging moderates from leaning towards boots on the ground intervention. What if that asshole is willing to push for mutually assured destruction and go nuclear? What if he’s sitting on the Soviet nuclear cache and he’s willing to launch if he can’t have Ukraine? If you’re a politician who’s uncertain of your read of Putin - every bit of posturing bravado is another bit of evidence that he might be just the kind of asshole who would nuke the world into an ice age rather than back down. And shit, maybe he is that kind of asshole - for all that propaganda informs most of what random western civilians know about the guy - he’s got plenty of history being an impossible asshole. Maybe he is that much of a cunt.
The easiest way to get rid of him is just to dig up some of his old tweets and get him fired. I’m pretty sure I remember him posting that he thought Feminist Ghostbusters was a disappointment. Use this weapon.