stevenkesslar

Good for Russia. But it is still an economy that can't really get it up. The surprise is the Russian economy was supposed to be shrinking. So compared to not being able to get it up at all, 3.5 % does make Vlad look a virile stud. As virile as all those 21 year old Russians that are rotting in Ukrainians fields. But, honestly, it ain't really all that great. When Vlad was younger, he could really get it up. Every year between 2000 and 2008, the Russian economy was growing at a 5 to 10 % clip. Young Vlad looked less like a butcher and sadist (although we will always have Chechnya) and more like the leader of a sound and growing global economy. Which is what Vlad is, at least in his jack off fantasies. In reality, his army is dying and turning into insect food in Ukraine. Zelenskyy runs a country that is smaller, poorer, but apparently tougher than Russia. Poor Vlad! So I get it. It's kind of impressive these days that Vlad can get it up at all. But what is working for him now is a War/Butchering/Sadism Economy. And we have seen this movie before. And it usually ends very badly. Which countries had two of the fastest growing economies in the 1930's? Germany and Japan. Why? Because they were plowing money into war/butchering economies. It's not like Vlad is creative or something. And compared to Adolph, Vlad is pretty much impotent. At least Adolph could figure out how to grow his economy 55 % in five years, from 1933 to 1938. While the US and much of Europe was weak. So if the IMF is wrong, and even if Vlad has another 3.5 % year, he's no Adolph. The US and EU are growing faster, and smarter. That Nazi German war economy was some serious shit. Adolph was powerful enough to kill millions of Russians. Sorry about that, by the way. Basically, all Vlad can do is wage a war he can't win. And if it goes on long enough maybe he will also kill millions of Russians. For sure hundreds of thousands. Some legacy. How does that make Vlad a bad ass, again? So the real danger to the world is that, as Nazi Germany and Japan proved, if you throw all your mojo into a War/Butchering/Sadism Economy, it tends to lead to war and sadism and butchering. Or, in this case, World War 3. If Vlad could really get his economy up 55 % in the next five years, while the US and EU flailed, maybe he could take on the US. Or NATO. Or at least Poland. Maybe Latvia? Lithuania? The Falkland Islands? Instead, Vlad can't do much more than kill Russians and Ukrainians. Good news is if he can't start World War 3, Russia at least won't end up blown to shit or nuked like Germany or Japan. Which I would actually feel very good about if I were sitting in your shoes, @Moses. But your economy is still fucked. Sorry. I told you how I bet it ends. Poor Vlad is gonna get castrated by his Master Xi Whiz. Xi likes his old pit bull just fine. Since he can at least still bark and bite quite a lot. And as long as he stays on his leash. But Vlad really does have to wage war and butcher to even try to keep it up. And that ain't working out for Xi as was hoped. I mean, he'll take cheap oil and gas and stuff. But Master Xi don't like all that World War 3 shit. And the whole thing is kind of a bad look, anyway. And on top of that, can we be very blunt? The Chinese look down on these mongrel mutts like Vlad as inferior, anyway. It was never a marriage made in heaven. And it never will be. So despite all the hugs and kisses, Xi Whiz is probably gonna have to castrate your used to be badass butcher someday. Not this year or next. But Xi ain't really a happy pet owner. He's gonna have to abandon his old pit bull one of these years. You'll see.

You don't follow your own logic, @Moses. If Zelenskyy is down to "only" 62 % of the vote, in a real poll, that makes him way more popular in his country than Biden, Trump, or Putin are in their country. Of course, in Putin's case that's if there were real polls of people who would not be arrested or sent to Ukraine to become fertilizer if they answer the question wrong. Again, thanks. Overall, you are comforting me. And informing me, albeit indirectly. Since I read your misrepresentations and then go hunting for context and facts. I have been reading ad nauseum that if it's a war of attrition, Russia wins. So learning about Putin's 2024 budget was helpful. He's clearly planning that a huge and unsustainable one year hike in defense spending will do something. What might "something" be? Maybe he thinks the US and EU will stop funding Ukraine. Maybe he thinks regardless of what the US and EU do Ukraine will be so weak that Russia has a military breakthrough. Maybe he thinks Trump will win. Of those three options, the latter seems most likely and most helpful to Putin. My guess is that in his "24 hour" peace agreement, Trump will indirectly turn lots of Ukrainian men, women, and children into fertilizer. Of course, that won't be his stated or even unstated goal. But if he hands them over to Vlad, we all know that a sadistic butcher will feel perfectly fine with his soldiers torturing them, raping them, and killing them as he sees fit. And even that is very unclear. If Ukraine is considering calling up 500,000 more soldiers, they apparently feel they are not defenseless without US or EU support. Here's the other numbers that really suggest Vlad is fucked. And hundreds of thousands of Russians can look forward to be a bright future as fertilizer in Ukraine. The only reason Vlad is not totally fucked is if the US turns out to be a completely castrated superpower. And it is possible that Speaker Johnson, at Trump's command, will cut off his testicles, put them in a jar, and order all the White Republican men in the House Freedom Caucus to do the same. So Trump can hand all those Republican testicles to Vlad, in jars, and adorned with festive American flags. For Vlad to display as his glorious victory to the Russian people. This will be a great debate to have in the US next year. Why are we the first self-castrating superpower in history? It's almost embarrassing to look at those charts as an American. This is NOT a heavy lift. Both charts are a bit dated. And it was not a particularly heavy lift for Russia, either, at least through 2022. Now that has changed. Vlad can only make this work by pushing a massive one year spike in defense spending and focusing his country on a War/Sadism/Butchering Economy that requires paying hundreds of thousands of Russian families to turn their sons, husbands, and fathers into rotting meat. Woo hoo! Placed in a broader historical context, this helps explain why in a long-term war of a attrition in a foreign country, the invader almost always loses. There's VietNam. There's Afghanistan 1.0, USSR edition. Afghanistan 2.0, US edition. And of course Iraq. And perhaps we can thrown in skirmishes, like Libya. The biggest exception I can think of is the US in Kuwait. And that example is irrelevant. The US amassed overwhelming international power, won quickly with limited objectives, and left. Vlad failed completely already on every one of those measures. He is a butcher, he is a sadist, and he is fucked. The most optimistic I can be for Vlad is Chechnya. It required absolute butchery and sadism and destruction. Check. Vlad can do that. It required over ten years. Check. Vlad has ten years of Russian men to turn into fertilizer. 1 million men? 2 million men? Vlad could give a shit, as far as how many Russian men have to be processed brutally into meat. So far, so good. Vlad's got this. Where the comparison falls apart is that Chechnya has a population of 1.5 million. Compared to 43 million for Ukraine, and 143 million Russians. If it took a decade or so to pacify 1 million people + with little or no international allies, a country of 43 million people with the US and Eu behind them, among others, should take at least that long. Russian spending on defense has tripled from pre-invasion levels. So where we now know it really falls apart is that Vlad just doesn't have the money. He does for one year, for sure. If need be I'm sure he could get some unprecedented amount for 2025, too. But 2026? 2027? 2028? 2029? Oh, and who is rolling out AI while Russia is totally focused on bombs and bullets and turning their own men into meat? If the US is in the lead on AI, and what Ukraine needs is some new technological advantage, how might that play out? Maybe in a year or two some drone with facial recognition software will just go hunt for every single Russian soldier in Ukraine and blow his face into meat. That's science fiction. But not too much. One persuasive theory it the the US beat the USSR not only by outspending them, but also by advances in digital technologies that the Soviets simply could not keep up with. At a simple but true level, this is a story about overconfidence. Ukraine had a surprisingly good 2022. And Zelenskyy, with help from the US and NATO probably, got overconfident in 2023. It was a mistake to tell people like me that we should just wait for this stunningly successful counteroffensive THAT NEVER FUCKING HAPPENED. But Putin is doing the same thing now, on steroids. He is telling his own people, and the world, give me one year and I got this. And I promise not to turn too many of you into meat. His budget is fantasy. And his war plans are based on Ukrainians being stupid. And on the US and EU being even dumber, by castrating themselves. Stranger things have happened. But I doubt it. I think what Ukraine, the US, NATO, and the EU are in the process of doing is recalibrating expectations. If the idea is that Ukraine will just be throwing men into the meat grinder until they inevitably lose, it actually seems compassionate to say let's not spend lots of our money to make that happen. If the idea is that a sadistic butcher is pinned down in a war that gradually bleeds both his people and his economy dry, that's a very different proposition. And, yes, the IMF now say's Russia's GDP will grow by 1 % next year. Maybe even 2 %. Woo hoo. They are a backward, fucked up, dead end country that is turning their men into fertilizer while the US and China roll out the 21st century global economy. I'll end my long rant with two even longer and thoughtful pieces I found inspiring to read. They were written recently, and factor in recent disappointments to paint a picture of how Ukraine wins a grinding war of attrition with Russia. Who Will Win the War of Attrition? Analysts say that Ukraine has a chance of success if it adjusts its tactics properly BITING OFF WHAT IT CAN CHEW: UKRAINE UNDERSTANDS ITS ATTRITIONAL CONTEXT

Yes. True. In fact, peace with Russia in prohibited by Ukraine. Clearly, prohibiting peace with Russia left Putin no choice but to invade Ukraine. Besides. Ukraine clearly elected a Nazi leader, since we all know Jews are Nazis. Putin had no choice since he only wants to de-Nazify Ukraine. When Putin sends 500,000 Russians to Ukraine to be turned into fertilizer, it shows his love for Russia and peace. When Zelenskyy send 500,00 Ukrainians to kill Russians who rape women and kill children, it's obviously because Zelenskyy is a butcher. You're not funny at all, @Moses. But this shit is so over the top that I do laugh. Like you and I could both do a bit more editing of what we write. But in your case, some of your stuff, if polished, would be really good black comedy or satire. You could write the next Catch 22.

That's true. The US is hardly one to talk about having a massive debt to GDP ratio. At the margin, that's probably part of why Republicans are balking. We have a huge deficit, and the war looks like an endless stalemate. Why spend more? That said, I think the much bigger political issue is that Republicans just don't want Biden to win. So if inertia hands Putin a victory and lets him slaughter Ukrainians like pigs as he wishes, who cares? My main point is that it's become much clearer to me, thanks to you, just how desperate Putin is for Trump to win. So that will be a big debate in 2024. Do Americans agree that we need Trump again, so he can hand Ukraine over to Putin? And then Putin can slaughter Ukrainians like pigs and rescue his weak economy? Or, is it better to help Ukraine so that Putin's best play is to continuously turn Russian men into meat and fertilizer? And have to pay off the families of the hundreds of thousands of Russians he turns into meat? That's a great debate for America to have. In terms of the debt, the budget says it increases debt 50 %. I don't speak Russian. And most articles I can find with that graphic explaining the budget are ones Google doesn't offer to translate. Here, again, is what the article I cited above said: So I was correct in my original claim, and you were wrong. Putin's War/Butchering Economy spends more than ever before on defense. Which reduces spending for everything else - including health care and education. The future of Russia suffers so that Putin can spend huge amounts of money turning Russians into meat and fertilizer now. I read about half a dozen more articles on Putin's 2024 budget by Western media or think tanks, in English. And they all use the same numbers and paint the same picture. This paragraph from a European think tank in particular really nailed the main point I am making, about how desperate Putin is: And this article makes the same point, in a slightly different way: The numbers speak for themselves. Putin is spending an enormous amount of money in one year, 2024. Presumably based on the idea that he won't have to do it again in 2025 or 2026. In theory, I suppose he could believe that even if Biden is POTUS Ukrainians will run out of will and surrender. But that seems very unlikely. The polls say the opposite. 1 % or so of Ukrainians are fleeing the country to avoid being drafted. 96 % or so of the country support the military and will kill as many Russians as it takes to win. So much more likely is that Putin hopes Trump will win. And that Republicans will do everything they can to undermine Biden. And Ukraine just gets thrown under the bus - like pigs for slaughter. It's a guess, not a fact. But that's my read of Putin's budget. He is counting on Trump winning and handing over Ukraine, or chunks of it, like pigs for slaughter. Putin has a big 2024 problem anyway. As several articles I cited say, his budget is based on lots of wishful thinking. That said, if his economy grows slower and oil prices are lower and Russian men just keep turning into fertilizer in Ukraine, Putin will survive. And, in theory, he can change the 2025 budget if Biden wins and he is in an endless stalemate. He's a very resilient butcher and sadist. What is also clearer to me is that Ukraine probably needs to switch from offense to defense. To vastly oversimplify, the new thing about war - thanks to cheap drones - is this: WHEN YOU MOVE, YOU DIE. So if Ukrainians are moving on offense, they are very easy to kill. But the same applies if Russians try to advance. Part of the reason Russians are doing better is they just took some of the things Ukrainians were doing in 2022 and did the same to them - like drones. So now Ukrainians can put Russians in the same death traps. Focusing on defense is a political problem for Zelenskyy, because polls suggest most Ukrainians want to take back the land Russia took. That was obviously what the 2023 game plan was. It failed. It was one battle in a war. So move on. It's impossible to tell what the Ukrainian military wants, what the US military wants, what NATO wants, and how these goals may differ or be in conflict. But one thing for sure is that if there is less money flowing from the US and EU, it forces Ukraine to scale down their goals. Taking back Crimea seems more and more like a fantasy. Just holding on to what they have may be much more realistic. And it is 1000 % clear that Ukrainians don't want to give the territory Putin already took away to make peace with a sadistic butcher. So there's no doubt they will happily kill any Russian soldier who tries to take more of their territory away. So many Russians, so much fertilizer! The new rule could be this: when a Russian soldier moves, he dies. The US and EU should be making millions of drones. Ideally with the name of every Russian soldier alive - and soon to be dead - on it. Surely the US and Germany can outproduce Iran! Let Putin spend enormous amounts of money he doesn't have every year. And the primary victory he wins is to gain nothing, and turn more and more Russians into Ukrainian fertilizer. If they don't like being Ukrainian fertilizer, maybe they should simply leave a country a butcher forced them to attack without provocation. That's exactly what happened in Afghanistan and Iraq. If you don't think it will happen in Ukraine, you are dreaming. I'm being very gross, but honest. This is the debate the US needs to have. The alternative is electing Trump so he can hand Ukraine over to Russia, hammer a big nail into the coffin of democracy and NATO, and let Putin slaughter Ukrainians like pigs, as he wishes. That's democracy.

I know. Thanks for being honest. Russia is NOT a democracy. So what happens in a democracy like the US or Ukraine must be perplexing to many Russians. You live in a country run by an authoritarian and butcher who kills or jails his political opponents and won't hold real elections. Sorry about that, @Moses. It kinda sucks. ☹️

Number one, I don't trust any numbers from either side. It is part of the propaganda of war. My guess is that both Ukraine and Russia have lost hundreds of thousands of troops. And that neither Putin nor Zelenskyy want to admit that many of their soldiers were killed. But I'll go with your number. And I'll add the assumption that whether it is 50,000 or 500,00 or 5 million dead Russians is irrelevant. Russians are, by definition, Putin's pigs for slaughter. If Vlad says, "Go die, pig" they go die. Maybe their family gets money for the dead pig. But they are still pigs, that are there for Vlad to slaughter as needed. If they don't like it, they flee. If you see yourself as a human with a brain who wants a career, that's a no brainer. Get to Europe, or America, if you can. I will again thank you. Posting that budget, which led me to research what it meant, made my day. You are awesome, @Moses. Thank you. My assumption, based in large part on John Mearsheimer, is that Russia does and always has had the upper hand. They have more soldiers, and more bullets. Or, if you prefer, Vlad has so many more plgs for slaughter. Of course, that only makes sense if you have a sadist and butcher who is willing to turn millions of Russians into fertilizer. And Putin clearly is. He's super rich and powerful already. And he's as narcissistic as Trump. So he thinks history will make him look awesome. Just like Trump does. If I follow my own logic, that means the longer a war of attrition goes on, the more likely Putin wins. Of course, the sanctions were supposed to bleed Putin's economy out before he could win. But that hasn't happened. One big reason is much of the world, like India and Turkey, doesn't want to take sides. Which is understandable. And in some ways even good. If the US has less power to bend the world its way, we won't invade a country like Iraq again for a long time. I can live with that. That said, it does not look good when the only countries really on Vlad's side are Iran and North Korea, two authoritarian basket cases. As a former prostitute, I'll put it this way. Putin is like the whore who has to pay money to get his dick sucked. What you helped me realize is that this war is incredibly expensive for Putin. I'll put it this way. If Americans or Europeans had to dedicate almost a third of their budgets to defending Ukraine, that's a no brainer. Of course we would let Putin have Ukraine, and kill as many children as he wanted. America is just NOT going to spend one third of our budget to defend Ukraine. But now Putin has to spend one third of his budget to attack Ukraine, and kill hundreds of thousands of Russians and Ukrainians. That's not good for Russia. Oh. And he has to blow up the debt 50 % in one year just to kill hundreds of thousands of Russians. What a plan! Even America, which has a huge debt problem, couldn't figure how to increase our debt 50 % in one year in order to slaughter lots of Americans and Mexicans. So that fucks the Russian economy for a generation. And the Russian economy was fucked, anyway. The other really important thing I realized, thanks to you, is that now that we know Ukraine, and NATO and US military planners, were overconfident, we can make corrections. Just like Putin made corrections after he fucked up badly in 2022. To oversimplify it, it seems like the situation now is that if you move a meter, you die. Some drone will kill you, or the tank you are in. Which makes it clear why massing forces to overwhelm Russian defenses would be super difficult. I'm the worst military planner in the world. But it seems like there is one inevitable conclusion: whether they want to or not, Ukrainians will have switch to defense and small attacks. And just kill and kill and kill and kill and kill and kill as many Russians as they possibly can. One by one. With drones. With artillery. With whatever they can. Everyone in Russia should understand that Ukraine is where Russians go to become meat. Or fertilizer. There may be more than enough men in Russia to do that for 5 or 10 or 20 years. But there's not enough money. And Putin is proving that. Anyone who gets grade school arithmetic could get it if they see that budget in English. Israel has proven that Golda Meir was right. As Biden has now said again and again, she told him as a young Senator that Israel will always fight back. Hard. Ukraine is proving to be exactly the same. Ukraine will kill Russians every day for the next 50 years, if need be. I don't think Vlad has the budget for that. This is exactly what happened in Afghanistan and Iraq. The portion of the US budget that went to fighting those wars was a fraction of what Vlad is having to spend just this year. He literally can't keep it up. The problem in America was political will. Meaning the political will to invade Iraq was never there at all for many, like in my case. I opposed it from Day One. Or the political will diminished over time. As Iraqis made it clear they hate us and will kill us and want us to die or go away. The expense of it was maybe part of W.'s problem. But the year the US spent the most money on Iraq was 2008. Here is what W.'s 2008 budget statement said. He talked about how he was prioritizing education and health care, and lowering the deficit as a percentage of GDP. Money was not the problem for America. Vlad has it so much worse. He's a sadistic authoritarian. So he can send as many men off to die as he wants. But he can't just invent money. He's going to have to either cut the budget in 2025. Or blow up the Russian debt in a way that brings you right back into the financial mess a younger and less narcissistic Vlad got you out of. Vlad is placing a very expensive bet on Trump's election in 2024. And, to some degree, whether it is intentional or not, Republicans are playing along. So once the US election debate really gets started, this is absolutely what I want Trump to talk about every day. Quote Putin. Praise Putin. I want Trump to talk about how he won in 2020. And how his "hostages" that beat up cops in the Capitol and Honest Vlad are right. Trump is being picked on, and democracy sucks. And if we would just elect Trump again it would make it so much easier for Vlad to end the war. Even if he had to kill hundreds of thousands more Ukrainians. Poor sadistic murderous Vlad. If we don't elect Trump, Vlad might go broke. And have to stop killing Ukrainian children. Americans would NEVER want that, would they? Just wait and see. Maybe Americans will fuck up. We are certainly capable of that. Or maybe Putin and Russia will get a lesson in how democracy works. 😉

Thank you. This isn't even really a debate. Your strategy is to concede all my points. I said you are fact free. And in your first short sentence you proved it. I didn't say Ukrainians back Zelensky's position. The poll I cited did. 9 in 10 Ukrainians does not want to cede territory to Russia for peace. This is not "most ridiculous conclusion." This is truth. This is fact. Deal with it, my dear. I won't make this post even longer by citing more polls and more facts. But that is a big change. At the start of the war, the majority that was absolutely opposed to a deal with Russia that gave him some of what he wanted was not anywhere near as big. Ukrainians were not as hardened. A lot more Ukrainians were willing to make some kind of deal for peace, and hoped the war would not be long. What changed? I'm not a Ukrainian, nor are you. But I think one good answer is the bloodbath changed everything. My sense from interviews and much of what I have read, which polls like this support, is that Ukrainians now hate Russians. And basically want them dead. Why? Because they see what happened in places like Mariupol. Their sons and husbands are dead. And they believe that Vladimir Putin will happily rape, torture, butcher, and turn into fertilizer any man, woman, or child in Ukraine who gets in his way. Which is not really a surprise. We already know that Vladimir Putin will happily rape, torture, butcher, and turn into fertilizer any man, woman, or child in Russia who gets in his way. Again, I did. 9 in 10 Ukrainians support Zelensky's position of not ceding any territory to Russia. Frankly, if it were up to me, I wish they would. Because then maybe the war could end. But don't blame the fact that they have become harder and more bitter and more dug in on the US, or the EU. Blame it on your own butcher and sadist. He is pushing Russia into deeper and deeper debt to turn hundreds of thousands of Russians into meat and fertilizer so he can win his cruel war and hope maybe his weak economy can muddle through somehow. That's not on the US, or the EU. That is on your very own butcher and sadist. Part of the unusually cruel approach you and Putin share is the idea that it's not only okay to butcher Ukrainians. It's okay to blame Ukrainians for being butchered. Survey reveals Ukrainians trust in military, but trust in Zelenskyy is dropping Is it a surprise that Ukraine is becoming a more militarized society, that is more distrustful of political institutions? No, it's of course not a surprise at all. People in Ukraine have to be utterly exhausted. And if they are alive, and living in Ukraine - as opposed to living in Poland or some other country they fled to survive, or being dead and fertilizer in some field - they are arguably among the lucky ones. But not so lucky. Why would 96 % of Ukrainians put their highest trust in the Armed Forces of Ukraine? That's a no brainer. They don't want to be turned into meat and fertilizer. And the Ukrainian army is the only thing really standing between them and Putin and his War/Butchering/Sadism Economy. Again, I don't live in Ukraine. But I'm 96 % sure they are now almost unanimously committed to getting behind their military because they see this as a life and death battle. In terms of Zelenskyy, I will say this. Somebody fucked up. In 2022 the Ukrainians stunned and inspired the world by being tougher than anyone thought. Then in 2023, after expectations had been raised sky high, we were told that we'd see more of the same. And there would be a breakthrough victory. Hell, maybe Zelenskyy would be celebrating New Years in a reclaimed Crimea. So I have to assume a lot of Ukrainians feel let down that what they were told to hope for didn't turn out as planned. I'm 100 % sure a lot of Americans feel the same way. I know I do. Maybe some of that should be blamed on Zelenskyy. If I had to single out one American, I'd name David Petraeus. Every time he has opened his mouth in the last few decades and painted a picture of how glorious victory will be if we do it his way, he has been wrong. Every fucking time. I would actually watch Petraeus on in his TV consulting gigs in part to know what kind of propaganda about a wildly successful counteroffensive I should NOT expect to actually be true. Petraeus did not disappoint me. Most of what he said now sounds like bullshit. That said, war is war. It doesn't always turn out as planned. Russia clearly learned from its massive fuck ups in 2022 and got better. And Vlad doubled down on the idea that he'll gladly turn as many Russians into meat and fertilizer as it takes. That said, 62 % of Ukrainians still say they support Zelenskyy. Joe Biden or Donald Trump would kill to have numbers like that. So would Murderous Vlad, if Russia actually had honest elections and honest polls. This can not possibly end well for Russia. Vlad already is racing against time and a fantasy budget to build up a War/Butchering/Sadism Economy as fast as he can. He pays hundreds of thousands of Russian families to turn their loved ones into fertilizer. The best and brightest are leaving to the West. And the youngest and most courageous who protest are being sent to the front to become fertilizer. Nobody admires Vlad. They may fear him. Or, like Xi Whiz, they may be perfectly happy to put him on a leash and use him to distract the West, as long as he doesn't push too hard. Everything that went wrong in Afghanistan for both the USSR and the US, and in Iraq for the US, is already happening on steroids in Ukraine. And the bloodbath is just getting started. Ukraine has no choice. Vlad will have to bleed and spend Russia dry - of money, of men, of bullets - before Ukraine gives up. They hate Russians. They want Russians dead. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I give you credit for trying to twist facts. Like the chart you posted in Russian that shows that, in fact, health and education are being defunded just as I said. But, thanks. You have helped me to better understand what is going on. Yesterday I was not aware that Putin is bleeding Russia dry financially as well as militarily. But that butchering budget he came up with is total bullshit. He is desperate to win, and quickly. Which he can't do. But as every translated article I read said, he can't do another budget like that in 2025. I assume he is hoping he can cut defense spending, since he'll win the war. But he can't win the war. If anything, he'll may have to spend even more money on defense just to keep what he has. Remember. Afghanistan. Iraq. Just when you think you're winning is when you actually start to lose. I'm ashamed that America is being such a wimp right now. That said, it's not so much actual weakness as it is partisanship. When Reagan was President, it actually was true that politics stopped at the US border. It no longer does. The Republican Party of Reagan, which used to lift up immigrants as the hope of America and the world, and wanted to be the beacon of democracy, is now just playing politics. With the lives of Ukrainians at stake. It's an election year. Biden still sounds like Reagan on democracy and immigration. The problem is that the party of Reagan no longer sounds, or even believes, like Reagan. I think Vlad really doesn't understand America or democracy very well. Because some of what he is doing is absolutely going to backfire. Like encouraging America to be weak, or calling us weak, is actually when we become strong. Just look at 9/11. So just play these videos of Vlad going after the US and democracy, please. That will help. As long as this really remains a stalemate, that probably reinforces inertia in the US and EU. Why fund a war Ukraine can't win? If Vlad manages to demolish another city like Mariupol and kill another 25,000 women and children, that will add momentum to funding Ukraine. But mostly, in the US, this about the 2024 election. It seems very unlikely that Americans will be more likely to vote for Trump because Murderous Vlad is placing an extremely expensive and risky bet on hoping Trump will win. So Trump can hand Ukraine - or at least big chunks of it - over to Vlad. I genuinely believe that both Trump and Putin are so narcissistic and cruel that they don't even realize that. Why else would Trump be quoting Putin in New Hampshire, and praising Putin for attacking democracy? But, again @Moses,thanks. After reading a lot of recent news articles on Ukraine, I feel better than I did 24 hours ago. It was a better year for Putin than expected, and a worse year for Ukraine than hoped. But, again, war is war. You win some battles, you lose some. If 96 % of Ukrainians place their highest faith in their military, that says loud and clear they will fight and kill Russians to the death.

Again, it is just sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. You are blaming Ukrainians for the fact that Putin is butchering hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian men, women, and children. And you are stating, or implying, that it is Zelensky's fault that your butcher/sadist leader has made the situation such a horrific bloodbath that it is a "suicide mission" to simply retrieve the dead. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. I can tell you one person who I am kind of glad is dead. My Dad. He was a WW2 veteran and Reagan Republican who died about 5 years ago after a very long and happy life. And even though I have always been a liberal Democrat, he and I always knew we shared the same basic values. Which I got from him. He was one of those Republicans that bought all W.'s bullshit about how we were "liberating" Iraq for democracy. And we had to defend ourselves from "WMD". But he could not stomach Trump. He voted for every Republican President he could except Trump. And having fought in WW2 and even having supported a war like Iraq, I don't think my Dad would even recognize this Republican Party. How could his beloved party NOT be the one standing up for people who were attacked and butchered, without cause, and are fighting for survival, and democracy? Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Here's an informative video on Putin's program to turn Russian men into "meat" and fertilizer. Like with Ukrainians, it is such a bloodbath that Russian corpses are left to rot, because it is a "suicide mission" to try to retrieve them. Understandably, the Moms and wives of the Russian men Putin turns into meat or fertilizer are not exactly pleased. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Putin signs decree to pay families of Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine war $68,800 to be paid to families of deceased soldiers, $41,300 to be given to the injured This is part of the reason why Russia is fucked, @Moses. Sorry to say. Russia will be known for the rest of my lifetime in all of the world as the fucked up weak economy that finally got the respect it deserved by unleashing their butcher/sadist/authoritarian leader to start a horrific war. Of course, Russians had no say in the matter. And now Putin has to spend a huge chunk of money just to keep the mothers and wives and families of the Russians he turns into meat and fertilizer from protesting. Which of course explains why Putin is desperate to go into massive debt to try to win an unwinnable war before he runs out of money, or male bodies, or people just won't take it anymore. Here's a news flash. People don't like sadistic butchers. People don't like being turned into meat and fertilizer. Who knew? It is why Ukrainians are just growing deeper and more passionate in their commitment to kill as many Russians as they can. It is why Putin will have to pay lots of money he has to borrow, based on fantasy economic scenarios he makes up, to build weapons to turn hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian men, women and children into meat and fertilizer. Even as he has to pay off the families of the hundreds of thousands of Russian men he turns into meat and fertilizer. Who would come up with a sick, sadistic plan to bleed out and butcher Ukraine and Russia like this? Only one guy I can think of. Murderous Vlad.

GOP senators distance themselves from Trump's 'poisoning' immigration comments It's reminiscent of Trump's presidency, when Republicans would commonly say they hadn't seen Trump's comments or only modestly push back on them. I have to admit this one really surprises me. I'm not surprised about Trump spreading lies, division, and hate. That's his thing. I'm surprised at Republican Senators like Shelley Moore Capito, Roger Wicker, and Thom Tillis. I was not aware that they were part of the MSNBC watching, NYTimes reading, Volvo driving, Chablis sipping, out-of-touch elitist class who clutch their pearls over comments like that which most Americans agree with. How did I miss that? Anyhoo, it's started. Trump is reminding Americans why they fired him. And why they elected Democrats to the Senate.

I am curious on this one. I don't speak Russian. And you're a sweetheart. So help me out, @Moses. I've read a lot about how Vlad has a policy to pay Russian families to turn their husbands and sons into fertilizer for cows to shit on. Basically, they get pushed into the army, they go to the front, they die, they become grass for cows to shit on. The families of the dead guy/fertilizer gets paid to tolerate Vlad's butchering of Russians and Ukrainians. That is how Vlad's War/Sadism Economy works. Something like this: Is this part of the budget on social projects? Because unlike health care or education, it is getting a significant increase. Although, given how much money is going into direct butchering - defense and security forces - even a 19 % increase means it gets a smaller percentage of Vlad's overall War/Sadism Economy budget. This is what the Russian translation says. So that is good news for Russian seniors, and the Russian working class. At least in the short run. It seems to me to reflect how desperately Vlad wants to win. He's paying off seniors and workers to tolerate his War/Butchering/Sadism Economy. Seriously. Is that what Trump and Republicans are for? More money for Russian workers, so they tolerate Russian soldiers killing Ukrainian children, while Republicans cut taxes again for the richest Americans? And maybe also more tax cuts for the wildly profitable corporations that helped spike prices for their products because they could? I want that debate! How about we instead raise taxes on the rich, mostly to help Americans, but also to pay for the small percentage of the US budget it takes to help Ukraine? Bottom line that fact-oriented Republicans and Democrats understand. Vlad has to spend a massive and unsustainable share of his budget to slaughter Ukrainians and attack democracy. Americans have to spend a very small share of our budget to defend Ukrainians and democracy. Vlad's budget is not sustainable, and it is based on fantasy. It makes up a fantasy oil price, and fantasy GDP growth, and a fantasy exchange rate. What it also confirms is that Putin is desperate, and playing against time. He doesn't really have the money to fund his War/Sadism/Butchering Economy for the long term. The second biggest growth category in Vlad's butchering budget is a 50 % increase in public debt. The Americans and Chinese, wisely, would rather build out electric cars or AI. As opposed to turning themselves and their neighbors into fertilizer. So Vlad can't just keep blowing up budgets - and budget deficits. On blogs like this, I know I am a man of many words. And many facts. But in 2024, the split screen ad I want is mostly images, not words. I want Trump praising Putin for attacking US political and legal institutions. And attacking democracy. And I want Putin boldly calling for House Republicans to go to their kitchen, pull out a knife, and castrate themselves. And then put their testicles in a jar and give them to Vlad, to proudly display to the Russian people. Because that is what Vlad is counting on Republicans to do. Castrate themselves, and support or at least tolerate his attacks on Ukraine, the global economy, the international order, democracy, US elections, and US legal and political institutions. Sorry, but how does this help Trump and Republicans win? I want Trump talking about this 24/7!

You're like Putin's news, which dominates Russia. You edited what I said to ignore the intentional killing of children and the rape of women. You really don't like facts, do you? So you are saying the problem is the US and EU are helping Ukraine defend themselves from a war Putin started that primarily focuses on killing Ukrainians? You really are Russian, aren't you? That's doesn't need a long response. It's just stupid, and sick. And, again, the premise of your argument - that somehow Boris Johnson runs Ukraine - illustrates your contempt for facts and truth. For same strange reason, Ukrainians just don't want to be War Economy Vlad's powerless pigs for slaughter. In New Poll, 89% of Ukrainians Reject Ceding Land to Reach Peace With Russia Ukrainians back Zelensky’s position that peace talks can’t grant Russia land it has seized, WSJ-NORC poll finds

Quell surprise! The Trump lover who is fact free and the Putin lover who is fact free are teaming up on me!!! Why am I not shocked? My sources do not lie, dear. In fact, your sources confirm my point: From the English translation of a Russian article using your chart: The President of the Russian Federation signed the law on the federal budget for 2024: what you need to know What will the record 36.7 trillion rubles be spent on and what will the deficit be? Putin is flooding money into a War/Sadism/Butchering Economy that focuses on the areas that kill Ukrainian soldiers. The security forces he wants to plow lots more money into are the very same ones who rape Ukrainian women and intentionally kill Ukrainian children, or cart them off to Russia. It's a budget dedicated to sadism and butchering. It is who Vlad is. It is what Vlad does. To his credit, he puts his money where his murder is. I stand by my point. As more and more money is spent on butchering Ukrainian soldiers, women and children, two things will definitely happen. One, Ukrainians will deepen their resolve to never give up. (See, Afghanistan, USSR invasion. See Iraq, US invasion.) So it guarantees hundreds of thousands more dead Russians. Which is not something Russians like. Two, it guarantees less money for everything else in Putin's already weak economy. Health services and education both suffer in either relative or absolute terms. Or both, eventually, as Putin bleeds out both Ukraine and Russia like they are both his powerless pigs for slaughter. Sorry. There is no way Ukrainians are going to be pigs for slaughter. Their resolve to kill every Russian they can will only deepen. It has already. The polls are clear that Ukrainians are less open to a peace agreement than a year ago. Because the only thing they trust Putin to do is sit back and get rich as their women are raped and their children are slaughtered. You think Xi Whiz wants World War 3? Come on! Putin is not only a sadist. He is a stupid one. Whatever the US does or does not do, and whatever the EU does or does not do, we know for sure Xi Whiz does not want World War 3. Or a global depression caused by China. Especially after what COVID did to global public opinion about China. So despite all his nice language about human rights, Xi is apparently fine with Vlad murdering a certain number of Ukrainian kids to keep the US and EU distracted. But the EU is already saying, "Xi, get the fuck out. We don't like doing business with you." That's not what Xi had in mind when he became Vlad's bosom buddy. Because the economy of Germany, let alone the whole EU, makes Russia a pathetic weak economy in comparison. So Putin is like Xi's little pit bull on a leash. And if things go bad for Putin, which they inevitably will., that's when Putin becomes Xi's pig on a leash. And we all know what happens with pigs when they are no longer useful. Again, if you don't believe me look at the entire history of invasions like this in this century. It never works. And it ain't gonna work in Ukraine. Here's another way to think about it. It's pretty clear that The US is leading the technological race in AI. It's pretty clear that China is leading the technological race in electric cars. What is Russia leading the race in? Building weapons to kill Ukrainian soldiers, Ukrainian women, Ukrainian children, and democracy. I am glad Trump supporters and Putin supporters are standing together for this cruel and unpopular agenda. It shows what you are really for.

Yes I did provide evidence. By the way, glad that you want to engage in facts now. As far as the evidence, which I will provide again, SPLC documented that the policy most Americans despise, separating children from parents, was started by Trump in 2017. Once we have a real immigration debate, and Old Joe says, "I don't want to separate kids from their parents," 2 in 3 Americans will agree with him. Trump's policy was cruel. Why? Because Trump is a cruel liar. Just ask Rudy Ghouliani. Or the cops his "hostages" beat the shit out of on January 6th. Or the Ukrainian soldiers, women, and children Trump will leave to Putin's bloodbaths, if he is elected again. The overwhelming majority of Americans don't support Trump's cruel policies. The article you cited, @EmmetK, was about the ACLU going after Obama for "family detention." According to FAIR, a conservative group that wants to reduce immigration, "family detention" (as opposed to "catch and release" is the policy a plurality of Americans support. Polls Show Voters Support Family Detention Over Catch-and-Release If you read the whole article (which you won't, since you are on record as being against long factual arguments) it is more nuanced than FAIR's headline suggests. But FAIR is basically saying, factually, that something like a majority of Americans supported Obama/Biden's "family detention" policy. Meanwhile, 2 in 3 Americans opposed Trump's policy of separating kids from their parents. These are the actual policies that are being debated. I can't find a poll on "kids in cages." Generally, in context, "kids in cages" usually was used to refer specifically to Trump's cruel and deeply unpopular policy of separating kids from their parents. The deal Obama/Biden thought they had with Republicans is that if they tightened up the border, Republicans would support comprehensive bipartisan immigration reform. In fact, the Senate enacted such a bipartisan compromise bill in 2013, with 2 in 3 Senators from both parties supporting the compromise. Why did it not become law? The right wing MAGA Freedom Caucus opposed it in the House. Of course they can't tolerate Barack Obama, or Joe Biden, or Kamala Harris. They can't even stand Kevin McCarthy. McCarthy, to his credit, got a lot of younger Latina and Black conservatives elected to the House. But the radical right wing MAGA crowd is now the last best hope of the outnumbered radical White conservative men clinging to power, and pushing Trump's lies and cruel policies.

Yet again, we agree. In your mind, facts prove nothing. Since you've stopped reading, I'll simply cite the facts that you don't want to know. What we don't know for a fact is what is actually being negotiated in the US Senate right now. And how far Biden and Harris (she's the immigration czar) will go to make a deal with Republicans to get aid to Ukraine and Israel. As well as address the "broken border" problem that most Americans agree on. If I believe what I read, groups like the ACLU and SPLC are concerned that Republicans will push for things like a return to Trump's child separation policies, which a vast majority of Democrats and Independents oppose. So we'll have to see whether any deal can be struck, and what it includes. My guess is that if Republicans really want a poison pill to kill compromise, throwing in a cruel provision that Trump came up with that they know only older Republicans support would be one way to do it.

Again, we agree. Trump rarely tells the truth. He usually lies. I never said that Trump said, factually, he will throw kids in cages. I said that he did throw kids in cages. Which, factually, most Americans do not support. Which, factually, contributed to him being a big sorry old fat loser in 2020. Which, factually, led his "hostages" to go beat the shit out of cops on Jan. 6th to show how much they love police, and democracy. CBS News poll: Two-thirds of Americans say separating children, parents at border unacceptable I'll always make sure to put the facts after the first paragraph so they never have to disturb you. Seems like these facts do actually disturb the majority of Americans, though.

That's progress. 😉 But believe me, I'm not surprised. Either that you don't like facts. Or that you are proud of the fact that you don't like facts. I kind of figured that out a long time ago, when that whole "I won the election thing" happened. And also when I figured out that Trump seems more worried about the "hostages" that attacked the Capitol after he rallied them on than he is about the actual hostages in Israel. Thankfully, you did not read my second and third paragraphs, in your own words. So you won't feel insulted. And you learned no facts that challenge your beliefs. Congratulations!

We agree. So do I. I'll repeat what I said above, citing Trump fan boy Ben Shapiro. Trump wins when the camera is on Biden and everyone is talking about the "I" words: inflation, immigration, impeachment, Israel, idiot. Then Trump opens his mouth and says, "Hey. I got a great idea. Let's sound like Nazis, and throw kids in cages." True, the elite clutch their pearls. But maybe at best 1 in 3 Americans actually like the idea of sounding like Nazis and throwing kids in cages. Just because America is unhappy with Biden doesn't mean they like Trump. Shapiro worries that Trump will remind America that Trump lies and Trump loses. He has a point. I think Kamala Harris nailed it in this recent interview. She acknowledged that Republicans see immigration as perhaps their best issue in 2024. Especially with inflation getting back to the low range the Fed wants it in. For most of 2023 wages are rising faster than inflation. Trump is of course confirming that Harris is right. She's also saying that it's sad that Republicans can and maybe will hold immigration, Israel, and Ukraine all hostage to their political tactics. I think that may actually help Biden. Because even more than in 2020, it does feel the soul of America is on the line. Are we actually going to defend democracy, or let Putin slaughter hundreds of thousands more Ukrainians? Are we actually going to defend ourselves? Or say, "NATO? Never mind!" The thing that will help the most, I think, is a split screen of Trump and Putin. On the left, I want Trump quoting Putin saying that the Jan. 6 indictments, which a majority of Americans support, make US democracy looks weak. Thanks Vlad. You're sure one to judge. On the right I want Putin himself saying Americans are weak - especially Republicans. And unlike Vlad and Russian men, American men - especially Republicans - don't even have the balls to fight and defend themselves. Even when it means all the pussies have to do is spend money creating well paying jobs in the US defense industry. Putin's argument is simple: Americans are weak, and stupid. Thanks Vlad. Back at ya. . Since I chose that video, I have to repeat my point to @Moses. Russia is defunding schools and education to plow as much money as their weak economy has into Vlad's Big War Economy To Kill Hundreds Of Thousands Of Ukrainians. In the short term, it is definitely creating some economic activity. In the long run, it condemns Russia to further stagnation. But right now I'm worried about 2024. I want the split screen, with Vlad absolutely in lock step with Trump to undercut Ukraine, US political and legal institutions, and democracy. I think that will help call the question in 2024.

Well, my guess is everybody will run to the ballot box in 2024. That's one good thing. Democracy may be particularly nasty right now. But so far it is alive and well. I obviously agree with you more than I disagree on immigration. Democrats are losing the debate. And badly. The only caveat I would add is that many of the people arguing for tighter immigration control are Democratic Mayors. And on inflation, I also mostly agree. Right or wrong, it's the inflation, stupid. That's clearly hurting Biden more than anything else. And, no, most people really don't give a shit that inflation spiked higher in most other nations, and dropped quicker in the United States. Again, it's the inflation, stupid. That said, I think Republicans would be silly to count their indictments before they are hatched. 🤔 I'm all for remembering the good old days, when inflation and unemployment was low. But we should also remind ourselves that in Nov. 2020 when voters fired Trump (yes, really, they did - which is another thing that will hurt Trump as the trials get started) the misery index (CPI + unemployment) was 7.87. As Reagan famously proved, the higher the number, the worse for the incumbent. Trump proved it, too. The misery index was 6.38 when Trump won the election (yes, he really did win that one) in Nov. 2016. Maybe the fact that Trump created MORE misery, not less, is why voters fired him. Now, as of Nov. 2023, the misery index is 6.83. In other words, Trump can argue he wants to bring inflation and unemployment back to how low they were before Biden was elected. That's a great argument is we are writing fiction. But not if we are using math. Biden actually is bringing inflation and unemployment back to how low they were before Trump was elected. Don't count on Trump winning that debate. That said, the even more emotional argument is that Biden has let crime run rampant. People are being murdered everywhere, like never before in history. For example, every chart I could find shows beyond a doubt that the murder rate spiked and peaked in 2020 ........ WHEN DONALD TRUMP WAS PRESIDENT. Funny how a massive increase in gun purchases coincided with a big spike in the murder rate. But I'm sure they had nothing to do with each other. Even though guys like Mayor Adams say it is illegal guns that caused the spike in crime in New York. What would a Mayor who was a cop know, anyway? Anyhoo, guns aside, I'm sure voters will be pissed when Trump puts the facts out there. Murder rates are down 12.7 % in 2023, according to the most recent estimate I could find. In addition, that report says this: Awful, ain't it? Biden sure sucks. Can't wait for Trump to "revitalize" the US and bring back the riots and crime wave of 2020! Okay, okay. I lied. The statistics are real. I lied saying that Trump will put the facts out there. Of course he won't tell the truth. I'm counting on him to remind every suburban voter in America that he only lies when his lips are moving. And I did check other data sources. The Council on Criminal Justice is the next most recent, since they published a mid-year 2023. They said the murder rate was down 9.7 % at that point. So it seems like all kinds of violent crime are down in 2023. And they are dropping even fast than inflation. How can Biden possibly survive? Worse, as inflation and crime rates fall, the stock market is soaring. The Dow has reached an all time high. WTF? Obviously, people can't wait for business genius Trump to "restore" the S & P to where it was in January 2021 - 25 % lower than it is today. If there is one thing Americans hate more than higher prices, it is higher personal net worth! Finally, I just don't think Trump can help himself. He will make 2024 a referendum on Trump. And, unless these trials are delayed, it will also be a referendum on Trump's criminal behavior. 52 % of Americans think Trump should have been charged with crimes related to Jan. 6th. Only 32 % think he should not have been. Help me with the math, folks. 52 % is a majority, right? So please, @EmmetK. Enjoy the moment. Feed Trump's ego, and encourage him to rant as much as he can. But, as a pal, I'll remind you that it's never smart to count your indictments before they are hatched. By the way, I am curious. If Trump does win and returns us to the polices of his first Presidency, how many impeachments does that mean? 😵 And will they involve trying to slit Ukraine's throat, and steal another election - like in the original version?

So my Christmas wish from Santa is an immigration and aid funding package for Ukraine. Here's a few facts that matter: 70 % of Americans want Biden to issue new, stricter policies to reduce the flow of people coming across the border. 55 % of Democrats want Biden to do this, along with overwhelming majorities of Independents and Republicans. In the same poll, Americans are split almost right down the middle on aid for both Israel and Ukraine. Independents oppose either package by exactly 47/53. But a solid majority, 65 %, oppose any aid package without additional border security funding. Did I mention 2024 is an election year? Did I mention Biden's approval ratings suck? I was hoping for a Republican House majority in 2022 for two reasons. One positive, one negative. The negative reason was that, like in 1994 and 2010, a House Republican shit show would give a Democratic President a foil to run against. Worked in 1996 and 2012. Back then it was government shutdowns. Now they can't even elect a Speaker. So the Republicans have surpassed my negative expectations. The positive reason was they would force Biden to compromise. Or, depending on what you believe, it would give Biden political cover to compromise. The House Republican shit show has been so effective that they haven't really gotten to the point of actually legislating. But it is not too late. And I think Biden needs both the negative - dysfunctional Republicans and an indicted Trump - and the positive - his ability to compromise and get stuff done. So, to me, this is a complete political no brainer. And it is an excellent example of Ruy Teixeira's endless rant about how progressive Democrats are deeply committed to making the perfect the enemy of the good. If progressives want to be humane, how does electing Trump help immigrants at the border? How does electing Trump help Palestinians? Mostly Trump 2.0 is all about how they are infecting our blood, or being vermin, or something else like that. Ben Shapiro just made a similar observation in an op/ed. But he went negative/negative rather than positive/negative. He said one reason Trump can definitely beat Biden is people have negative views of Biden. Especially relating to inflation and the economy. But he added that one other thing helping Trump is that right now Trump is mostly out of sight. Most of the news is about someone with the last name Biden. So Trump is not reminding people of what they don't like about him. That will change when the primaries and court trials really get going. Shapiro, a Trump fan boy, wonders out loud whether Trump can survive the number Trump is about to do on himself. I agree. If it is true that Trump wins when he shuts up and let's Biden talk, it is also true that Biden wins when Trump dominates the debate. So I think Biden and Democrats need to shut up pass a bill on immigration and aid. And I hope Trump rants as much and as loud as he wants. And someone should teach him a little German. I know we're not supposed to compare everything to Hitler and Nazism. But all that stuff about "vermin" and "blood" sounds so much more menacing in the original. And I am curious whether Trump intentionally left out the part about the knife, because he doesn't speak German. Or maybe he thinks talking about slitting the throats of vermin (Juden, in the original context) would simply be going a bit too far. Hopefully the latter. Hopefully we never have to find out in 2025.

That's so Gay! If I admit publicly that I prefer Straight Ryan kissing Straight Emma, is someone going to accuse me of being homophobic? Or, worse, that I'm un-woke? 😯 For the record, just so they don't put a stamp in my Gay card, they could have cast Jonathon Bailey instead of Ryan Gosling. And he would have been just as cute, but more Gay.

An interesting compare and contrast to me is Fellow Travelers and Red, White, and Royal Blue. Both movies have great eye candy. One is getting mostly rave reviews, and will probably get lots of awards. The other is a fan favorite, but got trashed as superficial by many critics. It won't be taking home Oscars. Both have Gay directors and writers, which informs the content and tone - whether the actors are queer or not. If you put me on a desert island and said I can have only one of those movies to watch for the rest of my life, it is a no brainer. Red, White, and Royal Blue. I view it as a Gay fairy tale. To paraphrase Matthew Lopez, he wanted the film to reflect the past, but point toward the future. It makes me feel hopeful, and good. I usually like serious movies, and skip the Marvel stuff. But I am half way in to Fellow Travelers. And I am having to force myself to watch it. I get the point. The director said in a great interview that he wanted to show our community had all this shit thrown at us - the lavender scare, AIDS - and we survived. I take the series as a compliment, and testament to the resilience of LGBTQ folk. That said, it is just depressing to watch. Part of my own emotional reaction is, "Okay. Okay. Enough heavy gay stuff. Let's have the RWRB sequel, okay? With more nudity." I don't really mean that. It's a good thing that we can now have high budget and well made dramatic series by Gays, and for Gays, that lots of people who are not Gay like. But I'd rather live in a world where it is mostly all mixed up. And whether you are Gay or Black or a woman isn't the whole or even the main point - most of the time. Same for casting. I agree with you @Pete1111 that I'd rather have queer baiting restored to its original meaning: what Joe McCarthy did. And stop picking on Straight actors who do a good job playing queer roles. Since I started this thread, it is interesting that Taylor Zakhar Perez's "outing" has been much ado about nothing. I put outing in parentheses because whether he is even out, or has been outed, is a question. But he has basically lived by his character's principles. Which is that the choice to come out - or not - is personal. That said, what happened all over the internet after the movie came out suggests that fans are simply not going to tolerate leaving the slate completely blank. They have filled in the blanks with photos and videos that strongly suggest he is happily Gay, and happily married. I think it's a good look for TZP. You can talk about me all you want. But I don't have to confirm or deny anything you say. Kind of like the McCarthy hearings. But a lot better. 😉

May I make a suggestion? If we are being honest. Remain the thread to say this: "I'm a hypocrite who loves my Russian butcher and hates Israeli butchers." The issue with you, in each and every post, is that you defend how Putin butchers women and children, and attack Israel for doing the same. I think Putin and Netanyahu are both butchers. You want to defend one butcher - your own - and condemn another. That is the definition of "hypocrite." Putin is a butcher and sadist. It's all over the news. UN adds Russia to list of shame for killing children in Ukraine Russian soldiers accused of killing family of nine in Ukraine Deliberate murders of Ukrainian children by Russian soldiers reveal culture of impunity We killed Ukrainian children, ex-Wagner soldiers say in apparent confession “I killed children with [my own] hands,” Azmat Uldarov said in the video UN puts Russian forces on blacklist for killing children in Ukraine Are you actually proud that your country is run by a butcher and sadist who has brought global shame on Russia? You seem to be saying that it doesn't matter that Hamas attacked Israel and slaughtered over 1,000 innocent people. All that matters to you is that the IDF slaughters Palestinian children. You seem to be saying that it doesn't matter that Putin attacked Ukraine and is intentionally killing innocent women and children. Not to mention hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers. And hundreds of thousands of dead Russians - thanks to your leader, who attacked a country unprovoked. Your abhorrence of subhuman behavior, cruelty, butchering, sadism, and evil is very selective, @Moses. This will end very badly for Russia. You don't want to admit it. But your country is now the weak economy that sanctions butchering, kills women and children, and tries to stamp out countries that want democracy and freedom. Its not going to end well for you. IMF lowers Russia 2024 GDP growth forecast to 1.1% The reason this will end badly for Russia is not the United States, or the West. Yes, the US and the West will do everything it can to weaken your butcher and sadist. We have already. The real reason you are fucked is China. Xi Whiz is playing your butcher, just like your butcher played his chef and butcher in Ukraine. You can't see the pattern, can you? It always ends badly for butchers. Xi Whiz will play your sadist Putin, maybe for years depending on how this goes. But the fundamental interest of both the US and China is peace and stability and global order. When your sadist and butcher messes that up enough, Xi Whiz or whoever is running China will turn on him. Did you notice how Biden and Xi were walking hand in hand in California, with Putin nowhere in sight? Putin may prosper by butchering and chaos. But China and the US and the rest of the world don't. Like the US in Iraq, Russia is fighting a war it can't win and will lose. What we don't know is how long it will take, how fucked the Russian economy will be when its over, and how many innocent women and children Putin will butcher in the meantime.

What butcher Putin and butcher Netanyahu are doing is equally sadistic and horrific. It makes no sense to say Bibi is 63.7 % sadistic, and Vlad is 71.1 % sadistic. They are both sadistic butchers. The world would be a better place if they both died yesterday. The children of Gaza Russian soldiers deliberately kill Ukrainian kids, new film says Terror against civilians is part of Russian military strategy, experts say. There is one difference between Israel and Russia, and Bibi and Vlad. What is happening right now in Gaza is a direct result of Hamas, an organization of butchers and sadists, attacking Israel. What is happening in Ukraine right now is a direct result of Vlad, a butcher and sadist, attacking Ukraine. That does not rationalize the IDF killing thousands of Palestinian children. But what is Vlad's excuse? Other than that he is a butcher and sadist? Of course you want to believe that all sadistic Vlad wants is dialogue, and all US Presidents want is war. That just confirms, once again, that you are a hypocrite who unquestionably backs a butcher and sadist who turns Ukrainians, and hundreds of thousands of Russians, into fertilizer. Because he is a butcher who doesn't give a shit. If you want to talk about US hypocrisy, that's fine. I see my country as 1 for 4 on being hypocrites relating to major conflicts. I'm counting Afghanistan, Iraq, Ukraine, and Israel. The 1 for 4 is Iraq, where we did establish a well deserved reputation as hypocrites. Of course in the latter two conflicts the US in not directly engaged. But we have clearly taken sides, which is why so many Palestinians are pissed at Biden. In Afghanistan, the US was attacked. Just like Israel was. So we did NOT initiate that conflict, or most other ones. You always want to have it both ways. Because you stand for nothing, and have no standards. On the one hand, you patted the USSR on the back for getting out of Afghanistan after 2 years, whereas the US stayed for 20. On the other hand, you want to push the idea that the US always quickly cuts and runs. Which one is it? I give Biden credit. He tried hard to convince Obama to cut and run from Afghanistan in 2009, and just focus on counterterrorism. Had Obama NOT done the surge the US military wanted, most of the US soldiers and Afghan civilian casualties could have been prevented. Once Biden was POTUS, after 20 years of stalemate and corruption, he cut and ran. I think it was about time. But, again, we did not start that war. And we did not wantonly slaughter women and children. The small number of US soldiers that did kill civilians just because they could were punished. With Ukraine and Israel, we did not start the conflict. Your murderous butcher started the Ukraine conflict. Hamas started the conflict in Gaza now by butchering over 1000 innocent Jews. Don't blame any of that on the US, you hypocrite. Blame that on your very own sadistic butcher. The 1 in 4 where America fucked up horrifically is Iraq. At least I can say I was rabidly against it, as were a significant minority of Americans. One way that W. and Cheney were like Vlad is all the lies, lies, lies to defend an indefensible war. So that is on the US. No doubt about it. This is a theory rather than a fact, but I see a direct line from W. to Trump. W. was a cowboy who got the US into a war we could not win and never should have started. Fast forward 20 years and we have Trump, essentially arguing that Ukraine, and democracy, are not worth fighting for. It is an understandable but wrong reaction that is very scary. The verdict is out on how that goes. But I'm sure your butcher and sadist would love to see Trump, The Sequel. Trump, like Vlad, stands for nothing but power. Which is why they admire each other, and their capacity for lies and cruelty. Here's why you, Vlad, and Russia are fucked, @Moses . Afghanistan was a war the US fought after being attacked. In Iraq we started it. In both cases, it did not go well for either side. And, as you acknowledged, the US is the greatest military power in the world. So how does this suggest Vlad and Russia will do in an endless war in Ukraine? How will Russia and Vlad escape the fate of the US and W.? It will be far worse for Russia than the US, I think. Russia is a weaker military power, with an economy the size of one US state. California alone, and its growth and innovation, leaves your butcher in the dust. I think you are in denial about lots of things. Especially about how badly this will end for Russia. Just follow your own logic. The Ukrainians hate Russians now. They want Putin to burn in hell. They will do everything they can to fight back forever. And I hope Biden wins, and we will be backing Ukraine for as long as it takes. You lose, hypocrite. You lose. Sorry.

Which explains your main problem as a debater. You have no credibility. You are a hypocrite. Much like the butcher and sadist you defend. Vlad recently said it would be nice to have a US President who is more into "dialogue." I laughed. Biden is getting lots of shit for wanting "dialogue" with Israel about how NOT to blow the shit out of as many Palestinian women and children as possible as they go after Hamas terrorists who rape women and burn children alive. Putin, a true sadist and butcher, does not have this problem. In Ukraine, there is endless rape and murder of women and children. Vlad has no problem with it. Rape and kill. Rape and kill. Rape and kill. Attacks on civilians in the Russian invasion of Ukraine There is no end to the sadism and butchery. Bombing a school where hundreds of women and children were sheltering. Bombing a children's hospital and maternity ward. Ugh! Vlad is a butcher and a sadist. And you are a hypocrite for being perfectly fine with Vlad's mass murder, sadism, and butchering. Even as you hold other nations to a higher standard. Or, to flip that around, at least you are being honest about how Murderous Vlad has no standards and no decency. And his people can't or won't hold him accountable. I mean, I get it. Russians don't want Vlad to turn them into fertilizer for Ukrainian cows to shit on.

Here's the World Bank data you are using: GDP per capita (current US$) - Russian Federation You can toggle on lots of charts that measure Russian GDP in different ways. You are correct that the picture looks very different if you compare $US to PPP. That is true of most countries, including China. The fact still remains that Russia sucks to live in compared to most Western countries, when you compare GDP. Sucks to be Russia, huh? It is certainly true that Ukraine has a lower GDP than Russia. So by annexing poor areas of Ukraine, Vlad made Russia poorer. In addition to all the butchering of women and children. Nobody ever argued that butchers and sadists like Vlad are actually smart, did they? Since you like international data, here is the World Bank, then the IMF (those two charts are current) and then a dated (2014) comparison to the US and the world. The picture is the same no matter what data source you use. Here's the thing about Murderous Vlad. On the one hand, he was a sadistic butcher right out of the gate. He slaughtered women and children at will in Chechnya to gain power and show he was a sadistic murdering bad ass. But in his first decade the Russian economy definitely grew under Putin. That is when he aspired to be more like the West, rather than the authoritarian and sadistic leader of a big shitty gas station. I included that last chart because it shows that in his first decade Putin brought Russia back to about where it was before the breakup of the USSR. I get it. The 1990's sucked in Russia. I get why even a sadistic authoritarian butcher was better than the 90's. That's exactly why it really sucks to be Russia. The 90's in the US and the West were great. Since about 2008, Russia has not done so well. Its standard of living has always been way below the West. And the gap is growing. It does have oil, and not much else. Thank God that North Korea and Iran, also two more pathetic economies with murderous leaders, are helping Vlad. Losers and butchers stick together, I guess. But, hey, who cares? Putin is probably one of the richest men in the world. In addition to being a sadist and a butcher. So why would he give a shit? He just likes power. And butchering women and children. It is who Vlad is. It is what Vlad does.