Sadly yes.Yeah, lot of bullshit to overcome with that. Mostly of our making.
Sadly yes.Yeah, lot of bullshit to overcome with that. Mostly of our making.
Should have started that years ago. I'd have thought that Trump turning the US into a wild-card would have pointed that out to everyone, but no.Man we should really be making big in-roads, like really proper ones, with all the friendly countries in our sphere.
Conspiracy theories can, and frequently do, tangentially involve events that are true.And now we're in the "shit the US government and its intelligence community openly admits it's done and has declassified documents it hosts on its own webpages, is conspiracy theory" phase of the debate.
It's not really a secret.Because apparently, leftists are secretly conservative evangelicals, who are notoriously anti-imperialist and not nationalist in the least.
Sure, and?Hey remember that time the US intelligence community was illegally skimming off the top of illegal weapons sales to Iran, to illegally fund and arm Nicaraguan right-wing death squads?
Again, what is the point being made here?How 'bout that time NATO troops and contractors under the umbrella of UNPROFOR were operating a global sex trafficking ring out of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Yugoslav Wars?
Who exactly are these people supposedly calling the shots and orchestrating this whole event? What are their incentives? What are the mechanisms by which they exercise this control? What counterveiling forces oppose them, and how do they overcome those forces?I'm sure it is, but nobody in a position to call shots or run audibles on this play gives a shit about them.
At what point did I evoke the Nuremberg defence?Disavowing collective guilt and invoking the Nuremberg defense is totally the optics you want to present in a conversation about Nazis and their level of influence in a foreign government.
Ah. Whilst of course Russia and its own Nazi PMCs may do whatever it wishes: the same does not apply there. One side must withdraw, because there are some Nazis in their ranks; the other side may continue unabated, and must be unopposed, regardless of Nazis in their ranks.The line I'm taking is the US and NATO should under no circumstances or pretense be supporting forces that commit atrocities, or committing them, and by doing so have forfeited any claim to waging a just war -- or any moral or ethical high ground.
An utterly discredited narrative spun wholly from Russian state propaganda, bearing almost no relation to what occurred.But had the US and NATO done that from the beginning, there would never have been a war, as the US and NATO would never have astroturfed a neo-Nazi protest movement to overturn a free and fair election the outcome of which they simply didn't like, in an attempt to "Arab spring" former Warsaw Pact states.
"Orientalist", of course-- here we have the equation of any criticism of despicable state policy with racism towards the people, directly from the Likud playbook. Very classy.One, by the way, with a particularly poignant historical parallel. What precisely happened the last time European and North American countries collectively decided those Nazi chaps were a decent enough sort, and certainly finer to stand behind in the inevitable scrap against the orientalist Russian hordes? Certainly the Russians were worse than the Nazis then as they are now, after all. How'd that work out in the long run, again?
I'd like to see a citation for that, which didn't come from the US Department of State or a right-wing think tank. Because the US is better at laundering money than the Russians, doesn't mean the Russians outspend the US.
I was referring to 2019, internationally accepted as free and fair. The 2010 election, of course, was also free and fair... and then followed by a complete about-turn by the victor, into a policy direction nobody had voted for, prompting widespread unrest.Which one? The 2010 election which was internationally accepted as free and fair by states, state organizations, and NGO's as observed by a record number of election observers -- the one where the "Russian stooge" won, and the US engaged in aforementioned astroturfing? The 2014 one, where the Ukrainian government disenfranchised Donbas and wouldn't allow observers from Russia or CIS?
Or we are just pretending once again Ukraine just spontaneously manifested from the luminiferous aether -- but somehow had been subject to a decade of Russian conspiratorial proxy-shadow-war -- in February, 2022?
Except, of course, that the outrage is present in these cases also. Russia's coercion and totalitarian expansionism in these other areas is sickening as well-- and I've personally commented on Chechnya and Armenia on these forums. I've been consistent. It's true that Ukraine has garnered the highest attention recently.... because, you know, the ongoing death toll is stratospherically higher at the moment. Funny how that works!Pity that same outrage is evident in the case of the country inhabited by white, Christian, neo-Nazis Europeans, and not for example, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Chechnya, Georgia, Uzbekistan, Khazakhstan, or Armenia.
One could add Syria to that list, of course, but not that we'd want to. It is, after all, the instance in which the US was arming, training, and funding ISIS and al-Goddamn-Qaeda of all fuckin' people, who went on to moronically fight each other instead of Assad or loyalist forces. You know, because Russia Bad.
Likewise, I'd be totally remiss if I didn't mention the last time the US baited Russia into invading a third-party state by arming, training, and funding a bunch of extremist lunatics. With the specific stated goal of provoking Russia into unsustainably spending capital, materiel, and people as a form of economic warfare (which wasn't that the point you just made?).
Y'know, Afghanistan? because that worked out well in the long run, and totally didn't come back to bite the West in the ass later.
Is the United States or any of its NATO partners providing weapons, funding, or material assistance to Russian forces or pro-Russian paramilitaries?Ah. Whilst of course Russia and its own Nazi PMCs may do whatever it wishes: the same does not apply there.
Once again, an attempt to DARVO and change the subject away from my argument neither the US nor its partners should be arming, training, or funding Nazis. We have, we are, and you have not countered that point but rather tried to continually deny or shift blame because you know damn well it's true and can't honestly defend it.One side must withdraw, because there are some Nazis in their ranks; the other side may continue unabated, and must be unopposed, regardless of Nazis in their ranks.
"Everything I don't like is Russian propaganda". The latest well-known, infamous, Russian propaganda outlet being, let me check my notes here...oh, the National Endowment for Democracy.An utterly discredited narrative spun wholly from Russian state propaganda, bearing almost no relation to what occurred.
Congratulations for having discovered freely and fairly elected politicians lie. He was still freely and fairly elected, the US still didn't like that, and the US still astroturfed a protest movement and attempted coup against a regime they didn't like. Just like, let me check my notes again...Korea, Vietnam, Philippines, Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Laos, Greece, France, Honduras, Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Chile, Bolivia, Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil, Iran, Iraq, Syria...oh, fuck it.The Yanukovych government was elected freely and fairly (though notably after he had already attempted to commit mass fraud and intimidation at an earlier election, but failed). He then utterly betrayed everything it had stood for in the election: the population widely supported broader EU integration, and Yanukovych had run on a platform to continue this, before he about-turned into a pro-Russia platform nobody had voted for, and which was extraordinarily unpopular.
Yeah, how dare I remind folks the exceptionalization of Russians among Slavic peoples is directly linked to anti-Asian racism, founded in the concept of racial hierarchies and scientific racism, and existed long before and after the existence of the Soviet Union."Orientalist", of course-- here we have the equation of any criticism of despicable state policy with racism towards the people, directly from the Likud playbook. Very classy.
"The idea we supported those people is purely Russian propaganda!"Moscow is bankrolling Ukraine rebels: ex-separatist official
A former senior official from breakaway eastern Ukraine said Russia directly finances pensions and public sector salaries in the two pro-Russian regions there.www.reuters.com
It's no fucking secret that Russia sponsored the Donetsk and Luhansk separatists for 8 years: supplied arms and armour, snuck disguised troops over the border. And we have indication that public expenditure was provided by Moscow as well. And its paramilitaries were extensively involved in anti-Maidan movements in '14, as well; the greatest foreign involvement by a country mile.
And you're here trying to argue that American expenditure, numbering in the... hundreds of thousands, essentially a drop on the ocean, has overwhelmingly dictated the direction of Ukrainian policy. Don't make me laugh. Russia has been shovelling money into coercing Ukrainian national policy for decades.
Of course you are, it's the only fucking Ukrainian election in the past twenty years that incidentally supports your argument and it's the only one you can cherry pick.I was referring to 2019, internationally accepted as free and fair.
Is Crimea the same location as Donbas?You also seem to be forgetting that in 2014, the Russian-backed insurgents prevented the election from taking place within the borders of their self-proclaimed territory. While Russia prevented it from taking place in Crimea. Sorry, you're here blaming Ukraine for being unable to run an election in territory that had been taken from it by force by Russia? Clownery.
Where's the 150-page thread about those countries? Because, this is what I found,Except, of course, that the outrage is present in these cases also.
It did when the US stopped funding, arming, and training two disparate radical Islamist groups -- one of which being the party responsible for 9/11 -- too busy fighting each other than to unite against the forces they were supposed to be fighting. Who, by the way, just happened to be pro-Russian. Amazing coincidence, that. It's almost as if my grievance here is Western interference with foreign governments with interests contrary to our imperial ambition, support for violent political extremism when it suits our strategic interest, and exploiting violent political extremists as proxies against geopolitical rivals.And one could indeed add Syria to that list-- where Russia maintains a presence in the form of its neo-Nazi paramilitary, still committing atrocities against the native population after almost all American troops have headed home. Did your "outrage" there evaporate the moment the evil West withdrew?
And that retroactively makes those events not true?Conspiracy theories can, and frequently do, tangentially involve events that are true.
Call the argument the US and NATO does heinous shit a conspiracy theory, expect examples of the US and NATO doing heinous shit.Sure, and?
Well it's good to know we're on the same page.A less charitable but unfortunately more plausible reading is that US intelligence agencies just have a massive, raging boner for right-wing death squads.
The irony of this is I'm the one calling it simple realpolitik and arguing others shouldn't be moralizing the conflict into demonstrably false, dichotomous, "Russia bad!"/"West good!" nonsense. If anything, I'd argue realpolitik is neither moral nor immoral; it is amoral.When your understanding of the world ceases to be rooted in the incentives and dynamics that motivate people and becomes rooted in beliefs about the intrinsic moral worth of groups to which those people belong, that's where you've crossed the line into conspiracy theory, even if some of the events you're describing are real. Because once you think in those terms it doesn't actually matter whether they're real any more.
The position in opposition to mine is the US isn't doing -- and hasn't done -- heinous shit in Ukraine. And by extension, the US didn't start this shit by doing heinous shit in Ukraine. Because apparently, the last 233 years (but more importantly, the last 88 of that) of the US doing heinous shit and starting regional conflicts across the globe by doing heinous shit, isn't track record enough to demonstrate doing heinous shit is absolutely in-character for the US.Moreover, why are these events connected?
...Moving on.Is the United States or any of its NATO partners providing weapons, funding, or material assistance to Russian forces or pro-Russian paramilitaries?
Ah yes, "reverse victim and offender", he says as he asserts that the invaded country is entirely to blame, and the invader is blameless.Once again, an attempt to DARVO and change the subject away from my argument neither the US nor its partners should be arming, training, or funding Nazis. We have, we are, and you have not countered that point but rather tried to continually deny or shift blame because you know damn well it's true and can't honestly defend it.
Firstly, putting aside the fact that these sources still don't actually support the utterly discredited idea that Western involvement outweighs Russian involvement: we're just equating any and all orgs with Western governments now, are we?"Everything I don't like is Russian propaganda". The latest well-known, infamous, Russian propaganda outlet being, let me check my notes here...oh, the National Endowment for Democracy.
A Conversation with NED Partners on the Situation in Ukraine - NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR DEMOCRACY
On March 4, 2022, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) heard compelling messages about the crisis in Ukraine from four leading civil society activists: Oleh Rybachuk…www.ned.org
Of course if that's not enough, here's its (archived) grant results for "NGO's" and "civic activists" in Ukraine starting from Euromaidan.
"Astroturfing" meaning that they provided a minuscule amount of money, while Russia pumped exorbitantly higher amounts in (as well as getting surreptitiously directly involved via those hired far-right groups they usually favour, of course). Yet again: foreign involvement on one side is unacceptable, completely delegitimises any claim they have, and completely explains that side's success; foreign involvement on the other side, to a far greater degree, can just be handily ignored.Congratulations for having discovered freely and fairly elected politicians lie. He was still freely and fairly elected, the US still didn't like that, and the US still astroturfed a protest movement and attempted coup against a regime they didn't like.
Blah blah blah. I didn't invoke any of that. I'm talking about Russia because they're the ones who chose to forcibly annex more territory than any other world power for the last 80 years, and are currently indulging in genocidal practices such as forced deportation and mass execution in the streets.Yeah, how dare I remind folks the exceptionalization of Russians among Slavic peoples is directly linked to anti-Asian racism, founded in the concept of racial hierarchies and scientific racism, and existed long before and after the existence of the Soviet Union.
I didn't even deny that we supported those people...? Fucking hell, pay attention. I've literally not said that, you're hallucinating."The idea we supported those people is purely Russian propaganda!"
Thirty seconds later...
"Russia spent more money influencing pro-Russian Ukrainians than we did those people!"
I mean, just as long as we ignore the fact we've been spending since the collapse of the Soviet Union to influence Ukraine away from Russia and for it to join the Eurozone and NATO, and we admit this. And as long as we only look at asspull numbers about what the Russians spent, and make zero attempt to follow any money from the West whatsoever, and ignore the expenditures to which we admit. And as long as we ignore that every step of this process followed the established Cold War containment playbook to the letter. And we ignore how you're still playing relative privation games.
Pick a lane, dude.
"Cherry picking", ok. It's not at all relevant that it brought to power the government that Russia is now trying to overthrow. You know, so the validity of that election directly informs the mandate of the current government we're actually talking about.Of course you are, it's the only fucking Ukrainian election in the past twenty years that incidentally supports your argument and it's the only one you can cherry pick.
? No, why? But Russian and Russian-sponsored forces prevented the election from taking place in both Crimea and large swathes of the Donbas, so both are relevant to the point.Is Crimea the same location as Donbas?
"Reminding me" of more excuses for Russian coercion of native populations in other countries. Right. So to put it another way: I was consistent in condemnation of Russian aggression whether the targets were European or central-Asian, then, and your cynical invocations of racism can fuck right off back to the far-right playbook.Where's the 150-page thread about those countries? Because, this is what I found,
Civil Unrest in Kazakhstan plus Russia sending Troops.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-59880166 https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/troops-protesters-clash-almaty-main-square-kazakhstan-shots-heard-2022-01-06/ So there's a country in Central Asia called Kazakhstan where there have been protests over the price of energy, and there are...forums.escapistmagazine.com
A six-page thread, the first half of which was reminding you that resource wars are, in fact, resource wars, and under what circumstances the US and Russia would have vested interest to interfere and/or start them. While you continued with the boilerplate Red Scare 3.0 nonsense.
Cool. Yes. The thing is, we both agree American involvement there was wrong. You know, because America was involved in invading.It did when the US stopped funding, arming, and training two disparate radical Islamist groups -- one of which being the party responsible for 9/11 -- too busy fighting each other than to unite against the forces they were supposed to be fighting. Who, by the way, just happened to be pro-Russian. Amazing coincidence, that. It's almost as if my grievance here is Western interference with foreign governments with interests contrary to our imperial ambition, support for violent political extremism when it suits our strategic interest, and exploiting violent political extremists as proxies against geopolitical rivals.
Because just like Syria, if the US hadn't been fucking around in the first place, there wouldn't have been a fucking war to begin with.
Something can form a foundational part of one's worldview (or be important in a variety of other ways) without being directly invoked, Silvanus.I didn't invoke any of that.
No one doubts that you are consistently anti-Russian, Silvanus. You've made that quite clear."Reminding me" of more excuses for Russian coercion of native populations in other countries. Right. So to put it another way: I was consistent in condemnation of Russian aggression whether the targets were European or central-Asian, then, and your cynical invocations of racism can fuck right off back to the far-right playbook.
There is no inconsistency in focusing on the problems of one's own government (and associates) which is founded on the principle that theoretically that is who we have influence over....Moving on.
Then why is Nazi symbology all over their war propaganda? Are those few thousand all the Ukrainian armed forces have?In truth the Nazis make up a small fraction of the Ukrainian armed forces; a few thousand at most, disregarding your armchair speculation from earlier.
What did they say that was demonstrably false, or more importantly demonstrably false at the time it was said? Was it actually demonstrably false or just in disagreement with whatever you'd rather believe instead? Does whatever example you'll bring up make them any less credible than the BBC, New York Times, CNN, or whatever other mainstream propaganda permeates The Discourse™?They've said things that are demonstrably false before, which raises a question mark over the authenticity of anything they say without any proof in future. Willingness to blindly accept what is told to you by charlatans without a shred of evidence is not critical-thinking or rational scepticism; it's exactly the opposite.
False dichotomy, you can have neither genital warts nor explosive diarrhea, too.I can't believe I'm saying this but I miss Sean, this guy is somehow worse
You really, really want that to be the case, don't you. Nah....Moving on.
I'm saying you're doing it to cape for Nazis.Ah yes, "reverse victim and offender", he says as he asserts that the invaded country is entirely to blame, and the invader is blameless.
So here's the tiny, inconsequential, ultra-minority with no influence having a normal one.Your argument is predicated on the idea that arming, training + funding Ukrainian armed forces = always arming, training + funding Nazis. In truth the Nazis make up a small fraction of the Ukrainian armed forces; a few thousand at most, disregarding your armchair speculation from earlier. But you don't want them withdrawing support merely from the neo-Fascist battalions. You want all foreign involvement withdrawn... but only from one side, so that a foreign invasion on the other side-- with its own Nazi paramilitaries-- can steamroll unopposed and carve out their chunk of lebensraum.
You have literally no idea what the National Endowment for Democracy is, do you.Firstly, putting aside the fact that these sources still don't actually support the utterly discredited idea that Western involvement outweighs Russian involvement: we're just equating any and all orgs with Western governments now, are we?
Again, citation ************."Astroturfing" meaning that they provided a minuscule amount of money, while Russia pumped exorbitantly higher amounts in (as well as getting surreptitiously directly involved via those hired far-right groups they usually favour, of course).
We can add false dichotomy to relative privation, now.Yet again: foreign involvement on one side is unacceptable, completely delegitimises any claim they have, and completely explains that side's success; foreign involvement on the other side, to a far greater degree, can just be handily ignored.
As opposed to funding coups and ousting governments in favor of puppet regimes that are only nominally independent, such that one gets the benefits of annexation without the costs associated with it, right?Blah blah blah. I didn't invoke any of that. I'm talking about Russia because they're the ones who chose to forcibly annex more territory than any other world power for the last 80 years, and are currently indulging in genocidal practices such as forced deportation and mass execution in the streets.
And (attempted) guilt by association.You're equating criticism of policy with racism. You're pulling exactly the same fucking rank far-right tactics that the Likud hypocrites do.
Actually that would have been the 2014 election, unless of course you're arguing once again Ukraine didn't actually exist before 2019 at the same time you want to lay stake to the claim this started with Euromaidan and the annexation of Crimea."Cherry picking", ok. It's not at all relevant that it brought to power the government that Russia is now trying to overthrow. You know, so the validity of that election directly informs the mandate of the current government we're actually talking about.
The Russian government wasn't the one that refused to accept returns from Donbas, was it?But Russian and Russian-sponsored forces prevented the election from taking place in both Crimea and large swathes of the Donbas, so both are relevant to the point.
The only thing you condemned in the Kazakhstan thread was the idea the US would have interfered in another country's internal affairs, and that civil unrest over gas prices was indicative of a resource conflict."Reminding me" of more excuses for Russian coercion of native populations in other countries. Right. So to put it another way: I was consistent in condemnation of Russian aggression whether the targets were European or central-Asian, then, and your cynical invocations of racism can fuck right off back to the far-right playbook.
So you're also pulling from the Likud playbook now, then, equating criticism of state policy with racism. Incredible how quickly and easily you'll stoop to using exactly the same tactics and tropes you've personally derided in the past.Something can form a foundational part of one's worldview (or be important in a variety of other ways) without being directly invoked, Silvanus.
No one doubts that you are consistently anti-Russian, Silvanus. You've made that quite clear.
There is great inconsistency in simultaneously arguing that because of "global hegemony", the actions of one state are the concerns of us all, and simultaneously arguing that the actions of another state-- even if they also have a gigantic global impact, and are directly impacting millions upon millions of people outside of that state-- cannot be condemned or opposed by anyone else.There is no inconsistency in focusing on the problems of one's own government (and associates) which is founded on the principle that theoretically that is who we have influence over.
There is no inconsistency in focusing on the problems posed by the global hegemony, which is founded on the principle that a global hegemony is a serious issue for the entire globe-- and theoretically, we should all have influence over that issue if not that government.
There is no inconsistency in not seeing fit to comment on other countries in ways that help that government and that global hegemony (which is more or less the same thing in this historical reality) achieve its ambitions of global domination.
There is no inconsistency in demanding that the United States not fund, train, or elsewise support Nazis and leaving aside questions of whether or not Russia arguably does the same in some capacity; "but Russia does it too" is not an answer and is not particularly relevant to the behavior of the United States in this regard.
There's an easy answer there: it isn't "all over". But you haven't actually been looking at most of it; you've been looking at whatever a small number of conspiracy theorists and Twitter charlatans point to.Then why is Nazi symbology all over their war propaganda? Are those few thousand all the Ukrainian armed forces have?
D'you think it's related to the overwhelming admiration for Putin and the Russian government that the global far-right and neo-Nazis have been showing?In related news, why do Nazis outside of Ukraine like Ukraine('s current power structure) so damned much?
Uhrm, yes, easily less credible. Every one of those outlets is deeply flawed, and yet has far greater credibility than the complete dross you dredge up.What did they say that was demonstrably false, or more importantly demonstrably false at the time it was said? Was it actually demonstrably false or just in disagreement with whatever you'd rather believe instead? Does whatever example you'll bring up make them any less credible than the BBC, New York Times, CNN, or whatever other mainstream propaganda permeates The Discourse™?
XDIn any case, please develop some self-awareness and apply this skepticism consistently.
Yes: and I'm saying that accusing someone else of doing it, as you flag wave for an invader to crush an invaded nation, is ridiculous.I'm saying you're doing it to cape for Nazis.
Pick any country and I'll provide a video of far-right twats chanting in the street. Will you then extrapolate that none of them have the right to self-determination as countries? That all civilian lives are forfeit because they had the misfortune to share a country-of-birth?So here's the tiny, inconsequential, ultra-minority with no influence having a normal one.
Of course I do: that was the one where you insinuated a bunch of unrelated socialists were Nazis, and then pretended you hadn't meant that, that then insisted anyone who disagreed was also a Nazi, because that's your go-to deflection.And even then, remember the earlier conversation about how Nazis culturally appropriate shit to legitimize themselves? Of course you won't.
Yep. The fact that you think it's influence on Ukraine is greater than Russia's is completely hilarious.You have literally no idea what the National Endowment for Democracy is, do you.
That's odd, you didn't seem to need a source to claim that American money was so overwhelmingly dominant that it has essentially controlled the direction of Ukraine for over a decade. Despite that claim requiring a far higher barrier to cross.Again, citation ************.
Uhrm, not "as opposed to". "In addition to". Because Russia also did exactly what you just described. In Ukraine. Twice more than the US.As opposed to funding coups and ousting governments in favor of puppet regimes that are only nominally independent, such that one gets the benefits of annexation without the costs associated with it, right?
You literally equated criticism of state policy with racism. That's a tactic Likud pioneered. I'm sorry if you don't like it when it's pointed out how often, and how deeply, you rely on far-right tropes and tactics.And (attempted) guilt by association.
Nope. The victor of 2014 was defeated in 2019. This narrative is predicated on the ludicrous reductionist assumption that all governments that aren't aligned with your own sympathies are the same.Actually that would have been the 2014 election, unless of course you're arguing once again Ukraine didn't actually exist before 2019 at the same time you want to lay stake to the claim this started with Euromaidan and the annexation of Crimea.
Yes: the DPR and LPR were set up and puppeted by Russia, and it was they that refused to allow the election to take place. Meanwhile, Russia did it directly in Crimea as well.The Russian government wasn't the one that refused to accept returns from Donbas, was it?
You're a liar. I'm in the very first page criticising Russia. While tankies continued to deflect and excuse Kazakh and Russian state brutality against the Kazakh people.The only thing you condemned in the Kazakhstan thread was the idea the US would have interfered in another country's internal affairs, and that civil unrest over gas prices was indicative of a resource conflict.
I have to bring this up because it's dumb.Yeah, how dare I remind folks the exceptionalization of Russians among Slavic peoples is directly linked to anti-Asian racism, founded in the concept of racial hierarchies and scientific racism, and existed long before and after the existence of the Soviet Union.
Which is a false accusation to poison the well, of course. The only argument I've made is the US and NATO should not be funding, arming, and training Nazis. If you've equated that to cheering for Russia -- which by the way, the necessary premise there is supporting Nazism is necessary and proper to support Ukraine -- that's a "you" problem.Yes: and I'm saying that accusing someone else of doing it, as you flag wave for an invader to crush an invaded nation, is ridiculous.
On a national holiday, created by legislative act, that specifically celebrates Nazis. Two of whom were given the Hero of Ukraine award, the highest honor Ukraine can confer, which were only annulled by technicality and with court battles pending to restore them.Pick any country and I'll provide a video of far-right twats chanting in the street.
You're still gonna try to hold onto that bullshit take with everything you got, instead of just admit Nazis culturally appropriate shit to legitimize themselves, aren't you. I'm not the one whose struggles with cognitive dissonance over supporting Nazis are the showcase of the thread, here.Of course I do: that was the one where you insinuated a bunch of unrelated socialists were Nazis, and then pretended you hadn't meant that, that then insisted anyone who disagreed was also a Nazi, because that's your go-to deflection.
Considering of the two of us, I'm the only one that's produced actual receipts, that's pretty rich.That's odd, you didn't seem to need a source to claim that American money was so overwhelmingly dominant that it has essentially controlled the direction of Ukraine for over a decade. Despite that claim requiring a far higher barrier to cross.
Really doubling down on that guilt by association rather than admit Russophobia is a product of racism, huh?You literally equated criticism of state policy with racism. That's a tactic Likud pioneered. I'm sorry if you don't like it when it's pointed out how often, and how deeply, you rely on far-right tropes and tactics.
Well, I'll just cut to the chase then.I have to bring this up because it's dumb.
Uh-huh, please elaborate on what precisely that perception entailed.The second is the unusually long persistance of autocracy in Russia and the consequent perception of the Russian state as barbaric and socially regressed.
"It can't be racist if they liked it".The third is the tendency of Russian romantics towards self-orientalization and attraction to "noble-savage" images of Russian history.
It entailed the (largely accurate) perception that Russia was an aristocratic society with an underdeveloped economy and whose population remained divided between a bloated, excessively powerful nobility and a peasantry who still lived in and worked in conditions essentially unchanged since medieval times.Uh-huh, please elaborate on what precisely that perception entailed.
Spare a thought for Germans. The most oppressed race ever."It can't be racist if they liked it".
Nope, I've merely taken your words at their intended meaning. "Asking for it", i believe was your characterisation, as civilians across the country were obliterated by indiscriminate war-crimes.Which is a false accusation to poison the well, of course. The only argument I've made is the US and NATO should not be funding, arming, and training Nazis. If you've equated that to cheering for Russia -- which by the way, the necessary premise there is supporting Nazism is necessary and proper to support Ukraine -- that's a "you" problem.
They put up a statue of Nancy Astor quite recently here in the UK. There are statues of slavers and colonialists. I'm a British civilian. Is my life forfeit, too? Want to see how far the bankruptcy of logic goes.On a national holiday, created by legislative act, that specifically celebrates Nazis. Two of whom were given the Hero of Ukraine award, the highest honor Ukraine can confer, which were only annulled by technicality and with court battles pending to restore them.
I mean, it may just be me, but if the Reichstag officially made Remembrance Day a national holiday on November 8th (saying it was the day the German Revolution started, but just happened to be the day of the beer hall putsch); the only "veterans" that ended up celebrated on Remembrance Day were Adolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, Rudolf Hess, Hermann Goring, and Martin Bormann; statues of those five fellows were being erected across the country; the courts were hearing cases to restore their military decorations; and the parades held on Remembrance Day were full of people carrying swastikas and reichsadlers; I'd be a little skeptical of that, too.
We still have the Klan marching around in some parts of the US, too. We don't have a Klan Appreciation Day, and we don't officially recognize Nathan Bedford Forrest as a national hero.
You literally didn't say that, of course: you arrived at that obvious rewrite quite a long while later. Just before you started screaming that anybody disagreeing must themselves be a Nazi, because that's how utterly bankrupt your discourse has become.You're still gonna try to hold onto that bullshit take with everything you got, instead of just admit Nazis culturally appropriate shit to legitimize themselves, aren't you. I'm not the one whose struggles with cognitive dissonance over supporting Nazis are the showcase of the thread, here.
I'm well aware. You haven't provided receipts. You've provided a few numberless sources, and a vague insinuation that all NGOs and activists are secretly working for the State Dept.Considering of the two of us, I'm the only one that's produced actual receipts, that's pretty rich.
If you had the first fucking clue what the NED was -- an organization created by the Reagan administration, chartered by act of Congress and administered by the State Department, and funded by Congress through USAID -- I very strongly doubt you would have said, and I quote, "...we're just equating any and all orgs with Western governments now, are we". As that is exactly the definition of what the NED is.
Really doubling down on insisting any criticism of Russian state policy is "Russophobia", huh? The Likud tactic. Is there any more bottom-of-the-barrel right-wing deflection than this?Really doubling down on that guilt by association rather than admit Russophobia is a product of racism, huh?
Are you marching in the street celebrating that heritage on an official national holiday dedicated to it, hailing its perpetrators as national heroes?They put up a statue of Nancy Astor quite recently here in the UK. There are statues of slavers and colonialists. I'm a British civilian. Is my life forfeit, too? Want to see how far the bankruptcy of logic goes.
Yeah, of course you're sticking to that line based on your deliberate, bad faith, misconstruction of what I said in the first place -- which I clarified in my very next post, for those slow on the uptake.You literally didn't say that, of course: you arrived at that obvious rewrite quite a long while later.
A line-item list of NED grants to Ukrainian "activist" organizations, on an archive of the NED's own website, is a "numberless source" now, huh?You've provided a few numberless sources, and a vague insinuation that all NGOs and activists are secretly working for the State Dept.
Not any criticism. Just your stubborn, unreasonable, myopic, Western chauvinist doublethink, the only thing about which is truly consistent is its strict adherence to the Russophobic "Red Scare" playbook that's existed for, bare minimum, the past hundred years.Really doubling down on insisting any criticism of Russian state policy is "Russophobia", huh? The Likud tactic. Is there any more bottom-of-the-barrel right-wing deflection than this?
Nope-- but of course, neither are 99.?% of the Ukrainian civilians being slaughtered by the Russian army.Are you marching in the street celebrating that heritage on an official national holiday dedicated to it, hailing its perpetrators as national heroes?
Yes, you clarified that when you said "connected", you actually meant they weren't connected. I already apologise for failing to follow that totally-clear logic. I'm very sorry.Yeah, of course you're sticking to that line based on your deliberate, bad faith, misconstruction of what I said in the first place -- which I clarified in my very next post, for those slow on the uptake.
Ah, right-- that source directly from the horse's mouth didn't cut it for you? The problem is, the second that any source says something you don't like, you immediately attribute it to state dept. propaganda.A line-item list of NED grants to Ukrainian "activist" organizations, on an archive of the NED's own website, is a "numberless source" now, huh?
And no, just the NED for now. What I said was provide sources that didn't come from the State Dept. or neocon/neolib think tanks.
Empty, nebulous blather-- nothing of substance. There's still the fact that I've not done anything except criticise the actions of the government. The state. Isn't it strange that the largest annexation in 80 years should attract particular criticism! Racism is the only explanation!Not any criticism. Just your stubborn, unreasonable, myopic, Western chauvinist doublethink, the only thing about which is truly consistent is its strict adherence to the Russophobic "Red Scare" playbook that's existed for, bare minimum, the past hundred years.
no, not reallySo you're also pulling from the Likud playbook now
Equating criticism of state policy with racism is a right-wing deflection tactic they've popularised more than anybody else in recent years.no, not really
not even going to read the rest of your post
Just a friendly reminder that Russia's history of doing heinous shit in the name of its imperial ambitions is far longer than the US. Russia was terrorizing its neighbors centuries before the US was even a thing. And in contrast it has often been far more extreme, and far less justified then whatever the US was doing at the time.The position in opposition to mine is the US isn't doing -- and hasn't done -- heinous shit in Ukraine. And by extension, the US didn't start this shit by doing heinous shit in Ukraine. Because apparently, the last 233 years (but more importantly, the last 88 of that) of the US doing heinous shit and starting regional conflicts across the globe by doing heinous shit, isn't track record enough to demonstrate doing heinous shit is absolutely in-character for the US.