Russia on brink of ... NOPE! Russia INVADES Ukraine!

[RnR_au]

Having said that, my best buddy claims the #1 reason Harris lost is she's just not likable. Obviously misogyny and racism are real, but my buddy considered those secondary reasons. Not saying I agree with this ordering, but however you want to rank these 3 reasons, they do explain why many (D) voters stayed home in 2024 and gifted the presidency to a criminal.

Harris lost because she was part of the Administration during a high inflation period. If you look at past high inflation periods in America, other Presidents seeking a second term, have also lost.

Trump was in the right place at the right time. Sarah Palin with Dan Quayle as VP could have won.

In addition I believe that Harris said in an interview that she had no misgivings (or something like that - I can't remember the exact words) about her Administration's body of work. So no mistakes done during a cost of living crisis. Regardless of the actual causes and the sheer momentum of the American economy and any lag for possible mitigations, the voters disagreed.

All the other bits about Harris, communications skills, charisma, misogyny, Biden not retiring earlier, and racism are 2nd order or even 3rd order reasons.

Its always the economy.

 

[manly]

Harris lost because she was part of the Administration during a high inflation period. If you look at past high inflation periods in America, other Presidents seeking a second term, have also lost.

Trump was in the right place at the right time. Sarah Palin with Dan Quayle as VP could have won.

In addition I believe that Harris said in an interview that she had no misgivings (or something like that - I can't remember the exact words) about her Administration's body of work. So no mistakes done during a cost of living crisis. Regardless of the actual causes and the sheer momentum of the American economy and any lag for possible mitigations, the voters disagreed.

All the other bits about Harris, communications skills, charisma, misogyny, Biden not retiring earlier, and racism are 2nd order or even 3rd order reasons.

Its always the economy.

I don't discount the economy, but unemployment was 4% just a few years after a once-a-century global pandemic. The U.S. macroeconomy in 2024 was literally the envy of all of its peers. I'll concede that many millions of voters didn't see things that way, and white-hot inflation back in 2022 (and into early 2023) explains a lot of that.

I'm not going to say you're wrong but it's dubious to posit that a Palin/Quayle ticket would have also won in 2024 (unless "could have won" means a relatively low probability chance). It was always going to be a hotly contested election; it wasn't assuredly a (D) loss just because of high inflation. This wasn't 1980 or 2008.

Many of us here are realists and we knew and feared that Harris could lose the election. What few of us (if any) foresaw was getting shut out in all 7 battlegrounds, and having the election called before sunlight the morning after. Which is why a lot of people still believe things would have played out much differently if Joe Biden had announced back in 2023 that he was not running for reelection. It's all academic anyway, it doesn't really matter, except for historians, why Harris lost.

 

[dainthomas]

Harris lost because she was part of the Administration during a high inflation period. If you look at past high inflation periods in America, other Presidents seeking a second term, have also lost.

Trump was in the right place at the right time. Sarah Palin with Dan Quayle as VP could have won.

In addition I believe that Harris said in an interview that she had no misgivings (or something like that - I can't remember the exact words) about her Administration's body of work. So no mistakes done during a cost of living crisis. Regardless of the actual causes and the sheer momentum of the American economy and any lag for possible mitigations, the voters disagreed.

All the other bits about Harris, communications skills, charisma, misogyny, Biden not retiring earlier, and racism are 2nd order or even 3rd order reasons.

Its always the economy.

So people are dumb. We knew that. She shouldn't have had any misgivings personally, the best post-covid economic results in the world speak for themselves. The only mistake was saying it out loud. Voters always care about feelings more than facts.

 

[RalphTheCow]

So the US just voted with Russia in the UN against condemning the invasion. I had no idea Trump was that inside Putin’s pocket. Wow.

US joins Russia to vote against UN resolution condemning Russia’s war against Ukraine — CNN

The United States joined Russia to vote against a UN General Assembly resolution condemning Russia’s war against Ukraine Monday in a stunning shift from years of US policy.

apple.news

 

[Jaskalas]

So the US just voted with Russia in the UN against condemning the invasion. I had no idea Trump was that inside Putin’s pocket. Wow.

You better believe it.
Agent Krasnov has been loyal to Russia since 1987.

 

[Jaskalas]

Agent Krasnov works fast, South Korea has surrendered to the Eastern Bloc and is now seeking favors from them.
They realize America is not ever going to lift a finger for anyone else. Absent Reagan's shining light on the hill, the world is filled with darkness. It is everyone for themselves.

South Korea will lift sanctions on the supply of medical equipment to Russia

https://twitter.com/x/status/1894082112241701145

 

[biostud]

I haven't verified these numbers, but they look credible to me

Yeah, I've already posted them in the thread.

 

[misuspita]

I think you have actually been toppled. Trump is a Russian agent one way or the other. If Trump was this genuine businessman going after Ukraine's minerals and whatnot, why would he not be going after Russia's resources? Russia being on the brink of collapse all he had to do was to crank up sanctions, support for Ukraine and Russia would be tits up within a couple of years. Ready for pickings.

No this is a rescue operation. Of Vladimir Putin.

I agree. What I do not understand is what is happening with America. Ok, Trump is a Russian asset. How about the rest? No de fence against one person? Is the presidency such a powerful man that no one cand say no? I mean, jfk happened 6 decades ago, you can always do it again...

 

[HomerJS]

I don't discount the economy, but unemployment was 4% just a few years after a once-a-century global pandemic. The U.S. macroeconomy in 2024 was literally the envy of all of its peers. I'll concede that many millions of voters didn't see things that way, and white-hot inflation back in 2022 (and into early 2023) explains a lot of that.

I'm not going to say you're wrong but it's dubious to posit that a Palin/Quayle ticket would have also won in 2024 (unless "could have won" means a relatively low probability chance). It was always going to be a hotly contested election; it wasn't assuredly a (D) loss just because of high inflation. This wasn't 1980 or 2008.

Many of us here are realists and we knew and feared that Harris could lose the election. What few of us (if any) foresaw was getting shut out in all 7 battlegrounds, and having the election called before sunlight the morning after. Which is why a lot of people still believe things would have played out much differently if Joe Biden had announced back in 2023 that he was not running for reelection. It's all academic anyway, it doesn't really matter, except for historians, why Harris lost.

How do you account for people not holding Trump accountable for Covid losses?

 

[trenchfoot]

After seeing the way Trump/Musk is decimating the entire Civil Service and destroying the government department by department, can you seriously think any savings is going to be spent on the disabled and single moms? Do actually believe Trump or Musk have a single iota of compassion to help them? A tax cut, maybe, for businesses and the top billionaires.
Edit: or perhaps use it to buy some more armored cyber trucks or subsidies for space X.

In the meantime, neither Trump nor Musk is going after their fellow billionaires in the oil conglomerates getting billions in subsidies from the federal gov't (that's us, the taxpayers) while these oil magnates rake in billions of profit on a weekly basis, nor are Trump and Musk going after big pharma where they also get billions of our tax $$$ for research grants, etc. while us Americans still pay the highest prices for drugs among the western democracies nor are they going after any other robber baron that is sucking on the teats of our treasury.

They're getting the freebies that us middle class working stiffs pay into the system and what we're getting back from Trump and Elon is having our fellow working class folks in gov't being fired by the thousands. They're the same folks who're protecting us from rip-off artists like Trump and Elon while Trump's suckered minions are perfectly OK that they're being ripped off that way, because they foolishly and dumbfoundingly think that on one the one hand Trump and Elon are protecting them from the dog and cat eating immigrants who're poisoning the purity of their blood while on the other Trump and his fellow aristocrats are picking their pockets right in front of them.

 

[Jaskalas]

The American President will no longer, ever, be the leader of the free world.

 

[RnR_au]

The American President will no longer, ever, be the leader of the free world.

Good... a cabal should be better anyways...

 

[RnR_au]

lol - Trump is going to be livid...

EU offers its own ‘win-win’ minerals deal to Ukraine

“The added value Europe offers is that we will never demand a deal that’s not mutually beneficial,” top official Stéphane Séjourné says.

www.politico.eu

 

[manly]

How do you account for people not holding Trump accountable for Covid losses?

People cared a lot more about their food (and housing) costing too much in 2023 than who passed away back in 2020 due to a pandemic that came from overseas. WE know Trump was a lousy president the first go-around, and his poor Covid performance directly led to his loss in the 2020 election.

Having said that, people have shitty memories and they don't think critically about the past. So voters seemingly cared more about Bidenomics/inflation than whether a bottom-5 president of all-time and chief insurrectionist deserved another crack at the job. Either of those (especially the latter) should automatically disqualify you from consideration, let alone BOTH.

We sound like a broken record, but another way of putting this is a lot of the electorate is really dumb. Note this isn't just an American problem, you see it all over the world. Even in very stable democracies, many of which have lurched to the right post-Covid.

Personally I felt Kamala Harris ran a good enough campaign under tough conditions (I'd probably grade it a B- ? Hard to say exactly). But the combination of inflation, and ingrained racism/sexism proved too much of a barrier to overcome. That does NOT mean we should have stuck with Joe Biden, although a few people continue to say that. He quit because all the available evidence in early August was that he was careening towards a decisive loss.

 

[pauldun170]

But you did vote for Russia. How does it feel after a long military career to see your commander in chief sell out the heart and core of your nation to Russia. Of all nations, he has you and every single American gobbling ruskie cock. Cant stand Hillary but Tulsi is a fine specimen?
I am just saying it must suck to realize your lifes work getting showed down the shit can by an Orange monkey with zero moral compass, honor, a draft dodger and a general disdain for people specifically like you

Whats fascinating that the same veterans who present anus to Republicans actually believe the Republican party gives a shit about veterans.
Toss em a parade.
Give them a couple of discounts.
Gut their Healthcare and then blame the "the system" that they have actively worked to make fail.

Every couple of years, toss them into combat to pretend the politicians "are strong leaders"

Speak Up Before VA Health Care Is Gutted

While controversy swirls around last week's mass firing of 1,000 Department of Veterans Affairs' employees, a far greater threat to veterans' health care is going completely unnoticed.

www.military.com

 

[mikeymikec]

I agree. What I do not understand is what is happening with America. Ok, Trump is a Russian asset. How about the rest? No de fence against one person? Is the presidency such a powerful man that no one cand say no? I mean, jfk happened 6 decades ago, you can always do it again...

The problem that Trump represents is not one person, it's an entire party and their voters who aren't holding him to account, they just do he says and vote the way he wants them to. It's a cult with a >$1T budget and nuclear weapons.

 

[Amused]

Whats fascinating that the same veterans who present anus to Republicans actually believe the Republican party gives a shit about veterans.
Toss em a parade.
Give them a couple of discounts.
Gut their Healthcare and then blame the "the system" that they have actively worked to make fail.

Every couple of years, toss them into combat to pretend the politicians "are strong leaders"

Speak Up Before VA Health Care Is Gutted

While controversy swirls around last week's mass firing of 1,000 Department of Veterans Affairs' employees, a far greater threat to veterans' health care is going completely unnoticed.

www.military.com

Please, as a veteran, I implore all of you to contact your federal reps and protest this act. It's lockstep Project 2025 plan to dismantle the VA and cut off large groups of veterans from care and benefits.

https://veterans.house.gov/uploadedfiles/access_act_bill_text.pdf

 

[pauldun170]

Please, as a veteran, I implore all of you to contact your federal reps and protest this act. It's lockstep Project 2025 plan to dismantle the VA and cut off large groups of veterans from care and benefits.

https://veterans.house.gov/uploadedfiles/access_act_bill_text.pdf

The privatization effort has resulted in a huge increase in cost as Republicans funnel tax payer dollars over to private care. It's exploded since the 2018 act.

They have been fucking over the VA for years, occasionally attacking it despite being the cause of its issues and then proposing "fixes" which break it even further to push toward privatization and then they restart the cycle.

 

[Amused]

The privatization effort has resulted in a huge increase in cost as Republicans funnel tax payer dollars over to private care. It's exploded since the 2018 act.

They have been fucking over the VA for years, occasionally attacking it despite being the cause of its issues and then proposing "fixes" which break it even further to push toward privatization and then they restart the cycle.

Yep. Which is why I tear a new asshole into any Trumper who regurgitates "veterans before migrants" shit to me. Fucking idiots.

 

[kage69]

Yep. Which is why I tear a new asshole into any Trumper who regurgitates "veterans before migrants" shit to me. Fucking idiots.

This.

Speaking of new orifices being distributed, that needs to be the de facto reaction at events when plain clothes thugs try to haul people away. Not a cop? You win a savage beating. Show up prepared people, with friends. Have a plan. Hog tie them with their own cuffs, leave'em in a pile.

 

[trenchfoot]

So Trump rears his ugly authoritarian head just like millions of his supporters wanted him to do via their vote, loses their jobs because Elon is rushing for kill numbers to show how efficient and effective he is as Trump's head executioner and the FAFO effect comes home to roost amongst his dumb as rocks minions.

Their response? "Uhhh, better to lay low, do as he says because he's the boss and you don't want to stick yer head up and complain 'cuz yer fellow Trumper is going to point at you and scream Traitor! Traitor! as Elon comes for your head."

Meanwhile, STFU, too bad so sad to get evicted because you can't pay yer rent/mortgage, get yer car repossessed, take yer kids out of private school and hope the education secretary can suck the funding out of the public school yer kids are now attending and give you the subsidies you need to send them back to the private sector.

 

[K1052]

NASAMS is apparently quite good at it's job.




https://bsky.app/profile/edrotning.tochnyi.info/post/3liz4jmhpyk2u

 

[K1052]

Reportedly there is now agreement on a minerals deal between the US-Ukraine. The US dropped nearly all its demands though there is still no security guarantee in the document.

https://www.ft.com/content/1890d104-1395-4393-a71d-d299aed448e6

The final version of the agreement, dated February 24 and seen by the FT, would establish a fund into which Ukraine would contribute 50 per cent of proceeds from the “future monetisation” of state-owned mineral resources, including oil and gas, and associated logistics. The fund would invest in projects in Ukraine.

It excludes mineral resources that already contribute to Ukrainian government coffers, meaning it would not cover the existing activities of Naftogaz or Ukrnafta, Ukraine’s largest gas and oil producers.

The Trump administration’s initial sweeping proposal called for a reconstruction investment fund in which the US “maintains 100 per cent financial interest”. Ukraine would contribute 50 per cent of the fund’s revenues from mineral resource extraction, including oil and gas and associated infrastructure, up to a maximum of $500bn.

Those terms, described as unacceptable by Ukrainian officials, have been removed from the final draft.

The mandate for the fund to invest in Ukraine is a further change Kyiv had sought. The document states the US will back Ukraine’s economic development into the future.

 

[fskimospy]

Reportedly there is now agreement on a minerals deal between the US-Ukraine. The US dropped nearly all its demands though there is still no security guarantee in the document.

https://www.ft.com/content/1890d104-1395-4393-a71d-d299aed448e6

It appears Trump folded yet again - after all there was never going to be a security guarantee in a document like this.

 

[K1052]

It appears Trump folded yet again - after all there was never going to be a security guarantee in a document like this.

Yes, it was extremely unlikely. Ultimately what Zelensky needs to preserve is access to US arms exports which he and the Euros can purchase for Ukraine's defense. There is also $15-20B in USAI stuff that has yet to be produced/delivered but is already paid for. Trump does, so far, not seem inclined to disrupt these sales or transfers of US made equipment from Europe to Ukraine.