• '18 '17 '16 '15 Customizer

    @Razor:

    @wittmann:

    Things are hotting�  up in the Ukraine. Does not look good.

    Nothing we cant fix with my m1

    “Russia knows what it wants. World domination. And she is laying her plans accordingly. We, on the other hand, and England, and France to a lesser extent, don’t know what we want and get less than nothing as the result.”

    • G. S. Patton, Jr

    Incredibly relevant, even 70 years later.

  • '21 '20 '18 '17 '16 '15 '14 '13

    Russia takes what belonged her for 250 years. And it’s completely different to, say, UK trying back India. What world domination you are talking about?
    Do I agree with everything they do? No. Politicks is a durty business. There are good, bad, and so so people - not a scale in politicks.  There are only big and small predators.


  • @Me1945:

    Russia takes what belonged her for 250 years.

    Be that as that may, there certainly is a better time and method of doing so.  Thankfully it’s been relatively civil for what is possible.


  • @Me1945:

    Russia takes what belonged her for 250 years.

    Completely agree.

  • '17 '16 '15 '14 '12

    Here is an interesting take on what Russia could do to crash the petrodollar and sink the economy. America has borrowed and corrupted itself into a very fragile situation.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXGPzDq45gM


  • Eisenhower should have listen to old George. :-D


  • The long and short of it is Putin is a leader and BO is a politician.  I mean that in a very nonpartisan way.

    Putin is evil, and you can even argue that he is stupid because he is trying to re-establish a form of government that fell apart quarter of a century ago because it was unsustainable.  That being said, his evil/stupid antics makes him come across as a leader because he is decisive.  I am not saying that is a good thing for the world at large, but when the shit hits the fan most people want to think the guy in charge knows what the hell he is doing.

    When it comes to BO… I think his only interest in foreign policy is to distract from how bad Obamacare is going.  His biggest concern is the next election, not the future of America.  The man is a great speaker, nobody can take that away from him.  However words only go so far.

    We have had 2 presidents who knew how to deal with the Russians.  Kennedy who told them “screw you, get out of Cuba NOW!” and Reagan whose foreign policy for the USSR was “we win, you lose”.

    Ultimately I think all of America’s problems would be solved if we just harvested our own natural resources.  The reason Russia has so much strength is because of oil and natural gas.  If we dumped a ton of oil onto the world market the price of oil would drop like a rock.  That would crash the economies of the people who hate us (not just Russia, lets give a shout out to Iran!)

  • '21 '20 '18 '17 '16 '15 '14 '13

    Sure thing. Putin is evil and Russia is suck .… for those who prefer the world driven by one policeman where just a few countries can afford a relatively independent foreign politicks. Where only one decides what to bomb, where invade to and build “cliche democracy” .
    I am just wondering what Putin did that West did not do since, say, 1898 when US annexed Hawaii?
    I really hope a bipolar world will be back. It is coming already along with the hysterics like you read here.


  • @SS:

    Eisenhower should have listen to old George. :-D

    Really? Europe, Russia and the US should be thankful that Patton didn’t get his War. Defeating Russia in 1945 without the Bomb would have a price tag of millions of lives. The West, even with a fully mobilization of France could not push the Red Army back into its own borders.

    Patton wanted a continuous war for his own glory, he wanted to play Napoleon with tanks.

    Every Nation in Europe would have faced a real possibility of Civil War, similar to Greece and Turkey had a US/ USSR war began in Central Europe.


  • @ABWorsham:

    @SS:

    Eisenhower should have listen to old George. :-D

    Really? Europe, Russia and the US should be thankful that Patton didn’t get his War. Defeating Russia in 1945 without the Bomb would have a price tag of millions of lives. The West, even with a fully mobilization of France could not push the Red Army back into its own borders.

    Patton wanted a continuous war for his own glory, he wanted to play Napoleon with tanks.

    Every Nation in Europe would have faced a real possibility of Civil War, similar to Greece and Turkey had a US/ USSR war began in Central Europe.

    ABWorsham is correct. The British workers even threatened to strike if UK and USA had attacked the Russians.


  • Ya I know that. Just a little humor.  :-)


  • @Zooey72:

    Putin is evil, and you can even argue that he is stupid because he is trying to re-establish a form of government that fell apart quarter of a century ago because it was unsustainable.  That being said, his evil/stupid antics makes him come across as a leader because he is decisive.  I am not saying that is a good thing for the world at large, but when the ���� hits the fan most people want to think the guy in charge knows what the hell he is doing.

    So you support a leader of another country that makes reckless decisions and can operate in such a manner, than your own president - one that by nature of our nation and Constitution can’t do whatever he wants?  Please tell me that you’re not one of the people that also complains he’s a dictator.

    When it comes to BO… I think his only interest in foreign policy is to distract from how bad Obamacare is going.  His biggest concern is the next election, not the future of America.  The man is a great speaker, nobody can take that away from him.  However words only go so far.

    Obama has wisely not escalated things, going in guns blazing like some of armchair strategists and failed presidential candidates have pointed out.  The EU has joined in, Russia basically screwed up their position in the UN Security Council, Russia’s economy is sinking, and I’m sure more to come.

    I’d be interested in exactly how “Obamacare” is going badly.  Badly for those who have tried multiple times to repeal it over the past 4 years?  Badly for those that would like to see it fail?  Badly because we didn’t make it to single payer?  People parroting that it’s bad doesn’t make it bad.  It’s doing exactly what it’s supposed to and has benefited - the ACA, that is - every US citizen.  I’d be glad to give examples, but I’m afraid that thread would be shutdown.

    Also, Obama isn’t up for reelection - 2 term limits.  Not sure how that works in your opinion.

    We have had 2 presidents who knew how to deal with the Russians.  Kennedy who told them “screw you, get out of Cuba NOW!” and Reagan whose foreign policy for the USSR was “we win, you lose”.

    Yes, Kennedy failed and Reagan unnecessarily extended the Cold War for no reason.  Neither are good examples to draw from.

    Ultimately I think all of America’s problems would be solved if we just harvested our own natural resources.  The reason Russia has so much strength is because of oil and natural gas.  If we dumped a ton of oil onto the world market the price of oil would drop like a rock.  That would crash the economies of the people who hate us (not just Russia, lets give a shout out to Iran!)

    Well, it’s an idea, I guess.  Russia is more than a simple holder of resources.  They are a nuclear power, they (seemingly) have a good relationship with China, sizable population and military, etc.  I don’t think it’d work the way you think though.


  • I can not respond to any of that w/o being political.

    “The EU has joined in”, what a joke.  They get 40% of their natural gas from Russia, do you really think that they are going to commit economic suicide?  Closing that trade would also kill Russia’s economy, but Putin is betting they will back down - and they will.

    How exactly did Kennedy and Reagan fail?  There are no nukes in Cuba, and the USSR doesn’t exist.
    So you support a leader of another country that makes reckless decisions and can operate in such a manner, than your own president - one that by nature of our nation and Constitution can’t do whatever he wants?  Please tell me that you’re not one of the people that also complains he’s a dictator

    How many times has Obamacare been amended w/o congress?  The executive branch of government does not have the power to change/make laws.  He may not be a dictator, but he has set the stage for a dictator.


  • Yes by Executive Order.


  • @SS:

    Yes by Executive Order.

    What he is doing is not what an executive order has the power to do.  By your logic we should just name the president (whoever that is) king since he can do whatever he wants by executive order.  Can a future president bypass congress with an executive order and outlaw abortion?  How about busting the teacher’s union?  Drop the legal drinking age?

    He should have been impeached the second he said he refused to enforce the laws on the books because he disagreed with them.  The fact of the matter is that he is the EXECUTIVE branch.  If he wanted to legislate he should have stayed in the Senate.

  • '17 '16

    The use of the word “wisely” at this point in time has yet to be determined. The annexation of Crimea can not be allowed. We have a obligation to the Ukraine and its territorial integrity. Our national honor is involved here. The Budapest memorandum surely implies that obligation. I am quite sure that the Ukrainians thought so when they gave up their nuclear weapons.The total withdrawal of Russian forces is the only acceptable outcome. Remember that Mr. Putin brought the rifle to the bargaining table.


  • @General:

      I am quite sure that the Ukrainians thought so when they gave up their nuclear weapons.

    The Ukrainians were unwise to get out of the nuclear club, when your neighbor has WMDs its wise to keep yours, even if they are of a aging weapon system.

  • '17 '16

    The U.S. has a obligation to fulfill. We have to stand by the Budapest Memorandum. Nations borders aren’t being redrawn by force period. World stability is in question if force of arms can redraw nations borders in the 21st century.


  • @Zooey72:

    “The EU has joined in”, what a joke.  They get 40% of their natural gas from Russia, do you really think that they are going to commit economic suicide?  Closing that trade would also kill Russia’s economy, but Putin is betting they will back down - and they will.

    Russia is highly dependent upon exports of oil/gas in their international trade.  They don’t have what’s considered a contemporary “manufacturing” economy, so as long as the EU can hold out, it’ll hurt Russia more in the long run.  There are more sources of natural gas, so it’s not as if they’d go without.

    How exactly did Kennedy and Reagan fail?  There are no nukes in Cuba, and the USSR doesn’t exist.

    Kennedy failed the Bay of Pigs and the USSR was going to fall no matter what Reagan did.  They weren’t so much as failures as they were irrelevant.

    How many times has Obamacare been amended w/o congress?  The executive branch of government does not have the power to change/make laws.  He may not be a dictator, but he has set the stage for a dictator.

    So is he a capable - albeit, a dictator - leader or completely ineffectual?  He can’t be both.

    @Zooey72:

    What he is doing is not what an executive order has the power to do.  By your logic we should just name the president (whoever that is) king since he can do whatever he wants by executive order.  Can a future president bypass congress with an executive order and outlaw abortion?  How about busting the teacher’s union?  Drop the legal drinking age?

    He should have been impeached the second he said he refused to enforce the laws on the books because he disagreed with them.  The fact of the matter is that he is the EXECUTIVE branch.  If he wanted to legislate he should have stayed in the Senate.

    If Executive Order is going to be the core of your argument, then you will lose.  Literally every president has used Executive Orders to direct the Executive branch from Washing to Obama….except Harrison who lasted only a month.

    You’d probably also find Obama having a hard time trying to overturn a Supreme Court decision (such as Roe v. Wade) or trying to direct an organization not under the Executive branch to do something.

  • Customizer

    @SS:

    Eisenhower should have listen to old George. :-D

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epW5ktfYt9Q

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