Or the DNC, RNC, ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, etc. My problem is not knowing the reason for the reporting by any of the above. I only know that it is reported for a reason, as opposed to journalism.
I’m not a Russky, nor do I support their dictatorial regime. Some of my relatives have actively worked to destroy the Communist system. I also have relatives in Russia who I’ve helped to provide medications (real medications, as opposed to CBD or pot).
I believe that Putin is an old school, brutal dictator. That said, after the last few decades of media descriptors (a couple of examples listed below), I don’t have a whole lot of faith in the media when they’re all jumping all over themselves to say the exact same thing.
the “out-of-control cowboy” Reagan description
the mathematically impossible Reagan economics plan
the Reagan voodoo economics
the Reagan impossible “StarWars” defense system (which was a huge part of dismantling the Evil Empire
the “too old and senile” Reagan description,
the "too cool for school (or common sense) Clinton description,
the “stupid out-of-control cowboy” Bush description,
the “savior, who is REALLY too cool for school” Obama description,
the “Bush recession”,
the “Bush depression”,
the “jobs saved or created” Obama statistics,
the Obama “summer of recovery”
the “keep your doctor” Obama healthcare takeover,
the Obama “government decides if your grandma deserves expensive treatment”
the “racists who opposed any Obama ideas” description,
the “pass the bill” to know what’s in it Obama healthcare takeover description,
the “devil/Hitler/Mussolini/Clinton” Trump description,
the “alert and energetic” Biden description,
the Covid “one view, masks247, submit, or be declared $%&*#” description
Now, I’m sure lots of readers will think that the reporters are only reporting what opponents are saying, and that’s part of their job. That is true, but repeating something ad infinitum, much like the dictatorships of Putin, fatboy of NKorea, fatdad of NKorea, Fidel Castro, Idi Amin, the current dictator of China, Winston Smith’s dear leader, and other rulers who controlled the media is not responsible journalism. Rather, it is closer to indoctrination/brainwashing … at least in my incredibly humble opinion.
You are correct. But to be fair, he’s only the next in a long line of such leaders that the imperialist oppressor Ruskies have produced going back to the czars. They briefly tried more soft power leaders and it failed quickly and spectacularly leaving the country depleted and weaker.
So I guess Russia needs the strong man type in power to control the masses of drunk drones that counts as its citizenry. And it’s hard to blame him personally for just wanting to continue doing the same stuff his imperialist country has considered normal treatment of its neighbors for centuries.
Looks like these bans are for the duration of the war. Even if it doesn’t fail legal challenges, I doubt they’ll stay once the invader withdraws his troops.
The nationalization of all media and brutal suppression of all dissent has been going on in Russia for decades with no end in sight.
It’s not at all difficult to tell which is more free and democratic.
I initially took exception to your “imperialist” description, and considered communism more a dictatorial form government. I thought “imperialist” implied emperor/empress or royalty/monarchy.
Before posting this, I checked M-W and found that my memory was in error, or the definition has changed. Thus, communist leaders, along with other dictators may now be considered imperialists. To me, that’s insane, but it seems to be the case. I have a hard time putting Queen Victoria in the same class as Butchers Stalin and Castro, but maybe they are more akin to Henry VIII.
I presume this is influenced by a possible relationship with communist Russia. Without giving you the benefit of that doubt, it sounds xenophobic. Regardless, I will definitely take exception to your characterization, xenophobic or not. Russians, like Arabs, Persians, Chinese, many Africans, and any other non-democratically ruled peoples DO NOT NEED a dictator. If that were the case, all countries that are currently democratically ruled would NEED TO BE under the control of a dictator. The U.S., Britain, France, Spain, Italy, etc. were ALL imperially ruled peoples before they were democratically ruled peoples. For a more recent example … well, recent for my lifetime … JAPAN!
“It’s not until it is.” … Yogi Berra (or it should have been)
̶I̶t̶ ̶s̶o̶u̶n̶d̶s̶ ̶l̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶’̶r̶e̶ ̶s̶a̶y̶i̶n̶g̶ So, if I understand your logic - if the U.S.A. went to war with a communist dictatorship (yeah, it’s redundant, sorry), you would say it’s cool for POTUS to suspend the 1st amendment as it relates to “journalism”, since …
Huh? Isn’t Hunter Biden still on the Russian dole, or is it the Ukrainian dole? If the latter, I can understand the 10% kickback to Uncle Joe is problematic. However, he’s still got that Red China deal, doesn’t he? Thus, I wouldn’t want to have Taiwanese investments … which is probably the point of the whole payoff.
This country had done unjust things to its own citizens in times of war. I wouldn’t say it’s cool, or acceptable, but I couldn’t rule it out as a possibility. We all know bad things happen in times of crisis. Who is to say that the people in charge at wartime couldn’t just take over and change the system? I mean, they got pretty close last January, and we weren’t even at war. Ukraine is in a precarious situation, I’m sure Russia is asking them to change their constitution as one of their preconditions for peace.
The sun is bright.
The night is dark.
Winter is cold
Summer is warm.
Your statement implies this country has not done unjust things to its own citizens in non-war times? Otherwise why make that statement. In fact, EVERY country has done unjust things to its own citizens at times that were irrelevant to war.
Now you’re sounding like a weatherman. We know what you want say, but what will you say?
First, unless you’re implying that bad things don’t happen in times of non-crisis, what’s the point of saying it? Disregarding that oddity, I’m pretty sure you thought it was a good idea to make decisions regarding police and their departments in the immediate aftermath of the George Floyd video … or was that not a time of crisis?
Ha! Are you talking about the rabble-rousers and unwitting crowds at the capitol on January 6th? They got pretty close to taking over? Taking over what? They didn’t even bring pitchforks.
Really? NSS!
I don’t think Russia is “asking” them for anything. In fact, I don’t even know if they’re demanding anything. They want the land/treasure that Ukraine has and they’re trying to take it … just like every war started by a Commie or dictator (not to exclude anyone else).
I was referring to the enduring attitude of Russia towards its neighbors from the Czar era to now. It’s still dictating Putin’s thinking at this point. He described Ukraine as basically having no distinct history of its own. Google Russia near abroad policy. They basically still cling to the imperialistic view of Russia not only owning the former soviet republics but also having dominion on countries like Poland, Romania, Czec republic, etc… Basically thinking still in the Yalta era.
First, I do not deny that my perception of Russia is colored by my experience of living under their proxy regime in my birth country. I’m biased, will never forgive what happened and acknowledge it.
But I still believe I have a point despite my bias. The difference - which is the basis for my argument - is that most democratic countries, once they freed themselves from dictatorship, did not willingly on their own revert to an autocratic regime like the Russians did in the post-soviet era. And for those who did, that did not happen very recently.
For Russia, the recent debacle of their attempt at democracy did not encourage them to look for improvement in their democracy, but made them look to an autocrat to think for them. The covenant between Putin and Russian has been pretty clear from early on. Yes, I’m going to be an autocrat but I promise you that Russia is gonna be better for it. I know better than you do what’s good for you. And by and large, the masses have bought it. To me, that’s stunning and in recent history fairly unique compared to other countries which have recently done away with dictators. Very few basically chose a better prison over freedom.
Plus, you cannot deny that Russians are a bunch of drunks, at least if you’ve visited or know enough of them. Even by eastern Europe standards (which are bad across the board I’ll admit), Russians and Hungarians are famously the worst.
