Tag Archives: Vladimir Putin

Ukrainian bravery evokes Auden’s poem

Does anyone else find themselves utterly humbled by the bravery of the Ukrainian defenders — and also by the Russians demonstrating against Putin’s invasion?

There are powerful, evil men in this world. But there are also countless otherwise ordinary people who are both brave and good. I try to remember the latter when I feel troubled by the former. It helps.

I think that this is what W. H. Auden meant when he wrote about Hitler’s invasion of Ukraine’s neighbor, Poland — which started World War II in Europe. (The second world war had already been underway in the Pacific, with Japan’s attacks on  China and Manchuria.)

The poem, entitled “September 1, 1939,” concludes with this:

Defenceless under the night
Our world in stupor lies;
Yet, dotted everywhere,
Ironic points of light
Flash out wherever the Just
Exchange their messages:
May I, composed like them
Of Eros and of dust,
Beleaguered by the same
Negation and despair,
Show an affirming flame.

Auden had a hopeful heart, at the end of the day, no matter how well his work portrayed sadness.  I wonder what he would write about the world today.



800px-Einzelne_Kerze

Photo credit: 4028mdk09, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0&gt;, via Wikimedia Commons

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There once was a fella named Putin …

There once was a fella named Putin
who thought Europe was up for the lootin’.
He invaded Ukraine
but found only pain,
with even the grandmothers shootin’.

(Yeah, I’m back on another limerick kick. Apologies in advance.)



fuckyou

Trump tells reporters that what he says to Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit is “none of your business.”

Jesus Christ.  Watch this video.  Did he also imply at the Faith & Freedom Coalition that he was happy John McCain was dead, and suggest that he was in hell?

Am I hearing the president correctly?

Of course it is America’s business what its president says to Putin — especially about Russia’s election meddling.  And especially considering that the president needs to be babysat by people who are less suggestible when sitting down with the former head of the KGB.

Recall, please, what happened when Trump met with Putin at the G20 summit in 2017.  He emerged from his meeting saying they’d discussed a joint “Cyber-Security unit” with Russia.  He then downplayed the idiotic idea after the predictable uproar.

It’s … it’s probably a very good idea if we keep track of what the president plans on doing with Putin, right?  Am I alone here?  Throw me a bone here, people.

A friend of mine just chimed in on Facebook with a point that is far more relevant than mine above:

Don’t you just love when the man who said that he would accept foreign help from adversaries to win an election and met with them multiple times tells us that it’s none of our business what they are discussing?”

 

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If you are a reporter and reading this, please keep up the good work.

You are not “an enemy of the American people.”  Nobody sane actually believes that.  (And no sane president would say it.)

The people who make this claim that are the very same poorly educated whites and insecure, blustering religious zealots who put the dangerous imbecile in office (with a little help from America’s actual enemies, in Russia).

They don’t want their leader held accountable.  They would vastly prefer that the free press be censored so that he is portrayed only in a positive light.  They would rather see the president have the same rigid controls over the media as the vicious dictators abroad who he fawns over.  (The man consistently uses the adjectives “strong” and “beautiful” in connection with Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un — you don’t need to be a Freudian to see his adolescent infatuation with homicidal strongmen.)

I honestly believe that even Trump’s supporters, on some level, are embarrassed at the words that come out of his mouth.  The man is a train wreck.  As of this writing, the president just today boasted about “a beautiful letter” he received from Kim Jong Un — and he seemed to comment that he would prohibit the CIA from spying on Kim.  In a separate news item, Trump said that he would accept foreign help in the 2020 presidential election.  (That second item broke less than an hour ago.)

It is easier for Donald Trump supporters to believe that the news media is a sprawling conspiracy than it is to admit the truth — that their anointed leader is a moron.  It’s a very old joke, but I’ll resurrect it here anyway — denial isn’t just a river in Egypt.

Don’t let the bastards get you down.

 

 

“He will only go so far in condemning the racist elements, because he still needs them.”

The following is reprinted with permission from my Facebook friend, Leo Kirby:

“This represents a turning point for the people of this country. We are determined to take our country back. We are going to fulfill the promises of Donald Trump. That’s what we believed in. That why we voted for Donald Trump. Because he said he’s going to take our country back. And that’s what we got to do.” – David Duke

This. I know Donnie supporters hate to talk about racism, unless they are calling President Obama racist, which many of them love to do. But racism is definitely a part of the Donnie Minion Movement. I remind them it’s the same thing they like to say about Muslims and terrorists. Not all Trump supporters are racist, but most white nationalist, anti-semite, KKK, American Nazi Party members certainly seem to be Trump supporters. What do you think that is about?

By the end of April, anti-Semitic attacks were up 86% over 2016, and one third of all incidents in 2106 occurred in the last 2 months of the year, after Donnie was elected. What do you think that is about?

If you listen to David Duke, he seems to think it is about taking the country back and that Donnie was speaking to the KKK when he said it. Donnie still has people like Steve Bannon and Sebastian Gorka in his administration, both with ties to the alternate right. And when he made a statement against “hate” he blamed “many sides.” That was so important to him he said it twice. Not unlike his statement about the holocaust where he didn’t mention the Jews because “many suffered.”

He can’t bring himself to say “white nationalists” or “KKK” or “Nazis,” and when a Mosque is blown up in Minnesota he ignores it while Gorka suggests the the left could have done it to blame the right. And when a White Supremacist drives his car into a crowd, killing one person and injuring 19 others, he can’t bring himself to say “domestic terrorism” or “white Nationalist terrorism.” And yet, it was so important to him to say “Islamic Terrorism.” He has just as much trouble condemning these people as he does condemning Vladimir Putin.

So in his absence Republicans like Marco Rubio and Orrin Hatch have to condemn these racist elements that support Donnie.

So maybe not all people who voted for Donnie are racists, and not all racists are Republicans. But the guy they voted for said this, long before he decided to run for president:

“A well-educated black has a tremendous advantage over a well-educated white in terms of the job market…if I was starting off today, I would love to be a well-educated black, because I really do believe they have the actual advantage today.”

Even though there is virtually no proof for this, it doesn’t matter. Because he says, “I really do believe,” it. Just like the white nationalists, anti-semites, KKK, and members of the American Nazi Party believe it.

There was a study done by the University of Washington (and many others since that one) that showed that members of the Tea Party movement had a 25% higher probability of having “racist resentment” than others in the study who did not identify with the Tea Party. And studies done by several organizations showed that Republicans who who scored highest on racial resentment were 30% more likely to vote for Donnie.

Donnie was fully aware of this element that was in the country when he started his campaign by calling Mexican illegal immigrants drug dealers and rapists, and he pursued them and has been pursuing them ever since. This is why he will only go so far in condemning the racist elements, because he still needs them.

So Donnie Minions can whine when people talk about racism, but everyone who voted for him him heard him talk about the “Mexican” judge who was born in Indiana and the Muslim Gold Star Mother who “probably wasn’t allowed” to speak. It’s like one Tea Party supporter said when she was fuming about being called racist, “My pastor is black!”

So yeah. It makes sense that David Duke thinks he is fulfilling Donnie’s promises. Donnie has been speaking directly to him and people like him for years.

 

 

Is a bear complicit in the woods?

When I was a boy, we had a Republican president who stood ready, if necessary, to defeat the Russian Bear.

Now we have a Republican President who seems willing to kneel, if necessary, to fellate the Russian Bear.

I realize this is the punchline for a very old joke, but … WE WERE THANKFUL FOR WHAT WE HAD.

For further illustration between the two men’s dispositions where Russia is concerned, consider the following:

“Trust but verify.”

—  Ronald Reagan, repeatedly between 1984 and 1987, during nuclear disarmament negotiations with Mikhail Gorbachev.  The phrase is actually a Russian proverb; it had been taught to the president by a writer in Russia, Suzanne Massie.

“Well, I think it was Russia, and I think it could have been other people in other countries. Could have been a lot of people interfered. Nobody knows for sure.”  

“I strongly pressed President Putin twice about Russian meddling in our election. He vehemently denied it. I’ve already given my opinion …”

—  Donald Trump, 2017, about the FBI, CIA and NSA conclusions that Russia interfered in the 2016 Presidential election.  The latter quote was a tweet.

Let me close by sharing something a friend of mine from college said to me tonight:

“I miss Republicans. Family values, free trade, strong alliances against the Kremlin. Whatever happened to those guys?”

 

 

 

Intinmost. (интимность.)

STOP putting pressure on the President to let people “be in the room” when he meets with Putin.

It’s sick. Just let them make love in private.

 

 

 

If I were Vladimir Putin …

… I would call a massive press conference at the front steps of my home, I would address the assembled multitude solemnly, and I would stare long and hard into the distance.

Then I would say,”I CAN SEE SARAH PALIN FROM MY HOUSE.”  And then just bust out laughing.

Because that would be f***ing hilarious.