On 3/10/2022 6:34 PM, Technobarbarian wrote:
>
>      This is a far more rational explanation for what's happening in
> Russia than we'll ever get from the retrumplicans with that ridiculous
> "Biden weak/orange clown strong" nonsense.
>
> "https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/10/opinion/putin-russia-ukraine.html"
>
> "How Vladimir Putin Lost Interest in the Present"
>
> "Mr. Putin spent the spring and summer of 2020 quarantining at his
> residence in Valdai, approximately halfway between Moscow and St.
> Petersburg. According to sources in the administration, he was
> accompanied there by Yuri Kovalchuk. Mr. Kovalchuk, who is the largest
> shareholder in Rossiya Bank and controls several state-approved media
> outlets, has been Mr. Putin’s close friend and trusted adviser since the
> 1990s. But by 2020, according to my sources, he had established himself
> as the de facto second man in Russia, the most influential among the
> president’s entourage.
>
> Mr. Kovalchuk has a doctorate in physics and was once employed by an
> institute headed by the Nobel laureate Zhores Alferov. But he isn’t just
> a man of science. He is also an ideologue, subscribing to a worldview
> that combines Orthodox Christian mysticism, anti-American conspiracy
> theories and hedonism. This appears to be Mr. Putin’s worldview, too.
> Since the summer of 2020, Mr. Putin and Mr. Kovalchuk have been almost
> inseparable, and the two of them have been making plans together to
> restore Russia’s greatness.
>
> According to people with knowledge of Mr. Putin’s conversations with his
> aides over the past two years, the president has completely lost
> interest in the present: The economy, social issues, the coronavirus
> pandemic, these all annoy him. Instead, he and Mr. Kovalchuk obsess over
> the past. A French diplomat told me that President Emmanuel Macron of
> France was astonished when Mr. Putin gave him a lengthy history lecture
> during one of their talks last month. He shouldn’t have been surprised.
>
> In his mind, Mr. Putin finds himself in a unique historical situation in
> which he can finally recover for the previous years of humiliation. In
> the 1990s, when Mr. Putin and Mr. Kovalchuk first met, they were both
> struggling to find their footing after the fall of the Soviet Union, and
> so was the country. The West, they believe, took advantage of Russia’s
> weakness to push NATO as close as possible to the country’s borders. In
> Mr. Putin’s view, the situation today is the opposite: It is the West
> that’s weak. The only Western leader that Mr. Putin took seriously was
> Germany’s previous chancellor, Angela Merkel. Now she is gone and it’s
> time for Russia to avenge the humiliations of the 1990s.
>
> It seems that there is no one around to tell him otherwise. Mr. Putin no
> longer meets with his buddies for drinks and barbecues, according to
> people who know him. In recent years — and especially since the start of
> the pandemic — he has cut off most contacts with advisers and friends.
> While he used to look like an emperor who enjoyed playing on the
> controversies of his subjects, listening to them denounce one another
> and pitting them against one another, he is now isolated and distant,
> even from most of his old entourage.
>
> His guards have imposed a strict protocol: No one can see the president
> without a week’s quarantine — not even Igor Sechin, once his personal
> secretary, now head of the state-owned oil company Rosneft. Mr. Sechin
> is said to quarantine for two or three weeks a month, all for the sake
> of occasional meetings with the president."
>
>      I'm repeating this part for anyone who missed it the first time:
>
> "The only Western leader that Mr. Putin took seriously was Germany’s
> previous chancellor, Angela Merkel."
>
> https://news.yahoo.com/donald-trump-jr-tried-explain-101022672.html
>
> "Donald Trump Jr. now claims his father’s well-known affection toward
> some of the world’s most brutal dictators was part of an elaborate act.
>
> “He knew exactly how to play these guys,” the son of former President
> Donald Trump said in a new video. “And he played it like a fiddle.”"
>
> "Not everyone believed Jr.’s explanation that this was all part of a
> ruse though:"
>
> "It’s Guilfoyle’s birthday, so Junior got into the party supplies early.
> He claims that daddy only praised Putin and Kim because he was using
> psychological warfare on them: “He knew exactly how to play these guys,
> and he played them like a fiddle!”"
>
> "Trump made a habit of alienating U.S. allies, such as Canada, France
> and Germany, while also cozying up to repressive dictators. He said he
> “fell in love” with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. He repeatedly
> praised and defended Russian President Vladimir Putin. And he called
> himself a “big fan” of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan despite the Turkish despot’s
> brutal crackdown on critics."
> [snip]
>
> TB
>
>

NYT opinion piece. About worth as much as the cost of that fish wrapper.

--
"Our country was founded by geniuses, but it's being run by idiots."
– Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy

On Thursday, March 10, 2022 at 5:36:50 PM UTC-8, George.Anthony wrote:
> On 3/10/2022 6:34 PM, Technobarbarian wrote:
> >
> > This is a far more rational explanation for what's happening in
> > Russia than we'll ever get from the retrumplicans with that ridiculous
> > "Biden weak/orange clown strong" nonsense.
> >
> > "https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/10/opinion/putin-russia-ukraine.html"
> >
> > "How Vladimir Putin Lost Interest in the Present"
> >
> > "Mr. Putin spent the spring and summer of 2020 quarantining at his
> > residence in Valdai, approximately halfway between Moscow and St.
> > Petersburg. According to sources in the administration, he was
> > accompanied there by Yuri Kovalchuk. Mr. Kovalchuk, who is the largest
> > shareholder in Rossiya Bank and controls several state-approved media
> > outlets, has been Mr. Putin’s close friend and trusted adviser since the
> > 1990s. But by 2020, according to my sources, he had established himself
> > as the de facto second man in Russia, the most influential among the
> > president’s entourage.
> >
> > Mr. Kovalchuk has a doctorate in physics and was once employed by an
> > institute headed by the Nobel laureate Zhores Alferov. But he isn’t just
> > a man of science. He is also an ideologue, subscribing to a worldview
> > that combines Orthodox Christian mysticism, anti-American conspiracy
> > theories and hedonism. This appears to be Mr. Putin’s worldview, too.
> > Since the summer of 2020, Mr. Putin and Mr. Kovalchuk have been almost
> > inseparable, and the two of them have been making plans together to
> > restore Russia’s greatness.
> >
> > According to people with knowledge of Mr. Putin’s conversations with his
> > aides over the past two years, the president has completely lost
> > interest in the present: The economy, social issues, the coronavirus
> > pandemic, these all annoy him. Instead, he and Mr. Kovalchuk obsess over
> > the past. A French diplomat told me that President Emmanuel Macron of
> > France was astonished when Mr. Putin gave him a lengthy history lecture
> > during one of their talks last month. He shouldn’t have been surprised.
> >
> > In his mind, Mr. Putin finds himself in a unique historical situation in
> > which he can finally recover for the previous years of humiliation. In
> > the 1990s, when Mr. Putin and Mr. Kovalchuk first met, they were both
> > struggling to find their footing after the fall of the Soviet Union, and
> > so was the country. The West, they believe, took advantage of Russia’s
> > weakness to push NATO as close as possible to the country’s borders. In
> > Mr. Putin’s view, the situation today is the opposite: It is the West
> > that’s weak. The only Western leader that Mr. Putin took seriously was
> > Germany’s previous chancellor, Angela Merkel. Now she is gone and it’s
> > time for Russia to avenge the humiliations of the 1990s.
> >
> > It seems that there is no one around to tell him otherwise. Mr. Putin no
> > longer meets with his buddies for drinks and barbecues, according to
> > people who know him. In recent years — and especially since the start of
> > the pandemic — he has cut off most contacts with advisers and friends.
> > While he used to look like an emperor who enjoyed playing on the
> > controversies of his subjects, listening to them denounce one another
> > and pitting them against one another, he is now isolated and distant,
> > even from most of his old entourage.
> >
> > His guards have imposed a strict protocol: No one can see the president
> > without a week’s quarantine — not even Igor Sechin, once his personal
> > secretary, now head of the state-owned oil company Rosneft. Mr. Sechin
> > is said to quarantine for two or three weeks a month, all for the sake
> > of occasional meetings with the president."
> >
> > I'm repeating this part for anyone who missed it the first time:
> >
> > "The only Western leader that Mr. Putin took seriously was Germany’s
> > previous chancellor, Angela Merkel."
> >
> > https://news.yahoo.com/donald-trump-jr-tried-explain-101022672.html
> >
> > "Donald Trump Jr. now claims his father’s well-known affection toward
> > some of the world’s most brutal dictators was part of an elaborate act.
> >
> > “He knew exactly how to play these guys,” the son of former President
> > Donald Trump said in a new video. “And he played it like a fiddle.”"
> >
> > "Not everyone believed Jr.’s explanation that this was all part of a
> > ruse though:"
> >
> > "It’s Guilfoyle’s birthday, so Junior got into the party supplies early.
> > He claims that daddy only praised Putin and Kim because he was using
> > psychological warfare on them: “He knew exactly how to play these guys,
> > and he played them like a fiddle!”"
> >
> > "Trump made a habit of alienating U.S. allies, such as Canada, France
> > and Germany, while also cozying up to repressive dictators. He said he
> > “fell in love” with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. He repeatedly
> > praised and defended Russian President Vladimir Putin. And he called
> > himself a “big fan” of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan despite the Turkish despot’s
> > brutal crackdown on critics."
> > [snip]
> >
> > TB
> >
> >
> NYT opinion piece. About worth as much as the cost of that fish wrapper.
>
And every bit as good as the opinion of the one with Left wing Hillbilly moniker right Fido

Did you know Trump worshipers are mentally defective, that means you