Re: OT: Cracking Speech by JDV!

On Mon, 17 Feb 2025 21:31:58 +0100, Jeroen Belleman
<jeroen@nospam.please> wrote:

On 2/17/25 16:45, John Larkin wrote:

On Mon, 17 Feb 2025 12:39:19 +0100, Jeroen Belleman
<jeroen@nospam.please> wrote:
 

On 2/17/25 11:09, Liz Tuddenham wrote:

Bill Sloman <bill.sloman@ieee.org> wrote:
>

On 17/02/2025 5:17 am, Cursitor Doom wrote:

On Sun, 16 Feb 2025 10:10:26 +0000, liz@poppyrecords.invalid.invalid
(Liz Tuddenham) wrote:
>

Joe Gwinn <joegwinn@comcast.net> wrote:
>

On Sat, 15 Feb 2025 12:31:48 -0800, john larkin <JL@gct.com> wrote:
>

On Sat, 15 Feb 2025 10:53:37 -0700, Don Y
<blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> wrote:
>

On 2/15/2025 3:07 AM, Liz Tuddenham wrote: > It was clearly aimed at the
home market; he was supposed to be there to > talk about security in
Europe and never even mentioned Ukraine.  All
>
We (US) are governed by "entertainers", now more than ever.  It is the
nature of our "system" that we reward people who can win races instead
of govern.
>
And, all of them end up "old and gray" (or, oldER and BALD as is the
case of The Orange One) in the process.
>

that this speech has done is to turn most European countries against
the kind of ignorant, thuggish, self-serving America he represents.
Fortunately there are still many Americans who are not like that.

>
This is probably a good thing.  Unless you are Putin.  It's pretty clear
that Russia is a Potemkin power -- definitely not a "World Power".
>
The threat he poses is the threat ANY nation possessing nukes poses.
Care to make any guesses as to how many exist?  Or, *could* exist if
gifted the technology?
>

>
The big question about Russian missiles and nukes is, will they work?

>
The Russians know that their stuff isn't especially reliable, then and
now.  So they have always used lots of warheads, so at least one will
work.

>
Four of them came down in Romania last week - we haven't heard much
about that on the UK news.  Two were in Moldavia, close to the border,
so they might have been a mistake, but two more were well inside
Romania.

>
Perhaps if we hadn't breached the Minsk II Treaty and expanded NATO up
to Russia's doorstep, none of this ghastly mess would have happened in
the first place.

>
The Russian invasion of Ukraine is a reminder of why Russia's neighbours
were so keen to join NATO.
>
The ghastly mess is entirely driven by Russia's territorial ambitions.

>
...and the failure of the rest of the World to react to it strongly and
quickly enough.
>
>

>
Which would have triggered another world war.
>
I'm sorry for Ukraine, but they've committed a grave error
trying to snuggle up to NATO too early. It might have worked
if they'd waited another 50 years or so, or until relations
of Russia with the west had developed into solid mutual trust.
Unfortunately, that is now out of the question.
>
It's really a pity. For a while, it looked like it could
become a reality.
>
Jeroen Belleman

 
"The West" is seductive. People want fresh fruit, uncensored internet,
freedom of speech, genuine elections. Getting that isn't snuggling up
to NATO as much as it's becoming a modern country.
 
Putin needs a poor, ignorant, obedient, patriotic population, which is
why he calls "the West" - actually The Enlightenment - his enemy.
 

>
The order is important. Becoming a modern country comes before
becoming a member of NATO. (I still have doubts about Turkey.)
>
I'm convinced that Putin also wants a modern, economically
successful country, but above that, he wants to conserve its
sovereignty. Getting hemmed in by its traditional long-time
adversaries makes him understandably nervous.
>
The US makes *me* nervous. It's far too meddlesome and has a
track record of foul play.
>
Jeroen Belleman

European wars don't make me nervous. They have been so routine for so
many millenia that they are boring.

Too bad about the genocides. Lots of innocents have died.