scoobdog

That's fucking creepy.

Well anyway.... https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/24/politics/congress-democrats-reaction-ukraine-strategy/index.html Can't say I oppose this move given the climate of our legislature, but direct diplomacy better mean something along the lines of "Get the fuck out of Ukraine and Crimea and we don't put a Red Notice on Putin."

Populists tend to do that.

Well, they deserve to lose all their money then. I get pissed just thinking about that commercial, and I don't even hate Matt Damon that much.

I'm not answering that. The point is that your heart's in the right place, but your ideas are way off the map.

It's not like he was the only one. Here's the thing about Trump: regardless of what people think about him and his brand of bullshit, he will always lack a masterplan. He's a populist without any real ideology (other than his own cult of personality). What he attempted to do with Zelenskyy ultimately shows why he continues to be a paper tiger and why he doesn't represent a true renaissance of the American Facist.

I completely forgot what this thread was originally about.

At least for the shortest of times, Sawdy and I could agree on one thing in sports. Oh well.

Nah. Sponges really believes all of the Ukraine is going to collapse. I mean, i understand where he's coming from and I appreciate his sense of urgency, but he has a tendency to buy into his own pessimism. He tends to skew important conversations because of it. The worst thing about Trump winning the presidency is that Sponges felt like all his direst predictions were vindicated.

So.... We have a midlife crisis, we sit at home in our underwear watching Seinfeld reruns. He has a midlife crisis, he makes millions and kicks his supermodel wife to the curb. Shit ain't fair, I tell you what.

Zelenskyy is untouchable at this point. He was there for his country when they needed him, so he's earned their devotion. That doesn't mean he'll be President forever, but he's going to have a lot greater say in who gets to succeed him than Putin does. But I digress. Concerns about the GOP taking over aren't unfounded, not the least because it seems pretty clear that the one pulling the strings isn't the craven-but-stalwart McConnell anymore. We have a very unpredictable GOP base that's partially under the sway of a populist ideology that is lacking on fundamentals. They'll be effective at destroying government systems and institutions without having any real capability of building any of it back. If you want to be legitimately concerned about worst case scenarios, then you should definitely be concerned about how funding shortfalls will impact our own diplomatic concerns. For instance, lack of funding could create a situation where we resort to active military involvement in Haiti instead of a preferred humanitarian mission that leaves the government mostly uninvolved. To Sponges other point, it could also lead to us scaling back our NATO involvement at a time when being more actively involved in that would act as a deterrent for incursion on Europe by other bad actors. It's not a simple matter of the GOP simply defunding our military because we all know that won't happen. It's a matter of how the funding is utilized.

That’s because he knows he’s only losing an arm and a leg.

Nope

I had no idea electric sitars were a thing.

Maybe he came back just to fuck with Gisele. She’s almost as annoying as he is.

Not even close. But momentum has shifted.

I agree it would be, but that’s not the argument. It’s simple: will Putin succeed in annexing the entirety of Ukraine if the Republicans cut off all funding? No. He may permanently hold on to the parts of Ukraine if we cut off all funding, so that is a valid concern. But, his reputation and that of his military suffered immensely because of the failed invasion regardless of what happens.

It is not a real possibility based solely on the premise of the GOP cutting all funding (which is by no means a likelihood). We’re not the only ones supplying arms and, should we stop, the Ukrainian military doesn’t suddenly become disarmed. Overstating the danger is as problematic as understating it.

In keeping with this topic… how do you sequence Putin taking over all of Ukraine?

No, it wasn’t considered impossible. Unlikely, yes, but there was plenty of warnings in polling data about Hilary not connecting with voters. Predicting wildly fantastic scenarios with no statistical underpinnings is not something to take serious.

His post is utterly ridiculous

BI;dr

Sponges might be the Left’s secret weapon.

As if there wasn’t one of those just the other day…

The pound took a nose dive because she wanted to give rich people a tax cut.