Ukraine Stirrings

Date
Canonical
29466
Archive
29466 [history]
Categories
Badder Thoughts

Last Friday, the ruler of Germany got on a plane and flew to Washington, then took a car service to the White House for a private meeting with Joe Biden. He was not accompanied by German media. After the meeting, the White House issued a one paragraph summary of the meeting. There was a brief media show after the meeting and then Scholz got back on a plane to Berlin. Regime media then issued the usual agit-prop about the collective West’s commitment to victory.

The whole thing was extremely bizarre, even by current standards. Normally when a  head of state visits Washington, they bring their media to cover it. They typically bring some of their most important citizens to meet Washington officials. Often, the visiting head of state will stay the night in the White House, even if there is no official state dinner on the agenda. The trip is finished off by a press conference in which state media from both countries put on a show.

One interpretation of this bizarre event is that Scholz was summoned to the imperial capital so he could be reminded that Washington would not think twice about regime changing him and the other flunkies in his government. The German political class may be craven and obsequious, but they are not so stupid as to not understand what is going on with the war on Russia. A year on and none of the predictions from Washington have turned out to be accurate.

The reason that the promise of new super tanks for Ukraine has fallen apart is the Germans cannot scrape up enough of them. The reason for that is the internal resistance in Germany to supplying what is left of German weapons. This is not just a German problem, but it is signaling to the other EU counties that it is probably a good idea to not give the store away. This meeting could have been a warning to Scholz about what happens when you defy the empire.

Alternatively, Scholz could have been dispatched to deliver a secret message to Washington on behalf of Europe. Given the shabby state of things in the West, the only way to make sure such a message was not leaked to the world would be to hand deliver it in the White House. Scholz met privately with Biden for one hour. This means no one can be sure what was said in that meeting. Most likely, Biden had his key handlers there to receive the message from Scholz.

A third option is that Scholz was summoned so that Washington could confirm that it was Washington that ordered the bombing of the gas lines. What followed the meeting was a claim laundered through regime media that it was the Ukrainians that bombed the Nord Stream pipelines. The absurdity of the claim notwithstanding, this could be misdirection to give Scholz some cover. Maybe the disclosure came with some promises to help in other areas.

A fourth option is that Washington is planning to expand the war to include China, with the excuse being the claim that China is selling arms to Russia. China is a vital trading partner for Germany. Scholz recently met with the Chinese and issued Washington supplied statements about the consequences of selling arms to Russia. This secret meeting could be part of some backdoor discussion with China or about looming sanctions on China over support for Russia.

On the other hand, the Germans have been increasingly restless about the progress in the war, so this meeting could have been a warning to Washington. The German economy is in a precarious state due to sanctions. Europe avoided an energy crisis this winter because they stocked up on Russian gas. That buffer is now gone, which means a looming energy crisis this year. Put another way, time is running out on Washington’s scheme to defeat the Russians and steal their resources.

There are also the events on the battlefield. The Russians have encircled the strategic town of Bakhmut. This is the linchpin to what is called the Zelensky line. If this town falls, then the line of contact moves rapidly west. It would also rule out any possibility of counter attacking this spring. There were reports that the Ukrainians were abandoning the town, but then Zelensky changed course again. Now there are reports of new units with new Western gear being thrown into the cauldron.

Clearly, Washington is calling the shots in Kiev, so this change of plan in Bakhmut could mean there is some new escalation planned. That could be why Scholz was called in for a private briefing. Maybe the Poles will be sent into the Western part of Ukraine in order to bring supply lines closer to the front. Currently, the Ukrainian army is supplied through Poland using rail lines. Having the Poles set up forward bases in Ukraine shortens the supply lines.

That would also put NATO troops near the front. The Russians have been attacking the rail system and power grid all over Ukraine. Would they attack those rail depots knowing that they are full of Polish troops? That could give the Kagan cult the excuse to launch World War III. It sounds insane, but this is what happens when you have a Bronze Age death cult running imperial policy. No matter how insane the idea, they are willing to consider it in pursuit of their goal.

The final possibility is that we are seeing the start of the end game. Unless Washington is prepared to get directly involved in the war, there is no other possible outcome for Ukraine than defeat. The question is how to manage this so that Western governments experience the least amount of agony. Given how Western politics is driven by narrative, this meeting may signal the start of a new narrative to explain what is looking like the inevitable demise of Ukraine.

If you like my work and wish to kick in a few bucks, you can buy me a beer. You can sign up for a SubscribeStar subscription and get some extra content. You can donate via PayPal. My crypto addresses are here for those who prefer that option. You can send gold bars to: Z Media LLC P.O. Box 432 Cockeysville, MD 21030-0432. Thank you for your support!

Promotions: We have a new addition to the list. The Pepper Cave produces exotic peppers, pepper seeds and plants, hot sauce and seasonings. Their spice infused salts are a great add to the chili head spice armory.

Above Time Coffee Roasters are a small, dissident friendly company that roasts its own coffee and ships all over the country. They actually roast the beans themselves based on their own secret coffee magic. If you like coffee, buy it from these folks as they are great people who deserve your support.

Havamal Soap Works is the maker of natural, handmade soap and bath products. If you are looking to reduce the volume of man-made chemicals in your life, all-natural personal products are a good start.

Minter & Richter Designs makes high-quality, hand-made by one guy in Boston, titanium wedding rings for men and women and they are now offering readers a fifteen percent discount on purchases if you use this link. If you are headed to Boston, they are also offering my readers 20% off their 5-star rated Airbnb.  Just email them directly to book at sa@******************ns.com.

To keep Z Man's voice alive for future generations, we’ve archived his writings from the original site at thezman.com. We’ve edited out ancillary links, advertisements, and donation requests to focus on his written content.

Comments (Historical)

The comments below were originally posted to thezman.com.

188 Comments

Rational people #344943 March 9, 2023 8:35 am 0
“It sounds insane, but this is what happens when you have a Bronze Age death cult running imperial policy.” Thank you.
Steve retiredrecovering lawyer #344940 March 9, 2023 6:33 am 0
The possibilities are endless! About those German tanks, though, I seem to recall that well before the Russo-Ukraine “Special Military Operation” began, it was common knowledge that Germany’s tanks were largely inoperable due to lack of maintenance resulting from inadequate budgeting. Something like 90% of the entire tank corps was not capable of ready deployment.
Pozymandias #344926 March 8, 2023 7:28 pm 0
Something tells me this is not too far off the “planning” at “Biden House” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_h4DZeBleLs
LineInTheSand #344906 March 8, 2023 4:39 pm 0
Off topic. The word “humiliation” has come up in two posts and it immediately made me think of the recent articles promoting Michelle Obama as a potential candidate for President. I don’t want to see that sullen, scowling face on the cover of every magazine again.It reminds me of 2008, after Obama’s first victory. Immigration was my issue and the fact that McCain was the Republican candidate, after many amnesty defeats that the elites believed were a done deal, did a lot to radicalize me.Suddenly, Michelle was on the cover of every magazine and everyone agreed that she was the most beautiful woman who had ever existed. I remember it as a surreal time.
Jeffrey Zoar #344912 March 8, 2023 5:19 pm 0
The Biden administration’s top down promotion of transexuality does lend more credence to the idea that it is in fact the 3rd Obama admin. The Obamas probably figured that they couldn’t get away with pushing it too hard when their face was on it. Only Nixon could go to China and whatnot. I wonder if she will ever come out. Not if she wants to be president. Maybe after.
Hemid #344915 March 8, 2023 5:41 pm 0
Humiliation is everything. Today’s viral video in conservative world is a white woman who doesn’t work for Walgreen’s yelling at some other white woman from shoplifting form Walgreen’s. Demographic considerations aside, this is conservatives defending Corporate America™, their enemy unto death—literal enemy unto literal death. “Normies” exist only to satisfy the sadism of their masters.
Ostei Kozelskii #344917 March 8, 2023 5:58 pm 0
I struggle to remember a time before the Surreal Age.
Epaminondas #344927 March 8, 2023 7:31 pm 0
Try to wrap your mind around growing up in the fifties. I did. Somehow, I’ve retained my sanity.
dr_mantis_toboggan_md #344903 March 8, 2023 4:11 pm 0
There are a lot of odd signs out of the regime. Recently, the order went out to eliminate unit markings from the U.S. Air Force’s Military Airlift Command due to operational security. These are transport and tanker aircraft that are vital to any war, but are never supposed to be in harm’s way. If one of the C-130s I used to fly or a KC-135 was in visual range of a foe, we’re dead anyhow. The only way to survive on a modern battlefield with a C-130 was to fly nap of the Earth (so low you collect tree branches) and pray you weren’t spotted either by radar (fat chance) or IR.For years, our transports had a gaudy gray/white scheme that was later omitted in favor of a “European One” scheme that was lots of dark greens and grays. It was too hot in tropical climes more likely for operations and replaced by the same dull gray that coats every other U.S. aircraft.It makes wonder what is going on inside the regime.
Hemid #344907 March 8, 2023 4:44 pm 0
Every modern military knows every movement of every other modern military, so concealing plane IDs means concealing them from civilians, i.e., us.
george 1 #344908 March 8, 2023 4:59 pm 0
False flag preparation?
ProZNoV #344933 March 8, 2023 8:57 pm 0
Pure speculation: US Military proudly displaying country of origin insignia at NATO bases in Europe are easy pickings for small arms fire when parked on the tarmac, even in anti-gun Europe. This won’t seriously damage an aircraft like a C-130, but it will add a great deal of “friction” for routine use. Thinking that US Gov isn’t as beloved in Europe after blowing up their energy supplies.
krustykurmudgeon #344901 March 8, 2023 4:06 pm 0
this is a topic that i’m interested in and i hope you guys are too. Are you guys familiar with “new urbanism”? I’m someone who has become interested in the idea because I find there to be a very unnatural aspect to the traffic and sensory overload of big box stores and fast food restaurants.But I’ve heard that new urbanism can be a false solution too. I was looking at an old unz thread from 2017 and one of the posters (intelligent dasein) is talking about a new urbanism community in colorado called Bradbury Village:https://www.terrain.org/unsprawl/22/the commenter says:BEGINNING OF QUOTEIt’s a wreck. This neighborhood is impossible to either walk or drive through. The streets are ridiculously narrow, with those serving the townhouses at the northern perimeter (they call them mews) being effectively single lanes, and those in the interior meeting at frustratingly off-kilter, 4-way intersections. Many of the houses have no street access whatsoever and are only accessible via back alleys. For a so-called walkable neighborhood, there is no consistency for the pedestrian. The sidewalk varies from being nonexistent, to a grassy reservation, to a bike path, to (as Stan mentioned) a slab of concrete, punctuated by caged trees and benches, sandwiched in between the building facade and the fake cobblestone thoroughfare. The central park is surrounded by a maddening, rectilinear roundabout, the principal effect of which is to make sure that none of the other streets are through-streets. It is a real challenge simply getting from one side of this place to the other.I’ve never been in a neighborhood that induced such a palpable sense of panic and a desire to get the hell out of there. Even the housing projects and the gritty tenements of the old town have more human warmth than this. They are at least comprehensible in their poverty, and even their brutal Soviet monolithosity contains a recognizable element of care for their working class habitues. By contrast, Bradburn looks like mental ward turned inside out. These structures are going to age horribly and will have to be completely repurposed as the pattern of living they impose becomes unsustainable.END QUOTEIs this one of those things that trying to have it both ways is the worst. I’m almost to the point where new urbanism can only work if you ban cars from the premises which I don’t think is a great idea. I think that to get rid of traffic there should be a limit to the number of cars on a road – but that could just end up being a technocratic nightmare.
LineInTheSand #344914 March 8, 2023 5:36 pm 0
Krusty, the best interpretation of “walkable cities” is that they recreate ancient European villages, which foster a sense of community, support local businesses, and are far gentler on the environment.The worst interpretation is that that want to force you to be a bug with no personal property or means of escape. I’m pretty sure that our elites won’t ever live in walkable communities, except possibly as one of many vacation homes.I lived in Portland, OR in the 90s, in a funky little neighborhood where I could walk to everything. There were many brew pubs, book stores, restaurants, and an old movie theaters showing cult films, as well as a Safeway and Fred Meyer. And single women. This is probably the best example there can be.However, I found that there was always some guy blasting his stereo or a loud group outside when I wanted quiet. I just couldn’t do it again. I need quiet and open space daily.There are city and country folk. I am country folk. I’m told that there is a play by Aristophanes that found humor in this temperamental difference back in ancient times.
ProZNoV #344934 March 8, 2023 9:00 pm 0
This, exactly. Amsterdam is the poster child of “walkable” neighborhoods. Won’t ever be recreated in the US for many reasons. Crime and the failure to address it, mostly. But also the inability to self segregate and have freedom of association via de facto exclusion.
Evil Sandmich #344942 March 9, 2023 8:18 am 0
Just ignoring the high-minded arguments for a moment, that looks like a property developer cooked up a scheme to further reduce the footprint of houses in Colorado by getting rid of the garage and telling home buyers that the lack of this feature is a good thing.
Bilejones #344895 March 8, 2023 3:48 pm 0
The Doran guys did a two hour plus piece with Brian Berletic and Gonzalo Lira and looked at this yesterday. Starting about 55 min’s in or thereabout iirc they look at if this meeting was the start of the switch to China: Zelenski can’t control his own people, doesn’t do as he’s told, China is the real threat, move along now. Whole thing’s worth a listen if you’ve got a drive. https://theduran.locals.com/post/3632554/bakhmut-heats-up-w-brian-berletic-and-gonzalo-lira-live
Mr C #344886 March 8, 2023 2:34 pm 0
Mexican cartels captured four of our best and brightest. They ended up killing two of them. Have they finally found the GAE’s red line? Half joking, but I could actually see this escalating.
The Wild Geese Howard #344898 March 8, 2023 3:51 pm 0
I’d be surprised if they have enough operators left to make a real run at the cartels.
George 1 #344879 March 8, 2023 1:57 pm 0
Well that didn’t take long.https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/wartime-scenario-unfolds-taiwan-suspects-chinese-ships-cut-undersea-internet-cables
Gespenst #344930 March 8, 2023 7:59 pm 0
Somebody, probably Our Regime, recently set a precedent for wrecking undersea infrastructure. They might have opened Pandora’s can of worms.
Greater Lagos resident #344861 March 8, 2023 12:45 pm 0
I look forward to these essays and shows and, at $5/month, they’re maybe 30 cents per? A good deal for me. Also I like to think that, as best I can, I’m not looking for a handout — i.e. I’m not an Equity or reparations recipient.
c matt #344856 March 8, 2023 12:32 pm 0
Scholz met privately with Biden for one hour. This means no one can be sure what was said in that meeting. Most likely, Biden had his key handlers there to receive the message from Scholz. I would hope so. Otherwise Baiden would f*ck it up.
Enoch Cade #344854 March 8, 2023 12:25 pm 0
Strictly my two cents, but I think Z’s last line explains it. They’re shaping a new “narrative” to explain how the Russians stomped NATO’s ass into the raspusitza.
Jeffrey Zoar #344882 March 8, 2023 2:17 pm 0
I don’t think that’s the way narrative shaping is usually done. Heads of state are told what the narrative is, by their strategists and think tanks who have already worked it out amongst themselves. Nor would narrative shaping about something that is already decided require a personal meeting.And as long as the Russians remain well east of the Dnieper, and not in possession of Kharkov, they are not forced to acknowledge much in the way of Russian success.I don’t pretend to know what the subject of the meeting was, but there aren’t many things that could require it be done face to face. Moreover, there is no secrecy in the White House, the whole place is bugged, so it would probably have to be a written message that Scholz needed an immediate answer to.
Evil Sandmich #344887 March 8, 2023 2:38 pm 0
Hmm, maybe some variation of “Are you going to war with Russia? Yes/No” Something more subtle though; soon GAE will need to implement either a de-escalation path or an escalation path in response to events. An outside observer could be forgiven for thinking the latter option is what they’re going with despite it’s lack of feasibility.
Alzaebo #344850 March 8, 2023 12:13 pm 0
Well, the good news is Tucker had the Regime anchors up on their desks, on all fours, barking like foam-flecked Schnauzers! Can’t take their own medicine, it seems.” a Bronze Age death cult”Exactly. Exactly. Accusing others of what one is doing to seize the moral high ground. Those poor Molochites had ground they wanted as a base to raid next door.
AnotherAnon #344862 March 8, 2023 12:48 pm 0
Julie Kelly tweeted [to media] something to the effect “Show me on the doll where the Shaman hurt you”.
AnotherAnon #344846 March 8, 2023 12:03 pm 0
Washington has recently shifted from denial to a limited hangout construct about Nordstream – just before Shultz’s visit there were stories circulated blaming it on Ukraine and no one denied anything. It sounds like something is about to come out and DC is struggling to keep a lid on it.Interesting speculation on Zman’s China angle. Germany really can’t afford to irritate China – they sell more vehicles to China than the US at this point. Of course the whole point of the Ukraine exercise is to keep Russia and Germany from achieving any kind of trade alliance – from Vladivostok to Lisbon, as Putin put it in 2001 or so.This may not pertain to this instance, but for years, it’s been rumored there is some kind of financial info on Schultz that has never been exploited and it makes him vulnerable. Maybe something’s cracking from within the SPD/Green coalition.It also appears that Biden’s given the green light to Color Revolutioning Bibi Netanyahu.
Alzaebo #344851 March 8, 2023 12:18 pm 0
An expat in Germany says Germany never actually stopped buying Russian gas; we worried that Europe was going to freeze this winter, remember? We are in a house of mirrors.
Steve #345125 March 9, 2023 6:07 pm 0
Correct, Alzaebo. The West is buying Russian gas from middle men in India and China. At 4x times the normal price
honky tonk hero #344845 March 8, 2023 12:01 pm 0
Btw, Bronze Age Death Cult is playing the Mercury Lounge this Friday.
karl von hungus #344836 March 8, 2023 11:41 am 0
found a video from Hun, at his job;https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2hwqn9
Hun #344853 March 8, 2023 12:23 pm 0
All of this is futile!
Bartleby the Scrivner #344866 March 8, 2023 12:59 pm 0
No it isn’t!…….
Hun #344869 March 8, 2023 1:02 pm 0
Yes it is! This isn’t even an argument!
Range Front Fault #344878 March 8, 2023 1:52 pm 0
Good God! You’re both a couple of bronze age death cult sympathizing, hysterical girlie-victim puss arses, pre-boomers, sniveling rat-faced gits! Arguments indeed! Well, Damn and Bugger! This is the Abuse Department. The Argument Department is closed. Nobody can think anymore to have a good argument. Don’t fuss at me about peoples’ shriveling brains. Go argue with Ed Dutton!
Jeffrey Zoar #344832 March 8, 2023 11:27 am 0
Coming and going the same day lets us safely assume the trip was Scholz’s idea. It points to not all being sunshine and rainbows in the US-Germany relationship. On Scholz’s part, we are looking at either spinal fortitude or petulance. At this point, after all that has happened, it seems almost unbelievable that German leadership has grown a spine where before it was an invertebrate. Either way, you figure if Scholz doesn’t assert some independence from GAE now, after he’s been in office for 14 months, then he never, ever will.Scholz has no children, so there’s no chance he was rushing home to catch his daughter’s piano recital.
george 1 #344818 March 8, 2023 10:56 am 0
Hoping against hope, that Scholz told Biden, that the China part is a bridge too far. That the U.S. had better come up with another plan.
Evil Sandmich #344888 March 8, 2023 2:44 pm 0
… is a bridge too farBiden: “Say Scholz-y baby, that reference sounds familiar, but the memory isn’t what it used to be, you know what it’s referencing?”
Costa #344814 March 8, 2023 10:46 am 0
“..but this is what happens when you have a Bronze Age death cult running imperial policy” Z knows about the Phoenicians! I love it!
Alzaebo #344855 March 8, 2023 12:32 pm 0
Err…not ezzackly. T’was a bit more complicated after the Collapse.
Alzaebo #344858 March 8, 2023 12:35 pm 0
Aww, dammit. Ya got me. Good satire. He scores!His enemies cower before him.
ArthurinCali #344807 March 8, 2023 10:35 am 0
“A fourth option is that Washington is planning to expand the war to include China, with the excuse being the claim that China is selling arms to Russia.” This would be the worst of all options and would signal that our ruling class finally lost all sanity. The quiet part not often said out loud is that we do not have a full mission capable military at the moment. China is not a 3rd world backwater country. She is a near-peer adversary who would treat a conflict as an existential war.
george 1 #344824 March 8, 2023 11:07 am 0
China is usually diplomatically very subtle with their statements. Z man has noted this. When they start talking about being open allies with Russia and that they consider the U.S. to be an “adversary” then these imbeciles in Washington should pay attention. Also what moron would outright tell the Chinese that they are forbidden to send aid to Russia. That statement guarantees that China is going to be sending military supplies to Russia. Either there is no one in the administration with two functioning brain cells, or these sociopaths really do want humanity extinguished.
JerseyJeffersonian #344833 March 8, 2023 11:38 am 0
The Chinese will be sending weaponry to Ukraine in limited numbers for some real time beta testing. In view of the likelihood that they need to know how it works when “Joe Biden” gets around to doing something overtly aggressive.
ArthurinCali #344859 March 8, 2023 12:42 pm 0
george1, As Z Man stated, they may well be acting like a ‘Bronze Age Death Cult.’ Woe on us if they take that route.
Alzaebo #344902 March 8, 2023 4:08 pm 0
The death of the world, the Fall of the Ehdeen, the Garden, is what birthed them; it is baked into their flesh and bones.Yet, we were wrong; oddly, and I will not explain, they are Hell’s attempt at…reform. As would a herd of bison run, and run, seeking to escape the biting fly larvae digging into their backs.Yet! It was a chance comment by Apex that informed us of our error. A glimmer, a crack in black glass, offering a glimpse of broad, bright hope, of an impossibility beyond the the impossible.That Hell itself, as important to the ecological design as the microbial layer, may be tamed; might be…reformed. That we were wrong in our efforts.Forgive me. I cannot contain my exhuberance. Understand that I and mine are irredeemably mad.But such mad hope!So bright the goal!
Alzaebo #344920 March 8, 2023 6:17 pm 0
Ha! Not for us, most certainly not for us. If there is any mercy at all in this wide universe, our afterlife will be but brief and desperate moments.Still, our joy is unrestrained.
Stranger in a Strange Land #344804 March 8, 2023 10:30 am 0
Whether Germany, Ukraine, Poland, et al, it is, as always, dangerous to have the GAE as an enemy – but it can be deadly to have it as a friend. This is particularly so with a geriatric moron pretending to drive the krazy kar.
Allen #344803 March 8, 2023 10:30 am 0
I would be very interested in seeing what’s going on behind the front in Russian controlled territory. Things such as are the kids in school, what do the stores look like, the everyday existence of people in the area. If, as I suspect, it is going fairly well for the average person the war is essentially over in those portions of Ukraine. The question then becomes what do the rest of the Ukrainian people start to do? No matter how hard you try you can never prevent people from finding out what it’s like on the other side.
NoLaughingMatter #344819 March 8, 2023 10:56 am 0
“I would be very interested in seeing what’s going on behind the front in Russian controlled territory.”Let’s try this thought experiment. The Ukrainians are not randomly shelling, say in the fashion of a certain nation, to kill some, and terrorize all in the eastern territories. As they have reportedly been since 2014.So perhaps the death of half a million Iraqi children, make that Ukrainian children from these places, won’t have to be bragged about being ‘worth it’ as was the case recently by a formerly high-ranking woman now moldering in the grave, maggots eating her worm-tongue first, to prepare her for her marriage to Satan.So there’s that to consider.
george 1 #344909 March 8, 2023 5:13 pm 0
Yes. Spit on her grave. “Worth it” indeed. To her and her ilk, I am sure it was.
Dr. Dre #344922 March 8, 2023 6:23 pm 0
What I have noticed re: wondering if normal life goes on in Russia, is that the high-end international cruise ship lines that ply the Baltic in the summertime, like Regent or Oceania, which used to have as a two or three day highlight of a ten-day cruise, is that they no longer stop at St. Petersburg, Russia. Stopping in ports like Klaipeda, Lithuania or Riga, Latvia, while interesting, don’t quite cut it. The cruise lines all took it in the shorts during the pandemic. Haven’t heard yet how this current fracas has affected them, but what a sorry mess this is.
Franklymydear #344928 March 8, 2023 7:39 pm 0
I weep for the immobile, larded Normies that congregate on cruise ships. Oh, the humanity! I am sure they are safe in the knowledge they are ‘making a difference’ during their time scarfing shrimp at the buffet and talking about their only three life topics: their health; their money; and sportsball.
TomA #344790 March 8, 2023 10:05 am 0
The impromptu meeting between Scholtz and Biden is an early indicator that the wheels are beginning to come off. Every attempt to lure Russia into a stupid escalation or emotion-driven mistake has failed. They aren’t taking the bait, and therefore the next stupid move now has to be made by the Biden Administration (which likely pisses off the Kagans because its becoming clear to everyone how evil they are). The true worst-case scenario is that Dementia Joe “accidentally” starts WW3 and the nukes start flying. And there are clearly no adults left in DC who could (or would) stop him before its too late.This problem is ours to solve, and ideally the best time is post collapse when the fog is thickest. But if Joe’s handlers insist upon initiating nuclear Armageddon, the messy option may become a necessity. God help us.
Alzaebo #344896 March 8, 2023 3:48 pm 0
Your points are entirely valid; it is the question of the physical units- of the bodies- which vexes us also. Yet, before the fog, the System we are under is designed precisely to prevent spontaneous action; after the fog, there are so many hostiles who are highly organized, precisely to take advantage of it. We cannot get in front, we must not be behind.
Bourbon #344905 March 8, 2023 4:27 pm 0
On the question of stupidity, I’m sitting here looking at this breaking news item, and wondering whether it represents Peak Klownworld:WWE in talks with state gambling regulators to legalize betting on scripted match resultsCNBC | 3/8/2023 | Alex Shermanhttps://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4136669/postsIt’s certainly Idiocracy incarnate.And its Free Republic item number, “4136669”, has a string of “666” in it [which, on /pol/, would be considered by the schizos to represent heap bad mojo].I suppose the cynics could argue that with Meyer Lansky Inc controlling the officiating crews, every sporting match [for roughly the last 75 or 80 years] has been scripted.Still, though, betting on fake wrestling?!?!?SMDHing…I wonder what Pete Rose has to say about it?Wikipedia seems to think he’s still alive.
The Wild Geese Howard #344935 March 8, 2023 9:21 pm 0
I don’t see any issue with betting on the WWE. All other GAE pro sports leagues clearly aim for scripted outcomes.
Mycale #344936 March 8, 2023 9:54 pm 0
I don’t see how anyone could have sat through the last round of NFL playoff games and not come away with the idea that this sport is, at best, marginally less scripted than the WWE. The big sports leagues and the gambling operations are OFFICIALLY partners, and you know what that means.
Wkathman #344784 March 8, 2023 9:55 am 0
The only Ukraine* news I read is from Zman. The reason I don’t get better informed about the situation is because I can’t do anything about it. Like virtually everything else in the larger world, it’s pointless for me to invest my energy in the conflict in Ukraine. I could say I hope that the war accelerates to a resolution sooner than later with as little loss of life as possible . . . but what good does hope really do? Detachment seems the most prudent course.*I trust nothing that the Global American Empire or mainstream Western media tell us about Ukraine. They’re all lying scoundrels far more often than not.
3g4me #344852 March 8, 2023 12:21 pm 0
Wkathman: A thousand upvotes. There is nothing I can do about any of this, so why spend my time worrying? I’m truly sorry for the Ukrainians and I detest the Kagan kult exulting in seeing Whites kill Whites, but my opinion counts for nothing. I trust Zman’s reporting on this and that’s enough for me.Detachment seems the most prudent course on most of the day’s ills. Some are all excited about the US primary season – since I don’t vote and think it makes minimal difference who is installed, I don’t care. Others think hints of secession are encouraging – check in with the Whites in Buckhead, Georgia. Population replacement in Texas combined with complacent and corrupt repukes will ensure no genuine independence movement. I’m moving out of Texas anyhow, so I don’t pay it any mind.Look out for yourself and your family first. Help other based Whites when and where you can. Avoid everyone else whenever possible. I’ve warned my husband, as he continues to share pictures of our new property with various ‘friends,’ that if/when any of them decide to show up unannounced, they’ll be met with a locked gate and a loaded . . . deterrence device. There’s no gate installed as yet, but since most would be hard pressed to even find our driveway, I’m not too worried.
LineInTheSand #344889 March 8, 2023 2:51 pm 0
3g, I always enjoy hearing about your progress in escaping your current situation. Once you’ve made the move, I will miss your observations about Texas, “population replacement with complacent and corrupt repukes.”I also like hearing about your interactions with your husband because it’s the opposite of normal. Usually, it’s the man who tries to coax his woman towards more radical politics, without scaring her. I was able to do that with my ex-wife. (As far as I can tell, she left me for other reasons 🙂 We listened to Covington’s books together. But, as you say, “I’ve warned my husband.”
3g4me #344919 March 8, 2023 6:11 pm 0
Line – Thanks for the kind words. On the one hand yes – I have warned my husband. On the other hand, he IS the head of the household. We’ve disagreed in the past on who to help if we had the means – in so many ways he’s a better person than I am. But I think my cynicism helps temper his innate goodness. Not that he’s a Pollyanna or pushover, but he cuts people a lot more slack than I do.We’ve both been ‘radicalized’ quite a bit in the past 5-10 years. The more I read and share with him and the more we debate/discuss things, the more he mulls things over. He has shed an enormous amount of his resistance, but he is also not one to make snap decisions and takes his time thinking about the bigger issues and ramification of choices.The fact that we’re moving rural (in a matter of weeks) is a HUGE accommodation on his part, and indicates his acceptance that we need to be proactive about what we see coming in the next 5-10 years – in our immediate area, as well as nation and worldwide. Of course, he’s always been one willing to try something different with me or break from the herd.And I’ll still be able to provide Texas anecdotes as – at least initially – he’ll be traveling back for work every 10-12 weeks. It will be interesting to notice changes over that time frame as they occur.I’m sorry your marriage didn’t work out. I know I’ve been truly blessed with mine. I am not always easy to live with, but neither am I a domestic termagant. I will forcefully share my political opinions, and I’m not the usual airhead woman who is ‘scared’ by reality, but I definitely do not wear the pants in the family, nor would I want to.
MiguelinID #344938 March 8, 2023 11:32 pm 0
Congrats on making the move a reality. I made a similar move with the wife and escaped the West Coast for the Great Redoubt of North Idaho. There’s something special about having your “neighbor” a half-mile down the road telling you he can’t wait to hear the sweet sound of your new AR-10 in the morning. Different living. Better living. There is no greater joy than re-discovering the life skills lost (or in some cases, never found) after too many years behind a computer screen in San Francisco and Portland. Biggest first thing to be mindful of with your new property — mind the potential threats from wildfire (wind, slope, tree density) and work to mitigate that. Next, mind where the water settles and flows and learn to harness that.
karl von hungus #344916 March 8, 2023 5:44 pm 0
just tell your husband “don’t show anyone you’ll regret shooting in the face, dear”.
Captain Willard #344781 March 8, 2023 9:51 am 0
“So far this winter however the number of heating degree days at Frankfurt in Germany, a proxy for the Northwest Europe macro region, has been around 8% lower than the ten-year average.” (source: Reuters 3/5/2023)We can only guess what would have happened with a cold winter. It’s hard to question Biden’s luck.I think Zman covered all the bases here. I lean toward the “warning” – Scholz threatened to resign if the US forces trade/finance sanctions on China. Germany would face a certain severe recession if they cut off trade with China. Scholz would be better off resigning rather than implementing these sanctions, especially in the wake of Nordstream fiasco.Meanwhile, it’s nearly inconceivable that the BND doesn’t know the truth about what happened to the Nordstream. They almost certainly cooperated, or at least were given the “heads up” by the perpetrators and didn’t object. Scholz probably asked Biden for a cover story to help him out. Scholz apparently learned nothing from the whole Tony Blair episode.
JerseyJeffersonian #344840 March 8, 2023 11:49 am 0
Today’s European comprador “elites” think only of The Current Thing; expecting that these debased bargain basement continual revolution Trotskyites would learn from an example even as recent, and as glaring as the past actions of Blair and ilk is waste effort.
Augustine #344778 March 8, 2023 9:46 am 0
“The final possibility is that we are seeing the start of the end game. Unless Washington is prepared to get directly involved in the war, there is no other possible outcome for Ukraine than defeat. The question is how to manage this so that Western governments experience the least amount of agony. Given how Western politics is driven by narrative, this meeting may signal the start of a new narrative to explain what is looking like the inevitable demise of Ukraine.”I pray that this is the one. Coincidentally, why was Tucker allowed to release *any* of the damaging footage of J6? It can’t be just to discredit Tucker. Is it possible that some of the oligarchs are regaining sanity? Maybe someone realizes that it is time to throw the current political “leadership” under the bus and hang the J6 and Ukraine fiascos around their necks. The grift must continue! Probably wishful thinking but would be the best we can hope for.
Alzaebo #344872 March 8, 2023 1:04 pm 0
I note that dynastic change is marked by a show of force: who’s the mean doggie not to be messed with.My gen is mired in the biggest Build Back Better, WWll, when the gameboard was reset, and then JFK, when the new boss came to town.The Zman is right about the Clinton regime: when the fireflies in the DC bottle signaled each other that they could get away with anything.This is when the natives, all American, not Chosen, decided they agreed to the new rules of the board. They were eager to play and betray, rule #1. They had embraced the foreign values of Gangster culture.The show of force was Waco, with false flag Murrah Building OKC driving the point home. Agencies in a turf war could spill over into Normieland.The last Cold War mummies expired under Pappy’s curation; the Bush-Clinton-Bush dynasty gave us Dubya’s false flag 9/11 Patriot Act Order, then was usurped itself by Silicon Valley Praetorians lifting a Clinton underling on their shields- Obama overthrew his former boss Hillary. His show of force was the Mortgage Meltdown.Biden’s debut was Covid; as the regime totters, what show of force will announce the next short-lived Emperor?
Eloi #344874 March 8, 2023 1:10 pm 0
The reason for the J6 footage is simple: further rubbing our noses in their shenanigans. On Twitter and here, several seem to expect that this will result in some radical upheaval. No it won’t. Schumacher is not feeling the heat. No one will be in trouble. This revelation is just another brick in the wall.
roo_ster #344776 March 8, 2023 9:46 am 0
1. Z is doing his level best not to name names.Kagan Kultists, Bronze Age Death Cultists, euphemism after euphemism not to mention the smollhats. I guess it is like the geneticist crowd no longer mentioning race, but instead Populations and Groups (that just happen to coincide with race). These days folks need a code book to read political commentary and many scientific articles.2. I suspect that Russia is no longer in it for the long haul in Ukraine, but the LONG haul.Meaning that Russia would have been happy with the Donbass, a land bridge to Crimea, and maybe Odessa & Kharkov. Then (after the Russian coup de main failed up by Kiev) maybe up to the east bank of the Dnieper River+Odessa. But (given western mouth-foaming psychopathy & persistence) I think Russia may have designs on grinding through the west bank of the Dnieper and forcibly demilitarizing it up to Poland, Romania, etc. because allowing NATO to build up yet another army in Rump Ukraine west of the Dnieper will not be acceptable to the Russians.
Wkathman #344792 March 8, 2023 10:09 am 0
I suspect Zman tiptoes around identifying the ethnic/religious group that has a disproportionately outsized influence on these affairs because he doesn’t want to attract the zaniest fanatics of the JQ crowd. If you’re at all familiar with some of those folks, you’ll understand why our faithful blog host doesn’t want them dominating his comments section. It’s wise to be aware of the JQ. Those who obsess over it, however, tend to make their own position look unhinged. They need to chill out and realize that their finger-pointing brand of rhetoric scares the hell out of normies. Additionally, no matter what degree of relevance of the JQ has, White goyim consistently prove to be their own worst enemies. We really should avoid blaming others for the self-negating philosophy that so many of us have adopted (though most or all of Zman’s audience rightly rejects that philosophy).
RealityRules #344799 March 8, 2023 10:23 am 0
Very well said. Winners focus on themselves and doing what it takes to win. Losers find something or someone else to blame. One of ZMan’s great contributions to our side are his discussions of positive vs. negative identity.It is critical that we foster a positive identity and accumulate wins that bolster and validate that identity. As for the JQ, it is important to understand. However, we win by showing the benefits of a positive identity and offering that as a benefit to people who take our side. This is an existential struggle and our path and our company are the path and the company that can ensure the survival and your posterity’s flourishing and well being. Then, rather than harp on about the successful in-group preference strategies of others, we adopt them for ourselves.In an environment where social ostracization and financial ruin are the primary weapons of our enemy we won’t win if that is what we offer people because we harp on with futile blaming like losers.Our cause is just and noble. Its success is enobling and brings a just world for us and our posterity. That will sell. Wallowing in victimhood will not – not in the long run.
Wkathman #344827 March 8, 2023 11:21 am 0
Completely agree. The JQ is advanced studies. It’s something that dissidents can graduate to if and when they’re ready for it. But it’s also an issue that must be kept in proper perspective. It only explains a small portion of our problem. What is our main problem that dwarfs all others? Our own people. Many of them are either too stupid, cowardly, and/or psychologically weak to properly defend themselves against incessant demonization. That’s on us. Blaming an out-group will not fix our own suicidal resignation.
RealityRules #344834 March 8, 2023 11:39 am 0
Spot on. I think a lot of the cowardice is because they don’t understand that their elite was replaced already. Those who haven’t been replaced are against them full throttle. It hasn’t registered that the order they assumed existed is long gone. That is a very frightening and difficult thing to confront, and it may not even dawn on them.All the more reason to comport ourselves like the reasoned and capable new elite they need to lead them. Moaning about someone else is a sign of powerlessness. Step one is to claim power over ourselves and project confidence. As our people come to terms with how they have been betrayed they will look to who projects strength and confidence by having agency.Great thread Wkathman.
Alzaebo #344875 March 8, 2023 1:11 pm 0
Also completely agree; zealots like me are overly focused on the UnNamed for reasons. But! Our gracious host is entirely interested in his own people, not a bunch of alien wackadoos.
c matt #344884 March 8, 2023 2:24 pm 0
Many of [our own people] are either too stupid, cowardly, and/or psychologically weak to properly defend themselves against incessant demonization. That’s on us. Blaming an out-group will not fix our own suicidal resignation. I get what you are saying, but . . . that incessant demonization was perpetrated by a particular group, and without pointing out the aggressor, how is one to defend against it? In particular when that aggressor is self-portrayed as the victim of those he oppresses and many of the oppressed fall for it? It is a difficult balance.
smallhat #344838 March 8, 2023 11:42 am 0
I have expressed my take on the ” state of the union” here before but let me observe it again. — For very ( ) in this bullshit there is 1 catolic, 2 ,baptists, 3 methodists and 2 dozen episcopalians . The WASPS put kiick me PLEASE sign on the back of their pants so they get kicked .Also testosterone count are going down for 100 years.
Alzaebo #344876 March 8, 2023 1:14 pm 0
This is a replay of the Old Testament. With words and sermons, they have suborned the Aryan tribes to their rule.
Bruno the Arrogant #344843 March 8, 2023 11:56 am 0
All I know about that is if WWIII really does kick off, I wouldn’t want to be a member of that Bronze Age Death Cult. The world is likely to extract an awesome revenge.
Pozymandias #344910 March 8, 2023 5:17 pm 0
The Russians have got to be thinking about their “Dream Europe” which would obviously be one where NATO not only couldn’t expand but didn’t exist anymore. It must continue to piss them off that their power bloc (Warsaw Pact) dissolved while NATO kept on going and expanded. Being an ex-KGB man Putin also surely knows how to pull off a Color Revolution or two in some of the more malleable European states. All it takes is for the GAE to get a bit weaker. They’ve got to realize that if they can bring China and India closer as well they’ve basically got a potential for, as Putin put it, “Lisbon to Vladivostok” hegemony.
Bilejones #344923 March 8, 2023 6:37 pm 0
You can’t honestly believe that the Russian moved toward Kiev was a serious attack?That Putin thought a force of 70k could take a City of 3 million?It was fairly obviously a feint that ensured that the Kiev based garrisons couldn’t be sent to the Donbas.His initial strategy seemed to have worked; if the End-March Istanbul deal was as reported (in non Western Media)- I don’t think he foresaw that Zelensky would be wooed and won by the “Nato’s got your back” bullshit that seems to have been peddled by Johnson.Some-one should ask the people of Ukraine how that’s working out for them.
roo_ster #345100 March 9, 2023 3:38 pm 0
Yes, the Russian thrust towards Kiev was real, deliberate, and meant to have impact well beyond the “its only a feint” copium some imbibe.*It was an attack at the political and moral level more than at the operational level.* Heck, the whole operation started as more of a political/moral attack than a military attack.It was big, noisy, and scary enough that Zelensky was about to capitulate and negotiate a settlement that would have satisfied Putin and his spook gang in Russia. The Boris, as GAE representative, promised Zelensky NATO support and instead of a negotiated settlement, we will have a war that will continue until the army of Ukraine is blasted to bits. NOTE: Spook Gang. Folks accustomed to making things happen without invading a country and grinding it to powder. Folks who’d rather get what they want with clever mis-direciton & a knife between the ribs than a cudgel to the noggin.
Hun #344775 March 8, 2023 9:44 am 0
Wasn’t Russia supposed to go on a big winter offensive? What happened with that?
roo_ster #344779 March 8, 2023 9:47 am 0
Russia did not make that claim. It was a claim made by Ukraine & NATO.
Hun #344780 March 8, 2023 9:50 am 0
Correct, it wasn’t Russia making that claim. It was a claim made by every pro-Russian analyst on the Internet. Now memory holed.
karl von hungus #344782 March 8, 2023 9:53 am 0
well, russia did do a massive mobilisation, and has positioned huge amounts of men and materiel. it hasn’t been memory holed, there just isn’t anything new to report.
Hun #344785 March 8, 2023 9:56 am 0
Nothing to report, because it didn’t happen. The Internet sages and analysts often take money for their analysis and predictions. When they are wrong, they just shrug it off, make some new wild claims and ask for more donations. This is the mirror image of the journowhores who make a weekly prediction of Russia collapsing.
Compsci #344813 March 8, 2023 10:45 am 0
Why go on the “big arrow” offensive if you are grinding away your opposition 8 to 1? Not that I know this, but the claims from pro-Russian internet analysts seem to converge on a lopsided number like the above. On the other hand, I still maintain that the “clock is running” on Putin, as I have from day 1. Slowness in putting the enemy down, is allowing escalation of the conflict by NATO—really, GAE. Perhaps Putin is making some sort of “calculation” that the NATO countries will tire and withdraw before they choose escalation to the extreme.
Hun #344822 March 8, 2023 11:06 am 0
“grinding away your opposition 8 to 1?” There is no way this is actually happening.
thezman #344826 March 8, 2023 11:18 am 0
According to the Mossad, it is more like 8.5-to-1 as far as dead and 12-to-1 in overall casualties.https://www.voltairenet.org/article218875.html The BBC looked at the numbers are puts the KIA ratio around 10-to-1.
Hun #344831 March 8, 2023 11:26 am 0
Yes, I am sure Mossad has released totally true information for public consumption and BBC is also known for being a very reliable source. And Russians, who think of Ukrainians as closer than brothers and many having families in Ukraine, are totally fine with their military basically committing genocide so that they can take over empty land.
thezman #344837 March 8, 2023 11:41 am 0
What is the BBC’s reason to fake the numbers?
Hun #344842 March 8, 2023 11:53 am 0
“What is the BBC’s reason to fake the numbers?”No idea. Perhaps as an argument to send more Western help? Send NATO troops in? Or maybe somebody there wants this nonsense to stop? Covering all bases? Who knows…From the Russian point of view, not taking over land and instead just killing large masses of Ukrainians doesn’t make sense. If their kill ratio were really that high, they should be able to move forward pretty quickly and force Kiev into capitulation. But they are not moving and the high kill ratio is a cope with no basis in reality.On top of that, Russians consider Ukrainians their own people. Kiev is Russia. It’s hard to imagine they would tolerate this amount of killing of what they consider their own people (or at least brothers) without any gains to show for it.
Hun #344844 March 8, 2023 11:56 am 0
“What is the BBC’s reason to fake the numbers?” I did respond, but my comment did not show up. Oh well…
c matt #344881 March 8, 2023 2:15 pm 0
Ukrainians may be their people. Zelensky isn’t. The best option for Russia if they care about their people is to grind away at enemy combatants, protect civilians and treat deserters decently (but cautiously). And eventually get rid of the Zel problem. What journo-whore did you read who told you the Russians are committing genocide? If anything, it’s the Zelensky regime doing it. There are risks to this strategy (the collective West outlasting Russia, the homefront losing patience, etc.) but the risk is just as great if not more so on the West.
Hun #344891 March 8, 2023 3:03 pm 0
“What journo-whore did you read who told you the Russians are committing genocide?”You are misunderstanding the point. Or perhaps I did not express it properly: If their kill ratio really is 8:1 or 12:1, then it’s quite strange that they are not making any progress on the front. At this ratio, they should be moving ahead quite fast. OTOH, if they are intentionally staying put and just killing Ukrainian soldiers (which include a lot of conscripts who don’t want to be there) at that ratio, than that would de facto genocide. Perpetrated by Zelensky who is sending soldiers into a meat grinder and Putin who is operating the meat grinder.I am talking hypothetically, because I don’t believe that the kill ratio is correct.
You cant do that on Youtube #344911 March 8, 2023 5:19 pm 0
“When they are wrong, they just shrug it off, make some new wild claims and ask for more donations.” Colonel Douglas Macgregor is just another in a long line of conservative/dissident doofus grifters who tells his audience what they want to hear. His prediction of a huge Russian offensive “as soon as the ground freezes” last fall is now embarrassingly false. The people who down-voted you are just angry that they got suckered once again by the grift right.
thezman #344798 March 8, 2023 10:13 am 0
They ran out of shovels. Seriously, that was what every analyst said and the Russians did nothing to counter it. A while back I suggested that they may have decided that the situation is working to their advantage so there is no need to change course with a new offensive. It is also possible that it was always a feint while they built up defenses in preparation of Ukrainian moves.The latter seems to be partly right. In the Kherson region, they withdrew over the river and the Ukrainians chased them, only to be demolished by Russian artillery and air power. Maybe that was a happy accident or a shrewd maneuver. Either way, the Russians did not recross the river and take land. Instead they have been building defenses.It is important to understand that it was the disastrous Kherson offensive that led to the Bakhmut-Soledar debacle. Ukraine pulled forces from that area to launch their offensive in Kherson. When those forces were destroyed, they could not be shifted back to Soledar-Bakhmut, which is why Wagner was able to gain an edge.
RealityRules #344806 March 8, 2023 10:33 am 0
I wonder if the Kherson offensive was driven by a military objective or by the desire to create a narrative and headlines that said, “We Are Routing Russia!”. Sort of a Tet offensive. Perception Management? Strategic Miscalculation? Poor execution? Who knows. The Rainbow Regime soldiers on – sparkling handbags, dog collars and pumps polished and proper.
Compsci #344816 March 8, 2023 10:51 am 0
Yes, but the Tet offensive—albeit a military loss and disaster for the Vietcong—was a psychological victory for the North. It was the turning point in the war in the USA. It was down hill for the USA from there in Vietnam til we left the embassy in 1975.
thezman #344817 March 8, 2023 10:52 am 0
That appears to be true. There were stories in Ukrainian media that the Ukraine army did not want to launch that attack, but this was when big arms and cash transfers from the West were on the table, so they needed the public relations victory.
Mike #344835 March 8, 2023 11:40 am 0
Both the Ukrainian offensives, Kherson and Kharkov, were driven by pr considerations rather than sound strategy. Symbolic victories aren’t victories. Those offensives cost a Ukrainian army that wasn’t available elsewhere and have led to the slaughter of the old and young conscripts on the front line now.
dew #344929 March 8, 2023 7:52 pm 0
People don’t seem to understand war of attrition. Kill your enemy’s men and destroy their equipment… They can no longer fight. Russia has drained the Ukraine of material and a majority of men. Now its western material and more western men. Observe the destruction on a long time frame.
Steve #345128 March 9, 2023 6:17 pm 0
And the top aim of the SMO was exactly that: not to conquer oodles of territory but to destroy the Ukie military
george 1 #344811 March 8, 2023 10:44 am 0
It looks like Russia is reacting to what the UA does. If they send their forces into Bakhmut for example, the Russians are happy to grind them down there. The goal is the destruction of the UA for the Russians. They seem to be accomplishing that.There are reports that large groupings of UA forces are gathering Northwest of Bakhmut. Some say Zelensky has grand ideas of a breakthrough into Bakhmut and a rescue of the forces trapped there. He has Winston Churchill hero delusions. That would of course fail.If that is true my guess would be that the Russians will wait for that. Waiting, once again, for Zelensky to make a huge mistake and send his army into destruction. They will destroy their inbound army and then launch their waited for offensive.
The Wild Geese Howard #344848 March 8, 2023 12:08 pm 0
Where is Ukraine going to find a von Manstein to lead this breakout operation?
george 1 #344913 March 8, 2023 5:27 pm 0
When they are ready Zel will probably have to find a smart 15 year old conscript.
They Live #344841 March 8, 2023 11:52 am 0
A big attack by the Russians would be a bad idea, at this point in time https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/usnato-isr-addendum-deep-dive-into Well worth a read
Evil Sandmich #344890 March 8, 2023 3:02 pm 0
Much as I suspected, Russian troops operate under the constant gaze from the Eye of the Pervert Empire. If I were Russian I would be…not very happy about that.
Jeffrey Zoar #344893 March 8, 2023 3:43 pm 0
The tank is obsolete. One wonders who the GAE thought they were fooling/impressing with their big story about sending a few dozen tanks to the Uke. Or why
The Wild Geese Howard #344899 March 8, 2023 3:54 pm 0
On the modern battle field they’re not even worth it as some kind of mobile assault gun platform anymore, contrary to the arguments made by Berletic and Ritter.
Pozymandias #344918 March 8, 2023 6:01 pm 0
It seems likely that the future of warfare in general is going to be things that fit in the back of a pickup truck. The reasons for this are both technological and operational.In terms of technology, the big “prestige” weapons are likely to be neutralized by things costing a fraction of what they do. For the aircraft carrier there is the hypersonic missile. For the tank, there is the suicide drone.In operational terms the big powers (especially the GAE itself) increasingly do not represent real nations, while real nations are not necessarily delineated on a map anywhere. The battles of the future are going to pit bloated but demoralized “official” powers and countries against motivated informal forces leveraging small, cheap but advanced weaponry on behalf of ethnically aligned nascent proto-nations.But to your question “Who did the GAE think would be fooled by those tanks?” Probably the same grillers that are the target audience of all those “Russia gonna lose!” videos that infest my YT feed. There’s a sizable contingent of old GOP voters for whom it’s forever 1990 and those 12 tanks are totally gonna roll right across the desert and right into Saddam’s palace in, um Moscow. Sometimes a bit of propaganda can just be too easy and cheap NOT to make.
The Wild Geese Howard #344921 March 8, 2023 6:22 pm 0
Toyotas with guided anti-tank missiles and good tactics already proved able to defeat tanks in the 80s: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_War
JerseyJeffersonian #344897 March 8, 2023 3:49 pm 0
Thanks, (((They))) Live. Very informative, indeed. Particularly of interest is the likelihood that Chinese satellite imaging/surveillance is being made available to Wagner PMC, and Russian military units. WWIII is already on, but at a controlled simmer… for now. But for how much longer can that continue if provocative actions ratchet up?
Bilejones #344924 March 8, 2023 6:38 pm 0
Sez who? gibber gibber gibber
Steve #345126 March 9, 2023 6:15 pm 0
It was Western commentators who made those claims. The Russian offensive is actually here and now. But unlike the predictions, it is taking a different shape: constant attacks all along the 1000 mile front line to wear down the Ukies. And it’s working.
Citizen of a Silly Country #344773 March 8, 2023 9:41 am 0
Outside of Ukraine, of course, it’s clear that the big loser in their war is Germany. Politically, it’s now obvious that its America’s lap dog. But more importantly, it goes from having below-average energy costs to above average energy costs. For a country so reliant on heavy industry, that’s going to hurt over time.There’s also the issue of China. As Z notes, China is an incredibly important trading partner with Germany. This war will push China to ramp up its domestic production of anything and everything its economy needs to function that it currently imports from either the US or Europe. China knows that sanctions are coming someday, so best to get ready now.This means that the Chinese export market for Germany could fall.So, Germany is shown to be politically pathetic while its industry deals higher production costs and, potentially, the shrinking of an extremely important export market.The Germans are pretty clever and hard-working so maybe they figure a way around this, but it’ll be tough. They’d need to be already implementing a massive nuclear program and assuring the Chinese that they believe in free trade, but they’re not, which doesn’t bode well.
Hun #344777 March 8, 2023 9:46 am 0
The Germans have imported a lot of doctors and engineers over the past decade. They must be invincible by now.
Citizen of a Silly Country #344789 March 8, 2023 10:05 am 0
Yeah, those Middle Easterners roaming the streets are Germany’s secret weapon for maintaining their high-skill economy. Genius.
Hun #344794 March 8, 2023 10:09 am 0
The most advanced kebab technology in the world.
steveaz #344925 March 8, 2023 6:55 pm 0
Germany has other self-inflicted problems, too.Die Deutche have no raw land available for sale and development anymore. Certainly not on the scale of the Americas. To make my point, consider trying to buy some dirt in Bavaria with USD $60,000 in hand. It’d be a joke, right? But just a cursory survey of Craigslist offerings in the Klamath, Oregon area shows multitudes of lots available.Germany has choked off its innovative entrepreneurial class with credentialism and high taxes, while She rewards her big players with ‘do-not-compete’ arrangements, and permanent assigns in EU trade agreements, to ensure that no upstarts can get a toe-hold in industry, media or politics: the exact opposite of Adam Smith-ian economics.So, if you are a Global citizen with money to spend, why on earth would you spend it in Germany? It is overpriced, overtaxed, overladen with generational deeds and trusts, and rotting at its core. This is the German reality. ‘Not sure you can blame that on America.These two flaws were not inflicted on Mother Germany by America, Italy or Britain. These are Her own miseries, to her bosom born.
Steve #345129 March 9, 2023 6:19 pm 0
I remember the rabid anti-Americanism of the 1980s. WTF happened to turn them into America’s b*tches?
MartyEv #344771 March 8, 2023 9:37 am 0
Obviously, whatever the topic of discussion was, it was not good at all. I would wager it was a theory number one. I think Washington is not fond of Schulz b/c to me, he seems stuck in the middle. On one had, he wants to make the Imperial Capital happy, on the other hand, he knows he has to make German people content (to some extent) in order to continue being the leader of Germany. He made Washington mad by getting the supplies needed from Russia in order to survive the winter, but his voters happy.It seems to me he’s headed for a lose-lose situation. He’ll end up at a juncture where he will have to pick Washington over Germany, which will piss off voters. As far as I understand, his rule is based upon a fragile coalition between the SPD and the Greens, which could end up breaking apart and forcing another election.Washington could be stabbing itself in the foot on this one. If Schulz is ousted one way or another, Washington might end up with head of state that is either more incompetent than Schulz or more hostile to Washington.
Stranger in a Strange Land #344809 March 8, 2023 10:39 am 0
Perhaps a return of the Merkel the dancing bear?
ProZNoV #344770 March 8, 2023 9:34 am 0
Wonder if someone in the Biden Administration subjected Sholz to “Der Fragebogen”? (Denazification questionnaire all Germans in post WWII had to take to demonstrate they were sufficiently contrite for previous German government actions and had proper deference for the new US Hegemon)
Jack Dobson #344766 March 8, 2023 9:16 am 0
Olaf probably was given talking points for domestic consumption. The first is the claim the Ukrainians unexpectedly attacked Nordstream. That will be relayed to German intelligence to be leaked to Der Spiegel and obig pro-war Establishment outlets. The second, related to the first, is Bakhmut is near defeat and everyone needs to prepare for the inevitable.This is ostensibly to help Olaf but the primary reason is domestic American politics. Biden doesn’t want either Trump or DeSantis running on a peace platform (the former) or a secret plan for peace (DeSantis). Further, Biden may become the new LBJ if someone from his party’s Left goes there. Additionally, economics will be a problem as it is. Jerome Powell is overdue for exposure as a White Supremacist Putinist.The Establishment GOP will press war forever against the irrelevant wishes of their voters. Once the MIC has a new caper lined up, maybe in China, a ceasefire will happen and they will become the loyal opposition again.Yes, American elections are fraudulent and routinely stolen now, but this stuff still could be a problem if the oligarchs get restless. Even kabuki can become troublesome if they are unhappy.Long-term, though, this insanity will make the United States poorer and even more reviled, and that assumes it doesn’t start a nuclear war before the curtain falls.
Barnard #344768 March 8, 2023 9:30 am 0
I have been wondering at what point interest rates get cut to help the government keep making their interest payments. Powell doesn’t seem like he wants to play ball with them. You are right, we should expect a scandal about him soon.
Mr. House #344791 March 8, 2023 10:07 am 0
Come on Barnard, they’ll just print more money. They don’t even have to cut rates these days. They’ll only cut rates because they want you to think things are so dire they have to. Whats everyone favorites saying A country that issues its own money can not go bankrupt, i think that was it.
JerseyJeffersonian #344857 March 8, 2023 12:33 pm 0
Ah, yes, MMT for Dummies. But when your country has outsourced almost all of its truly crucial manufacturing capabilities along with the R & D required to keep it current, that country has largely sabotaged its prospects for the (even limited) autarky that would undergird that theory. Oh, well.
c matt #344867 March 8, 2023 1:00 pm 0
If it could price all it needs domestically and/or if it could force its currency on the rest of the world (or enough of it) then yes, it can let it brrrr. The domestic production is caput; and the forcing is diminishing. 鸡 coming home to roost.
c matt #344868 March 8, 2023 1:01 pm 0
not price, produce. apologies.
Bourbon #344796 March 8, 2023 10:11 am 0
Jack Dobson: “Further, Biden may become the new LBJ if someone from his party’s Left goes there.”Bobby Jr is on the cusp of throwing his hat into the ring:https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4135608/postsIf Bobby Jr had an anti-V@xx anti-Windmill pro-Nukular pro-Bald-Eagle pro-Whale pro-East-Palestine agenda, then I could see myself voting for him in the general election.But obviously I’m fantasizing [he’d never be pro-Diesel and pro-Coal, and pro-Life would surely be a bridge too far].Still though, if we’re serious about our conspiracy theories, then the V@xx is the most important political/sociological/scientific/moral/theological question of our entire lives, and we would be duty bound to vote for a clearly anti-V@xx candidate over a squishy V@xx candidate [and God forbid a pro-V@xx candidate].By the way, this includes the question of MRNA/spike-proteins in our foodstuffs [beef, poultry, pork, mutton, fruits, vegetables, grains, potable water, etc etc etc].Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if they started putting MRNA in our alcoholic beverages.[DISCLAIMER: I am not a biochemist and I have no earthly idea how MRNA would interact with ETOH.]
karl von hungus #344810 March 8, 2023 10:42 am 0
if mrna could survive the digestive process, they would have released it in pill form.
Bourbon #344871 March 8, 2023 1:04 pm 0
Then why are they throwing so much research money at MRNA v@xxines for livestock and at the development of agricultural crops which can produce MRNA? Wanna make a bet as to whether the FDA will require labelling changes to reflect the presence of artificial MRNA in food & beverages? Will you be allowed to sell a product labelled, “Organic,” if it contains artificial MRNA?
JerseyJeffersonian #344900 March 8, 2023 4:00 pm 0
This is why having RFK, Jr. in a Democrat primary could be bery eye-opening for normies. But make no mistake, getting his concerns out before the public would be a struggle what with the Regime Media in its full extent would be looking to conceal, discredit, and mock these concerns. Amd then, sadly, there would always be those traditional means of silencing one of those Kennedys saying “reprehensible” things… May God protect him.
Mike #344839 March 8, 2023 11:46 am 0
Speaking of RFK Jr., if he’s on the ticket in the primary, I fully intend to vote for him. He’s sane so that puts him steps ahead of the rest.
Gideon #344764 March 8, 2023 9:05 am 0
The NY Times story placing the blame for the Nordstream terror-bombing on a “pro-Ukranian group” (though accurate in a certain sense) was a classic piece of misdirection, explicitly absolving Biden and Zelensky who are the heroes of their narrative. Presumably, Biden would have reminded Scholz in the course of their short White House meeting that he could consider himself lucky Biden hadn’t ordered the firebombing of Dresden. Were Scholz a real leader of a nation, he would have explained to his host why he was realigning his country with Russia, as the Soviet Union joined the Western Allies following the attack by Nazi Germany. But Germany is no longer a nation as such with many of their young being the offspring of non-Aryans. This makes their hostility toward Russia all the more perplexing since it is uncertain how many of these new Germans would be eager to sacrifice their lives for a land called Germany.
WCIV911 #344774 March 8, 2023 9:42 am 0
“ how many of these new Germans would be eager to sacrifice their lives for a land called Germany.” How many widely differentiated diverse humans would be eager to die for DIE for a land called America?
Gideon #344787 March 8, 2023 10:03 am 0
About as well, I suspect, as the mestizos fought for their homeland in the Mexican-American War: sometimes bravely, but with similar effect.
Citizen of a Silly Country #344797 March 8, 2023 10:12 am 0
I don’t think Americans fully grasp how anti-war Germans are. There is no way that outside of a draft, Germany will get enough young men to join the military, especially if there’s even remotely a chance that they’d see combat. Germans also don’t see Russia as this big threat, because, you know, it’s not. They see them as annoying tourists and criminals, but not a threat to invade Germany.
Gideon #344823 March 8, 2023 11:07 am 0
Very good point. That’s why it’s so difficult to fully appreciate just how unhinged Germany’s politicians have become. They are rallying their people to go after the Slavs like it’s 1941.
usNthem #344762 March 8, 2023 9:03 am 0
The best case scenario is Scholtz, with the backing of other EU leaders delivered the “we’re done” message – particularly if China is now getting thrown into the mix. Unfortunately, I seriously doubt he nor anyone else in Europe has the stones (and believe it or not, some EU “leaders” were naturally born w/o them) for that. However, between the new J6 narrative implosion, the Ukes are kicking ass narrative implosion, the safe and effective vax narrative implosion, the beads of sweat are turning into a downpour. Hey, here’s an idea : let’s threaten China economically and militarily – that’s sure to bail us (DC) out, right?
Bourbon #344800 March 8, 2023 10:24 am 0
Dear usNthem, The conglomeration of politico-socio-logical data points you have just presented makes sense in only three possible scenarios: 1) They are both insane & utterly incompetent, 2) They hate you and want you DEAD, 3) They are insane & utterly incompetent and they hate you and want you DEAD, but their incompetence is clashing with their hatred & insanity and thereby throwing sand into the gears of State, ergo [by the Grace of God Almighty] you’re still alive. As the old timers used to say, “Luck is far more important than talent.”
Xman #344761 March 8, 2023 9:03 am 0
I lived almost half my life during the Cold War. It’s simply incredible to me how Soviet the “free world” has become.In, say, 1983 you would expect Erich Honecker to be called to the Kremlin for a secret one-hour meeting and you would know nothing other than what Pravda published. Since you knew whatever they said was a lie, you would be left to guess what it was really about. Meanwhile, when Reagan would have a press conference with a foreign head of state, Sam Donaldson would be barking questions to him about the deficit.Of course the U.S. was pulling underhanded shenanigans back then, too, like Iran-Contra, but the media would eventually figure it out and and try to embarrass the politicians. Today the media runs cover for the Empire, in no small part due to the fact that the official government shills like the lesbian Jean-Pierre are actually sleeping with supposedly objective “journalists” at CNN.It’s simply incredible that the government and the media were able to collude and hide the footage of the cops escorting the “shaman” around the Capitol not only from the public, but from his political show trial.Just as you had to be a Party member in good standing to get either a political job or a media job in the USSR, you have to be a Uniparty Member in good standing to do the same in the U.S. today.SMDH, brah.
SouthPoll #344765 March 8, 2023 9:14 am 0
“Just as you had to be a Party member in good standing to get either a political job or a media job in the USSR, you have to be a Uniparty Member in good standing to do the same in the U.S. today.”— Excellent point
Jack Dobson #344767 March 8, 2023 9:21 am 0
Spot on. I feel the same.
Bourbon #344805 March 8, 2023 10:32 am 0
XMan: “Today the media runs cover for the Empire, in no small part due to the fact that the official government shills like the lesbian Jean-Pierre are actually sleeping with supposedly objective “journalists” at CNN.” Last night, I was surfing /pol/, and some Anon had poasted a picture of the backside of a kneegr0w/kneegress with an history of receiving The Fist, and the sphincter muscle looked like Mick Jagger’s lips on the cover of a Rolling Stones album blown up to roughly the size of a basketball. Maybe that’s why kneegresses have such big booties? Because of the Depends Diapers?
Steve #345130 March 9, 2023 6:22 pm 0
Same here. Spent my military service facing off the “Evil Empire”. Fast foward to today and that’s us. WTF happened?
FNC1A1 #344758 March 8, 2023 9:02 am 0
The movement of Polish troops into the western parts of the Ukraine opens an interesting situation given that the Poles view much of Galicia a rightfully theirs.
Bourbon #344808 March 8, 2023 10:36 am 0
Wouldn’t it be ironic if WWIII started when Poland invaded Russia and Russia invaded Germany, rather than Germany & Russia invading Poland? The Bronze Age Death cult would be rubbing their hands so furiously the skin would come off their palms.
mikeski #344830 March 8, 2023 11:24 am 0
That’s not all they would be rubbing.
Bourbon #344873 March 8, 2023 1:08 pm 0
LOL’ed....ERROR: Your comment was too short. Please go back and try your comment again.
RealityRules #344757 March 8, 2023 8:55 am 0
The forward deployment of Polish troops scenario is a shuddering thought. I wonder how many people in the European section of The Organism are starting to go to Wiki and read through the Early Life and Education section on the people they talk to in the GAE section.
theRussians #344756 March 8, 2023 8:38 am 0
Unfortunately, if we go by their track record, the worst possible explanation for the meeting is the most likely. I’m of the opinion that this is all part of the humiliation campaign. Between the equity hires and ideologues, only disaster, natural inability or forced/planned, seems to adequately explain things.“trust the plan” Q. honk
karl von hungus #344755 March 8, 2023 8:30 am 0
i think you meant to say the defensive lines will move west, if bahkmut falls.ukraine seems very close to full on collapse now. there are 10k+ troops basically trapped in bahkmut because there is no safe way for them to leave. having a shit weasel in charge can’t be helping their morale. all the ukrainians have accomplished is to reduce their country to rubble. and good luck getting it rebuilt, the free money spigot is just about to be shut off.for me, the biggest surprise has been the way the baltic states have jumped in with both feet, and soured relations with russia. they have to know that is going to be an expensive gesture, with no real pay-off for having done so. i guess that is what happens when you have estrogen driven leadership…
thezman #344760 March 8, 2023 9:02 am 0
The Ukrainian army has proven to be quite resilient, so I think they find a way to regroup after they lose Bakhmut. The longer a war lasts the more determined the sides become, even in the face of defeat. Given how things have gone over the last year, I think we some ill-fated offensives from Ukraine this spring and early summer. This will come with a new round of fairytales from Western media.
Mike #344769 March 8, 2023 9:32 am 0
I wouldn’t call it resiliency so much as fanaticism. The more I learn about the Ukrainian people the more I’m amazed that someone hasn’t genocided them already. They as a people are truly without redeeming qualities. There are good individuals I’m sure, but as a group they reinforced their worst qualities. The master race stuff they believe, the appropriation of other peoples culture, it’s all loathsome.The worst part of their fanaticism is that it makes them easy to be fooled and led down the path of destruction. No sane people would let themselves be led down this path. Zelensky and the other leaders and the western politicians are beyond redemption evil for for what they have done to the country and its gullible fools.
ProZNoV #344772 March 8, 2023 9:41 am 0
“Patriotism is, fundamentally, a conviction that a particular country is the best in the world because you were born in it.” -GB Shaw The Ukranians are quite normal in this regard. It’s the Globalists driving this war that are the dangerous weirdos.
c matt #344860 March 8, 2023 12:43 pm 0
“Patriotism is, fundamentally, a conviction that a particular country is the best in the world because you were born in it.” -GB Shaw I would disagree. Patriotism is, fundamentally, a conviction that a particular people is the best in the world because you are one of them.
Mr. House #344795 March 8, 2023 10:11 am 0
“The worst part of their fanaticism is that it makes them easy to be fooled and led down the path of destruction.” Covid?
Citizen of a Silly Country #344786 March 8, 2023 10:03 am 0
I’m just stunned that the Ukrainians are still thinking about a summer offensive. This is Somme-level suicide.OTOH, I’m impressed by the Russians discipline in conducting their attacks on Ukrainian defensive positions. They’re obviously using von Falkenhayn’s original plan for Verdun. Pick locations that the Ukrainians feel must be defended at all cost but that are vulnerable to artillery, surround them and obliterate the defenders.Falkenhayn’s plan would have worked, but the stupid Crown Prince tried to seize the city, i.e., they went on the offensive way, way, too soon. Falkenhayn just wanted them to sit there for as long as the French would pour in troops.The Russians aren’t making that mistake, which means they spends weeks or even months looking like they’re not doing much. The West takes this as a failure, but the Western way of war is very different from the Eastern way of war. Western thought is much more about big, decisive battles and swift movement. The Eastern way of war is about destroying the enemy ability or will to fight.The Ukrainians are living through their own Verdun or Somme. It’s tragic. This year is shaping up to be somewhat like 1918 on the Western front. The Ukrainians will attempt one last big offensive, except this time they’ll be face well-entrenched, well defended positions (think 1918 if the entire American army had already been in France for a year when the Germans attacked). Like the Germans, the Ukrainians might eventually just collapse from exhaustion.I’ve seen figures from 100k to, as high as, 250k dead for Ukraine with equal number injured. Let’s say 150k dead, 150k wounded. Ukraine only has ~20 million now. In US terms (we’re 15 times larger), that’s be 4.5 million dead and wounded. Already.They simply can’t take another year like that.
Baltbuc #344931 March 8, 2023 8:03 pm 0
And Ukraine has been building defenses since 2014, and as Merkel said, buying time. There are bunkers and tunnels and mines everywhere. It would be nuts to attack it straight on. That’s another reason to develop a cauldron if possible. Move around the stronghold and attack from all sides (including from behind).
Felix Krull #344783 March 8, 2023 9:53 am 0
The Baltic States have been under Russian occupation for 200 years, and under Polish, Prussian, Swedish, Danish and Austrian rule before that, so they’re keen on protecting their new-found independence. Apart from a millennium of ancestral hatred and enmity, there are good political reasons too. It doesn’t matter who’s the good guy and who’s the bad guy, America is the better hegemon because America is half a world away while Russia is right on their doorstep.
thezman #344788 March 8, 2023 10:04 am 0
It doesn’t matter who’s the good guy and who’s the bad guy, America is the better hegemon because America is half a world away while Russia is right on their doorstep. Exactly. Even if it is not true, it feels like it should be true.
Citizen of a Silly Country #344793 March 8, 2023 10:09 am 0
Agree. If I was from the Baltic states, I’d be pretty gung-ho on NATO and America as well. But I’d also acknowledge reality and tread lightly with my big neighbor.Still, they do put off the air of an annoying, scrawny little brother taunting one of the tough kids in school knowing their his really, really big brother will protect him.Btw, supposedly, Biden said something to the leaders of the Baltic states during his visit that freaked them out. I’d suspect that he did one of his usual “truth blurts” and said something along the line of, “C’mon, Jack, we all know that Ukraine is going to lose.”
Felix Krull #344801 March 8, 2023 10:27 am 0
Still, they do put off the air of an annoying, scrawny little brother taunting one of the tough kids in school knowing their his really, really big brother will protect him.Yes, but all NATO countries do that to some extent.I’ve heard it called The Tyranny of Small Nations: if you beat up the scrawny kid in school, you look like a bully. If he beats you up, you’re a wimp, so it’s lose-lose. That gives the scrawny kid more leeway to be cheeky than if he had been a bigger opponent.Britain had this problem with Iceland during the Cod Wars. Iceland had unilaterally extended their national border from the traditional twelve miles to two hundred miles, claiming the right to what was, by international law, the open sea.The Icelandic coast guard (both vessels!) started sabotaging British fishermen, cutting their trawl main cables and stealing their longlines, acts of technical piracy or outright aggression.The Royal Navy sent a few ships up there, fired a few warning shots, but when the Icelanders didn’t budge they were faced with the choice of either fire on a tiny little coast guard cutter from a tiny little country or retreat in shame.They chose the latter since the optics favored plucky little Iceland against big, bullying Britain.
Citizen of a Silly Country #344821 March 8, 2023 11:02 am 0
Quite true.In term of international politics, NATO countries since the end of the Cold War have regressed into a child-like state.Besides the fact that Russia has show zero interest in invading Europe, the EU should be a colossus compared to Russia. It has (I think) nearly three times its population and probably six or seven times its economy and the EU’s economy is vastly more technological.If anything, Russia should be terrified of Western Europe. But, instead, western European countries act like spoiled children.It’s mind-boggling to me that Europe didn’t tell the Americans to shove off after the Cold War. Time for the world to go back to normal. But they choose to be pampered bitches instead. (Denmark excluded, I hope.)
Felix Krull #344885 March 8, 2023 2:30 pm 0
If anything, Russia should be terrified of Western Europe. Your points are good and it’s an interesting conundrum. A big part is Russia’s size. Russia is huge even compared to the United States, so to us Euros, Russia is physically daunting to say the least. We’ve invaded them three times and suffered utter humiliation each time. In 1943, when German alpine troops planted the swastika flag on Mount Elbrus, the Wehrmacht controlled 5% of Russia. Five percent.
Citizen of a Silly Country #344894 March 8, 2023 3:44 pm 0
I watched a documentary that used home movies from German soldiers on the Eastern Front and then interviewed veterans. They all mentioned that they were stunned by the sheer size of Russia. It’s one thing to look at it on a map; it’s another to watch it going by on a train.They also noted that they had no clue how the Germans could hold such as a large country. It sounded like they were pretty aware that the invasion was a sketchy idea.As for me, I was surprised how much the footage looked like the American Midwest. Endless flat farms of wheat and corn. I’ve driven the Midwest many times. It’s fucking huge. Russia/Ukraine are bigger.
Felix Krull #344904 March 8, 2023 4:25 pm 0
I read somewhere that De Gaulle once was flown from Leningrad to Vladivostok, a journey of twelve hours. He had stared mesmerized out of his window for the whole trip, gnashing his teeth with envy at the immensity and the raw potential of Stalin’s domain.I also suspect there’s some kind of cultural PTSD involved. That Midwest landscape stretches all the way to China, and throughout history, waves after waves of savage horse tribes have used it for a highway to Europe and caused us all sorts of grief. It’s not really Putin we mistrust, it’s Mother Russia itself, the land ocean.
Bourbon #344932 March 8, 2023 8:23 pm 0
Felix Krull: We’ve invaded them three times and suffered utter humiliation each time. 1) 1812 [TchaikovskyOverture]? 2) 1855 [Charge of the Light Brigade]? 3) 1941 [Operation Barbarossa]?
Felix Krull #344939 March 9, 2023 2:48 am 0
@BourbonI was thinking of Charles XII of Sweden vs. Peter the Great in 1707-1709.After some remarkable initial victories, he lost, like Napoleon and Hitler, to the sheer size of Mother Russia. With his supply lines in tatters and with a road worn army starved of provisions, lacking artillery and plagued by damp, old and scarce gunpowder, he was offered battle at Poltava, in modern Ukraine.Charles, true to form, did not hesitate order his 17,000 strong army to attack the 40,000 Russians. His fanatically loyal troops made a herculean effort – at one point it was touch-and-go but the Swedes were overwhelmed and the Russians killed or captured all but 1,500 troops, Charles himself narrowly escaping to Turkey.And it’s been ABBA and IKEA ever since, hehe…
Jack Boniface #344812 March 8, 2023 10:45 am 0
Except America now is a degenerate hellhole destroying everything it touches. Birthrates: Estonia 1.58. Latvia 1.55. Lithuania 1.48.
karl von hungus #344815 March 8, 2023 10:47 am 0
wouldn’t russia being on their doorstep be an argument in favor of not antagonizing the russians?
Felix Krull #344820 March 8, 2023 11:02 am 0
If they think America will win, they have every incentive to try and start a war, same as Poland.We might think it highly improbably that Russia would annex the Baltics, but in critical security matters, improbabilities must be taken very seriously and it’s not like Russia they haven’t annexed them ten times already. You can’t count on Russia always having such an restrained, polite and reasonable leader as Vladimir Putin.And even if Russia doesn’t invade them, having a resurgent Russia for a neighbor will lead to inevitable Finlandization, a coercion of your political and economic apparatus into accommodating Russian strategic and economical interests.
Citizen of a Silly Country #344825 March 8, 2023 11:12 am 0
Again, I agree, but the Baltic states need to play the game delicately. The can see in Ukraine what shooting your mouth off can lead to. Know when to press and know when to work quietly to undermine your opponent. There’s no way Putin is losing support in Russia, and there’s every chance that if something happened to Putin, someone way more aggressive would take over. Take that into consideration.
thezman #344828 March 8, 2023 11:21 am 0
It is a strange thing to me, as Finlandization was shrewd and successful. The Finns managed to keep their country, despite being on the border of Russia and on good terms with Washington. If the Baltics and Scandia had better leaders, this would be their path forward.
Felix Krull #344829 March 8, 2023 11:22 am 0
True enough, but we’re discussing the subject quite academically here, as if the Baltic leadership were actual representative of Baltic interests, and not ventriloquist dummies for the global war party.
Gideon #344847 March 8, 2023 12:06 pm 0
Agree that Finlandization, despite its connotations in the West, kept Finland at peace for over 75 years, as Putin himself noted. But before that, Finland fought the Winter War and the Continuation War with the Soviet Union. They lost both, but won the grudging respect of the Soviets.Ukraine could have profited from Finland’s example. Ukraine’s army of 2022 was not the army they fielded in 2014. Having proven their metal, the time has surely come when they could have negotiated some kind of settlement, albeit with increasing territorial losses like the Finns.But today’s European leaders, whether in Ukraine, the Baltics or Finland, are akin to the restored Bourbon rulers of France, who in the words of Talleyrand “had learned nothing and forgotten nothing,” so we can hardly expect much better from them.
Mike #344849 March 8, 2023 12:10 pm 0
What’s so bad about Finlandization? Russia isn’t a dictatorship now and likely won’t be in the near future and Russia is certainly a better friend than the GAE is right now.
Felix Krull #344864 March 8, 2023 12:56 pm 0
What’s so bad about Finlandization? “Sorry, we’ve reached the import limit for Volkswagen, but you can have this nice, Russian car.” Anyways, I haven’t heard any Finns clamoring for the good old days. Never mind their retard government, but my impression is that the they would be ready to fight another Winter War to avoid going back. Making them the only The only
Felix Krull #344865 March 8, 2023 12:57 pm 0
Making them the only… Nordic people still prepared to fight for their independence.
c matt #344863 March 8, 2023 12:49 pm 0
Not overtly antagonizing yes, but also subverting them where possible. It is a fine line. Like Mel Gibson said, why trade one tyrant a thousand miles away for a thousand tyrants one mile away?
Evil Sandmich #344892 March 8, 2023 3:25 pm 0
Just to crib from our host, this gets back to the issue of negative identity, maybe. I get why the Ukes aren’t Russia fans, it’s *completely* understandable, but, the Ukes hating them to their own doom doesn’t really hurt the Russians while certainly hurting themselves.
Mr C #344753 March 8, 2023 8:27 am 0
Rapidly west, not east. Right?
thezman #344754 March 8, 2023 8:29 am 0
Whoops! Fixed.


Back to top