The 14th Amendment Enacted, Observations and Comments
20 December 2023
One of the top news stories around the world today is the Colorado Supreme Court decision that disqualifies Trump from the presidential ballot in the state. My fist comment is, finally! Finally a government agency representing justice, democracy, and the Constitution of our country has taken proper action. With that said, the question is, why hasn’t it already happened? Why hasn’t the Supreme Court of the United States done the same, and more?
Either way, this is just a drop in the bucket. The acts of treason committed by the would-be dictator, by his thugs and minions against the United States and all it stands for should not go unpunished, and should never be forgotten. In my book of memories January 6, 2021 rates in importance with December 7, 1941 and September 11, 2001. In fact it is a much more important date- actions to counter external attacks against a state are relatively straightforward compared to the insidious and relentless internal threat against democracy and liberty that ignorance, greed, and fascism pose. The founding fathers warned us against complacency in the protection of our liberty. They warned that all democracies eventually degrade into tyranny, and that without eternal vigilance against this threat, we will follow the path of so many nations into tyranny and oppression.
The fact that disqualification and judicial punishment is even in question is astounding, disturbing, and insulting. What has our country come to? That a standing president refused, albeit briefly, to accept election results and step down, and incited his “followers” to overrun the United States Capital is nothing short of treason, and all involved should have long ago been tried for treason and accordingly punished. Again, one of my favorite phrases, appropriate here, is that history is repeating itself (because we let it, when we fail to study or remember it.) History presents plenty of examples with would-be dictators using similar tactics, testing the waters before making their moves. Very often this is in the form of mobilised groups of followers inciting violence against those in opposition, to gauge reactions, to decide whether to push further or wait for a more opportune moment to strike. See the Brownshirts if an example is necessary. I also recommend revisiting some reading from high school- see Walter Van Tilburg Clark’s 1940 novel The Ox-bow Incident, and the 1935 novel It Can’t Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis.
Moving on to the world stage, I am sure that Putin is sweating today. The US in its current configuration is Putin’s primary rival in his bid to “restore greater Russia.” Trump is one of his main allies in his fight to do so, and in Trump he puts much of his hope. With Trump elected Ukraine and Europe would be abandoned. NATO would be weakened. Europe especially, but much of the world would fall into further turmoil, as we abandon even more of it. Without someone- some country, and yes, it is us, to attempt to take the moral high ground, to attempt to be- yes, the “world’s police force”, without a liberal democracy to lead others along the way, the world with take a dark turn. Final thought on that topic- it is far harder to restore freedom and liberty than it is to maintain it, no matter how hard maintaining freedom and liberty may be.
So much has happened during this last month- I have been disappearing into the desert alone for long periods, necessary for my sanity.
As of today some 35,600 Russian soldiers have been murdered by the Russian madman that claims to be the leader of that country. Way to go Putin, digging your own grave.
This week’s news alone holds so much positive information. The Ukrainians continue to defend, hold out, regain, and defeat the Russian army. The Russians continue to act in desperation, using soviet-era stock to try and win an unwinnable war, and preparing more of their young people to die, even as their financial reserves dwindle and so much of the world stands against them. The US is sending more money and weapons to Ukraine, as are other countries. Support for the defenders of Ukraine grows, as more and more people realise that this is not a war between Russia and Ukraine, but a war between Russia and Europe, if not between Russia and the entire free world.
Turkey has agreed to NATO membership of Finland and Sweden- this is huge. Turkey is certainly a country to watch, a wild card in the mix if you will. But this ups their status tremendously. We will see how Erdogan’s posturing over the last month or so pays off for his image. So far it looks like he played his hand well.
Ukrainian military Bayraktar TB2 drones
I have noticed a lot of references to the Cold War, and our return to the Cold War. I think it should be very clear at this point that what we face will be nothing like the Cold War. We are so far removed from those days, and we will never return there. The current situation is much worse for many more countries and parts of the world. Globalisation has made us all far more dependent on each other than we were even 30 years ago when the Cold War ended. Resources and products can come from the other side of the world, and any disruption is felt like never before. That combined with population increases, climate change, world fiscal instability, the pandemic exacerbating all of it, and most important of all is the fact that nuclear weapons abound with many of them held by less than responsible nations- especially Russia. All of this puts us in a place we have never been, in a completely new paradigm.
A reminder too, that Ukraine and Russia should not be our primary focus. We must not forget about other eastern European countries that are ripe for the picking so to speak. Keep a close eye on Hungary, Serbia (as well as Bosnia and Republika Srbska), Belarus, and the other non-NATO or non-EU countries that Russia or their satellites have had an eye on. These countries, if Putin had his way, would be the next to fall. They are in no way out of danger.
Thanks to Russia, the world is approaching a food crisis. According to reports, they are shipping captured Ukrainian wheat out of Ukraine and into Russian held lands.
From the Telegram channel Ищи своих, translated using Google Translate:
Only 10 weeks left of world wheat stocks – UN
The depletion of cereals in the bins is a challenge to the entire world community – such a formulation was used by UN food security expert Sarah Menker.
Even if the conflict ends soon, the situation in world markets will not improve without urgent coordinated action by many countries.
All the while rubbish from the Russian propaganda machine continues to be churned out. Here is an interesting read. My take is that it sounds great- the supporters of the nazis should pay reparations to all parties harmed. Of course, since Russia is the aggressing state, and at this point they are the “nazis”, the blame falls solely on them. Also, statements from the next supreme leader, Nikolai Patrushev, are beginning to make the news:
From the Telegram channel the Center for Countering Disinformation:
#CCD_reports: the russian leadership has launched a disinformation campaign on the “right to demand reparation from countries sponsoring Nazism”
🔺patrushev stated that “russia has the right to demand reparations from the countries that sponsored the Nazis in Ukraine, as well as the Kiev regime”
🔺At the same time, the temporarily occupied territories of Luhansk and Donetsk regions “may demand compensation for all material damage over eight years of aggression, and the Ukrainian people deserve reparations from the US and Britain, for support neo-Nazis and providing them with weapons”❗️Similar theses were voiced by the speaker of the state duma volodin.
❗️The purpose of this disinformation campaign:
1⃣ substitution of the image of the aggressor in the russian-Ukrainian war in the perception of the Western world
2⃣ minimization of sanctions consequences for the russian economy at the expense of Western financial systems.
Another statement, apparently leaked, and of unconfirmed source, shows that Nikolai Patrushev may be preparing for other outcomes to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. Here presumably is part of a speech to be given upon upcoming death of Putin during surgery:
It is with tremendous regret that I inform our country of the death of our great leader VVP who died bravely during abdominal surgery. To carry on the immortal mission of the great president is at this time an impossibility; no one will be able to lead the country as he did, not even myself. Therefore I now wish to inform the people of Russia of the plan to liquidate state assets, to end all military and police expenditures, and to diversify the countries’ investments through mergers, sell-offs and autonomy measures.
First we will dissolve the FSB, the police, and the military. This will begin at midnight tonight. All those currently serving in these branches of government will be sent home and given one week’s severance pay.
Next we will free all political prisoners. Alexy Navalny will become head and co-leader of the interim government along with a diverse group of businessmen and citizens.
Finally the country itself will be divided and sold off in parcels. Most of the country, all that bordering other nations such as Poland, Finland, the Baltic states, and Kazakhstan will be sold to those countries. All lands belonging to the country of Ukraine, as well as Georgia and Moldova, which we have plans to occupy and to bomb into submission, will be returned and all Russian presence in those lands will end immediately.
The central part of the country will be sold to Elon Musk for some 40B American dollars, equaling in value his proposed purchase of Twitter. Nothing will change in the central state sell-off once Musk takes over control, other than the Kremlin being turned over to him in its entirety to be used as a summer home and Twitter-Europe headquarters. Also Moscow will be renamed “Muskow”. Otherwise, no changes.
Proceeds from the sale of the country will be paid to Ukraine for rebuilding and as reparations for the destruction of the country, murder of its citizens, and war crimes committed by Russia against them.
Remaining funds, as well as some state assets still held, will be disbursed amongst every single Russian citizen- adults 16 years of age and up will receive a stipend of 100 rubles, 10 packs of Belomorkanal cigarettes, and 3 loaves of bread. Children under the age of 16 will receive 75 rubles and 3 packs of Belomorkanal cigarettes.
Be careful what you believe; anyone can create any storyline they care to.
Back to facts, Russians continue to die at Putin’s whim. There are however entire units that are refusing to fight- search for Donetsk People’s Republic, or DPR army 4th Infantry Battalion of the 107th Regiment. They have apparently refused to fight for a “foreign republic” – the Luhansk People’s Republic, or LPR.
Russian combat losses as of 25 May, 2022
Momentary Observation- Changes in Russian Posture
30 March 2022
Russia seems to be backing off with its rhetoric, at least in the news sources I view. This tells me that Putin may be listening to those from his inner circle, something that is clearly a difficult prospect for paranoid, isolated dictators. The question is why? Is he threatened by the unity of the rest of the world against his criminal intentions? Is it because internal dissent is increasing and his rhetoric is backfiring internally? Maybe he is realising his tenuous situation and where his country is headed? Or perhaps he overstepped strategically, revealed to much information and all of these options are still on the table? Just guesses on my part.
Examples of Putin’s ranting from a few weeks back that are no longer at the top of the headlines:
- reports about nuclear capabilities
- talk of invading Poland, other NATO countries
- talk of retaliation “like the world has never known”
- the “de-nazification” of Ukraine
While we do not know precisely what is happening in Russia, we have a fair idea. There are clearly those who oppose the war- there is dissent. There is also endless disinformation that confuses Russians as well as westerners. What we must remember is this- nothing has changed in this geographic region. The former Soviet Union is alive and well, albeit rebranded, still controlling the media, manipulating its people through fear, threat of violence, terror, and isolation. Many Russians have not recovered from the Soviet era; they are still living under a dark, hopeless, depressing authoritarian state. Don’t be fooled by thinking otherwise.
Our only hope is that the younger generations especially, those who have felt freedom over the last 30 years, refuse to give it up. The only answer for a free Russia, and a free world, is for the removal of its current dictator and the dismantling, finally, of the Russian mafia state allowing the people of Russia to actually choose their path.
Putin: Hubris, Insanity, and a Misread History Book
22 March 2022
It seems quite clear at this point that Russia is not planning to stop its anachronistic war of conquest and destruction on Ukraine any time soon. In fact, it would appear that bringing the rest of Europe, and perhaps the world into the war has not been ruled out, no matter what the negotiations may look like.
A number of facts become clear if we consider another European war as Putin’s goal. First, Putin is clearly beyond delusional, perhaps completely insane at this point. Anyone who would attempt to bring another total war to Europe and the world cannot be in their right mind.
Next, at this point only a few countries still side with Russia- Syria, which is really no longer a country, but a war zone; North Korea… nothing more to say there; and Belarus, which, if escalation continues will become nothing more than another front in Putin’s war- a landscape of leveled buildings, destroyed armor, and death. Depend upon it, Belarus in Putin’s eyes is not a country, but a front for taking his war against… whatever his demented mind tells him he is fighting against, a step further. Fortunately, not everyone in Belarus supports Russia- there are many there who understand what Russia is trying to do, and support Ukraine.
I have to believe that the majority of Russians do not want to be in a war against the country of Ukraine let alone the entire world. How does either of these benefit the average Russian? Not at all. (An Aljazeera article from 10 March, 2022 declares rising antiwar sentiment in Russia.) The only reason for this war against Ukraine is to satisfy Putin’s ego, to fulfill his delusional dream of a Greater Russia. There are so many holes in this prospect- the fact that this is the 21st century and not the 18th or 19th is a place to start. Wars for territorial conquest and of such a scale are a thing of the past (at least we thought they were) and no sane world leader would begin to think in engaging in conquest of a continent. We are back to insanity.
That this is a lost proposition in the first place is a given. Millions may die, if that is what Putin pushes this world into, and most of those will be Russians. In no way will Russia “win”, in no way will Putin’s goal be realised.
Recent history is one of the biggest factors that Putin has failed to examine. He rails constantly about how the collapse of the Soviet Union was the greatest geopolitical disaster of the 20th century. Aside from the fact that the Soviet Union was a doctrinal illusion and failed experiment from the beginning, and that Greater Russia went out with the czars and all other empires, recent history is even more important. A deciding factor in the collapse of the Soviet Union was its war in Afghanistan in the 1980’s. War caused the public to doubt its leadership. The suffering of the Russian people reached a point, finally, after many years of war, where they had had enough. And that was after decades of authoritarian rule. Recent generations of Russians have lived a different life, and have seen and felt freedom. They will not stand for this in the end. It is only a matter of time before the Russian people give us Putin’s head on a pike. And good riddance. Please make this happen soon!
Dispelling One More of Putin’s Myths
6 March 2022
As we move forward during these dark days, with the Russian military openly and illegally killing the citizens of a peaceful, democratic, and sovereign nation, one myth used by the perpetrator of these criminal acts must be dispelled. Most people have heard, somewhere in Putin’s continued rhetoric, about NATO’s promise not to expand eastward. This is one of his key arguments for the invasion of Ukraine.
The short answer to Putin’s statement is that NATO never gave such a promise. There is no truth in Russia’s claim that sovereign countries such as Ukraine and Georgia are, by the agreement, not allowed to join NATO. As the text of the document reads, Russia agrees to
“respect for sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all states and their inherent right to choose the means to ensure their own security“.
Further, the fact that Putin has himself initiated war upon Ukraine seems to void many parts of the document, which assumed peace on both sides. The arguments against Putin’s claims are many; they have all been clearly laid out in the various links below.
As background, Putin is referencing the 1997 NATO Russia Founding Act (full text), one of a number of documents created to keep peace and stability in the region in the post-Soviet era. Russia agreed to and signed the act, along with others over the years which were equally important in maintaining peace, stability, and the sovereignty of nations in the region. Historically, the agreement began much earlier than 1997, with discussions on the reunification of Germany, Poland’s bid to join NATO, and even with the discussion of Russia becoming a NATO partner.
The summary of the act issued by the US State Department on 15 May, 1997 can be found in archived form here.
NATO refutation of Putin’s claims, posted on 27 January, 2022 can be found here.
A Guardian article from 12 January, 2022 clearly lays out and refutes the main claims, and gives background on the Act as well as other points of negotiation with various world leaders over the years.
DONATE TO HELP FEED UKRANIAN REFUGEES
Final word, if you are thinking about how you can help the people of Ukraine, donating to the World Central Kitchen is a safe and fast option which will show immediate results. They are feeding thousands of refugees at numerous borders crossings, as well as in the country of Ukraine. This link will take you directly to their donation page.
UPDATE: 05 March, 2022 at 1725 MTN.- The big news today seems to be that Putin has declared he will not impose martial law in Russia. So now the question becomes, just when will he impose martial law in Russia? This is the next big step in cutting his own throat, and I am personally counting on him to add this to his list of mistakes very soon. The people of Russia are being held hostage, lied to, beaten, and imprisoned. We know that the majority of Russian’s do not support the killing of their neighbors. It is up to them just as much as it is up to the heroes in Ukraine to fight against the totalitarian regime now fully in place in Russia. Martial law will give them one more push to do so. Freedom awaits!
Original Post- 05 March, 2022 at 08:22 MTN.
The more things change, the more they stay the same- certainly this is true of the differences between the west… the differences between freedom, rule of law, justice, liberty, and life in modern Russia, at least as imposed by the rulers of the state. For perspective, we only need look back to purges, gulags, secret police, and the Terror that happened in what was then the Soviet Union. According to The “Beginning of the End for Putin”, and article on the Foreign Affairs website on March 2nd, 2022, a Levada Poll in Russia puts people’s fears of retaliation by the state against them at its highest since 1994. That says volumes about where Russia- and its dictator- now find themselves.
Putin took office on 31 December, 1999 and immediately began a course towards the past. According to Masha Gessen, in The Future is History, within a couple of years Putin had put “military officials in 25% of the top government jobs, had monopolised state media, and reversed judicial reforms.” He also began writing history (and rewriting it)- depending on how one views the limited information released on such events as the Moscow theater bombing, the Beslan school siege, the apartment house bombings, and the wars in Chechnya around that time, to mention a few points. What Putin did was nothing short of rebranding- what were essentially advertising agencies stepped in and created Putin, his party, “opposition parties”, and carefully choreographed responses to the attacks mentioned above, taking full advantage of each one to chip away at the few reforms that had been made in years since the fall of the iron curtain.
And now it is 2022, and Putin’s egotism, his personal greed and that of his cronies, along with his paranoia and dissociation with reality- or so it seems- is putting his tenure at great risk. And good riddance. Nothing good can come of war, but if the world can find a way to find some sort of positive outcome from the current situation, the fall of Vladimir Putin, and a second chance for freedom in Russia, and relative peace in eastern Europe must be part of that outcome.
Pressure from the world must hold steady, and grow daily, become stronger and stronger, and not let up until we see images of Putin’s dead body flashing across all the screens of the world. This is the best chance the world is going to get, and we must take it.
Momentary Observation- On the Brink of World War III
23 February 2022
UPDATE- 24 February, 2022- The Russian invasion of Ukraine is underway. WWIII in the making… Putin said he would not invade. He also said he would not use nuclear weapons. Our nuclear shields had better be up, as a madman is on the loose and he is capable of anything.
Original Post- 23 February, 2022
The imaginary lines are being crossed. Our greatest fears are being realised, at least those of us that grew up in the 1980’s. I keep having visions of Ronald Reagan, and the fears of MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction for the uninitiated- the doctrine that if nuclear war begins, no matter who starts it, both sides will end up completely destroyed.)
Why do I bring up MAD? For those of us who caught the blurb recently, Biden and Putin discussed nuclear war and agreed that neither would “push the button.” Curious, that meeting, and agreement. Out of nowhere it seemed to me. And then, the “Ukraine crisis” begins in earnest.
And where are we really… the Supreme Soviet still controls all (Putin and the oligarchs), the cult of personality still rules, the KGB still enforces their will upon the people (now FSB- headed by the one and only Putin under Boris Yeltsin), the nomenklatura and apparatchiks still fill the proper posts, the proletariat are still poor and downtrodden, agitprop still fills the airwaves and newspapers (oligarch/ “state”-owned) and in our era even more damaging are the hundreds of millions of cell phones and computers fed with it, history is still revised with facts disappearing down the memory hole, and now the Terror may never have happened- again (so much for reconciliation).
The work of the party is sacred.
The west is the enemy, with only one purpose- to destroy the great empire.
From the czar to the Bolsheviks, to Lenin and Stalin, to a very brief and failed attempt at freedom, and back to the czar. History continues to repeat itself, and it seems that we continue to be oblivious to that fact. What must be realised by all is this- Putin is living in some long- gone century, dreaming; the Russian Empire is an anachronism. This is the 21st century and freedom, liberty, and democracy will prevail.
Let us hope that the taste of freedom that so many have had, more so in Ukraine than many other places in the former Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact countries, will make it impossible for totalitarianism to succeed in its latest plot. Sit tight, as the future proves to be interesting.
At Five AM 