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Monday, July 21, 2014

FEATURED QUESTION: World News

(This blog post will remain here for a few days)

Many all across the political spectrum are opining that Russian President Vladimir Putin has blood on his hands because of last week's downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.

This FEATURED QUESTION, in two parts:

(1) Is Vladimir Putin to blame for the downing of the flight?

(2) If Putin is indeed responsible, what is the appropriate reaction on the part of the United States?

91 comments:

  1. We only know what the enemedia chooses to tell us, and they only tell us what The Oligarchs want us to believe. Therefore we have no way of knowing whether Pooty Poot is responsible for this terrible event or not. All we can do is surmise.

    Even if we could know, however, I doubt if we have the GUTS -- or sufficient resources left to back them up, if we did -- to say anything more than, "Naughty, naughty, Vladdy Old Boy, you mustn't do that."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, we cn (and have, I believe) determine where the thugs obtained the missile battery and it wasn't looted from a Ukrainian arsenal. Had to come from Russia.

      Who fired it? Some trigger happy rebel or a Russian "adviser"? That's a more difficult question.

      But Russia could end this.

      What could we do?

      1. Arm the Ukrainian military and watch the escalation as both sides play F***-F***. We may still believe that never goes wrong.

      2. Put boots on the ground and go door to door in Donetsk. Even St. Ronnie Raygun wouldn't be that dumb.

      3. Put the squeeze on the oligarchs.

      The options are limited.

      Delete
    2. Ducky. That's pretty well said.

      At least Putin isn't a socialist.Then he'd be killing millions, truly like Stalin.

      Delete
  2. One view on this topic, but I don't say that I agree:

    ,Freeze Russian assets and block Russian tourists here: If Putin’s rich cronies can’t get to their money, he has a problem.

    Provide military aid to Ukraine: Putin would have to change his calculations about how he behaves if American arms started showing up in Ukrainian military installations.

    Provide support to the Crimean resistance: Remember Crimea? The Crimeans who opposed Russia’s annexation sure do. Ethnic Ukrainians and Tartars in Crimea would be very grateful for any help we give them, while they can exact a heavy price on Putin’s reputation at home. Crimeans rising up against Putin could turn this entire operation into a major Moscow headache.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You assume that Crimea is interested in being part of Ukraine.

      The link between Crimea and Ukraine is tenuous.
      They are probably content to be out of this.

      Delete
    2. During the Soviet era, and before that the Russian Empire, the Russian invaders had a policy of killing Ukrainians and replacing then with Russians.

      Crimea was conquered by the Russian Empire in 1783, and remained a colony until the USSR broke up.

      The experience of the indigenous people there is fraught with atrocities perpetrated by the empire from Moscow: "On 18 May 1944, the entire population of the Crimean Tatars were forcibly deported in the "Sürgün" (Crimean Tatar for exile) to Central Asia by Joseph Stalin's Soviet government as a form of collective punishment on the grounds that they had collaborated with the Nazi occupation forces and formed pro-German Tatar Legions."

      The latest aggression is just a continuation of this, one of those actual instances where Putin is indeed imitating his socialist and Tsarist emperor predecessors.

      As for the recent vote: "Andrey Illarionov, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and a former Russian government adviser, cited polls showing the Crimean support for joining Russia between 23 and 41 percent to conclude that the actual support was closer to 34 percent and that at least two thirds of Crimea did not vote for it. He called the referendum "grossly rigged falsification" and the outcome "cynically distorted".[18]"

      The link between Ukraine and Crimea is a natural and ancient one, and would probably have been supported by a fair vote.

      Delete
    3. Dmarks, Crimea has been ruled by the Asian hordes, the Ottomans and the Russians and has never had anything but a minority Ukrainian population.

      It only became part of Ukraine during the Soviet era as a rather artificial gift from Khrushchev to his home boys.

      The link is tenuous.

      Delete
    4. Dmarks,
      Putin is indeed imitating his socialist and Tsarist emperor predecessors.

      Looks that way to me. Slavs against "the other"?

      Delete
    5. Or maybe it's one branch of Slavs against another branch of Slavs?

      Delete
    6. "Or maybe it's one branch of Slavs against another branch of Slavs?

      Well, when Moscow was socialist, it did order the murder of many tens of millions of Slavs in Russia, the Ukraine, and Eastern Europe. There is a long enough history of that, and the echos in the current aggression by Moscow against Ukraine has too much in common with it.

      Delete
  3. The US has very limited options because Putin is popular in Russia and he is seen as a hero.
    We can't expect any action from the incompetent administration because they are not responsible for anything and sand to draw lines in are plentiful. He is going to investigate and say naughty, naughty but nothing else will be done.

    Loved the speech that we don't want to rush to judgement. Guess if this was a cop arresting a black professor or a black thug being shot he would have held an immediate press conference to voice his opinions and let the facts sort themselves out later. Of his not rushing to conclusions was followed by equal pay for LGBT. He is certainly not at a loss on topics that are already law.

    Germany has most of the cards in this case and they risk losing oil if they spank Putin so can't see anything on that front either.

    ReplyDelete
  4. It was probably the rebels he supports,and there's not much we can do at this point.

    The Europeans will set down their tea cups and talk tough... until winter hits and they need Russian gas to heat their homes.

    It's a whole new world now

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Silverfiddle,
      The Europeans will set down their tea cups and talk tough... until winter hits and they need Russian gas to heat their homes.

      I can't see anything else happening!

      Delete
  5. Of course, Putin is indirectly responsible; he provided the equipment that brought that plane down. The airline is indirectly responsible; they filed a very irresponsible flight plan over a conflict area. We seem to forget that a US warship brought down an Iranian airliner a few years back. Innocents lost their lives. The difference is that we owned up to the mistake and, as far as I know, made reparations for the disaster. It did not bring anyone back to life, but once a mistake is made, nations have a responsibility to own up to it.

    What should the US do? Stop talking about it. We do not have the moral high ground, and all this “for public consumption rhetoric” is only making matters worse.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mustang,
      I can't imagine that Putin ordered or even imagined that the equipment he provided would be used to shoot down a commercial jetliner.

      If whoever fired that missile is under Putin's command, then Putin, as the head of state, can and should be held responsible. However, to my knowledge, Putin hasn't admitted that he supplied the weapon. Maybe I missed that information?

      Caveat: This comment should not be construed to mean that I support Putin. Just thinking out loud.

      What should the US do? Stop talking about it.

      I agree. But I don't see that happening anytime soon, do you?

      Delete
  6. That Rightie lover Putin kills 298 people while those Teabaggers admire him and swoon every time he takes off his shirt.
    Putin's goons shoot down an airliner and kill 298 people, including a few Americans and a load of children while the commie-loving Teabaggers hold a crush on him because of their hatred for OUR president ! Carry on Comrades!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The homoeroticism is strong in you, son...

      Delete
    2. Mae Hemme said

      You, Kid Rock, are without doubt one of THE least informed, most idiotic, most dangerus cretins in this Ocean of Ignorance we call the blogosphere.

      Don't bother to go back to school. Do the world a favor and throw yourself into the crater of the nearest volcano.

      Delete
  7. One has to wonder what goes on in the vacant heads of the people like Kid-Rock, Libmann, Ducky, and the likes of them.

    As for the Progressive Blogger, I won't ever bother thinking of that creature from the Black Lagoon. .

    ReplyDelete
  8. Are progressive women even DUMBER that plain ole Democratic women? I seem to think that they are. And I think that they have a higher rate of mental illness as well.

    Thant maybe a great question for AOW's blog.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Obama gives protection to gay, transgender workers, We can all sleep better with obama in charge. He has his priorities in the right place.
    No photo op for him at the border but a lot of them signing a bill that is already law.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well put! You nailed it.

      Delete
    2. How could they get Obama to the border?

      Hold a fundraiser

      Delete
  10. Okay, I know that I’m running the rick of being deleted for breaking the rules here that AOW has set, BUT I also realize that the risk of being bumped off the board is worth it to me for me to get this pont across. But let me start by saying that I am genuinely not here intending to break the rules here, to spam, troll or anything like that. . I think this is a legitimate topic of discussion amongst the reasonable non-crazy people in society, AKA Conservatives. . Every day, I st here at my computer reading or writing comments on blogs I am confronted with yet another liberal who seems to have completely lost their mind. At first, I thought it was just a simple difference in ideology, which is normally a good thing in political discourse, you need to listen to both sides of the argument and to have contrasting viewpoints before you make up your own mind and to make logical decisions.

    But some things have become absolutely and outright ridiculous. Almost 6 years into the Obama presidency, and arguably the worst performance of any president in the history of the United States with one failure on top of another, one lie one top of another as far as the eye can see. Scandals unfolding on a daily basis, and not just little meaningless ones, really big ones... impeccable ones, as a matter of fact. Some that would make what Richard Nixion did look like small potatoes The economy is still in the crapper, jobs are still virtually non-existent, despite all the fluff and propaganda being fed to us daily. But still, I can rationalize that left-wing liberals are still standing by their guy because that's who brought them to the dance. Fair enough, Bush had avid supporters who loved everything he did and still do. At least we know that what he did, he did for the love of his country. But what Obama did and continues to do goes deeper.

    We can go through a host of issues, it doesn't really matter what they are... Illegal immigration, voter IDs, gay marriage, global warming, you all know the long list of his failures and miss-handling of issues, cover-ups and lies . ... whatever it is, the left has their talking points ready and are prepared to do battle, even when they know deep in their hearts that they are wrong as hell. . But it's not just these issues, it's the level at which they absolutely refuse to acknowledge any other viewpoint and just automatically reject anything the right has to say... on ANYTHING. Doesn't matter! If the political right came out tomorrow in favor of cute little kittens, the left would launch an cute little kitten campaign, charging that the right were racist bigots who were out of touch with mainstream Americans

    ReplyDelete

  11. I realized the level at which this has reached today, as I was discussing the Israeli mobilization on Gaza with a liberal “so called friend”. He says... "What right does Israel have to exist?" Now, this person has always been liberal, but I've always respected the arguments they made and felt like they articulated some valid points, even when I didn't agree with them. But this just blew me away. I couldn't believe he said that. Then I notice that he and several other liberals were posting all these videos put out by Al Jazeera, showing the civilian casualties and whatnot.
    Lets look at a war in the past. Any war, even take the USA’s involvement in war. When the bombed Pearl Harbor, we went to WAR! When the hit the Twin Towers on 9-11, we went to WAR! So why shouldn’t Israel go to war when a terrorist government like Hama throws missiles at GazA? Tell me one good reason why not? Because Liberals don't have brains. that’s why! It's really as simple as that.
    And by the way, Progressives aren't liberals at all. They are in your face COMMUNIST freaks who pretend to be liberals.

    Then I debate about voter ID and some liberal is saying "you just don't want the poor to vote!" Like the poor are somehow suddenly unable to show identification to prove who they are, even though they must've shown ID to get food stamps, Medicaid, WIC, AFDC, EIC, and all other government subsidies. In another thread, some liberal is whining about the greedy corporations getting rich off the bailouts and stimulus that OBAMA DEMANDED

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, eve those on the right must acknowledge the kooks like you in their ranks.

      Delete
  12. I doubt we will ever know the whole truth. The evidence being reported seems to confirm that the seperatists fired the missle that brought the plane down. It makes no sense that Putin sanctioned this atack. Where did the speratists get such armaments? If Russia provided them, it was outrageouly foolish of them. Did the seperatist hyjack them from the inept Kiev military? That is certainly plausable. Is it possible that the CIA, which has been active in Ukraine since before the fall of the constitutionally elected president, arranged for the misiles and launcher to fall into the hands of the sepperatists? I would hope not, but consider who has the most to gain from such an insane act; the West.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jim,
      Is it possible that the CIA, which has been active in Ukraine since before the fall of the constitutionally elected president, arranged for the misiles and launcher to fall into the hands of the sepperatists?

      Interesting thought!

      Delete
  13. Ideally, Putin should apologize to the families of the passengers, the Ukraine, and the world. He should help bring those who fired the rocket to swift justice. The rest of the "pro-Russian rebels" should every single one be imprisoned for life, with the death penalty for those who engage in violence against others. Russia should give back Crimea, apologie to Ukraine, and pay that nation billions in reparations

    The current Russian aggression against Ukraine is a continuation of policies that have gone on for many decades... and included Moscow ordering that 7 million Ukrainian civilians be put to death in the 1930s. It's time to end the empire, and stop beating up Ukraine.

    Of course this is what SHOULD happen. Putin is an evil bastard and won't do the right thing, however. Nor do I think there is much that the US can. Even in the best of situations with the most capable government. And we certainly don't have that. Our current President campaigned for office on his ignorance of foreign policy matters.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Templar said: "I realized the level at which this has reached today, as I was discussing the Israeli mobilization on Gaza with a liberal “so called friend”. He says... "What right does Israel have to exist?""

    Where is this discussion? Any person who asks what right a nation of millions has to exist is by default supporting the extermination of the people of that nation.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mae Hemme said

      Israel is a Johnny Come Lately who was forced on the Arabs by Western powers for reasons of their own. Israel has been the fly in the ointment of the Middle East and a thorn in the side of the entire free world. It has been a focal point for endless tension and violent upheaval for the past 66 years. This is what happens when you are stupid enough to wave a red flag in front of a bull, and keep telling him he ought to back off and leave you alone. The Israelis have done very well, of course, but they would have dine a whole lot better if their nation had been planted in less hostile territory. That's not
      anti-Semitism it's just a fact.

      Delete
    2. Anyway, I want to thank Mae Himmler for comment full of hatred for Jewish people. It has inspired me to again donate to the good cause.

      A thorn in the side of evil people with purely evil intent... is a good thing. I want this thorn strong, and sharp.

      Delete
    3. Dmarks,
      There has been a Jewish presence in that area for thousands of years. Israel is no "johnny come lately".

      Yes.

      Delete
    4. Mae,
      You will find that some of this information worth considering.

      For example:

      During the British Mandate period the area experienced the ascent of two major nationalist movements, one among the Jews and the other among the Arabs. The competing national interests of the Arab and Jewish populations of Palestine against both each other and the governing British authorities matured into the Arab Revolt of 1936–1939 and the Jewish insurgency in Palestine before culminating in the Civil War of 1947–1948. The aftermath of the Civil War and the consequent Arab-Israeli War of 1948 led to the establishment of the 1949 cease-fire agreement, with partition of the former Mandatory Palestine between the newborn state of Israel with a Jewish majority, the West Bank annexed by the Jordanian Kingdom and the Arab All-Palestine Government in the Gaza Strip under the military occupation of Egypt....

      More at the above link.

      Also see British Mandate for Palestine.

      Israel herself as a modern nation may be a Johnny Come Lately in one sense. But more was involved than merely forced on the Arabs by Western powers for reasons of their own. Western powers often were trying to settle things down -- particularly after the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire around 1922.

      Delete
    5. Dmarks,
      Clarification...I should have said "I agree" to your comment of July 21, 2014 at 5:07:00 PM EDT, when you said There has been a Jewish presence in that area for thousands of years. Israel is no "johnny come lately". Most nations of the world are Johnny Come Lately's compare to it.

      My short response of "Yes" was too ambiguous. Sorry.

      Delete
    6. Mae,
      the constant strife that has plagued the region all our lives did not exist until the outside world decided the Jewish People deserved to have a homeland where they were not welcome

      I must disagree.

      That area has often been filled with strife over many centuries. Indeed, the area was conquered by numerous tribes and empires. Please see this chart. Transitions were certainly not often peaceful there.

      I must also point out that Israel didn't start this war that we are watching right now. And just last week, Israel and Gaza agreed to a five-hour truce; Hamas broke that truce in two hours.

      Jews have never been willing to accept any criticism however mild without screaming "anti-Semitism."

      That may be so to a certain extent, but Jews do not have the corner on the market when it comes to an inability to accept any criticism. The same applies to numerous groups of people. Also, recently we appear to be a watching a serous outbreak of obvious anti-Semitism in France and on numerous American campuses. It's ugly.

      Delete
    7. Germany today:

      Berlin authorities have ordered pro-Gaza demonstrators to stop chanting anti-semitic messages, after protesters were reportedly heard shouting ‘Gas the Jews’.

      Sizeable anti-Israel rallies have been held in the German capital, with people taking to the streets allegedly chanting anti-semitic slogans.

      Some of the demonstrations are said to be organised by Muslim immigrants and neo-Nazi groups.

      The Berlin authorities are also investigating anti-semitic behaviour by a radical Imam in the city, after a video uploaded by Israeli daily Haaretz showed an Imam calling for the obliteration of Jews, telling his followers to “kill them to the very last one”....


      Like I said: Ugly.

      Delete
    8. Mae Hemme said

      Nothing you said is untrue, but I must persist and keep asking why has so much antagonism been focused on the Jews, a tiny minority of 12 to 15 million in the world's population of 7 billion? There must be reasons for it. I can't accept the explanations offered by people like dmarks who want us to believe "anti-semitism" is irrational hatred based on nothing but stupid prejudice. I think that too many Jews have a noticeable superiority complex, and think their concerns are more important than anyone else's. I'm sorry but that is bothersome.

      Delete
    9. Mae,
      why has so much antagonism been focused on the Jews

      Well, the Bible did use this description several times. Two synonyms for the key word in bold are "haughty" and "intractable."

      I also think that other groups are jealous of Jews, who have accomplished so much in so many fields: medicine, technology, the fine arts, etc. Of the 660 Nobel prizes from 1901-1990, 160 have been won by Jews. Jews have won more Nobel prizes than any other ethnicity. They have won 40 times more than should be expected of them based upon population statistics. Yes, Karl Marx is on the list, and he is a man that we should despise, but we certainly cannot say the same for others on that list. I would say that, as an ethnic group, Jews are well above average in intelligence.

      Delete
    10. AOW: Mae's stereotypes, and her repeated complaint about a Jewish presence where they are "Not Welcome" reminds me a lot of the complaints of whites who objected and complained about the intrusion of black people buying homes in all-white neighborhoods when segregation ended in the 1960s and 1070s.

      As for Mae's question about why the antagonism against Jews, well, it is the noise made by small minds who are jealous and lazy, and rather than focus on their own shortcomings, they seek to incite hatred at those perceived to be richer, oppressors, etc. It is the same sort of logic which gives the Mao's, Stalin's, and other socialists power.

      I have known many Jewish people. Not a single one had a "superiority complex". The only thing bothersome here is an ignorant, and racist stereotype. Mae's points drive home the idea that having a place like Israel, where Jewish people can live free of the racism from Mae and others is necessary.

      AOW, you considered what sets Jews apart? You think it is above average intelligence. I think it is something else: a sense of community, of remembering... and they tend to keep that longer in history than anyone else. Some see this as something to destroy, rather than an example to use to get their own house in order.

      Delete
    11. Mae said: "Jews have never been willing to accept any criticism however mild without screaming "anti-Semitism."

      Criticism is one thing. Hatred, racism, and demand for genocide is another. Hamas and the Palestinian government have made their Number One foreign policy goal the killing of every Jewish Israeli.

      You yourself, Mae, think that if haters are so stupid that they act like bulls in a bullfight at the idea of Jews living in the area, it is a problem caused by the Jews, rather than the truly evil minded haters.

      And yes, when you are criticizing a racial group like this, you ALWAYS end up using ignorant generalizations, and speaking the exact same sort of hate used by those who organize mass executions. Again and again, what you type is so similar to what other similarly bigoted people say about Blacks.

      Delete
    12. Dmarks,
      a sense of community, of remembering... and they tend to keep that longer in history than anyone else

      I think that is also true -- although my ancestors and family in Appalachia have that same kind of long memory.

      Jews are proud of their "race." I have no problem with that.

      Mae may not have specifically mentioned "Holocaust guilt." Maybe Mae did, and I missed it. Whatever.

      But I must say that I refuse to be held guilty for the Holocaust -- even though my paternal ancestors were German. I do understand that Jews are right to remember the Holocaust, particularly in the sense of "Never again!" Criticism of Jews -- and I do mean criticism -- doesn't necessary lead to the ovens.

      However, anti-Semitic talk did lead to the use of those ovens. And I don't like to see any rise of anti-Semitism. As you said: It is the same sort of logic which gives the Mao's, Stalin's, and other socialists power.

      On the other hand, I will draw the analogy of "All rectangles are squares, but not all squares are rectangles."

      I don't know that Mae wants to exterminate Jews. But what does Mae want to do about what she has basically described as the Jewish problem? Perhaps Mae will come back to this thread and tell us.

      ----------------------------

      When I was in school, we did, of course, study the Holocaust. But back then, we didn't dwell on it as much as we do today.

      Is dwelling on the Holocaust a good thing? I don't think so, but I do strongly believe that everyone should visit a Holocaust museum. How anyone cannot be moved by the artifacts there is beyond me!

      -------------

      I have several Jewish friends. They are "strong men." But, at the same time, they are generous and nurturing. In fact, the first person to come to our house to take my husband out to dinner after his terrible stroke of September 2009 was a Jew, a blogger who calls himself The Beak. And the person who furnished us with bed sheets and a wheelchair -- gifts -- was a Jew.

      Delete
  15. at least he is not the laughing stock of the free world AOW even with all his heinous shortcomings.............

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. True. Obama needs foreign policy to distract from his failures in domestic policy (debt twice as bad as Bush, millions of jobs lost, black male teen unemployment over 90%). But then he needs domestic policy to distract him from all the foreign policy failures also of his design. And then... And then.... He has painted himself into quite a corner, hasn't he?

      Delete
    2. Lol, and recently he was accused of needing domestic policy wins to distract from his failures in foreign policy. Make up your minds.

      The stock market has had record highs, there has been economic growth each month since the stimulus. Now get the GOP to pass some jobs bills without riders giving more tax breaks to the wealthy and our recovery would move faster. As it is, it's remarkable what Obama has done with the worst congress in history:

      http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2012/07/13/13-reasons-why-this-is-the-worst-congress-ever/

      Delete
    3. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
  16. DD, there is no sense in even trying to reason with the likes of this leftist. Your just wasting your time.

    And would like to say thank you to Mae Hemme and all you lefties for exposing yourselves so thoroughly as partisans - without honor, concern, or care for your country. Ideologues who would throw away the very protections of our country - the very concept of equal protection under the law in your blind partisanship.
    You are the lowest of the low, without principle, and a very real danger to the well being of this country.
    By exposing your true nature, any decent human being among my countrymen have turned from you and your ilk in disgust and revulsion.
    I for one am glad the mask has finally come off.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I think that Mae Hemme is really Shaw Kenawe, I understand that she has been impersonating other Liberal bloggers saying inflammatory comments and trying to make it sound as if they really are conservatives doing the impersonations.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Corrected comment!

    Hello Kid Rock or whoever! I really shouldn’t even bother to answer you, but out of the goodness of my heart and being the nice guy that I am, I will.

    First of all...There was and still isn’t any such place as Palestine, there were no such people as Palestinians... I’ll repeat that because i know that you are a little slow in the brains department. There never was a place called Palestine. There are no such people named Palestinians.

    There was never in the history of the world a "Palestinian" nation.

    There was never in the history of the world a "Palestinian" state.

    There was never in the history of the world a "Palestinian" capital.

    Now go out side and campaign for Hillary Clinton like a good little Progressive. and be careful of on coming traffic.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In the long history of Palestine the Israelites ruled for the shortest time.

      Delete
    2. Duck,
      Define the border of Palestine.

      However one tries to define that region, it has been a crossroads and a hotbed of dissents and conflicts.

      Delete
    3. I define it as the extended area around Jerusalem.

      Delete
    4. Now that's an issue, isn't it/

      But the Greeks, Romans, Babylonians, Assyrians, Arabs and others have been in Jerusalem for extended periods. It's naive to call it elusively Israelite.

      Delete
    5. Ducky: All of those you name were outside empires. Some quite distant. Conquering, colonizing forces that rose and fell, came and went. Persia belongs on the list too, as do the Turks.

      Delete
  19. I have to say that I believe Putin's counting on the world like Obama's counting on America; to overlook what he's done in the busy-ness of everything else that's going on. This will go away. Particularly if Darryl Issa has another worthless hearing.
    Putin will obfuscate, tamper with evidence and then turn it in, threaten and pose. Sound familiar?

    ReplyDelete
  20. By the way, it makes me laugh when I hear libs suggest we LIKE PUTIN for who he is. We LIKE PUTIN, if you want to use that phrase, because HE IS A STRONG LEADER; he's a jerk, a liar and screws everybody over, but he's not milquetoast, you have to admit. That's appealing to Conservatives; The socialism or communism he comes from is NOT.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Z,
      Spot on with your comment of 6:42:00 PM EDT!

      Like it or not, the world as a whole does respect "the strong man."

      Delete
    2. That's why they USED TO respect us, even if they hated the president, they knew he meant business and they knew America had a big heart.
      I may be blogging on what the muslims are doing to Paris and Frankfurt the last few days ...attacking Jewish stores, trying to attack synagogues (but the cops are preventing that so far). Our news isn't telling you; my stepson IS THERE and he IS.

      Delete
    3. Z,
      I've been keeping up with what's going on in Paris (and London) right now, but I haven't been following developments in Frankfurt.

      Delete
    4. I can assure you, z, our news is telling us about the unrest in Europe.
      It was featured on Democracy Now! today. You should mix in the left wing press.

      With the corporate press all you get is Diane Sawyer showing a grieving Palestinian woman in front of rubble and Diane calling her an Israeli after a Palestinian rocket strike.



      Delete
    5. Ducky: "Democracy Now!" is part of the corporate media also. It is a 501(c)3 corporation. But yes, like most of the mainstream media, it is indeed left wing.

      I also have little use for Diane Sawyer and Baba Wawa and the others too.

      Delete
    6. I watch all the press ... haven't seen a thing including the astonishing pictures my stepson's sending. And, the stories of muslims attacking Germans during the World Cup reveling, etc.
      No, it's not widely covered and it should be.

      Delete
    7. Durita Chipp said

      The person called "Z" made a remarkably honest, nicely balanced answer to the taunts coming from the left accusing "righties" of loving Vladimir Putin.

      Delete
  21. Well, back in 1983 when Russia downed a Korean Air civilian aircraft, there were consequences imposed by one Ronald Reagan. Now it may have been "rebels" who pushed the button this time, but where did they get the Buk launcher and who taught them to use it?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What consequences?
      He made a speech and denied some landing rights. Big deal.

      Delete
    2. "He made a speech and denied some landing rights. Big deal."

      And within a few years, due to Reagan's actions, the Evil Empire itself collapsed and dozens of nations broke free from the yoke of socialism. Entire wars even stopped (remembering El Salvador as one example... the war ending once the reason for the war, the USSR, was gone).

      Yes, to be honest, it WAS a big deal.

      Delete
    3. Yeah right, be thankful Brezhnev died when he did or the jackass would have had us in a war with Russia.

      What did the Soviet union have ot do with El Salvador? If YOU are paying attention you know from the constant immigrant issues that the problems in Central American have not ended.
      Reagan ended nothing. It was Joe Moakley who used to be my Rep. who went down to Salvador and told D'Aubisson to cut the crap. Raygun was in his dotage and didn't know where he was.

      Delete
  22. I'll tell you, reading libtard comments, there is no question that there is a mental disease at play with them.

    AOW, Maybe you could trip them up sometime and post some pro-communist stuff and watch them squeal over that as well. haha

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kid,
      Hehehe.

      If I posted, "The sun rises in the east and sets in the west," somebody would argue with me, huh?

      Delete
  23. I'd like to get back now to the original questions I posted in the body of this blog post:

    (1) Is Vladimir Putin to blame for the downing of the flight?

    (2) If Putin is indeed responsible, what is the appropriate reaction on the part of the United States?


    And let me add one more:

    How is it in the interest of the United States to do something as a reaction to the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Is a major conflict that would probably cause a recession in Russia and ripple through Germany and other parts of Europe worth avoiding?

      It may be Russia that has to answer that.
      I'm not clear on what they have to gain by escalating and I still think the key question (which we may never answer) is whether Russian advisers launched the missile.

      Delete
  24. Interesting how we spend so little time discussing how the Ukrainian situation came to be.

    Strong man Putin just decides to get frisky out of the blue?
    Hardly.

    But we seem so much less interested in the causes than who is carrying the big stick.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "Strong man Putin just decides to get frisky out of the blue?"

      No, haven't you been following all along? He has been "frisky" for ages. He made a big name for himself by re-establishing the new Russian Empire when he had Russia invade, annex the separate nation of Chechnya out of pure "might makes right" aggression. Russia has several small neighboring nations that are weak, and he gains political advantage from time to time by crushing them.

      Delete
  25. Silverfiddle and FreeThinke make accurate statements as well as does Ducky. Silver takes the gold IMO.

    ReplyDelete
  26. "1) Is Vladimir Putin to blame for the downing of the flight?"

    I don't know yet but it's pretty obvious that he has a darn good enabler, right here @ 1600 Pennsylvania , DC!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Obama must be salivating at the Pen and Phone Putin has.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Is there such a thing a a good liberal blog? Well, I have yet to see one!
    This is the sort of TRASH found on these Progressive RAGS,

    “Putin shoots down an airliner and kills 298 innocent people and the Conservatives have a crush on this monster!
    “The usual howler monkeys were out in full force after hearing reports about the downed Malaysian flight. Their gripe? On the day of the tragedy, the president gave only a brief mention of it, then went on to talk about other issues.
    The people ululating the loudest were the people who grab onto the latest rumors and right wing misinformation and run with it, especially if they can blame it all on President Obama.
    One wonders if the Putin fanboys and fangirls on the right are still secretly admiring their favorite "strong leadership" guy.”
    “Thousands of children are fleeing Central America to Texas — alone.
    The conservative blogsphere has exploded with emotional, and mostly inaccurate, reporting on the current crisis.”
    “While extremist T-GOPers are running around shrieking "IMPEACH!" "BENGHAZI!" "BROWN REFUGEE CHILDREN WILL MAKE US ALL SICK!" "IRS!," President Obama is doing his job and demolishing every lie the T-GOPers read at Breitbart, Drudge, and FAUX NEWS.”
    “Apparently, the Obama Derangement Howlers expected President Obama to give a full, detailed report on something no one had any real information on.”

    This is the type of GARBAGE you get off these left wing HATE SITES, that why i say never read them, never support them, and never ever argue with them. It’s fruitless.
    No matter what these Lame-Brain Left-wing progressive imbeciles say or write, the Conservatives are not fans of, nor do they faun over Putin, nor do they like the guy? NO, they see him for what he is, It’s the pathetic left that look for anything ,absolutely anything they can turn to and fling it like the little in the Zoo do.
    Their message is not even worthy of a response or serious consideration, but I feel that I must. How predictable this Progressive WITCH is!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Stephanie,
      Please refrain from posting that garbage here at this blog.

      Yes, I know the source(s) of the above. There is no way to reason with such people.

      The above said, let's now get back to a discussion of the material in this body of this blog post.

      Delete
    2. Stephanie, your inane, hate-filled remarks do a great disservice to the cause of genuine conservatism. I would not tolerate your odious, overheated, toxic cant at my site for an instant. Thank you for NOT visiting FreeThinke's blog. It saves me the trouble of deleting you.

      Delete
    3. FT,
      I expect these boards to be real hotbeds as we approach the midterm elections. **sigh**

      Delete
  29. The nation we love no longer receives any respect for the office of the president as it once has in the past. Neither do our allies, nor our enemies trust Obama or his administration and with good reason... All of this president's past history is based on lies. So much so that he has sealed his papers so no one can learn the truth of his background.
    Obama is now famous for lying repeatedly to the American people.
    And naturally, Republican are fighting back, they are fighting the lies, and the scandals that this president has been throwing to us all these years.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Now don’t get me wrong, but Putin may be a KGB murderer, a two-faced dictator and a$$hole, but he is a strong and feared leader.

    Obama is neither strong, a man, or a leader.

    ReplyDelete
  31. I'm sure that Putin is really scared of our Community organizer! He can't sic the IRS on Russia, or maybe he'll send Lois Lerner over there to lose some more e-mails on purpose! It's time for you to get your butt off the golf course, and stop going to all those fund raises all over the place, And For You to understand that sign on your desk : THE BUCK STOP HERE! and in reality it is time for You Mr. Obama to get serious, get a spine, and do something that is meaningful. Maybe read the autobiography of the Great Ronald Reagan or Harry Truman, instead the “Dreams of his Father” . And drop that arrogant egoism! Whoever told him that he’s the smartest person in the room, was as big a liar as he is.
    You are really a pitiful, ignorant, elitist!

    ReplyDelete
  32. Obama is a third-world dictator wannabe, not fit to hold any office in America, let alone the president . He demonstrates every day that he is hell bent on bringing down America and that nothing he says should be taken seriously, much less should anything he says trusted or believed.?
    I am thoroughly disgusted that illegal aliens are a priority with this administration while taking care of vets is viewed as a hassle that they don't deserve. In the latest blow to military families Obama cut the annual pay raise to military families by nearly 1%
    We divert trillions on parasites and zero on important matters.?

    ReplyDelete
  33. Putin is squeezing Obama's grapes daily and the Choom Smoker in Chief decides to retreat to Martha's Vineyard to hobnob with is Billionaire cronies.

    Let's hope someone is babysitting his pet baboon, Biden. If that shaved ape finds the Red Phone, it could all come crashing down.

    ReplyDelete
  34. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  35. I can't understand why spending so much time on idle speculation has such broad appeal.

    ReplyDelete

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