Well said.

I grew up outside of Detroit.
Back in the day, it wasn't that bad.
Taking my daughter through there, she said:
I really have to go to the bathroom...
But I know you are not stopping around here... How long till we get somewhere safe?
ROTFLMAO...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Categor...

" [Ukraine] BOMBED the bridge to Crimea
BUT, it was ONLY AFTER that event, that [Putin] started targeting infrastructure."
Do you have a source for this claim? It seems doubtful.

I don't mean to be too flippant, but what did come to mind is I don't read or speak Russian, but isn't that a documentary on Detroit, Baltimore, or Buffalo translated to Russian? OK, I admit I've never been to Detroit, but I have been to Baltimore and Buffalo.

I'm not usually vulgar in my thinking, but your post made me think Stalin had Ukraine raped before Hitler unzipped his fly.

Putin originated from the communist system, that much is true. He was head of the KGB under the former communist regime, that much is also true. But with the fall of the communist government of the USSR, Russia transitioned into something else. I would describe Russia's current government far more one of an oligopoly or a military dictatorship (if one considers that the KGB is an armed force of sorts) than that of a communistic regime. The Politburo is a thing of the past. Those in power have direct ties to Putin and curry his favor with money - largely the oil oligarchs. One might go so far as to say it hearkens back to the mercantilist traditions like the Venetians.

Why do I say this? Because Russia doesn't pursue communist ideals any longer. They permit the free exercise of religion (as long as it isn't Islam). They are moving swiftly away from a controlled market and controlled economy - though that movement has been painful and foreign to its people. They no longer attempt to export communism to other nations, choosing instead to find regional allies in order to gain influence and secure their own interests. They no longer devote an inordinate amount of money to their defense industry instead of basic infrastructure improvements, etc.

Now that doesn't mean that I would consider them as stable or law-abiding as a European nation or America. It is still very much a land of bribery over rule of law. Now does Russia support a Constitution like that of America? Not yet. But one can argue that America is guilty of the greater sin of turning its back on its Constitution while Russia strives to adjust to a new ideal.

...and Mussolini got the trains to run on time.

"Ukraine was the greatest victim of World War II, suffering the greatest material damage and the greatest human losses of any country in the war. How is it possible that Ukraine was even more devastated than Germany? One reason was that Ukraine suffered twice from a "scorched earth" policy conducted by the two greatest totalitarian powers of this century, first Stalin's Soviet Russia and then by Hitler's Nazi Germany." World War II in Ukraine by Andrew Gregorovich

Well, 10yrs ago is a long time. The airport in Moscow the first few times was ROUGH. This last time... It was nicer than the airports I use here in the states! (That was July 2019)

About the Ukrainian Infrastructure. They BOMBED the bridge to Crimea on his Birthday, and said "Happy Birthday".
(Certainly the US was involved, as they have videos of 2 missiles). FWIW, that bridge is completely fixed...

BUT, it was ONLY AFTER that event, that he started targeting infrastructure. And personally, I can't blame him.
In fact, I am surprised he did not do that early... But the purpose was NOT to take ALL of Ukraine. Just the land Mass that gets him to Crimea, without traveling in Ukraine. (Rightly or Wrongly, and I've heard BOTH sides from 4 different viewpoints, LOL).

I speak some Russian, read less [not for lack of trying, IMHO]. I was in Moscow and Petersburg a decade ago and they were far from showplaces, and we were regularly stopped by polizei demanding "papers". The metro was clean but much of the cities that we drove through were derelict and the airports were laughable.

I think that Russia is heading for a demographic cliff, and their headlong lunge in that direction will not have been helped by the hundreds of thousands of [mostly] men and [fewer] women who have headed for the border after Feb. 24th. I find the stories of women and children being forcibly evacuated to Russia to be, on the whole, credible, which bodes ill for any kind of peace, for what moral adult human is willing to make peace if his wife and children were stopped at the border and, instead of being allowed to proceed into Poland, were unwillingly sent to Russia?

I would also remind you that Russia was famous for its Potemkin villages -- it is easy to put up showplaces. I'd be more impressed if he stopped taking out all of the Ukraine infrastructure in the hopes that the people will just leave Ukraine to be taken over by Russia. When his own generals are live-miked on Russian TV admitting that they are counting on sewage-borne plagues to do the work of decimating what population hasn't died or fled, then he's no Gandhi.

Most of that money is being redirected to Democrat coffers. And you can be sure The Big Guy is getting his 10%.

Wait a minute, so the WEF is buying parts of Ukraine?

That right there explains why there is so much pressure to fight Russia over it. They're covering their decades of corruption.

Don't get like a German woman that I knew in the 60s and seventies who overlooked Hitler's atrocities, saying he wasn't all bad, he built beautiful roads in the Alps. Putin acts like a dictator far worst than Biden's ambitions, the ambitious dreams of a failed politician who will quickly succumb to the seventh age of man, sans everything.

Can the Russian propagandists be trusted anymore than in the Soviet era. This may be closer to the truth than a quickly constructed showcase project.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRyB2...

IMO there is very little difference between any of these communist thugs. I rank them all in the toilet.
Keep in mind I have no use for our own dictator either but he sure does get one of the lowest rankings.

Gary... So where do you rank Xi vs. Putin?
One appears to be working with the globalists.
The other appears to be working AGAINST them, and paying a high price...

I would easily ascribe your comments to Xi

I agree with the video--Russia should be required to rebuild all the infrastructure they have destroyed in Ukraine.
"[Putin is] Rebuilding the cities, leaving them better than he found them"--only if you ignore all the dead people!

I have never thought that Putin is a "Good Guy." At the same time I am certain that Zelensky is nothing more than a shill for lining the pockets of the Left. I would prefer that we were not involved in this in any way but since our involvement has been mandated by the Left. I support the opposite of what they support and therefore support Putin.

To make it simple. If a Democrat or the media say Gee. I say Haw, and reconsider the entire thing later at my leisure.

Bingo ... I was in Russia the summer of 2016 -- mainly to climb Mt. Elbrus. We bookended the trip -- three days in St. Petersburg, Climb Elbrus, three days in Moscow. Now these cities are not representative of all of Russia, to be sure; however, the beauty and cleanliness of each city was amazing. Walking dozens of miles on tours in Moscow, I saw one stray soda can -- and placed it into a trash bin. I scarcely could see anyone overweight. Back in the late 1980s, during the USSR-Era, our climbing guide was in Moscow -- he said you could not find two loaves of bread in the GUM. When we were there, every store and shop was filled -- and with high end luxury goods. One craft beer emporium had a greater variety than I had ever seen in any city in the US. Additionally, at no time during my solo-trekking at street level through the cities, at night, did I ever have a sense of fear -- the mountain guide even insisted that we take in the Night Life. From our tours in Moscow, you could see the Financial District -- the buildings look like something out of The Jetsons. I asked our guides in both St. Pete and Moscow about The Homeless. I got a strange look -- so I pressed -- essentially, city codes do not allow such, so before it even begins to be a problem, it is handled. Compare this observation to the filth, obesity, corruption, ignorance and degeneracy in the USA. The flywheel of American Exceptionalism has been eroded and spat upon for the past 60+ years. We're now flying on fumes and the crash landing will leave devastation for decades.

What "Opinion" is there to change? Putin is a full blown communist thug and we have enough of them within our own ranks to base our opinions on.

Agreed. I've said it before.
he is their Trump.
He threw out the Rothcilds.
He has all the right enemies.

The only thing I did NOT like was his being in the WEF Young Leaders Program...
But I will give him the benefit of the doubt, that he was figuring out what THEY wanted,
so that he knew what to expect when he did the opposite.

Because his actions (unlike Tulsi Gabbard), are the OPPOSITE of the WEF goals.

I could be wrong. But my read on him is that he is a SERIOUS leader, doing REAL WORK for his country. The way he punished the guy who was letting people in Siberia suffer... That was Epic.

Meanwhile... The rotting flesh of a country we live in, is propping up a Moron we helped Soros install with a Color Revolution... And the spending and fraud are just shocking...

I'll be honest. I have never bought the line that Putin is a bad guy. I admit I may be a dolt on this. But, you know when your bullshit detector goes off? Mine has gone off a lot around the negative news on this guy. I admit I don't know the facts for sure. Just watching from far away, from high up...

I think Russia is 20yrs ahead of us on turning it around. Notice that Putin has made all the Trans Ideology ILLEGAL.
Try to teach that crap in his country.
And FWIW, I don't care about any one individual, I fight against the indoctrination!

I believe Putin is a Patriot.
And to the degree that he is a Communist...
Is like calling our Forefathers English Citizens..
They WERE at the onset...

The Thought experiment was successful.
Thanks for the honesty!

Now does everyone understand why Obama has an office a couple of blocks from the White House. He must be in touch daily, after all this is his third term and he doesn't want to leave yet. He hasn't gotten all his plans in place yet. N