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  2. Another "Putin's narative" story becoming MSM topic https://thehill.com/opinion/5146149-zelensky-war-ego/ The mad king of Kyiv: Why Zelensky can’t afford to end the war by John Mac Ghlionn, opinion contributor - 02/15/25 3:00 PM ET Not long ago, Volodymyr Zelensky was a comedian in Ukraine. He made his living playing a fictional president on television. Then, by a twist of fate, he became the real thing. And before he had time to adjust to the role, history threw him onto the world’s stage, catapulting him from a middling entertainer into an international symbol of resistance. Overnight, the media transformed him into the embodiment of courage, the Churchill of Kyiv, the man who refused to flee, the warrior standing against tyranny. But what if this narrative is entirely false? What if Zelensky, rather than being the hero in this story, is actually the man who won’t allow the war to end — not for the good of his people, but because peace would mean his own downfall? A good leader prioritizes the survival of his nation. He knows when to fight, and more importantly, he knows when to negotiate. Zelensky, however, has made it clear that his power depends on war, and war alone. It is no coincidence that as Ukraine’s battlefield prospects worsen, as soldiers defect, as forced conscription spirals into something resembling kidnapping, Zelensky has once again extended martial law. No elections. No peace talks. No escape. Because if the war ends, so does his presidency. And this, more than anything, explains why the war must go on. The mainstream media — particularly in the West — does not allow for nuance. The world must be simple: Putin is the villain, Zelensky is the hero. That is the framework. That is the script. Anything outside of this binary is “pro-Russian propaganda.” Yet reality is not a comic book; it’s not a Marvel movie. Zelensky is not some saintly soldier defending democracy. In fact, Ukraine barely resembles a democracy at all. Since Russia’s invasion in 2022, Zelensky had banned several opposition parties, banned certain media outlets and postponed elections with the justification that wartime voting is “impossible.” Impossible for whom? For the soldiers in the trenches, or for the civilians now living under indefinite martial law? Ukraine is in a desperate position. The country’s losses are catastrophic. Manpower is running thin, which is why Zelensky has resorted to hunting men down in the streets. There are countless reports of Ukrainian men being dragged from cafes and nightclubs and thrown into vans like criminals. Martial law means there is no way out. You cannot leave the country. You cannot refuse. This is not the mark of a confident government. This is the behavior of a desperate regime trying to hold itself together by force. And yet the war must continue. It is the only thing keeping Zelensky in power. If he were to call elections, he would likely lose. Support for him is falling. The longer this drags on, the more obvious it becomes that Ukraine cannot win — not in any meaningful sense. This is not 2022. The optimism of those early months, when the world believed Ukraine might push Russia back, is gone. Even the U.S., Ukraine’s biggest backer, is slowly dialing down support, with Washington insiders admitting that a total Ukrainian victory is no longer the goal. The Zelensky saga is not new. History is filled with leaders who refused to let go, clinging to power even as their nations crumbled around them. There was Napoleon Bonaparte, who, after leading France to disaster in Russia, could have accepted the inevitable. Instead, he chose more war, dragging his exhausted nation into further bloodshed before his final exile. More recently, Saddam Hussein held onto his dictatorship long after Iraq had been battered by sanctions and strife, ruling over a devastated country rather than relinquishing control. Muammar Gaddafi could have sought asylum and spared Libya from a bloody collapse, but his ego demanded he fight to the bitter end, ultimately leaving him to be dragged down the street and executed. Robert Mugabe plundered Zimbabwe while his people starved, stretching his rule for decades until even his own party could no longer tolerate the wreckage. Zelensky joins a long line of leaders who prioritize their own well-being over the well-being of their nations. This represents a pathological form of selfishness, where self-preservation comes at any cost, even if it means thousands more women and children will die. And they will. Ukraine is being fed into a meat grinder. Yet, perversely, the illusion must be maintained. And the media, ever compliant, helps sell the fiction — the indomitable Zelensky, the unbreakable Ukraine, the noble fight for democracy. It is a clean, simple story, easy to digest, and easy to justify. Another weapons shipment. Another aid package. Another extension of a catastrophic conflict that should have ended long ago. But objective reality does not care for emotionally charged narratives. It is cold. It is brutal. And the hard truth is this: Ukraine is losing, and Zelensky is making sure it keeps losing. A rational leader would see the writing on the wall, confront the inevitable, and make the painful but necessary choice to negotiate — to salvage what remains rather than reduce the nation to nothing but ashes. But Zelensky has chosen a different path, one so often walked by men drunk on power and blind to consequence. And for that, Ukraine will bleed — until there is no blood left to spill..
  3. But isn't that par for the course in most navies post-Cold War when the majority of their light escort and submarine elements faced serious reductions, yet they couldn't simply layoff hundreds of officer candidates whose education had already been paid for by the state?
  4. I think you are spot on. There is a story that in the 1980s he lied about how rich he was to get up a few places on the Forbes rich list, presumably because he couldn't stand seeing certainindividuals thought richer then he was. The same mania, I win, you lose, guides his thinking today.
  5. there is a kind of trust that our leaders simply know what they are doing you see how dangerous many of them actually are when they go around filled with these sorts of ideas these same humanists who were with all this kind of thing were the ones using force on everyone else to achieve it during the clinton era for example it was often perceived as the high watermark for civilization- the soviet union fell and all states were now set for a global rennaissance meanwhile there was just as much dirty shit going on as there always had been but for the first time there was true global reach as states now had the power and influence to act globally across all dimensions- politically, culturally, militarily and so on
  6. I commented a few weeks back after Trump's little spat with Columbia that experts were warning this could turn Central and South American countries towards China over an incident that didn't need to happen (the Biden administration was able to fly deportees back to Columbia no problem). I saw a comment a few weeks ago that said this is the problem of having a businessman in the WH. The argument I saw said big businesses don't have allies... they have competition that they're trying to squash. This is why we see Trump treating allies the same as adversaries (if not worse so far in his second term). If he's accomplished anything so far he could have easily accomplished the old fashioned way - by talking to them, treating them with respect, and handling things in private. At the end of the day diplomacy between countries is no different than conversation between people. There's folks (China and Russia to name a few) that are worth being dicks to but everyone else... just being kind and considerate goes a long way.
  7. Today
  8. that is not the point if you are going to generate a hypothetical if-then statement- which is what that was when you speculate how ukraine could stabilize the lines, then you could also go the other way - again, because that is hypothetical either side could always build more fiber optic drones i am saying- hypothetically- that in itself does not per se favor either side since either side can do that but one side has the potential to change the situation with a battlefield development that the other side does not have i am describing hypothetically that the russians would not need to actually capture territory nor need to fend off anyone under a scenario which would solve russia's problem with a nato state on its border- by simply destroying it or at least the better part of it rather than any need to capture i am not even sure what you argue here circling back- the point made that any nato or ukrainian units were to somehow stage within ukraine or say poland like ukraine had dones in previous mobilzations- the russians have something for that which neither nato nor ukraine could defeat again- hypothetically to your hypothetical point the ukraine project was always poorly conceived- the politicians who thought it was a good idea to use ukraine as a ramrod against russia for whatever policy objectives had cooked up did not conceive of their own limitations all they did was conceive of themselves and behave as if they were supercharged heroes of a movie and found themselves in over their heads thinking like this would be another libya or syria or iraq or something they could not even get those right what makes them think they know anything at all to straighten out eastern europe or anything on that scale even obama kind of recognized that when he acknowledged that russia had escalatory dominance if and when it came to that
  9. And its not just Europeans noting you are acting like assholes. This is from Singapore, one of those allies you are going to need against China. This is after a month and a bit. Carry on like this for 4 years and you are going to get half the Pacific rim declaring neutrality between you and China, because they cant tell the difference. Do any of you actually grasp the concept of allies?
  10. There is no reason to be ashamed of your race Roman. It has accomplished a lot of remarkable shit. In fact, most of the remarkable shit. But let's not go any further down that road....
  11. Once again, Europeans spent 20 years defending your ass. You didn't hear us Europeans whining about the burden.
  12. They clone them in vats.
  13. There was an episode of Oz Armour where they show Panzer farm doing the scanning. It's very impressive work.
  14. Any of our German posters agree, disagree, or have comments on this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtT0GAtOSoU
  15. Volume II is The End of Fukuyama.
  16. I'm presuming the assailant 'identified' as a wymmyn but still had a 'dongle'?
  17. That book against hate reminds me of that awful Superbowl Commercial with Snoop Dog and some other white dude speakin' out against 'hate': I don't hate people who pray or look different than me, I only care if they 'done me wrong': violence, theft, verbal accosting, screwing me over, etc. But naturally, the commercial didn't touch on that
  18. And I thought the post meant Fukuyama had died.
  19. Greek doesn't have a "J"/"G", we have to go to "Tz", so not John or George but "Tzon" or "Tzeorge". No "Sh" or "Ch" either.
  20. A good view on Trump, Russia, and Ukraine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTzTheRD25M
  21. Lancets vs. two NASAMS launchers, Kursk area https://t.me/vysokygovorit/18850
  22. Well, he can get everything the Ukraine has to offer and more, when he makes a deal with Russia. And he is the best deal maker.
  23. Its federal property, not state.
  24. I doubt that. Its the authoritarian/totalitarian folks in government and the health care industry that are pushing the Monkeypox narrative. The B, G & L people seem to have their hands full fighting the T people these days.
  25. In 10 days, after claimed losses of at least 1/3 of initial strength? Of course i am of high opinion of NKoreans, but as for me more plausable explanation is that one of the reports was false (or both).
  26. For better or for worse, Trump appears to have made a cold blooded calculation that the US in the world today needs Russia more than it needs Ukraine.
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