David, Goliath, and Uncle Sam

So true. The Ukraine has been fought over since the beginning of recorded history. The US interest there is small and we should stay out of it. That said, war makes the connected elite vast fortunes on the backs and lives of common people.

We kept poking the Bear!

Don't worry, as Ukraine is put through the meat grinder by Vlad and Zelensky morphs into the neo-nazi tyrant he always was, the latter-day Walter Durantys will declare Zelensky the victor no matter how badly he's crushed.

What a mish-mash of bovine excrement. I'm embarrassed once again that I share ethnic origins with Taki. According to him, American caused the war in Ukraine and World War II, and North Vietnam's assault on the south was only its pursuit of it's "national interest". There is a simple moral principle known since the Enlightenment, that people should have a right to determine their own futures, and not be forcibly subjugated at the point of a gun. Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, North Korea, North Vietnam, the Khmer Rouge, the Islamic State - all have forced unwilling people to live under despotic and repressive regimes. But, to Taki, "Uncle Sam has become the greatest bully the world has known since World War II". I'm the first to admit the U.S. has made a total hash of it's wars in the last half century, primarily through a combination of cultural arrogance and a salutary desire to NOT engage in the kind of "scorched earth" tactics so common to its opponents. But, let is not forget that despite its incompetence in managing the "peace", America WAS welcomed as a liberator by substantial portions of the populations of Iraq and Afghanistan, and that American WAS seen as a protector by millions of South Vietnamese. Too bad it was so feckless in maintaining that role. Perhaps the same could be said for some portion of eastern Ukraine, but American did NOT engage in a deliberate policy of targeting civilians in its wars, and has always taken steps, often to its detriment, to distinguish between combatants and civilians, as witnessed by its reaction to the occasional exceptions (Mei Lai, etc.). If Taki is agreeing with John Kerry that American fights its wars in a "fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan" then he casts a deadly insult on the tens, or hundreds, of thousands of U.S. servicemen who have endured additional risk by attempting to behave as honorably as possible in defense of innocents. I'm sick and tired of the America bashers who lay every sin at the feet of U.S. policy. If Taki truly believes this trash, then let him stop availing himself of the benefits of American civilization. American has problems, no doubt about it. But let us not "throw out the baby with the bathwater". Let us NOT forget who is the aggressor in this war. And lastly, most thinking people readily distinguish between the Russian people, most who do NOT want this war, and the Russian government, which serves only its own interests at the expense of its people. Far from America being "Russophobic", it is rather Taki and his ilk who show a preference for the "strong man" oppressor of the Russian people and his authoritarian and totalitarian methods. Taki has apparently distanced himself from his democratic patrimony of Greece, and instead looks to the time of the Colonels for his inspiration.

#4 opined, "There is a simple moral principle known since the Enlightenment, that people should have a right to determine their own futures, and not be forcibly subjugated at the point of a gun." Let's take Vietnam, which freed itself from its French colonial masters and split into two parts in the aftermath by the Geneva Accords. The fact is that Vietnam was still one country under two governments separated by a demilitarized zone, expressly not a border. It's easy to discount the French Indochina War. Like WW1, it planted many of the seeds...oh, and the French were using their guns to establish a government, weren't they? The second war, which eventually involved the US, started in 1959 as the Vietcong, let's not forget indigenous Vietnamese guerrillas, rose up. A corrupt election in 1956 didn't help matters, elevating Diem with 92% of the vote. A Vietnamese very accurately described the eventual war as a civil war between two corrupt factions - the Communists and the Diem family and its mob. In 1963 Diem was assassinated. And the game was on for the US, trying to defend one of those dominos from falling. We all know how it ended. But wasn't the US trying to establish a government at the point of a gun? Weren't we doing the same in Afghanistan (purple finger elections) and Iraq? What was nation building? George Washington's Farewell Address is worth a read. His vision for the US was to become a prosperous mercantile power without regard for international politics. He did not favor exporting American republicanism and freedom. Instead, in modern times we became "Leader of the Free World" and got comfortable in that role, garrisoning Europe, Japan and Korea - to this day. What is the "Free World" today? Anyone? We are far astray from a MAGA world view and supporting foreign policy - and have been for years, since at least 1990. So, let's stop kidding ourselves about our role in the world today. We do try to establish government by the point of a gun, and have since 1945. Seems we're addicted to the idea. And it has cost plenty in blood and treasure...and there are yet some who demand spending more.

"Provoked Russia by bringing into NATO......" Wow, there's a lot of assumptions packed into that. So, Russia has the veto power over whether a country which don't want to be conquered and enslaved by Russia can seek to join a group to help them remain free and independent of Russian control? It sounds like "interfering" with Russia's "right" to control, enslave and ultimately conquer it's neighbors is the neighbor's mistake, because apparently they have no right to be free and Russia has a "right" to control them. So, is wishing to be free of the Russian boot heel "provocation" now? Not buying this world view, sorry.

There can be no excuse for bombing schools and hospitals. Blinken is a fool and Biden simply demented. They are in some ways responsible for what is happening. NATO did not need Ukraine or the Baltic Republics. Their security could have been assured in other ways, non threatening ways to Putin. The United States since after the time of Ronald Reagan has been run by fools or worse, leftwing Democrats determined to bring our country down. Democrats are strong supporters of the green movement. Think green Democrats as a water,,melon...green on the outside and red on the inside. In California there is a sub-species of watermelon called a 'rattlesnake' but still green on the outside and red inside.Sort of a metaphor for what we face.