myata

But you already made your choice. You will justify submitting to the thugs to please them, in the hope that they would behave themselves that they surely will not, in the full knowledge that you can't and wouldn't stand to them. And when the world is run by thugs with nukes as a direct consequence of your cowardice disguised only thinly as wisdom, would it be a safer one? Don't even dream. There's no wisdom in cowering to the thugs - only weakness and cowardice.

By the way, none of this is new. This is 1940s stuff, three at least generations back: Quote: And listen, Gandalf, my old friend and helper! he said, coming near and speaking now in a softer voice: ‘I said we, for we it may be, if you will join with me. A new Power is rising. Against it the old allies and policies will not avail us at all. There is no hope left in Elves or dying Númenor. This then is one choice before you, before us. We may join with that Power. It would be wise, Gandalf. There is hope that way. Its victory is at hand; and there will be rich reward for those that aided it. As the Power grows, its proved friends will also grow; and the Wise, such as you and I, may with patience come at last to direct its courses, to control it. We can bide our time, we can keep our thoughts in our hearts, deploring maybe evils done by the way, but approving the high and ultimate purpose: Knowledge, Rule, Order; all the things that we have so far striven in vain to accomplish, hindered rather than helped by our weak or idle friends. There need not be, there would not be, any real change in our designs, only in our means.’ ‘Saruman,’ I said, ‘I have heard speeches of this kind before, but only in the mouths of emissaries sent from Mordor to deceive the ignorant. I cannot think that you brought me so far only to weary my ears.’ Weak, scared but still lusting for power and domination of others will easily justify to themselves corruption or complete abandonment of any principles for joining with a greater villain. For them, it was only a decoration, an adornment of the true purpose and goal: the power. So, nothing new here really. Nothing we didn't see and couldn't have known.

But it's important to give them the opportunity to spill it and show who they really are, pumping their chests, playing anthems and saluting to standards. This is what's real and true, about them.

You've got it, no moral anymore. Glad that we're clear on that. Really there's nothing to add here, and no point either.

Back to the Vlad's talking points? OK But wait, who's saying that standing to Vlad is the same as that scary thingy? Was it Vlad or you, sorry the connection. And what happens if we stop standing to Vlads of this world? How do you "contain" them without standing to them? By kissing their a$$es and cowering as in the great example, recently? And the anthems and standards, all the thing of the past? You may have noticed it too, folks who stand to thugs and those who like pumping their chests they just so often happen to be different ones.

Well this is only factual: in the fall of 2021 before his invasion Putin was making ultimatums to NATO, not Ukraine. He demanded NATO to leave the Baltic states. So if Putin were to move to the Baltics, and who can say he wouldn't being understood and helped, and a U.S. and/or Canadian regiment happened to be in his way, would you be standing with them, or repeating his lies about about them? Because you can't have it both ways, as I hope you know. And if not, no naiveness or simplicity would be a valid excuse.

Well you can't have it both ways. You either stand to Hitlers or play into their hands. Back then some may have been naive and so on, but now we don't really have excuses.

Not at all. Putin relies, as Hitler before him on the little slimy stooges and I couldn't care less: genuine believers; bought and paid down to their balls; or having some hook in their balls to weaken and erode the resolve and will of those who stand to him. He spends enormous, outrageous amounts of dough to keep them singing and squeaking. He needs them to have any chance of success as the very existence of his sad empire has been at stake This nothing like a small matter to shrug and dismiss away.

As said I'm not commenting on personal feelings, likes and doubts. The relief can be found elsewhere though. On the other hand, the Republican party was a genuine party of democracy with a long and proud tradition. It means by the way, maintaining a healthy variety of views and opinions, a high standard of integrity of the leaders, accountability and critical questioning. And that is everything that the brainless personality cult is not.

I think you are failing to see the factual side of it. Andropov never dared to start an open full scale war anywhere outside the tacitly agreed zone of USSR control. He also never made open threats to NATO as Putin did before invading Ukraine. While Putin did cause serious interruptions in the international sea traffic until his naval forces were essentially defeated in the Black Sea. Putin set out to diminish and unravel NATO, his original goal was way higher than just Ukraine. And he followed Hitler's script point by point: attack a weaker victim, see what the bystanders would do, then break them separately. Why would one want to underestimate a threat like that?

And there we go, RFK the new shooting star in the lying entourage is repeating tired Putin's lies that match those of Hitler almost word to word. What couldn't we know here? All is right before our eyes.

Repeating Putin's lies. Hitler was misunderstood. Germany has the right to control the decisions and the fate of its neighbors or else. Look here: they are advocating for the modern Hitlers, nothing less. This is all an individual with a brain and conscience needs to know about the bunch. There will be no surprises. Just cannot be.

The price of joining the cult is the complete abandonment of independent thought and reason itself. One cannot have a faction like that in a responsible party of democracy. It would be an exact, polar alternative to it. An unfortunate precedent was created here, where a de facto authoritarian personality cult is presented to the public in the guise of a genuine parliamentary party of democracy, pretending it to be just another election. But voting for a cult is nothing normal. Establishing politics based only and exclusively on lies, hatred and absolute absence of principles as the new normal would have consequences reaching far and long. This isn't about fear, only the reality: imagine it to be normal and regular, from now and on for who knows how long? This is what this is about. Can't make any mistakes here.

“I try to tell people to focus on the policies and ignore the candidates,” she says, knowing that Trump’s brash personality has deterred women previously (Trump's election campaigner, BBC). Why would they do that though? Is it just "personality" or could there be something more to it? Is it because by now, pretty much everyone knows who that candidate is and hiding him behind "policies" is an awkward and ludicrous way to avoid obvious questions: can he be trusted? Is he fit, within a thousand miles, to lead a first-world democracy with a factual record of his? What would be the point to chat about "policies" when the individual responsible for their implementation (or should we correct it to, irresponsible?) is a recognized prolific liar, with zero integrity and responsibility? Remember: he lied for years about "rigged election" and no factual, objective feedback made any difference. Why wouldn't he say that all policies are working brilliantly because that's what he thinks and sees, regardless of anything in the reality? That's right: doesn't make much reasonable, rational sense. Because we all know it: if it looks wrong, feels and squawks lying and untrustworthy, it would be silly and irresponsible to place our trust in it. Thought and responsibility mean better choices.

This is the current state of affairs, applauded and cheered by the cult: - A felony convict, by a jury of citizens - Refused to recognize the results of a democratic election, for years peddled patently groundless lies about imagined problems with it. - Allegedly, matter before courts, took part in a conspiracy to subvert the results of the election. - Admired international undemocratic thugs of the worst kind and advocated policies friendly to them, or even assisting their purpose. - Lied boldface in countless cases. This is only the factual state, as of today. Question: where will the next low line be?

Any country has a great variety of types, including those not exactly of the best kind. What if we take mafia boss; a convicted psycho murderer; make them the candidate; and ask the same question? Note, we make them that, not in a system where they would have to compete on equal terms with many normal, responsible politicians, but in the binary one, where they would be automatically lifted to the status of a legitimate candidate, and the only alternative. Would this kind of democracy work well for you? In this system leading parties carry a major, principal responsibility to the people: nominate candidates of highest integrity, trust and competence. Because they're propelled almost or literally automatically right to the contest of the two, if not one then the other. And this responsibility was quite clearly, failed in this case. Because if this is the new normal and standard of presidential candidates from now on, we're bound to see among them, at some point, all of the above. Why wouldn't we? Where is the new low?

Remember, "Machen Deutschland wieder groß”? Well, it looks like the road to making America great again had to run via sucking up and cowering to some of the worst thugs in human history. No, it's only the facts. Kim isn't in the league of the world greatest villains, only a minor vassal in China's entourage. And still, years after he led the pompous buffoon around his little fat finger in one-two-three, the latter couldn't get over the hot climax he was getting from reading Kim's "love" letters. The new dimension of greatness, has to be, but look: no need to seek paradoxes and aberrations here: doing away with, a complete and final rejection of rationality and sanity is the entry condition to the cult. This is how they know and see in the converts around that they have truly converted. And the thing is: from that state, from there, there won't be a quick and easy coming back. Messages and stimuli, even kicks from the reality can have real hard time eroding alternate mental realities cult converts create themselves. This trauma of reason and sanity can last years and decades even generations. With a faction, a wing of this kind no party can be truly and genuinely democratic, because the mentality and values of the cult are near-exact antitheses of democracy. What democracy is, the MAGA cult is not. And what it desires has very little to do, or even compatible with the foundations of democracy, including: the rule of law; equality before the law; responsibility and accountability; common values and principles. So this is going to be a tough proposition for the Republican party for the foreseeable perspective. The cult rose due to weakness and inability of the mainstream of the parity to build and defend a sane, rational and sound alternative to it. And so, returning to any kind of normalcy will take nothing less than getting rid of it. Is it even possible? That I can't tell.

Sad dismal liars will speak on behalf of anybody anytime, never matters asked or not. Look at this dead brain cult that knows nothing else anymore than to worship, blindly and brainlessly their desperately lying Idol and pour unlimited volumes of sh*t elsewhere. This is right where handing your brain over can get you in a flash too. It only takes turning off the brain and doing away with the reality. Simple, and works like a charm (only one way though, quite possibly)

In the loss for the rule of law. Any mob boss nominating themselves would expect nothing less. A set precedent.

If anyone utters a word justifying and/or apologizing willing assistance and aid to this kind of an enemy it would be all one would need to know about them. There are tests that are as clear and final as they can be. And this would be one of those.

Shameful. Simply disgusting. No rational explanations. No plausible excuses. Just try to beat sanity.

Well could there be a better definition and description of the phenomenon known as "dead brain"?

ICC should turn to Israel's settlement expansion agenda and policies and make a responsible, grounded determination on it from the perspective of international law. That makes sense. This tangent is a dead end though, and undefendable. One cannot order a victim of the attack to tie her hands. Bombing the Axis to stop the aggression was not wrong.

Can it be more bizarre than this? These people help the enemy spread their agenda in America - willingly and consciously. To a vicious; aggressive; brutal and utterly inhumane totalitarian regime. Remember what these people were called, in the 1930 and 1950s Stalin's fans and adorers? Right, the commies, communists. And the conservatives used to stand to them and fight them. That used to be a thing, right? And now, just look. What an irony of history! Does the world make sense anymore? Nothing normal will make sense giving in to a lying authoritarian cult. The price of the entry ticket is sanity itself - and not a penny less.

This would be the post-reality world. And it's not over yet by any measure. We still have to decide: should it be the new normal now, from here and to where, who could tell?