Democrats need to focus on young people, educating them in what the Democratic Party believes in and what their goals are for this country. Some of my voting age grandchildren will not register to vote. They don’t like the government. Period. I can’t get through to them. I am from a much different generation. Young Democrats need to work with their peers and try to show them that the Democratic Party is right for them and that they can make a difference. My grandchildren feel that their votes won’t make a difference.
Tuck this bit from Rebecca Solnit in our pockets next to the Hubbell nuggets of rational optimism:
"Despair is a delusion of confidence that asserts it knows what’s coming, perhaps a tool of those who like to feel in control, even if just of the facts, when in reality, we can frame approximate parameters, but the surprises keep coming. Anyone who makes a definitive declaration about what the future will bring is not dealing in facts. The world we live in today was utterly unforeseen and unimaginable on many counts, the world that is coming is something we can work toward but not something we can foresee. We need to have confidence that surprise and uncertainty are unshakable principles, if we want to have confidence in something. And recognize that in that uncertainty is room to act, to try to shape a future that will be determined by what we do in the present."
Mar 8, 2022·edited Mar 8, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
Why quote Putin? Why wonder what he thinks, what motivates him? 'It's the behavior, Stupid.' He is a vintage psychopath, essentially mean, viscerally hateful, fundamentally sadistic. In short, an archetype of evil. He is the exception to the rule of essential human goodness. Negotiation is pathetically, tragically counterproductive, resulting in bombs trained upon the innocent, by design. Pray that Biden is able to push every possible chip in on this, short of boots on the ground or in the air, and the nuclear option. We will be grieving the Ukrainians' losses and the limits on our ultimate capacity to intervene for a long time.
Speaking of young people. . . we see high school students walking out of their classrooms in protest of the Florida "Don't Say Gay" legislation to be voted on today. Their chant "We say gay!" Couldn't be prouder.
I find Putin’s actions appalling, and the global pushback greatly encouraging. Although I don’t trust the Supremes as now constituted, I am encouraged that a committee is considering reform to the Court as now constituted (didn’t I read that somewhere this weekend?) The news in Pennsylvania and North Carolina looks somewhat better, but the best news is still that we have your common sense optimism to rely on.
Russia is now revealed to be a country with too much land, too few people, too small a GDP to support itself, too few friends in the world, infrastructure too expensive to serve its large landmass with too few people, an economy based on extractive resources (oil and gas) on a long term decline, a demoralized and inefficient military, and governed/controlled by a corrupt kleptocracy. In short, they are a mess. The Ukrainian invasion has revealed the soft underbelly of Russia and it is getting only worse for them as Putin continues to whip the horse harder in a race he is certain to lose in the long run. Sure, he may conquer Ukraine by destroying the country with his overwhelming military machine but at a cost he could not have imagined when this fiasco began. However, it is clear he will be unable to occupy a pacified Ukraine in even the intermediate-term. Ultimately he will likely be faced with the same withdrawal forced on Russia in Afghanistan. He will learn again the lesson the U.S. I hope has also learned in recent foreign military excursions, it is far easier to destroy a country militarily than to occupy and subjugate it. As his military brutalizes Ukraine it is only hardening the resolve of Ukrainians that they will not be peacefully occupied. He has also managed to unite many of the world's nations in opposition to Russia. Those countries collectively have the collective economic power to literally starve and destroy the Russian economy.
A good question to ask in any diplomatic discussions with Putin would be, "What do you think winning looks like? Because whatever you think that is, that destiny is further from your grasp each day this war continues."
A worthwhile read to understand the Potemkin Military characterization now of the Russian military:
Thank you, especially for your last paragraph. Having looked at pictures of dead women, children, fathers, uncles, and on and on, I found it hard not to despair. It all seems so utterly senseless and criminal. The "for what?" keeps ringing in my head. So, a call to remember that things do change helps so much. It doesn't make the pictures any more vivid, but it does allow for some breath.
All this engineered death also brings to mind all those preventable Covid deaths due to deliberate misinformation. Again, "for what?".
I'm trying to focus on the many, many good people out there who are doing work to make the world a better place regardless.
Sending refugees into Russia is a ploy to gain hostages. While I have not seen reports on who set the land mines, it seems possible or even likely they are Ukrainian attempts to defend their country from invading armored vehicles. If so (or even if not so) the Russian "corridors" is an attempt to use civilian families to clear the land mines.
No one can tell us more clearly about what is happening in Ukraine than Hanna Hopko, a Ukrainian politician, former Member of Parliament and head of the committee on foreign affairs of Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada. She appeared with Katy Tur today on msnbc. A link to that interview is below.
It is beginning to look like a DAY is an eternity, in both domestic and international politics. Current U.S. military intelligence estimates of Russian/Chechen dead in Ukraine are between 3-5,000. That is a third of the total loss in their Afghan incursion which, as you say, lasted ten years. Then, there is the influence of Russian oligarchs on U.S. politics, which is coming increasingly more to light.
An NPR poll saw Biden’s approval jump 8 points to 47%. Depending on what happens in Ukraine and with gas prices/inflation, he may not be the albatross so many fear. Quite the contrary.
Democrats need to focus on young people, educating them in what the Democratic Party believes in and what their goals are for this country. Some of my voting age grandchildren will not register to vote. They don’t like the government. Period. I can’t get through to them. I am from a much different generation. Young Democrats need to work with their peers and try to show them that the Democratic Party is right for them and that they can make a difference. My grandchildren feel that their votes won’t make a difference.
Tuck this bit from Rebecca Solnit in our pockets next to the Hubbell nuggets of rational optimism:
"Despair is a delusion of confidence that asserts it knows what’s coming, perhaps a tool of those who like to feel in control, even if just of the facts, when in reality, we can frame approximate parameters, but the surprises keep coming. Anyone who makes a definitive declaration about what the future will bring is not dealing in facts. The world we live in today was utterly unforeseen and unimaginable on many counts, the world that is coming is something we can work toward but not something we can foresee. We need to have confidence that surprise and uncertainty are unshakable principles, if we want to have confidence in something. And recognize that in that uncertainty is room to act, to try to shape a future that will be determined by what we do in the present."
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/mar/05/world-is-unpredictable-and-strange-climate-crisis-ukraine?utm_term=Autofeed&CMP=twt_gu&utm_medium&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1646479532
(Thank you, HCR reader Penelope Simpson Adams.)
Why quote Putin? Why wonder what he thinks, what motivates him? 'It's the behavior, Stupid.' He is a vintage psychopath, essentially mean, viscerally hateful, fundamentally sadistic. In short, an archetype of evil. He is the exception to the rule of essential human goodness. Negotiation is pathetically, tragically counterproductive, resulting in bombs trained upon the innocent, by design. Pray that Biden is able to push every possible chip in on this, short of boots on the ground or in the air, and the nuclear option. We will be grieving the Ukrainians' losses and the limits on our ultimate capacity to intervene for a long time.
Speaking of young people. . . we see high school students walking out of their classrooms in protest of the Florida "Don't Say Gay" legislation to be voted on today. Their chant "We say gay!" Couldn't be prouder.
I find Putin’s actions appalling, and the global pushback greatly encouraging. Although I don’t trust the Supremes as now constituted, I am encouraged that a committee is considering reform to the Court as now constituted (didn’t I read that somewhere this weekend?) The news in Pennsylvania and North Carolina looks somewhat better, but the best news is still that we have your common sense optimism to rely on.
Russia is now revealed to be a country with too much land, too few people, too small a GDP to support itself, too few friends in the world, infrastructure too expensive to serve its large landmass with too few people, an economy based on extractive resources (oil and gas) on a long term decline, a demoralized and inefficient military, and governed/controlled by a corrupt kleptocracy. In short, they are a mess. The Ukrainian invasion has revealed the soft underbelly of Russia and it is getting only worse for them as Putin continues to whip the horse harder in a race he is certain to lose in the long run. Sure, he may conquer Ukraine by destroying the country with his overwhelming military machine but at a cost he could not have imagined when this fiasco began. However, it is clear he will be unable to occupy a pacified Ukraine in even the intermediate-term. Ultimately he will likely be faced with the same withdrawal forced on Russia in Afghanistan. He will learn again the lesson the U.S. I hope has also learned in recent foreign military excursions, it is far easier to destroy a country militarily than to occupy and subjugate it. As his military brutalizes Ukraine it is only hardening the resolve of Ukrainians that they will not be peacefully occupied. He has also managed to unite many of the world's nations in opposition to Russia. Those countries collectively have the collective economic power to literally starve and destroy the Russian economy.
A good question to ask in any diplomatic discussions with Putin would be, "What do you think winning looks like? Because whatever you think that is, that destiny is further from your grasp each day this war continues."
A worthwhile read to understand the Potemkin Military characterization now of the Russian military:
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/russian-military-weaker-than-expected-ukraine-resilience-by-daniel-gros-2022-03
The next time anyone refers to Putin's "genius," I suggest punching them in the face... well, at least metaphorically.
Thank you, especially for your last paragraph. Having looked at pictures of dead women, children, fathers, uncles, and on and on, I found it hard not to despair. It all seems so utterly senseless and criminal. The "for what?" keeps ringing in my head. So, a call to remember that things do change helps so much. It doesn't make the pictures any more vivid, but it does allow for some breath.
All this engineered death also brings to mind all those preventable Covid deaths due to deliberate misinformation. Again, "for what?".
I'm trying to focus on the many, many good people out there who are doing work to make the world a better place regardless.
Thank you! apropos Russian disinformation: apparently Russian troll-bots are disappearing from Twitter because Twitter has shut down there. I don't know about Facebook etc. but that is good news if true. See: https://eand.co/the-west-is-finally-breaking-up-with-russia-and-its-long-overdue-d8717d3b220f
Hopefully you’ve all seen this?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nAvV8jSEpVs
Sending refugees into Russia is a ploy to gain hostages. While I have not seen reports on who set the land mines, it seems possible or even likely they are Ukrainian attempts to defend their country from invading armored vehicles. If so (or even if not so) the Russian "corridors" is an attempt to use civilian families to clear the land mines.
No one can tell us more clearly about what is happening in Ukraine than Hanna Hopko, a Ukrainian politician, former Member of Parliament and head of the committee on foreign affairs of Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada. She appeared with Katy Tur today on msnbc. A link to that interview is below.
https://www.msnbc.com/katy-tur/watch/-this-is-about-humanity-ukrainian-politician-on-why-ukraine-needs-a-no-fly-zone-134886469569
Robert’s indispensable reassurances keep me sane and determined.
It is beginning to look like a DAY is an eternity, in both domestic and international politics. Current U.S. military intelligence estimates of Russian/Chechen dead in Ukraine are between 3-5,000. That is a third of the total loss in their Afghan incursion which, as you say, lasted ten years. Then, there is the influence of Russian oligarchs on U.S. politics, which is coming increasingly more to light.
Rob, I found Andrew Bacevich Commonweal article compelling and would love your view: https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/mournful-legacy
Robert, can Biden expand the court by EA?
An NPR poll saw Biden’s approval jump 8 points to 47%. Depending on what happens in Ukraine and with gas prices/inflation, he may not be the albatross so many fear. Quite the contrary.