Poll: Putin in Ukraine: Win Lose Pants

In four weeks time Putin’s Ukraine takeover attempt will be

  • Victorious
  • Muddled mess
  • Defeated
  • Forgotten by him as he deals with home revolts
  • A sinking stinking in my pants

0 voters

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The news tonight showed an aerial shot of a huge Russian truck convoy headed for Kiev. Putin can pour men and material into that war as long as he wants to. As DesertDave reminds us from time to time, a war isn’t over until both sides agree it’s over.

muddled mess

Steve…wonder if Hank Paulson realized he was starting a thing, when he talked about his pants.

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FYI:

Early career · ?U.S. Secretary of the Treasury · ?Credit crisis of 2007–2009

People also ask:

Is Hank Paulson a billionaire?

His net worth has been estimated at over $700 million. Paulson has personally built close relations with China during his career.

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=Han…

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Thank you for recommending this post to our Best of feature.

As DesertDave reminds us from time to time, a war isn’t over until both sides agree it’s over.

Golly gosh, gee whiz, somebody actually reads and remembers my posts.

Who’d ah thunk it?

Sadly unless the West gets behind the Ukraine that war may soon be over.

The best result would be a Putin overthrow. In a country where government does not give a damn about human lives that is not likely.

The Captain

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The best result would be a Putin overthrow. In a country where government does not give a damn about human lives that is not likely.

The Captain

The parallels of today to the late 1930’s of last century are uncanny and unsettling.

As back then, there was the hope that ‘just for this one concession’, conflict would be avoided.

Didn’t work then, won’t work now. Basic human traits change little, and tyrants are seldom (never???) satiated.

“If it worked in the then and there, it’ll work in the here and now”. And it will work, until it doesn’t. And so on down the road to unspeakable violence.

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As back then, there was the hope that ‘just for this one concession’, conflict would be avoided.

Appeasement never works, you just become lunch. I’m glad the EU/NATO/Germany got their acts together. I wonder how much Volodymyr Zelenskyy had to do with it by staying in Kyiv instead of turning tail and evacuating. No Afghan exit for Zelenskyy. This is how heroes are made.

The Captain

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The news tonight showed an aerial shot of a huge Russian truck convoy headed for Kiev.

I’ve heard this morning that the convoy is stalled because they have failed to take over the airport.

The best result would be a Putin overthrow. In a country where government does not give a damn about human lives that is not likely.

If all the kleptocrat billionaires continue to lose their fortunes we might see something like that. If the economy craters and the Russian population becomes restless it could happen. If the Ruble stays down for the count and some kind of hyperinflation or deflation or whatever takes hold, maybe there would be change.

But since I don’t have the vaguest notion of how power is actually won or lost in Russia I can’t say whether that is likely, impossible, or somewhere in between. But a boy can dream, can’t he?

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I don’t have the vaguest notion of how power is actually won or lost in Russia…

I think looking at dictators around the world we see it is very unlikely he just gets removed by the “inner circle” or “oligarchs”. My guess is the only way he gets removed from power is a military coup, which I think is extremely unlikely.

But, as you say, a boy can dream…

Things like the following could be the way this comes to an end:

Russian platoon surrendered to Ukrainian forces, ambassador says
https://ktla.com/news/nationworld/russian-platoon-surrendere…

t a press briefing, Markarova said, “Just before I came here, we got information from our chief commander that one of the platoons of the 74th motorized brigade from Kemerovo Oblast surrendered.”

“They didn’t know that they were brought to Ukraine to kill Ukrainians. They thought they were doing something else there,” she added.


If Russian troops lose the will to fight and kill their neighbor, then this will be over.

I think Ukraine and the EU should offer amnesty and permanent visa’s (and a new identity if necessary) to any Russian soldier that offers surrender - with monetary bonuses to any officers that surrender their entire unit. Drop leaflets on the Russian troops so they know the truth.

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Russian platoon surrendered to Ukrainian forces, ambassador says
https://ktla.com/news/nationworld/russian-platoon-surrendere…

This site is currently unavailable to visitors from the European Economic Area while we work to ensure your data is protected in accordance with applicable EU laws.

https://thehill.com/policy/international/595728-ukrainian-am…

This one works!

The Captain

Russian platoon surrendered to Ukrainian forces, ambassador says
https://ktla.com/news/nationworld/russian-platoon-surrendere…

This one works!

The Captain

Falling dominoes. Likely to be more? For the same reasons?

We shouldn’t be surprised if there were activities behind the curtains at Putin’s Kremlin HQ ala the 1944 Operation Valkyrie plot against Hitler.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Valkyrie

Of course, we can never know with certainty, until “later”.

The parallels of today to the late 1930’s of last century are uncanny and unsettling.

Putin is not Hitler.

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Russian platoon surrendered to Ukrainian forces, ambassador says

Other reporting says some Russian tanks are stopping on their way due to corrupt soldiers having sold their fuel on the black market.

Who knows, but someone was definitely caught with their pants down:

Ukraine-Russia conflict: Russian state news agency appears to accidentally publish article claiming war victory

It is the blunder feared by every news outlet that has pre-prepared articles written in the event of a sudden breaking story.

Quickly deleted, but not before it was picked up by Pakistan’s Frontier Post, which translated it in to English, the article, by writer Petr Akopov, stated “Ukraine has returned to Russia”. In the comment piece, published on Saturday, Mr Akopov described the “national humiliation” when Ukraine was lost to Russia in 1991 and praised Russian president Vladimir Putin, who, Mr Akopov said “has assumed, without a drop of exaggeration, a historic responsibility by deciding not to leave the solution of the Ukrainian question to future generations”. …

https://www.scotsman.com/news/world/russian-news-agency-appe…

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Russian platoon surrendered to Ukrainian forces, ambassador says

In recent videos it appears that the Russians brought their artillery with them to Kharkov. Are they taking the gloves off now?

Anybody remember pictures of Grozny after it was taken by the Russians?
https://ssl.c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000HsPys3A9Ve0/s/90…

DB2

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Anybody remember pictures of Grozny after it was taken by the Russians?

Iraq:
https://images.newindianexpress.com/uploads/user/imagelibrar…
https://images.newindianexpress.com/uploads/user/imagelibrar…
http://www.dailynews.lk/sites/default/files/news/2016/05/13/…

Syria:
https://i0.wp.com/boingboing.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/…
https://www.amnesty.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/251049.jpg…

Libya:
https://www.mintpressnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/bb4…
https://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/292649f063aebcf9bbd4ee31…

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The best result would be a Putin overthrow. In a country where government does not give a damn about human lives that is not likely.

I’m cautiously optimistic. The way all authoritarian regimes–from the Mafia to dictatorships–keep power is by buying off and/or killing the underlings. After all, you need certain number of loyalists to run things. If you don’t keep enough of them happy you wind up with a Richard III situation.

The oligarchs have been hit right where it hurts the most–their wallets. Their foreign bank accounts are frozen, and their domestic accounts are worth 30% less than they were last week and they can’t even leave the country. They might decide if Putin isn’t going to keep them rich, then they don’t need Putin after all.

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At a press briefing, Markarova said, “Just before I came here, we got information from our chief commander that one of the platoons of the 74th motorized brigade from Kemerovo Oblast surrendered.”

“They didn’t know that they were brought to Ukraine to kill Ukrainians. They thought they were doing something else there,” she added.

While that had to be carried out as a surrender, given the military uniforms equipment etc., I’m wondering if it shouldn’t be considered a defection.

(You KNOW what’s waiting for those Russian soldiers, every one of them present in the brigade, if and when they return to Russia. And so do they.)

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Putin is not Hitler.

Nope. You’re right, he just acts like him.

Pete

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