War in Ukraine

we all know that he embellishes things and talks in generalizations so dont focus on that. But you be you.

 

You have it backwards, son. Donald Trump is, by far, the world leader in the last century that is MOST susceptible to flattery. There is no #2 in that regard. Trump is in a simple-minded, egotistical class by himself. He worships himself so much that as a failure of a businessman, his entire desktop in his office was covered with articles about himself. He spent a lot of his spare time calling radio stations claiming to be "John Barron" while talking up Donald Trump as a great guy and successful businessman (too dumb to disguise his voice). Trump not only loves to be flattered, he practically insists on it.

Any time Donald Trump flatters another leader like Putin, he is relating to them like he would like to be treated himself (with flattery). Putin, as a intelligence man and the leader of a country involved in a war that he is not winning, and as a leader who aspires to become remembered like Peter the Great, has absolutely no interest in flattery that does not lead to concessions. Dimwit Donald is getting nowhere with his attempts to flatter Putin, other than maybe getting a chance to put some Trump hotels in Moscow after the war. In short, Trump is a foolish idiot.

 

In fairness, I don’t recall anyone on this board stating they actually believed Trump would actually have a peace deal in 24 hours. It was hyperbole for “I will make it my priority and work to get it done quickly.” That said, this is politics. And the President said what he said, so the snark was appropriate. But I think we’re past the point of effect on the snark. If somehow (and I still don’t think he will) the President pulls off a diplomatic masterpiece of a sustainable, just peace this year, then it will not really be much of a retort in next year’s midterms to cry out, “Aha! But he did not do it in 24 hours!”

 

I agree. But the problem is that Trump has not made any progress towards his goal in three months. All he has been able to do is offer Putin whatever he wants to some extent, and blame and browbeat Zelenskyy for not signing over his country to Putin. Trump also refuses to recognize that Ukraine is holding their own in this war (and could easily be winning with the full support of the U.S.). Trump is applying no additional pressure on Russia (compared to what Biden was doing).

This is part of pattern of Trump's boasting without actually achieving anything of substance, just like with immigration. His idea of making progress seems to be deporting an innocent man to prison in another country for being in the U.S. illegally and committing crimes, when in fact, he was here legally and has committed no crimes.

 

You might be right, but we don’t know that yet. We would not be able to sense much of any “progress.” My assessment remains the same: the only measure of effectiveness is the deal being struck by both sides. Until that happens, the talks have not succeeded. And until we throw our hands in the air and say, “[Screw] these [screwy] Russians!” (the far more likely outcome), the talks have not failed. Until either of those scenarios have come to pass, it will be premature to judge how wise or foolish it was to make a show of dressing down Zelensky, gifting Russia a face-saving victory in Kursk, etc.

Off topic, but if you’re referring to Abrego Garcia, you’re a little behind in the narrative. The “Maryland man, law-abiding, legal resident with no gang connections” is now down to “admittedly an illegal immigrant, admittedly has strong evidence against him for domestic violence, human trafficking, and MS-13 affiliation … but never proven in a court of law.” This is why we tap the brakes and wait for all of the facts to come in before making martyrs of people.

 

I’ve heard this refrain countless times to explain away Trump’s facially stupid and/or blatantly false words.

However, nobody has any meaningful assistance to let us know when we should believe him, and when we should not. [For example, you all said Trump would never hit the global world with tariffs, when the idea popped in his mind in the campaign trail.]

If you, or anyone, can give us the code, it would be helpful to translating Trumpianese.

 

I think it’s stupid, too, when you can’t trust the words that come out of a leader’s mouth. Most politicians are guilty of using distortion, exaggeration, and half-truth to support their narratives, but this President takes it to another level.

 

Yep. Words matter, particularly when those words come from the President of the United States.

 

According to Russia, yes, since all of Ukraine belongs to Russia. In the sense that you mean, no. Ukraine withdrew in good order from the Kursk salient during the brief window the U.S. was withholding intelligence support.

 

Russian troops retreat in Pokrovsk sector after significant losses

Russian troops in the Pokrovsk direction suffered significant losses and are forced to retreat. In the Khortytsia operational-strategic group, it was noted that even an entire detachment of motorcycles was used for the assault, which was completely destroyed, according to Viktor Tregubov, spokesperson for the Khortytsia operational-strategic group.

Despite Russian troops' continued efforts to capture Pokrovsk, recent attempts have been marked by significant losses for the aggressor. According to Tregubov, the Russians are not succeeding in this direction, despite the significant resources they are concentrating on the assaults.

"Pokrovsk remains the most intense direction, and an interesting element of the situation is that, despite the fact that the Russians are making the most effort, it is here that they are having the least success," said Tregubov.

According to him, a large assault recently took place, during which 90 motorcycles were used, but all of them were destroyed along with the crews

 

not sure what to make of this other than fear of the bridge beign taken out

Ukraine's partisans report 'panic' among Black Sea Fleet in Crimea, claim officers' families have fled

Families of senior officers in Russia’s Black Sea Fleet have left Crimea in recent weeks, the Ukrainian partisan group Atesh reported on April 20.

The group claimed that an internal directive was issued by Russian authorities in early April, mandating heightened security measures at military installations across Crimea.

This reportedly includes increased surveillance, covert patrols conducted by reservists in civilian clothing, and efforts to conceal military hardware. Additionally, all shore leave for Russian personnel stationed on the peninsula has reportedly been suspended. "There is currently panic in the units of the Russian Black Sea Fleet," the group said in a post on Telegram.
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Friedrich Merz, Germany’s chancellor-in-waiting, suggested on April 13 that the potential delivery of long-range Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine could enable strikes on high-value Russian military targets in occupied Crimea — including the strategically vital Kerch Bridge that links the peninsula to mainland Russia.

 

Pokrovsk was merely another sinister feint. And you fell for it … again. A decisive blow is coming from out of the east, like, any day now.

 

Remember when okee was in here every day telling us pokrovsk was about to fall at any moment? lol.

 

thankfully, no

 

94’ Ukraine was duped by the US and UK to surrender their Nuclear capacity and this war of destruction and death is the result. The US is not the world defensive power it just recently was and Europe is a paper Tiger. Russians know this.

 

Russians know this, do they? What do Russians know about their own magnificent, unstoppable military that has been ground to a stalemate for three years against a second-rate power, not even able to achieve the basic condition of air superiority? My guess is, even “paper tiger” of Europe could make short work of the Russian land component in Ukraine with airpower alone. I don’t know how I would feel about that if I were Russian. Embarrassed? Scared?

 

Nothing I said in my post was false. You proceed by attacking my post, yet provide zero evidence to back your claims. I’m referring to diplomatic efforts with Russia to stop the war in Ukraine. That’s all anyone even cares about. Biden clearly failed in that area and alienated Putin in the process. Trump has to clean that up. You can’t just snap your fingers and be like “we good, bro?” It doesn’t work that way. But you know this.

 

The portion I quoted, which I will quote again —

— is categorically false. I wish it were true, but it isn’t. I would say, “You know this,” but we lie loudest when we lie to ourselves.

 

Feels like you’re hallucinating.