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Gracie Allen is my personal savior! |
Some sentences compressed into paragraphs to save space. Original text at http://www.newsweek.com/putin-...ussian-people-629393 I keep thinking Putin looks pretty tough to remove, and wondering who in the heck would be strong enough to replace him if not the cabal behind him. Then again, the Soviets never looked tougher or more capable of enduring anything thrown at them than they did right before 1990 and people sure seemed to come out of nowhere to take the Soviets down. | ||
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Interesting. Thanks for the post. In the long run Russia, without an expansion into new territory, is toast. The cause is simply a matter of demographics. Silent | |||
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E tan e epi tas |
So is this one America's fault? "Guns are tools. The only weapon ever created was man." | |||
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Gracie Allen is my personal savior! |
^^^ I have to admit - I wish.
Well, that's where life gets even more interesting. I haven't heard that much comment about it, but a couple of articles I've come across have pointed out something pretty interesting. Under Trump, the US blew an airport to hell in Syria in retaliation for a chemical weapons attack. Putin's Russia made abundant quantities of noise, hosted (IIRC) the Syrian pilots and planes that hadn't been hit in the attack at a Russian airbase, and otherwise did...nothing. Under Trump, the USAF blew a Syrian bomber out of the air for dropping bombs on US allies. Within a day or two, they also shot down a Syrian drone. The Russian response was so vociferous that at first it wasn't clear. Initial statements were made to the effect that from there on out, Syrian military aircraft would be escorted, "one for one", by Russian military aircraft. Later statements clarified that what the Russians really meant to say was that any US or allied aircraft within range of Russian ground-to-air missiles in Syria would be tracked "as though it was a target". In the end, of course, the Russians actually did...nothing. Now, just for a second, ignore the impulse to laugh at Erdogan for having been buffaloed like a total pussy over shooting down a Russian aircraft that had flown into Turkish airspace. Aw, go ahead. He's an asshole, and that particular failure is worth one hell of a horselaugh. Anyway, Russia has previously claimed Syria as something of a Russian foreign policy preserve. If Putin can't muster a more forceful response to Trump's operating freely in Syria, then we've obviously run into the limits of what Putin thinks he can do in a confrontation over a major client state. If Putin can't keep boasting about being a tough guy to the Russians, then what good is he to them at all? | |||
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Trump's a bit different from the previous administration and thank G-d for that. Your narrative on Russian reaction, or lack thereof, is quite telling and informs about the long-term prospects of Putin. I can't forsee any type of Boris Yeltsin entering the stage to soften the landing. Russia's problems will remain regardless of its leadership for two main reasons; an aging/shrinking population and its economic base as a renter nation. Population Russia's 0 - 24 age group represents about 26% of its population; compare that population group percentage to some of its southern "neighbors" Afghanistan 63%, Kazakhstan 41%, Uzbekistan 43%. Its total population is also declining. Renter Russia's economy seems too focused on energy. That does not seem like a good bet in this overabundance-of-energy world. Thanks, Silent | |||
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