President Trump: The NEW one and only politics thread

I'm sure that the billions worth of oil and gas reserves in Crimea had nothing to do with the invasion.

 

USSR began a deliberate policy of ethnic cleansing of Crimea back in the 1940's and 50's, deporting the Tatars (who were not allowed to return later), as well as the Armenians, Greeks, and Bulgarians. Russia has encouraged retiring military, particularly those who had been stationed in Crimea, to take their retirement in Crimea in order to boost the numbers of loyal Russians there. Yes, there are strong cultural ties to Russia and have been for years, but the increasing percentage of ethnic Russians there was deliberate policy..

Russia also seized Crimea to insure continued access to their warm water port at Sevastopol, with their only easy access to the Med. For years it had paid rent in exchange for rights to the naval base. The possibility that Ukraine might eventually evict Russia from that base was intolerable. This may not have been a primary motivation, but you can bet that strategic calculation was in the top layer of reasons.

Their reasoning for annexing Crimea was probably multi-layered - in part to insure that there was no chance that any ties to NATO and the West were allowed to develop, as well as to make certain of retained access to the Med. Part of it is that Putin hates the loss of the various former Soviet states and wants as much as possible of that territory back under Russian control. Part of it was sheer opportunism - Putin saw the power vacuum, correctly estimated that if he invaded there would be much diplo talk and hand waving but no forceful moves to prevent his annexing it.

 

The whole Greenland deal is so simple.
Putin knows the entire political world would shit bricks if he made any move, legal or semi-legal or anything in between, to take over Greenland, but he knows Fatfuck, his useful idiot, can do it and get away with it. Who's going to stop him? Denmark? Sweden? Canada? The UK?

So he'll just have Fatboy do it -- whether he does it through some concocted "sale" transaction or sends a few battalions of Marines to storm the beaches, Vlad doesn't care. No skin off his ass either way.

Although it has to be a consideration they've got a kabuki-show wag-the-dog publicity pageant set up in which Mighty Vlad would put his foot down in the defense of hallowed international law against Fatboy's outrageous violation, and Russian forces would make a brief courageous stand.

(Vlad of course will know exactly how many US troops are sent, where they're going and when they're getting there. He'll get the battle plans from
Fucko before the Joint Chiefs see them. In fact, Vlad will probably write them.)

Suitably sheepish after his great idea gone wrong, Fucko will turn the keys over to Russia as "a token of international friendship."

He'll blame the US military disaster on Obama, of course. Maybe try to hang part of it on Jimmy Carter.

 

Brits sure do love to talk American politics in pubs once they find out you’re from the US. I was trying to escape this circus for a week!

 

So noted.

I make the exception because Fang was one of the early trackers of Koch tea party money.

 

"Have you folks seen the photo of First Lady Melania Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau? I haven't seen a woman that happy since my second wife received her first alimony check. In other news, White House aides say President Trump will order an invasion of Canada as soon as he can find it on a map."

 

Hi-yo!

 

So if Mexico seizes land along the border because 2.5 times as many Hispanics live there than white folks, the US should be OK with it?

 

How very Trumpian of him.

Brazil Says It Will Reject $22 Million in Amazon Aid Pledged at G7

 

That much money would barely buy kibble for Esfumaçado o Urso.

 

This is going to get much worse.

Incoming Harvard Freshman Deported After Visa Revoked | News | The Harvard Crimson

 

It’s a relativity thing. The US is the only country that makes the UK seem sane at the moment.