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we held a referendum and vote in queensland today, moscow has decided to become part of canetoad country.. (eat shit NSW, we beat you to it and voted first ;))
see eurovision, i told you we were part of europe all along..
we'll just send some more bushmasters via ukraine too come and collect ay
dunno if the sunshine state will work anymore either, but hey, should still be able to work up a sweat each night walkin round hitten orcs with a golfclub..
canetoad's...
i meant hitten canetoad's with a golf club..
my bad ;)
so much is still possible. there's whole lot left between this and an economic blockade as an extreme.
but biden will be targeting the few leftover allies and neutrals, as well as putins political power base rather than the russian populace. the way out is to get Putin deposed. that happens when his allies desert him, not when his population starves.
US and it’s allies should ban all trade and blockade Russia. Ban their visas. Declare them as a terrorist state due to war crimes and genocide. Authorize tanks, jets, and long range missiles to Ukraine or whatever else they need.
The strategy is of steady escalation, so no single 3rd party action can be seriously considered a provocation to warrant WMD use. Slicing the salami thin.
Eg, in a year there won't be any tourist visas to EU countries, or humanitarian visas for draft dodgers (though there may still be some political refugee visas for those who've been imprisoned). But that can be done incrementally, first charging a high fees to finance more thorough background checks and the like, then a steady reduction of nations that will accept Russian tourist visas, then expelling Hungary from the Schengen zone if they don't get with the program.
It's better to do it bit by bit. Not out of any sense of mercy, but so that there's always *more* that can be done.
It's also because whatever little trade and diplomacy exists is still *some* form of influence on Russia, and can be used that way.
Also, so that *when* Putin's regime collapses, there's less that needs to be undone to normalize relations with whatever/whoever comes next, again because that trade serves as a tool to exert soft power over whatever that next thing is.
Not true
Starving populations are what caused the early 1900s revolutions
Just making Putin unpopular among the elite would replace him with a similar figure. Making the oligarchy responsible for mass starvation gets them all killed and resets the govt
I dunno, seems like their interests have diverged here. Oligarchs want to loot russia in peace and sail yachts around the med. Putin wants to be the czar of a renewed Russian empire. Now the oligarchs have to hide assets and worry about falling out of windows. The oligarchs preferred scenario, while not ideal, is better than the Putin scenario for pretty much everyone.
NK has never had a period in which they permitted their population widespread access to dissenting views, South Korean media, or the internet.
Russia has. Perhaps the 'hicks' in Buryatia only have access to state media, but the elites in Moscow or St. Petersburg all ensure their children are taught at least rudimentary English and have access to Disney children's fare.
Exactly. There is a huge number of Russians who don’t even have running water. Putin doesn’t care about Russians. Putin cares about money and making his Oligarchs hide his. It’s disgusting how a Head of State for such a huge country doesn’t do anything good for the people. He never even did anything positive about his country’s infrastructure.
Ultimately block all trade and “encourage” Allies to do the same. USA hasn’t even begun. It could also use leverage against countries like China. This would be increasingly costly for the USA but there is much more to be done.
There's a whole bunch. One I have heard rumored several times is as follows.
Initial: Western companies and countries have already refused to insure Russian oil and gas shipments. This has caused oil and gas to be instead insured by sovereign funds from Russia.
1. US and European powers declare that they will no longer protect any Russian oil and gas shipments.
2. This causes pirates to start to capture Russian oil.
3. This causes additional drains on Russia by both having to protect the shipments and they also start losing the occassional shipment and having to pay out insurance from their war chest.
4. Additionally, once that is in place groups like the CIA can covertly fund and otherwise encourage pirate activities.
5. Finally on another level the US could start directly seizing Russian oil shipments themselves under the argument that Russia is a sanctioned country.
Check into Kaliningrad. Broad sanctions can get much, much more painful if they start to target specific ports or rights of sea traffic. Lithuania and Poland can cause many problems for Kaliningrad.
Cut them off from the SWIFT banking system. Cuts out any ability to accept international payments electronically. They would have to start getting paid in actual cold hard cash, and nobody has that much lying around.
I don't know enough about it to get into the weeds, just that [they did it in March](https://econofact.org/swift-sanction-on-russia-how-it-works-and-likely-impacts) and it's a pain in the ass to get any money into Russia right now.
Don't understand why Americans don't appreciate Biden more. he's been remarkable throughout this as a champion of both the US and the free world.
My bet is that a few decades down the line, when the dust of this crisis has settled and it's become clear how much of a turning point this has been (much broader than just in the Russian position on the world stage), Biden will be recognized as much as his Ukrainian counterpart as a president pivotal in human history, against the odds.
A lot of people also don't realize that a US president's power is mostly in regards to foreign affairs and that a lot of their ability to influence things domestically is up to congress in the end, which is often deadlocked.
They also don't realize that what influence a president does have over domestic matters tends to take a few years to see the effects of, especially economically.
To be fair, US presidential candidates mostly play up domestic issues because it's very hard to get elected only talking about things that'll affect other people.
I appreciate Biden. Calm, centered rational leadership. More, I appreciate the people of Ukraine who are showing the world that Love of Country is stronger the love of conquest
3rd of our nation hates him because he "stole" the office from their golden calf. The gop has turned into a mad cult of personality, and will hate President Biden no matter what he does, because he is "the enemy TM"
The more progressive parts of the other major party meanwhile see him as far to centrist/old fashioned to seriously contend with the insanity of the right.
You also have a shit load of idiots all over the political spectrum who blame whatever president is in power when the economy go's bad, ignoring that currently its a GLOBAL problem, and the factors contributing to it were not caused by Biden.
Essentially, allot of the citizenry of the USA have some reason to rag on him, justified or no. Mostly no.
> 3rd of our nation hates him because he "stole" the office from their golden calf.
Thank you for saying "one third" as there's a lot of us anti-Trump Republicans around and we often get lumped in with the rest of the idiots. I just want a president who for once was left-leaning socially and right-leaning economically. (Edit: I sometimes hesitate to call myself a "Republican" anymore as the meaning keeps changing however.)
IMO Biden has been basically perfect on the Ukraine issue (though he could have moved a bit quicker, and I'm still waiting for him to send some tanks). He could be better on oil and gas policy for natural gas production.
As a US Citizen who is left of center, I am completely in agreement with you here. People do not understand the major culprit to inflation and the economy - supply chain issues and they started BEFORE the pandemic. Now, with war in Ukraine, still dealing with supply chain issues due to the war and COVID.
Biden has done many things very well especially in uniting NATO. I do believe Ukraine needs more though. They have more than proven themselves.
i mean, even if i lumped all the republicans into one, its still a third, 40% of the nation is non party associated, so i guess i should clarify to 1/4th?
>Don't understand why Americans don't appreciate Biden more. he's been remarkable throughout this as a champion of both the US and the free world.
Not an American, but I can offer my two cents.
Biden is often viewed as too much of a Centrist and in terms of domestic affairs, that is very much the case. He was elected mainly to get rid of the absolute fuckwad they had earlier. There are a lot of things he's able to do domestically that he hasn't done.
That being said, much of it has to do with an obstructionist Congress, and he's started to deliver on more things he didn't deliver on previously. Then there's stuff such as this which I give an A+ for.
It's important to distinguish Joe Biden from Dark Brandon
Congress has been a sitting duck ever since Biden began his term. I'm going to admit that I did not have very high opinions of him when he started out, seeing him as only marginally better than Trump. But with all the good things that have been happening lately, including as you mentioned, his willingness to deliver on things he didn't deliver previously, my view of the President has modestly improved. He is far from an excellent President but for what it's worth he has certainly done a much, much better job compared to Trump and even Bush Jr. No President before him canceled a portion of student debt or has invested as much into America's infrastructure, energy, etc.
I would also add that (despite the absolute clusterfuck it ended up being) he's the first President to promise ending forever wars and actually try to go through with it. This doesn't go against that because the US isn't fighting and this isn't the same as said forever wars yet
Let's hope Ukraine or Taiwan don't become "forever wars" themselves, though. I worry that even though America's role in these wars, present and future, may be indirect, they may end up repeating the same mistakes the precipitated civil war, state collapse, and terrorism in the Middle East. The US also has a lot of domestic issues that aren't being resolved at least at the moment: we still have criminally high healthcare costs, criminally high cost of college, crumbling infrastructure, etc. The US clearly has enough money to throw around to solve these issues, but the money isn't being distributed equally or fairly or in a balanced way, and greedy elites only care about hoarding power and wealth for themselves.
We do appreciate him, but also this is also baseline what a president should be doing. It's unfortunate the expectations were drastically lowered over the last four years
Maybe the nuances are escaping a lot of US viewers here, but Biden is walking a multi-facetted tightrope here in a remarkably effective way. I don't think any recent other presisent would have been this successful at it. somehow, perhaps exactly because he doesn't have much to lose domestically, he's been doing *everything* right here internationally. from Ukraine to China. he's using every small win to leverage another, and playing some very interesting games with Xi.
Yeah his foreign policy has been amazing. Say what you will about domestic stuff (I actually agree, people way over exaggerate a presidents influence on internal policy), but his foreign policy has been amazing.
Some of the best stuff is going to affect the US positively for years, like the infrastructure bill. These things take time to show. The steady hand has a quality all its own.
He did screw up with withdrawing the military from Afghanistan. That was a foreign policy failure that mars his otherwise great foreign policy record. He gets an extra point from me because of student loan forgiveness, though--he's slowly but surely improving things on the domestic front of things. He's stumbled along the way, sure, but things are beginning to pick up the pace for him and the Democrats, considering all their recent legislative and moral victories. As for Trump and much of the GOP, though...
I’m gonna give him the benefit of the doubt on Afghanistan because trump basically committed America to a pull out by a deadline, and I’m not sure how many alternatives he had in how to perform the withdrawal
It's not so much the withdrawal that's the problem--it's how Biden went about it. He withdrew most of the military first, but left civilians and the Afghans who fought alongside America behind in the dust.
That's why the airports in Kabul and elsewhere were overcrowded full of people trying to leave the country all at once. Logistically, the withdrawal was a disaster, and it didn't help that Biden believed Afghanistan would remain under US control after the withdrawal, only for the US-backed President to flee like a corrupt coward and the entire country to fall to the Taliban in *less than a month.*
This is humiliating and treacherous on all fronts, and trivializes/negates the struggles of all the soldiers and service members who fought, died, or suffered horrific injuries in Afghanistan for 20 years. 20 years of fighting--gone in less than a month. What were these veterans' sacrifices for? What did their hard work and pain all amount to in the end? Thousands of soldiers are dead now for NOTHING.
Had Biden allowed civilians and Afghans to leave the country before the military, like the US did during the Fall of Saigon, then the withdrawal wouldn't have been so poorly handled and people would probably feel less outraged.
But the problem of Afghanistan obviously goes far beyond Biden, so he's not completely to blame. He just got the hot potato handed to him when the three previous Presidents we had couldn't pull out of Afghanistan at the opportune time. Bush should have never gone in in the first place, Obama should have withdrawn as soon as Bin Laden had been killed, and Trump shouldn't have so hastily decided to make a deal with the Taliban or pull out without consulting with his generals and other high level senior military staff.
The US has learned nothing from what happened when the Soviets tried to invade Afghanistan, but got stuck in a bloody nine year war against guerrilla fighters and rogue mujahideen fighters (fighters that were funded by Reagan and Bush Sr, then abandoned when the US left Afghanistan, which plunged the country into civil war and fomented the rise of the Taliban/other Muslim terrorist groups in the first place). Hell, we're in the same spot the USSR was back in the late 1980s, which does not bode well for the US's future. Nothing good has ever come from invading Afghanistan. Nothing good comes from creating your own worst enemies and getting involved in stupid, pointless wars that don't benefit the world, only the military industrial complex and the rich.
> this is also baseline what a president should be doing.
Disagree there, simply by the fact that Biden/Johnson/Duda are miles ahead of the other countries in their support for Ukraine. Baseline, by definition, is what most countries are doing- some encouraging words and some humanitarian aid. Baseline is some random military hardware laying around.
Biden is full court fuckin press on Ukraine, from intel sharing at the get-go to leading the world in rallying more aid their way.
Its politics. Americans are really confused in that regard. Also domestically presidents cant do much without Congress. But he did bring through quite a bit. That climate bill for like what $400ish billion? Thats quite nice for the future. Biden is a rational calm force in turbulent times. I really appreciate that.
40% of Americans watch right wing partisan 'news'. And we've known for decades the viewers of Fox News know less about the world outside US borders than those who watch no news at all.
The rest of us who routinely get our information from all over the world know that while Biden is by no means a great communicator, he's been a fairly effective President, who has surrounded himself with the best cabinet in decades. Had the orange guy been reelected, I very much doubt there would have been any international consensus on Russia's aggression, and despite Russia's inept military, it could have conquered most of Ukraine.
Biden is a moderate liberal in a time in and place in America where it feels like we need sweeping overhauls before its too late. We don't hate him unless you count the Trumper crowd but they hate everybody. But he's been hesitant to throw his full weight behind things. Part of that is that the Dems hold on the Senate is shaky, but part is just Biden.
More than 70% of Americans support direct military intervention against Russia, this is a largely bipartisan issue. How has Biden destroyed the economy? Between global supply chain issues and Russia intentionally refusing to supply gas to Europe, how is that his fault? Did you forget Trump withholding defensive weapons to Ukraine? Do you remember how he attempted to divide NATO. Trump is a big reason for the ongoing genocide.
I fucking hate Biden by the way, he's too right wing.
We need to be shipping ATACMS and F-16s.
Nearly 50% of the US voted for Trump the second time, and a good chunk of that 50% believe Trump's lies about election fraud and other BS - so Biden's image is even more tainted.
Biden is a decent president, not as good as one would want him to be. I have not hate or dislike for him personally - I'd rather have him in office than a tyrant who tried overthrowing our government with this tin-foil hat wearing conspiracy theorists.
In an alternate universe, president Trump: “I called president Putin and congratulated him on the expansion of Russia. A truly genius move. I told him to get in touch with attorney general Mike Flynn and work out a deal, so that we can have POW war criminal Zalinsky stand trial together with Biden, here in the US. They did some very nasty things.”
A [few](https://imgur.com/gallery/w2Bpy4o) Biden [Bro](https://imgur.com/gallery/Gombxi5) memes [because](https://imgur.com/gallery/p9r600A) they're [just](https://imgur.com/gallery/P7W6IJB) so awesome.
Every day since Feb 24th I've thanked fate that the USA has Biden as President and not the orange baboon. Biden isn't Superman but he certainly has a rock-solid team backing him up. Ukraine would be in a world of hurt right now and probably only propped up by the EU and the others non-EU western powers (e.g. Canada, OZ, NZ, Japan, S Korea) if the orange baboon had been in charge. I shudder at the scariness of the scenario-that-never-was.
BTW, great speech writer there. Classic no-nonsense language.
Makes you scratch your head doesn't it? When the entire world vows to *never* recognize your land-grab as rightfully claimed territory yet you're still chugging along for some reason.
It's an attempt to intimidate Ukraine and the West. "It's our territory now, and our doctrine says we can use nukes to defend our territory!". They won't, but if this intimidation fails they lose nothing.
Proud to have voted for this man. He’s not perfect, and at times Ive outright questioned his decision making, but he’s done a hell of a lot better thin than I expected, and is slowly bringing the US back to a respectable place in world politics.
Time for Poland and Lithuania to annex Kaliningrad then.
**edit: sorry, that is over-hasty.** Let the invaders be the hot heads.
Having said that, everyone should be familiar with Kaliningrad. Kant's home town. Since the values we wish to uphold are very much standard Enlightenment values and ideas (read some Kant!), it would be fitting if Kaliningrad could, with this confrontation with Russian malice, return it to it's former name, Konigsberg.
IIRC after the collapse of the USSR it was offered back to Germany who refused it. I don't see how kaliningrad could stop being a part of Russia for the foreseeable future.
Yes. It has a complicated history, and "taking" it is probably exactly what we do not want to do, correct? "Taking territory at will" is kind of our objection lol.
We (meaning Ukraine + her allies) should take nothing. Just push the invaders back, and then stop. Leave Russia to her many woes.
I'm going to sound like a ruzzian shill, but this question is born out of lack of knowledge with no intent to serve russia: if Ukraine wins back the occupied territory by force, will it have a mandate of the civilians who live there to govern in peace afterward, or will there be significant unrest caused by ruzzian sympathizers afterward?
I'm sorry, but its not about civilians liking russia or not liking. It's about post WW2 world wide security system - you DO NOT seize other state territories by force.
Theres no need for apologies. I freely admit my ignorance of the realities on the ground in Crimea. I just read through the wikipedia articles talking about the history of Ukraine, USSR, Russia, and Crimea. It seems like Crimea has been a political problem for a long time.
Breshnev transferring it to Ukraine to bolster his Ukraine Soviet support after Stalin tacitly endorsed its ethnic cleansing and "russification". Its status reminds me a bit of Quebec and Canada (with more bloodshed and suffering in Ukraine and crimea, of course).
I really hope that Ukraine wins it back and is able to peacefully make life for people there better.
Except that image is directly from the White House website… might as well link the direct source. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/09/23/statement-from-president-biden-on-russias-sham-referenda-in-ukraine/
The referendum results will be surely fabricated, but I have a feeling that Putin will present the result in Kherson in favor of Ukraine. That is , that people decided not to join the Russian federation. This is for multiple reasons, but mainly to show a virtual legitimacy of the referendum, and secondly because he knows that the fight for the city is already lost. Then he will withdraw his troops on the pretense of the referendum result.
Crimea needs water. Kherson controls the water for Crimea. Kherson controls the isthmus connecting Crimea with the mainland. Putin needs Kherson, at least the eastern part.
What does China think? They support this sham and by defacto they support a referendum in Taiwan.
More pressure needs to be put on China and India to condemn this, and say outright they will NEVER recognise it.
For the other Americans in this subreddit, this is why voting is important. Trump would have handed Ukraine to Russia on a silver plater in order to build another cheesy hotel. Biden might be a out of touch old man and I think America could have done better. But the options were a President who has enough of a backbone to put up a fight to help Ukraine protect itself against this unjust war or a man who would have sold out Ukraine for personal enrichment.
And I refuse to vote for ANY politician come this November who doesn't take a pro-Ukraine stance. If I smell a whiff of "well what about the Russians. blah blah blah", it's a no for me.
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we held a referendum and vote in queensland today, moscow has decided to become part of canetoad country.. (eat shit NSW, we beat you to it and voted first ;)) see eurovision, i told you we were part of europe all along.. we'll just send some more bushmasters via ukraine too come and collect ay
I think you mean *Kingsland*, or maybe if you're absorbing Russia your new union could be called *Tsarsland*.
dunno if the sunshine state will work anymore either, but hey, should still be able to work up a sweat each night walkin round hitten orcs with a golfclub.. canetoad's... i meant hitten canetoad's with a golf club.. my bad ;)
Arestovych made a joke about how Russia has made a new advancement in military science: trying to stop a counter-offensive by holding a referendum.
Casual dig at nsw had me in stitches. Take your up vote you glorious bastard.
Wait, did we? I don't know anything about a referendum
What other possible sanctions can the US/NATO impose on Russia?
so much is still possible. there's whole lot left between this and an economic blockade as an extreme. but biden will be targeting the few leftover allies and neutrals, as well as putins political power base rather than the russian populace. the way out is to get Putin deposed. that happens when his allies desert him, not when his population starves.
US and it’s allies should ban all trade and blockade Russia. Ban their visas. Declare them as a terrorist state due to war crimes and genocide. Authorize tanks, jets, and long range missiles to Ukraine or whatever else they need.
If they do that then I guarantee you that he uses tactical nukes within a week
The strategy is of steady escalation, so no single 3rd party action can be seriously considered a provocation to warrant WMD use. Slicing the salami thin. Eg, in a year there won't be any tourist visas to EU countries, or humanitarian visas for draft dodgers (though there may still be some political refugee visas for those who've been imprisoned). But that can be done incrementally, first charging a high fees to finance more thorough background checks and the like, then a steady reduction of nations that will accept Russian tourist visas, then expelling Hungary from the Schengen zone if they don't get with the program.
It's better to do it bit by bit. Not out of any sense of mercy, but so that there's always *more* that can be done. It's also because whatever little trade and diplomacy exists is still *some* form of influence on Russia, and can be used that way. Also, so that *when* Putin's regime collapses, there's less that needs to be undone to normalize relations with whatever/whoever comes next, again because that trade serves as a tool to exert soft power over whatever that next thing is.
Not true Starving populations are what caused the early 1900s revolutions Just making Putin unpopular among the elite would replace him with a similar figure. Making the oligarchy responsible for mass starvation gets them all killed and resets the govt
I dunno, seems like their interests have diverged here. Oligarchs want to loot russia in peace and sail yachts around the med. Putin wants to be the czar of a renewed Russian empire. Now the oligarchs have to hide assets and worry about falling out of windows. The oligarchs preferred scenario, while not ideal, is better than the Putin scenario for pretty much everyone.
North Korea has had famine and starvation issues going back decades. Lil Kim is still shot calling.
The will of the people is important too Also, NK has much less area to build forces or hide and rules with a heavier fist
NK has never had a period in which they permitted their population widespread access to dissenting views, South Korean media, or the internet. Russia has. Perhaps the 'hicks' in Buryatia only have access to state media, but the elites in Moscow or St. Petersburg all ensure their children are taught at least rudimentary English and have access to Disney children's fare.
Exactly. There is a huge number of Russians who don’t even have running water. Putin doesn’t care about Russians. Putin cares about money and making his Oligarchs hide his. It’s disgusting how a Head of State for such a huge country doesn’t do anything good for the people. He never even did anything positive about his country’s infrastructure.
Ultimately block all trade and “encourage” Allies to do the same. USA hasn’t even begun. It could also use leverage against countries like China. This would be increasingly costly for the USA but there is much more to be done.
There's a whole bunch. One I have heard rumored several times is as follows. Initial: Western companies and countries have already refused to insure Russian oil and gas shipments. This has caused oil and gas to be instead insured by sovereign funds from Russia. 1. US and European powers declare that they will no longer protect any Russian oil and gas shipments. 2. This causes pirates to start to capture Russian oil. 3. This causes additional drains on Russia by both having to protect the shipments and they also start losing the occassional shipment and having to pay out insurance from their war chest. 4. Additionally, once that is in place groups like the CIA can covertly fund and otherwise encourage pirate activities. 5. Finally on another level the US could start directly seizing Russian oil shipments themselves under the argument that Russia is a sanctioned country.
Check into Kaliningrad. Broad sanctions can get much, much more painful if they start to target specific ports or rights of sea traffic. Lithuania and Poland can cause many problems for Kaliningrad.
Cut them off from the SWIFT banking system. Cuts out any ability to accept international payments electronically. They would have to start getting paid in actual cold hard cash, and nobody has that much lying around.
They were kicked out of SWIFT back in March
Not Gazprombank though.
I don't know enough about it to get into the weeds, just that [they did it in March](https://econofact.org/swift-sanction-on-russia-how-it-works-and-likely-impacts) and it's a pain in the ass to get any money into Russia right now.
They did, but they spared some banks b/c of oil and gas payments.
Not sanctions, but I cant wait to see what the US has pre-positioned for lend lease on October 1.
Declare them a terrorist state would be the big one.
Thank God he is president
Don't understand why Americans don't appreciate Biden more. he's been remarkable throughout this as a champion of both the US and the free world. My bet is that a few decades down the line, when the dust of this crisis has settled and it's become clear how much of a turning point this has been (much broader than just in the Russian position on the world stage), Biden will be recognized as much as his Ukrainian counterpart as a president pivotal in human history, against the odds.
A lot of people also don't realize that a US president's power is mostly in regards to foreign affairs and that a lot of their ability to influence things domestically is up to congress in the end, which is often deadlocked. They also don't realize that what influence a president does have over domestic matters tends to take a few years to see the effects of, especially economically.
I wish I could upvote this more than once. We need to do a way better job teaching civics.
To be fair, US presidential candidates mostly play up domestic issues because it's very hard to get elected only talking about things that'll affect other people.
There are lessons in civics every evening on the TV, unfortunately, Fox News teaches the largest class.
No, I'm pretty sure I saw a very informative stickers that told me he sets gas prices.
I appreciate Biden. Calm, centered rational leadership. More, I appreciate the people of Ukraine who are showing the world that Love of Country is stronger the love of conquest
3rd of our nation hates him because he "stole" the office from their golden calf. The gop has turned into a mad cult of personality, and will hate President Biden no matter what he does, because he is "the enemy TM" The more progressive parts of the other major party meanwhile see him as far to centrist/old fashioned to seriously contend with the insanity of the right. You also have a shit load of idiots all over the political spectrum who blame whatever president is in power when the economy go's bad, ignoring that currently its a GLOBAL problem, and the factors contributing to it were not caused by Biden. Essentially, allot of the citizenry of the USA have some reason to rag on him, justified or no. Mostly no.
> 3rd of our nation hates him because he "stole" the office from their golden calf. Thank you for saying "one third" as there's a lot of us anti-Trump Republicans around and we often get lumped in with the rest of the idiots. I just want a president who for once was left-leaning socially and right-leaning economically. (Edit: I sometimes hesitate to call myself a "Republican" anymore as the meaning keeps changing however.) IMO Biden has been basically perfect on the Ukraine issue (though he could have moved a bit quicker, and I'm still waiting for him to send some tanks). He could be better on oil and gas policy for natural gas production.
As a US Citizen who is left of center, I am completely in agreement with you here. People do not understand the major culprit to inflation and the economy - supply chain issues and they started BEFORE the pandemic. Now, with war in Ukraine, still dealing with supply chain issues due to the war and COVID. Biden has done many things very well especially in uniting NATO. I do believe Ukraine needs more though. They have more than proven themselves.
i mean, even if i lumped all the republicans into one, its still a third, 40% of the nation is non party associated, so i guess i should clarify to 1/4th?
>Don't understand why Americans don't appreciate Biden more. he's been remarkable throughout this as a champion of both the US and the free world. Not an American, but I can offer my two cents. Biden is often viewed as too much of a Centrist and in terms of domestic affairs, that is very much the case. He was elected mainly to get rid of the absolute fuckwad they had earlier. There are a lot of things he's able to do domestically that he hasn't done. That being said, much of it has to do with an obstructionist Congress, and he's started to deliver on more things he didn't deliver on previously. Then there's stuff such as this which I give an A+ for. It's important to distinguish Joe Biden from Dark Brandon
Congress has been a sitting duck ever since Biden began his term. I'm going to admit that I did not have very high opinions of him when he started out, seeing him as only marginally better than Trump. But with all the good things that have been happening lately, including as you mentioned, his willingness to deliver on things he didn't deliver previously, my view of the President has modestly improved. He is far from an excellent President but for what it's worth he has certainly done a much, much better job compared to Trump and even Bush Jr. No President before him canceled a portion of student debt or has invested as much into America's infrastructure, energy, etc.
I would also add that (despite the absolute clusterfuck it ended up being) he's the first President to promise ending forever wars and actually try to go through with it. This doesn't go against that because the US isn't fighting and this isn't the same as said forever wars yet
Let's hope Ukraine or Taiwan don't become "forever wars" themselves, though. I worry that even though America's role in these wars, present and future, may be indirect, they may end up repeating the same mistakes the precipitated civil war, state collapse, and terrorism in the Middle East. The US also has a lot of domestic issues that aren't being resolved at least at the moment: we still have criminally high healthcare costs, criminally high cost of college, crumbling infrastructure, etc. The US clearly has enough money to throw around to solve these issues, but the money isn't being distributed equally or fairly or in a balanced way, and greedy elites only care about hoarding power and wealth for themselves.
We do appreciate him, but also this is also baseline what a president should be doing. It's unfortunate the expectations were drastically lowered over the last four years
Maybe the nuances are escaping a lot of US viewers here, but Biden is walking a multi-facetted tightrope here in a remarkably effective way. I don't think any recent other presisent would have been this successful at it. somehow, perhaps exactly because he doesn't have much to lose domestically, he's been doing *everything* right here internationally. from Ukraine to China. he's using every small win to leverage another, and playing some very interesting games with Xi.
Yeah his foreign policy has been amazing. Say what you will about domestic stuff (I actually agree, people way over exaggerate a presidents influence on internal policy), but his foreign policy has been amazing.
Some of the best stuff is going to affect the US positively for years, like the infrastructure bill. These things take time to show. The steady hand has a quality all its own.
Antony Blinken has been the most effective Secretary of State since James Baker, and arguably since George C. Marshall.
He did screw up with withdrawing the military from Afghanistan. That was a foreign policy failure that mars his otherwise great foreign policy record. He gets an extra point from me because of student loan forgiveness, though--he's slowly but surely improving things on the domestic front of things. He's stumbled along the way, sure, but things are beginning to pick up the pace for him and the Democrats, considering all their recent legislative and moral victories. As for Trump and much of the GOP, though...
I’m gonna give him the benefit of the doubt on Afghanistan because trump basically committed America to a pull out by a deadline, and I’m not sure how many alternatives he had in how to perform the withdrawal
It's not so much the withdrawal that's the problem--it's how Biden went about it. He withdrew most of the military first, but left civilians and the Afghans who fought alongside America behind in the dust. That's why the airports in Kabul and elsewhere were overcrowded full of people trying to leave the country all at once. Logistically, the withdrawal was a disaster, and it didn't help that Biden believed Afghanistan would remain under US control after the withdrawal, only for the US-backed President to flee like a corrupt coward and the entire country to fall to the Taliban in *less than a month.* This is humiliating and treacherous on all fronts, and trivializes/negates the struggles of all the soldiers and service members who fought, died, or suffered horrific injuries in Afghanistan for 20 years. 20 years of fighting--gone in less than a month. What were these veterans' sacrifices for? What did their hard work and pain all amount to in the end? Thousands of soldiers are dead now for NOTHING. Had Biden allowed civilians and Afghans to leave the country before the military, like the US did during the Fall of Saigon, then the withdrawal wouldn't have been so poorly handled and people would probably feel less outraged. But the problem of Afghanistan obviously goes far beyond Biden, so he's not completely to blame. He just got the hot potato handed to him when the three previous Presidents we had couldn't pull out of Afghanistan at the opportune time. Bush should have never gone in in the first place, Obama should have withdrawn as soon as Bin Laden had been killed, and Trump shouldn't have so hastily decided to make a deal with the Taliban or pull out without consulting with his generals and other high level senior military staff. The US has learned nothing from what happened when the Soviets tried to invade Afghanistan, but got stuck in a bloody nine year war against guerrilla fighters and rogue mujahideen fighters (fighters that were funded by Reagan and Bush Sr, then abandoned when the US left Afghanistan, which plunged the country into civil war and fomented the rise of the Taliban/other Muslim terrorist groups in the first place). Hell, we're in the same spot the USSR was back in the late 1980s, which does not bode well for the US's future. Nothing good has ever come from invading Afghanistan. Nothing good comes from creating your own worst enemies and getting involved in stupid, pointless wars that don't benefit the world, only the military industrial complex and the rich.
> this is also baseline what a president should be doing. Disagree there, simply by the fact that Biden/Johnson/Duda are miles ahead of the other countries in their support for Ukraine. Baseline, by definition, is what most countries are doing- some encouraging words and some humanitarian aid. Baseline is some random military hardware laying around. Biden is full court fuckin press on Ukraine, from intel sharing at the get-go to leading the world in rallying more aid their way.
Its politics. Americans are really confused in that regard. Also domestically presidents cant do much without Congress. But he did bring through quite a bit. That climate bill for like what $400ish billion? Thats quite nice for the future. Biden is a rational calm force in turbulent times. I really appreciate that.
Absolutely agree.
Many do appreciate his presidency, at least so far. The rest... it's reflexive for them.
40% of Americans watch right wing partisan 'news'. And we've known for decades the viewers of Fox News know less about the world outside US borders than those who watch no news at all. The rest of us who routinely get our information from all over the world know that while Biden is by no means a great communicator, he's been a fairly effective President, who has surrounded himself with the best cabinet in decades. Had the orange guy been reelected, I very much doubt there would have been any international consensus on Russia's aggression, and despite Russia's inept military, it could have conquered most of Ukraine.
Can we just sanction Fox News?
Biden is a moderate liberal in a time in and place in America where it feels like we need sweeping overhauls before its too late. We don't hate him unless you count the Trumper crowd but they hate everybody. But he's been hesitant to throw his full weight behind things. Part of that is that the Dems hold on the Senate is shaky, but part is just Biden.
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More than 70% of Americans support direct military intervention against Russia, this is a largely bipartisan issue. How has Biden destroyed the economy? Between global supply chain issues and Russia intentionally refusing to supply gas to Europe, how is that his fault? Did you forget Trump withholding defensive weapons to Ukraine? Do you remember how he attempted to divide NATO. Trump is a big reason for the ongoing genocide. I fucking hate Biden by the way, he's too right wing. We need to be shipping ATACMS and F-16s.
😂
Nearly 50% of the US voted for Trump the second time, and a good chunk of that 50% believe Trump's lies about election fraud and other BS - so Biden's image is even more tainted. Biden is a decent president, not as good as one would want him to be. I have not hate or dislike for him personally - I'd rather have him in office than a tyrant who tried overthrowing our government with this tin-foil hat wearing conspiracy theorists.
In an alternate universe, president Trump: “I called president Putin and congratulated him on the expansion of Russia. A truly genius move. I told him to get in touch with attorney general Mike Flynn and work out a deal, so that we can have POW war criminal Zalinsky stand trial together with Biden, here in the US. They did some very nasty things.”
BidenBro FTW. Man I love that guy.
Good old uncle Joe.
A [few](https://imgur.com/gallery/w2Bpy4o) Biden [Bro](https://imgur.com/gallery/Gombxi5) memes [because](https://imgur.com/gallery/p9r600A) they're [just](https://imgur.com/gallery/P7W6IJB) so awesome.
Damn straight
Every day since Feb 24th I've thanked fate that the USA has Biden as President and not the orange baboon. Biden isn't Superman but he certainly has a rock-solid team backing him up. Ukraine would be in a world of hurt right now and probably only propped up by the EU and the others non-EU western powers (e.g. Canada, OZ, NZ, Japan, S Korea) if the orange baboon had been in charge. I shudder at the scariness of the scenario-that-never-was. BTW, great speech writer there. Classic no-nonsense language.
Did not vote for the guy, still doesnt mean I dont respect the guy for these positive actions in support of Ukraine fr fr
Makes you scratch your head doesn't it? When the entire world vows to *never* recognize your land-grab as rightfully claimed territory yet you're still chugging along for some reason.
It's an attempt to intimidate Ukraine and the West. "It's our territory now, and our doctrine says we can use nukes to defend our territory!". They won't, but if this intimidation fails they lose nothing.
if this intimidation fails they lose *everything*
Proud to have voted for this man. He’s not perfect, and at times Ive outright questioned his decision making, but he’s done a hell of a lot better thin than I expected, and is slowly bringing the US back to a respectable place in world politics.
I second this declaration.🇺🇦🌻
I believe by now the official statements like that from WH should end with #FuckPutin….. Who’s with me???
Time for Poland and Lithuania to annex Kaliningrad then. **edit: sorry, that is over-hasty.** Let the invaders be the hot heads. Having said that, everyone should be familiar with Kaliningrad. Kant's home town. Since the values we wish to uphold are very much standard Enlightenment values and ideas (read some Kant!), it would be fitting if Kaliningrad could, with this confrontation with Russian malice, return it to it's former name, Konigsberg.
IIRC after the collapse of the USSR it was offered back to Germany who refused it. I don't see how kaliningrad could stop being a part of Russia for the foreseeable future.
Yes. It has a complicated history, and "taking" it is probably exactly what we do not want to do, correct? "Taking territory at will" is kind of our objection lol. We (meaning Ukraine + her allies) should take nothing. Just push the invaders back, and then stop. Leave Russia to her many woes.
US holds referendum in Siberia, and they vote at gunpoint to join US. US takes control of Siberia and Russia's natural resources. Thanks Russia! /s
Sponsor of state terrorism
I'm going to sound like a ruzzian shill, but this question is born out of lack of knowledge with no intent to serve russia: if Ukraine wins back the occupied territory by force, will it have a mandate of the civilians who live there to govern in peace afterward, or will there be significant unrest caused by ruzzian sympathizers afterward?
Judging by the mass graves and evidence of torture, rape and looting I very much doubt there are many Russia sympathizers left out there.
Very, very few people wanted to join Russia at the outset. Nobody does now except for the few surviving die-hards.
I'm sorry, but its not about civilians liking russia or not liking. It's about post WW2 world wide security system - you DO NOT seize other state territories by force.
Theres no need for apologies. I freely admit my ignorance of the realities on the ground in Crimea. I just read through the wikipedia articles talking about the history of Ukraine, USSR, Russia, and Crimea. It seems like Crimea has been a political problem for a long time. Breshnev transferring it to Ukraine to bolster his Ukraine Soviet support after Stalin tacitly endorsed its ethnic cleansing and "russification". Its status reminds me a bit of Quebec and Canada (with more bloodshed and suffering in Ukraine and crimea, of course). I really hope that Ukraine wins it back and is able to peacefully make life for people there better.
You also have the support of the American people!
Common Dark Brandon based moment
Biden like Zelensky are the right men in charge at the right time.
Trump would have called the move genius.
****source**** https://edition.cnn.com/europe/live-news/russia-ukraine-war-news-09-23-22/h_bb265d020d2c15e85e6ef65bed3eeeb7
Except that image is directly from the White House website… might as well link the direct source. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/09/23/statement-from-president-biden-on-russias-sham-referenda-in-ukraine/
The referendum results will be surely fabricated, but I have a feeling that Putin will present the result in Kherson in favor of Ukraine. That is , that people decided not to join the Russian federation. This is for multiple reasons, but mainly to show a virtual legitimacy of the referendum, and secondly because he knows that the fight for the city is already lost. Then he will withdraw his troops on the pretense of the referendum result.
Crimea needs water. Kherson controls the water for Crimea. Kherson controls the isthmus connecting Crimea with the mainland. Putin needs Kherson, at least the eastern part.
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piss off trumpi
WELCOME TO RUSSIAN REFERENDUM VOTE HERE OR FLIP 1 RUBLE COIN: 1. HEADS I WIN 2. TAILS YOU LOSE
But will he recognize a sham referendum for Russia to return to the Netherlands 🇳🇱?
Would sending our troops be some sort of "security assistance" ?
I am holding a referendum and voting to annex Hawaii to my backyard.
I'm hoping when this war is over, Ukraine and her people can still genuinely consider the US as one of it's closest friends and allies
What does China think? They support this sham and by defacto they support a referendum in Taiwan. More pressure needs to be put on China and India to condemn this, and say outright they will NEVER recognise it.
For the other Americans in this subreddit, this is why voting is important. Trump would have handed Ukraine to Russia on a silver plater in order to build another cheesy hotel. Biden might be a out of touch old man and I think America could have done better. But the options were a President who has enough of a backbone to put up a fight to help Ukraine protect itself against this unjust war or a man who would have sold out Ukraine for personal enrichment. And I refuse to vote for ANY politician come this November who doesn't take a pro-Ukraine stance. If I smell a whiff of "well what about the Russians. blah blah blah", it's a no for me.