This opinion piece by Pulitzer Prize winning New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, eloquently outlines what I think has been the biggest single blunder of the West, in its relationship with Russia, since the end of the First Cold War in 1989: the expansion of NATO to the doorstep of Russia.
This expansion championed by the Clinton administration in the late 1990s, tweaked a long held, and after the Nazi invasion of 1941 which resulted in 20 million Soviet deaths, an easily understood paranoia of Russians to perceived encroachment from the West.
That, despite protest from Moscow, the USA and Europe pushed NATO into former Soviet and Warsaw Pact states bordering Russia, was an act of hubris that is now reaping the blowback that everyone should have expected.
This is not to excuse Putin, who owns his own despicable place in history, but it has provided him with an all too Trumpian looking nationalist fig leaf to justify his tantrum smackdown of Ukraine, for daring to want to leave his putrid umbrella of influence.
ps. In light of Putin’s own fascistic behavior at home and in invading Ukraine, it’s ironic that he claims to be doing it to ‘deNazify’ Ukraine; which unlike Russia, at least has the seeds of a democratic future…
In its 4th week, the record breaking US government shutdown is affecting millions of people who rely on the government for their survival, seems far from a resolution, and for what? This shutdown was instigated by Trump when the Democrats refused to cave to his ludicrous demand for $5.7B to build his Mexican wall, which he promised Mexico would pay for. Apart from the fact that this money would only build a fraction of his wall, most observers question whether it would be effective at all…
When the real push from the Democrats and the media comes, don’t expect Trump to put his nation first and consider the consequences of his actions, do expect him to chuck everything, including the kitchen sink to defend himself…
They say you can be judged by the company you keep. President Barack Obama has chosen to take a stand for the criminals that Bradley Manning bravely exposed and to stay silent while this whistleblower is persecuted for causing embarrassment and discomfort to his administration…
Letterman telling it like it is.
Yea, I know… where was I…
I remember when Gasland came out and it was said by industry types in Australia, that coal seam gas would be extracted in a different and much safer way than that depicted in the film. Well guess what, that was just spin… Continue reading →
:: Posted in Australian Politcs | Gotta Life | International Politics |
Blows your mind eh. It’s obscene the amount of latitude, deference and aspirational support we give to this evil aspect of Capitalism. How is this level of outrageous greed possible when more than a billion humans live on less than $2 a day and at least another billion live in grinding poverty. It’s hard to imagine that any of the 1% have any ethical values when you know just how obese their wallets are… Continue reading →
:: Posted in International Politics ≈ Leave a comment ::
A few days ago, the Louisiana legislature rejected Senate Bill 26 which sought to repeal the 2008 Louisiana Science Education Act which allows for creationism to be taught as valid science in schools. Two previous attempts at repeal in 2011 and 2012 also failed…
As a high school student in 2011, Zack Kopplin started the repeal campaign with the support of 78 Nobel laureate scientists…
Indoctrinating kids with creationism disguised as legitimate science is the kind of blatant distortion of truth, dressed up as fact that was a hallmark of Hitler’s Nazi Germany. That’s why it makes me so f***ing angry… Continue reading →
:: Posted in International Politics | Religion | Science |
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Ted Cruz and the New Crusaders:
:: Posted 5 May 2013, by Zak de Courcy :: Ted Cruz, the 42 year old Texas Senator and a likely 2016 GOP candidate for president, recently addressed the Republican Party’s Silver Elephant Dinner in South Carolina. According to Politico, “He brought the crowd to its feet by denouncing the administration for cracking down on proselytizing in the armed forces.”…
It beggars belief that Americans just don’t get why they are so despised in the middle-east, but someone like Senator Ted Cruz goes a long way to illustrating why… Continue reading →
:: Posted in International Politics | Religion |
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It’s a Cruel World, Margaret Thatcher:
:: Posted 14 April 2013, by Zak de Courcy ::
I know it’s customary to subordinate feelings of ill-will towards the deceased and apply the dictum ‘If you’ve got nothing nice to say, just say nothing’, but having obeyed for several days, I found the flood of memories about Margaret Thatcher too strong… Thatcher also trashed the legacy of Clement Attlee, the architect of Post-War Britain. Where there had been a settled consensus regarding the shared underpinning of society within the Welfare State, Thatcher proclaimed “there is no such thing as society”. She coldly advanced the notion that we are all alone as she promoted individualism, competition and greed… Continue reading →
:: Posted in International Politics ≈ Leave a comment ::
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More on Same-Sex Marriage and the Church:
:: Posted 10 April 2013, by Zak de Courcy :: It seems that my last post has generated a bit of heat on Facebook with comments suggesting that in 1967, when the bulk of churches stood against interracial marriage, they were simply reflecting a society with similar attitudes. The argument follows that the churches are doing the same now…
The Last Civil Right?
Same Sex Marriage:
:: Posted 08 April 2013, by Zak de Courcy :: It seems that the last great Civil Rights issue is in the balance and once again, just like they did with interracial marriage in 1967, the churches stand on the side of prejudice (with a very few exceptions like the 1 million strong, United Church of Christ).
Washington’s Political Sclerosis:
:: Posted 08 March 2013, by Zak de Courcy ::
I was reading a recent Washington Post report about the redoubtable Sth. Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham’s threat to ‘put a hold’ on the confirmation of nominees, Secretary of Defence, Chuck Hagel and CIA Chief, John Brennan. At first glance, I wondered… Are you a right-wing lunatic hiding beneath a relatively moderate Republican skin?… Continue reading →
:: Posted in International Politics ≈ Leave a comment ::
Zak From Downunder 