11-20-2016, 06:56 AM
(11-20-2016, 02:55 AM)Galen Wrote:(11-20-2016, 01:14 AM)Eric the Green Wrote:(11-19-2016, 11:07 PM)Marypoza Wrote: -- who in their right mind wants to pick a fight with Russia? And is stoopid enough to broadcast it before an election? l thought it was just lame ignorance but yeah, it could be socialpathy.
What was stoopid was to think HRC wanted to pick a fight with Russia. She clearly said that a no-fly zone in Syria would have to be worked out so that Russia would not attack it. What is naive is to attribute the ignorance and sociopathy of Donald Trump to the rational and knowledgeable Mrs. Hillary Rodham Clinton. It was perfectly clear who the sociopath was, and who wasn't. Anyone who can't see that is seriously and willingly not paying attention.
(Insult redacted). Russia considers the Assad regime to be crucial to the survival of Russia otherwise they would never have assigned so many of the military assets to defending it. Shooting down Russian planes would be in effect declaring war on them. If they decide they can not win using conventional weapons then an all out attack with nuclear weapons becomes their only option.
So why does Donald Trump so suck up to President Putin? What does Donald Trump get, and what does he give, in this strange relationship? Why did Vladimir Putin have so much at stake in the election? Why would he support the American nominee for President showing despotic tendencies never before shown in mainstream American politics?
Maybe Putin sees in Trump someone who might cause NATO to splinter. That always was a Soviet objective until the accession of Gorbachev... remember the KGB heritage of Vladimir Putin. Maybe he sees someone with whom he can relate as a dictator and kleptocrat, as a 'wimpy' leader like Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton would be. (Truth be told, I see Barack Obama as the worst sort of person an enemy hostile to the United States could have, the sort who hates war and solves the problem of by getting the war over as quickly as possible and will stop at nothing to that end). So what does Donald Trump get in return? Guidance on forming a secret police that can crush any dissent as did the old Soviet KGB? That is all that Donald Trump needs to maintain power for himself or his successors in an authoritarian America.
Maybe I have an excessively vivid imagination of how things can go wrong in Donald Trump's America.... but I have yet to see any indication from him that he has any respect for democracy in America. His economic ideology is Profits above All Human Cost, He has shown gross contempt for groups that voted 'wrong' in 2016. I understand political rhetoric well, and I know that vague slogans as "Make America Great Again" can hide all sorts of mischief in public policy. That;s how demagogues campaign, and demagogues who achieve power never get good results except for a few well-connected people.
I see signs of sociopathy, a danger in any activity.
It's not ideology. Had the Republican winner been Kasich, Jeb Bush, or Mitt Romney I would not have the same fears. The politician who imposes fear upon those who oppose or turn away from him is far more dangerous than someone with whom I have a simple disagreement on ideology or policy.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.