Trump is in talks with Russia to end the war

[Oldcarpy2]

"" the US is tearing itself apart" ?!?! "

Yes. With Musk's chainsaw.

[chr0naut]

Maybe NATO too, for a different reason:
source, trust me bro on Twitter, so use salt..

So, Trump is trying to start World War 3 if he doesn't get the Lithium to stabilize his psychosis?

:P

[putnam6]

I am listening to Bill Murray on Rogan and it's really good.
I am always saying on this thread I am not partisan. I didn't vote from Trump , I don't support Ukraine or Russia. They should both just stop. Stop begging for money and avoiding peace talks. And stop pushing soldiers invading and taking territory. 
So I will offer this from the podcast paraphrasing which I like.
Politics is stupid and propaganda is stupid and tribal and we need to take a step back and just think about life, as a whole, not 'our side' our political crap.
If Hunter S Thompson can sit down calmly with Nixon and discuss football like friends, then we need to all learn distance.
The problem source is mainly the entrenched power sources that profit off the division, the corporations and the politicians.
In the USA we don't get any break. No break at all, every 2 years it's midterms, and then it's elections. And it's always squawking at you from the internet or radio or TV.
So perhaps we can all be cognizant of trying to take a step back and think about the universe and being human first and foremost. 
OK carry on.

FWIW I'd love for Ukraine to get Donbas Lughantz and Crimea back with full reparations but Ive known from the beginning it was unlikely to happen. Its a complete numbers game and it all is too the Russians advantage

 Im surprised it's lasted this far.

[sahgwa]

FWIW I'd love for Ukraine to get Donbas Lughantz and Crimea back with full reparations but Ive known from the beginning it was unlikely to happen. Its a complete numbers game and it all is too the Russians advantage

 Im surprised it's lasted this far.

Russia has a lot of incompetence and corruption in their military, with all the gear failing and theft and whatnot, but they have been holding back their full power, as it's not total war.  I think they are trying to exercise constraint.  If Russia was really trying then Ukraine would not exist, but I don't think Russia wants to set off World War 3.

[Oldcarpy2]

"but they have been holding back their full power, as it's not total war. I think they are trying to exercise constraint. "

Like, what "full power"?

No air superiority, decimated and withdrawn Black Sea fleet?

So they are just throwing waves of men into a meat grinder because they don't have to because they could do better? But are holding back?

Wow.

[chr0naut]

It doesn't matter how many Ukrainians trust Zelensky. I wrote it a hundred times already on ATS. I will write it one more time, maybe I will get through... to the wall.

According to the Ukrainian constitution (and it's like this in many other European countries) if the country is invaded, the martial law is declared. The martial law automatically postpones the elections. Any elections. You cannot organize elections during the martial law. It's not up to a debate. It's unconstitutional. It's illegal. Any elections organized during the martial law are not legally binding.

Since you're obviously biased regarding Ukraine, I will explain it further using the example of my country. We have a similar constitution. It forbids organizing the elections during the martial law. The presidential elections are planned in May. If (God forbid but I'm talking theoretically only) Russia attacked Poland let's say in March or April, the martial law would be declared and the elections planned for May would be postponed until 90 days after lifting the martial law. The current president would stay in office till that time, the same goes for the parliament and the local authorities.

And it wouldn't matter how many Poles, if any, would support the current president or parliament. It's irrelevant. The president's personal whims would be irrelevant too. The martial law means no elections here. Point. There remains nothing to discuss here. This is why Ukraine needs at least a ceasefire to organize elections.

Zelensky was elected on 21 April 2019. Assuming a 4 year term, that means he is only into his second term, which is hardly dictatorial. And the election was a free and fair election, not like the ones in Russia where opponents to Putin die suspiciously (Aleksei Navalny, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Sergei Yushenkov, Anna Politkovskaya, Aleksandr Litvinenko, Natalya Estemirova, Sergei Magnitsky and Boris Nemtsov).

Additionally, Russia under Putin has taken military actions against former Soviet, and then sovereign states (Georgia, Moldovoa, Tajicstan, Chechnya and now Ukraine). Putin has a history of aggressively prosecuting wars that expand the size of the domain under his control.

Currently, Putin is enjoying his fifth consecutive term of office. He has been either the President of the Russian Federation or the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation (different titles of office) since 1999, a period of 26 years. He has had the Russian Constitution changed to allow him to remain in power until 2036.

Now that is a dictator!

[putnam6]

Please, be serious?

The rest of the World is watching as the US is tearing itself apart and trying to take Europe with it.

Hilarious, ain't it?

Meanwhile, those chainsaw cuts in your military budgets, whilst most others are increasing theirs?

Being fearful all the time is no way to live  Respectfully FTN

Especially when you can't change what our respective governments are going to do one freaking iota. 

Humor beyond being my favorite coping skill, also deftly highlights how patently absurd all the hand-wringing and sobbing scary scenarios are 

Furthermore, there is plenty of evidence that scaring the shit out of the GP is exactly what some governments want to do.

Hell, all governments do it sometimes, if for no other reason than a distraction from their other shenanigans.

If you aren't too frightened take a "serious" look at how governments use fear propaganda to control the general public. Or don't

In deference to you and others, however, I'll TRY and withdraw from posting here and just read, can I still post on ATS?

LOL oops sorry I mean "seriously" Maybe I don't possess the proper emotive anxiety levels as well as maturity to participate further.

I posted somewhere that my ex said my Chakras weren't aligned maybe thats it. 

Nevertheless, within 2 months, we will likely have a peace deal  



https://theconductsoflife.com/fear-propaganda/

Key Takeaways

• Fear is a powerful emotion that can be exploited for political and social control, often through fear propaganda tactics.
  

• Governments, organizations, and individuals have used fear propaganda throughout history to influence public opinion, drive agendas, and maintain power.
  

• Understanding the historical context and techniques of fear-mongering is essential to evaluate the information you encounter and guard against manipulation critically.
  

• Fear propaganda can have significant impacts on emotions, decisions, and society, leading to anxiety, division, manipulation of behavior, and suppression of dissent
  

Fear Propaganda World War IDuring World War I, governments on both sides employed fear tactics to garner support for the war effort.
They propagated narratives of enemy atrocities and painted vivid pictures of impending danger, promoting a sense of fear and urgency among the population.
The rise of totalitarian regimes in the 1930s, such as Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia, saw mass hysteria reach unprecedented levels.
Adolf Hitler’s regime utilized fear to demonize and scapegoat certain groups, particularly Jews, sustaining an environment of fear and hatred.
Stalin employed similar tactics to suppress dissent and maintain control.
Psychological Manipulation of the Cold WarThe Cold War era witnessed intense fear propaganda on both sides of the conflict.
The United States employed tactics such as McCarthyism, exaggerating the threat of communist infiltration and sowing fear of domestic subversion.
The Soviet Union, in turn, used propaganda to instill fear of Western imperialism and capitalist decadence.
In recent decades, fear-mongering has continued to play a significant role.
The events surrounding the 9/11 attacks led to a climate of fear, with governments employing fear-based narratives to justify military interventions and encroachments on civil liberties.

[sahgwa]

"but they have been holding back their full power, as it's not total war. I think they are trying to exercise constraint. "

Like, what "full power"?

No air superiority, decimated and withdrawn Black Sea fleet?

So they are just throwing waves of men into a meat grinder because they don't have to because they could do better? But are holding back?

Wow.

Yes they are holding back the nuclear option. Thankfully.

[chr0naut]

Go Europe (not EU).

Who needs Trump's traitorous appeasement?

Interestingly, both Russia and the US lost in Afghanistan. In fact, both have a fairly woeful history of not unequivocally winning in conflicts. I mean Americans think they are 'all that', but in the cold hard light of history, LOL...

Perhaps Ukraine can dispense with the US funding and military support, since the US can't seem to 'climax when engaged'.

Also, since Trump isn't getting his rare earths deal, I wonder who will? All those Lithium batteries that the US will never be able to produce, and all that Tantalum for chips and that will never be able to be fabricated...

To me, it looks like in the PR, and advantages for the US stakes (because that clearly was Trump's strategy here), Trump has once again screwed-up.

Loser.

Also, during that meeting, did Zelensky ever say something to disrespect the US, its people, or its architecture and the principles for which they stand? Nope. Vance's diatribe was without basis and contrary to what Zelensky has said previously.

And all through it, Trump had this stupid look, essentially saying "'what he said..." and little else.

Losers.

Sadly, the US, which could have taken some enduring advantage out of the mediation, has totally lost because of these two clowns.

Good 'ol 'Krasnov' and his wife 'Red Bird' are earning their pay from the Kremlin.

[IdeomotorPrisoner]

Furthermore, there is plenty of evidence that scaring the shit out of the GP is exactly what some governments want to do.

Hell, all governments do it sometimes, if for no other reason than a distraction from their other shenanigans.

I think there's worth to the show they all put on. It has a certain state-level decorum. With Trump that has spiraled down a drain of VERY PUBLIC chest-puffing. Of course there's a master/slave (control/fear) dynamic, it's a necessity of ALL large societies, but there is at least a respectfulness being lost here. And because of said slave morality it translates into his Zarathustrian village apes mimicking his level of class. And that becoming the bar set for everyone.

It's a new kind of state-level diplomacy. I'm accustomed to bureaucrats and beltway apologists towing the line in the spirit of Kissinger and peace summit-like decorum. They've taken that model and chased it into The Mason-Dixon Pawnshop.

He didn't do this to this extent last time. Not that I remember. He's definitely upped the ante with the use of his "trollitics."

The new politics of USA Geopolitics:

We'll troll our support for Russia with a newfound NATO iconoclasm that forces other countries to take the lead and assume we're not going to help anyone anymore.

And he'll be proven right. It is a win/win for him. He gets to insert a degree of isolationism for us and then point to them having to pick up the slack as proof the rest of the world really was using us to bear the financial brunt of their more immediate threat.

I just read Trump is lowering Mexico's tariff because they agreed to put one on China, and now he is leveraging that against Canada to follow suit.

I always look crazy after the dust he kicks up settles. I should stop helping him.