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Post by scotbrit on Nov 9, 2006 17:06:27 GMT -5
I'm coming late to this thread, but I didn't know who Foley is, so googled the name. This is the best I could find: I am obliged to you all for this snippet of very important information. Maybe the Redsox has put him into the senate? It will change my whole life I think. ;D To which state was he elected? I must follow this guy. He sounds interesting...
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Post by ptcaffey on Nov 9, 2006 20:29:16 GMT -5
When private acts are alleged long after the events themselves are supposed to have taken place, and do so in a political context with political activists helping these "revelations" along, as Ann Coulter did with respect to Paula Jones (Coulter secretly wrote legal briefs for Jones), these allegations must be met with a sizable dose of skepticism. Clinton's well-known reputation as a womanizer made any claim raised against him by any woman instant worldwide news, whether the claim was true or not.
If such claims were true, then those women victimized should have exercised their legal rights. Of course, Paula Jones tried this and her case was dismissed.
P.S. Isn't the election next week? My television isn't working.
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rmn
Sleepy Member
Posts: 75
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Post by rmn on Nov 25, 2006 8:41:36 GMT -5
Awoke this morning to hear that Putin is accusing the West of politicizing Alexander Litvinenko's death in the UK. The ex-spy wrote a scathing letter on his death bed, accusing Putin of murder. Putin's response could just as easily been Brezhnev’s or, for that matter, Khrushchev’s.
Couple this with the planned shipment of Russian missiles to Iran. Why in the world would Putin allow this? No one gains with greater instability in that neck of the woods.
So. Bring in Baker? Kissinger? Rove? The new Democratic Congress?
I'm afraid we're in a bind, folks.
R
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Post by gailkate on Nov 25, 2006 9:19:59 GMT -5
Sobering, isn't it? I don't think I even knew about the missiles to Iran. I've definitely slowed down on the news since the election - other things keeping me busy and a need to reorient myself to a less intense world. But the truth is, our world is intense and it ain't all about us.
I interrupt myself for this announcement. RMN, this is a new thread. Can you move your comment to a new thread so people will know what you've started here?
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rmn
Sleepy Member
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Post by rmn on Nov 25, 2006 10:47:36 GMT -5
Hey there, Gailkate. Hope you're well.
I don't know if this is a new thread. Methinks that the latest news falls under the "such" portion of the existing thread. There's been a theme throughout suggesting that many woes befalling America and her allies could be mitigated through a strong, moral, and just leadership, particularly in the U.S. Executive Branch.
I'm not giving up hope. We'll have to see how this new congress operates. It's all about 2008, folks.
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Post by joew on Nov 25, 2006 11:04:40 GMT -5
One part of the problem is that a lot of the people in control in Russia still think that the United States is out to get them. They see every bit of support we give the other former soviet republics as being aimed against them. And it looks to me as if they are taking the attitude, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend," and want to stir up as much trouble for us as they can.
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Post by joew on Nov 25, 2006 11:23:49 GMT -5
In my previous post, I was thinking about the following e-mail, which a friend forwarded to me several weeks ago. It looks like an excerpt from a discussion with one participant, above the broken line, referring to what is below the line. The stuff below the line is apparently the part by "Valentin," and it looks as if both are referring to an interview Putin gave. What is scary is that these are "experts" who seem to be Russians.
// Reply-To: Untimely_Thoughts_An_Expert_Discussion_Group_on_Russia@googlegroups.com Date: Fri, 13 Oct 2006 09:38:31 +0100 To: "'Untimely_Thoughts_An_Expert_Discussion_Group_on_Russia@googlegroups.com'" <Untimely_Thoughts_An_Expert_Discussion_Group_on_Russia@googlegroups.com> Subject: [UTExpertsDiscGrp] Russian Enlightenment
I would like to raise the issue of Russia being "the true heir of European Enlightenment", as pointed out by Valentin in his quote below. Personally, I have increasingly been thinking along similar lines.
The point is that the West has become lazy (ultra-protectionist - actually, literally too fat), stale and has no new ideas to offer other than "more of the same", along with patronizing lecturing to the emerging "sovereign democracies" such as Russia and (increasingly) China.
The "sovereign modernisers" who have taken over since Putin has arrived need to come up with novel ideas and solutions, because they are confronting - and must solve - real and very tough problems (developing a market economy and democracy from scratch) - unlike the Western elites, which have basically run out of fresh ideas and have nothing to offer on anything and are paralysed by fear. (Where are the much needed structural reforms of Germany, France, Italy and, indeed, of the European Union's institutions?)
Furthermore, the West (especially the US-UK axis) remains thoroughly imperialist, while being driven by a messianic (supposedly democratic) ideology under the guise of the war on the axis of evil, while Russia has become imperialism and ideology averse (having seen where imperialism has brought it, it has become sick of it) . Interpreting the Georgian or Ukrainian imbroglios through the "neo-imperialist template" would be foolish - Russia is merely defending itself from covert Washington agression: for starters, why do these countries need to be in NATO, rather than in the EU?.
Putin comes across as very level headed and much more intelligent and informed than (most of) his Western peers (especially Bush) because he has been "selected" by his tough environment to solve a particularly difficult problem - namely, how to stabilise post-communist/post-imperial Russia, while keeping it together (especially in the face of continued Western hostility and scheeming by retired cold-war warriors in league with emigre Russian oligarchy). I would like to know of any contemporary Western leader capable of successfully handling such a brief.
It is telling thatin the same interview (to which Valentin refers) Putin says he does not consider himself to be a politician - imagine any Western politician daring to say such a thing. (Some autocrat).
The bottom line: the communist Russia was the modern equivalent of the "barbarians at the gates" - Putin's "sovereign Russia" challenges the West by being more enlightened - ie, having fresh ideas and approaches - than the West.
------------------ This is vintage Putin: intellectually sharp, substantive, infinitely patient, eloquent, vernacular, unmistakingly Soviet Russian cultural type and Russian European at his best. What a difference with the cold, calculating, fork-tongued West Europeans and the intimidating, shrill rhetoric of Washington! You can accuse me of being prejudiced, but Russians do remain the only true heirs of European Enlightenment! Oh, Fedor Mikhailovich, how right you were! //
(I think Fedor Mikhailovich is Dostoevsky.) —joeW
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Post by gailkate on Nov 25, 2006 11:32:53 GMT -5
Good morning, RMN and Joe. I'm well, thanks, looking forward to another sunny and mild day.
I agree about the &such, but some people might not be drawn to a thread that seems to be focused on Foley. You've made the point that it is easier to navigate when they're aren't too many categories, and I agree. What can we do to maintain simplicity but make it a bit more precise? Categories such as most newspapers use - National, International,etc?
During the Michael Jackson trial we had a long thread going that I often skipped. Gossip column items can be entertaining but not everyone wants to wade through it to get to something else in a hodge-podge of "current events."
Anyway, Joe, you may be right that the missiles to Iran are a way to stir up trouble against us. But maybe they're also a way to defend against the leader whose failings RMN alludes to. Were he strong, moral and just, they might be less likely to prepare for some half-baked "preemptive" measure. Not that I have any confidence in Putin. I think he's a dressed up thug.
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Post by joew on Nov 25, 2006 11:46:33 GMT -5
… I agree about the &such, but some people might not be drawn to a thread that seems to be focused on Foley. You've made the point that it is easier to navigate when they're aren't too many categories, and I agree. What can we do to maintain simplicity but make it a bit more precise? Categories such as most newspapers use - National, International,etc? … In general, I think a new thread for a new topic is the way to go. When people tire of it, it moves down the page as people post to other things. I hope folks will at least glance at this because it's in the current events section and has new replies being posted. (If not, maybe we can make a new thread called something like "Russia and Iran" and copy and paste from here over there.)
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Post by gailkate on Nov 25, 2006 12:10:45 GMT -5
I do, too, Joe. Especially as you added the foregoing knock-out conversation, which I'm going to need to read more attentively. I wonder is there's a way to research more about where this came from.
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rmn
Sleepy Member
Posts: 75
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Post by rmn on Nov 25, 2006 12:36:41 GMT -5
Scary stuff, Joe. It's more than evident that the US-Russian relationship is on thin ice. Nonetheless, Putin is on his way to exacerbating an already foul-smelling situation. He must know that Israel will be on an ultra war footing the moment Russian missiles arrive in Iran. One would certainly look for Putin to find another way to stroke his geopolitical interests.
Hey wait, that's where Barry Goldwater-style diplomacy comes in. Or JFK-style diplomacy, if you're looking for a more hardcore approach to matters of foreign policy. Well, what do we do in the interim? Moe Howard has two years remaining in Washington. Sigh.
What do you think about John Edwards? John McCain?
Gailkate or Joe: Please feel free to take the past several posts to a new thread. That sounds like the thing to do.
RMN
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