Watching Donald Trump turn on Vladimir Putin is...interesting, and it'd be fascinating to know what spurred this change. I have some ideas, not the least of which was - if Donald tried to sell out Ukraine as it appeared he was going to do, he almost certainly wasn't long for this world. Donald is a very public figure with little regard for his own safety - he spends days at a time on golf courses, out in the wide open, for Chrissakes, which has to drive his Secret Service guys insane...any pro with a Barrett MRAD or a swarm of fiber-op-guided drones could make short work of that. And if he sold Ukraine out to Russia...well, that would have started a chain reaction of events that likely would have endangered Taiwan, which any tech guy will tell you is an absolutely critical node to the technology supply chain, and without which literally every bit of first-world technology in the US, Europe, and Pacific Rim would cease to function.
That's a level of chaos no major power would have been willing to accept. America pulling out of NATO and then abandoning its Pacific Rim partners was...not a real option, not in the world of realpolitik, anyway, not when so many major powers (at home as well as abroad!) stood to lose so much. So you wonder if it finally occurred to him that trying upend the world order was maybe hazardous to his health, because IMHO it absolutely was.
I also wonder if there's another reason: Russia's losing the war bigly now. The math has turned savagely against the Russians, who are running out of armor and equipment and who are being reduced to human-wave attacks against swarms of disposable drones that are causing truly staggering casualties. 2024 was the bloodiest year of the war for Russia, and Ukraine built 1.5 million drones last year. They're tracking to build 4.5 million this year, most of them 3D printed off - I kid you not - open source designs hobbyists and tech geeks across the world collaborate on. Putin has discovered in this Brave New World, it's one thing to fight a smaller country...quite another thing to fight GoFundMe, Bellingcat, and reddit. When the internet is against you, you've got problems. https://www.reddit.com/r/diydrones/
It could be Donald has decided he was picking the wrong pony. It could also be that while Donald is thoroughly buyable, his loyalty's an ongoing negotiation and always subject to higher bids. It could also be, while I have no doubt Putin's got all manner of compromising financial and possibly personal dirt on Donald, it's of increasingly doubtful value when Donald's got an FBI run by Kash Patel (who will never, ever even investigate the most compelling evidence of corruption...I mean, Donald's doing a hand-out greasy-palm Middle Eastern tour right in the wide open!) And even if there's a graphic video of Donald doing whatever to whoever, does it even matter anymore? He'll just claim deepfake, and his supporters will shrug. That horse left the barn years back.
And it could be that since US&Ukraine just signed a rare earth minerals deal Trump is saying “Stay away from our investment here.” And more sanctions are a way to remind him. Bear in mind though none of this would have happened had Biden not lifted the sanctions that Trump had leveraged. That gave Putin the cash to prosecute the war and sales of Russian oil keep it going.
It could also be that you’re an idiot. Over the years you’ve made long winded football posts on several Clemson fan sites. You’d articulate your words in a way simple minded people thought you were brilliant. Then when the smart people disagreed you’d pout take your ball and go home.
Yes! Democrats have become a morally bankrupt, scourge on our society. They contribute nothing just protest and cause trouble while the rest of us work everyday . Have you ever wondered how they find all this time to protest and complain ? Do they not have jobs ?
I mean the freaking president of the United States was caught in a quid pro quo with several adversaries to support the Biden Crime Family. They are STILL trying to lie about it.
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