Since I answered so many of the questions I'm getting today on Putin and Ukraine, and more, in my book Winter Is Coming, I'm pinning it. I hoped it would be history by now, but thanks to Putin and free world apathy, it's still current events.
Ok, after years of warnings were ignored and hearing "Garry, you were right!" all damn day today, I'll repeat what I said in 2014: Stop telling me I was right and listen to what I'm saying now. My recommendations follow: 1/5
Putin tried and failed to murder Navalny quickly and secretly with poison, and now he has murdered him slowly and publicly in prison. He was killed for exposing Putin and his mafia as the crooks and thieves they are. My thoughts are with the brave man's wife and children.
We are witnessing, literally watching live, Putin commit genocide on an industrial scale in Ukraine while the most powerful military alliance in history stands aside. It's impossible not to be emotional, but let us also be rational and focus our rage on the facts. 1/13
Putin's war on Ukraine has entered its next phase, one of destruction and slaughter of civilians. It is also a part of Putin's World War, a war on the civilized world of international law, democracy, and any threat to his power, which he declared long ago. 1/13
If you’re so afraid of what a dictator might do if he loses that you’re letting him win, it’s time to reevaluate both your strategy and your character.
With great sorrow I share the news of the passing of my mother, Klara Shagenovna Kasparova. My role model, my greatest champion, my wise counsel, and the strongest person I will ever know. I love you, Mama.
I was called a warmonger in 2014 when I said Putin would not stop with Crimea & E Ukraine. Now everyone admits that I was right, but wants to repeat the same mistake now. Letting Putin destroy Ukraine *increases* the threat of a greater conflict, including nuclear.
When one group fights for power at all costs vs a group fighting for the rule of law, the second group had damned well better mobilize while it still can, because it only gets harder. Trust me on this one.
If you’re a thief, accuse your enemies of thievery. If corrupt, accuse your rivals of corruption. If a coward, accuse others of cowardice. Evidence is irrelevant; the goal is to dilute the truth and the case against you with “everyone does it”.
This was my message to the media going into 2020. Your responsibility is to the truth, not to "giving both sides" when one side is lies. And you cannot expose lies without spreading them. So repeat the facts.
Don't wonder what will happen if Russia collapses. It already did! Years ago. It's not a state, it's a mafia front with factions fighting each other for money, resources, and power.
Don't be surprised, be angry. Show all of these GOP Senators treating Trump like a king that American democracy still works by voting them out. Every last one of them.
-Support Ukraine militarily, immediately, everything but boots on the ground. All weapons, intel, cyber.
-Bankrupt Putin's war machine. Freeze & seize Russia's finances & those of him and his gang.
-Kick Russia out of every intl & financial institution. PACE, Interpol, etc 2/5
Anyone hailing from an authoritarian country is horrified by that Trump video, as should be anyone who values democracy over demagoguery. The staging, boasting, the disregard for people’s lives. He won’t change and he must go.
This is moral idiocy, repetition of Kremlin propaganda, a betrayal of Ukrainian courage & sacrifice, and puts a few minutes browsing Crimea on Wikipedia over the current horrific reality of Putin's bloody war.
Ukraine-Russia Peace:
- Redo elections of annexed regions under UN supervision. Russia leaves if that is will of the people.
- Crimea formally part of Russia, as it has been since 1783 (until Khrushchev’s mistake).
- Water supply to Crimea assured.
- Ukraine remains neutral.
-Recall all ambassadors from Russia. There is no point in talking. The new unified message is "stop or be isolated completely".
-Ban all elements of Putin's global propaganda machine. Turn them off, shut them down, send them home. Stop helping the dictator spread lies & hate.
3/5
Whoever attacked the Crimean bridge timed it for dawn to minimize civilian casualties. Putin also launches attacks at dawn, but does so to maximize casualties in the civilian centers he repeatedly targets. 1/4
Cannot ignore the political 5th column of Putinists, from the far right & left in EU to the tankies & Trump & his GOP followers in the US. They may have the right to support a brutal dictator's war in order to criticize Biden, but it's disgusting and anti-American. Do not forget.
PS To all officials and media: STOP CALLING PUTIN 'PRESIDENT'! He's a dictator. Words have power. He does not deserve a democratic title. Fuck your style guide. "Russian dictator Vladimir Putin".
-Replace Russian oil & gas. Pressure OPEC, increase production, reopen Keystone. You can't save the planet if you don't save the people on it.
-Acknowledge there will be costs, sacrifices. We waited to long, the price is high, but it will only get higher. It's time to fight. 5/5
-Expose and act against Putin's lackeys in the free world. If Schröder and his ilk continue to work for Putin, bring charges. Ask the owners & advertisers of networks platforming Putin propagandists like Carlson why they allow it. 4/5
Anyone watching this debate who thinks it is a good performance by Trump already loves him, and loves him for everything that is wrong with him as a president and as a human being. Disgraceful.
As a Russian who resisted KGB dictatorship and war, I'm obliged to challenge
@TuckerCarlson
after his interview with Putin. Tucker, you appeared unable or unwilling to expose Putin’s lies. If you are interested in the truth, I will give you and your viewers the chance to hear it.
I'm baffled by comments from Nuland about ending sanctions if Putin ends his invasion. After murdering thousands? Why is it always rewards, no punishment, always taking things off the table? Stop rushing to save Putin's regime. Toss him an anvil, not a lifejacket.
Trump is gone. That such a creature became president, and even now has support, requires a reckoning with no time for celebration. Repudiate, rebuild, renew. Above all, remember, so it doesn't happen again.
Latest Russian joke:
- Putin's propagandists on TV said nuclear war is fine because patriotic Russians will go to Heaven. Heaven heard it and immediately applied to join NATO!
Trump and his gang have been making many of us lose sleep about the breakdown of the rule of law. Now it's time for them to lose sleep about its return!
When they say that they just don't like *how* you're protesting it's because they don't like that you're protesting at all. They aren't supposed to like it. That's the point.
Putin vows to exterminate Ukrainians while we watch. Ukraine did nothing wrong but try to join the democratic world that is now witnessing crimes against humanity in real time. Not unable. Unwilling.
#CloseTheSky
13/13
Merkel is doubling down on her disastrous legacy of appeasing Putin. Saying Russia is necessary for European peace—as if it is not the sole instigator of war, as if her policies did not give Putin billions to build this war machine. Shameless.
Putin's war on Ukraine will either be the catalyst that revives the spirit & credibility of NATO or the end of the global order. As the Korean War shaped NATO after its birth under Harry Truman's vision of containing Communism, this is democracy vs authoritarianism. 1/13
The US far behind Europe still, and it’s no coincidence that the UK, where so much Russian money lives, has done so little. Corruption is the only word for it. If they expose it, they will be implicated themselves.
As I said in 2014 and a fateful week ago, the price of stopping a dictator always goes up. What would have been enough to stop Putin 8 years or 6 months or 2 weeks ago is not enough today, and the price will rise again tomorrow. Fight. Find a way. 12/13
Latest joke: Russia may be banned from the Olympics, but their soldiers are displaying excellent results in the Ukraine Triathlon by swimming, riding, and running!
The only risk of Putin using a nuclear weapon in Ukraine is if he & his minions are sure there will be no response. Every Russian sub commander should know they will be eliminated instantly should they fire one.
This is already World War III. Putin started it long ago & Ukraine is only the current front. He will escalate anyway, and it's even more likely if he succeeds in destroying Ukraine because you have again convinced him you won't stop him even though you could. 5/13
As I said, there is no Russian state, no political chain of command, and total failure in Ukraine has exposed that. Who will obey whose orders now? If Prigozhin is still alive and free in 24 hours, we will have entered a new reality.
Yes. I support Harris because the rule of law matters. Trump tried to overthrow the transfer of power and would do it again. I’m more conservative than most Harris voters, but policy and ideology don’t matter for long when you elect a corrupt autocrat. Been there, done that.
Navalny & I disagreed on many things about the past and future of Russia, as with many in the broad anti-Putin coalition. But we agreed that Putin had to go, and that none of the disagreements amongst us would matter until that happened. "Keep fighting," always. RIP.
Those who stand against Trump will move on to many different things when he's gone, but those who still support him should never be forgotten or forgiven.
SCOOP: It's done. The White House has eliminated the role of cyber coordinator, the top cyber policy job in the administration, responsible for harmonizing all agencies' activities in the cyber domain.
No free world leader should hesitate to state plainly that the world would be a far better place if Putin were no longer in power in Russia. A good way to make that come about is to say exactly that. Russia will be pariah until Putin is gone.
Why is CNN running Putin's propaganda? Russia's numbers are "low" because they are lying. They are always lying until proven otherwise. They don't take down misinformation, they take down the truth. I'm furious.
Putin’s speech so far sounds like a racist, homophobic cranky old uncle babbling about values while everyone rolls their eyes. But do not forget this man is a war criminal who is directing an onslaught of terror in Ukraine right now.
Hundreds of videos like this coming out of Russia today. Putin has spent 20 years building up the security forces and looting the country while Russia stagnates. They come out to support Navalny and their own future.
@elonmusk
And I praised you as so many did for those acts. But should good deeds purchase immunity for later bad ones, or should every act & statement be judged on its merits? Should Ukrainians who thanked you for Starlink be silent when you spread Kremlin talking points against them?
It's easy to welcome the wealthy, the flatterers, the healthy and educated. America became great by welcoming the strivers, the critics, and those hoping for a better life. I'm very thankful my family and I are here. Happy Thanksgiving!
Biden announced his candidacy on April 25th. The very next week, Trump spoke with Putin on the phone for a long time and Giuliani's activities in Ukraine expanded from the Ukraine/Hillary conspiracy BS to the corrupt Bidens BS. Amazing coincidence!
The latest horrors out of Putin's war on Ukraine put the remaining Western holdouts against stronger action in an unbearable position. Excuses are now complicity, not prudence, not just cowardice.
Trump: Nobody told me about the pandemic I warned you about. If the economy is bad, it's the governors' fault, but if you don't get sick, credit me. I have all the authority and none of the responsibility.
Why are we always hearing about what the US and NATO won't do and never about what they will do? It's been one green light after another for Putin. Now Syria and Belarus are invited to slaughter Ukrainians in Ukraine.
There is no waiting this out. This isn't chess; there's no draw, no stalemate. Either Putin destroys Ukraine and eventually hits NATO with an even greater catastrophe, or Putin falls in Russia. He cannot be stopped with weakness. 9/13
Having been defeated repeatedly by Ukraine, Russian forces have found an easier opponent, one with corrupt leadership, incompetent commanders, and low morale.
Had a whistleblower leaked to the media that Trump, Putin, and bin Salman were conspiring to raise the price of oil & gas to prop up the industry, it would be a huge scandal. Instead, Trump tweets it.
Putin's Russia has been the greatest destabilizing force in the world, from interfering in elections to supporting dictators from Iran to Venezuela, to destroying entire cities in Syria and Ukraine. Victory for Ukraine will spell his end and a chance for a new Russia.
Trump slandering John McCain is expected. He earned respect that Trump will never have. That so few of McCain's fellow Republicans defend a recently passed hero against these attacks is even more pathetic.
If they care so much about the fine print and think Putin does too, ask Zelensky to issue Ukrainian passports to any volunteer to fly in combat. Sell jets to Ukraine for €1 each and paint UKR flags on them. Do you think Putin will care? Is it worth the lives lost? 4/13
I admit the memes are entertaining, but please do not forget that the babbling grandpa on the right is currently invading a European nation and murdering innocent Ukrainians daily and the man on the left is willfully enabling him. Putin should be giving this lecture in The Hague.
“Okay, but what does that have to do with Gandalf sending a hobbit into Mordor?”
“I am just coming to that. You said you wanted a serious conversation, not a talk show. You see in the beginning, all the creations of Illuvatar, the Ainur, sang harmoniously, but not Melkor…”
Trump, a would-be autocrat, using Orban, an actual autocrat, as a character reference is too perfect. As with his praise for Xi and Putin as "strong," his naked envy of their unaccountable power is one of his few sincere expressions.
As you watch Trump’s defenders lie, deflect, and distract today and in the coming weeks, remember that they don’t care about being caught in obvious lies. Calling bullshit still means you’re talking about the bullshit, not the facts.
I can’t vote in the US but I am honored to live here and have always admired it. I don’t much care for Harris or many of her policy positions. But even more after seeing Trump tonight, I look forward to vehemently disagreeing with her for four years as US president.
If Putin is not stopped now, not prevented from destroying Ukraine and committing genocide against its people, there will be a next time and it will be in NATO, with an unprecedented nuclear threat. Do not let Putin escalate again in a time and place of his choosing. 3/13
Barr saying "history is written by the winners" is the best argument for beating Trump in November. It's a promise to normalize these abuses & dismiss all accountability.
Blistering words from
#2
Senate Democrat
@SenatorDurbin
to me on Russia hack just now, calls it “virtually a declaration of war” and says President Trump is “completely compromised” on Russia issues.
Germany now says it will soon be independent of Russian energy. It's taken a year, while Merkel had 16 years and said it was impossible! As welcome as all these moves are to finally stand up to Russia, they expose the appeasement of previous admins.
I've been asked several times on shows "Should we put US/NATO pilots into possible combat with Russians?" My reply is, please finish the sentence. "... in order to stop the slaughter of innocents on the ground in Ukraine?" This isn't an academic exercise.
The amount of Ukrainian territory occupied by Russia, equivalent to other European countries. This is what appeasers would gift to Putin, along with all the human beings who live there.
If you want to use state power to control private companies because you don't like the decisions they make, *you* are the greater danger to a free society.
Don't dare say "But the system worked" when a majority of Republicans in Congress support the overturning of a free and fair election. You don't celebrate a cancer not having killed you yet. You celebrate when you're cancer free.