I Was Wrong, Mitt Deserves an Apology
So way back when in the 2012 election when Mitt Romney talked about Russia being the primary global threat or whatever, I laughed it off as a Cold War relic. As did most people, you didn't find many republicans defending him on that position either. At the time Russia had just been embarrassed in Georgia, and didn't seem capable of launching a bloodless training exercise.
Fastforward 10 years and the situation is a bit different. Russia can kind of attack their neighbors militarily, and still use their nukes as their shield against military retaliation, and claim they are prepared to endure economic hardship. And maybe they are willing to do those last two things, or maybe not. But Romney was right 10 years later, Russia has fucked up the global order.
So Mitt, my apologies, you were right to be worried about Russia.
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When I think about the need to compliment Mitt Romney, the phrase "compared to what"? comes to mind. Compared to the losers and morons and unpatriotic traitors now embodying Republican national leaders , Mitt Romney does indeed look good.
As compared to the fascist POS Democrats currently running things- anyone that defies them currently looks good; that includes Manchin and Sinema.
Wow... just can't stop the partisanship.
You criticize ronin for making this partisan???
I assume you missed or skipped John’s comment.
Care to read post #1 and then comment on partisanship?
Pot meet kettle.
I assume you didn't see my reply to John here: 1.4.2
Ronin,
In response to post number 1, he actually separated out Romney from the other republicans. You actually included Manchin and Sinema, who are moderates, with what you called "POS Democrats" so actually, John is less partisan than you.
Try rereading that. I didn't include Manchin and Sinema.
I actually credited them with standing up to the POS Democrats.
Everything after the dash is another thought
John less partisan that anyone on the planet, please.
I got exactly what he meant.
Congrats on typing that.
I can't even get through reading it without busting out laughing!
OK, thanks for the clarification. Apparently, they are equally partisan.
I hate it when someone on here claims to be an independent but have never posted anything negative about the left.
Threats change as years change. 10 years ago, Russia was not a physical threat, but they were an aggressor through cyber ops. Their actions in Ukraine, in many ways, demonstrate their ineptitude in warfare. But when big guys only pick on little guys, they don't have to me that good to win.
But I will agree with Romney that Russia's cyber threats are real, and America's pitiful government computer infrastructure is ripe for the picking.
You just can't admit a Republican was right without some BS qualification can you?
Maybe if you can get one of the NT cons on here to admit a Democrat was right....
Sounds like a deflection, looks like a deflection...........
Let's change that around shall we?
Trump lost the election.
See, easy.
Interesting that I answered your question even though mine remains unanswered other than a deflection and a question asked instead of an answer (which is another form of deflection BTW) by someone other than the person the question was actually directed to.
You still didn't admit a Democrat was right about something. I'm not as stupid as you've probably heard so you might want to work on your own deflection skills. All I did was twist around what you said.
Oh OK. Nancy said that Trump lost and she was right. Does that make you feel better? I didn't realize I had to spell it out for you, I gave you more credit than that. There is only one problem though, I am not actually a republican, I just have no use for either extreme and it is wokesters and several far right lunatics' turn in the barrel.
I still find it interesting ( but bordering on boring) that you felt the need to twist my original question to a different poster (who fits the wokester definition) and make it about me.
you're still missing the point, but never mind we're done here
Why don’t you give us an example of a democrat offering an opinion that was mocked by the mainstream media, used against him or her in a campaign and turned out proven correct?
Sean,
You know you are on ignore with Trout, so don't direct questions to her.
how about when Obama got lambasted by the GOP for having the audacity to suggest that NATO members all Contribute the same percenmtage of their GDP that we did and do, cause the "righties" wrongly got their wads in a panty, hosed by the GOP who had adopted the brilliant strategy to just go against ANYTHING Obamma was for, cause to me, sounds like another Rusisian Trojan Whore
Provide proof of righties and the media attacking Obama for that.
Anyone can answer the question, and I don't really pay attention to the drama of who supposedly ignores who, because they always respond anyway.
No . I'll only provide proof that i AM a DICK but it DID HAPPEN, on Newsvine and Fox
A. She doesn't answer you.
B. I have now told you, so please don't respond to her. No drama necessary.
So no proof, just memories?
so the "right" was all right with whatever Obama did...
Right-wing media are attacking President Obama as disrespectful for saluting Marines while holding a coffee cup. The attacks come even though President Bush saluted service members while holding his dog.
Since the president took office, conservative media have repeatedly seized on petty minutiae unrelated to policy issues to attack the president. These supposed scandals include Obama ordering a burger with mustard, purportedly “ogling” a young woman at a G8 summit, decorating the White House Christmas tree with inappropriate ornaments, and using a “chintzy” paper clip on a jobs proposal"
Engage deflector shields, Captain!!!
Get a grip.
He should have switched hands with that coffee cup to show proper decorum......... but seems like it was more important for him to hold he jacket in place with his left hand. Not that big of a deal to some. Just a brain fart LOL.
Must have been hard holding all that while tossing a word salad out there.
I was thinking the same thing. Just another set of lips flapping.
Too numerous to even mention... Fox News constantly mocks Democrats . . .
Says the right-winger who calls himself "Right Down the Center" . . .
BTW we're still waiting for an answer to our questions about "Who is Brandon"?
(Why be so unwilling to answer???)
Yes, I did say it but it is you that said I am a right winger.
Why are you asking a question you already know the answer to? Lets go Brandon!
Sounds like lunatic code for "I ain't got squat, but believe me anyway".
Don't forget the scandals of the tan suit and the mom jeans he wore. Trump has consumed a shit load of mustard from all of the Big Macs he has wolfed down.
Big Mac--two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions – on a sesame seed bun.
No mustard.
That question was answered. Your censors deleted it. Talk to them.
John, Mitt has often stood his ground and pulled away, and spoke his own mind. I have no problem giving the guy credit.
Mitt Romney ruined a lot of peoples lives with his Bain Capital company that took over companies and threw people out of work and ended their health insurance and pensions.
He doesnt get a lot of sympathy from me but I do give him some credit for standing up to Trumpism.
This is NOT about Bain Captial. This is about him being right about something very important, that almost everyone else wanted to ignore. Try to forget he is a republican.
i am giving him the credit that i think he deserves
Even a broken clock is right twice a day.
No, compare him to the idiots on the Obama team who made flippant comments and nixed even the IDEA that Russia was a formidable foe.
Fuck all that crap about traitors, just the usual idiotic ramblings based on nothing more than feelings.
at that segment in time, Obama's assessment wasn't out of line as much as you would like to Ad Mitt's take as the keen perception that saw through the deception those damn Dems were attempting to sell, because when you look back, and even till this day, i woiuld have never of thought Americans would or could have been so damn stupid. The LIES and KAOS Trumps Cheer liter's caused by out flanking our full pressed Quarts, watched from all, as we Americans did again prove, just how small, mimnded and blinded too many of US All could be, to not, to not SEE through the Russian Plants and Bots manipulating those not taught, with critical thinking thought, spread via a totally corrupted GOP that made it easy for thinking individuals to see how stupid and ghoulish, as were the masses of ignorant and follish, who fell for the shit they WANTED to hear, as opposed to what should have been damn lucid andf clear here. The Deplorable became swept under the adorable guise of those not nice to or for US As A WHole lott believed all the shit that they wrought about Hillary and things untaught that they couldn't return whence they bought , intio them, and they did, like a stupid little kid, as they just refused gto see the truthn in the matter, cause to they, it did not,and they had not interest in the actual TRUTH, only to hear what they wanted to hear about a not very likeable Pol named Hillary, who they claimed sold her soul, and while i can and will give Mitt credit, cause i can Add Mitt i agree with the Senator on a few things, but these 'THINGS" are things NO ONE should NEED to even think about. The GOP put Party Line ahead of our DAMN COUNTRY, and spread LIES and allowed the guise YTrump, to pump our country full of shit with out any repercussions, in fact, almost not a bit, as he desecrated the families of fallen soldiers, POW's and War Heroes, Women, children, and any and all big or small.
Having to congratulate Mitt for getting lucky a bit with a foreshadow of things to darken US, is just a lotta fuss about nothing. Congratulations Mitt, on being able to see our country was much dumber than thee, ever thought it could be, but do we really need to give the GOP participation Trophies for being Patriotic American Citizens calling out what so many know IS WRONG, cause that's another dance and song that the Republicans have twerked on for FARTOO LONG, as it is so OBVIOUS that Trumps LIES and ACTIONS have VIOLATED US ALL, yet the "right" continues to downplay and ignore what is not a snore, it is our country divided by a leader who chose to DIVIDE IT, and he was given Cover the WHOLE DAMN WAY, by a GOP that is Disgraceful, cause so many know and see the facts yet refuse to relax about defending theirs and their own fck ups, that they continue to deny, as they foster the LIE and somehow this is still ok and accepted cause WHY ? Why the fck does Mitt deserve to be the only outspoken Republican ? WHY ARE SO MANY HERE, NOT HERE FOR US ALL, ? A question posed to the posers still saying and defending, The former LIAR in CHIEF, and those that enabled that LIAR with heavy pants, afire, to render our country a mash of satire,
cause when, when wi;ll the GOP own up that they have disrupted and corrupted their minds of the feeble cause dont see it in their future, foreseeable and welcome those not agreeable with my Basses meant for they, cause WTF, say watt i already have heard from a herd that became so damn absurd so long ago, so yes, just say what you don't and i know, to be untrue, cause it is what you do...
Oh, I suppose Russia taking control of Crimea while Obama was President is a sterling example of Obama being "right". So what you are saying is basically Russia taking Crimea was of no concern at all, they were just being nice and taking Crimea under its protective wing.
Yeah, right.
SMMFH
After seeing the Russian military struggle with Ukraine, and even be pushed back (even temporarily) by a bunch of armed civilians. Do you still consider Russia to be formidable? Anyone can seem tough when they only pick on the small kids, that's what bullies do.
Yes, I do, and I consider people who don't believe their own eyes to be fools.
If Russia isn't formidable, why hasn't anyone stopped them yet?
I consider them to be a nuclear power that is actively at war. So yeah. Formidable.
Even the IDEA that they aren't is absurd.
So you see Russia being formidable, despite your own eye's seeing them get pushed back by a bunch of civilians? Okey dokey. Little country like Ukraine, and Putin is even threatening nuclear involvement.
Why doesn't someone stop all the mid-eastern wars? Why didn't anyone stop any of the World Wars?
Simply put, Ukraine didn't have any treaties or agreements with other countries to step in and stop it. Why do you think Russia was so terrified that Ukraine might join NATO?
If you want to see someone stop Russia, let Russia step out of Ukraine with their troops and go into any NATO member neighbor.
Dangerous, like a bully, yes. Formidable? Not from what they've shown.
That ignores their nuclear capabilities.
No it doesn't. Bullies can walk around with big sticks. What would make them formidable is military planning and action. A person can be as big as possible, but if he doesn't know what he is doing, he would not be formidable to a much smaller person. The same with countries.
Ukraine should have been a cake walk, Ukraine was not expecting any kind of invasion, they don't have the mountainous terrain of Afghanistan, and they don't have a standing army big enough to withstand Russia military.
Russia is just throwing troops and equipment in an effort to simply overwhelm Ukraine, it is costing them too many troops, too much equipment, and too much money for what should have been a quick campaign. Guerilla tactics within the cities, should have been the biggest issue Russia should have had to deal with. As it is, they cannot even get into all the cities yet.
You can be big, strong, and dangerous without being formidable.
Nuclear capabilities is Putin's equivalent of posturing. Meaningless, not even Putin is stupid enough to use them.
No, that is Not what i'm saying. mitt was correct about Russia, and also about impeaching Trump, and calling Trump out on a bfew things, but, that few should have been MANY, and WHY only Mitt and a few dare do call Trump Out, cause they have sold their souls and now the party should face consequence severe, instead of more posturing andf kissing of Trump's fat Ass , and hopefully, he has gas
A small person with a sawed-off shotgun is a formidable opponent.
You absolutely don't know that, any more than anybody else does.
I can't possibly keep up with the amount of spinning you are managing.
If he was formidable, he wouldn't need the shotgun. A small person with a sawed-off shotgun is a DANGEROUS opponent. Formidable speaks to more than who has the biggest stick, it might speak to who can use that big stick better.
Nukes are a bluff. Nobody is going to set one off nowadays with a possible exception of a terrorist cell. Any country that uses a nuke in wartime, will find themselves even more separate from the rest of the world, than North Korea is.
Even with all their bluster, even North Korea knows better than to ever launch a nuke. To them, having nuclear capability is nothing but status, trying to prove they are equal to everyone else. Even ego-maniacal Putin, is less likely to fire a nuke than Kim Jong-Un.
Only modern leader I can think of that might use a nuke is Trump, and that is only if he sees a hurricane he doesn't like.
Or....a nuclear country at war could just have a terrorist cell use it for them.
You're assuming the thing doesn't just mysteriously go off in a parking garage in Paris. Or Berlin. Or San Antonio.
North Korea hasn't actually invaded anybody since 1950. So "bluster" is probably a fitting description. We can't really say that about Russia.
Under current circumstances, I agree. But if this escalates into a full-on war with NATO and the fighting moves back into Russia, all bets are off.
Wow, that country would still be responsible and suffer the results. But you are reaching, aren't you?
I am assuming that the responsible party is identified. If 2 countries are at war, and a nuke is set off in one of those country's parking lots, there would not be much doubt who set off the nuke.
Agreed about NK, not as much about Russia. Putin is an old fashioned, beat your chest, stereotypical alpha male bully, and bullies love to bluster and strut.
If this escalates to world war 3, you are correct, all bets are off with rogue nations and terrorists stepping in to do some of the wet work.
For one I never thought that Russia was no longer a danger, but that aside I thought that Mitt hurt himself in his presidential run by what seemed an inability to connect with the people.
I admit I laughed at Romney when he said that. I was wrong
I couldn't get over him strapping his dog in a cage on top of his car.
Yeah...that was hard to take
What? I can't even think of a circumstance where that might even be the tiniest bit acceptable.
That was terrible, I did not think much of him before that and that showed how clueless he is
... his wife was making too much noise.
Yet another misogynistic comment.
Exactly, a clued dog owner would have either left him behind at a kennel or flown him in the cold-storage compartment of an airplane.
There's an olde sayin":
Even a stopped clock is right twice a day!
cold storage? You're kidding, right?
Is the airplane baggage compartment that dogs travel in heated?
No, but I wouldn't want to put my dog in there
We always knew the Russian threat potential, what we didn't know was the resolve Putin had to use it. Reports have come out, that even the Kremlin aids didn't think Putin would try to take Ukraine whole. AND NO ONE expected Ukraine to put up this kind of fight.
There would not have been a Soviet Union or Cold War without Ukraine. During the cold war Ukraine was the third largest nuclear power on the planet. Ukraine was as much the Soviet Union as was Russia.
Everyone is ignoring the fighting force of the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic. The DPR and LPR had 30,000 fighters in the field before Russia did anything. And the DPR and LPR have more men fighting today. There really are Ukrainians that have been fighting against the government in Kyiv for eight years.
Mitt Romney only seems right because everyone is wearing Cold War propaganda like a favorite old sweater. It's familiar. It's comfortable. But it's not a good look.
There are three armies fighting in Ukraine. And the Cold War propaganda allows everybody to completely ignore one of those armies. The people of Donetsk and Luhansk have been fighting for freedom, independence, and statehood for eight years. The people of Donetsk and Luhansk held a referendum election to declare their sovereignty but the Kyiv government declared that referendum illegitimate. And the Kyiv government has attempted to subdue Donetsk and Luhansk militarily; not democratically. The Kyiv government has declared those fighting for their independence to be terrorists, in the best tradition of western democracy. 14,000 have been killed during the eight year war in Donbas. And some in Donetsk and Luhansk want justice in the form of revenge.
The west has turned its back on democracy. The United States and Europe are fighting a proxy war in Ukraine not to expand freedom, respect the people's right of self determination, or defend human rights. Joe Biden never gave democracy a chance. Joe Biden pursued an outdated Cold War policy to score political points. Mitt Romney is no better; they're cut from the same cloth.
You know, Joe Biden's sanctions won't work if Russia had not adopted reforms and become part of the world. It's not as if Russia is stuck in the Cold War. The sanctions prove that. It's the United States and Europe that are stuck in the Cold War because they are being led by old politicians that are too comfortable with outdated and well worn Cold War policies. If we're going to fight the Soviet Union then Ukraine would be an enemy.
But is it an accurate look? That's the question. Russia is headed by a cold war KGB agent named Putin so blaming it all on the West is a little short sighted, in my opinion. If you think that isn't a factor in what happened in Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk then I think you're ignoring a rather large part of what's going on and what led to it.
Joe Biden is a decade older than Vladimir Putin. The difference between the two is the Vietnam war; Biden came of age at the beginning of Vietnam and Putin came of age at the end of Vietnam. Biden was 20 years old in 1962. Putin was 20 years old in 1972. Vietnam really did change everything.
You are correct, Putin served in the military and was a member of the KGB. Biden received five draft deferments and went into politics.
What happened in Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk is there was a Ukrainian insurrection in 2014 that overthrew an elected government that was opposed to increasing ties to the European Union. Ukraine was destabilized by a popular uprising in Kyiv; not through a democratic process across the country. Ukraine had already adopted a democratic form of representative government based on elections. The Euromaidan insurrection in 2014 did not establish a new form of government, create a new constitution, or liberate the country from any oppressor.
Not that I agree with what you say here but I won't argue against it. Mostly because I think you're looking at a tree rather than the forest. When considering the entirety, what happened in Ukraine isn't really that important overall when we are considering the threat Mitt claimed Russia was. Since the breakup of the USSR, it's always been about who would control or influence the former Soviet blocks. The cold war never really went away, in my opinion.
The United States and Europe did not end the Cold War. Russia was only one country in the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union was more similar in geopolitical structure to the European Union. The various countries in the Soviet Union did not give up their national sovereignty. The collapse of the Soviet Union wasn't only about Russia. Russia did dominate the Soviet Union much as Germany dominates the European Union.
The United States and Europe continued their Cold War approach to incorporate many of the former Soviet bloc into the European bloc with mixed results. Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia dissolved and were partitioned following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Poland adopted a 'shock therapy' approach to westernize their economy which created winners and losers that has not yet been resolved. Hungary joined the EU in 2004 but is now threatening to leave.
The sole purpose of NATO was to defend Europe from the Soviet Union. And the Soviet Union was much more than Russia. Today NATO has been placed in the position of defending former Soviet Union countries from other former Soviet Union countries. The Cold War is over and NATO doesn't have a purpose any longer. The continuation of NATO is keeping the Cold War alive. That's what Russia has been complaining about.
WTF???
How can so many Cold Warriors know so little about the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics? It seems a little late to become educated on the subject.
The only unwilling member of the USSR was East Germany. And that's because the Allies ceded East Germany at the close of WWII.
Didn't you know that the European Union, created in 1990, was based upon the model of the USSR? The EU is made up of independent, autonomous republics under a central governing body just as was the USSR. And a reunified Germany dominates the EU in much the same manner as Russia dominated the USSR. The collapse of the USSR made economics a weapon. The EU's attempts to meddle in the affairs of the United Kingdom isn't that different than the USSR meddling in the affairs of republics in the Soviet bloc. Just because the EU uses economics as a weapon of war doesn't obviate the comparison with the USSR.
The German Democratic Republic (East Germany) was never a member of the U.S.S.R. It was administered by the Soviet Union for a period after the end of WWII, but it was never incorporated into the Soviet Union.
You are out of your fucking mind. That is the most willful misunderstanding of history/any given situation I have ever read. I mean holy shit, you act like Russia was just some small timer in Soviet politics. I am honestly astounded at your take on the USSR and Russia's role in it, like it is truly amazing.
I have long believed that Russia under Putin is a geopolitical threat. That was evident from his conduct towards the separatist areas of Georgia when Georgia became independent of the Soviet Union, and the subsequent war with Georgia. Further, when Putin signed a law in 2004 abolishing the direct election of local governors in Russia, it was clear that Russia was returning to autocratic rule, which would only present problems in the future. I did not vote for Romney, but I never thought that he was incorrect in warning that Russia was a threat.
I can never forgive Mitt for this, we can never un see it.
God damn.... I am taking back my apology...
Mitt, fuck you lol.