Russia
 

I am now officially scared again.
Restore the dominance and the
greatness of the Russian people...

Putin is just gonna sit behind the
scenes and let this other guy say
all the right things while he continues
the "restructuring".

A man Bush could do business with...

Bush has so done such an incompetent
job of sizing up people in important places;
within his own administration and in other
countries.

Can we move the elections up? to as soon
as the Democrats decide who they want?
Lets get this done with and turn the page.

How exactly is Bush at fault for Putin?

By giving him international prominence early
in Putin's tenture by saying exactly what I
wrote. Bush was at the height of popularity
and he gave Putin a huge amount of room
to maneuver within his own "democratic" country.

There were plenty of people telling Bush to be
careful with this guy within Russia. Be careful
with the big statements.

Putin has restored order.

If you want me to go through the list of people
within the Bush administration that were misjudged...

Everything is Bush' fault. :rolleyes:

I was one of his staunch defenders early on.
But the number of people he has put in place,
the politcal lackey's with total incompetence
is just mindnumbing. Its too much.

I have changed my mind. Although I still maintain
in the Iraq debacle, Bush is given too much blame.
The oil crunch, something Bush is supposedly
responsible for is far more ridiculous.

Putin is the president of Russia. He is a prominent figure regardless of what Bush or anyone else says about him. What was he supposed to do say Putin is really a KGB killer?
The rise of Russia would be a good thing. Helps deflect some of the superpower hate elsewhere and also keeps China in check.

Bush gave Putin way too much leeway
in his own country when Putin had to bargain
with other political factions within his own
country. Basically, the other political factions that
are no longer present, were not given much
help from us at all. And now they are gone.
And Putin's hold was not strong at the time

This happened when both our countries were facing
legitimate terrorist threats (Chechnya for Putin). And
Bush was warned by his own diplomats and those in Russia.

As far as keeping China in check, I would
have to defer. But it is possibly a good arguement.

Russia.

Da.
Da da...

Bush reminds me of Jammy Carter
we have double digit inflation but they just lie and say there isn't any
change the way to figure it.

and the chic looks like a bag of bones

it won't be long before the media starts romanticizing over how great Russia is again.

we are so screwed

this election for Pres has absolutely no one to vote for or against they are all so far left of center it isn't funny.

a European socialist, a stalinist and a RINO that likes european socialists.

I have some Russian chicks in my cost accounting class that make it worthwhile to go to. They walk in all slutted out for an accounting class, it is great.

No less than 2 men in my neighborhood have/had Russian brides.
One aritificial bond seems to be going quite well, 3 kids married for
ten years or so.

The other, the guy who "bought" an older woman was using her child
(through a relationship in the motherland) as slave labor for himself.
Thank God the lady left him.

Weird stuff.

Pat, what is it exactly that is causing you to be scared about Russia being restored to prominence on the world stage?

Restore the dominance and the
greatness of the Russian people...

A country with all the resources
and a lot of breakaway republics
that were once theirs.

Its the syndrome of being downtrodden
and picked on and that their people
are destined to be dominant... dangerous combination.

Nationalism combined with a feeling of
ethnic superiority in a country like this
does not feel right at all. And then one dominant
party. Not good. I see them moving in the future
to regain parts of the old Soviet Republic.

For all the resources they have, they are still hindered by inefficient supply systems that prevents them from using these resources properly.


Im not so sure about their desire to be dominant, as much as a desire to be respected again. I have to agree with Chuck when he says them being a superpower again could be a good thing. I would love to have them instilling a little bit of fear in the hearts of the Chinese.

I hope you are right about the respect.
I just think it might turn into aggression.

China... I just dont know.
China's military desires I believe really center
on Taiwan. China is heading for some huge problems
though. Runaway pollution is going to be a lesson for the world.

Chinese are actually dying on average 8 years younger now
than when they were mostly agricultural. Their rivers
are arteries of crap. Their air is horrible. They may have
a lot more serious problems than Russia real soon.

This, and the careless use of natural resources are both going to be huge problems for the world.

We've already reached Hubbert's Peak in the US, and will soon reach it for the entire world. We have already seen the consequences of it (i.e. Iraq War), and there will be many more consequences to come.

Also, with the mass extinction of species right now, whole communities could be at risk. It only takes the extinction of one species to ruin the food supply for an entire community of species, and human-induced global warming is causing many vital species to be on the brink of extinction.

so... why is Mars getting hotter? Maybe it's because the sun is putting out more heat

the damn thing is cyclical

but the green commies want to end the debate before anyone figures it out