Russia and Ukraine

[Belacqua]

The Russians still have whatever is left from the Soviet-Union. So they are still a great adversary. But I still don’t see why they wouldn’t just sit down and negotiate

Russia has enormous industrial capacity. They produce more tanks than any other country. They are NOT just using up old Soviet stocks. That's why they are not begging other countries for weapons, unlike some people we could mention.

Since Putin announced very limited goals when things got going last year, there is every reason to think that Russia would negotiate for these goals. Ukraine out of NATO, safety for the Russian-speakers in eastern Ukraine. If the regions that were added to Ukraine by Lenin in 1922 were declared autonomous, with international peacekeepers and a long-term plan for self-determination, that would achieve the stated goals. 

But there seems to be a slight change in the script that we're supposed to believe. Today the Washington Post has a column suggesting that a negotiated settlement with Russia would be a good idea. And Tucker Carlson (who is often horrible, but who is one of the most-watched people on TV) has acknowledged that the US was almost certainly involved in blowing up the Nordstream pipeline. 

And the Associated Press has actually admitted that things are not going well for the Ukrainian army, which is losing its "best troops" in Bakhmut. This is a change from the constant positive narrative. Of course it helps to justify the desires of the escalationists, but it also lets people know that Russia is not the only one taking losses.

https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukrain...bbd62efe91

As of now of course the warmonger/escalationists are dominant, but these are encouraging signs. If the corporate media has begun to hint that something other than WWIII is possible, it may prepare people for some kind of sane outcome. 

Keep an eye on the people who obediently parrot the military/industrial complex party line. When they start to change their tune (and conveniently forget what they said before, as they frequently do) then sanity may return.