[Cont.]
A conversation with founder of the Open Russia movement Mikhail Khodorkovsky
http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/a-conversation-with-mikhail-khodorkovsky/

Peace in Europe ‘will not exist’ as long as Putin is in power, says Mikhail Khodorkovsky
'The exiled Russian businessman appeared at an Atlantic Council Front Page event, where he said the West can no longer bury its head in the sand when it comes to Putin’s goals.'

Mikhail Khodorkovsky: After Navalny’s death, the West must get tougher with Putin
"I call on Russians to demonstrate their resistance by writing the name 'Alexei Navalny' on their ballot papers on March 17, in tribute to the regime’s latest and most prominent victim."

Let's not forget Zelensky is Jewish, and his election win occurred thanks to Ihor Kolomoisky, also Jewish.

Well, since 'Anti-Semitism' is wielded as a weapon these days and all our governments have been captured, it might officially be time for me to quieten any further criticism, lest I might expect a knock on the door, or worse.

But there it is, all that I've laid out, trying to walk this fine line... well seems I'm not wrong.

You all want to know where I really started getting more curious?
- Back here in 2012

Sheikh Imran Hosein - Beyond September 11
http://youtu.be/DeQ_wfUBjws
http://youtu.be/4mx3EUU5ZuQ

But I knew somthing wasn't right back here.
'The White Van' ABC News 20/20 Preview on Urban Moving Systems and 9/11 Hi-Fivers (Dancing Israelis)
http://youtu.be/fOiCMMMeXE8

And I learned about USAID back during the War in Syria.

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Dear Armchair Critic,

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You wrote :

« Starmer, Macron, Merz and Duda - They all going to want to continue the war »
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That’s not the way I see it, Armchair Critic. If I saw a couple of bullies beating up one of my friends, I would jump into the fray – not try to negotiate.

That would not be because I would want to continue the fight. It would be because I would want to defend my friend. I would only stop fighting when they stopped beating up my friend or they knocked me out.

Believe it or not, I am a very calm and composed person. The only time I got into a fight was when I was a kid in primary school. Another kid tried to bully me and started a brawl. I won the fight and nobody in the school dared threaten me again. I later took up boxing as a sport.

In my view, the best way to deal with bullies like Putin and Trump is to remain calm, stand together and stay firm. Only stop fighting when they are defeated or throw in the towel.

In my experience, some bullies are masochists. They get their pleasure out of the pain and humiliation you inflict on them. They only stop when they are defeated or run out of resources. That’s a problem, but it’s not by negotiating that you can fix it.

Clipping the leaves off the tree won't solve the problem. You have to completely uproot it. It's a tough, painful task, but if you shy away from it, you are only perpetuating it, and it will only get worse.

Putin seems to me to be more complex than Trump. He is crafty and elusive. Trump is less sophisticated, more primary, a sort of bulldog. He even looks like one !

Trump knows how to bully those who need him. He does not know how to negotiate with those who don’t. Putin is fathomless, ruthless, inhuman and simply can’t be trusted.

Oh, brave New World !

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Lest we forget !

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Trump is reputed to be infatuated with Putin. Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy to Moscow, having met with Putin twice, declared in an interview with right-wing podcast host Tucker Carlson :

« I have come to regard Putin as not a “bad guy,” and that the Russian president was a “great" leader seeking to end Moscow’s deadly three-year conflict with Kyiv »

Here is a list of prominent Putin critics and opponents (politicians, journalists and oligarchs) who have died by assassination or mysterious circumstances :

• Alexei Navalny, Age: 47, Date of Death: February 16, 2024, Cause of Death: died in prison

• Mikhail Lesin, Age: 57, Date of Death: November 5, 2015, Cause of Death: injuries to the Head, in Washington hotel room

• Boris Nemtsov, Age: 55, Date of Death: February 27, 2015, Cause of Death: shot dead on a bridge near the Kremlin

• Boris Berezovsky, Age: 67, Date of Death: March 23, 2013, Cause of Death: suicide (suspicious)

• Sergei Magnitsky, Age: 37, Date of Death: November 16, 2009, Cause of Death: severe beatings and medical neglect in prison

• Stanislav Markelov, Age: 34, Date of Death: January 19, 2009, Cause of Death: assassinated in Moscow by a gunman who also killed journalist Anastasia Baburova

• Anastasia Baburova, Age: 25, Date of Death: January 19, 2009, Cause of Death: assassinated in Moscow by a gunman who also killed Stanislav Markelov

• Natalia Estemirova, Age: 50, Date of Death: July 15, 2009, Cause of Death: abducted in Grozny, Chechnya, and found dead later that day.

• Anna Politkovskaya, Age: 48, Date of Death: October 7, 2006, Cause of Death: shot dead in her apartment building in Moscow

• Yuri Shchekochikhin, Age: 53, Date of Death: July 3, 2003, Cause of Death: suspected poisoning, but circumstances remain unclear.

• Numerous other Russian critics and opponents of Putin have died in various countries around the world, mostly by “falling” out of windows of multi-storied buildings or by poisoning.

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(Continued …)

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(Continued …)

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According to the latest Statista poll conducted in February 2025, Putin’s popularity rating in Russia was 87% approval, 11% disapproval, and 2% no answer.

Putin has accused Zelensky of being democratically “illegitimate” as his presidential term has expired and the Ukrainian Constitution does not allow elections to be held while martial law is in effect because of the war.

He obviously considers that his governance as President of the Russian Federation is perfectly legitimate and qualifies as bona fide democracy.

A Survation Panel poll conducted 25-27 February 2025 in Ukraine (noting that “those living in occupied territories were not excluded”, while Ukrainians living abroad were) found that 52% had a favourable opinion of Zelensky and 31% had an unfavourable one.

In the same poll, 17% rated Donald Trump favourably and 58% unfavourably.

Interestingly, in the US, a RealClearPolitics Poll Average calculated on the 23rd March 2025 found that 47.9% Approve of Trump and 48.8% Disapprove.

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John Daysh wrote: "You’ve already invoked FDR, and we addressed the inadequacy of that situation. If you’re sitting on other examples of presidents who openly vilified judges,"

Well actually, no, you never addressed the FDR example. Nor the Biden example. So now you want more examples to not address?

BTW, Trump doesn't demand loyalty from judges but he does remind public servants that they owe loyalty to the president.

mhaze,

Ah, the dangers of Ctrl+F-ing your way through an online debate… I did indeed address the FDR example. See this paragraph:

“Saying “well, other presidents have done similar things” doesn’t negate the critique…” (http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?discussion=10574#369403)

No recent president - not even FDR - engaged in a sustained personal campaign to delegitimise the judiciary, demand loyalty from officials, and treat any legal constraint as a partisan attack. FDR tried to expand the Court through Congress - aggressive but legal at least. He didn’t undermine the judiciary as an institution or frame legal rulings as persecution.

That’s where your comparison collapses.

As for Biden, you’ve tossed out a vague reference to the student loan ruling, but you haven’t made a case that his approach to the judiciary involved the kind of consistent, personal delegitimization we’ve seen from Trump. A contested policy or legal loss isn’t the same as a wholesale rejection of the system.

And as for loyalty, thanks for confirming that Trump does demand it from public servants. But that’s not how democratic institutions are supposed to work. Civil servants and legal officials owe loyalty to the Constitution, the law, and their office - not to the person temporarily holding power. Reducing public service to personal loyalty isn’t a defence of Trump - it’s one of the very concerns being raised.

So once again: if you’ve got examples of other presidents who’ve mirrored Trump’s pattern of behaviour toward legal institutions - by all means, name them. Otherwise, these vague appeals to history are just smoke.