It has started (not good)

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Russia sets tough tone with new White House

By Conor Sweeney

Reuters

Nov. 5, 2008

From the article:

Medvedev attacked the U.S. plan to station parts of its missile defense system in Europe, and said Moscow would respond by deploying missile systems in its Western outpost of Kaliningrad.

He accused Washington of triggering the world financial crisis through its blunders and said selfish U.S. foreign policy had sparked August's war between Russia and Georgia.

Just in case this wasn't clear, see this:

Russia Warns of New Missile Deployment

By ELLEN BARRY and SOPHIA KISHKOVSKY

New York Times

November 5, 2008

From the article:

In a wide-ranging attack on the United States as it elected a new president, the Russian leader Dmitri A. Medvedev warned on Wednesday that Moscow might deploy short-range missiles in the Baltic region to counter a perceived threat from a proposed American missile defense shield in eastern Europe.

. . .

His remarks, in his first state of the nation address since assuming the presidency in May, was delivered within hours of the election of Barack Obama and offered a chill glimpse into the potential issues and tensions confronting the new American leader when he takes office in January.

. . .

“We earlier planned to take three missile regiments within the missile division stationed in Kozelsk off combat duty and discontinue the division itself by 2010. I have decided to refrain from these plans,” Mr. Medvedev said.

“The Iskander missile system will be deployed in Kaliningrad region to neutralize, when necessary, the missile shield,” Medvedev said.

“Radioelectronic equipment located in the western region” of Russia in the Kaliningrad region “will jam objects of the U.S. missile defense system,” Mr. Medvedev said.

“These are forced measures,” Mr. Medvedev said. “We have told our partners more than once that we want positive cooperation, we want to act together to combat common threats, that we want to act together. But they, unfortunately, don’t want to listen to us.”

He was apparently referring to discussions on the proposed missile shield with the United States.

Those are nukes and that's just for starters. Medvedev also blamed Russia's hostilities with Georgia and the worldwide financial crisis on the USA.

That speech was supposed to have been given last week.

This thing is very troubling. I dearly hope Obama is up to it...

Biden mentioned six months for a major international headache to erupt. Six hours anyone?

Michael

[Selene]

Michael:

Not surprising, but pretty standard Soviet thinking and reactive strategy.

As an aside, having recently re-located from the new Democratic Commonwealth of Virginia, [good luck down there Chris!], to the fully Socialist State of NJ, this is the sad e-mail I received this morning from the Virginia Libertarian Party:

Dear Virginia Libertarians,

I would like to thank our Virginia candidates for public office -- Bill Redpath (for US Senate) and Nathan Larson (1st District US House) -- for their tireless efforts to spread the message of liberty this election season.

Results for Libertarians on the ballot in Virginia, according to the State Board of Elections, are as follows:

Bob Barr 10,459 .30%

Bill Redpath 19,128 .56%

Nathan Larson 4,788 1.44%

With two states left to report as of 10:22 am this morning, Barr has collected 481,858 votes, or about .40% of the vote.

McCain-R 46% 55,542,743

Obama-D 52% 62,680,702

Barr-L 0% 481,858

Nader-I 1% 644,101

This represents the 4th-highest vote percentage for the Libertarian presidential candidate.

Aghhh - it is time to fold up the Libertarian Party and start fresh with Election District by Election District baseline organizing for local candidates with local issues. Kinda like O'Bama's start on the South side of Chicago. Nah, we are so much smarter, why should we have to work as hard to spread our ideas.

Adam

[Greybird]

[...] Those [iskander missiles] are nukes and that's just for starters.

You're being needlessly provocative. Those are (barely) tactical-nuclear-warhead capable, and not at all optimal for such use, which is not the same thing, as any dozen references can tell you.

You don't bring up exactly why you (obviously) think the U.S. government should be deploying missiles in Poland, which do nothing whatsoever to defend this country. Nor why you appear to be believing the facile propaganda that the U.S. missiles are supposedly to defend Europe from Iranian missiles.

(Bush rejected Putin's proposal to create a genuine defense of this type by sharing an existing Russian facility in Azerbaijan, which shows that Dubya has been lying. But we knew that. His lips are still moving.)

That speech was supposed to have been given last week. This thing is very troubling. I dearly hope Obama is up to it ...

Up to what? Extending the American Empire against all attempts to hem it in? If that's what you mean, I fear you are right. Medvedev is opposing what he sees in plain sight and is undeniable: a professed continuity to imperial ambitions, no matter which wing of the War Party is in the White House.

Bush's provocation is comparable to what Kennedy opposed in Cuba, and placed even closer to Russian territory. I'd be shocked if the Russians weren't working against it. How many of these Cold War tripwires are we going to attempt to maintain?

Biden mentioned six months for a major international headache to erupt. Six hours anyone?

Catch up to the rest of the planet, Michael. This has been brewing for half a decade.

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Steve,

You are free to move to Russia if you like. I hear the economy's not all that bad...

Michael

[Selene]

Greybird:

Please, for my edification, define:

"...the American Empire..."

Adam

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Adam,

"The American Empire" is an insulting term that lonely people throw out to provoke others where there is an audience they could never make on their own. It's a way of getting attention. They opt for hostility because they are unable to get attention for their qualities and this generates great resentment and hatred.

Don't worry too much about intellectual content. The term doesn't have much.

Michael

[Jerry Biggers]

Russia sets tough tone with new White House

By Conor Sweeney

Reuters

Nov. 5, 2008

From the article:

Medvedev attacked the U.S. plan to station parts of its missile defense system in Europe, and said Moscow would respond by deploying missile systems in its Western outpost of Kaliningrad.

He accused Washington of triggering the world financial crisis through its blunders and said selfish U.S. foreign policy had sparked August's war between Russia and Georgia.

Just in case this wasn't clear, see this:

Russia Warns of New Missile Deployment

By ELLEN BARRY and SOPHIA KISHKOVSKY

New York Times

November 5, 2008

From the article:

In a wide-ranging attack on the United States as it elected a new president, the Russian leader Dmitri A. Medvedev warned on Wednesday that Moscow might deploy short-range missiles in the Baltic region to counter a perceived threat from a proposed American missile defense shield in eastern Europe.

. . .

His remarks, in his first state of the nation address since assuming the presidency in May, was delivered within hours of the election of Barack Obama and offered a chill glimpse into the potential issues and tensions confronting the new American leader when he takes office in January.

. . .

“We earlier planned to take three missile regiments within the missile division stationed in Kozelsk off combat duty and discontinue the division itself by 2010. I have decided to refrain from these plans,” Mr. Medvedev said.

“The Iskander missile system will be deployed in Kaliningrad region to neutralize, when necessary, the missile shield,” Medvedev said.

“Radioelectronic equipment located in the western region” of Russia in the Kaliningrad region “will jam objects of the U.S. missile defense system,” Mr. Medvedev said.

“These are forced measures,” Mr. Medvedev said. “We have told our partners more than once that we want positive cooperation, we want to act together to combat common threats, that we want to act together. But they, unfortunately, don’t want to listen to us.”

He was apparently referring to discussions on the proposed missile shield with the United States.

Those are nukes and that's just for starters. Medvedev also blamed Russia's hostilities with Georgia and the worldwide financial crisis on the USA.

That speech was supposed to have been given last week.

This thing is very troubling. I dearly hope Obama is up to it...

Biden mentioned six months for a major international headache to erupt. Six hours anyone?

Michael

Sure, Obama's up to it! Whatsa' matta with you people? He has explained many times that our enemies just don't understand us. He'll just go over and have a nice little chat with Putin/Medvedev, a la Neville Chamberlin's example. They just feel insecure and need some sign of reassurance (like oh, maybe,...some of our missile deactivation codes :sick: ).