John Schindler points out Putin openly compared Trump to his Ukrainian puppet Yanukovych

[highplainsdem]

https://twitter.com/20committee/status/821362053604589569

Best part about this is how Putin openly compares Trump to his corrupt puppet Yanukovych.

Subtle. Very subtle.

Schindler linked to an ABC news story which referred to Yanukovych, though not by name:

http://abc13.com/politics/putin-comes-to-trumps-defense-on-fake-allegations/1706289/

He said some now want to "stage a Maidan in Washington," in reference to the alleged U.S. role in organizing protests in the main square of the Ukrainian capital, which chased the nation's Russia-friendly president from power in 2014.

[DetlefK]

1. And the denial about the real reasons for the Maidan keeps on going...

One could go with the complicated explanation that Ukraine was culturally and politically always split into a western half more oriented towards Europe and an eastern half more oriented towards Russia.
And that Yanukovych wanted to play the EU and Russia against each other by making deals with both.
And that the EU said "No, it's either us or Russia. Not both."
And that Yanukovych picked Russia.
And that the people of western Ukraine didn't want to forego Europe for Russia and staged protests in Kiev, which happened to be in the western half.
And that's how Ukraine broke in two.

Or you can go with the theory that everything was rainbow-and-sunshine until the evil Americans came along.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

2. Except you're forgetting that Russia had its hand guts deep into Yanukovych dating back to 2004....

...when he originally ran for Ukrainian President in elections and won that were rife with fraud, requiring a re-vote where he lost.

Then after Yanukovych loses, dissension is sewn between the ruling coalition of Yuschenko and Tymoshenko, splitting that faction and allowing Yanukoych to come back and win the election in 2010.

Then Yanukovych hires this guy:



(I wonder who else decided to hire that guy)

Then Yanukovych gets ousted in Maidan, takes refuge in Russia, and a couple of days later, Russian tanks roll into Crimea.

Russia has for centuries attempted to cement its influence upon Ukraine. Don't leave them off the hook.

[DetlefK]

4. Tymoshenko was corrupt, just like any other ukrainian politician.

First the people vote her into office and then it turns out she's just as corrupt as all the other politicians...

And the situation with Crimea is complicated. I've seen videos of the demonstrations there. The people there were neither on the side of the new government nor on the side of Yanukovych. They just wanted law and order and stability because they didn't trust the putschists and just then Russia swooped in and provided that.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

5. Not beyond the pale of the ordinary in Ukrainian politics.

Yanukovych--during the time he's being advised by Paul Manafort--decided however to make a special case against Tymoschenko.

Interestingly enough, it was while Manafort was running Trump's campaign that the whole "Lock Her Up" chants became commonplace regarding Hillary.

There was virtually no time to react between the time that Yanukovych decided to pack up his bags (actually truckloads of valuables if you watch the videotapes) and head out to Russia, and when Russian troops moved into Crimea.

Yanukovych left Kyiv on February 22, 2014.

Reports of Russian troops appearing in Crimea began around February 27, 2014.

The claim that Russia was acting to "protect" Crimea was nothing but a rouse. Putin knew that the Ukrainian government, having just gone through an upheaval following the events on Maidan, was extremely weak and powerless to stop a Russian invasion.

Stop carrying water for Putin here.

[DetlefK]

6. Not carrying water for Putin at all.

I'm just trying to get across that the situation is more complicated than "it's all the US' fault" and "it's all Putin's fault."

Protecting Crimea (as in: providing political stability to the people of Crimea) was of course way down on the list of priorities. At the top was protecting Crimea (as in: protecting russian access to its biggest military seaport in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean).

And the seaports of Syria are exactly the same reason why Russia is supporting Assad. Russia doesn't give a shit about Assad. All they want is a friendly government that allows the russian military navy to use syrian seaports.

[Gothmog]

3. Trump is Putin's puppet