If you could speak to Vladimir Putin.....

[gimmethesimplelife]

for five minutes, what would you say, other than stop this war STAT? Rob

[bae]

He holds a high-level blackbelt in judo, and in Sambo.

I'd love to work out a variation I've been thinking of on Ōuchi gari that transitions to Hadaka-jime with a subtle bit of footwork. (That last technique even works without a mask...)

It'd only take a couple of moments.

[iris lilies]

I would tell him to slow down the destruction and keep the Russian bots working our populace in the United States because he’ll get us to where he wants us in about another generation and will have saved a lot of Russian resources not to mention maybe not destroying the world.

[Yppej]

Don't stand so close to me.

I wouldn't want him stabbing me with a poison tipped umbrella or anything.

[Tybee]

I'm watching Comey Rule right now and this reminds me of how he says he is having dinner with Jill Stein and Julian Assange. I wonder what they said to him.

[catherine]

I'd ask him to tell me about one of his favorite memories.

[gimmethesimplelife]

I'd ask him to tell me about one of his favorite memories.Wow! I really wonder how he'd respond to that? His first girlfriend? Foreign travel? Something wild and embarrassing at the time from his college days? An incredible day when the stars aligned and multiple great things happened for him?

Or....being a Scorpio I have to add this last. Systematically destroying Uraine? Rob

[gimmethesimplelife]

I would tell him to slow down the destruction and keep the Russian bots working our populace in the United States because he’ll get us to where he wants us in about another generation and will have saved a lot of Russian resources not to mention maybe not destroying the world.Question for you, IL. By your mention of bots, do you mean Russian interference with US elections? Rob

[Tybee]

I guess if I had to be with him for 5 minutes I would show him pictures of my grandchildren and explain that their great grandmother was 100% Russian.
Then I would ask him to listen to this song:

https://youtu.be/vCR0sHBrNKs

I think that's the best I could do.

[gimmethesimplelife]

Something I've come to realize....I really miss Mikhail and Raisa Gorbachev from the late 80's. I just can't see Mikhail and his glasnost invading Uraine. That was such a hopeful period of time for some semblance of world peace. And as a gay man I'll add the following though it's a bit petty.

I never cared for Nancy Reagan, something about her grated on my nerves. Point? I really liked seeing Raisa Gorbachev outdress Nancy Reagan. And Raisa was quite accomplished on her own, holding a Doctorate in Marxist/Leninist Philosophy and having taught such at the University level. I might not agree with Communism overall but I can respect her academic accomplishment. Rob

[iris lilies]

Question for you, IL. By your mention of bots, do you mean Russian interference with US elections? Rob
Spewing dissent amoung the gullible.

[JaneV2.0]

Something I've come to realize....I really miss Mikhail and Raisa Gorbachev from the late 80's. I just can't see Mikhail and his glasnost invading Uraine. That was such a hopeful period of time for some semblance of world peace. And as a gay man I'll add the following though it's a bit petty.

I never cared for Nancy Reagan, something about her grated on my nerves. Point? I really liked seeing Raisa Gorbachev outdress Nancy Reagan. And Raisa was quite accomplished on her own, holding a Doctorate in Marxist/Leninist Philosophy and having taught such at the University level. I might not agree with Communism overall but I can respect her academic accomplishment. Rob

I've been having fond memories of Mikhail Gorbachev lately, too. He was the only seemingly decent man in charge of Russia in my lifetime. And I vastly preferred Raisa to Nancy as well.

Iris Lily, you're not wrong--those bots are indefatigable. The GRU must pay well.

Bae--good to see you're taking up the assassin's mantle. Someone has to, as soon as possible.

Aside from "Prepare to die," I would tell the evil little gnome that he's cemented his place in history beside its most reviled villains, which would probably please him.

[JaneV2.0]

I'd ask him to tell me about one of his favorite memories.

Torturing small creatures, probably.

[bae]

Bae--good to see you're taking up the assassin's mantle. Someone has to, as soon as possible.


I'm just a big judo fan. I'd love to get a chance to talk with Brian Blessed too!

[JaneV2.0]

I'm just a big judo fan. I'd love to get a chance to talk with Brian Blessed too!

I was envisioning a boffo finale...Good vs. evil, and all that.
Oh well...

[LDAHL]

It’s kind of interesting, seeing how different people (and not just here) respond to the problem of confronting evil. In a situation like Ukraine, convinced moral relativists start seeing in black and white. People who might normally talk about “breaking the cycle of violence” fantasize about killing villains. Our President gets so carried away his unguarded comments amount to a national security threat. Although I think that may be as much about a man who’s spent a lifetime trying to appear tough as about genuine outrage.

We are treated to the image of one of the lesser Russian dictators battling it out with a Karl Marx lookalike, and hearing people gush over a stylish Communist princess from the good old days.

Personally, I think the best practice where evil like this is concerned is to unsentimentally maintain the capability to raise the price of aggression on every front; and where it breaks through, to recognize the ultimate price of appeasement.

[JaneV2.0]

It’s kind of interesting, seeing how different people (and not just here) respond to the problem of confronting evil. In a situation like Ukraine, convinced moral relativists start seeing in black and white. People who might normally talk about “breaking the cycle of violence” fantasize about killing villains. Our President gets so carried away his unguarded comments amount to a national security threat. Although I think that may be as much about a man who’s spent a lifetime trying to appear tough as about genuine outrage.

We are treated to the image of one of the lesser Russian dictators battling it out with a Karl Marx lookalike, and hearing people gush over a stylish Communist princess from the good old days.

Personally, I think the best practice where evil like this is concerned is to unsentimentally maintain the capability to raise the price of aggression on every front; and where it breaks through, to recognize the ultimate price of appeasement.

I may be a moral relativist, whatever that is, because I believe there are many gray areas and various valid positions in a lot of situations. But I make no allowances for a violent invasion of a sovereign country just minding its own business. President Zelenskyy is absolutely right to lead his people in fighting back with all the resources they can muster to preserve their freedom.

The Russian-influenced trolls so prevalent on social media bang the appeasement drum, blaming the "comedian" president for not just rolling over and ceding Ukraine to the butcher Putin. Fortunately, Ukrainians are solidly behind their leader.

[Simone]

I guess if I had to be with him for 5 minutes I would show him pictures of my grandchildren and explain that their great grandmother was 100% Russian.
Then I would ask him to listen to this song:

https://youtu.be/vCR0sHBrNKs

I think that's the best I could do.

Thanks, Tybee. I wish I had Denver's power of expression. I wish his had been enough to persuade the powerful.

[happystuff]

Thank you so much for posting this, Tybee. I've always been a huge John Denver fan and have never seen this before! Very powerful.

[nswef]

Thank you, Tybee.

[catherine]

That is a beautiful video, Tybee, thank you.

Unfortunately, I believe that Putin is immune to sentimentality. If images of thousands of dead people whom he considers his national "blood relatives" won't do it, nothing will.

[JaneV2.0]

That is a beautiful video, Tybee, thank you.

Unfortunately, I believe that Putin is immune to sentimentality. If images of thousansd dead people whom he considers his national "blood relatives" won't do it, nothing will.

He shows every sign of psychopathy (unfortunately, many of them rise to the top of their fields), so expecting normal human reactions from him is futlle.