Mr. Gregg, would you accept as fact any of the following:
1) in September 2021 the Ukraine moved 200,000 troops into the Donbas;
2) NBC, Newsweek, The Washington Post, Radio Free Europe and International all reported periodically between 2014 and 2021 that the Ukrainian government was at best turning a blind eye, and worst aiding and abetting true neo-nazi atrocities in the Donbas (by the Azov battalion);
3) starting in 20120 the Ukraine intensified its very publicly stated intentions to join the EU and NATO;
4) That the roots of the current civilization in the Ukraine go back to about 1000 AD and the establishment of Kievan Rus’, that extended from the White Sea in the north to the Black Sea in the South, that bordered Sumi (Finland), Ests (Estonia), Latgalians (Latvia), Lithuania,The Kingdom of Poland/Prussia, and Hungary on the east, and the extended west to include what is now St-Petersburg, Moscow, Kursk, and Belgorod.
5) That in the 1500's the territory west of the Dnipro was invaded and annexed by the Poles who were definitively outsiders who had never figured into the Rus nation.
6) That in the 1700's the territory up to about Lviv was recaptured by Catherine the Great and Included into modern Russia, which as the portion of the Kievan Rus' that had not been captured by the Poles was most definitively a reconstitution of Russian nation.
7) Considering 4, 5, and 6 above it is 100% truth to state that for over 800 of the last 1,000 years, Lviv and Kiev were part of the same nation/country as Moscow and St-Petersburg.
This kind of Manechian demonization of anyone who attempts to have a nuanced discussion about a very complex subject is standard fare for the woke.
As you claim to be un-woke, I thought you might actually be able tolerate some difference of opinion based on hard fact. It turns out you are as much a fan of repressive tolerance as any of the woke who you excoriate.
I have to say: I will be reading your articles in a very different light from now on.
I'm tolerant of your opinion. But I don't agree with it and in fact find it to be deeply disturbing in its willingness to obfuscate evil with a lot of blather about complexity and nuance. There actually is nothing complex or nuanced about V. Putin's invasion of Ukraine. He a despot and an aggressor and his armed forces have committed countless war crimes since the invasion began.
Your "tolerance" is not at question. What is in question is your willingness to discuss facts like an adult without reflexively resorting to ad hominem attacks and shutting down the discussion.
You clearly seem to be completely uninterested in any real discussion that might (or might not) lead to new or refined conclusions on your part. You do not know where I was going or what I intended to discuss. All you know is that I opened a dialogue by asking if we could establish a common ground based on one or two agreed facts.
Until you agree to accept at least one of my statements as a mutually agreeable fact, we cannot have a productive dialogue. At which point - based on your behavior up to date - you will be content to write me off as a "evil adjacent" without ever hearing what I really have to say. And I have no real problem with that.
I will continue to subscribe and read what you have to say, because I focus on content, not the container or interlocutor. And I certainly do not care what you think of me.
Mr. Gregg, would you accept as fact any of the following:
1) in September 2021 the Ukraine moved 200,000 troops into the Donbas;
2) NBC, Newsweek, The Washington Post, Radio Free Europe and International all reported periodically between 2014 and 2021 that the Ukrainian government was at best turning a blind eye, and worst aiding and abetting true neo-nazi atrocities in the Donbas (by the Azov battalion);
3) starting in 20120 the Ukraine intensified its very publicly stated intentions to join the EU and NATO;
4) That the roots of the current civilization in the Ukraine go back to about 1000 AD and the establishment of Kievan Rus’, that extended from the White Sea in the north to the Black Sea in the South, that bordered Sumi (Finland), Ests (Estonia), Latgalians (Latvia), Lithuania,The Kingdom of Poland/Prussia, and Hungary on the east, and the extended west to include what is now St-Petersburg, Moscow, Kursk, and Belgorod.
5) That in the 1500's the territory west of the Dnipro was invaded and annexed by the Poles who were definitively outsiders who had never figured into the Rus nation.
6) That in the 1700's the territory up to about Lviv was recaptured by Catherine the Great and Included into modern Russia, which as the portion of the Kievan Rus' that had not been captured by the Poles was most definitively a reconstitution of Russian nation.
7) Considering 4, 5, and 6 above it is 100% truth to state that for over 800 of the last 1,000 years, Lviv and Kiev were part of the same nation/country as Moscow and St-Petersburg.
I will acknowledge that you’re an apologist for that monster of evil, V. Putin. Shame!
Mr. Gregg, I honestly expected better from you.
This kind of Manechian demonization of anyone who attempts to have a nuanced discussion about a very complex subject is standard fare for the woke.
As you claim to be un-woke, I thought you might actually be able tolerate some difference of opinion based on hard fact. It turns out you are as much a fan of repressive tolerance as any of the woke who you excoriate.
I have to say: I will be reading your articles in a very different light from now on.
Best regards,
AZW
I'm tolerant of your opinion. But I don't agree with it and in fact find it to be deeply disturbing in its willingness to obfuscate evil with a lot of blather about complexity and nuance. There actually is nothing complex or nuanced about V. Putin's invasion of Ukraine. He a despot and an aggressor and his armed forces have committed countless war crimes since the invasion began.
Your "tolerance" is not at question. What is in question is your willingness to discuss facts like an adult without reflexively resorting to ad hominem attacks and shutting down the discussion.
You clearly seem to be completely uninterested in any real discussion that might (or might not) lead to new or refined conclusions on your part. You do not know where I was going or what I intended to discuss. All you know is that I opened a dialogue by asking if we could establish a common ground based on one or two agreed facts.
Until you agree to accept at least one of my statements as a mutually agreeable fact, we cannot have a productive dialogue. At which point - based on your behavior up to date - you will be content to write me off as a "evil adjacent" without ever hearing what I really have to say. And I have no real problem with that.
I will continue to subscribe and read what you have to say, because I focus on content, not the container or interlocutor. And I certainly do not care what you think of me.
Best regards,
AZW