The Top 40

They are developing a pretext for war. NATO barely hangs together, on the political level, and it is way outside their portfolio to attack Russia outright.

Remember I wrote a few weeks ago that the new general in charge of NATO (our contemporary Eisenhower) was in my infantry school class? So far, he's doing a great job, IMO. He stays well under the radar, only rising to assure us that the NATO base in Turkey was secure after the coup event there. Otherwise, new commitments and deployments, and strengthening take place.

Assessment: for the first time in history, Russia has both frank, and tacit, control over the entire Black Sea. It is mind-numbing to imagine the resolve Europe had to stop the same thing in the early 19th Century. Now, a new reality that re-mitigates the Crimean protocols exists.

You can't bully much in the world without a strong navy, and Putin is doing everything in his power to spread his influence over the seas. Do not be surprised when ---- goes down in the Gulf of Finland/Baltic Sea area.

Our first line of defense is knowledge. Trump will have to carry a Yuge Stick, and negotiate like Fred Astaire dancing on speed. We need every small concession we can strong-arm from Russia. Putin must be embarrassed in the eyes of his own oligarchs. Wouldn't it be a shame if one of those capitol ships went to Davy Jones' locker, with no apparent cause? "Nice ship you got there, Vlad."

Next, and very close on the heels of policy, we need to militarize the daylights out of Eastern Europe. Make it deep; make it serious. For an extra touch of evil, I'd place the Syrians waiting for deportation in camps right on the frontier with Russia. Call it Castle Dracula or something farking insane and scary. Segregate the women from the children, and the men from the rest. No internet or cell phones. Unclean food. The Syrians would start to lose interest in their whole motives and fast.

There. I solved those problems. Whose buying drinks, here?

The barking mad neocon filth have been trying to drum up war with Russia for a decade.

I guess bilejones is not buying the drinks.

I figured out the angle on Erdoğan's moves. He is going full mad minute.

Let's put it another way. Putin wants to puppet-master Erdoğan. NATO sees him as untouchable, since he is in the center of gravity of the Russo-NATO conflict. He is protected in any event, and is using that to back-stab everything that moves. He's gigging frogs.

Thanks. I'll be in the bar the rest of the night.