Thoughts from the Universal Geek

Short answer: Ukraine doesn’t need to win a decisive battle against Russia in a large battle. Long answer: OK, buckle up, put on your thinking cap, and be sure to keep all arms and legs inside the car for this answer. I think you misunderstand the wars that Ukraine and Russia are fighting. Each country has wildly different goals, and each of these goals requires different methods. For Russia, the goal is simple: to integrate Ukraine into Russia as it was integrated into the Soviet Union. This is a part of Putin’s clear plan to reassemble as much of the former Soviet Union as possible. If the attempt to conquer Ukraine succeeds, it will probably embolden Russia to move on to the next former Republic of the late, unlamented USSR, such as Putin’s close ally Belarus, or Georgia, or Kazakhstan. Note that, of the former Soviet Republics, the ones with the greatest petroleum resources are Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Note, also, that Ukraine has rich oi...

Yes, Hillary Clinton would have made a better President than tr*mp. Here are few more examples of those would have been better Presidents than him: * A randomly-selected homeless person * My pet maltipoo * A goldfish * A canned ham * Mr. Potato Head

The Supreme Court does not interpret the Constitution. What it does is rule on cases based on their understanding of the Constitution and of precedent. They never directly interpret the Constitution itself, but the understanding and application of it. A few examples from history may be instructive. In Dred Scot v. Sanford (1857), the Court ruled that, since the Framers had never considered the possibility of African-Americans being citizens, they had no civil rights due to citizens. This was literally the law of the land- literally, the meaning of the US Constitution- until a little matter called the Civil War helped to settle things to the contrary. After the war, the 13th Amendment (1865) abolished slavery, the 14th Amendment (1868) conferred citizenship on formerly enslaved people, and the 15th Amendment (1870) extended voting rights to them. These Amendments, In combination with the Civil Rights Act of 1866 overturned Dred Scot v Sanford. In Plessy v. Ferguson (189 6), ...

Let’s look at the following Republican Presidents and their accomplishments. You tell me if they have anything clearly in common. Lincoln: First Republican President, freed the slaves, lead the United States to victory over slave-owning traitors in the Civil War, began system of land grant public colleges + universities,** Theodore Roosevelt: progressive economic policies, established Food & Drug Administration to regulate food safety, regulated railroad rates, opposed monopolies as being inimical to the capitalist principles of free enterprise, established conservation movement, expanded national parks system, denounced the rich, supported unions, and supported a welfare state. Dwight Eisenhower: Presided over strongest economy in human history, started largest public works program in human in history (Interstate Highway System), supported unions, sent National Guard in to southern states to enforce anti-segregation laws, supported a starkly progressive tax code ...

  “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” -Inigo Montoya, The Princess Bride Before one can argue about something, I think it’s a good idea to define what it means, yes? Merriam-Webster defines socialism as “any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods; a system of society or group living in which there is no private property.” So, let’s be crystal clear about something: no major political party in the US is promoting collective ownership and administration of production of goods. None of them . Supporting a higher marginal tax rate on the rich is not socialism. If you don’t understand marginal taxation**, that indicates you’re not able to contribute intelligently to this discussion, so please, kindly, shut up. Support for unions is not socialism. Support for the some sort of health care reform is not, in and o...

Slavery. Period. Don't trust me, though. Ask the leaders of the Rebel states, as expressed in their declarations of secession. Georgia: “For the last ten years we have had numerous and serious causes of complaint against our non-slave-holding confederate States with reference to the subject of African slavery .” Tennessee: “Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery -- the greatest material interest of the world.” South Carolina: “The General Government, as the common agent, passed laws to carry into effect these stipulations of the States. For many years these laws were executed. But an increasing hostility on the part of the non-slaveholding States to the institution of slavery , has led to a disregard of their obligations,” Texas: “Texas abandoned her separate national existence and consented to become one of the Confederated Union to promote her welfare, insure domestic tranquility and secure more substantially the blessings of peace an...

Very famously, Robert E. Lee launched two clearly offensive campaigns in the Civil War: the first resulting in the Battle of Antietam, + the second resulting in the Battle of Gettysburg. Please excuse the rather brutal oversimplification in the below paragraphs. In 1862, Lee launched an offensive into Maryland, with the goal taking the fight to the Union, rather than having all of the major battles happening in Confederate territory. Unfortunately for Lee, the battle plans, known as Special Order 191, fell into the hand of a Union Corporal, who passed the orders up the chain of command to Gen. George McClelland, commander of the Army of the Potomac. For once, McClelland was not hesitant, and ordered troops to stop Lee near Sharpsburg, Maryland. However, despite decisively defeating Lee on the battlefield, McClelland’s inherent caution took over in the battle’s aftermath, and he failed to pursue a retreating Lee, thinking him to have much stronger forces in reserve than ...