Ukraine Thread

[Montmorency]

And that bears on Ukraine because...

Close enough for Org standards. The only other option is the Weird News thread.

[Philippus Flavius Homovallumus]

Might have been a better option, maybe a mod could move it?

How's this new President working out, anyway?

[Gilrandir]

How's this new President working out, anyway?

If you are addressing me, then he is a liar totally unfit for his position who was carried into his office by accident and he is digging himself into a deeper hole with almost every step he takes. That wouldn't be a problem with me if he weren't dragging the whole country into the same hole after him.
Sorry if it was too long and distracted the orgahs from discussing merits of Brexit and shortcomings of Trump.

[CrossLOPER]

he is a liar totally unfit for his position who was carried into his office by accident and he is digging himself into a deeper hole with almost every step he takes. That wouldn't be a problem with me if he weren't dragging the whole country into the same hole after him.

Hey, seems to be a lot of that going around. Wonder what's causing it?

[Philippus Flavius Homovallumus]

If you are addressing me, then he is a liar totally unfit for his position who was carried into his office by accident and he is digging himself into a deeper hole with almost every step he takes. That wouldn't be a problem with me if he weren't dragging the whole country into the same hole after him.
Sorry if it was too long and distracted the orgahs from discussing merits of Brexit and shortcomings of Trump.

Well, that's disappointing. I hoped he might just be honest but inept.

Hey, seems to be a lot of that going around. Wonder what's causing it?

I wonder if what we're seeing is the generations exposed to the most leaded petrol finally coming to power? Or just leaded petrol in the voters?

[Gilrandir]

Well, that's disappointing. I hoped he might just be honest but inept.

If you mean honest = not a thief, that is so far correct (as far as we know). But if you mean honest = not lying, that is certainly not the case.

The basic premise of his electoral campaign was "I'm not one of those corrupt liars that have been running the counrty since 1991. Those politicains live in their one world and know nothing of the hardships of the people and don't do anything to alleviate them. I'm just a guy next door who will make Ukraine into a prosperous and peaceful country."

His started his campaign with a heartfelt video where he asked if Ukrainians were tired of presidents who gave offices to their army pals and business partners. He promised to stop that practice and hold competitions so that any person could apply and take a state office. He also promised to step down the moment he broke any law. He stated that the war in Eastern Ukraine was going on because it was profitable for the then authorities who only hollered about Russia the aggressor but in fact had business in Russia and with Russia. He said that he would issue a decree that will forbid any official who held some state position in 2014-1019 to do it again since everything they did has brought the country to the brink of a precipice. And his said that his advent would spell the end of the age of poverty.

And he became the president.

What did he do then? Then he started appointing to the offices his showbiz partners, his wife's classmates and nieces of his firends. Most of them were inadequate for their new positions. For example, the persom who wrote scripts for his shows and has been his childhood buddy became the head of the secret service (SBU). One of those appointments was the head of his office which was against the law which states that any person who had state positions in 2010-2014 couldn't have them again (aka lustration).

He dissolved the parliament (a highly dubious move as far as its legality is concerned) stating that the reason for it was the low level of trust that the parliament enjoyed according to polls.

The promised competitions were held in a couple of cases and are largely forgotten now. The person who won one of them was appointed his press secretary and she has become notorious in a very short time for her verbal rudeness and physical attacks against journalists who wanted to interview the president (and recieved his approval for it).
https://ua.news/ru/video-press-sekre...a-zhurnalista/
Never mind the text, just watch the video.
The president just made fun of the accidents, as befits a comedian.

Then it was discovered that Zelensky was getting profits from a company that operated in Russia shooting movies and receiving payments directly from the Russian state budget. The people he brought with him were also reported to have business in Russia. As an example, the head of the regional administration of my region appointed by Zelensky bought real estate and land in Russia in 2016-2017.

He traveled around the country giving soviet style dressing downs to local officials and city mayors (which he has no right to do since he didn't appoint them, they were elected by people and answerable to people only).

He made some officials resign stating that he had proofs that they were involved in illegal activities connected with customs service and amber mining. How do you like it? No charges, no arrests, just get out of here, willya?

Then despite of his lustration lipservice he left the minister of interior, the head of the national bank, the finance minister to keep their positions (what about the brink of precipice they brought the country to?). His new ministers said that they will continue the policy of the previous ministers of healthcare and education (no precipice here either?).

When his party (featuring wedding photographers and MCs on the roster) got a landslide victory at the parliamentary elections he started to concentrate all power in his hands by dissolving central electoral committee (which held two democtratic and transparent elections where he and his party won), having the parliament let him appoint the heads of anti-corruption agencies and the National Guard.

And his foreign policy is mostly a flop. Under his presidency Russia was returned to PACE and only a couple of days ago he agreed to the Steinmeyer formula on Donbas which persupposes holding elections in the occupied territories without Russia withdrawing its troops and with Russia retaining control of the border with DNR/LNR.

And no end to the age of poverty in the offing, so far.

Yet many people are still applauding his decisions and are ready to cheer at every full stop in his speeches. For example, my mother-in-law who has a small business and was (and is) his ardent supporter was informed that now she would have to install cash registers in her small booths which will incur great expenses. She is sure that it is the local authorities who wreak this havoc and doesn't want to believe that it is the parliament (where Zelensky's party has an overwhelming majority) that adopts such laws.

I can only hope that more people will eventually open there eyes and see what plague they have brought to power.

[CrossLOPER]

Well, that's disappointing. I hoped he might just be honest but inept.

I spoke to a guy who stated he was voting for Trump back in 2016. His reasoning was that current politicians are so corrupt, that they need an outsider to freshen things up. This guy is a college professor at one of the most prestigious universities on the east coast. He was my professor some time ago. He really drank the "drain the swamp" koolaid. I can't understand the logic of people thinking that some random dude seriously cares about THEM and is going to help THEM and fix everything just because "everyone else is corrupt".

I can't tell if there was masterful social engineering at work or if critical thinking is a lost art.

I wonder if what we're seeing is the generations exposed to the most leaded petrol finally coming to power? Or just leaded petrol in the voters?

I just wish I had something to argue against. I can argue with religious fanatics or even racists. I can't argue with "he is upsetting the right people". It's like a cry from a person that is so totally hopeless that they want to take everyone else down with them. It's narcissistic and impractical at the same time.