Nero's Submarine (Pearls Before Swine, Three.)

From Stettin on the Baltic to Varna on the Black Sea, the regimes planted by totalitarianism have had more than thirty years to establish their legitimacy. But none — not one regime — has yet been able to risk free elections. Regimes planted by bayonets do not take root....If history teaches anything, it teaches self-delusion in the face of unpleasant facts is folly....Our military strength is a prerequisite to peace, but let it be clear we maintain this strength in the hope it will never be used, for the ultimate determinant in the struggle that's now going on in the world will not be bombs and rockets but a test of wills and ideas, a trial of spiritual resolve, the values we hold, the beliefs we cherish, the ideals to which we are dedicated. ~Ronald Reagan

So, again, this is going on.

Apparently Russian army formations are rallying to Prigozhin's banner and his forces have taken the southern city of Rostov-On-Don without a fight.

Indeed, while they were attacked by helicopter gunships at some point earlier, they appear to have shot them down and continued on. Once inside the city they appear to have encountered nothing more in their way than bemused locals with smart phones.

(Here we have Wagner mercs storming the Headquarters of the Southern Military District. Again, facing no opposition, filmed by locals and tourists.)

In a word...Shit.

Maybe it's just me. I hate Putin, but I don't like the idea of these goons winning either, and it honestly looks like they're winning.

Or rather, like a whole hell of a lot of Russians are just not fighting, indeed they seem to be throwing in with the Wagnerites right out the gate.

And it genuinely doesn't look like there's serious opposition forming up anywhere between Rostov and Moscow...at least not yet.

I'm a veteran. 

Mercenaries disgust me on general principle.

I can't even imagine looking at these guys and just being like "Yeah, Okay, whatever you think."

But I suppose the key point here is I'm not Russian...and here we are.

And Russians, so far, appear to be accepting all this with a shrug, there's no panic.

I can't even imagine something like this going on...and where's Putin??

You'd think he'd be doing...something?

Like, goddamn, Russia is folding even faster than Afghanistan did in 2021...and Russia is probably falling to even worse people.

At least the Taliban were allegedly fighting for God.

And I watched that whole mess unfold live on here in August of 2021.

The situation in Afghanistan literally fell apart faster than the international community could react to, the Afghan National Army stopped fighting the Taliban once things got past a certain point, then started joining them. And so it looks that way again, only things went to shit even faster.

And what do these Wagner fucks stand for??

As I understand it, the Wagnerites are basically Nazis.

Nazis that the Russians just handed out all type of heavy weapons and shit to.

Like, really?

You'd think you wouldn't need a goddamn KGB agent to see how that could be a problem.

Meanwhile, while we're all watching this mess on social media...what's the US news media doing?

Oh.

Never mind.

We're still on the Titanic Sub thing.

Are you fucking serious??

At this point, ignorance is a goddamned choice.

There's not much more, representative of the whole right-wing mentality than some idiot CEO saying "Safety regulations hurt innovation" and then he's on his goddamned Home Depot Submarine when the shit sinks. Of course the media has been all over that shit for the last five days, even as the recent sinking of a migrant-smuggling vessel off the coast of Greece was still big news in Europe...our media swept that shit under the rug and focused on five idiots in a tin can who anybody with knowledge of the subject said were likely already dead of their own hubris...a grim assessment that unfortunately turned out to be correct.

And the media's still talking about it.

Hell, Republicans are trying to make a scandal out of it because the Navy might've detected the sub's implosion (As if they'd have had any way of knowing what it was without analysis and knowing what was going on at the time.) Because something something distraction from their made-up Hunter Biden scandal mania Gazpacho.

Jesus Christ, people. Grow the fuck up!

Quite possibly the most important geopolitical events since 1989 are ongoing and US media wants to talk about the last big story.

Come on, people, try and keep up.

This shit brings to mind the old bit about Nero playing some kind of musical instrument while Rome burned. CNN be talking about some stupid submarine that was literally yesterday's news when Moscow's burning and Rostov has literally been conquered by mercenaries??

Has a problem like that even existed in like 300 years?? 

Jesus, what's wrong with people?

What happens when the barbarians are at our gates?

If you want a better nation, you have to be a better citizen, and this ain't it.

Two 

Слава Україна!

Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you. ~Matthew 7:6

We welcome change and openness; for we believe that freedom and security go together, that the advance of human liberty can only strengthen the cause of world peace. There is one sign the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace. General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization, come here to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev...Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!

~Ronald Reagan