The wildest thing about libs is that they love the novel 1984, and love to project this idea onto the USSR, China, and North Korea. It's wild to me because of the emphasis on information control, censorship, propaganda, etc. that they love to go on about regarding AES countries, but then they do the same thing without a single iota of self-awareness.

When I was a kid, my peers had largely lost faith in our democratic system because it didn't seem like it mattered who we voted for: the conservative elements in society always triumphed, even when they lost. Obama winning didn't change shit, the Forever War continued. No local elections mattered because the state I live in is so thoroughly Republican, it was like pissing in the wind. Yet, we were always told to have faith and vote.

Fast forward to now, and the reason people are losing faith in our democracy is because they think foreigners are manipulating everything to make the other side win. I should have guessed some insane, xenophobic conspiracy theory was the only way for people to question our system.

In the US, there's a pretty sizable percentage who refuse to admit we lost Vietnam. I don't know any dumb enough to say we won it, but I feel the mentality is similar: "I didn't lose the fight; I just felt bored after getting my nose smashed in and losing most of my blood."

When I took a Modern Middle East class, I remember something about a king (I wanna say it was the Saudi king?) discussing the Israel situation with FDR. The story went something like FDR explaining they wanted to make an ethnic homeland for Jewish people because of what the Nazis had done, and the king was sympathetic but points out "Why not give them land seized from the Germans if the Germans were responsible? Why take land from Arabs who had nothing to do with it?" Allegedly, FDR admitted it was a good point and promised to discuss it later, but died before he could, and Truman just went ahead and supported Israel.

We also read a letter a Jewish person from the region had written around the time of Israel's creation where he pleaded with the West not to force the creation of the state by stealing Arab land, pointing out they had a peaceful relationship within Palestinian Muslims and that stealing land to make an ethno-state would just agitate the region and make them hostile to the people Europeans were claiming to protect. He asked why it wasn't possible to just create a Jewish homeland in the US if it was so important and the US cared so much, especially since the US had so much land. I think he also mentioned the fact most of the Jewish people being sent to Palestine to found Israel were European first, and there was a cultural and linguistic rift between them and the Jewish people actually already living there.

That class was the only instance in the US I've ever heard these points of view. Not counting online communist spaces.

Surprising absolutely no one here. We all knew they'd blame it on Russia, just like we know most libs will happily oblige.

Poland and Finland, though there's more nuance there than libs care to observe. For example, ignoring the fact the territory they took from Poland was Ukrainian territory Poland was, uh, "making Polish". And obviously the Finns wound up joining the Nazis. They also seem to think Ukraine spontaneously fought the Soviets and just happened to get Nazi support later.

They exist in a vacuum where they think the bulk of the Axis powers and allies that fought Russians were somehow wholesome victims who had no choice but to fight for Nazis. But, paradoxically, the USSR can't be forgiven for the Nonaggression Pact (even though the West signed NAPs first and financed much of the Nazi war machine, sometimes even during the war). Liberals have the attention span and object permanence of a wet noodle.

Don't forget the 100% accurate film Enemy at the Gates, and the Soviet missions in the Call of Duty games, which make you an expert on the USSR's military contribution to WWII.

I've been under the impression Ukraine was an explicit trap for Russia, to draw them into a quagmire war they couldn't really avoid, and that the West intends to draw it out for as long as possible to tie up Russian resources and possibly even break them through attrition.

Ukraine's current regime has become aggressive towards its Western paymasters, hyped up on their own fascist rhetoric if their politicians are anything to go by, and they're losing bad, proving they're an unreliable and dangerous ally. However, I don't think they'll be thrown under the bus quite yet. I suspect, if NATO's puppet regime can't win, they'll just turn the region into a terrorist state. Whatever government Russia sets up there will need constant Russian military support, and this will be used as propaganda of how Russia "conquered" Ukraine. Fascist resistance, heavily armed, will be trained, supplied, and directed by NATO for years to come, shown as "freedom fighters", while every action Russia takes to keep its borders secure - or even to help Ukraine against fascist terrorism - will be skewed and displayed as tyranny.

In other words, the US will do what it does in every country it fails to install its puppets. At least, that's my prediction. But who can say?

liberals reading

That's funny.

On Reddit, I was part of a leftist sub that became increasingly hostile to "tankies". I pointed out the "no leftist infighting rule", and some dude said "yeah, but I'm punching right" and called Stalin an imperialist. It was actually the moment that made me leave that shithole site. Thank goodness for Site B (Lemmygrad).

Here in the US, I've noticed the only people who don't support Ukraine and were allowed a platform to promote those views were ultraconservative Trump types. I have a suspicion that's by design, to help further discredit any counter-narrative.

And as others have said, the "alt-right pipeline".

Here in the US, we don't even have that bare minimum, and the propaganda is so insidious here, liberals who support the bare minimum are considered progressive. Our reactionaries would gladly stone people to death or burn them at the stake given half a chance. I feel your pain, but if I can find reasonable people and comrades here, you will too, I am sure of it. Stay strong and stay safe, comrade.