You certainly make me laugh!

Firstly, because nothing you say above has any connection to my post.

Secondly, because it's a bunch of wild conspiracy theories, worthy of Alex Jones.

Putin is "part of an international group of criminals"? Really? Who are the other members of this "gang"? Blofeld? Goldfinger? Drax? The Joker?

We do have democracy in the west. We just need to protect it and use it. Getting to grips with "dirty money" is never easy but if we don't like the way it's being done we change those who are trying to do it. We have the power. We need to protect those who expose wrong doing and hold politicians to account. Not on their politics but on their standards of honesty and morality.

Rather than just be cynical try being engaged.

Biden is a figurehead. He operates in a collegiate way. Which is much safer than having an autocrat like Trump, who envies and wants to become a dictator like Putin.

No-one is suppressing opinions. All that is ever done is to remove dangerous and misleading statements from privately owned platforms. Which is completely within their rights.

Those dangerous and misleading statements are still available, but you need to go looking for them now. They aren't plastered over places where the vulnerable could be badly influenced.

Trump was given a long line of rope, but decided to hang himself anyway. By repeatedly making false claims he left the platforms no choice other than to remove him.

It is simply unacceptable in a mature democracy to allow disinformation to be circulated and presented as fact. Political opinions are fair enough, however distasteful some might appear to be, but things that cause harm are not.
Very

If you think that international criminals are restricted to the ink of comic books, then you are deranged.

You want to paint your team as the good guys which is poppycock.
We are routing for the least worst option here.

Because Putin is bad does not make us good. Our system is being increasingly corrupted by money, both clean and dirty.

The fact that we have a virtual corpse in the White House is living (Just) proof of that. Was there ever a President who was elected via media bias, not to mention dodgy votes like Biden.

Edited by Hrolf The Ganger (10 Mar 2022 1.22pm)

You certainly make me laugh!

Firstly, because nothing you say above has any connection to my post.

Secondly, because it's a bunch of wild conspiracy theories, worthy of Alex Jones.

Putin is "part of an international group of criminals"? Really? Who are the other members of this "gang"? Blofeld? Goldfinger? Drax? The Joker?

We do have democracy in the west. We just need to protect it and use it. Getting to grips with "dirty money" is never easy but if we don't like the way it's being done we change those who are trying to do it. We have the power. We need to protect those who expose wrong doing and hold politicians to account. Not on their politics but on their standards of honesty and morality.

Rather than just be cynical try being engaged.

Biden is a figurehead. He operates in a collegiate way. Which is much safer than having an autocrat like Trump, who envies and wants to become a dictator like Putin.

No-one is suppressing opinions. All that is ever done is to remove dangerous and misleading statements from privately owned platforms. Which is completely within their rights.

Those dangerous and misleading statements are still available, but you need to go looking for them now. They aren't plastered over places where the vulnerable could be badly influenced.

Trump was given a long line of rope, but decided to hang himself anyway. By repeatedly making false claims he left the platforms no choice other than to remove him.

It is simply unacceptable in a mature democracy to allow disinformation to be circulated and presented as fact. Political opinions are fair enough, however distasteful some might appear to be, but things that cause harm are not.

As I don't think that, and didn't say that, you can rest easy and stop worrying about me!

I responded to this, from you. In all honesty who do you think seems deranged?

"Putin is part of an international group of criminals who are trying to seize total control of the planet."

No-one suggests that there aren't international criminals! But a group of them, including Putin, trying to take over the planet? That's a McEnroe moment.

I don't have a team to root for. I seek objectivity. No-one I know would suggest there's not things done by the west that we don't know about, or that the west doesn't have its fair share of opportunists and criminal chancers seeking to take advantage.

Putin is though on a different level. We need to set aside our differences until he is gone.

You don't like Biden. So what. He leads, for the moment, the USA, but he isn't the USA. He has teams to support him, to whom he listens, unlike his predecessor. That you even mention "media bias" and "dodgy votes" shows your prejudices to be over-riding reason. They are Trump excuses. The media gave him much more respect than he deserved, simply because of the office he held, and the election was audited, verified and not only was fair, but seen to be fair. Despite Trump trying to restrict voting rights.

So let's forget the politics and concentrate on how we can overcome this crisis as rapidly as possible, with the least short term harm to the people of Ukraine and long term harm to everyone else. Including the Russians.

You seem to take things too literally when it suits you.

There is a thin line, if any at all, between some governments and outright criminality. If governments are not run by criminals, then they are influenced by them and their money.

Putin in just one of many who operate more like mobsters. He is not trying to control planet Earth like a Bond villain, but the world is increasingly controlled by those who wish to profit legally and illegally. Politics cannot be separated from this.

You say I don't like Biden, so what? He is part of the problem. His decisions are compromised, if indeed he is even capable of making any. He is the leader of the 'free' world, and he was put there by a conspiracy of self-interested parties. Maybe Putin was pulling some of the strings.

Some, Putin's certainly, but not all.

The creeping influence of dodging funding to the Tories is something that will continue to haunt them, but I don't see any really widespread corruption as a consequence. An honour or two. Invite to sit next to the PM at a dinner. Jobs after being an MP. All happen, but I don't see the world controlled by this. It's an imperfect place but as a species we manage ourselves pretty well.

Biden served his purpose by ridding the world of Trump and restoring some decency and common sense to the WH. He assembled a team who he trusts and listens to. That's good enough for me. I would rather we have a group of experts in charge rather than a complete nut job who only trusts his own instincts.

Judging Biden on his presentational skills is like judging a book by its cover. Trump presented well, as snake oil salesmen tend to do. It's still snake oil though.