1984Echoes

Not at the expense of a better prospect.

Oh please YES throw a racketeering (RICO) charge at Trump, Georgia. https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/signs-pointing-racketeering-charges-georgia-150743943.html

If anything... There will be depletion of Trump's aging and dying (sorry to be impolitic) supporters and a new 4-year addition of young voters who are extremely (90% rate I believe it is) anti-Trump. And of conservative voters who he got in 2020 but can NOT stomach Jan 6th (however great or few that those voters are...). He is not gaining voters, he is losing them.

Excellent thread. Excellent points. I'm buying into the ideas 100%.

Obviously killing a US Senator is beyond any acceptable red line... And deserves the harshest response possible... But just talking realistic here: There's no way killing Putin is part of that response. American policy is we don't assassinate foreign leaders. And, that's just not going to happen, even in this instance. If he ordered/ succeeded in killing a US President...? Maybe. Something to think about... But the next step down from direct assassination would be a war to eliminate the adversarial government, to include the guy at the top.... and that's not realistic either. Invade Russia? As bad a shape as they are in currently... not going to happen. What does that leave us with, as a harsh response? At the very least, this: 1) Close all Russian consulates, and kick out 100% Russian diplomats in the U.S. Kick them all out. 2) Declare Russia an International Terrorist state. Also at the U.N. We have American policies on the books that come into play when we declare a terrorist state. That's what the US does. The United Nations also has policies against terrorist states, I believe, although I'm not certain what actions they take specifically. 3) Speaking of the UN, kick Russia out of the Security Council. They've never filed the proper paperwork. They just assumed the seat when the Soviet Union dissolved. Making it exceptionally easy to do this. Have any Russian diplomat attempting to enter a Security Council meeting escorted out... by security. Preferably Ukrainian Security. In order for Russia to gain re-admittance into the Security Council, they would need to be approved by 100% of the remaining members (15 at-large I believe, plus 4 permanent after Russia's removal) and the US has a veto so... Russia will never get back in. Period. Offer up Ukraine as the new permanent member, to take the old Soviet Union permanent seat. Vladdy would love that. 4) Congress is required for an Act of War. So this won't happen. Even as near and dear as Graham was, I am certain of this, to all his fellow Senators and House critters... But they can also authorize a military response. The correct military response is: all Russian military naval vessels are fair game outside their exclusive economic zone, for retaliation. For the murder of a US Senator. So they are effectively, verboten outside the Baltic and Black Seas, and outside their Arctic coastline. This is us, not the UN. Sevastopol would be a problem to attack anyways, with potential huge loss of American lives. But their ships in Syria or Cyprus port could all be attacked/ sunk. And any ship on the open seas could be attacked/ sunk. If they want to attack back, let them try. They know they've overstepped their bounds with an American political assassination so my guess is they slink all back (submarines with nukes included) to their home ports and close shop. Effectively, they are shut out of being an international player. Not 100%. But damn near. And they would have to figure out how to get back into the good graces of the international community. Unless they prefer to become North Korea 2.0. Which means: the Russian elites would probably assassinate Putin and replace him with a new regime. So... same result but only they can do the dirty work (the Dirty Deed Done Dirt Cheap).

That's not even close to any kind of given... They do still have nukes... you know.

That's a known factor. That's why the Russians keep sending human waves at the Ukrainians. To sop up ammunition so their artillery or more experienced troops can try to take advantage. They've been doing that for at least the past 6 months or so... Great military strategy to convey to their soldiers: "Please soak up as many bullets as you can before dying. Spaceba."

This would have nothing to do with costing Putin his life. That is dependent entirely on a different set of unrelated factors. Why do you think that?

Bombing campaign. If they were actually to attempt/ succeed at pulling something like this off. My first choices would be their Syrian naval base and then Sevastopol Naval base. Turkey would object and try to block but I think we should force it (under these particular circumstances). Which is why Putin would never be so stupid as to even considering an attempt like this. They did however, put out an "arrest warrant" for Graham... (Also quite asinine.)

Insanity can be useful sometimes...

I think a release will really depend not on Schoop or on our record but... on whether Malloy or Keith can bang the door down screaming "Let me IN!!!" We'll see if the Tigers let either of them in MLB this year... But I think at the very least Malloy will break into MLB in September, if not before. Position-wise will be tricky: As I think Malloy will end up playing only some 3B, maybe some LF, and some DH. At least that's what it looks like at this point. And it says that Maton, McKinstry, and Short have to be doing well enough to cover 3B and 2B, if it is indeed Schoop that is released to make room... Just my 2 cents...

This is from the offseason thread:

Schoop's trade value is not zero. It's ABSOLUTE ZERO. No one will want him for anything. Not as a bench player, not as a pinch-hitter, or injury replacement, or anything. He is absolutely nothing at the deadline, except a potential DFA. That's what we will get for him: a DFA release.

Nope. Before the season started I said .500. My hand is up. And I'm not even embarrassed by that...

Until I say so.

Short and McKinstry are the leading Tigers' hitters by OPS. HAHAHAHAHA!!! (I actually think that's pretty cool so I'm laughing with the Tigers as much as I am at them...) But... Damn... when is Greene going to make a bid for top dog on this team...? He needs to keep putting up May-ish numbers is the short answer...

... just like their Dear Leader...

An incompetent brainless F'ing Cult at that...

The Ukrainians are short man-power and equipment, compared to the Russians... at least before the West loaded them up. But even then, they are going to be supremely cautious with their manpower to avoid casualties as best they can. That means they are going to be nothing but unconventional. When they took Kherson... they made a bunch of loud noises (basically banging pans for two months) and just allowed most Russian forces to retreat across the Dnieper River so that the forces they faced in Kherson were... depleted to say the least. That drastically reduced Ukrainian casualties and, they basically, cake-walked into Kherson. When the Ukrainians swept the Russians out of the northeast, mostly around the Kharkiv area, they had been making so much noise about taking back the south for a couple months, and allowing media to amplify that same message... that Russia moved massive amounts of men and arms out of the Donbas area and into Kherson Oblast, so that the Ukrainians northeast thrust caught the Russians with... their pants down. Right now it looks like Ukraine is trying to shape the battlefield... trying to get Russia to move men and arms to where they want them to be moved... It might not be as successful as the last two times. But: (A) Their longer range artillery strikes against ammo dumps, command posts, etc... allows them to create logistics/ supply/ maneuverability problems for the Russians. Ukraine will take advantage of that. (B) I don't see where shaping is coming in like the last two times... so it's not obvious to see where they are headed with any kind of certainty, or at least an educated guess. (C) Militarily, I see a few obvious choices: Break the land route to Crimea (by way of Zaporizhzhia to the Sea of Azov (splitting between Melitopol and Mariupol would probably be easiest)); Sweep through eastern Kherson Oblast in order to block the entrance way into Crimea.... (D) As for sending Russian Revolutionaries over the border to cause havoc inside of Russian borders... ?! I think Romad is right: it appears that it might be a novel way to force Russia into pulling invader troops back into Russia proper... essentially shaping the battlefield. And I think that meets your "unconventional" definition G2...

In other words, you voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020, and will again in 2024... if he's the nominee. Correct?

Yep. Self-admitted.

More accurately: Did you vote for Trump in 2016: Yes or no? Did you vote for Trump in 2020: Yes or no?

Break the dam.

I don't think so. I don't think they're ready for Malloy just yet (actually, it's that he is not yet ready for MLB...); I was just throwing that out there as a who would replace Schoop. My vote would be for Malloy. But I don't think they want to rush Keith either. I firmly believe if it's a race between those two, Malloy will be ready for MLB before Keith is. IMO, Malloy gets the first call-up between those two... although I don't know when that really is... September/ or after Schoop gets DFA'd? Or Ibanez returned to the minors? Or does Nevin get one more chance to try and impress in MLB...? So many questions... If I had a real guess on who replaces Schoop or Ibanez when the time comes... I think, right now and until something changes, it's: 1) Nevin 2) Malloy 3) Keith

Malloy.