Putin is responsible for Putin's decisions, the western empire is responsible for the western empire's decisions. Putin is responsible for choosing to invade, the western empire is responsible for choosing the actions which led to that decision. Not complicated.
It's the Russian people's job to hold their leaders to account, and it's our job to hold our leaders to account. The western empire could end this anytime and pursue de-escalation and detente. It's choosing not to. That choice is costing lives and leading us toward nuclear war.
You have power. If you choose to impotently masturbate your emotions about Putin rather than choosing to exercise that power by calling on your own leaders to turn away from this destructive path, then the consequences of that decision are, to some extent, on you.
And before mindless automatons run in here comparing the most powerful empire in human history to rape survivors and abuse victims:

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More from @caitoz

Mar 8
We don't make a big enough deal about how MSNBC fired Phil Donahue for not supporting the Iraq war. Couldn't ask for more damning evidence that mass media institutions care about ratings and propaganda and not truth or facts or holding the powerful to account.
Corporate media have every incentive to beat the drums of war as loud as possible 24/7, from ratings to maintaining access to government officials to defending the status quo their plutocratic owners have built their kingdoms upon.
Anyone who wants to make money in news media now knows that in order to do that you've got to consistently demonstrate that you will always promote the interests of the oligarchic empire at every opportunity. Donahue didn't play the game.
Read 4 tweets
Mar 7
Again: pouring weapons into Ukraine is not how you save lives. You save lives by accepting Russia's conditions. Pouring weapons into Ukraine is how you try to draw Moscow into a long, bloody insurgency like the US did in Afghanistan and Syria which will cost thousands more lives.
These demands will be met whether Kyiv agrees to them or not. Only difference is agreeing to them now saves thousands of lives. Kyiv cannot stop Russia. Whether Russia is dumb enough to be drawn into fighting an empire-backed insurgency is another matter.
Do you sincerely believe Ukrainian mothers are willing to sacrifice their sons to keep Crimea and the Donbas and future NATO membership? Do you? Do you really? Because that sounds like something an empire and its puppet regime would want, not them.
Read 5 tweets
Mar 7
We Ended It All Out Of Boredom

In the end we went the way of the dinosaur
not because of any asteroid or apocalyptic disease,
nor because we failed to adapt quickly enough to environmental changes,
but because we got bored.
caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/we-ended-it-…
We let the bastards (who were just as bored as the rest of us)
wave their warheads around like dongs at a bachelorette party,
even egging them on, calling for starvation sanctions
and no-fly zones and endless escalations in brinkmanship,
because there was nothing new on Hulu,
because CNN needed the ratings,
because they canceled Jerry Springer,
because they don't let you smoke anywhere these days,
because snarling at Putin made us feel giddy and euphoric
in a way we didn't quite understand but kind of scared us,
Read 11 tweets
Mar 7
When you refuse to fully examine your western privilege, defence will look like an attack.
When you refuse to examine your western privilege, you can talk about your trauma all the damn day long while inflicting vast amounts of trauma on families in the name of "not giving in" to Putin.
When you refuse to examine your western privilege, you can claim a country on the other side of the world that you didn't know the name of last week is something you're willing to blow the world up for in order not to "give up", like it was ever "yours" in the first place.
Read 7 tweets
Mar 5
Expect an even greater wave of demands for NATO intervention in Ukraine as all the propaganda about the brave sexy comedian kicking Putin's ass crumbles before the eyes of western shitlibs everywhere and reality comes crashing in.
Read 6 tweets
Mar 4
Whenever I talk about the frightening escalation in censorship and propaganda we're seeing in the west I get people telling me that Russia is censoring and propagandizing even worse. Like "We're a bit better than Russia!" is a sane response to this assault on truth and freedom.
If you feel the need to restrict and manipulate people's speech, even if what they're saying is true, then your actions aren't based on truth. They're based on something else, like geostrategic conquest.
Everything the empire says it opposes Russia for is a lie. Everything the empire criticizes Russia for are things the empire itself does. Everything we're told is on the line in this standoff—freedom, democracy, truth, justice—are things the empire has been actively stomping out.
Read 4 tweets

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