Which mods/admins were being Power Tripping Bastards?
@PugJesus
What sanction did they impose (e.g. community ban, instance ban, removed comment)?
Community ban, comments wiped from modlog
Provide a screenshot of the relevant modlog entry (don’t de-obfuscate mod names).
Provide a screenshot and explanation of the cause of the sanction (e.g. the post/comment that was removed, or got you banned).
Unable to find comments in modlog
Explain why you think its unfair and how you would like the situation to be remedied.
I was community banned after the mod falsely smeared me as doing genocide apologia. Not just me but also the hosts of the Blowback podcast Brendan James and Noah Kulwin, as well as Noam Chomsky. According to PugJesus, we are all actually pro genocide.
Context:
In this post about the victims of the Iraq War, I shared Season 1 of the Blowback podcast as it does a phenomenal job covering the war and aftermath while humanizing the victims. PugJesus falsely smeared them as “campist cretins” to discredit the entire podcast. I pushed back.
PugJesus brought up a previous discussion where they also tried to discredit the Journalists and Podcast based on tweets. Here, as with the more recent post, pushed back.
The tweets in question:
According to PugJesus, this is evidence that Brendan James and Noah Kulwin are pro Russia and pro Ukrainian genocide. I completely disagree.
To clarify my position. I have always maintained the position that Ukraine is fighting a war of self defense and fighting for their sovereignty. I have always maintained that Putin’s war is illegal and unjustifiable; and that what Russia should do to pull out completely and enact reparations. I have always maintained that I am in complete support of supplying arms to Ukraine, same as any other people fighting against Imperialism and/or Colonialism. I also consider Putin’s invasion justifies the need of a European security pact, although I’d prefer it to be one without the US. And yes, Putin’s war is a genocide, as multiple genocide scholars have expressed.
I do not consider the US to be a benevolent and altruistic actor. Instead I consider the US to not have the best interests of Ukraine at heart; using the opportunity to expand NATO for the benefit of US Hegemony and to extract capital out of Ukraine. I believe those are worth criticizing and not remotely “genocide apologia”
The two contentious points are as follows
Has the US escalated the conflict to further its own foreign policy goals? Or is saying so genocide apologia?
From the evidence I have seen, yes the US has escalated the conflict. That does not mean Ukraine is to blame, which they aren’t. Nor does it mean Russia hasn’t escalated the situation more than the US has, which is an easy argument to make and has merit. All it means is that there are actions by the US worth criticizing as they at the expense of Ukraine.
Sources:
- Chomsky and Barsamian, In Ukraine, Diplomacy Has Been Ruled Out
- Noam Chomsky & Vijay Prashad: U.S. Must Stop Undermining Negotiations with Russia to End Ukraine War
- Senators say Israel blocking transfer of US-owned Iron Dome batteries to Ukraine
- The Russia-Ukraine Crisis: A Scorecard on Biden’s Response
Has the US used the conflict to exploit Ukraine financially? Or is saying so genocide apologia?
I think the US has certainly exploited Ukraine, in particular with the usual neoliberal model of loans and privatization via the IMF and World Bank. This is a criticism of the US and of Neoliberal economics, not of Ukraine who’s facing an existential threat.
Sources:
- Ukraine’s Debt: an Instrument of Pressure and Spoliation in the Hands of Creditors
- US corporations cash in on Ukraine’s oil and gas
- Ukraine moves closer to large-scale privatization breakthrough
Of course both these criticisms are peanuts when it comes to Trump’s complete alignment with Putin’s foreign policy aims.
I’m no expert on Russia/Ukraine, if anyone has sources I’ve overlooked please share. My main concern is the discrediting of Blowback and the Journalists who host it, who have done phenomenally detailed and sourced work on the Iraq War, Cuba, Korea, Afghanistan, and Cambodia. Likening them to “pro-genocide” is disingenuous at best and discrediting their work on that is an injustice.
You appear to want to continue your arguments here which is not the purpose of ytpb. Stick to discussing the mod actions themselves please.
Sorry, I just thought the removal of the initial comment promoting the podcast was unjustified. The removal of the others I can understand since my tone might have been out of line. I can delete the post if you’d like
Well, without the original comment it’s hard to say. But going by all the content you provided her it seems like: YDI.
Putin’s useful idiot.
YTB.
You are promoting russian propaganda about NATO expansion as a justification for the invasion. This is a key element of their overall propaganda. Ukraine was neutral before the beginning of the russian invasion in 2014.
You are also essentially supporting the notion that russia’s former colonies do not have the right to self-determination.
There is a reason that the Baltic nations and former Warsaw pact countries immediately tried to join NATO as soon as possible, because unlike you, they understand what the russians are like (going into details is out of scope for this post, but in short, decades of sociological research using a wide variety of methodologies, including ones to estimate the impact of preference falsification, show a consistent strong majority support for genocidal imperialism among the russian public).
I will also point out that russian occupation is happening in countries that were not able to join NATO (Moldova, Georgia, Ukraine).
Your attitude is indeed campist. The stuff you say about “neoliberal this and that” and “IMF” is comical in context of Ukraine’s economic development.
Can you outline your argument in a clear and specific manner in your own words? This should be simple if you aren’t merely repeating copytext.
The Brendon James quote is definitely pro-russian and de facto serves as justification for the russian invasion.
Kulwin also engages in pretty typical whataboutism style justification of russian actions. EDIT: Kulwin is associated with “Chapo Trap House”.
Did the US annex Basra, steal tens of thousands of Iraqi children and send them to re-education camps were they would be forced to write letters to US military forces involved in the annexation of Basra? Did they ban Islam and and allow only US Christian churches in the newly annexed Basra? Did they ban Arabic and send anyone caught speaking Arabic into a network of torture camps? Did the Americans systematically use castration and torture against captured Iraqi soldiers trying to stop the annexation of Basra?
Do Kulwin or James speak russian or Ukrainian? Have they ever lived in russia or Ukraine?
All I am seeing is pretty lazy repetition of russian propaganda copytext. The type that is widely used by russians as justification for all their actions.
It’s fair to not tolerate propaganda in a community, even if a user genuinely believes it or claims to be acting in good faith (which may not be true).
A username such as “Keeponstalin” is also an immediate red flag.
I have always maintained the position that Ukraine is fighting a war of self defense and fighting for their sovereignty. I have always maintained that Putin’s war is illegal and unjustifiable; and that what Russia should do to pull out completely and enact reparations. I have always maintained that I am in complete support of supplying arms to Ukraine, same as any other people fighting against Imperialism and/or Colonialism. I also consider Putin’s invasion justifies the need of a European security pact, although I’d prefer it to be one without the US. And yes, Putin’s war is a genocide, as multiple genocide scholars have expressed.
The user does exactly what you asked the user to do??
I have always maintained the position that Ukraine is fighting a war of self defense and fighting for their sovereignty. I have always maintained that Putin’s war is illegal and unjustifiable; and that what Russia should do to pull out completely and enact reparations. I have always maintained that I am in complete support of supplying arms to Ukraine, same as any other people fighting against Imperialism and/or Colonialism. I also consider Putin’s invasion justifies the need of a European security pact, although I’d prefer it to be one without the US. And yes, Putin’s war is a genocide, as multiple genocide scholars have expressed.
OP claims to support Ukrainian sovereignty, but at the same time believes that Ukrainian foreign policy should be subject to a russian veto under the auspices of “no NATO expansion”.
Countries around the world are subject to member countries will it does not reduce their sovereignty that is just how this organizations work
The U.S, Germany, Belgium, Slovenia and Spain are all against Ukraine joining NATO
Russia is not a member of NATO.
Stating russia should have a foreign policy veto over Ukraine is support for russian genocidal imperialism.
You are saying that Ukrainian sovereignty in all matters should be subject to russian approval.
You and OP are supporting imperialism.
no but the aforementioned countries are and they have prevented ukraines membership into otan
there is no veto in otan you are confusing this with the united nations
i denounce the violence but i must ask you why do you call it a genocide when the international criminal court has not done so?
you are a disingenuous liar i have said nothing of the sort as there is plenty of proof that many other countries do not want ukraine in nato
russia should not have invaded ukraine, fuck putin, and how is this imperalism?
the only country trying to extract resources from ukraine is the united states
Don’t play dumb with me.
You support russian imperialism and believe the russians should have control over Ukrainian foreign policy. You admit as much by parroting russian propaganda about “NATO expansion”.
And now you are trying sow doubt about the genocidal nature of the russian invasion! Why am I not surprised?
what doubt am i sowing by calmly explaining how international politics work to someone that did not even know OTAN doesnt have veto powers? you cannot even define a basic term like “imperalism” and resort to childish insults. a sad day for western keyboard warriors
From my understanding Russia justifies the invasion by claiming NATO expansion as a major threat. That’s the complete opposite of my position. Whether NATO expansion is a threat or not, it absolutely doesn’t justify the invasion. If it is a threat, that necessitates Russia to negotiate not start an illegal invasion. The invasion only proves the need for a Western Europe security pact
Neo-colonialism has crippled and robbed practically every country in the global south, I consider it bad for it to be implemented onto any country, Ukraine included.
My argument boils down to Imperialism bad, Neo-colonialism bad
That’s not what you said in your OP. You were pretty clear in your embrace of “NATO expansion” a bring the root cause of the russian invasion of Ukraine and you also openly tried to shift the blame on the US, when the only party at blame are the russians.
Instead I consider the US to not have the best interests of Ukraine at heart; using the opportunity to expand NATO for the benefit of US Hegemony and to extract capital out of Ukraine.
Here you state that NATO expansion forced the russian to invade. You don’t say it explicitly, but I am not stupid. And this pretty standard for Western “leftist” polemics.
From the evidence I have seen, yes the US has escalated the conflict. That does not mean Ukraine is to blame, which they aren’t. Nor does it mean Russia hasn’t escalated the situation more than the US has, which is an easy argument to make and has merit.
Here you are justifying the russian invasion by claiming that the actions of the US forced them to invade. There is only one party to blame for the invasion of Ukraine and that’s the russians.
Keep in mind that most western-based pro-russian narratives typically being with “I think the invasion is bad, but…”. This is not a novel rhetorical device and it’s widely used by supporters of russian genocidal imperialism in the west.
Also, claiming anyone but Russia is guilty for “escalating the conflict” that Russia starter and is continuing and where Russia engages in genocide is, indeed, genocide apologetics.
And yes, Putin’s war is a genocide, as multiple genocide scholars have expressed.
How is the user apologizing for genocide with this clear comment?
By supporting a key element of russian propaganda; “NATO made me do it!”.
Attempting to white-wash russian genocidal imperialism (by blaming the US) is genocidal apologetics.
OP never says “NATO made me do it!” if you are going to quote please use actual words said the OP doesn’t white-wash OP explicitly denounces it
Do you realize two things can be true at the same time that Russia and the US can be criticized?
OP supports russian propaganda narratives by justifying the russian invasion by explicitly claiming the US is responsible for escalation.
The only ones responsible for the invasion of Ukraine are the russians.
You and OP are white-washing russian genocidal imperialism.
you are arguing in bad faith with this motte-and-bailey fallacy.
me and the OP are putting forth that the united states has escalated the conflict.
united states has provided ukraine with a long-range army tactical missile system that can reach deep into Russian-occupied areas – or even strike more deeply into Russia itself.
This is without a doubt an escalation, making OP’s statement true.
you are trying to conflate this with the statement, russia is responsible for the invasion, which is true.
this is why i said two things can be true at once while you consistently use ad-hominums, strawmen, motte & bailey fallacies to discuss in bad-fath
please do better
Revealing your true colours, I see.
Russians should be able to hit Ukrainian hospitals (including children’s cancer hospitals), the Ukrainian energy system and blow up major Ukrainian dams on the Dnipro.
But Ukrainians striking with American weapons is an escalation!
Such a big fucking escalation that the world ended when Ukraine hit russian territories with western weapons!
Get fucked, russian shill!
you are arguing against a strawman
From the evidence I have seen, yes the US has escalated the conflict.
Looks like a direct quote and not a strawman.
PTB but what did you expect?
You went to an instance that explicitly supports the us government and explicitly defines the us government s current state propaganda as absolute truth. Don’t do that if you don’t want to be banned for disagreeing with us propaganda.
