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The Ukraine crisis isn’t going away, and with recriminations on all sides making the rounds here at home, it seemed propitious to check in with Michael Anton, who, among other things, served on the National Security Council in two administrations. To say Michael is not happy with the state of play here at home is an understatement, and Lucretia and I fully join in.
It doesn’t take long for us to wander on to other territory, settling on the terminal confusion and weakness of the Republican Party establishment. But what else is new?
This first Happy Hour of Lent, however, finds two of us without whisky during this episode, though I am petitioning to have this podcast be declared an official Feast Day event, so that we can exempt future tapings from the rigors of piety.
Exit music this week is “Fool’s Overture” from Supertramp, with lyrics that are a close enough fit for our perilous moment.
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It’s good to know that the grownups are in charge.
I enjoyed this podcast. Its the first time I have seen any podcast on Ricochet to give a real response to the crisis without all the Ukrainian triumphalism that pervades on so many others here.
Just had to stop, before the podcast continued, and go to YouTube to hear the entire version of Whiskey by Street Corner Thieves. Downed three shots of Old Crow. Now ready to go blow up tanks in Ukraine, despite anything Michael Anton says!
In regards to Germany, I saw a fun joke this week. Germany: Let me get this straight. You want me to rearm, roll through Poland, and potentially attack Russia. Can we get this in writing for later?
the Priest’s lent story is much like the infamous Pazzi conspiracy-an attempt to murder Lorenzo de Medici and his brother at mass-supposedly a corrupt Cardinal tried to hire a professional hitman to kill the Medici at mass during the consecration while the body of the Lord was held aloft- but the hitman refused stating that to kill in the presence of Christ would surely lead to his eternal condemnation-his faith exceeded that of the corrupt Cardinal.
For more on Dugin:
https://centerforsecuritypolicy.org/aleksandr-dugin-putins-rasputin/
Lucretia? What’s with people horning in on my nom de plume grift? Next, I’m going to lose the yacht I’ve worked so hard for.
Give them both the credit they so richly deserve.
Biden left us vulnerable to the Putins of the world.
I was paying $3.60 a gallon before Putin’s invasion. Last night I just paid $4.60, the highest I have ever paid for a gallon of gas. (Not adjusted for inflation.)
P.S.: The average Democratic voter does have the memory span of a goldfish.
After listening somewhat soberly to the podcast.
I am in agreement with Anton on the issue of “cancellation”. I see no reason to force a statement from Russian expatriots on this issue. Live and let live, in my opinion, if, for no other reason that the Russian police state can be ruthless with family members and associates.
A definite painful issue is the aspect of a war between two ostensibly Christian nations. Much like WWI. How can this happen? Is Putin a Christian? If so, what justification can he have for the killing of his fellow Christians in the most brutal and indiscriminate manner?
Certainly, Putin, over twenty years, has had the opportunity to unleash Russian ingenuity and inventiveness amongst the riches of Russia’s vast natural resources, to create the sort of nation that people would WANT to emigrate into and WANT to ally with because of its freedom and prosperity. But that that imaginative leap has been to great for him. Does he claim that his Christianity has forced him to take the path of authoritarianism and war? If so, please explain this to a world seeking to end this war and avoid a nuclear conflagration.
Perhaps he has explained this. If so, please point me to the explanation.
I need to listen again. I’ve been a Michael Anton fan –a big one–except when I’m not. I agreed with tons of what was said but it finally sounded way too soft on Putin. He is, in fact, unnecessarily blowing up innocent Ukraine citizens and NEEDS to be condemned for doing so without any ‘nuance’. It is not ‘just happening’—there IS a finger on a button. There is a Putin hand on a lever and it’s blowing up babies in pediatric oncology hospitals (why not go for the most emotional?) I do not hate Russia. Or Russians. My Roman Catholicism doesn’t let me hate Mad Vlad—I must pray for him. But I cannot be neutral and/or bemoan what we (we?) needed to do to draw Putin’s Russia closer when Putin Vlad looked at the fall of the USSR as THE catastrophic even of the past 110 years…
We do not/did not play our cards perfectly. Never have. Other than by accident we likely never will but we did not force Putin to roll and short of OUR involving ourselves in direct armed conflict then this ‘miscalculation’ of application of economic isolation is an option.
The option?
We cannot rewind the clock. Maybe we should have disbanded NATO and not added a few former Soviet States but wishing we had not done so is ALSO not policy, especially when bombs are dropping and the Russians are hinting about their doctrine that’s OK with tactical nukes.
That old Greek philosopher, Testiclese, was right when he said politics will not ignore me no matter how much I want it to be the case. That is something Tucker Carlson has forgotten AND I AM NOT calling him or anyone else a traitor.
I could be wrong but I found this to have been a pretty disturbing hour….I am not sure what Steve or Linda/Lucrecia/Michael wanted us to take away from it.
Part 2—Did I miss Linda/Lucretia’s apologia for Trump’s outright declarative sentence,a week or two ago, that Pence DID have the absolute authority ‘to overturn the election”?
I voted for The Donald and wish he were in the WH today but he made himself unelectable with that statement—unless I once again have no choice with an even MORE unacceptable alternative.
Speaking as a Wisconsin native/local, the state of play on election fraud in the 2020 election and decertification is as follows:
Former Wisconsin State Supreme Court Justice and now State Legislature appointed Special Counsel Michael Gableman released a progress report for his investigation into 2020 election fraud a few weeks ago. This report laid out the rampant fraud in nursing homes and assisted living facilities where people who had been cognitively unable to vote for years suddenly voted again in 2020 (much to the surprise of their relatives/caregivers who have filed sworn affidavits, lawsuits, and demanded criminal investigations), the criminal involvement of Zuckerberg’s Center for Tech and Civic Life in the Wisconsin 2020 election, illegal votes cast by felons and illegal aliens, the Wisconsin Election Commission’s (WEC) failure to maintain accurate voter rolls as they are required to by law, and other irregularities. A good summary of the report can be found here.
The subject of decertification is included as an appendix in the report. The presence of this appendix gave the media an opportunity to ignore the long list of flagrant election law violations and focus on decertification as a conspiracy theory for MAGA “nuts” (the left wing view), and they (the media) took that opportunity. At this point, decertification is an academic question, a distraction from reforming Wisconsin elections for the upcoming primaries, midterms, etc., and a bit outside what Gableman’s focus should be – documenting real cases of fraud and illegality in the 2020 election to provide the basis for the Wisconsin legislature to reform and tighten up our election laws. First, however, we need to elect a Republican governor, because Evers (D) has vetoed every election bill the legislature has passed since 2020.