It’s time for your new favorite game! It’s called “Paid Russian Shill or Prominent Western Idiot?”
Ever thought that some extremist’s bad take sounded indistinguishable from actual Russian propaganda? You might be right!
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This is probably the best explanation of why Ukrainian political dynamics developed the way they did.
Read the whole thing, highly recommended. March 17th, 2022 | 40 comments - (Comments are closed)
 It is telling that so many cosmopolitan liberal globalists now care about sovereignty for Ukraine, yet spent years telling Brits sovereignty was some kind of fascist fantasy. It’s now okay to be a ‘flag shagger’ if you’re from Lviv or [Kyiv], but not if you’re from Leeds or Kings Lynn. – Commenter Martin March 17th, 2022 | 7 comments - (Comments are closed)
The internet is awash with armchair generals (not that there’s anything wrong with being an armchair general – I am one myself) telling us that the Russian invasion of Ukraine is not going according to plan. They point out that the frontlines have barely moved in the last week, that a lot of Russian vehicles have been knocked out or broken down, that the Russian air force seems to be absent and various other things (twenty-year old rations is one of my favourites.) Some are even suggesting that the Russians might get kicked out of Ukraine. I, and I am sure most Samizdatistas, would dearly like this to be true. But the facts don’t care about our beliefs. The truth may be very different. So, if you are looking for an antedote to the narrative I would suggest checking out Task & Purpose’s YouTube on the subject. He points out that the Russians have had victories and that during the Iraq War there was a similar narrative about the allies being bogged down when they were nothing of the sort. The thing I really like about it is that he – that would be presenter Chris Cappy, an Iraq War veteran – admits that he doesn’t know what’s going on. And that’s kind of the point.
March 16th, 2022 | 27 comments - (Comments are closed)
You can look at it the other way. Putin took the Crimea. Putin promoted the break-away republics. Without him, they would not have happened. In all the similar cases, the common theme is Putin. He did the same to Georgia as he is to Ukraine. He did the same to Moldova, with Trans-Dniestr. Were all those governments also reckless? Or were they just unfortunate enough to border Russia? Putin has been consistently threatening to the Baltic states too. He even sponsored cyber attacks on Estonia. Now it is a long bow to draw that they have been reckless. No. Putin is the common theme. Nothing Ukraine did, short of bowing to his every wish, would have stopped him. They have not been reckless. They have been desperately trying to deal with a homicidal maniac over the border. Your argument reminds me of telling battered spouses that they should be more careful, rather than pointing the finger at the violent thug doing the violent things. – ‘Chester Draws’ taking to task a commenter who accused the Ukrainian government of having brought this upon themselves with ‘reckless behaviour’. March 15th, 2022 | 38 comments - (Comments are closed)
The more the war goes on, the starker the contrast between Western moral defeatism and Ukrainian resolve becomes. The buzzword in much of the Western discussion is ‘realism’. On both sides of the discussion – among both those who support Ukraine’s fightback and those who obsess to the point of sympathy with Russia’s ‘security concerns’ – there’s a belief that ‘realism’ must now prevail. Over everything. Even over Ukraine’s sovereignty. As a pro-Ukraine writer for the New Republic puts it, ‘God bless the Ukrainians’ but ‘Russia will probably overpower Ukraine’. No wonder Mr Scherba is flustered, when even Ukraine’s supposed allies are essentially saying ‘Get real’. It is clear now that ‘realism’ is a euphemism for conceding, for surrender even. Whether it’s the ‘realists’ who admire the resistance but think it is hopeless, or the ‘realists’ of international-relations theory who believe Russia’s security concerns must trump the Ukrainian longing for freedom, there’s a palpable defeatism in the discourse. Only it dare not speak its name. It calls itself ‘realism’ instead. March 14th, 2022 | 37 comments - (Comments are closed)
A no fly zone is actually pretty similar to zero covid. A nice “feel good” solution & very easy to demonise anyone who disagrees with it. But as soon as you consider the practicalities, it becomes clear that both are entirely unrealistic without huge negative consequences. March 6th, 2022 | 24 comments - (Comments are closed)
This translated twitter thread purports to originally come from an FSB source, but I cannot say if this is legit or not. If true, it is dynamite. March 6th, 2022 | 27 comments - (Comments are closed)
I have lost loads of followers over my comments on Ukraine. Victory to Ukraine! A sentiment I strongly share. March 4th, 2022 | 50 comments - (Comments are closed)
February 27th, 2022 | 32 comments - (Comments are closed)
That’s Konstantin on Triggernometry’s YouTube on Ukraine. Lots of good, thoughtful stuff on Putin, Western weakness and everything in between. Well, not so much on that country in between, you know, Ukraine which is all the more remarkable when you consider that Konstantin has Russian-speaking family there. But, as he says, he doesn’t think people in the West are particularly interested in what is best for Konstantin’s family. Update Maybe that title (see comments) should be toned down. February 24th, 2022 | 106 comments - (Comments are closed)
… simultaneously we have achieved peak insanity in the west with this:
I fear some sort of criticality is imminent. Perhaps we need a “What the actual fuck?” category. February 24th, 2022 | 34 comments - (Comments are closed)
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