Ignorance clouds Americans’ perception of Putin and Russia

Vladimir Putin is in the news again, since Tucker Carlson did the unthinkable and went to Moscow to interview him. This has proved to be a media sensation on Elon Musk’s X, a remarkably popular gesture, but has also therefore incurred a lot of criticism.

Carlson has been accused of lack of patriotism and servility to tyrants, and worse things, typically by people who have never shown any courage or resource themselves.

Indeed, Tucker’s interview is primarily an opportunity for American media figures to say nasty, moralistic things about Putin and Russia.

Once upon a time, Putin was penning op-eds for The New York Times, back when American liberals pretended to be civilized and, therefore, to take interest in the self-understanding of their adversaries. Then Donald Trump was elected president of the United States, years of Russia hoax hysteria followed, and now, too, the war in Ukraine.

Madness has replaced intelligent curiosity and, accordingly, the massive facts of politics and war have been forgotten or buried under propaganda. But Tucker today is just the intelligent liberal of 10 years back.

Intelligent patriotism, indeed, requires understanding what’s happening in the world. The first important thing to notice is that the US has backed Ukraine against Russia, only to lose.

In moments of madness, opinions about the “ruble being reduced to rubble” were expressed by President Joe Biden, who may or may not be compos mentis nowadays. But the US has failed to create either an economic or a political alliance against Russia.

Nobody, in short, will fight, except a Ukrainian army that has proved tactically impotent and strategically mad in attempting to retake the Donbas, the far east of the country. Failure after two