dan/california

Tuberville is such a rube I am honestly not sure if understands he is working for the Russians. Edit: Forgive me for adding something quite a bit later, but this is the rational place to put this. I have just realized the other thing that happened with Tuberville, There was was IMHO a right ring communication plan and talking points in place before the Putin interview to lean into Putin's attempt to undercut Western support. Carlson has more than enough MAGA connections to at least attempt something like that. I suspect many people who were cued up to say things in the same general vein as Tuberville realized the interview had been a complete failure and had the sense to simply throw the planned remarks un the trash. Tuberville, being Tuberville simply barged ahead regardless. The man would make an excellent Russian general.

This photo has never been explained, but this photo explains everything.

When the guy that owns and operates the platform is on your(Putin's) side, it is truly amazing how good your reviews can be.

THIS!

It is much worse than that, the right wing has been selling this fantasy that Putin cares deeply about the same things as an enthusiastic Fox News viewer. Putin just shredded that in in his own words. Anybody who watches this interview is wondering what PLANET Putin is from, and how can he possibly be in charge of anything. This result is so contrary to the conventional wisdom that it requires extraordinary proof. The other thing I haven't had time to work through though, is does his sample include any battles where the attempt to take the city failed? The only battles that come to mind are from Ukraine, but they might REALLY move the numbers. It seems quite possible to me that to extent that this data holds it is because no sane commander attempts to take a city unless he has overwhelming force available to do it with. The times it has been tried without massive overmatch seem a lot like sticking sensitive bits in a meat grinder.

My opinion of Carlson is unprintable, but he would have helped Putin do a vastly better job of this if he had been asked/allowed. The boring and idiotic rant Putin just subjected everyone on too was his own world view, in agonizing detail. Putin's problem is dictators syndrome, it has been so long since anyone was willing to give him honest advice, much less criticism, that he probably thinks he was fascinating for the whole multi hour spiel. This is of course also how he wound up launching a completely unnecessary war with grossly inadequate forces, lousy logistics, and one of the worst plans in human history. Edit: ...in the mud season.

It was me. One of the greater outbreaks of sanity in Pentagon history. The tech has simply left manned helicopters behind. There are smart people working frantically on phased array radars that can tell real sparrows from the carbon fiber version that is coming to kill you, You simply can't hide a full size rotor blades anymore.

The_Capt's line about the collision of certainties comes to mind. Just because it is total bleep doesn't mean they don't believe it. It is probably worth mentioning that the textbooks say that because some pet pseudo historian that Putin likes wrote them. It would fascinating to compare what they say now to what they said in 1985.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ukraine-the-latest/id1612424182?i=1000644777185 Today's Ukraine the latest has deep and nuanced look at the replacement of Zaluzny, I highly recommend it.

This is quite possibly true, but the first shot is the best shot in things like this. Whatever he does in the next one will have less impact simply because the novelty/news factor of simply hearing from him will be gone. Putin had a chance to really present/reset his case to the english speaking world. His most quotable line was that WW2 was Polands fault. So in addition to wasting a golden opportunity to reframe the war to West at large he ensured that one of Ukraines strongest and most important allies will remain such.

If he is dead? The 22 months he lasted were a gift to Ukraine.

I second this!

Three significant fires in Russia tonight. One of them a LONG way east of Moscow, That one involves a happy combination of a freight train and a gas pipeline Big fire somewhere in Moscow

He was, and Ukraine is lucky that Gerasimov and Shoigu are still in the jobs they are in. Luck is always a factor in war, but what you do with matters.

I would argue that Grant was aggressive, but not careless. His single greatest strength when he took over the Army of the Potomac was the strategic understanding that the Confederates simply could not fight a war of attrition, then he made them fight one. Which they duly lost. This is not irrelevant to Ukraine's situation now. The war in Ukraine is coming down to which side runs out of something truly important first, whether that is fuel, money, men, surface to air missiles, or, or. We have to give Ukraine enough support that they can stay in the fight until Russia finishes breaking itself. If we give them enough support that Russian casualties go from approximately one thousand a day, to three thousand a day, it will end a lot sooner.

Which was a rather large error. But once Grant figured out what was going on he did a fantastic job of not letting a mistake become a disaster. The Confederates on the other hand managed to turn early success into a fiasco that they never really recovered from.

One of the things most obscured by that fog is how much help they are getting from China. I mean it isn't zero, but is it enough to keep them in the field two longer than they would have lasted otherwise?

I have been advocating getting rid of Jake Sullivan for at least a year. His epic foot in mouth Atlantic article right before Oct-7 was the perfect opportunity for him to spend more time with his family, Biden didn't take it. As the podcast with General Breedlove I posted above makes clear, the administration has been scared of its own shadow all the way from the beginning.

I agree that the entire Russian election is pure theater, this heavy handed disqualification is merely an opening act of the play. Having said that it would not be the first time an authoritarian system made a severe miscalculation on something like this. Sometimes when you shove it in peoples face that they are nothing but sheep for the sheering it goes badly wrong. Ceaucescu's last speech being the most optimistic example. The great unhappiness when Putin took the Presidency back form Medvedev is another, although obviously the regime was able to repress that one.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/shield-of-the-republic/id1589548143?i=1000644650726 Excellent podcast, former NATO commander on the state of play. Edit: General Breedlove is THE MAN!

Sufficient unto the day, tomorrow they have to wake up and push the next step. I didn't think Schumer and McConnell could get this vote done, but now that they have I think the odds of getting out of the Senate are pretty good. The House....not sure they could name a post office at the moment, but it would literally only take three Republicans growing a spine to get this done. He explains further in a video.

Well that is the best news in weeks, McConnell had one push left in him apparently. To give Biden and Schumer credit where credit is due, hoping to get this done is why they have not already tried to go to completely irregular channels for getting stuff to Ukraine. Because once they start there is no going back, probably.

I have wondered for some time about the price setting in particular. I really think Biden could start selling Ukraine 155 shells for a dollar a piece if was willing to live with the Republicans in Congress losing their minds. It is about time to consider such measures.

There was a video months ago of a U.S. volunteer in Ukrainian service who was making up satchel charges. I distinctly remembered him saying that so far more was better, and he made them bigger every time he made more.

I have suffered permanent mental harm from this image.