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MAY 8, 2022

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

PUTIN SPEAKS – OVERNIGHT:  Ignore the date at the top.  It's now 4:32 a.m. ET on the morning of May 9th.  I've been following CNN's coverage of the Victory Day ceremonies in Moscow, commemorating the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945.  We have anticipated this day, one of the most important on the Russian calendar, to see if President Putin uses it to announce some new policy involving Ukraine.

Putin has just spoken.  His speech was filled with complaints about the West, and presented Russia as a victim of Western intrigue.  He promised defiance, defended Russian action in Ukraine, but gave no hint of any change in policy.  From Fox:  

Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned the West in his Victory Day speech Monday at the Kremlin, claiming that the U.S. and other countries had propped up a "threat" on Russia's borders and had even supported threats of nuclear war against his country.

"Russia has always stood up for an international system of equality," Putin said, according to a translation from the German outlet Deutsche-Welle. "We have always tried to find compromise solutions… Other countries had completely different plans."

"They have tried to attack our historical territories like the Crimea. They have threatened to use nuclear war, and the West has supported these military actions carried out in our neighborhood and that is why it was a threat we couldn't accept," the Russian president added. He claimed there was a "threat to our border."

"We have seen the military infrastructure developed," Putin claimed, mentioning "more and more international military advisors coming into the country. The country was provided with modern weapons. There was a threat that was growing day by day."

Putin condemned the U.S. by name. "The United States of America, especially after the collapse of the Soviet Union,… has humiliated not only the whole world, but also their satellite states."

"They have tried to denigrate the memory of the Second World War," he charged.

Some chest-thumping, but, so far, nothing unusual.  Of course, that could change if Putin makes another statement later today.  But he did not announce a declaration of war against Ukraine, and he did not threaten to use nuclear weapons.  Nor did he announce a ceasefire or any new negotiations.  We are left in the dark.

May 8, 2022     Permalink

THE PARENTS' REVOLT CONTINUES – OVERNIGHT:  Another proof that the revolt by American parents against public education is growing, not receding.  From Redstate: 

Saturday, school board elections were held for four suburban Fort Worth, Texas, school districts. Candidates backed by a conservative parents’ organization won all 10 seats they contested and unseated at least three incumbents.

Usually, school board elections are low-key affairs that draw scant interest. But ever since COVID, Critical Race Theory (CRT), and mainstreaming of sexual grooming in our classrooms brought the stupidity and cruelty of many school board members to public view, they have become a battleground. Once sane people saw the horror show that was the Loudoun County, Virginia, school board, they started paying attention.

Yesterday’s elections were just a continuation of the revolt over CRT  that started last year. Even though we all know it is only taught as an elective in law school and a total non-issue in school board elections, teaching children to observe racial stereotypes and judge classmates based on their skin color is deeply offensive to thinking people.

This election, like the one last year, teaches several lessons. First, if normal parents organize, they are a formidable force. Too often, we parents are too caught up in our lives to pay much attention to school board candidates. If you care about your kids and the country, pay attention.

Second, the GOP has let the label of “nonpartisan” that is attached to school board elections prevent it from endorsing candidate slates. The cretins the left slips into school board slots can only do so because they aren’t exposed.

Lastly, school board elections are critical if we are to preserve our republic. The late Andrew Breitbart was fond of saying “politics is downstream from culture” due to the conservative inclination to ignore the nutbaggery coming out of movie and recording studios. He knew that attitudes and beliefs come from the cultural context and are set in place long before the average person becomes politically aware. I would argue that “education” is also upstream from politics, and if you ignore both culture and education, you can’t pretend to be shocked when they force you to wear a face mask and social distance as they pack you into the boxcars heading for the camps.

COMMENT:  Well said.  The issue of education, fueled by appropriately irate parents, is becoming one of the most powerful issues in American politics.  The Democratic Party is heavily influenced by teachers' unions, and can do little except embrace the status quo.  Republicans won the governorship of Virginia recently largely on the issue of education, and Republicans can win all over the country if they handle education properly, and fully embrace school choice. 

May 8, 2022     Permalink  

MAY 7, 2022

FOLLOWING PUTIN – OVERNIGHT:  He's the man of the hour, or the thug of the hour.  We're awaiting the festivities in Moscow Monday that will mark the end of the Second World War in Europe.  The speculation is really flying over what Putin will announce, if anything.   Ukrainians are on edge.  From Fox:

Russian President Vladimir Putin could soon be "doubling down" in an attempt to emerge victorious in Ukraine despite the death of over 25,000 Russian soldiers and mounting economic sanctions by the international community, a senior U.S. intelligence official said.

U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns announced Saturday that Putin is optimistic about the war’s outcome despite historic losses and failed attempts to capture Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv. 

"He's in a frame of mind in which he doesn't believe he can afford to lose," Burns said during a Financial Times event in Washington, Reuters reported. "I think he's convinced right now that doubling down still will enable him to make progress."

While military experts thought the war could have swiftly ended, Ukraine’s spirit remains unbroken despite more than 70 days of combat and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has won over the help of countries around the world, helping his country’s chances in the war. 

The CIA director also said a potential loss would have devastating effects on Putin "because he staked so much on the choices that he made to launch this invasion," AFP reported.

Burns said he did not think Russia would pursue using nuclear weapons to win the war and clarified that Western intelligence efforts did not see any sign of Putin deploying them. 

We don't see, as an intelligence community, practical evidence at this point of Russian planning for the deployment or even potential use of tactical nuclear weapons," Burns said, as AFP reported.

He said intelligence services would "not take lightly those possibilities" and that the CIA would remain diligent in surveilling Russia’s interest in using nukes, according to Reuters. 

"So we stay very sharply focused as an intelligence service ... on those possibilities at a moment when the stakes are very high for Russia," he said.

COMMENT:  One element that has been somewhat overlooked is the fact that the United States Congress is remarkably united in supporting Ukraine.  This can be attributed less to the ideology of the cause than to the sheer guts displayed by the Ukrainians and the brutality of the Russian assault. The TV pictures rule much of our thinking.  In turn, American support has convinced European nations to give more aid to the Ukrainians than they'd originally intended.  Even Germany, ever sensitive to its dependence on Russian energy, has now taken a deeper plunge in aiding the Ukrainians. 

The quality of the assistance is also key.  The Javelin anti-tank missiles, supplied by both the United States and European countries, have performed brilliantly, reducing the advantage that Moscow had in armored warfare.  That advantage is being further eroded by the new arrival of the American 155-mm Howitzers, which are equipped with rocket-assisted shells and advanced targeting ability.  And it's clear that American intelligence information, probably based on satellites, has been invaluable.

But the questions remain:  Despite initial losses, what do the Russians want, and what will they accept?  Stand by.

May 7, 2022     Permalink