Mr. Rather's assessment seems entirely accurate. Anyone who knows the Uncle Remus folk tale of "Br'er Rabbit & The Tarbaby" sees the parallel of Putin & Ukraine: Having unleashed his pointless, unprovoked hubris on Ukraine, stymied, Putin cannot now either disengage from it gracefully, nor defeat it militarily, as long as the US & NATO steadfastly back Ukraine as their proxy holding the Russian bear at bay. The longer Russia bleeds, the less it is an ongoing threat to the West. Putin's imperialist takeover of Crimea was provocative enough; the West got the message.
(Lest we be tempted to gloat, the USA found itself in much the same predicament in Vietnam, and again in Afghanistan: No way to win.) Leave humiliated, or drain Russia's treasury and national pride, embarrassed personally. All bad options.)
Power politics (aka war) should always be a last resort. Putin made it his first resort, with great fanfare and hubristic declarations of a victory in 30 days. It has now passed the 500-day mark. Fellow-Communist China gave him no help when he asked for it. Russia is bleeding. More than 30,000 Russian troops have died. Putin has had to hire Soldiers of Fortune to augment his remaining Russian draftees, though thousands of them fled at the start. He has fallen back on using WWII-vintage armament. Many top Russian officers have been killed. The war is stalemated. What next? American materiel but no American lives are in the fight. No prediction when Putin will run dry, but Russia is close. already falling back on using WWII-vintage tanks, ammo & vehicles. Ukraine may be his Waterloo, which pleases NATO. Russia will emerge weakened for 20 years, without gain. Ukraine will reclaim its lost territory. A net loss for Putin lies ahead. Joe Biden is smiling. So is NATO.
To STEADY creators Dan Rather and Elliott Kirschner -
I receive frequent replies on the STEADY thread that appear to be trolls or scammers, asking me to "send a mail privately" with a gmail address link.
Since I do not ever expect either of you to ask me to do such a thing, I have been skeptical and tried to report and delete these posts.
If you are noticing this is INDEED A SERIOUS PROBLEM, please advise on what steps are being taken to screen out these fake imposters, and the advice on how we should respond to them.
Such a pile of platitudes. Citizens live their lives in total self-interest when Fourth Estate players offer nothing but air like this. Where's the BEEF?
Dan, after this past week's Supreme Court decisions, the one institution that we used to count on to be steady is on very shaky ground. Without faith in our system of laws, and in the Justice's that are supposed to interpret law against the text of the Constitution, our society will soon be lost.
The future revelations about the Trump administration, dug out by great historians, will chronicle the descent into international chaos. Trump emboldened Putin; he chose him over the American people. It seems that Trump is envious of Putin's iron fisted control over Russia. That's what makes the war in Ukraine so fascinating. Finally, there is a national leader willing to stand up to him; it is not easy to defy a dictator. Volodymyr Zelensky has what Putin does not - the support of all his people. He rules by inspiration, not by intimidation. His courage is breathtaking to witness.
The specter of nuclear war hangs heavily over the whole conflict. What will Putin do if he believes he is going to lose. Will the Russian people stand by and let him destroy the world for his vanity? Will the Russian generals and leaders take action to prevent a catastrophe?
As we get closer to the true election cycle, relations with Putin will be one of the most controversial topics. Remember the phrase "I don't see why he would be?" Is the man who was so easily duped by Putin going to be allowed back in power? Will the Republican leadership finally decide to hold him accountable? It is a shame that John McCain is no longer here. His voice would be ringing out across this land.
Too many republicans who were against Trump have voluntarily taken themselves off the national stage, in fear of Trump's power. It is incumbent on those Republicans to start speaking the truth and stop cowering. Where is their pride? Where is their sense of history and their place in it?
I am old enough to remember when the republican party stood for something. Even Nixon had a vision of his place in history. Where would our relations with China be today if Nixon thought small? Why aren't republicans having big ideas? They have replaced governing with cowering. Policy has been replaced by slogans.
These are dangerous times. We need serious men and women to step up and save our nation from ruin. God help us all if that does not happen this cycle.
Shame Trump was not in power he would have got this stopped ... no time for pussy footing and ineptitude which is what we have now... But this problem was made in the late 80s with the breakdown of the USSR .. huge shame..... we were better off with the iron curtain including China behind it ….then we would have avoided the mistake of uncontrolled globalization and the nonsense of the new world order and the UN and its crazy climate campaigns that is sure to impoverish the west. Let’s hope we get Trump or same back as soon as possible.
Outrageous that Putin is constantly being painted as the unstable boogeyman when the US is totally complicit in this Ukrainian debacle. This is a US war using Ukraine as proxy destroying the population. Several times Zelinsky wanted to sit down with Putin and the US interferred telling them they could not do this. Biden has stated in public his goal to prolong the war in an attempt to drain down Putin and hopefully cause major disruption within Russia. How do you or anybody support this viciousness and violence and all at the American public's expense. The single note narrative, as we had with Covid is a clear sign that we are being fed a propaganda narrative. People world wide are reporting more details and they are not good for Ukraine. Russia's ecnonomy is not being destroyed but the US has assaulted the economy of the NATO States. Blowing up the NORD pipelines is clearly an act of war and the US did it. Biden forcefully promised to do it and Seymour Hersch did a serious deep dive into investigating the explosion and reported the US did it. No one but brainwashed Americans believes the lie. My support goes to Kennedy who has great political understanding having grown up in the belly of the beast. I believe, given the opportunity, he will do as he says--stop the war Day 1 and it will not be with explosions and destruction.
I think Vladimir Putin wants in effect to bring back the Soviet Union. The Ukraine is most likely his first start. Putin was probably hoping he could attack other former Soviet Satellite Countries and make them part of the empire Putin seems to want to set up. The Ukrainians do not want to become a Russian dominated state. It is very possible someone in Russia might assassinate Putin if Putin keeps up this war effort in The Ukraine.
Unfortunately Putin has stopped his insurrection, he controls the govt, military, the FSB....not surprising.... Doubtful anything will change soon in Russia. How tragic for the Russians that theyre subjigated by this Evil, Fascist War Criminal. I hope someday he's gone and the Russian people can be free of Authoritarianism.
Dan, You always give us a positive but never naïve perspective in these turbulent times. I recently heard a quote by Daniel Elsburg from. 2017 interview which also captures the essence of these dangerous times: The intolerable risks we face today are as though “We are on the Titanic at full speed on a dark night through iceberg filled waters”. STEADY
Mr. Rather's assessment seems entirely accurate. Anyone who knows the Uncle Remus folk tale of "Br'er Rabbit & The Tarbaby" sees the parallel of Putin & Ukraine: Having unleashed his pointless, unprovoked hubris on Ukraine, stymied, Putin cannot now either disengage from it gracefully, nor defeat it militarily, as long as the US & NATO steadfastly back Ukraine as their proxy holding the Russian bear at bay. The longer Russia bleeds, the less it is an ongoing threat to the West. Putin's imperialist takeover of Crimea was provocative enough; the West got the message.
(Lest we be tempted to gloat, the USA found itself in much the same predicament in Vietnam, and again in Afghanistan: No way to win.) Leave humiliated, or drain Russia's treasury and national pride, embarrassed personally. All bad options.)
Power politics (aka war) should always be a last resort. Putin made it his first resort, with great fanfare and hubristic declarations of a victory in 30 days. It has now passed the 500-day mark. Fellow-Communist China gave him no help when he asked for it. Russia is bleeding. More than 30,000 Russian troops have died. Putin has had to hire Soldiers of Fortune to augment his remaining Russian draftees, though thousands of them fled at the start. He has fallen back on using WWII-vintage armament. Many top Russian officers have been killed. The war is stalemated. What next? American materiel but no American lives are in the fight. No prediction when Putin will run dry, but Russia is close. already falling back on using WWII-vintage tanks, ammo & vehicles. Ukraine may be his Waterloo, which pleases NATO. Russia will emerge weakened for 20 years, without gain. Ukraine will reclaim its lost territory. A net loss for Putin lies ahead. Joe Biden is smiling. So is NATO.
To STEADY creators Dan Rather and Elliott Kirschner -
I receive frequent replies on the STEADY thread that appear to be trolls or scammers, asking me to "send a mail privately" with a gmail address link.
Since I do not ever expect either of you to ask me to do such a thing, I have been skeptical and tried to report and delete these posts.
If you are noticing this is INDEED A SERIOUS PROBLEM, please advise on what steps are being taken to screen out these fake imposters, and the advice on how we should respond to them.
Thank you for your attention.
Getting bogus emails n comments on Steady. Can you get rid of this joker please?
Such a pile of platitudes. Citizens live their lives in total self-interest when Fourth Estate players offer nothing but air like this. Where's the BEEF?
Dan, after this past week's Supreme Court decisions, the one institution that we used to count on to be steady is on very shaky ground. Without faith in our system of laws, and in the Justice's that are supposed to interpret law against the text of the Constitution, our society will soon be lost.
The future revelations about the Trump administration, dug out by great historians, will chronicle the descent into international chaos. Trump emboldened Putin; he chose him over the American people. It seems that Trump is envious of Putin's iron fisted control over Russia. That's what makes the war in Ukraine so fascinating. Finally, there is a national leader willing to stand up to him; it is not easy to defy a dictator. Volodymyr Zelensky has what Putin does not - the support of all his people. He rules by inspiration, not by intimidation. His courage is breathtaking to witness.
The specter of nuclear war hangs heavily over the whole conflict. What will Putin do if he believes he is going to lose. Will the Russian people stand by and let him destroy the world for his vanity? Will the Russian generals and leaders take action to prevent a catastrophe?
As we get closer to the true election cycle, relations with Putin will be one of the most controversial topics. Remember the phrase "I don't see why he would be?" Is the man who was so easily duped by Putin going to be allowed back in power? Will the Republican leadership finally decide to hold him accountable? It is a shame that John McCain is no longer here. His voice would be ringing out across this land.
Too many republicans who were against Trump have voluntarily taken themselves off the national stage, in fear of Trump's power. It is incumbent on those Republicans to start speaking the truth and stop cowering. Where is their pride? Where is their sense of history and their place in it?
I am old enough to remember when the republican party stood for something. Even Nixon had a vision of his place in history. Where would our relations with China be today if Nixon thought small? Why aren't republicans having big ideas? They have replaced governing with cowering. Policy has been replaced by slogans.
These are dangerous times. We need serious men and women to step up and save our nation from ruin. God help us all if that does not happen this cycle.
Its a shame you feel that way ... I suggest you get back on your medication as soon as possible..
Shame Trump was not in power he would have got this stopped ... no time for pussy footing and ineptitude which is what we have now... But this problem was made in the late 80s with the breakdown of the USSR .. huge shame..... we were better off with the iron curtain including China behind it ….then we would have avoided the mistake of uncontrolled globalization and the nonsense of the new world order and the UN and its crazy climate campaigns that is sure to impoverish the west. Let’s hope we get Trump or same back as soon as possible.
Outrageous that Putin is constantly being painted as the unstable boogeyman when the US is totally complicit in this Ukrainian debacle. This is a US war using Ukraine as proxy destroying the population. Several times Zelinsky wanted to sit down with Putin and the US interferred telling them they could not do this. Biden has stated in public his goal to prolong the war in an attempt to drain down Putin and hopefully cause major disruption within Russia. How do you or anybody support this viciousness and violence and all at the American public's expense. The single note narrative, as we had with Covid is a clear sign that we are being fed a propaganda narrative. People world wide are reporting more details and they are not good for Ukraine. Russia's ecnonomy is not being destroyed but the US has assaulted the economy of the NATO States. Blowing up the NORD pipelines is clearly an act of war and the US did it. Biden forcefully promised to do it and Seymour Hersch did a serious deep dive into investigating the explosion and reported the US did it. No one but brainwashed Americans believes the lie. My support goes to Kennedy who has great political understanding having grown up in the belly of the beast. I believe, given the opportunity, he will do as he says--stop the war Day 1 and it will not be with explosions and destruction.
I seriously doubt this is the actual Dan Rather. Please be careful!
Always nice to know that Dan is still on the scene with his wisdom
I think Vladimir Putin wants in effect to bring back the Soviet Union. The Ukraine is most likely his first start. Putin was probably hoping he could attack other former Soviet Satellite Countries and make them part of the empire Putin seems to want to set up. The Ukrainians do not want to become a Russian dominated state. It is very possible someone in Russia might assassinate Putin if Putin keeps up this war effort in The Ukraine.
Unfortunately Putin has stopped his insurrection, he controls the govt, military, the FSB....not surprising.... Doubtful anything will change soon in Russia. How tragic for the Russians that theyre subjigated by this Evil, Fascist War Criminal. I hope someday he's gone and the Russian people can be free of Authoritarianism.
Thanks for the article Mr. Rather.
As usual, you have put into words all my worries and anxiety in a clear and concise manner. Thank you.
Dan, You always give us a positive but never naïve perspective in these turbulent times. I recently heard a quote by Daniel Elsburg from. 2017 interview which also captures the essence of these dangerous times: The intolerable risks we face today are as though “We are on the Titanic at full speed on a dark night through iceberg filled waters”. STEADY
Waging proxy war with Russia. No thanks. Utterly indefensible. "Military solutions" are like star wars. Wake up. This is the era of nukes.