It seems I forgot to post this the other day. Chalk it up to old age, I suppose. I hope you have watched Tucker Carlson interview Vladimir Putin by now. If you haven't, it's a must-see. Try YouTube.
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Let me begin with this disclaimer: I believe Vladimir Putin to be an irredeemable murderer and repressor.
Putin showed himself to be a genius-level student of Russian and world history. I fancy myself a dabbler in the same. I was fascinated by his recall and ability to place facts in context, back to the ninth century in Russia. What a fine professor he would be.
Regarding the Ukraine War, Putin reminded me of many facts that my government has found inconvenient to acknowledge, especially during the post-breakup years and the deliberate failure of the Minsk Accords. He also reminded me that Russia has had a willing partner, the USA, in many activities that I usually ascribe to Russia alone.
I’ve never seen anything like this interview nor ever thought I would. Tucker was at the top of his game and Putin was masterful. I consider the interview to be a major world event and I felt privileged to witness it. It was as if, say, Walter Cronkheit interviewed Stalin live on TV.
Tucker asked a lot of very tough questions about the Ukraine war. To his immense credit, Putin fielded them with knowledge, history, context and aplomb. He made it very clear that the war started in 2014, not 2022, and laid out Russia’s position very clearly. Again, history and context is everything.
I was especially interested in Putin’s thoughts about the Nazis in Ukraine. He said what I’ve been saying all along, with help from my good friend Nik-Nik. Ukraine is controlled by their own Nazi party. Zelensky is just a cute sock puppet for the West to identify with and dole out money to.
If you’re completely uninterested in Russian history (I am not) you could safely skip the first thirty minutes, but he does weave a compelling story, starting there. It should not be missed.
I wonder why Putin gave Tucker the interview. They got along famously, like two old friends over beers. I have seldom seen Putin laughing but he did so rather frequently during the second half of the interview. I can’t think of anyone, anywhere, who can hold a candle to Tucker’s journalism and insight, now or ever. He is brilliant. Putin is a genius. What a match.
Towards the end, Tucker was very pointed about an imprisoned American journalist. I think he even made progress towards a release. Of course, Putin had a very different take on the incident which he eloquently expressed. He was fully informed, so much so that I wondered if Tucker’s questions had been submitted in advance. However, I am convinced they were not. Putin is just that good.
We in the West are conditioned not to expect that from our leaders. Trump may be something of an exception but not to Putin’s level and certainly without his calm. I would give anything to witness a Tucker interview with Xi.
Finally, given a choice between Biden and Putin I would choose Putin every time. His casual ability to handle an unscripted two-hour interview by an unsympathetic interviewer was remarkable. It would have brought Biden to his knees in five minutes.
Don’t forget my disclaimer.
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