DL Open Thread: Friday, March 4, 2022

Former Producer For Sean Hannity Arrested For Helping Russian Oligarch.  For setting up a Russian propaganda network.  When the history of democracy’s demise is accurately written, the creation of Fox News will play an outsized role.

Oh No! Jumbo Bacteria!  And there’s–let’s just say it musically:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8n3ZiFHluMs

We’re doomed.  I–can’t go on. I–must go on.

More Rethug Senate Recruitment Failures.  There. Feel better already.

Will The Humanity Of Ordinary Russian Soldiers Save Ukraine?  Most likely wishful thinking. But still–:

Military strategists know that battles are not solely decided by the resources, capabilities, or size of an army. There is also a critical human factor: The will to fight. Do the soldiers have a clear sense of the war’s purpose? Do they believe in their commanders? In their government? Do they feel the support of public opinion back home? In short, do they have a moral justification for the use of violence that war inevitably entails, especially when that violence is against civilians?

There is no question that Ukrainians have the will to fight and have already put up a heroic resistance. The Ukrainian military has performed admirably, and civilians are joining the fight, with many Ukrainians even returning from abroad to defend the country. Ordinary unarmed Ukrainians confront Russian soldiers. They ask them why they’ve come. They get in their way, as they did in Melitopol, chanting “fascists!” and “occupants!” as a Russian convoy tried to advance. In response, Russian soldiers fired their guns into the air.

But it appears to be different on the Russian side. Indeed, what has been noteworthy about this war so far has been the confusion and ambivalence among Russian soldiers, especially in their encounters with Ukrainian civilians. A key factor in understanding how Ukraine is still standing, then, is military morale, and especially the morale of the Russian army. Do they understand what they are fighting for? How long will they be willing to follow orders?

What is becoming clear as the war in Ukraine unfolds is that the ideological ground Russia has laid for it is fragile. Russian soldiers have not been prepared for this conflict either militarily or morally. Videos of captured Russian soldiers show young men, often recent conscripts, who seem, more than anything, confused. In some cases, they say their commanders did not even tell them they were going to war. They thought they were being sent to do training exercises.