José Andrés is a celebrity chef, but he’s much more than that: He’s a real hombre. The word “hombre” is particularly apt in that José Andrés is an American who began life in Spain. Throughout the current war, he has been in Ukraine, feeding people. Here, for instance, is a tweet from him. I believe that, when he returns home, he should be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
• From what I can tell, most people hate the media — except for the media they like — and that’s all right. But the media, in general, have been doing an impressive job in Ukraine. In some cases a heroic job. Those of us interested in what’s going on, and who regard it as important, owe the media a lot. That’s just what President Biden said recently: “We owe them.”
Damn right.
• Kim Holmes is a former State Department official and a former official of the Heritage Foundation. He wrote something that I thought encapsulated something important:
I don’t know how to put this more clearly, but regarding the Russian war against Ukraine, defending Ukraine and Europe against aggression is not “escalation.” It is defense. Russia’s aggression is the escalation. Why is this so hard to understand?
(In part, I think, because people don’t want to understand it.)
• For long decades, the United States did not recognize Soviet domination of the Baltic states. That is, we did not recognize the legitimacy of it. “Realists” in Washington said, “Oh, come on: We must acknowledge the facts on the ground. The Baltic states are ruled by Moscow, they are part of the Soviet Union, and that’s the way it is.” But American policy held firm — and this was greatly important to the Balts. First, for their morale, and for truth. (These were nations unto themselves.) And second, for a practical reason: Our policy of “nonrecognition” made the Balts’ breakaway easier when the time came.
We should never, ever recognize the Russian seizures of Ukrainian territory as legitimate — no matter how long it takes. No matter how long it takes to oust the invaders and occupiers. The Baltic precedent is a good one.
• I can imagine a scenario in which Moscow takes control of portions of eastern Ukraine for some time. I can imagine a situation like East Germany and West Germany: the eastern part poor and wretched and unfree — a fear society; the western part free and democratic. And, eventually — after how long? — a reunification.
• For the New York Times, Katrin Bennhold has written an article headed “The Former Chancellor Who Became Putin’s Man in Germany.” The subheading: “Gerhard Schröder, who is paid almost $1 million a year by Russian-controlled energy companies, has become a pariah. But he is also a symbol of Germany’s Russia policy.”
Yes.
I was struck by a tweet written by Timothy D. Snyder, the Yale historian: “For thirty years, Germans lectured Ukrainians about fascism. When fascism actually arrived, Germans funded it, and Ukrainians died fighting it.”
Bull’s-eye.
• Let me further commend a piece by Professor Snyder — a fascinating and learned piece, about a word: a word that Ukrainians are using. The subheading of his piece goes, “In a creative play on three different languages, Ukrainians identify an enemy: ‘ruscism.’”
• While I am in the piece-commending business, let me draw your attention to a column by Daniel J. Hannan — a piece full of “hard sayings,” to use King James Bible language. True sayings, too. Hard truths.
Hannan’s column is headed “What Ukraine has taught us about the West.” There is good news and bad news, with emphasis on the bad news. Have a taste of what Dan says about India (among other nations):
I had hoped that the largest democracy on the planet would condemn the invasion, not as a favor to the West but because of its own values. But this has not happened, either in India or in other developing states.
Next?
More shocking than India’s position has been that of Israel, which has similarly refused to criticize Putin. I am prepared to cut Israel a lot of slack. It must make its way in a tough neighborhood, faced with dangers that most of us are spared. It cooperates with Russia against extremist groups in Syria. At the same time, though, Israel’s cause is partly a moral one. We applaud it precisely because it has remained a law-based democracy in hard circumstances. That is why it is shocking to see Israel, of all nations, unmoved by war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and deportations.
I agree with him (and have written much the same).
Dan goes on to say,
If Israel is one country that should have “never again” in its DNA, Germany is another. Yet no European state except Hungary has been so unwilling to arm Ukraine or to stop buying Russian oil and gas.
Yup. Hungary is the worst, certainly in the EU. But that’s sort of taken for granted, and shrugged off (by many people). Everyone knows that Orbán and Putin are allies — de facto if not de jure. Orbán has taken several pages from Putin’s book, where the relationship between the government and the media is concerned, for example, and where the status of NGOs is concerned. But Germany? What a fiasco that has been.
• In America, Left and Right might have something to say about a tweet from Glenn Greenwald, which begins memorably: “Trump echoes Noam Chomsky in correctly pointing out that . . .” The complete tweet is as follows:
Trump echoes Noam Chomsky in correctly pointing out that the only viable, rational, humane policy toward the war in Ukraine is for the two sides to sit down with international help to find a diplomatic solution to end of this carnage and destruction:
If you would like to see Trump’s statement, find it here.
I can just picture Vlad, lying awake at night, wondering, “When oh when are the Norwegians going to call to offer mediation?” Just two sides, locked in a senseless conflict, needing cooler heads to prevail.
• One more piece, one more column, to commend — by Bret Stephens: “Why We Admire Zelensky.” So good, so clarifying. Of course, that “we” is a bit of a conceit. Some of us admire Zelensky, some of us don’t. Some writers refer to Putin affectionately: “Vladimir Vladimirovich.” First name plus patronymic indicates warmth.
Madison Cawthorn, the North Carolina Republican, said, “Zelensky is a thug. Remember that the Ukrainian government is incredibly corrupt and is incredibly evil and has been pushing woke ideologies.” Where does this young man get such things? Oh, it’s all over the place.
“You are what you eat.” That is an old expression. More and more, I’m convinced that you are the media you consume. It determines almost everything.