In the old parable about a group of blind men trying to describe an elephant, each man can only feel a specific part of the pachyderm, and so their descriptions of it are accurate, but still fail to capture the reality.
Z’s 47-minute pow wow with Stuart was not unlike that elephant.
I got around, finally, to listening to it. Oof.
Actually, no. The interview was one more example of doublespeak incoheretism, with Z imitating an English accent in a very annoying, nasal way. He should be prohibited from giving interviews in English because it sounds like he doesn’t understand what he’s talking about.
We are all tired of political maneuvers based on blood and have a strong impression that the main thing that Z's headquarters has been concerned about in the last few months boils down to psychologically preparing the population to perceive the inevitable and difficult compromise with reality in such a way that the population would not just accept it, but would believe that this very compromise is Z's personal victory over reality.
In this case, one unfulfillable request — not supported by anything other than the president’s own wild imagination, is immediately replaced by another, just as unfulfillable and not supported by anything. Western leaders reluctantly indulge all this bullshit, occasionally pretending they are ready to fulfill some requests, but do so in a way that proves the exact opposite — none will be fulfilled sufficiently.
All the talk about Ukraine being invited to join NATO — or NATO providing security guarantees to not-yet-Russia-occupied areas of Ukraine, or the entire country — is not, er, “exploring diplomatic solutions.” It all boils down to less than exact thinking.