Thanks to excellent means of vulgarization, unprepared leaders (i.e., those whose minds work feebly) are taught to reason. Their on-the-job military training convinces them that what they have decided is necessary, even if temporarily bad. But it sounds bizarre whenever they attempt to explain themselves in rational terms, because their not-quite-conscious life is much richer than their vocabularies.
This unflattering inadequacy was on full display during yesterday’s press conference in Kyiv, during which Z showed that he is obviously not up to the task of controlling his emotions, far less cooking up and divulging a comprehensible strategy to extract us from the bloody mess he helped fail to avert.
Asking questions in response to questions and then answering them is a tried-and-true Lukashenko tactic and a very bad look.
One of the ugliest episodes occured 30 minutes into the performance when Z lit into Ukrainska Pravda journalist Roman Kravets, who wanted to know Ukraine’s capacity for waging war and Z’s criteria for evaluating the efficacy of the country’s top “potent” managers.
Z’s response to the first part is word salad. the second part triggered a mini hissy fit.
The president said he decided not to dismiss Deputy Head of the President’s Office Oleh Tatarov, who is in charge of coordinating the work of Ukraine’s law enforcement agencies, customs and courts, because he worked closely with State Security Service (SBU) agents to kill Chechen assassins in February 2022.
“Tatarov and [then First Deputy SBU Chief] Vasyl Maliuk were killing Chechens in Ukraine, in Kyiv, at the time. You weren’t here then. Is that enough for you? You want me to get rid of him now, so the Russians can kill him? — Z
Contrary to what Z wants us to believe, there were in fact zero organized attempts by Kadyrovite gangs in the capital to eliminate anyone. Friendly fire fuck-ups, hysteria, on the other hand, abounded. The streets of the capital were, er, empty. My recollection is lots of checkpoints, kids running around with machine guns and bad comms1.
So, what’s next?
Z says he’ll present Ukraine’s peace plan to end the war to Biden, Trump and Harris in September. By then, Russian invaders will probably have captured large swaths of the Donbas basin and we’ll using makeshift charcoal stoves on the balcony to cook dinner in Kyiv.
Meanwhile, Team Ukraine will lobby Uncle Joe to approve long-range fires at targets deep in Russia. Head of Z’s office Andriy Yermak and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov are expected to present proposals in Washington, D.C. during the coming days and weeks.
In other news, the pink blob continues to expand.
How a nation responds when things go badly can be very different to how a nation responds when things are going well. The difference can tell you whether you will win or lose.