By Brian Jackson @Adobe Stock
What Went Amiss
Despite an anxious palaver, Russian President Vladimir Putin was not to be stopped. Tucker Carlson, during his interview with Putin, couldn’t contain the president, and God knows Vladmir certainly wasn’t going to interrupt himself.
Putin Smothers the Excitement
Tucker Carlson’s gave the first interview with the President Putin since the start of the conflict in Ukraine. The controversary and hype was under what Freddy Gray called in Spectator an “Iron Curtain” of “autodidactiem.”
Putin managed to smother the excitement of the interview under an iron curtain of his own autodidactism. It was impressive, in a mind-numbing way.
The interview began calmly, decently enough, notes Gray.
Tucker Carlson opened with a “fair” question.
“On February 22, 2022, you addressed your country in a nationwide address when the conflict in Ukraine started, and you said that you were acting because you had come to the conclusion that the United States, through NATO might initiate a, quote, ‘surprise attack’ on our country and to American ears, that sounds paranoid.
Tell us why you believe the United States might strike Russia out of the blue. How did you conclude that?”
A Seriously Glib Conversation
“Are we having a talk show or a serious conversation?” replied Putin, taking wry umbrage at Carlson’s directness. “Your basic education is in history, as far as I understand,” he added, showing he’d done a bit of homework of his own. “So if you don’t mind, I will take only thirty seconds or one minute to give you a short reference to history to give you a little historical background.”
Faux Modesty, Russian Style
Mr. Gray, questions Putin’s reply: one minute? Well, notes Gray, that was Putd Putin on the president calling himself a Christian leader. How, wondered Tucker, is Putin able to reconcile the killing and deaths?
“… Very easy …,” responded Puutin …
“when it comes to protecting oneself and one’s family, one’s homeland.”
Releasing Evan Gershkovich in’s first lie.
The president then launched into a potted, meandering, twenty-plus minute history of Ukraine, Russia, Poland, and Lithuania, from 862 AD onwards.
Poor Tucker! A less polite man might have aggressively interrupted his interviewee, but would that have stopped Vlad, the intellectual impaler? Would it heck! Tucker mumbled a couple of times about not understanding how the extended lecture was “relevant.” “I understand that my long speech is falling out of the genre of the interview… so bear with me please,” Putin said, faux-modestly. Then he went on, and on, and on.
Before Putin repeated his line that he (Putin) didn’t start the war, Tucker presse
Tucker: “As a sign of your decency, you would be willing to release (WSJ journalist Evan) to us and we’ll bring him back to the United States (?)”
Putin puffed out his cheeks in what was meant, according to Freddy, to be an outward and visible sign of feeling, before stating:
“We have done so many gestures of goodwill out of decency that I think we have run out of them.” He suggested perhaps the US and Russian secret services would come to some agreement, then insisted, against Carlson’s pleading, that Gershkovich was engaged in espionage not journalism.
Victory in Ukraine – Impossible
Tucker then asked Putin if he could (possibly) say, “Congratulations, NATO, you won. Let’s just keep the situation where it is now. A “maudlin” Putin, detailed:
“It is a subject matter for the negotiations. It would be funny if it were not so sad that this endless mobilization in Ukraine, the hysteria, the domestic problems, sooner or later it will result in an agreement.
You know, this probably sounds strange given the current situation. But the relations between the two peoples will be rebuilt anyway. It will take a lot of time, but they will heal. I’ll give you very unusual examples. There is a combat encounter on the battlefield. Here is a specific example. Ukrainian soldiers get encircled. This is an example from real life. Our soldiers were shouting to them. ‘There is no chance. Surrender yourselves. Come out and you will be alive.’ Suddenly the Ukrainian soldiers were screaming from there in Russian. Perfect Russian. Saying, ‘Russians do not surrender.’ And all of them perished.”
Putin’s Unmovable Soul
Freddy Gray reads the above as Putin not taking the fault at all: all that “heroic Slavic perishing.”
Putin concluded:
“Why are the Ukrainian authorities dismantling the Ukrainian Orthodox Church? Because it brings together not only the territory. It brings together our souls. No one will be able to separate the soul.”
