Mike

About That New York Times Article…

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There is a lot of hubub on the nets concerning the NY Times article outlining the three-year history of the relationship between the US and Ukraine militaries during the Russian invasion. It’s fascinating, and while the larger strategic issues of the war are pushed into the background in favor of tactical and operational considerations, it fills in important details. Given the length (13,000 words) and the research involved, I’m sure there is a book in the works somewhere.

Given that, there’s something strange going on.

There is little in the article that should be shocking to anyone who has been paying attention for the past three years. It doesn’t take a proverbial “leaked Signal chat” to know that we have been providing the Ukrainians not only with supply, training, and planning support but also with ISR plugged right into the kill chain. We were everything but (officially) boots on the ground.

Problems in paradise between American and Ukrainian military planners? A staple of coalition warfare. The details are interesting, but the overall tenor is not surprising

That there were opportunities on the battlefield lost through miscommunication and political meddling? These dangers are present (and realized) in every war, and it’s the mark of a general’s ability to navigate those shoals at the highest levels of policy that gives them their place in history. George Marshall was a grandmaster at it. Mark Milley, not so much.

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The Tesla Takedown

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So general thoughts:

The first is that our public discourse is media-driven.

The second is that we do not value empiricism as a public good.

Yesterday was supposed to be the “Tesla Takedown” with mass protests at hundreds of Tesla locations across the country. Were there protests? Sure. Were the size of the protests commensurate with the hype and months of build-up that Elon was some sort of crypto-Nazi helping Trump end democracy? Please. The Tesla Takedown is the “Snow White” of political action.

Now in fairness this may be the start of something bigger in the future, but they have been building this for weeks now. You have to ask, this is all they got?

We have been here before. Leading up to the 2024 election, the Left was quite vocal in stating that Trump was a modern-day Hitler (or at least Caesar) who would end democracy. Given the displays of power the Left showed in 2020, I expected something along the lines of a post-Election color revolution with massive civil unrest; swarms of green-haired librarians and school teachers with a dash of AOC and Anttifa. Nothing happened.

So that leads to the second thought from above, why did nothing happen? Why didn’t the dog bark?

The ability to reflect is a key civic virtue. The use of reason in the form of empiricism, to use experience in order to modify our mental models and understanding of the world us is not just a life tool but a necessity for any functioning society.

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Voices from a Wall

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Today is National Vietnam War Veterans Day.

I have developed a ritual that when I am in DC I try to go down to the National Mall to do two things.

The first is a visit to the Lincoln Memorial. I will stop in front of Old Abe and say my thank to him personally. I will then turn to his right where the Gettysburg Address is etched onto the north wall. I read it, reflect, but pay special attention to the final lines:

“…that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

The second is to visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

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Opening Day

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So today is Opening Day.

Well, not really. Baseball began its season last week with a two-game series between the Dodgers and Cubs in Tokyo, but you get the idea.

There are plenty of pieces out there about the day, everywhere from the umpteenth predictions to the “Does Baseball S*ck?” However, I’m not going to do a George Will-type poseur piece like “Why The Pitch Clock Violates Natural Law” or “How Federalist 68 Predicted the Free Agent Era.” Just some memories about baseball, family, and home.

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Goldberg Chipping the Signal

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In football, “chipping” is when an offensive player makes brief contact with an onrushing defender. The goal is not to halt them or apply a full-on block but to delay the other player just long enough to slow their scheme and allow the offense to make a play.

We need to remember that media people may claim to be “reporters,” but the fact that they file “stories” is closer to the real truth, which is that events are merely plot devices used to move the preferred narrative (story) along. It’s always been this way, think “Remember the Maine.”

So having gotten that out of the way, let’s deal with the unfolding story regarding how, allegedly, a media type got access to a principal’s call re: military strikes against the Houthis.

My introduction to the story came yesterday when somebody alerted me to a story in Politico. I found it strange that despite their assigning four reporters to the story, Politico was in fact only following up on a story broken by The Atlantic. Also the entire Politico story, nearly 1,000 words, was about reporting the reaction to The Atlantic. All those words, all that manpower, and they added nothing really of value.

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