Larry Asks All The Right Questions.

And he (being an Old School--this is a whole other story for Cold Warriors like me...and, well, Larry)  asks right questions, while reviewing Putin's speech. 

Joe Biden is incapable of giving a speech like this even with the help of a teleprompter. One thing that captured my interest immediately was the measured tone of the speech (it was broadcast live on RT this morning). Vladimir Putin neither ranted nor raved. He was direct, concise and clear. I found his comments regarding the CIA particularly interesting:

Ah, yes, about the last phrase. How the times have changed. Read the whole thing at Larry's blog. And in this case it is the FIRST phrase which catches the attention:

I pity those U.S. intelligence officers who still have some measure of integrity and have a comprehensive understanding of Russia. Any who try to offer alternative explanations for why Putin and the Russian people are engaged in Ukraine will face strong headwinds and possible accusations of being a “Russian sympathizer.” If you believe in the maxim, “knowledge is power”, then the United States is now entering a phase of being powerless. Ignorance and ideological fanaticism in the intelligence community is a recipe for disaster.

I do pity them too, because their fate is unenviable because you have to face your conscientiousness--it is hard, believe me. Integrity is hard, very hard. Larry can tell you a story of that, because he faced it. That is why he is an Old School. We, in the USSR, respected Old School. Many of them were good, really good, from war to intel.