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Happy Friday and not happy Victory Day (the only real Victory Day was yesterday—read my latest column to understand why).
The Next Move has been on Substack for just over a month. In that time, we’ve published more than 20 posts, hosted and participated in seven live broadcasts, (my eighth with Jim Acosta is coming up later today at 4:30 pm ET), racked up over 40,000 subscribers, and sparked plenty of lively debates.
And if you haven’t already done so, I’d encourage you to join us as a paid subscriber where you could enjoy incredible conversations like this one with General Stan McChrystal.
As always, I am reading these back-and-forths, and I’m eager to respond to as many of you as possible. Before I do, I have two questions for all of you:
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Now on to your comments.
Andrew had some thoughts on General Ben Hodges’s piece on how Europe can secure a deal in Ukraine.
I constantly repost Gen. Hodges on X & send his articles out. His take is usually spot on. Recently I've been reposting & sending to all his interview where he said "Europe has all the economic and military power to defeat russia in Ukraine". He talked about the fact that russia is weak and must be defeated.
So I don't really understand his take here that we are headed towards "peace talks" and need a "peacekeeping force". Undefeated Putin will not stop & if he did for a bit, a peacekeeping force will never deter him. Also Eur army fighting russia head on seems pretty unlikely.
Well—I agree with you that “peace talks” belong in scare quotes and that the situation is not ideal. But General Hodges is dealing with the world the way it is, not the way we wish it were. Another person who’s taking that approach: Volodomyr Zelenskyy. I’m sure the president of Ukraine wishes he had an easier partner in the White House, but he has the one whom the American people chose and that is who he has to deal with. So General Hodges’s point isn’t that a European-backed peace agreement is ideal, but how to execute that option if indeed it is the option.
Next up, our video in the Garden of Evil touched a nerve for Tai.
What sends me to an incandescent rage is in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle, there is a Lenin statue erected after someone purchased it from Slovakia or another Warsaw Pact country after the Cold War.
I had to look this one up—there is indeed a statue of Vladimir Lenin in Seattle. Who knew? Apparently back in 2017, the mayor of Seattle rightly called for the removal of both a pro-Confederate monument and the statue of the Soviet Union’s founding father. You can guess which one is still standing in that deep blue city.
Selective morality isn’t just wrong on the merits—it’s bad politics. I’m sure that the lefty Seattleites who adore their local Lenin share my alarm over the authoritarian slide taking place on Donald Trump’s watch. But their tolerance for a communist authoritarian makes their opposition to a right-wing populist one look insincere, and millions of Americans in the middle can see it.
Now, while I love to debate and politely disagree, I’m also happy when you’re happy! And happy Naima was when she watched my interview with General Stan McChrystal on effective leadership. Here’s what she had to say:
I must compliment you and the production team who made this an engaging and compelling conversation to help we the people comprehend military strategy…taking me back to my high school Civics class, where for the first time I was introduced to the concept that …”the price of freedom is eternal vigilance”….(beautiful setting, excellent photography and the addition of music made it brilliant. Thank you).
Thank you, Naima! If you want to find out why she loved the video so much and watch the full interview with General McChrystal, you’ll have to upgrade to a paid subscription.
I don’t take one kopek from your subscriptions. Everything we earn goes right back into publishing more content and supporting the work of Renew Democracy Initiative. So consider upgrading today.
That’s it for this week! I’ll see you on Monday at 5pm ET/2pm PT for our weekly Substack Live. Lots to discuss, and lots more to come!
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