I haven't watched the entire Tucker Carlson interview with Vlad the Impaler Putin. John did that so we don't have to. 

I have watched clips, of course, and glad they exist. Putin reputedly filibustered with a Russian novel's-length explanation of his idiosyncratic view of Russian history, and nobody needs to see that. For me the Cliff's Notes version is quite enough. 

I have watched Carlson's extemporaneous reaction video, in which he shares his first draft reaction to the 2-hour interview. Frankly, that was more interesting to me because, as an American, I live in a world of TL;DR (too long, didn't read). 

Bonus Tucker footage!

After the interview footage from Tucker Carlson on Vladimir Putin. #PutinInterview #TuckerCarlson

pic.twitter.com/XvQQcdjd41

— God JB Pricker (Parody) (@GodPricker) February 9, 2024

There's lots to chew on there. Many people have rightly noted that Tucker should have pressed harder on some of Putin's claims, although that criticism is rich coming from MSM folks who slobber over politicians whose talking points they parrot. Given CNN's absolutely disgusting sexual service of Zelenskyy (whom I think is quite good at his job and whom I generally admire, but please...), I feel like retching when I see an MSM lackey bitching about Carlson's interviewing skills. 

Beege wrote about that hot mess, and the parody video is beyond hilarious. 

What in the living clown world!!! Listen to these two 🤡 🤡 pic.twitter.com/7UAjjQUkaS

— 🕊 𝓐𝓷𝓷 𝓲𝓼 𝓡𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽 🕊 𝐗𝐋𝐕 (@Ann_Lilyflower) February 8, 2024

Tucker's reaction video gives a good window into how he (Tucker) thinks and also gives us a couple of good insights into Putin from a perspective wildly different from what we have gotten in the MSM. 

I think Tucker is right that Putin feels hurt by the West because that is exactly how every Russian leader has felt since there was a Russia. Russians' inferiority complex has been a constant, and it is based on the fact that Western leaders do indeed look down on Russia. 

Not that this is unfair--Russia has been and remains a backward country. It has been described as a "gas station with nuclear weapons," which is accurate as far as it goes. 

I would add that Russia also has a mafia, which helps run the government. But you get the idea. It has been backward forever and remains so to this day. 

If you want to understand every Russian leader (except, perhaps, Catherine the Great), all you need to do is watch this:

Now, with that said, it is important to understand that, to a degree, Putin may be telling the truth about his motives for invading Ukraine. It isn't just Putin who thinks that NATO was overstepping its bounds by expanding eastward or that we engineered the color revolution. John Mearsheimer, an eminent political scientist whose work is studied in every university in America, argues the same thing, and I don't think he is a Putin shill. 

You can argue about whether the US was acting properly in our own interest but not about whether we should have expected Russia to respond to what it predictably saw as a provocation. 

I don't think that justifies Putin's war, but it likely explains it. 

Nor do I think that either Putin or Carlson are wrong when they point out that the US government lies quite a bit. As much as I despise Putin and think his propaganda is complete BS, it's impossible to deny that the US government is pretty skilled at spreading the bulls**t. 

You don't have to side with Russia to understand that the US doesn't have clean hands when it comes to lying in its own interest. Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq, anyone? 

Nor is Tucker wrong that US interventions have gone rather badly of late. We've left in our wake a lot of disaster, and much of it harmed our own interests. Trump was the last president to leave the world much better off than he found it. 

Still, I am confident in saying that it's easy to choose the US over Russia, even with all the mistakes that we have made. Carlson's cynicism about the United States is well-earned and often right, but Russia is a million times worse. At least until jerks like Bill Kristol get their way. 

One last note: Carlson is dead right that Putin is a bad salesman for his point of view. He has the tyrant's habit of rambling on and expecting people to hang on to his every word, and his words aren't exactly compelling. Perhaps he thought that he could baffle us with bulls**t if he went on long enough, but the truth is that he was boring. 

A lot of Americans who feel betrayed by the Biden administration will look for some redeeming qualities in Putin--I have seen a few positive comments on Twitter--but that is a mistake. Putin is every bit as evil as the MSM says he is; he is a man who has his enemies thrown out of windows or murdered on the streets of DC and London. As bad as our Elites are, the West is infinitely better than Russia or China. 

I disagree with Tucker a lot, but in the end, his interview serves a good purpose. It gives us a clearer window into Putin's mind. Those who accuse him of being Putin's mouthpiece have no leg to stand on, both because Tucker didn't lick Putin's boots any more than they lick Biden's or Zelenskyy's, and, in many ways, he did much less of it. His analysis of his experience was honest and, while friendlier than mine would have been, not sycophantic. 

Of course, people are going to see what they expect to see because that is usually how our minds work. Confirmation bias is the most normal thing in the world. 

Tucker's great gift is, I think, to be less susceptible than most to confirmation bias. Whatever his flaws he, I think, genuinely does call them as he sees them. If that makes you rage when you disagree with him, that's fine. I am pretty sure Tucker would welcome that. 

But, lest we forget, Tucker would also disdain anybody who takes what he says at face value without thinking it through and listening to other points of view. That's how he arrived where he is now--a dramatically different place than he was 20 years ago. 

Sycophancy is disreputable, whether it is for Biden, Trump, Putin, or anybody else. In this world of constant propaganda the ability to think for yourself is a rare and precious commodity.