I realize that my predictive capabilities are suspect. This year in particular reminds me that it was about fifteen years ago that I predicted that 2024 would be the year that Texas “went Blue.” Ho-boy. Well, here we are in 2024. There have been other missteps, to be sure; this is just one of the most egregious that comes to mind.
Interesting you are so confident about Russia losing the war. Anecdotal evidence from priests I've talked to (Russian, Ukrainian, and Romanian) have all been telling me of how demoralizing things have gotten for Ukraine, and how international attitudes reflect a Russian rebound (even the balkan countries have hemmed and hawed about trade with Ukrainian grain, etc...).
Ah, Fr. David, you missed my sarcasm. I totally agree with you--and then some! What I said was that Putin would "lose" right up to the Dnieper River and the Moldovan border. The Dnieper flows through Kiev, and the Moldovan borner would mean they absorbed the rest of the Black Sea coastline. What I foresee from our blundering is a diminished, land-locked Ukraine, not a part of NATO. I take no satisfaction in this, merely consequences of foolish decisions by Ukraine and NATO.
Interesting you are so confident about Russia losing the war. Anecdotal evidence from priests I've talked to (Russian, Ukrainian, and Romanian) have all been telling me of how demoralizing things have gotten for Ukraine, and how international attitudes reflect a Russian rebound (even the balkan countries have hemmed and hawed about trade with Ukrainian grain, etc...).
Ah, Fr. David, you missed my sarcasm. I totally agree with you--and then some! What I said was that Putin would "lose" right up to the Dnieper River and the Moldovan border. The Dnieper flows through Kiev, and the Moldovan borner would mean they absorbed the rest of the Black Sea coastline. What I foresee from our blundering is a diminished, land-locked Ukraine, not a part of NATO. I take no satisfaction in this, merely consequences of foolish decisions by Ukraine and NATO.
Ah, good sir: what I <i>missed</i> was your geography. Someone has to feed the stereotype of the geographically-challenged American, it would seem.