mtutiger

Not a military expert, but Mark Hertling suggested in a twitter thread that a reconstitution of their forces is going to be really hard to achieve. And success isn't guaranteed.

Isn't part of the issue though that the resources needed to accomplish these sorts of goals in a negotiated settlement would require a massive escalation from their current posture? Not to mention changes on the ground to bring order to their effort? At least from what I have read, Russian state media has been selling this entire engagement as being small scaled in nature and one that is going about successfully. Embodied in their Orwellian framing of a "special military operation" when in fact they are engaging in all pit war. My question is twofold: how do you ramp up resources (ie. More conscripts/troops) while continuing to maintain that your "special military operation" is limited in scope? How do you get whatever remaining units/equipment from the northern theater (ie Kyiv, Belarus) needed in the east when you have had logistical challenges throughout the entire conflict? Much of which will all have to take the long route from Belarus, along the Russia border to Rostov before reentering theater? That ain't gonna happen overnight. I guess my point is that, despite falling victim to sunken cost fallacy and accordingly remaining motivated, it isn't written into the stars that Russia will achieve even their secondary objectives out of this... maybe they will, but it'll require a turnaround that, this far, hasn't appeared yet.

Can he do it outside of spring? Same as it ever was lol

Wow, Campos crushed that ball

Skubal has been nasty all day, though wish he were more economical with the pitches

Skubal was nasty in that first inning....

Since it appears that April 1 has come and gone and the EU appears to have called The Paper Czar's bluff on using Euros for gas transactions, is it safe to call his threats 'empty' yet?

Poland and the Baltics leading the way, as per usual

The fact is that Ukraine, flawed as their democratic institutions may be, has consistently put in the work toward liberal democratic values. It's why the comparison to the Middle East doesn't work... they are largely making the choice on their own. Not having it forced upon them.

The answer was always obvious, but frankly too many people put too much stock into whatever line Putin and the Kremlin gives at any given moment on any given subject and that maybe blinds them to common sense. Sure, there is a historical connection between the Russian and Ukrainian people, and there are many Russian speakers in Ukraine who historically look east versus west in terms of geopolitical disposition. But we are still talking about a proud people from a sovereign land... one can maybe be inclined to look east without wishing to be invaded by their eastern neighbor. Some arguments seen before the invasion, here and elsewhere, seemed to struggle with this... people may have leanings, but they may have them within the context of a sovereign Ukraine, not within one being invaded and subjugated. Where the friends and neighbors are being slaughtered, etc. A lot of contemporaneous interviews from people in Kharkiv and east of the Dnieper that I've seen in print or in TV clip seem to back this up - suggesting that very few expected an invasion and that, once it did happen, it was a sin that would take generations for the Russian government to fix, with a prerequisite being the departure of Putin.

What an out of touch idiot

I find it unbelievable how many Reyes optimists there are, including nationally (ie. Mike Petriello). We just haven't seen anything beyond outfield depth out of him to date.... but he has a golden opportunity to prove it now. Hopefully he steps up.

It sucks that he's gonna miss time, but this could have been a lot worse... not a full break, should be back sometime in late May/early June etc.

Big Government / Big Brother Conservatism

Beyond parody... and completely trivializes the views of Ukrainians and Eastern Europeans. Who maybe see this a little differently than someone sitting in the comfort of an plush office at Columbia.

Imagine that

FWIW, Greene's injury definitely, if it is serious, definitely makes Conforto make more sense to me. If you can get him for a 1-2 year deal. What Chris I would allow is another matter obviously

Greene has left the game.... hopefully just precautionary

Hoo boy.

Aside from Ukraine, yes lol

Hard to think of a country in more of a pickle than Kazakhstan these days....

This is spot on. Anyone who enters their late 70s and early 80s slows down, it doesn't mean dementia or anything to that effect. If one wants to hit Biden on policy, that's fair game. I trust that Archie probably has valid grounds in which to do so based on the political views he seems to hold. But speculation and innuendo on dementia is pretty grotesque and trivializes something that many have to deal with in their everyday life. And within the context of a political discussion, whenever I see it, frankly, it's a marker of when to just ignore and tune someone out.

Wildly, wildly offensive on many number of levels

Peak Maggie Haberman lol

Small-d democratic leaders have to face the voters... As such they are encouraged to listen to ideas and be challenged. At least in theory anyway. Dictators surround themselves with people who are either sycophantic or are too scared to tell the truth. That's how we got here... Putin wanted this, and no one was gonna stop it.