Tucker Carlson Interviews Vladimir Putin

[Moses]

3 mln views only on YouTube. 52 mln views in Twitter.

 

[Stable Genius]

[Bingo T Dog]

I was hoping they would show the Trump Pee Pee video.

[Moses]

2 hours ago, Stable Genius said:

I have bad news for you, dear:

 

[stevenkesslar]

5 hours ago, Moses said:

I have bad news for you, dear:

And I have bad news for you, dear.  

I watched the interview.  And poor Russia is stuck with an evil, lying prick who excels at turning Russian men into fertilizer in Ukraine.  Poor things!

If you take pride in the fact that people actually are concerned to know what an evil, lying, mass murderer like Putin is up to, then good for you.

It could be worse for Russia.  The US is stuck with Tucker Carlson, and the best economy in the world.  1 out of 2 ain't bad. 😉 At least you can get rid of Tucker.

And speaking of getting rid of journalists, I thought the funniest part of the interview was when poor Tucker asked whether Vlad might see it in his heart to free Evan Gerschkovitch, the WSJ journalist Murderous Vlad detained as a political pawn.  I'll quote MV directly:

Quote

We have done so many gestures of good will out of decency that I think we have run out of them.  We have never seen anyone reciprocate to us in a similar manner.

What a swell guy, that Murderous Vlad!  And what great journalism on Tucker's part, digging the truth out or MV!

And I am sure the millions of dead and displaced mothers and children of Ukraine would agree.  Murderous Vlad appears to have run out of good will and decency.  Although Vlad got one thing wrong.  Ukraine is perfectly willing to "reciprocate" his good will and decency.

Maybe that's why nobody wants to be Russian, or go to Russia.  And Russia's wonderful economy is now built around sending its men to Ukraine to become fertilizer.

Organized Tourism to Russia Drops by 90% in 2022 – Kommersant

With all due respect to Tucker, I knew all these things already.  I'll stick with the Wall Street Journal, I think.  But I'm glad Vlad enjoyed his visit with Tucker.

Oh, and me being me, have to make a final point, which the Wall Street Journal expressed accurately:

Ukraine-Israel Aid Package Clears Major Hurdle in Senate

Some GOP lawmakers join with Democrats to advance measure

The vote was 2 to 1 for Ukraine, with 17 Republicans joining all Democrats.  That happens to accurately reflect the 2 in 3 Americans who actually believe in standing by our principles, and our allies:

Quote

The poll found that 59% of respondents support U.S. military aid for Ukraine while 30% oppose it.  Support for arming Ukraine jumps even higher – up to 67% – when respondents are asked the question couched in the Reagan doctrine promising to support allies against aggressors.

Maybe when Tucker comes home he can interview our own evil, lying prick - Trump - about why he is so committed to undermining democracy, and brave people willing to die for it.

 

[stevenkesslar]

Hey, @Moses.   You're a swell guy.  Can I ask a favor?

Speaker Johnson in increasingly tough spot on Ukraine

Quote

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is in an increasingly tough spot on Ukraine, wedged between a Senate moving toward approving aid for Kyiv and House conservatives warning that any support for the U.S. ally could cost him his job.

Sad to say, my dear.  But looks like we might have a second displaced Republican House Speaker in a row.  And, no.  Don't ask me to explain it.  I'm a Democrat, and my Dad was a Reagan Republican.  So how the fuck would I know?

What with all this decency and good will in Russia, do you think maybe you could find Speaker Johnson a new home?  😉

[Stable Genius]

 

And here we have 'the base'.

[stevenkesslar]

2 hours ago, Stable Genius said:

 

And here we have 'the base'.

It's another thing Trump is unfairly maligned for.

There is tremendous diversity in the MAGA base.  

[Moses]

11 hours ago, stevenkesslar said:

I watched the interview

Judging by your hysteria for three whole posts, with letters 1 meter high, the interview hit the target, and you were burned in some places by what you saw and heard there.

To date, only on the Twitter accounts of Tucker and Musk, Putin’s interview in the English version has been watched by 210+ million people, and there are also Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese and many other versions of this interview. And then there is YouTube with tens of millions of views.

[stevenkesslar]

11 minutes ago, Moses said:

Judging by your hysteria for three whole posts, with letters 1 meter high, the interview hit the target, and you were burned in some places by what you saw and heard there.

Nah, I wasn't burned.  I certainly expect the worst from Murderous Vlad.  And I found it amusing to watch two men make fools of themselves.  Like, this is real journalism?  The world really thinks of MV as this decent guy who has simply run out of kindnesses to bestow on people?  It would make for great parody on Saturday Night Live.  If criticism of Putin were allowed in Russia.  Mostly it feels tragic.  Because all this is about millions of Ukrainians and Russians being dead or displaced, thanks to your murderous sadist.

I will tell you two things that do burn me.

George W. Bush, 20 years ago.  His pushing the Iraq War opened a Pandora's box that led to this kind of adventurism.  America invading Iraq without real cause, other than lies, laid the groundwork for Putin to do something similar once he thought he had a chance to get away with it.  That burns me.  Arguably, one could also blame Bush for pushing the idea that Ukraine should join NATO.  But Putin has actually made the best case for NATO in my lifetime.  Ask Sweden and Finland about that.  If anything, Putin makes W. look strategeric for trying to protect Ukrainians from a mass murdering sadist.

Second, Republicans today burn me.  That military aid should have gone to Ukraine last year.  The EU figured it out, fortunately.  And now Republicans looks like they are done with the bullshit and ready to put their money where their mouth is.  But it is a global embarrassment that America looks unsteady.  That said, again because of our tragic adventurism in Iraq, it's not an entirely bad thing that a lot of Americans are rethinking how much the US wants to be a warmonger.  I hope Republicans remember this the next time Republicans want to invade some country.

Why do you even care about Tucker's ratings?  Have you actually convinced yourself somehow this is a sign that Putin is winning, or will win?  

The whole things smells of desperation to me.  For sure with Tucker.  He already lost the war when he was fired for cynically pushing Trump's lies and bullshit about a stolen election, which he clearly did not believe.  So Tucker is desperate to stay relevant.  And I'm sure Putin's PR on this is that some famous American journalist came to Russia to give your murderous sadist the respect he deserves.  If this makes Vlad feel important, good for him.  He'll win his election, of course.  They don't allow real debate in Russia.  But you know that already, @Moses.

One other mistake Russia is making, perhaps, is that maybe you think you can change us.  Is that the idea here?  That would be a very American thing to do.  For Vlad to decide he will use Tucker to somehow remake us in his image.  And share Vlad's Russian values.  America tried that on Russia, too.  And democracy obviously failed in your case.  I think America and most of the world got the memo.  We're no longer trying to change you, and form real alliances.  It's now back to just containing you. 

You can have your war economy for as long as you have Vlad, or longer.  There are millions of Russian men who will unwillingly and unhappily be turned into fertilizer so Vlad and his klepto friends can be rich, powerful, and murderous.  Through his invasion, he is teaching the world what Russian values are.  Your country and people are hated.  Russia will be hated and shunned for the rest of our lifetimes.  China will buy your cheap oil and India will buy your weapons.  They aren't stupid.  But you will be hated and shunned.  The whole thing with Tucker is just a joke.  But enjoy it if it makes you somehow feel better.

 

[stevenkesslar]

1 hour ago, Moses said:

To date, only on the Twitter accounts of Tucker and Musk, Putin’s interview in the English version has been watched by 210+ million people. And then there is YouTube with tens of millions of views. 

To date, Klemen Slakonja's interview and musical performance with Vlad has gotten 53+ million views.  Who knew Vlad was so versatile?  That compares to Tucker's 10.4 million views on You Tube.  Maybe Tucker should have added some music????

You never heard of Klemen Slakonja?  Nobody else has, either.  What does it tell us that he gets 5 times as many YouTube views because he makes Putin look like an asshole to the entire world?

 

[Moses]

And again, just 3 (three) lines in just 1 (one) of my posts gave you “diarrhea” for 2 large sheets of text that no one will read (including me). Are you that unsure of yourself?

Learn to formulate your thoughts briefly. It is time of Twitter's 140 symbols, dear. 

 

[Stable Genius]

Tokyo Rose, or Lord Haw Haw.

https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2024/02/10/tucker-carlson-vladimir-putin-interview-wallace-vpx.cnn

[unicorn]

On 2/10/2024 at 5:06 AM, stevenkesslar said:

...Through his invasion, he is teaching the world what Russian values are.  Your country and people are hated....

Well, I think it's rather prejudiced to hate people due to their nationality. It would be more accurate to say "he is teaching the world what Putin's values are, and your country is hated." The Russian people really have no choice in the matter. The last and only remaining candidate to oppose the war was thrown off the ballot, as everyone knew was going to happen. I have met some perfectly nice Russians. Putin controls the press in Russia, so Russians can only hear what a great guy he is. Even if they did want to get rid of him, there is no way to do so. Putin can and does eliminate any opposition, including even expressions of disapproval.

[stevenkesslar]

On 2/10/2024 at 3:09 AM, Moses said:

Learn to formulate your thoughts briefly. It is time of Twitter's 140 symbols, dear. 

At least you have a sense of irony, @Moses.  Funny you would say that in a thread you started that glorifies Tucker sucking Vlad's cock for a few hours while Vlad rants.  Because Tucker is desperate to be relevant. And Vlad is desperate to mouth his propaganda endlessly.

6 hours ago, unicorn said:

It would be more accurate to say "he is teaching the world what Putin's values are, and your country is hated."

Yes, and no.

Yes, Vlad is the genocidal leader.   But Russians are and will be held to account for his actions. 

The Iraq War comes to mind.  I was loudly opposed to it.  And I live in a democracy.  But I was traveling all over the world at the time.  More than once natives heard me speaking English and just come up to me and said, "You fucking Americans".  I told them I thought the war was a huge mistake.  But I didn't blame them for how they felt. Iraq changed how the world viewed America and Americans.  It is the same now for Russia and Russians.

All over the planet, views about Russia have gone from bad to worse.  In 24 countries surveyed, including Mexico and Brazil and South Africa, an average of 82 % see Russia unfavorably.  That stench will be with them for a very long time.  Certainly as long as Murderous Vlad is alive and murdering.  Maybe @Moses is giddy about Tucker's interview because at least it proves somebody in the West actually likes Russia.

By the way, the same is true right now about America looking wobbly about actually standing up for our allies.  Yes, I could blame it on Trump or Republicans.  Trump is the one practically goading Putin to invade allies that don't pony up their NATO bill.  Even as Trump undercuts funding for Ukraine and makes Reagan turn in his grave about standing up for democracy and allies.  So, yes, I can blame it on a hypocritical and cruel asshole.  But it still makes my country look weak and feckless to the rest of the world.

And it's not like Russians are entirely innocent.

New Survey Finds Most Russians See Ukrainian War as Defense Against West

Turns out Russians like their strong man leader and his genocide in Ukraine about as much as Americans liked W. and his war against WMD when it started.    Meanwhile, 80 % of Russians say they are either no better off or worse off economically since the war started.  Biden actually does better than that in polls.

And it's not just that Russians will go along with the death or displacement of millions of women and children because they happen to be Ukrainian.  They don't like the Gays much, either.

Quote

A notable concern for many is the perceived encroachment of Western values on traditional Russian beliefs. For example, 68 percent express apprehension about LGBTQ influence. 

So they don't like democracy, they don't like the West, they don't like The Gays, and they are willing to go blow the shit out of another country they say is part of them.  Geez.  Wonder why the world doesn't like them?

All that said, kudos to Arnie for at least having tried a more diplomatic and empathetic approach.  I don't disagree with his point, or your point.  Putin is not "the Russian people".  But Arnie's speech didn't change their minds.  That poll above says most of them support Vlad and his genocide.  And they don't want The Gays encroaching on their Russian values.

 

[vinapu]

whole interview is just fake news, table is waaaaaay too short

[unicorn]

4 hours ago, stevenkesslar said:

... Iraq changed how the world viewed America and Americans.  It is the same now for Russia and Russians...

And it's not like Russians are entirely innocent..

No, it's not the same. Russians get all of their information from Putin. What do you think US opinion would be like if the only source of information we could access was Fox News? Intentionally putting out false information with no one to challenge it? Any reporter who dares challenge a false narrative murdered? No political challenges allowed? You don't understand what it's like to live in a dictatorship. Even just wearing a rainbow flag can get you thrown in jail. 

Yes, Putin is a despicable dictator. Most Russians are his victims, however. Any idea that they have choices is an illusion. 

[stevenkesslar]

1 hour ago, unicorn said:

What do you think US opinion would be like if the only source of information we could access was Fox News?

Actually, we know the answer to that question.  Just follow @EmmetK.  That's what a steady diet of anti-fact does.  😲

Although, that's unfair to Fox.  I watch them fairly often.  I like Brett Baier.  Chris Wallace was good.  So was Shep Smith.  So @EmmetK is more an example of what you get on a steady diet of Trump & Tucker.  @EmmetK arguably has many more choices than Russians.  But they have choices, too.  Many have of course chosen to just flee their country an its war economy.

From the article on Russian public opinion I cited above:

Quote

There is low awareness among most Russians regarding recent government crackdowns on journalists, activists, and other critics of Putin. Those who are informed express a high level of concern, with 73 percent feeling apprehensive about these reported government actions. The government oversight of personal communications is of a lesser concern, with majorities of Russians being at least somewhat comfortable in discussing opposition to Putin (59 percent) or offering criticisms of him (60 percent), both offline and on social media platforms.

Television is the primary news source, with 57 percent of Russians tuning in daily, closely followed by social media platforms at 51 percent. The use of VPNs (virtual private networks) to bypass content restrictions remains relatively low, with a mere 20 percent leveraging this technology.

So you have a point.  In Russia there is no real democracy.  Journalists who challenge Putin's power are killed.  Anyone who challenges Putin's power is killed, or sent off to Ukraine to be turned into fertilizer.  That is different.

By the way, I incorrectly hyperlinked the article about Russian pro-war and anti-LGBTQ public opinion to a different article from Pew about global opinions about Russia.  So here again is a good article about Russian attitudes, with the correct hyperlink.  Sorry about that.

New Survey Finds Most Russians See Ukrainian War as Defense Against West

1 hour ago, unicorn said:

Most Russians are his victims, however

Sorry.  We disagree.  Most Russians are going along for the ride.  The polls are very clear that they support Putin's strong man routine.  More critically, they support the genocide.  They know their people are being killed.  Putin can't stop all the protests, as vicious as he has been to his own people.  And they know that Ukrainians are being killed.  

Appealing to Russians to end the war on Ukraine is wasted breath

Quote

Ukrainian lawmaker Mykola Kniazhytskyi agrees. “It is difficult to believe any Russian sociology, but it seems that the majority of Russians support the genocide against Ukrainians,” he told POLITICO.

That's from a Ukrainian perspective, of course.  But the polls suggest he is right.  To the the degree that there is ignorance, it's the kind of ignorance that happened in Nazi Germany.  Willful ignorance.  No one in Russia in unaware of what is happening in Ukraine.

6 hours ago, stevenkesslar said:

Iraq changed how the world viewed America and Americans.  It is the same now for Russia and Russians.

 

1 hour ago, unicorn said:

No, it's not the same. Russians get all of their information from Putin.

Again, you have a point about state propaganda.  Which is what Tucker's interview was about.  Putin wants to globalize his bullshit. 

That said, I actually think this is far WORSE than what we Americans did in this century.   And the Russian people have been even more willing to have revolutions than Americans have.  So, sorry.  I don't see them as helpless victims.

With Afghanistan, the most important difference is we were attacked.  I was honestly ignorant until last year, when I was checking on polls while writing a thread here, that right after 9/11 public opinion in most countries was that the US should NOT use military means to counter bin Laden.  So with 20/20 hindsight we can say it's true that most of the rest of the world was saying to the US, "This ain't such a great idea."  But no one doubted we were attacked, or that we had to do something.  For everything fucked up about Afghanistan, what it did say to the world is that if you fuck with terrorists and let them use your nation to kill our citizens in horrific acts of terror, you will be dead.  Or living in a cave for decades.  I think the American military did some good in that lesson alone.  Even if we also fucked a lot of things up. 

The other huge difference is that lots of people - like Afghan women and girls - supported the values we were trying to defend.  We were not wantonly killing women and children, like genocidal Vlad is.  By 2022, Amnesty International was calling Afghanistan "a death in slow motion for women and girls"  under Taliban rule.  Not because the US invaded.  Because the US left.

Iraq is a much better comparison.  Most of the Establishment media was supporting the bullshit about WMD.  Like Tom Friedman and the New York Times.  So it's certainly not false to say Americans were being fed lies.  Colin Powell has said he was being fed lies.  But we wanted to believe them. 

The other massive difference is at least W. tried to make a global case, and build a global coalition.  Here's a list of all the countries that sent troops to Iraq.  Genocidal Vlad has made no effort like that.  Because he can't.  Nobody in the world believes the Jewish leader of Ukraine is a Nazi, or is sheltering Nazis.  It's all murderous bullshit.  And everyone except Tucker knows it. 

So while I can say there were plenty of Americans against the Iraq war, including me, I had parents, family members, friends and clients who believed all the mainstream media stuff about WMD and people welcoming us with roses.  No one in Russia can believe that Ukrainians are welcoming them with roses.  Everyone in Russia has to know Ukrainians hate them, and will hate them for the rest of their lives, for genocide.

[Moses]

15 hours ago, stevenkesslar said:

All over the planet, views about Russia have gone from bad to worse.  In 24 countries surveyed, including Mexico and Brazil and South Africa, an average of 82 % see Russia unfavorably.  

Yeah... exactly by this reason Brazil now visa-free country for Russians and for Mexico Russian just fill e-viza form with zero rejections, right?

You, Westerners, are so naive... you listen your propaganda and thinking what know truth. 

[Moses]

In light of the discussion of the interview, what amuses me most is how childishly naive your appeal judgments are, implanted in your heads by Western propaganda. It's not your fault, it's your problem.

You basically have no other sources of information. You receive only official information carefully filtered by the current government, and a little from opposition mouthpieces like FoxNews. The reason is banal - you don’t know languages.

For each point, I can make my personal judgment by reading both Fox and CNN in English, by reading the sources of the Ukrainian regime and the Ukrainian opposition in Ukrainian, by reading the sources of the Russian regime and the Russian opposition in Russian. I have points of view from all sides. I have base for own conclusions.

What do you have? Propaganda cliches that you repeat here month after month over and over again?

[reader]

When it comes to the Tuck (not to be confused with Vinapu’s), you have to bear in mind what he truly thinks of Trump. What he thinks of Putin we’ll have to wait on that.

From the BBC

Tucker Carlson said he hates Trump 'passionately', lawsuit reveals

Fox News host Tucker Carlson said in a text message after the 2020 election that he "passionately hated" Donald Trump, according to new court filings.

Mr Carlson's message to a colleague in January 2021 emerged as part of a defamation lawsuit by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News.

The electronic voting firm accuses the network of promoting baseless claims of vote-rigging in the election.

Fox News denies defamation and says on-air comments were taken out of context. 

The latest filings in the case suggest Mr Carlson expressed his dislike of the outgoing US president two days before Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol to derail lawmakers from certifying Joe Biden's election win. 

"We are very, very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights," he wrote in a text sent on 4 January 2021. "I truly can't wait."

"I hate him passionately," he added.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64886188

[unicorn]

10 hours ago, stevenkesslar said:

Actually, we know the answer to that question.  Just follow @EmmetK.  That's what a steady diet of anti-fact does. ...

You could have just left it at that, perhaps adding "Oh, yeah. You're right--I agree." See how simple it is to be succinct? 😉

[Kostik]

10 hours ago, stevenkesslar said:

So you have a point.  In Russia there is no real democracy.  Journalists who challenge Putin's power are killed.  Anyone who challenges Putin's power is killed, or sent off to Ukraine to be turned into fertilizer.  That is different.

The United States has the largest number of political prisoners in the world. It seems that your government is afraid that someone will tell the truth to citizens in the United States. In their opinion, you are worthy only of propaganda. You have a choice - choose an old man with dementia or just a crazy old man. Wonderful "democracy". Anyone else is already in U.S. prisons

10 hours ago, stevenkesslar said:

That said, I actually think this is far WORSE than what we Americans did in this century

The genocide of civilians in Iraq, Syria, Vietnam, Korea, Afghanistan, the list can go on for a long time. The use of nuclear weapons against civilians. Oh, and it's not about Russia. It seems that the US population, which has access only to propaganda lies, approves of all this and is an accomplice to these terrible crimes against humanity. You are successfully engaged in murders and kidnappings all over the world, but your propaganda is silent about it

[unicorn]

2 hours ago, Moses said:

Yeah... exactly by this reason Brazil now visa-free country for Russians and for Mexico Russian just fill e-viza form with zero rejections, right?

You, Westerners, are so naive... you listen your propaganda and thinking what know truth. 

Propaganda only can take hold where there's no free press (such as the Russian Federation). Visa policy is obviously unrelated. Russia has a mostly "monkey-see, monkey-do" policy, wherein they simply reciprocate the other country's visa policy. FYI, few if any Western countries require so much as an e-visa for Mexico. Brazil may require visas for US citizens soon, so far wisely postponing that to take effect. Countries in green, including most Western countries, don't require a visa for Brazil.

 

[stevenkesslar]

13 minutes ago, Kostik said:

It seems that your government is afraid that someone will tell the truth to citizens in the United States. In their opinion, you are worthy only of propaganda.

Yes, obviously.   When journalists in the United States try to tell the truth about Trump or Biden, crazy shit happens.  They end up falling out of windows.  The airplane they are flying in accidentally explodes.  They accidentally end up with a bullet in their head.  Stuff like that.  Therefore, no one in the US knows the truth.  We are fed lies, 24/7.  And if we don't believe the lies we are killed.

That is what is so great about Russia.  You have total freedom of the press. As a Gay man, the freedom to be queer is incredible.  Vlad is a well known advocate of Gay marriage, for example.   In fact, Vlad's love of truth is so powerful that some weak assholes in Russia just can't stand it.  They actually flee the country.  Just because Vlad is brimming with decency and kindness, and regular Russians just can't stand to be around that much goodness and truth.

Russians blocked from fleeing country by border guards

By the way, you are the poster child for Russian propaganda.  Thank you for proving my point.  It is not even willful ignorance.  You know there is a genocide in Ukraine.  And you support it.  You're not a victim of Putin.  You are spewing out Putin's dogma.  You are willfully supporting an invasion and mass murder.