I have been mystified by two apparent lefties becoming alt-right (or maybe alt-left, not sure what term to apply), Matt Taibbi and Glenn Greenwald. Taibbi for one seemed to buy into Trump’s line that the collusion with Russia was all a hoax, fabricated by Hillary and our Deep State. And they were doing it again into the buildup to Putin’s war on Ukraine, ‘splainin’ how it was all our fault and poor aggrieved Vladimir. But the scales seem to have lifted from Taibbi’s eyes (for this anyway), and his explanation is revealing:
Note to Readers, on the Invasion of Ukraine
A faceplant of my own.
Part of news and even commentary is admitting mistakes, and though I always made sure when discussing the subject to note Vladimir Putin could still invade Ukraine, I have to admit, I didn’t see this happening. Some old colleagues I trust, including some Putin-critical Russians, didn’t see it, either, but in many cases they just didn’t want to believe it, for reasons that are more understandable from their perspective. My mistake was more like reverse chauvinism, being so fixated on Western misbehavior that I didn’t bother to take this possibility seriously enough. To readers who trust me not to make those misjudgments, I’m sorry. Obviously, Putin’s invasion will have horrific consequences for years to come and massively destabilize the world.
“Fixated on western misbehavior” blinded him to others misbehavior, and explains a lot. Here is an excellent criticism by Barry Friedman of Matt that was posted on online too:
"My mistake was more like reverse chauvinism, being so fixated on Western misbehavior that I didn’t bother to take this possibility seriously enough."
Dude, this is always your problem.
You fixate on the minutia, the misstatement, and the in-artful.
You conflate Democratic overreach with Republican evil, you think every misstatement made by Rachel Maddow about the Russian investigation disqualifies her from commenting on the rot in America, you find someone who took Hydroxychloroquine and Ivermectin and didn't die or grow gills and conclude the medical crazies in our midsts aren’t that crazy and deserve respect from the CDC and 20 good minutes with Sanjay Gupta.
Matt, you are always among the smartest people in the room. Sometimes, in fact, you ARE the smartest in the room — certainly the most discriminating and less gullible.
Act like it.
As to Greenwald, reading his latest is amazing for his failing to mention the immense, gray animal in front of him that keeps blocking his view. He talks about everything except for Putin’s unprovoked murderous military aggression against a free people. His first post-outbreak of war he called it the “the war of Ukraine versus Russia”, as if they were both belligerents. Wow.