You may have noticed that the shebeen has been quiet on the subject of what’s been happening in what we used to call the “Eastern Bloc.” Frankly, I’m inclined to leave the analysis to people far more qualified than I am to discuss it. Most of what I know about the modern relationship between Ukraine and Russia I learned from Timothy Snyder’s masterful Bloodlands, a book that I repeatedly had to put down while reading it. I also picked up quite a bit at the hearings into Impeachment I, when the former president* tried to get the government of Ukraine to join him in ratfcking the 2020 presidential election. Among other things, I learned that referring to it as “the Ukraine” was incorrect, at least according to Ukrainians, who, let’s face it, have the only votes that matter on the subject.
