This is all common sense. It is very obvious that Russia is trying to defeat the Ukrainian army with a minimum of destruction for the country. The undeniable proof is that the lights, water and sewage are still working in Kyiv and other major cities when the Russians could simply put them out with a single missile strike.

Washington is so used to getting what it wants that it can hardly believe that something may happen they can't stop. They're driving toward entering the war and convincing themselves that they can both win it in a conventional sense and somehow not wind up in a nuclear exchange with Russia over it.

Interestingly, the Pentagon is resisting the really bad ideas coming out of the administration. There have been moments in the last few years where the Defense Intelligece Agency has acted in a manner seemingly at odds with the rest of the intelligenc community and security state. One wonders what is really going in behind the scenes.

It is gratifying to see that a respected voice on the left is coming down on the side of sanity. Ukraine should be released to negotiate a peace settlement without American interference. Save Ukraine from further destruction and end the war.

We have enough problems right now and the world is about to go crazy with the supply shocks and inflation tsunami only now washing ashore. And then there's China...