I don’t believe a word coming from any side in this disaster and that includes the mainstream American press and the American government.
L
Translation = "I can't think of any lie, or spin, with even a trace of plausibility, that makes Putin look good, so I will close my eyes, stick my fingers in my ears and make the world go away."
“I don’t believe a word coming from any side in this disaster and that includes the mainstream American press and the American government.”
Fair enough but you logically have to believe all sides when all sides agree. And all sides - including the Russians - say the Russians suffered a huge set back.
It is a time honored axiom of the law that statements made against interest are regarded to be highly credible because that statement runs counter to the human motivation to lie. Indeed, so persuasive are statements against interest that they are exceptions to the hearsay rule, that is, they are admitted into evidence even though not subject to cross-examination because they are universally regarded to be credible.
In the wake of this Ukrainian success we have had many statements emanating from Russian soldiers, Russian politicians, Russian generals all, in effect, statements against interest which might be regarded to be credible. That is, they all testify to the stunning effect of the Ukrainian advance and the demoralization of the Russian defenders.
One might say that we should discount any news report of any kind so therefore it doesn’t matter whether the statements are made against interest, we simply can’t believe any statement. However, there are many, many statements, one confirming the other, and everyone counter to presumed self interest. I think we can believe the overall tenor of confirming statements coming from various sources especially when they run contrary to self-interest.
I think there is much to be accepted here, taken, of course, with a grain of salt which you so wisely recommend.