The Week Magazine April 8, 2022

It’s 1938 again, and the greatest risk the West faces is not a third world war but appeasement in the face of Vladimir Putin’s aggression in Ukraine. No, it’s 1964 or 2003, and the U.S. must not again make the mistake of being stampeded into a foolish war like Vietnam or Iraq. Actually, it’s 1995, and we have a moral duty to intervene militarily to prevent further slaughter, just as we did in Bosnia. Or it’s 2011, and ousting Putin as we did Muammar Qaddafi may lead to chaos and dire unintended consequences. Take your pick. Human beings are wired to make comparisons, and in deciding how to best respond to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, it’s natural to fall back on historical analogies. But which moment in history is most…

What happened Russian bombardment of Kyiv and Chernihiv continued this week, after the Russians claimed they no longer planned to seize those cities and would “drastically reduce” attacks there “to increase mutual trust” during peace talks. Faced with a bloody stalemate in western Ukraine, Russian defense officials announced that they had completed the “first stage” of their operation by degrading Ukraine’s military capabilities, and would now turn their attention to their “main goal,” the “liberation” of the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine. The claim came after weeks in which Russian troops have been stalled outside of Kyiv and other northern cities, sustaining heavy losses and being driven back in counter-offensives. But officials in Kyiv and Chernihiv said intensive strikes on civilians continued unabated. Russian troops “spent the whole night…

What happened President Biden said this week he would make no apology for calling for Vladimir Putin’s removal, but administration officials clarified that the U.S. was not seeking regime change in Moscow. During last week’s four-day visit to Europe, Biden ad-libbed at the end of a 27-minute speech on the Russian leader’s invasion of Ukraine, saying, “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power.” Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith quickly explained that the remark in Warsaw did not imply a change in U.S. policy, and Biden later characterized his outburst as “expressing moral outrage” at Putin’s actions. But some European allies expressed unease. The British government said the Russian people should decide on their leadership, and French President Emmanuel Macron,…

When Port Austin, Mich., library director Mary Jaworski discovered a hungry, partially blind cat in her garage, she was determined to find him a good home. Jaworski shared her story with the Port Austin library board, whose members realized a cat could draw in new patrons. The community banded together to fund the cat’s shots, food, and toys and agreed to let him live among the bookshelves. Three years later, Booker Theodorus Sleeper has become a local staple, climbing into purses and greeting kids at the checkout line. In 1980, a notorious thief known as Erik the Belgian made off with six 17th-century tapestries from a church in Northern Spain. Over the years, the tapestries were recovered, but the largest was missing a 2-by-2-foot depiction of an angel cut from…

“The public has been losing faith in the Supreme Court for years,” said Elliot Williams in CNN.com. Now “the biggest current threat to the court’s legitimacy” is the extremist partisan activism of Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, wife of Justice Clarence Thomas. In 29 unhinged, conspiracy-laden text messages that were leaked last week, Thomas repeatedly urged then–White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to overturn the 2020 election. In Thomas’ messages, which Meadows turned over to the House’s Jan. 6 committee, Thomas implores Meadows to keep fighting to keep President Trump in power, claiming that “Biden and the Left is attempting the greatest Heist of our History.” That’s right, said Dan Balz in The Washington Post. The wife of a sitting Supreme Court justice called for a coup, using kooky language…

Good week for: The Russia ‘hoax,’ after former President Trump called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to release any dirt he might have on President Biden’s son Hunter. “I would think Putin would know the answer,” Trump said. Proof of collusion, after Russia claimed that Hunter Biden secretly funded biological weapons research in Ukraine. State TV host Evgeny Popov said that it’s time to change “the regime in the U.S.” and “to again help our partner Trump to become president.” Gay pride, after a same-sex couple adopted a dog that was recently dumped at a North Carolina animal shelter because his previous owner feared he might be gay. “We’ve faced the same ignorance,” said Steve Nichols, one of the dog’s new owners. Bad week for: Reproduction, after a U.S. census report…