I'm not making a ruling on their underlying intellect. Brilliant people fail to live up to their potential all the time. Judged simply by their performance, the Russian military is inept. They've lost a staggering number of men and a stupefying amount of equipment in a very short period of time while dropping bombs in civilian areas (ostensibly something professional, disciplined militaries don't do). Evil often prizes incompetence, because competence requires initiative and autonomous thought. That's the point here, and I stand by it. It's what the evidence I see from the battlefield suggests.

As for my journalistic career, I publish my screeds here because I have a day job that pays well, and I also like not having to be polite or "balanced." A journalist would have to avoid voicing opinions on the moral landscape of a murderous dictator's brain. I come here to unload, and if it's interesting to you, cool. If it's not, no skin off my teeth.