Brooks: Russia's Military Will Probably Have 'Disheartening Successes' But 'Faith Has Been Restored' in Biden

On Friday’s “PBS NewsHour,” New York Times columnist David Brooks stated that the Russian military is likely to achieve some very “disheartening successes over the next days and weeks.” But, despite this, “faith has been restored” “in the leadership of Zelensky, but also Biden,” and European leaders.

Brooks stated, “The Russian military seems to be picking up speed. They are a learning organization, just like any first-rate military. And I assume they’re going to correct early mistakes, and probably achieve some just, very, for us, disheartening successes over the next days and weeks. At the same time, there’s been a shift in consciousness. We’ve been living with a democratic recession in this world for 25 years. The numbers of democracies have been shrinking. We’ve become embarrassed and worried about our own democracy. Because of Donald Trump, because of populism, because of an ugly kind of nationalism. And I don’t think we’ve changed in our belief, but it’s diminished faith. And I would say, over the last week, thanks to the heroism of the ordinary Ukrainian people, we’ve been inspired to be convicted about our own faith again. And I think a lot of faith has been restored, faith in our leadership, faith in the leadership of Zelensky, but also Biden, German leadership, French leadership, Finnish leadership, Swedish leadership, faith in patriotism.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett