Russia Threatens ‘Consequences’ Over Hersh Nord Stream Tale

6 thoughts on “Russia Threatens ‘Consequences’ Over Hersh Nord Stream Tale”

1. Good piece, Walt. Thank you. I did not know about Hersh’s views.

   There seems to be a reason for an absence of credibility on Hersh’s part, which is probably why I don’t know who he is. But as an object lesson about reputation and credibility, it’s interesting to consider the importance and value of credibility across our politics and economy.

   Who do we seek out for market perspective? Of course, we have your good words and perspectives. You share your assessments and views, and also perspectives from the likes of Mike Hartnett, Mike Wilson, etal.

   I cannot tell you how much you have helped me over the years to keep my mind and trust my own basic knowledge and evolving perspective about the economy, markets, national, and international political developments, and my hopes and dreams for peace, health, wealth, and safety.

   We’re all just seeking to grow here, no matter our background. It’s a human impulse. You have a good thing going here. I like the service augmentation with the newsletter, which I’ve elected to receive. Hope you stay well and keep this going.

   I wish for all of us to manage our way through the financial and political pitfalls that may await us this year. Not to mention the war in Ukraine and growing international tensions. I don’t get why the totalitarians get all flustered when American interests are in the news, or merely a topic of discussion. Gosh, I just want to breath and live and avoid bad investments.

2. I suppose anything is possible, but the upside for the west is pretty low compared to the downside if the US or European allies got caught blowing up Nordstrom 2. After all, Germany walked away from it anyway.

3. I could think a good reason not to have a comment section on certain posts because the trial by Media is long over . Reminds me of OJ Simpson..

4. Classy move. I remember your pieces on the Nord Stream explosion when it happened. IIRC, you were slightly aggressive and threatened to ban anyone who claimed it was the USA. It is objectively fair of you to post an article regarding the Hersh Substack. Not that you need it, but it adds to your credibility.

   Fiction or not, the Hersh piece is very interesting. It read like an old Clancy novel.

   1. It’s not so much that I want to be “aggressive” about counter-narrative as it is that I want to be careful. The problem with that sort of thing is that for every story that pans out, dozens don’t. For me, that trade off just doesn’t make sense, particularly given the composition of the readership here. The vast majority of readers come here, read the macro and market content, and then maybe peruse the socioeconomic stuff on the weekends. I have to respect that, and to me, respecting that means not getting wrapped up in stories that I have no way to verify. Sure, mainstream media outlets are wrong all the time, but at least I have some plausible deniability there — they’re supposed to do their homework. A lot of the counter-narrative emanates from people and places operating without any sort of checks. I can’t be that check. There’s not enough time in the day. So, the point of all that is just to say that in addition to my personal aversion to counter-narrative, there are practical constraints on my capacity to vet that stuff, and if I can’t vet it, I can’t publish it. It’s pretty much just that simple. I think (I hope) readers respect that.

5. Hersh’s Substack piece has a lot of claimed details. The ones that can be fact-checked aren’t holding up. For example, he claims the explosives were triggered by a sonobuoy dropped from a Norwegian P-8 aircraft on Sept 26, 2022. Norway had no operational P-8s in 2022, or even now. It ordered five P-8s, three have been delivered, the crews are training, the first Norwegian P-8 is planned to be operational in 2023.