There may be a lot of pro-Russia apologists at WND, but they’re not all Putin puppets. James Zumwalt used May 24 WND column to liken Vladimir Putin to the subject of the Jim Croce song “Bad Bad Leroy Brown,” declaring that in invading Ukraine, Purin “bit off more than he could chew, having started a bar fight with someone tougher. Croce’s description of Brown at fight’s end is not too dissimilar to that of Putin’s military today – looking ‘like a jigsaw puzzle with a couple of pieces gone.’ At least Brown’s fight is over; Putin’s is still ongoing.” Zumwalt went on to complain in a very WND way about this as well, noting that Russians trying to avoid getting conscripted into the war are claiming to be transgender:
Not until months later, however, did members of Russia’s legislative branch (Duma) discover a ploy some draft dodgers, perhaps preferring to remain in Russia or simply unable to get out, were using to avoid the draft. In 1997, the Duma had passed a law authorizing transgenders to change their gender identity simply by modifying it on their passport with a medical permission slip. In an ultimate slap in the face to Putin’s war, at least 3,000 Russian males have recently changed their gender identity under that law. Finally recognizing this loophole, the Duma is working on legislation to mandate more than just a gender identity declaration and medical note by requiring body-altering surgery as well.
Zumwalt further took Putin to task for botching things in Ukraine:
Putin, who came to power in 2000 as a democratically elected president, has manipulated the government machinery to basically establish an autocracy. In 2020, the country’s constitution was manipulated to keep him in power until 2036. There is no way the Russian people will tolerate this should the war in Ukraine not end soon.
The conflict now boils down to an unbending Ukrainian resolve and a tyrant’s ego. Absent a major battlefield change – such as Putin pressuring Belarus to open a new front in Ukraine – or Ukraine’s weapons suppliers withdrawing, a gambling man would bet Putin’s days are numbered. Similar to Russia’s last czar, Nicholas II, who violently learned the hard way over a century earlier, not listening to your people comes at a very high price.
Just because Zumwalt did one thing right doesn’t mean we’ve forgotten things he’s done wrong, like pushing nasty attacks against Alexandria Osasio-Cortez. He and WND also face legal peril after a Zumwalt column (which is still live at WND) promoted a far-right podcaster’s false claim that an official with voting-tech company Dominion confessed to changing vote totals and worked with Antifa; that official is suing the podcaster and others for defamation.