The world is reeling from brutal wars, seething conflicts that could soon explode, and the prospect of deadly weapons (not all of them physical) that are already creeping towards us. Fear of what tomorrow will bring is everywhere. During chaos and swirl, South Africa has always been strongest when it takes a high moral ground. Denouncing Russian President Vladimir Putin and his justification of Hitler's invasion of Poland is a necessary place to start.

The right-wing US media personality Tucker Carlson is a lucky man who managed to snag an "interview" with Russia's President Vladimir Putin last week. Putin's record of not giving interviews to Western journalists is still unblemished though. Carlson is no journalist (even his old employer, Fox News, admitted that) and he was, of course, lying when he claimed that no Western news outlet had ever bothered to interview Putin since the beginning of the Ukrainian war, now almost two years ago.

If you have more than two hours to spare/waste, the "interview" is here and Carlson will surely be grateful that you improved his viewing metrics -- entertainment shows depend on them.

The "interview" followed a predictable pattern: Clueless or alt-right "questions" and then Putin's lengthy lecture from his alt-history repertoire, influenced by some of the most radical, reactionary ideologues the world has ever seen.

What got me seriously worried was Putin's appreciation of Hitler, something he has echoed in the past. The New Yorker journalist Masha Gessen had the same moment of fear -- that is what happens to all of us born in the early post-World War 2 era when the wounds were still...