Sep 21, 2026 · 38 min · 8 segments
Ret. General and host of Dangerous Intellectuals Blaine Holt joins author EM Burlingame me for a open forum discussion on the current state of play as we head into the end of September and the eve of…
Blaine HoltGuestEM BurlingameGuestThat's been on my mind is what if we lost, not necessarily lost in the context of we were defeated, but what if World War II didn't go down the way it was planned? We didn't get Russia.
Germany didn't weaken Russia enough that we took Russia like we've been trying to take Russia for several centuries.
what do you – in what respect do you mean? You and I talked about this a little bit the other night, so I'm not going to sit here and try and play dumb host or anything.
And when you put this to me, it was really interesting because if you think about it – and I remember I've said before kind of a – an informal way or an ignorant way well you know Hitler looked up and he was like he was built by these guys and then he realized he was about to be betrayed and he's like you know what fuck him I'm attacking in both directions which is not particularly
but it's a it's not it's it's easy to see if you don't have the historical context you meant something far different than that when you were talking about it so give me a give me the the elevator pitch on that one dude
yeah so Where were they attacking? Where did the Germans attack when they went west? Very specific places with very specific records.
And historically, when these types of wars happen, what gets destroyed? All the property records.
that required the obviation of debts, asset seizures, the loss of titles, clear titles on assets, and really was intended to take Russia to get Russia's assets to re-collateralize.
I've spoken to people over the years and they said to me, you know, like, wouldn't it be nice if Russian military doctrine had evolved beyond just throw people at it? Right.
And it's been one of the interesting like they're willing to expend people to finish.
So we've talked about that for a very long time in the military, especially during the Cold War.
That's been on my mind is what if we lost, not necessarily lost in the context of we were defeated, but what if World War II didn't go down the way it was planned? We didn't get Russia.
Germany didn't weaken Russia enough that we took Russia like we've been trying to take Russia for several centuries.
what do you – in what respect do you mean? You and I talked about this a little bit the other night, so I'm not going to sit here and try and play dumb host or anything.
And when you put this to me, it was really interesting because if you think about it – and I remember I've said before kind of a – an informal way or an ignorant way well you know Hitler looked up and he was like he was built by these guys and then he realized he was about to be betrayed and he's like you know what fuck him I'm attacking in both directions which is not particularly
but it's a it's not it's it's easy to see if you don't have the historical context you meant something far different than that when you were talking about it so give me a give me the the elevator pitch on that one dude
yeah so Where were they attacking? Where did the Germans attack when they went west? Very specific places with very specific records.
And historically, when these types of wars happen, what gets destroyed? All the property records.
that required the obviation of debts, asset seizures, the loss of titles, clear titles on assets, and really was intended to take Russia to get Russia's assets to re-collateralize.
I've spoken to people over the years and they said to me, you know, like, wouldn't it be nice if Russian military doctrine had evolved beyond just throw people at it? Right.
And it's been one of the interesting like they're willing to expend people to finish.
So we've talked about that for a very long time in the military, especially during the Cold War.
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