Kresta in the Afternoon

“Godwin’s Law” is an internet cliché that states that the longer an online argument goes, the more likely that one side will compare the other to Hitler. And now, Putin seems to have done just that. He’s attempted to justify his invasion of Ukraine by asserting that he wants to "de-Nazify" the country. Such a claim seems ludicrous, so why would he try to make it? The answer can be found in his KGB background. Paul Kengor explains why.

Donald Trump headlined the annual CPAC conference in Florida this weekend and delivered the Saturday night address. He won a straw poll as the preferred GOP presidential nominee with 59% of the vote, showing he still has strong support should he choose to run again. Michael New weighs in.

The Holy See currently has diplomatic relations with 183 nations and has the oldest diplomatic corps in the world. Francis Rooney served as the United States Ambassador to the Holy See under the George Bush administration and he joins us today with his take on the Russian invasion.

Scripture warns us against falling into the ways of The World. What does it mean by the world? And what were we created to be? Al discusses.

Nations around the world have condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with one notable exception – China. And China has also appeared to cast blame on the US and its allies for “fanning the flames.” Relations between China and Russia have strengthened in recent years – Putin was a guest of honor at the Olympics and trade between the nations grew from $10.7 billion in 2004 to $140 billion in 2021. How serious is this threat? Doug Schoen weighs in.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn was many things. A fearless champion of freedom in an age of totalitarianism. A fearless critic of Communism. A fearless critic of the modern hedonistic West. A great historian. A great novelist. A Nobel Prize winner. And we can now add to the list – a prophet. Joe Pearce tells us why.

At face value, economic sanctions seem like a great idea. They’re a way to punish a foreign power for misdeeds without bloodshed or destruction. But do they actually work? And who do they actually harm? Ben Coates has studied over a century’s work of US sanctions and gives us his analysis.

When the Soviet Union collapsed, America and its allies were full of hope that the great nation of Russia was ready to join the West in a new era of peace and cooperation. Tragically, the opposite has come to pass. What went wrong? We’ll talk with Peter Conradi.

With Russia's invasion of Ukraine underway, one local priest says that he and Ukrainian Catholics are placing their trust in God. Fr. Oleksandr Zelinskyi, director general for EWTN Ukraine, spoke with Catholic News Agency this morning. We get a report from Matthew Bunson on how Church leaders are responding

Throughout history, there are examples of the power prayer has to stop violence. Al reviews some of the examples, including when Guns fell to Rosaries in the Philippines.