Reading the Globe & Mail's Ukraine coverage as black humour

I have long marvelled at the ability of the Globe's stable of wise men to plaster a happy face on the utter catastrophe that has befallen Ukraine. It has been beyond obvious, since at least the disastrous '23 "offensive," that this war is lost. The US lost, NATO lost, and Ukraine lost the most of all. Regardless, in the two-plus years since, almost every day sees another expert opining in the pages of the Globe, that the path to victory for Ukraine remains open. You gotta be kidding, I think to myself. I have come to the conclusion they are doing exactly that. Kidding. Pulling your leg. Joshin' you... As an example, take Mark MacKinnon's half-pager on A3 of today's paper. Mark is speculating as to how Trump's "28 point peace plan" might be recieved by Zelensky. He argues that in early '22, Zelly didn't throw in the towel when he was taking on Putin all by himself, so no way is he gonna cave when he's got Europe and Canada behind him! I know! You just want to shake your head and mumble, or perhaps shout, "get the fuck outta here!" While it's true Mark has been an indefatiguable cheerleader for Ukraine, he's not a stupid person. We know he's limited to NATO talking points. He knows we know neither Europe nor Canada have anything to offer Ukraine that could change the outcome of the war. So what's he talking about? He's joshin' us. He's pulling our legs.