Commentary Among the wise admonitions imparted to us boys at my Jesuit high school was the injunction “Seldom affirm, never deny, always distinguish.” I am not so sure about the interdiction against denial—it seems to me that there are plenty of things that call out for that—but there is a lot to be said for the celebration of making distinctions.   I wish more people were heeding that desideratum with respect to the events unfolding in Ukraine.  Unfortunately, many commentators and, urged on by an overexcited media, the public at large seem to have embraced an updated Manichaean view of the world.  It does have the virtue, or at least the character (I’m not sure it is a virtue), of simplicity.  In brief, according to this new Manichaenism, world affairs are a battle between good and evil.  Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, is evil.  Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, …