They have a choice, they can rise up and start rioting, and once the riots get big enough the police will join and topple Putin. Most of them took Russian money to get reelected and now lie to their ignorant base that Russia is a good guy. DD
Speaking their truth to power is different ours. There's an age restriction for the Vice vid, but midway they showed a clip of a young looking male hippy/singer happily protesting for everyone's freedom. A bunch of shady spooks took him away, then took his wife for interrogation. She told vice that they threatened sexual abuse if she and his husband didn't wise up. This is after they beat the **** out of him and sexually abused him with a barbell. So yeah, go march at the streets...in Austin. Maybe not in Russia, if u know wut gud 4 u. Nah, the system in Russia is messed up even without American meddling. Putin is their leader and if we had the ability to safely shut him down, I'd assume we'd being doing the Russian people a favor. Whether they're too cursed to improve from that would be why I'm not pushing/calling for any direct involvement.
Maybe off topic, but months ago people were talking about Putin having cancer and being close to death. Any updates on that?
He's not dead. His death would be the best excuse they could use to get out of the war that nobody wanted to be in other than Putin himself, and the hard line nutcases in Russia. I have no doubt that Putin uses body doubles, and I have no doubt that they've probably done some deep fake propaganda videos using his body doubles interacting in public situations that Putin probably prefers not to expose himself to. However... dude aint dead.
The comment was made tongue-in-cheek, but who do you think is going to take the reigns once Putin dies? It's going to be those hardliners who were in Putin's inner circle who've been cheering on the war from day 1.
I'm not Russian so I don't fully understand the socio-political dynamics at play, but I suspect that Putin and his inner circle are more like how Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy use, and pander to the MAGA base than they are Trump to the MAGA base. I know Putin's pre-war speech sort of under cuts that a little bit because that surely was a true believer moment. Still I have to believe that even Putin's inner circle understands the benefits and costs to this war, and wants out just as any rational actor would want to do. Just as Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy would have wanted the MAGA January 6th mob to leave the capital, or not have come at all even though they'd certainly be happy enough to have them on their side as voters, rally supporters, or online trolls. The Ukrainian war is a higher stakes game that Putin and his inner circle are playing. You have to assume they knew the real costs and risk to the war if it didn't go perfectly, and end quick, and now understand the costs going forward. It would be deranged for them continue unless they found an out... the death of Vladamir Putin where he can be the fall guy being a gift they could use to still keep their hardcore case thinking they are on their side, but using Putin as a fall guy to blame the strategy on. Get out of the war, and still have a "hardline" leader who they think can still have support of the hardliners whose support they need, and also bring the country out of this catastrophe. Maybe I'm wrong here and they are all true believers, and not just phony believers like Kevin McCarthy. If that's the case so help us God.
Putin is a dictator. Does it matter if the Russian political elite are true believers or not? They just might be believe-enough-not-to-be-defenestrated-ers.
I would be interested to read a threat assessment that our intelligence officials surely have, but we'll likely never see. As I mentioned in my other post are these guys "true believers" or just corrupt politicians weaponizing true believers for power? Everyone thought that about Putin until the past couple years, and his delusional pre-war speech kind of put that notion to bed. Dude seems legit crazy now. His inner circle.... we'll see, but it's bad news if all of them are, and the person who will replace him is more of a true believer like replacing Trump with Steve Bannon.
IMO yes. Alot of dictators will still be able to make decisions in their best interest. It's when you get into being a dictator with delusions of grandeur where you start to justify in your mind killing your own people or mass murder or even global demise like Hitler in his final years. That's why many of the Hitler comparisons are usually unearned. Are you just weaponizing an ideology, and using brutal tactics to stay in power, and trying to create stability by force or are you blinded by destiny in your mind that literally destroying the earth, and killing everyone around you including yourself is worth it for some crazed legacy. Even the Taliban isn't ideological enough to be that suicidal. The question is about Putin's inner circle... If they are as delusional as Putin let off in his pre-war speech then we are in trouble.
Orwell got this - you just say that you're now at war with Eastasia instead of Oceania and everybody should go along. This actually works pretty well with our own Putinist party members here who are constantly forced to take diametrically opposed policies. Actually the Supreme Court is probably the best example of this.
Right…. And what are doing about out it besides messaging an anonymous forum? You sending Russia money? Volunteering for Russia?
Agreed. The USA and their Western allies should just let Russia roll into Ukraine and take it, and then they can take Finland and Sweden and maybe Bosnia too. Sending weapons and sharing intelligence with Ukraine isn't the same as having our troops invading Iraq or Afghanistan.
Finland and Sweden chose not to be part of NATO for their own reasons. But I completely understand. Sweden and Finland should be terrified of this mighty Russian mililtary that can't even take over half of a 3rd world country. However i completely agree. Invading Iraq and Afghanistan is not the same thing. I am not worried about Iraq or Afghanistan starting a nuclear war.
