Great article! To understand who Putin is is likely the most important part of understanding where America sits and how it’s respected (or not) in the global community. Since the advent of Trump though, more thought on what Putin/Russia is doing behind the scenes and how it will or does affect America and more importantly why it’s necessary to understand where the mess we are in right now comes from and why Trump is involved.
Most Americans are too young to understand what the Cold War was about or why we needed to continue to be wary of Russia, even though Glasnost was, to most American’s mind a success... but it wasn’t, not really. Putin was very much a part of those times and has never ever forgotten how his beloved Soviet Union suffered during that time and even now the sanctions are eating away at the heart of what could be the Russian way of life...but isn’t.
Several thoughts coalesce in my mind. First the stark reality of what I’ve considered since Trump began his run for president. Putin has masterfully manipulated a simple-minded boob. Using his xenophobic racism to twist American politics & utterly cripple our ability to or willingness to defend ourselves. By corrupting those who were seemingly incorruptible, Putin has accomplished that which others have only dreamt of. He has brought America to it’s knees in utter anguish, depression & sorrow. Exacerbated the infighting that had, up to now, remained under the surface & opened a wound that should have been cauterized a century ago. Trump has Americans divided into groups of those who are unrealistically hopeful of the next election & those who are desperate to do anything, literally anything, to hold onto power.
The other thought that has been nagging at the back of my consciousness since 2016 was the knowledge that Hillary would have kicked Putin’s ass during her term & disbelief and disappointment that she seemingly gave up & walked away so easily upon her unfair defeat. The latter being the most profoundly felt. When I vote for a President, I do so with the expectation that they take the job seriously. They put their entirety into it. They aren’t just doing it for prestige & that they truly want to do everything within them to protect & serve America & her citizens. It is with that hope that I cast my vote for President. And it is with the understanding that the Presidency is just a four-year temporary job that has left me in the deepest depression.
I grew up admiring the tenacity of the French underground & the heroic risks taken by those who fought the Nazis at home & under occupation as dual agents. I realize now that I romanticized them. They existed in a reality that Americans have no desire for. Americans would rather exist in our daily lives and complain about things rather than actually fight for them. Americans have no stomach for an actual sacrificial fight. I tell you truly that in 2016 I was certain with every fiber of my being that by this time, four year later, there would have been groups of us underground working actively to hide immigrants & doing whatever actually needed to be done in the fight against tyranny. I was certain that life would not continue, Americans wouldn’t allow it. There were enough of us who were not fanatical gun-owners that we would quietly begin training to defend ourselves & our neighbors. I was certain that Hillary or a surrogate of hers, willing to get dirty, would be leading us. I was wrong. The reality is it will have to get far worse before any of this is evenly remotely considered. But with the coronavirus & the corruption & everything else, I fear by the time it gets that bad, it will be far far too late for any of us.
Excellent article, laid out methodically. There's no reason to believe that the US diplomatic efforts ever understood Russian diplomacy. Every treaty negotiated over arms or other strategic issue has always gone poorly and one cannot imagine the negotiators for the West not coming out of those sessions feeling violated. Where our negotiators might prepare using intelligence on Russian military, economy and politics, the Russian negotiators use their natural talents of observation, semantics and Queensbury Rules.
Very interesting read. It highlights for me how very easily we’ve been defeated for such a dysfunctional society to take us down in one election. While I do not discredit the talents of Putin or the skills of his intelligence agencies, that such a weak and unsuccessful man as trump could find himself helped into office and freely dismantling our institutional protections from within results more from decades of republican grooming of an electorate to accept, even to prefer lies in order to maintain their power. As a person in my late 60s I can’t remember even one idea they’ve put forth for the good of the common citizen since Ike, though they’ve claimed their trickle down theories and their supposed goals of reducing deficits, all which are now clearly discredited. By smearing opponents, outright cheating, and discouraging voting they’ve conditioned a significant portion of our fellow citizens to think of liberals as their enemies and I doubt that anything will undo that damage. The majority must fight back, not just throw a huff on FB but actually fight to recover and maintain our democracy and keep doing so for the long haul.
Great article! To understand who Putin is is likely the most important part of understanding where America sits and how it’s respected (or not) in the global community. Since the advent of Trump though, more thought on what Putin/Russia is doing behind the scenes and how it will or does affect America and more importantly why it’s necessary to understand where the mess we are in right now comes from and why Trump is involved.
Most Americans are too young to understand what the Cold War was about or why we needed to continue to be wary of Russia, even though Glasnost was, to most American’s mind a success... but it wasn’t, not really. Putin was very much a part of those times and has never ever forgotten how his beloved Soviet Union suffered during that time and even now the sanctions are eating away at the heart of what could be the Russian way of life...but isn’t.
Appreciate the history lesson, the greater context and the snark. Trump is just the toddler at Putin's knee, but as such, incapable of realizing it.
Best subscription I’ve paid for yet. Thank you, Greg.
Several thoughts coalesce in my mind. First the stark reality of what I’ve considered since Trump began his run for president. Putin has masterfully manipulated a simple-minded boob. Using his xenophobic racism to twist American politics & utterly cripple our ability to or willingness to defend ourselves. By corrupting those who were seemingly incorruptible, Putin has accomplished that which others have only dreamt of. He has brought America to it’s knees in utter anguish, depression & sorrow. Exacerbated the infighting that had, up to now, remained under the surface & opened a wound that should have been cauterized a century ago. Trump has Americans divided into groups of those who are unrealistically hopeful of the next election & those who are desperate to do anything, literally anything, to hold onto power.
The other thought that has been nagging at the back of my consciousness since 2016 was the knowledge that Hillary would have kicked Putin’s ass during her term & disbelief and disappointment that she seemingly gave up & walked away so easily upon her unfair defeat. The latter being the most profoundly felt. When I vote for a President, I do so with the expectation that they take the job seriously. They put their entirety into it. They aren’t just doing it for prestige & that they truly want to do everything within them to protect & serve America & her citizens. It is with that hope that I cast my vote for President. And it is with the understanding that the Presidency is just a four-year temporary job that has left me in the deepest depression.
I grew up admiring the tenacity of the French underground & the heroic risks taken by those who fought the Nazis at home & under occupation as dual agents. I realize now that I romanticized them. They existed in a reality that Americans have no desire for. Americans would rather exist in our daily lives and complain about things rather than actually fight for them. Americans have no stomach for an actual sacrificial fight. I tell you truly that in 2016 I was certain with every fiber of my being that by this time, four year later, there would have been groups of us underground working actively to hide immigrants & doing whatever actually needed to be done in the fight against tyranny. I was certain that life would not continue, Americans wouldn’t allow it. There were enough of us who were not fanatical gun-owners that we would quietly begin training to defend ourselves & our neighbors. I was certain that Hillary or a surrogate of hers, willing to get dirty, would be leading us. I was wrong. The reality is it will have to get far worse before any of this is evenly remotely considered. But with the coronavirus & the corruption & everything else, I fear by the time it gets that bad, it will be far far too late for any of us.
Excellent article, laid out methodically. There's no reason to believe that the US diplomatic efforts ever understood Russian diplomacy. Every treaty negotiated over arms or other strategic issue has always gone poorly and one cannot imagine the negotiators for the West not coming out of those sessions feeling violated. Where our negotiators might prepare using intelligence on Russian military, economy and politics, the Russian negotiators use their natural talents of observation, semantics and Queensbury Rules.
Wonderful article,
Thank you.
Very interesting read. It highlights for me how very easily we’ve been defeated for such a dysfunctional society to take us down in one election. While I do not discredit the talents of Putin or the skills of his intelligence agencies, that such a weak and unsuccessful man as trump could find himself helped into office and freely dismantling our institutional protections from within results more from decades of republican grooming of an electorate to accept, even to prefer lies in order to maintain their power. As a person in my late 60s I can’t remember even one idea they’ve put forth for the good of the common citizen since Ike, though they’ve claimed their trickle down theories and their supposed goals of reducing deficits, all which are now clearly discredited. By smearing opponents, outright cheating, and discouraging voting they’ve conditioned a significant portion of our fellow citizens to think of liberals as their enemies and I doubt that anything will undo that damage. The majority must fight back, not just throw a huff on FB but actually fight to recover and maintain our democracy and keep doing so for the long haul.