This is a far more rational explanation for what's happening in Russia than we'll ever get from the retrumplicans with that ridiculous
"Biden weak/orange clown strong" nonsense.
"https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/10/opinion/putin-russia-ukraine.html"
"How Vladimir Putin Lost Interest in the Present"
"Mr. Putin spent the spring and summer of 2020 quarantining at his
residence in Valdai, approximately halfway between Moscow and St.
Petersburg. According to sources in the administration, he was
accompanied there by Yuri Kovalchuk. Mr. Kovalchuk, who is the largest shareholder in Rossiya Bank and controls several state-approved media outlets, has been Mr. Putin’s close friend and trusted adviser since the 1990s. But by 2020, according to my sources, he had established himself
as the de facto second man in Russia, the most influential among the president’s entourage.
Mr. Kovalchuk has a doctorate in physics and was once employed by an institute headed by the Nobel laureate Zhores Alferov. But he isn’t just
a man of science. He is also an ideologue, subscribing to a worldview
that combines Orthodox Christian mysticism, anti-American conspiracy
theories and hedonism. This appears to be Mr. Putin’s worldview, too.
Since the summer of 2020, Mr. Putin and Mr. Kovalchuk have been almost inseparable, and the two of them have been making plans together to
restore Russia’s greatness.
According to people with knowledge of Mr. Putin’s conversations with his aides over the past two years, the president has completely lost
interest in the present: The economy, social issues, the coronavirus pandemic, these all annoy him. Instead, he and Mr. Kovalchuk obsess over
the past. A French diplomat told me that President Emmanuel Macron of
France was astonished when Mr. Putin gave him a lengthy history lecture during one of their talks last month. He shouldn’t have been surprised.
In his mind, Mr. Putin finds himself in a unique historical situation in which he can finally recover for the previous years of humiliation. In
the 1990s, when Mr. Putin and Mr. Kovalchuk first met, they were both struggling to find their footing after the fall of the Soviet Union, and
so was the country. The West, they believe, took advantage of Russia’s weakness to push NATO as close as possible to the country’s borders. In
Mr. Putin’s view, the situation today is the opposite: It is the West that’s weak. The only Western leader that Mr. Putin took seriously was Germany’s previous chancellor, Angela Merkel. Now she is gone and it’s time for Russia to avenge the humiliations of the 1990s.
It seems that there is no one around to tell him otherwise. Mr. Putin no longer meets with his buddies for drinks and barbecues, according to
people who know him. In recent years — and especially since the start of the pandemic — he has cut off most contacts with advisers and friends. While he used to look like an emperor who enjoyed playing on the controversies of his subjects, listening to them denounce one another
and pitting them against one another, he is now isolated and distant,
even from most of his old entourage.
His guards have imposed a strict protocol: No one can see the president without a week’s quarantine — not even Igor Sechin, once his personal secretary, now head of the state-owned oil company Rosneft. Mr. Sechin
is said to quarantine for two or three weeks a month, all for the sake
of occasional meetings with the president."
I'm repeating this part for anyone who missed it the first time:
"The only Western leader that Mr. Putin took seriously was Germany’s previous chancellor, Angela Merkel."
https://news.yahoo.com/donald-trump-jr-tried-explain-101022672.html
"Donald Trump Jr. now claims his father’s well-known affection toward
some of the world’s most brutal dictators was part of an elaborate act.
“He knew exactly how to play these guys,” the son of former President Donald Trump said in a new video. “And he played it like a fiddle.”"
"Not everyone believed Jr.’s explanation that this was all part of a
ruse though:"
"It’s Guilfoyle’s birthday, so Junior got into the party supplies early. He claims that daddy only praised Putin and Kim because he was using psychological warfare on them: “He knew exactly how to play these guys,
and he played them like a fiddle!”"
"Trump made a habit of alienating U.S. allies, such as Canada, France
and Germany, while also cozying up to repressive dictators. He said he “fell in love” with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. He repeatedly praised and defended Russian President Vladimir Putin. And he called
himself a “big fan” of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan despite the Turkish despot’s
brutal crackdown on critics."
[snip]
TB
On 3/10/2022 6:34 PM, Technobarbarian wrote:
This is a far more rational explanation for what's happening in Russia than we'll ever get from the retrumplicans with that ridiculous "Biden weak/orange clown strong" nonsense.
"https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/10/opinion/putin-russia-ukraine.html"
"How Vladimir Putin Lost Interest in the Present"
"Mr. Putin spent the spring and summer of 2020 quarantining at his residence in Valdai, approximately halfway between Moscow and St. Petersburg. According to sources in the administration, he was
accompanied there by Yuri Kovalchuk. Mr. Kovalchuk, who is the largest shareholder in Rossiya Bank and controls several state-approved media outlets, has been Mr. Putin’s close friend and trusted adviser since the 1990s. But by 2020, according to my sources, he had established himself
as the de facto second man in Russia, the most influential among the president’s entourage.
Mr. Kovalchuk has a doctorate in physics and was once employed by an institute headed by the Nobel laureate Zhores Alferov. But he isn’t just a man of science. He is also an ideologue, subscribing to a worldview
that combines Orthodox Christian mysticism, anti-American conspiracy theories and hedonism. This appears to be Mr. Putin’s worldview, too. Since the summer of 2020, Mr. Putin and Mr. Kovalchuk have been almost inseparable, and the two of them have been making plans together to restore Russia’s greatness.
According to people with knowledge of Mr. Putin’s conversations with his aides over the past two years, the president has completely lost
interest in the present: The economy, social issues, the coronavirus pandemic, these all annoy him. Instead, he and Mr. Kovalchuk obsess over the past. A French diplomat told me that President Emmanuel Macron of France was astonished when Mr. Putin gave him a lengthy history lecture during one of their talks last month. He shouldn’t have been surprised.
In his mind, Mr. Putin finds himself in a unique historical situation in which he can finally recover for the previous years of humiliation. In
the 1990s, when Mr. Putin and Mr. Kovalchuk first met, they were both struggling to find their footing after the fall of the Soviet Union, and so was the country. The West, they believe, took advantage of Russia’s weakness to push NATO as close as possible to the country’s borders. In Mr. Putin’s view, the situation today is the opposite: It is the West that’s weak. The only Western leader that Mr. Putin took seriously was Germany’s previous chancellor, Angela Merkel. Now she is gone and it’s time for Russia to avenge the humiliations of the 1990s.
It seems that there is no one around to tell him otherwise. Mr. Putin no longer meets with his buddies for drinks and barbecues, according to people who know him. In recent years — and especially since the start of the pandemic — he has cut off most contacts with advisers and friends. While he used to look like an emperor who enjoyed playing on the controversies of his subjects, listening to them denounce one another
and pitting them against one another, he is now isolated and distant,
even from most of his old entourage.
His guards have imposed a strict protocol: No one can see the president without a week’s quarantine — not even Igor Sechin, once his personal secretary, now head of the state-owned oil company Rosneft. Mr. Sechin
is said to quarantine for two or three weeks a month, all for the sake
of occasional meetings with the president."
I'm repeating this part for anyone who missed it the first time:
"The only Western leader that Mr. Putin took seriously was Germany’s previous chancellor, Angela Merkel."
https://news.yahoo.com/donald-trump-jr-tried-explain-101022672.html
"Donald Trump Jr. now claims his father’s well-known affection toward some of the world’s most brutal dictators was part of an elaborate act.
“He knew exactly how to play these guys,” the son of former President Donald Trump said in a new video. “And he played it like a fiddle.”"
"Not everyone believed Jr.’s explanation that this was all part of a ruse though:"
"It’s Guilfoyle’s birthday, so Junior got into the party supplies early.
He claims that daddy only praised Putin and Kim because he was using psychological warfare on them: “He knew exactly how to play these guys, and he played them like a fiddle!”"
"Trump made a habit of alienating U.S. allies, such as Canada, France
and Germany, while also cozying up to repressive dictators. He said he “fell in love” with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. He repeatedly praised and defended Russian President Vladimir Putin. And he called himself a “big fan” of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan despite the Turkish despot’s
brutal crackdown on critics."
[snip]
TB
NYT opinion piece. About worth as much as the cost of that fish wrapper.
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