doom-adjacent topic, worldpol, possible reassurance, dour
So for any of you who have been worried about the conflict in the Ukraine turning into omnicidal nuclear war, here's a very cold comfort:
Putin's got a real good chance of getting his kindred spirit and toadie into office in 2024. His propaganda war on us is one of the most successful in human history*. Why would he destroy a bunch of perfectly good real estate he's already paid for?
* SOURCE: own arsehole
re: doom-adjacent topic, worldpol, possible reassurance, dour
@zebratron2084 Again, I feel that's why the big push *now*. He figures that the Republicans will retake Congress in 2022, and they're Trump's creatures and he owns Trump, so they'll let him do whatever, and if the USA lets him do whatever so will the rest of the world. He's got a narrow window of time between when campaigning is easier and when it might reflect poorly on his allies.
And Putin's actually a smart, sane, vicious asshole - he won't want to go down as The Dude who Started Throwing Nukes. By comparison to Trump who would do it just to show everyone what a big man he is. It's part of the difference in national character - Russians are truly mean only if you convince them it's justified, Americans start out convinced it's justified.
