Putin’s Choice: to Trump, or Not?
Update 2/22/2020: The intelligence agencies are reporting that Putin is aiding both Trump and Bernie Sanders. Go figure. (The two faces that launched a thousand conspiracy theories.) However, Sanders denounced the election interference, while Trump denied the interference, again, and fired the National Security Advisor Joe ‘Show Me the Intel” Maguire for going to Congress and presenting their findings. Trump then replaced him with somebody with no intel experience.
While the news is multiply covering Trump’s now multiple times a day claims and exercises of his new Superpowers, one key player has been ignored, the world’s other Superman with Self-appointed State Superpowers: Vlad ‘the Potentate’ Putin. Vlad must have loved Trump’s denigration of the Office of the Presidency and of American Democracy. And of the denigration of women’s status, allowing Vlad’s own divorce to look secondary. And of the tearing up of all US treaties and trade agreements, and Trump’s abandonment of US world leadership. And of Trump’s mutual support of fossil fuel oligarchs and riches.
However, Trump is so super confident and unhinged now, that Trump will not feel that he owes his upcoming awesome victory in the next election to Putin. In fact, Trump will no longer just be proclaiming his superiority over all past and future Presidents, but over all other Superleaders on the planet.
Putin already sees that narcissism in Trump’s past, present, and probable future abandonment of all nuclear treaties. The New START treaty renewal, coming up in February 5, 2021, with a 5 year extension option, saves Russia from another large, dangerous, and costly nuclear arms race with the US, and eventually with China. Trump has killed the Iran nuclear non-proliferation treaty and the intermediate range nuclear missile treaty. He has wanted to renegotiate the New START treaty to include China, a very involved process, instead of just renewing the present one.
Trump’s unrestrained Superpower growth, plus his private and secret near-war startup with Iran by killing their Quds Force leader, just make the nuclear targeted Russian a lot more skittish about Trump. Even though Vlad managed to mislead Trump about who hacked the Democrats, and placed the blame on Ukraine, which Vlad has invaded and is fighting for, and led Trump to illegally withhold funds to oppose Russia, and to block the Russian and Ukrainian investigations, and get impeached over, it doesn’t mean that Vlad will be able to guide the emerging Superleader forever.
Vlad knows that the US Presidency has already been weakened internationally, and he has little more to gain there. Vlad also sees that there are no limits to Trump’s growth. Today, Trump declared himself the Chief Law Enforcement Officer, a title and responsibility that belongs to Attorney General William Barr. Of course, Vlad has long had that Superiority in Russia, with his KGB. Apparently, Trump has “joked” 29 times that he would not accept the results of the election if he loses. That tells Putin that if he helps Trump, he could end up being stuck with him forever. The great division among Democratic candidates, and their mutual criticism society, makes it look like Trump has an easy path in front of him, in which he won’t need or be appreciative of any Putin help.
So Putin may just avoid the race, rather than having his interference be detected again, or choose a Democrat who would be non-challenging in the international arena. And one who is also nuclear safe. Putin doesn’t seem to care about climate change, since he has the vastness of Siberia to farm, as the world heats up. Actually, Russian income is based on holding and supplying fossil fuels and other natural resources.
Vlad has a choice to make, but he may also have little influence now that we know his methods, except to get Trump investigated and impeached, yet again.
