re: #273 Islamo-Masonic Conspirator

I don’t know where this idea stems from. Everybody knows that Putin introduced these sanctions (as a countermeasure to the sanctions against banks and oligarchs). What people might say - at least at first - is that the measures are necessary to answer the West’s sanctions. It’s not the same as saying that it’s the West’s fault.

It is if you believe the entire situation was set in motion by the nefarious West, and poor beleaguered Russia is protecting herself and her own from the godless fascists who are butchering people left and right. I’ve got Russian family who get this stuff from Perviy Kanal every day and believe it.

I don’t think it will work over the long term either, since the rush from foreign adventurism wears off pretty quick and the economic pain lasts a long time. Plus, if you’re not Orthodox ethnic Russian, the writing’s on the wall. Up till now, the deal has been that Russians get to get rich as long as they keep their noses out of politics, and now Putin’s broken that deal.

My read is that there’s popular dissatisfaction but nowhere near enough to be a threat to Putin. My prediction is that if Putin loses power, it will be via a coup by other oligarchs that are getting squeezed, and if he’s shot, it will be by a Russian ultranationalist who thinks Putin’s sold out.