re: #36 Dr Lizardo

And as I recall, Putin never really has gotten around to picking a successor.

That would likely lead to a power vacuum if Putin went quickly, and who knows what would come after that. Various factions jockeying for power can always be a dangerous thing, especially in the Byzantine world of Kremlin politics.

He cannot really pick one as his power rests on playing parties off against each other…Now I ran across another story that he is ready to declare a new union with Byealrus, which would then allow him to serve again as President as it would be a “new” state, and might even be able to pull a Xi and get himself declared Prez-for-Life.

But I have not heard much in the way of follow-up on that one.