I saw one take that pointed out, Putin's most aggressive moves to the west came in 2014 and 2022, when dems (and specifically Biden in one of the two top positions in the US government) were in control. Putin was comparatively docile when he had his spray tan puppet in charge.jfish26 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 05, 2023 12:44 pmOne might go so far as to say Putin panicked into invading Ukraine because, having lost the Puppet in Chief, he felt he had to strike before America was fully back to her senses.Sparko wrote: ↑Thu Oct 05, 2023 12:42 pm Due to Trump's actions weakening of NATO, Putin really believed he could walk into Kyiv. The tepid response to the invasions of Georgia and Crimea did not help. There, the weak-kneed accommodationists put the "spheres of influence" Kissinger concepts into play. Lebensraum seems so reasonable if you don't want to defend people.
But, I don't put much stock into that take either.
and regarding that "panic" term...oh, never mind. I know there's no longer a difference between objective discussion and bad guy propaganda.