@Bevo That analysis is kind of rich, coming from The Telegraph, an English paper that endorsed the Russian-backed Brexit campaign, though I'll give them credit for now knowing the game being played. They're still being a little too kind in their judgment of this regime, as you can see in this statement:
Donald Trump seems blissfully unaware of Russia’s track record – or at least doesn’t care. He has launched a mission to reset ties with Moscow and promised “to get that war over” in Ukraine. In doing so, he has shocked the international community by upending Western foreign policy, reopening ties with the Russian president and ruling out offering US security guarantees or Nato membership for Ukraine.
They're missing a third, much more likely reason for the new American regime's acquiescence and embrace of Putin's stance: Trump is fully aware of Russia's track record and embraces it.
“Vranyo” is a Russian word for a specific type of lying.
“I once translated it for one of our ministers as ‘epic, bare-faced whopper that we both know cannot possibly be true, but I’m going to tell you anyway’,” says Sir Laurie Bristow, who was the UK’s ambassador to Russia from January 2016 until January 2020.
It is a concept that sits at the heart of Vladimir Putin’s statecraft. And it is about power.
If anyone hasn't figured it out by now, this has always been the MO for the man who's now plopped his plump rump in the Oval Office for decades in all facets of his life: personal, professional, and political. He is a master of this type of lying and does it daily on just about any topic imaginable. He's doing it right now with all his demands, bluster, and lies about Zelenskyy and Ukraine starting the war.
When an asshole lies to your face, and you know he's lying, and he knows you know he's lying, but you go ahead and do his bidding, or you continue to support him, then he knows he has power over you and can do anything he wishes.
"The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command."
It's regrettable and maybe even embarrassing to be fooled by a lie, but to go along with it is complicit cowardice.
So, now that the mask has come off, the question is: What are we going to do about it? What can we do about it?