Is Vladimir getting good and accurate info in his briefings? No. Next question.
Seriously, the reports that he is not being told of reality should be unsurprising. He has special ways of dealing with those who disappoint him, which can even include their families. As such, if you think those who brief and advise him are being bluntly honest about things, I have a bridge for sale…
As for the reports that he and other leaders/oligarchs are spreading out to various bunkers, again, are you surprised? Forget the nuclear threat, there is a real and valid concern for Vladimir and those around him that efforts will be made to remove him — permanently. He’s been doing the whole “guess where I am” thing for a while, moving around at random to cut down on the odds of assassination.
Part of the problem with building that golden bridge so he has an out (that Biden has effectively nuked) is that Vladimir himself has created a good bit of the problem that faces him and others: failure equals death. In fact, those that have failed him (and/or the Rodina in his mind) have more than earned the gruesome deaths given them. The problem for Vladimir is that the precedent has been set, and he knows what HE would do in that situation to the person stepping down. To him and even unto his family.
For all the estrangement with family, and even with former mistresses and potential children, I suspect there is some concern there for what would happen to them. They are his blood, and that comes with a price. It would be one thing if the new administration went after them for money which he has used them to hide; but, such things rarely stop there.
This is the way things used to be before the great experiment that is the Republic that is the United States of America. Even the “normal” passing of a kingship from father to son could be fraught with peril. When it wasn’t normal, the bloodshed was often stupendous and the families of the loser faced slaughter and slavery. The idea was to destroy not only the person at the lead, but any and all legacy including genetic.
Which brings me to Donald Trump and the derangement of the left. Granny Wine Box of the family Venal just couldn’t put away her kangaroo suit after two failed impeachments, but brought about the January 6 farce being played out. Add to it all the different investigations (which have largely found nothing and gone nowhere) and efforts to destroy Trump and his family, and you have an end to the cornerstone of the Republic: the peaceful transition of power.
It is being made abundantly clear that any who oppose the so-called Elite will be destroyed. Between cancel culture, interference with banking, malicious prosecution and sentencing, and all the other things we see being touted in the media as just and proper, the peaceful transfer of power is dead. It will start with the courts, as each administration is tried and found guilty for crimes real and imagined. It will end in bloodshed.
In the past, even when it was clear that someone had broken the law, there was a reluctance to prosecute after they left office for fear of damaging that cornerstone. Today, the cornerstone is being hit by gleefully wielded jackhammers in an effort to destroy the personification of the threat to the Elites. That they still fail to grasp that Trump was between them and the threat says much.
Of course, like Vladimir did, they fail to grasp that they will be subject to the new rules and not exempted from them. What is happening right now with Vladimir is simply the normal version of the world in many respects, and the logical extension of destroying your political opponents. It is where the efforts now underway will lead if we let it.
Some food for thought this morning.
Some Previous Posts:
Answers, Ramblings, And A Bit More On Vladimir And The Ukraine
Your Must Read For The Day On Russia
The Puzzles In Play, And The Missing Pieces
Quick Thoughts On Ukraine/Putin
Missing Pieces And Surprise Pieces
Accuracy, Reliability, And More
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I had a certain amount of respect for Al Gore when he didn’t tell the nation and the Supreme Court that his tanks and jets came to a different legal conclusion.