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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsKrugman: The Putin-Lovers In The Republican Party Have A Problem
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For the most part, however, Americas Putin lovers are having a moment of truth. Its not so much that Putin stands revealed as a tyrant willing to kill large numbers of innocent people they knew or should have known that already. The problem is that the strongman they admired whom Donald Trump praised as savvy and a genius just before he invaded Ukraine is turning out to be remarkably weak. And thats not an accident. Russia is facing disaster precisely because it is ruled by a man who accepts no criticism and brooks no dissent.
On the military side, a war Russia clearly envisioned as a blitzkrieg that would overrun Ukraine in days has yet to capture any of the countrys top 10 cities although long-range bombardment is turning those cities into rubble. On the economic side, Putins attempt to insulate himself from potential Western sanctions has been a debacle, with everything indicating that Russia will have a depression-level slump. To see why this matters, you need to understand the sources of the rights infatuation with a brutal dictator, an infatuation that began even before Trumps rise.
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Sometimes, what looks like strength is actually a source of weakness.
These weaknesses might have been apparent to Putin before the war if investigative journalists or independent watchdogs within his government had been in a position to assess the countrys true military readiness. But such things arent possible in Putins Russia.
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The point is that the case for an open society a society that allows dissent and criticism goes beyond truth and morality. Open societies are also, by and large, more effective than closed-off autocracies. That is, while you might imagine that there are big advantages to rule by a strongman who can simply tell people what to do, these advantages are more than offset by the absence of free discussion and independent thought. Nobody can tell the strongman that hes wrong or urge him to think twice before making a disastrous decision.
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MORE:
http://jobsanger.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-putin-lovers-in-republican-party.html
PortTack
(32,707 posts)Believe it would NEVER affect them...but weakness not tolerated
Irish_Dem
(46,520 posts)Raven
(13,877 posts)abandoned their common sense or never had it in the first place.
BlueIdaho
(13,582 posts)Forget Trump Republicans, they are all Putin Republicans. Brand that on their foreheads.
paleotn
(17,884 posts)Of the 60 to 70 billion they spend annually on their military, a substantial portion is ending up in people's pockets, and not actual weapons systems and training.
Joinfortmill
(14,395 posts)heroes to represent your political agenda.
sanatanadharma
(3,689 posts)They want a super-soviet of power in the image and likeness of their own sick souls; a socialism of selfishness.
They are 'Reds' as they have long self-identified.
Walleye
(30,980 posts)Which is why we should always insist on transparency and honesty from our government
Bernardo de La Paz
(48,960 posts)SheltieLover
(57,073 posts)Buckeyeblue
(5,499 posts)I don't imagine he wants people to disagree with him.