"They didn't fall for it? Don't worry. They always fall for something. What else can we feed them?"

[DFW]

Does everyone remember the so-called "Obama scandals?" Probably not everyone. They were a series of made-up offenses the Obama administration was trying to cover up, but not very successfully, and threatened to derail his presidency. Or--so Fox Noise wanted the nation to believe. Since there was no such thing, and it didn't even catch on with the usually gullible Republican audience, Fox discarded it as a failed experiment, and their reporting on it (and therefore, the "scandals" themselves) disappeared.

The tactic doesn't always fail. Just ask Al Franken. But the Republicans figured they could turn even Tinker Bell into a sex-offender. They even tried it on Joe Biden. That one sank like a lead balloon, since this time, we were all ready for it.

The latest darling of the blogosphere is Putin's terminal cancer. He looks so bad, he won't last until Halloween, his face is pasty, puffed up with cortisone. Otherwise, the fact that he doesn't look at age 70 (this October) like he did at age 45 is TOTALLY INEXPLICABLE!! Everybody else looks just as good at age 70 as they did at age 45, don't they? Ergo, Putin really doesn't constitute much of a danger any more, does he? Putin doesn't represent much of a threat to the Ukraine any more, does he? How could he? He'll be gone by Christmas! Well, except that no, he probably won't---not due to some terminal cancer ravaging his vitals, anyway. There's always a chance one of his inner circle will decide that he has the support and the means to put polonium in Putin's tea, negotiate some "any-terms-are-good-terms" withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukrainian territory as long as the west pays for the reconstruction. Everyone knows we will, anyway, so they score a few points at home for saying they negotiated with the sun, and won the concession that it would continue to rise in the east. Man, those Russians drive a hard bargain!

So, despite the wishful thinking of so many (including yours, truly) that Putin was withering away from a revenge exacted not by us, but by Mother Nature, we have to accept that it is quite likely that Putin's terminal cancer was about as real as his siblings.

[hlthe2b]

1. "The tactic doesn't always fail.. just ask Al Franken"...

Damn right. And I'm still bitter, especially that our own helped it along.

I sincerely hope we've learned by now. (and yes, I too thought the health warnings re: Putin might be true)

[LakeArenal]

3. Even the ones in high places I haven't forgiven for Al

I don’t think I will until Al gets elected some where.

OR…. If the one in high places makes a huge mea culpa publicly. Which won’t happen.

[DFW]

6. Nor have I

There is a reason I hoped none of the Senators who urged Al to resign, and then ran for president in 2020 would be usccessful in their quest for the nomination. I remember during the early stages of the primary season, someone was touting one of the five, and I said I would never support their getting the nomination because of what they did to Al. I got an immediate snarky response asking if I fel the same way about all candidates who had partaken in the action, or just that one (obviously expecting me to say just that one, and then plan to attack my hypocrisy). When I said my position applied equally to all of them (Gillibrand, Booker, Harris, Sanders and Warren), my interrogator shut up.

Some HAVE apologized to Al, but mostly in private (Bill Nelson, for example). Some have publicly expressed regret (Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Tester of Montana), but they are a tiny minority. Not even Schumer, Kaine or Brown bothered to speak up. It's no accident that the three currently serving Senators I am closest to were not even in the Senate when Al was cowardly "urged" to resign. He was so bewildered. He thought that being savaged for something he hadn't done was something that happened to POC in the 1930s in Alabama, not the US Senate in 2017. Roger Stone felled him with a stray bullet that hit its mark fatally.

[LakeArenal]

8. I got a hide for speaking my mind back then. You can guess why.

Edit: Turns out there was a double standard on what Dem Bashing is.

[TigressDem]

2. It seems there is SOMETHING going on with Putin besides just stress.

My bet is on Parkinson's because this article says that paranoid delusion can be a symptom of that illness. But considering how his actions are affecting all of Russia, is it paranoid to think everyone is wishing you dead when everyone IS wishing you dead?


https://www.grid.news/story/global/2022/06/02/diagnosing-putin-what-do-we-know-about-the-health-of-the-russian-president/

[modrepub]

4. Stress Is Not Good For Your Health

That's a known fact. There's no way Putin isn't suffering some extreme anxiety at this point. An unsuccessful "special military operation" tends to do that.

At some point it will become obvious to any Russian citizen that this is a farce and a hopeless cause. Easier to remove the Emperor and find a way out than to keep acting like everything is fine. While it probably won't be a popular uprising that removes Putin, more likely someone with some power within the political structure does the final act, I think the end result will be the same. At some point tyrants run out of allies since they really don't trust anyone. You make too many of your "friends" disappear then the anyone left become more fearful that their time is coming and figure it's better to act now than wait.

[DFW]

5. True enough

Sooner or later, walls start to close in, whether physical or perceived. TFT's next video is about just that.

[Sky Jewels]

7. I do think he has Parkinson's or some other neurological problem (stroke damage?)

There are many videos of his right arm dangling uselessly by his side. His walk is "off" as well. I hope he has a terminal condition, but that's just wishful thinking on my part.

https://metro.co.uk/video/putin-appears-unable-use-limp-right-arm-bat-away-mosquito-2741657/

https://www.newsweek.com/putin-russia-arm-kgb-walk-iran-kremlin-illness-parkinsons-1726210

[DFW]

9. If things don't start going better

Whether on the battlefield or with the Russian economy, he may have a fatal condition supplied for him, whether he wants one or not. No one knows better than he how this works in Russia. I have been to the wall near his villa in Potsdam where the most uncomfortable dissidents against the Soviet/East German socialist paradise were stood up against the wall. The bullet holes were still there.