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Do I really think that Russia isn't a bad actor?
Do I actually think that Russia isn't actually a bad actor that needs to be handled with a leader, Putin, who needs to me muzzled by the west? I do believe that, yes. With all my heart. I have since 1991 when I flew over Russia heading to Nepal and then in 1996 when I spent a lot of time in Saint Petersburg. Russia has always been a poor, under-resourced peasant nation with a few modern cities. Especially during the cold war and all the way back to tsarist Russia. First of all, we've had our boot on the neck of Russia since at least 2014, with a necklace of intimidating Western military bases and missile silos surrounding it as if Canada and Mexico had their missiles pointed at the USA. Sphere of influence disrespect. Also, I've been in international consulting for 20 years and work with Russians all the time. Tech Bros from Moscow, hot consultants from Moscow, loads of people. Hell I even have friends in Tehran. America is a liar. I'm always more likely to trust our so-called enemies. America needs to convince me it's not lying about war. They've lied a million times since the Gulf of Tonkin. The USA is a liar that might tell the truth. Base line. Iraq, Afghanistan, Contras, Yemen, Syria, Iran. Jesus! Globally, we're the worst! Thank God we have nukes, good geographical placement, and the dollar. Otherwise, we'd have been actually spanked a million times. With crimes against humanity, with war crimes, war criminals. The reason we haven't is because we're untouchable.