As long as everyone seems to be writing about “the crazy” in American politics, we might as well look at our favorite bear-hunting Russian, Vladimir Putin. Is Putin crazy? Nah. Putin isn’t crazy. He’s just trying to operate in sub-zero temperatures while managing the ingrained paranoia developed from working for the KGB.
We have to remember that Vladimir Putin was in the KGB. You can take the man out of the KGB – you can even take the KGB out of existence – but you can’t take the KGB out of the man. It sticks to Russian spies like tacky glue on the back of fake wood paneling (the kind that turns yellow after a decade or two). While the movies take a lot of creative license insofar as how much brainwashing goes into training spies of various proud nations, one cannot be a spy and not come out the other end with a little bit of a paranoid bias and a mountain-load if mistrust.
And a galaxy-sized ego.
Is Putin crazy? Nah. But he sure is having a lot of fun. Putin is grumpy and Putin is angry. Putin hates that Russian is not the Soviet Union of red-day’s glorious past. It drives him crazy. Putin loves Russia, but it’s a Russia that no longer exists – sort of like the America that the Tea Party keeps wanting to “take back”. The only difference between the American Tea Party and Putin is that Putin has an enormous amount of power – and an even higher disregard for facts. “Russians? Those weren’t Russians. I have no idea what you’re talking about… they must be American plants or something. Or maybe special effects. Now watch me wrestle this bear to show you how proud we are as Russians.”
Is Putin crazy? Nah. Putin is sad. It happens when you live in places like Russia. I lived in Wyoming once and I started to do things like fish and ride horses and wrestle bears with my shirt off, too. It’s a strange thing that happens in those sorts of climates. We can’t blame him, really.
It’s about time that Europe steps up and puts in really, really strong sanctions, though. Crazy, sad, cold, or taking a joyride with a country in tow – the results of his mindset don’t fit with a modern society. We don’t invade countries anymore. We’ve evolved as a species beyond that point.
We can’t go to war with Putin, so we have to starve him… and that requires Europe to step up to financially isolate Putin, his groupies, and sadly the country he runs. Once his country starts to feel it, then they’ll ask him to leave and start playing nicely with the rest of the world again (as long as they don’t go to Wyoming).
