Gettin' Played 050622

[degringolade]

It is a huge fear and one of the fearful shames of anyone with a shred of dignity.  Being conned.

There is a old saw about poker.  In every poker game there is a chump, if you can't tell who the chump is, it is you.

But there is a corollary to that saw:  There is no bigger chump than thinking that you could not possibly be the chump.  Almost as bad is thinking someone is a chump when they aren't the chump.

What we are reading in the news is like watching the biggest and most crooked poker game in recent history.  We aren't in the poker game, we are watching.  In a sense we are the cards.  I think that the Ukies and their handlers (please! Let's not for a moment pretend they have any real agency) are spinning out one set of data points targeted at the folks that think in their heart of hearts that R2P is a real thing (sadly, this is a pretty fair chunk of the West's population).  I think that the Russians are taking a more subtle tack, hitting on the right-wing "insurgency" here in the US and the folks overseas who our businesses and government have screwed over in the past.  Unfortunately this is a fair chunk of the worlds population.  The truth of the matter is that they have both been itching to fuck the other up for a while now.

It's a tough call.  Despite protestations to the contrary, I tend to believe the Russian flavor of bullshit is slightly more accurate than the Ukie/handler flavor of bullshit.  But, please note that I think both are bullshit, it is just that the Russians are a smidgen closer to the truth on the ground.

What I find interesting is the Russian cheerleaders.  I can understand the two Andrei's (Smoothie and Saker).  I have always considered them useful gadflies.  They long for the homeland, but I have a sneaking hunch there is a bit of a reason back there in their past that keeps them here in the US.  I don't pretend for a moment to understand what may be, or it might be something as simple and understandable as there being fame and fortune talking smack about how the US sucks.  I suspect the audience for that is larger than I would prefer.   But if you are looking for a panegyric about the awesomeness of the Russian military, smoothie is your guy.  If you are looking for a pearl-clutching expose on American dirty tricks, go with the Saker.  But tell you the truth, neither of them seem to be capable of seeing the other side.  But I really think that you should read them and consider what they say closely (remember, consideration doesn't mean agreement, as a wise man on this site once said, "analysis is not advocacy".  B is an enigma.  He has some things worth hearing, but he is very impressed by the idea that he is the smartest guy in the room. 

The Ukie/handler cheerleaders are pretty much everywhere.  I am personally sick of folks displaying their Ukie flags next to their "black lives matter" and "in Our America" lawn signs (and yes, here in Portland we call that a liberal trifecta).  The evil Rooskies are beating up the poor downtrodden Ukies.  Nothing is so sweet to the Democratic party as someone somewhere being oppressed.  But the Ukies have been nasty little pieces of work for a long time now.  It is hard for me, not being a card carrying justice warrior, to work up any empathy for either of these ratbags.  In my mind, they are just different flavors of Rus who are having a family squabble.  Just wander over to any site that feeds the mainstream media and you can find whatever you want.

Nope, I think that the world is turning, I watch China and India a lot more closely than I pay attention to the shit-show on the Pontic-Caspian Steppes.  I think that the set of sneaky bastards with a combined population of about 2.8 billion people are holding their cards close and I have a strong hunch that they will be the winners of this hand.  I am trying to find better sources of information than my friends from the early 2000's that I worked with when I lived on and off in China.  Those folks have been drying up as information sources as they move up the ladder.  Best I have found so far is M. K. Bhadrakumar over at the India Punchline.