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Is it possible that two political stories which are currently running in parallel might intersect with disastrous consequences? Both are stories of “great men,” powerful leaders who may have pushed the limits of their power to the point that their ambitions and egos may yet swallow them up.
But both are stories of men who, like that roach who keeps on scurrying away on the kitchen floor, just can’t quite be squashed.
Story #1. Vladimir Putin is an egomaniac. He is ruthless and dangerous, but not stupid.
Story #2. Donald Trump is an egomaniac. He is ruthless and dangerous, and equally stupid.
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Story #1 begins with Vladimir Putin’s thoughts of re-establishing that great Russian Empire (and possibly well beyond), beginning by gobbling up much of the old USSR little by little. He bet it all that Europe and America would react to him the way that they did to a man named Adolf when he first began his slow and steady advances.
He anticipated that his mighty military would sweep through Ukraine in a blinding display of force before anyone could figure out whether or how to resist him. You know, the way we figured we could quickly subdue that tiny and weak little nation of Viet Nam.
And this has clearly become Putin’s Viet Nam. Fighting a smaller foe that is determined to defend its integrity on a landscape that only they know well, and backed by third party resources, the Russian Army is bogged down. Each day they lose men and equipment and territory, each day the backing and morale of Putin’s troops—and his internal political support–deteriorates. Even an authoritarian leader such as our friend Vladimir must face some form of accountability in the face of such a fiasco.
Story #2 involves Donald Trump, trying to re-establish power, but running into mounting problems with the law and facing opposition for the Presidency in his own party that grows in number if not quality.
While Putin is smart enough to recognize his liabilities, it’s unknown if our former President actually recognizes the danger he is in. It’s hard to know if he truly recognizes that his calls of “Witch hunt” and descriptions of “perfect” actions will only get him so far in a court of law where he really cannot control the rules. But he must, he really must at some deep level of awareness, understand that there’s danger for him as all these forces close in. Even the most cushy of federal prisons doesn’t quite have the amenities of Mar-A-Lago.
And yet, is there anyone betting the house that this man will not become President again?? Scary. Scary. Scary. But not impossible.
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Ah, so how do our two stories coalesce? Mr. Trump has said that he could end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours of coming to power. And he could. All he would have to do is sidle up to his buddy Putin and declare that the US would no longer support Ukraine in any way. Presto, the war would end almost as quickly as it started with a Russian victory, and it wouldn’t really take long to happen.
It gets us back to the question asked long ago of whether Putin has something on Trump or whether Trump is just so vapid as to trust Putin as his personal ally not to swallow up much more of Eastern Europe too quickly.
Trump as President. Putin vacationing in Kyiv. I tell myself it couldn’t happen, but then again…
