(DON THOMPSON / iNFOnews.ca)

OPINION

Despite the Russian invasion of Ukraine killing women, children and elderly…millions of Americans and Russians like Russian President Vladimir Putin more than American President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.

How does that happen? Unthinkable at any other time in history…Americans who claim to be flag-waving patriots prefer a Russian thug…a murderer who in three weeks has created millions of refugees…over a real patriot and decent human being.

Putin has built two well-oiled propaganda machines…one in Russia and one in the U.S. He was able to find common ground among two disparate cultures…and feed them both a steady diet of disinformation and lies.

Of course, it is not all Americans and all Russians who believe Putin…and it doesn’t have to be. In America, Putin’s fans are almost exclusively Trump Republicans. But what commonality is Putin able to exploit in segments of the population in the two countries?

Putin’s “believers” on both continents are less educated than their fellow countrymen…they are more likely to live in rural areas…they are older and more conservative…they are more likely to accept implausible conspiracy theories.

Putin started a disinformation campaign and drove divisive themes on social media, interfered with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, and then gained political advantages by co-opting not only Donald Trump and the Republican Party…but a major cable network…Fox.

Putin reasoned that Americans who like tough-guy Trump, would admire him as well. It was a good plan that only needed the complicity of Tea Party members, new Republicans and broadcast charlatans…who commonly hate Democrats, liberals, the Clintons, Barack Obama, the rise of immigrants and people of colour.

The plan was neither technical nor complicated…but it was Shakespearean…simply relying on hate, fear, distrust and revenge. It will take a long time for anything resembling normal to return to America…where Americans value democracy more than partisan politics.

Republicans have become so immune to truth and facts…that they are more cult than political party. Remember, Republicans have no party platform…no agenda…other than winning and retaining power.

What might be Putin’s undoing…is Putin. Like Trump…and like most authoritarian dictators…Putin seems unhinged. Isolation, paranoia and perhaps Putin’s self-awareness that what he is doing is inherently wrong…could lead to further decisions that turn his propagandized Russians and Americans against him.

Putin is destined to lose any long-term occupation of Ukraine. The truths - already known by younger, more educated Russians in larger cities - will become known throughout Russia. Hate-filled Republicans in America will have to rely on other domestic alliances…the Religious Right, anti-immigrants, racists, Neo-Nazis…to fuel their lies as Putin loses favour in his own country.  

Meanwhile, Republicans are between a rock and a hard place…they must show bi-partisanship on votes supporting Ukraine against Russia’s madman. But the likes of Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Lindsey Graham, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Josh Hawley and Ron Johnson, among many others…are apoplectic as they plot against democracy behind closed doors.

But don’t worry Republicans…your hatred for democracy can always find a home…an authoritarian leader in Russia…or if not, one in the United States.

— Don Thompson, an American awaiting Canadian citizenship, lives in Vernon and in Florida. In a career that spans more than 40 years, Don has been a working journalist, a speechwriter and the CEO of an advertising and public relations firm. A passionate and compassionate man, he loves the written word as much as fine dinners with great wines.

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