Putin miscalculated.
He thought Trump would remain president, would weaken NATO and the EU, and would prevent the US from responding to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Putin thought he could divide NATO and prevent a unified response.
1/8
He thought Trump would remain president, would weaken NATO and the EU, and would prevent the US from responding to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Putin thought he could divide NATO and prevent a unified response.
1/8
Putin thought the UN, the EU, and other international organizations would not respond as one, and would not agree to imposing ever-mounting and crippling sanctions, not only on Russia, but on Putin personally, and all his billionaire friends.
2/8
2/8
Putin never imaged the Ukrainian people would be backed--politically, economically, and militarily--by the whole would, and would be able to put up such a strong and unyielding resistance. The invasion is not going as Putin had planned with Trump in the White House.
3/8
3/8
Republicans also miscalculated. They've spent years worshipping Putin, accepting Russian money, parroting Russian talking points. They, too, thought Trump would remain in the White House, and, with Russian help, Republicans would keep the House and Senate.
4/8
4/8
Republicans have been increasingly counting on being able to dismantle American democracy, to make the voice of the American people irrelevant and immaterial, and to warp America into an oligarchic fascist autocracy based on the Russian model.
5/8
5/8
But with Putin failing--and being exposed not as a strong leader, but as a megalomaniacal madman sociopath--the model Republicans wanted to embrace is discredited everywhere, and is becoming impossible to maintain even in America.
6/8
6/8
If Putin fails to conquer Ukraine--and he will fail--he'll be permanently weakened. Even if he takes possession of the country and occupies it, the cost to him and to Russia will be unimaginable, and the Ukrainian people will never relax their opposition and resistance.
7/8
7/8
Republicans will be unable to maintain their public love of Putin, and unable to pretend Russia is not a threat to democracy. They are being discredited, along with Putin. Their miscalculation could be fatal as for them as Putin's could be for him.
8/8
8/8
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