‘You keep complaining and putting sanctions on me, but I don’t care.
I want to be king of this space I now have and am expanding it.
I don’t believe in democracy.
I believe in me. In Vladimir. King Vladimir to you.
I have enough oil and gas and wheat and aluminum, platinum and palladium and nickel. We have it all. I don’t need you.
I have Russians under my control. Have managed, with great skill, to silence their voices, to keep them quiet so they won’t disturb my plans.
I haven’t asked them to kneel before me but maybe will one day soon.
There are a few dissenters, but I deal with them effectively and reduce them to mere nuisance. They are alive because of my charitable spirit.
I am one of the great leaders the world has ever known. But the West keeps calling me an autocrat. A despot.
I get no respect. Which is why I am forced to invade Ukraine.
It is your fault that I have invaded those poor souls. I love Ukraine. They are my brothers and sisters. My heart bleeds when I see the number of dead Ukrainians rising. Sometimes I even weep.
But then I remind myself that it is your fault. It is because of you that they’re dying. You have no shame and have forced my hand.
I am a peace loving man. Sure, I’ve had to kill thousands of people in Chechnya and Georgia in years past – and now in Syria too – but that was because they listened to you and wanted to be independent.
Independence from the great Russia is wrong.
I am a man with a very broad mind.
For instance, I have the greatest respect for Donald Trump, who always said, America First. Well, I’m doing the same thing. Russia First. I learned from him. And I know he has great respect for me. The other day, when I instructed my legislators to declare the Ukraine regions of Donetsk and Luhansk to be new republics under my authority, in preparation for my special military operation, he called the move a pretty smart one. In fact, I am inspired by his example. He was trying to end his alliance with Europe because they were not giving him enough respect.
That is exactly what I am doing now. Getting my respect back.
So, please understand. In invading Ukraine, I am doing a favor to mankind. Xi Jinping and China love me, too. They will help me overcome the sanctions because they love people and understand the damage the West is doing.
Sooner or later they will invade Taiwan to stop them from continuing down the wrong path of wanting to be independent. Xi Jinping will sacrifice his people to save the Taiwanese. And when they choose to do so, I will help them because they are helping me today.
And I will do everything possible to help Donald get back to being president. That way we can divide the world. One part for me – the King – one part for Xi – the prince – the other part for Donald, the other prince.
And working together we will end poverty and inequality and racism and crime and the human race will prosper and live happily ever after.
So long as everyone surrenders their dreams of being independent. That’s not so hard to do.
Long live dependence!’
Oscar Valdes oscarvaldes.net medium.com anchor.fm, buzzsprout, apple and google podcasts.
Oscar Valdes 
I used to view Putin as a gangster type figure from the 1930s prohibition era a kind of Al Capone that though horrific and evil could be contained with certain boundaries or even rules of common law. I am not so certain anymore. He has been quoted in the past as saying “as a citizen of Russia, as a head of the Russian state, I want to ask – why do we need a world if Russia ceases to exist?”
He has the potential to nuke the west and be punished by being nuked and I am concerned that in his mind this is a price potentially worth paying. His disregard for the safety of nuclear plant in Ukraine really does speak volumes about the man and not in a good way.
I fear that his perception of revenge and victory is to potentially hit out at others with no fear or care about the reprisals. He’s the kind of man that would press the nuclear button and explain he only did it in advance of the nuclear weapons that are then returned to his county in defence of his actions. Some might call him mad I would definitely state that he is a tremendous danger to the stability and existence of the world.
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Indeed. We need to exercise great prudence in dealing with this man.
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