1) "WELL WHAT ABOUT IRAQ??"

There. I just some up 99% of every interaction I've had with Russians online, before the war and during the war.

There are many variations on this, but Iraq is the most beloved, even if the war is officially now old enough to drink.

The point is that all of Russia's nonstop, constant geopolitical meddling is automatically justified because Something Something CIA. Russians never have to defend a single action--destabilizing countries, killing dissidents abroad, bombing other countries--because Something Something CIA.

In Putin's narrative, international law is irrelevant and hypocritical. Nobody really cares about stopping war. Empathy is something you fake for points.

It doesn't matter if it's a terrible, immoral, or otherwise stupid example from 70 years ago. Arguing back on a case-by-case basis is exhausting. So you let it pass. Even though it enrages you.

Now imagine this happening everywhere, all the time, in response to everything. He wants us to trust no one--not our friends, not our families, not our governments, not our businesses, not our institutions. Everything must rot so that it can be easier to influence from afar.

Putin's propaganda is stupid, nihilistic, cynical, and effective. The fact that anyone is falling for this is deeply alarming and tragically predictable.