What puzzles me about people like Ian Welsh and many others who worship at the feet of autocrats like Putin and Xi is…do they really think the world would be a better place with totalitarian leaders like that in control? Do they think their own lives would be better?

What in the world is the damn end goal there? Having lived in authoritarian countries (Egypt, China) I can tell you that what they imagine would be some paradisaical existence almost certainly would not be. And I will never, ever understand the obsession with Putin and their worship of him. He’s a petty thug. He’s a weasel. He’s got more delusions of grandeur than Anakin Skywalker. Worshiping Putin is fucking embarrassing.

America is not perfect. But if I had to choose, I’d live here a thousand times out of a thousand versus Russia. I truly do think Ian Welsh and all his Putin-cozying compatriots should emigrate to Russia and sign up for some meat waves being spammed across the front lines in Ukraine. If they are true believers, it’d make sense to show Putin their true level of devotion.

Of course they won’t do that. Because it’s all the middle-age equivalent of being a 15-year-old edgelord. Except even more clownish.