The only hypocrite here is you. Israel has been criticized by the West since they began their campaign. Guess who has vetoed the latest UN resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, though? That's right, your friends Russia and China.
The war in Gaza works in their favor. Why will they try and stop it? It's a funny relationship, but it makes sense.
The US cannot afford the war or the escalation, particularly the Democrats, 'cause of their voter base. The Republicans wouldn't have pushed for such a resolution.
And the moment you decide that some people don't deserve due process is the moment you stop being a civilized country. But that Russia isn't a civilized country isn't new. They were a backwards barbarian hellhole under the Czars, they were a backwards barbarian hellhole under the Soviets, and they are a backwards barbarian hellhole under the Siloviki. Minor cosmetic differences, but the same rotten soul.
The issue is the West applies it based on "Western" principles, not humanist principles.
And yeah, there's nothing special about commies, they are all the same. But the Democrats want to make the US one.
That thing about the other 20% decay? Funnily enough, Democrats think the same about Republicans and their supporters.
As for the rest, they are thinking like the West. I don't see anything different about how the West does things. The difference between the Russians and the West is, the Russians are dumb enough to say it publicly.
Nope.
Russians neither approve nor disapprove of Putin. Russia had basically the same deal going on as China, where people are told to not care about politics if they don't want politics to care about them, so they don't approve of Putin, they just acknowledge he's there and will remain there until he dies. They just don't dare protest against this because, well, those who do protest tend to end in a gulag or in a grave.
Incorrect. He has real approval. It's not fake. He's extremely popular in Russia.
It's actually quite likely that the real votes (not those that came from ballot stuffing and other assorted forgeries) had him at less than 50%. Despite the other candidates being the most innocuous clowns that they could find.
The elections are fake. Even though someone has very high popularity, it doesn't mean that's also the number of votes they will win.
For example, Modi's approval is 75-80%, but NDA is expected to get 60% of the votes in the upcoming elections. It's 'cause approval and voting is not 1 to 1. You can approve of someone and still vote for someone else 'cause that someone else is providing a different benefit that you want in your constituency. It's like saying, "I want Modi to win the PM's seat, but in my constituency the other guy is offering free water, and I want that for my crops."
But that's the problem for Putin. For a long time, he wanted his peons to be demotivated so that they wouldn't become unruly; but now that he has pivoted his country into a total war footing, he actually needs them motivated. So he needs something to change a mindset he has cultivated for 30 years. What better for that than some good old false flag terrorism? After all, that's how he got into power in the first place...
Putin has always maintained a high morale in Russia since the very beginning.
You can see the Happiness Index rates Russia quite highly for an emerging market in 2010-12.
And it only fell during the pandemic.
countryeconomy.com
