Opinion: Who does Putin really support?

It is said that when Colin Powell was secretary of state, he demanded three things from his briefers;

“Tell me what you know;” “Tell me what you don’t know;” “Tell me what you think.”

In today’s environment, when U.S. intelligence agencies are asked about an issue, the word “assess” appears in most of their responses. For instance, when asked who Putin supports or favors in our current presidential race, news reports show that the answer was some form of, “Based on our experience, training and judgement, we assess that the Kremlin favors Mr. Trump.”

Shortly after the Biden/Trump debate, the Russian newspaper Vzglyad gave a more nuanced picture of how the Kremlin views the American presidential race and how it impacts Russia.

“Why does Russia need a smart president in the United States? Russia needs normal relations with the United States to implement its own, Russian foreign policy strategy. Some people ask a reasonable question: What is the point for Russia to have an intelligent, strong and capable president as the head of the United States? It is hardly beneficial to Russia for the United States to be led by a strong president who has a tough and realistic strategy for the world order and knows how to effectively manage resources.”

When Putin went to Vladivostok early this month to take part in the 9th Eastern Economic Forum, he was asked, once again, about the U.S. presidential election. Putin answered: “The American people will have to make their own choice. As I have already said, we favored Mr. Biden, the current president, but they took him out of the race. That said, he advised his supporters to support Ms. Harris. So, we will act accordingly and lend her our support.”

Putin went on to note that, “she (Harris) has a very contagious laughter, which shows that everything is fine for her.”

As to this last, I have to believe that Putin is trolling the public. I have never heard anyone describe the Harris cackle as “contagious laughter.”

Items in the fascinating factoid category are:

No matter how many times Putin endorses Harris, U.S. intelligence will “assess” that the Kremlin endorses Trump.

Remember that “Based on our experience, training and judgement” was the premise used by 51 intelligence experts for “assessing” Hunter’s laptop as Russian disinformation.

Putin’s “contagious laughter” comment about Kamala proves that Russians have a sense of humor.

Rube Render is a former Clovis city commissioner and former chair of the Curry County Republican Party. Contact him:

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