Many prosecutors, for example, will walk down a random street and, looking left and right, see people who are guilty of something, just not yet caught. Defense attorneys strolling on the same sidewalk will look around and behold human beings who are unjustly accused of something or other, and probably harassed by an overbearing inquisition.

I know they are writing for an audience, but this is still an insultingly childish version of whatever condition they are trying to describe, "Oh prosecutors walk around seeing devil horns above everyones head because they are mean and want to put people in jail, while defense attorneys walk around seeing perfectly innocent angels because they want to help everyone".

Viewed thus, many of Putin’s hallucinations become fathomable. The Soviet Union didn’t fall; it was pushed (by a hostile West). The “color revolutions” in former Soviet Republics weren’t primal yells for freedom by people who felt oppressed; those protesters were hired or manipulated by the CIA and other Western secret services. Ukrainians don’t want to join the European Union for its promise of prosperity, progress and liberty; they’re doing it because they’re run by Nazis whose real objective is to encircle and betray Russia and Putin.

I remember someone in one of these threads said that these people write about russia in the format of "Putin/Russia believes (objectively true statement), (objectively true statement), [insane made up bullshit]". This seems to fit the bill, although even the last statement is broadly correct if you just adjust that the EU/Western hegemony wishes to encircle and ravage Russia, while the government of Ukraine wishes to align with this for various reasons.

If you are an enemy of the western hegemony then assuming that everything is organized rather than spontaneous is a vastly more correct point of view than to assume that shit just happens on its own independent of your enemies and their interests.

In Putin’s system, lying isn’t a bug, it’s a feature.

Applies to literally every bourgeoise democracy, objectively projection to imply that any single countrys political system is uniquely built on lying.

And while we're talking about guys with "deformation professionelle" having dangerously powerful positions, Id be way more worried about the tv actor and comedian having power with his acting-poisoned brain than someone with cold war brain being in a position of power while dealing with a new cold war.