I would like to dispel a common myth I see all too often in threads like this. Putin is not the omnipotent mastermind people think he is. He fucks up, shoots himself in the foot, and plans backfire on him more often than he lets the world see. He just plays up the “oh I actually didn’t mess up, I totally meant to do that all along!” schtick.

The current president of Ukraine was just some random comedian running to make a statement against the corrupt pro-Russian incumbent. Russian misinformation campaigns propped him up a bit for the chaos factor. Putin undoubtedly thought the guy was weak and didn’t stand a real chance so he’d be easy to later smear like he did here with Clinton. And well, not only did that guy end up winning, but he purged all the pro-Russia people out of the Ukrainian government. In fact, the former president of Ukraine is currently on trial for treason over his ties to Russia.

I think Putin just wants to build Bernie up for the primary but then turn the tables and smear him aggressively for the general election. But honestly? That might have been a fatal error on Putin’s part. I think he gravely underestimates Bernie’s integrity, his organic support growth over the years and just how sick everyone is of Trump.

If Bernie wins, Putin will try to leave an impression in people’s minds that that’s what he wanted all along, no matter how much his personal agenda actually suffered. And certain types of people will buy it. But not you. Not us. We are better than that. Fuck Putin.