If only there was some way to stop me from hitting myself

Tucker Carlson’s unofficial co-host and his red-brown fellow travelers have discovered a truly nefarious plan to undermine the Russian state:

Anti-anti-Russians had already arrived at the conclusion that Ukraine’s war was an American plot to undermine Russia. “Is the purpose of the arms shipments to strengthen Ukraine’s hand in reaching a negotiated settlement to the conflict — a process from which the Biden administration and allied governments have so far held themselves aloof?” posited the leftist Branko Marcetic last week. “Or is it, as some U.S. and British officials have suggested, to turn Ukraine into an Afghanistan-like quagmire for Russia, weakening it and perhaps even triggering regime change, while sending a message to China in the process?”

And so, when Austin announced this objective, the anti-anti-Russians cried out in vindication. Here was the skeleton key to understanding the entire conflict. “The White House intends to keep the war in Ukraine alive, with the stated goal of weakening Moscow by continuing to pour new and more advanced weaponry into the war-ravaged country,” argues the Federalist’s John Daniel Davidson.

The purest expression of this worldview comes from influential Fox News guest analyst Glenn Greenwald:

This is an inversion of reality Orwell could only admire. Ukraine’s destruction is the objective of Russia’s invasion, not the “price” of American aid to Ukraine. Indeed, American aid to Ukraine is designed to prevent its destruction.

If only there was some way that Putin could avoid the highly negative consequences of his unprovoked imperialist attack on Russia! Alas, like George W. Bush in 2003 he was forced by external forces to invade, and there was no way of stopping the war after that I can currently think of.

Murc’s Law is apparently also a harsh mistress when applied to international affairs.