By Barry Hastings

I knew something of real interest was happening when Vlad (the ‘new’ Impaler) Putin let America know how much he admired “the Donald.” He called Trump “a genius” in a news conference some months ago. Since then, I’ve spent a great amount of time trying to determine what the hell he’s up to.

Putin does nothing before first determining what Russia has to gain — no probable gain, no comment. Putin is testing the overly self-confident Trump to see how far he can go injecting Russian Intel into our election cycle, while Trump is testing America — to see how far he can go before he’s forced to confront his Russian mentor. (Neither is acting on behalf of Americans.)

How, and why, have the Russians stuck their trouble-making noses into American politics? The answer should be apparent to everyone but true-blue Trump supporters. Putin, and Russian Intel services (masters of meddling as they ever are), know what they’re seeking. They see an opportunity to start inserting wedges into cracks occurring across our whole political, economic, social, and military structure.

Putin is a man of the crudest, shadiest, cruelest past… and present. His political rivals are imprisoned and their wealth confiscated; or gunned-down within sight of the Kremlin. Should they defect, they die in the streets of new homes in the West where they settle, killed by tasteless, odorless radiation, or other poisons. Putin is a brazen murderer and absolutely ruthless in pursuit of Russian policy and turncoats. He’s definitely not a man to be trusted, or ignored.

Putin has boldly, and publicly said he neither likes Clinton personally, nor as a diplomat. Could it be he finds her too tough? Very likely so. On the other hand, he’s boldly said (on many occasions) he does, “admire Trump,” and considers him a “genius.” Now there has to be a reason behind these public endorsements. I think he fears Clinton’s firm belief in standing up against Russian threats and provocations, on, and across, the broad international scene. Why else would he throw such lavish (and completely undue) praise on Trump? Donald is a man best known for the harm he’s done to thousands of investors in his many failed enterprises. And that says nothing to his notorious cheating of small businesses, manufacturers, and labor (skilled and unskilled). He always walks with the lucre.

Everything is ‘policy’ with Putin. He recognizes Trump as a self-deluding man on a serious ego­ trip, and ignorant enough regarding the real world to be vulnerable. (The two are already in a public political love-fest.) Putin has “read” his man correctly, and he’ll (pretty easily) deceive “the Donald,” to our dire detriment.

In an interview some weeks ago, Trump finally uttered the GOP ‘big lie’ of this campaign season. He claimed it’s President Obama (abetted by HRC) who’s been unwilling to work with Republicans, and has abused America in every possible manner. Of course many of us — far too many of us — have forgotten the terrible conditions Bushwar II brought down on us, militarily, economically (ohhh, ‘specially economically), diplomatically; this in addition to smearing our reputation around the globe. Trump is only an attempt at continuation of those poorly thought-out policies.

You know, I’ve written often of “the big lie” over too many years to count easily, but let’s breeze over it all once more. Adolph Hitler did not invent “the big lie.”‘ He proved to be only a moderately successful practitioner of the art — many others have gone further. Hitler was surpassed (by a fur piece) by Joseph Stalin (a hero of Putin’s, by the way). Hitler’s Thousand Year Reich lasted about twelve years, and only about six once he aroused the anger of the Democracies. No, Hitler didn’t invent the big lie, but those (like him) who’ve used it effectively have ever proved the crudest of rightist freaks.

Megalomania is the only word to describe the Trump mentality. He’s a dangerous man in the old Napoleanic mold. They’re always bad news.

It seems to me the Russians and Putin are engaged in an operation as I write. Putin believes his “trolling for Trump” has caught a big fish, and a fish which, if taken into the boat could, and most likely will cause long-term damage to our body-politic, to the Western alliance, to our many far-East friends and allies. The military school into which Trump Sr. deposited his kid, turned-out a political/military idiot… and a thief.

Yes, a thief. The only thing I can say to it is this; the Trumps seem to think they can take anything (that’s any thing) belonging to others, and use it for their own devices. But stealing lines from Michelle Obama’s 2008 speech is a bit beyond the pale. (It was however, a truly great speech.) But it’s commonly known in legal circles as plagiarism. After the fact became public, Trump tried to lie his way out of the charge by cooking up an ‘in-house’ error by a Trump speech-writer. And that lie following one in which he said his wife wrote the whole thing alone. “Oh, what tangled webs we weave, when first we labor to deceive.” (Many thanks, and not for the first time, to the Bard of Stratford-on-Avon — a man well known for deep human insights.)

Modern Republicanism in action!

I don’t care what Trump or the GOP try to sell us about their candidate. They’re not a shadow of the great liberating Republicanism of Lincoln and Grant, nor of the progressive Republicanism of Teddy Roosevelt, nor of the blunt honesty, leadership, and patriotism of Dwight Eisenhower.

I’m not asking people to accept Hillary with love; she’s often an unloveable personality. But, as Admirals, Generals, politicians, spooks, allies seem to agree, she’s one very tough cookie. So if you’d like to protect the nation, the Constitution, our Institutions, from possibly-fatal actions (or inaction) of a very impulsive man, and from increasingly weird GOP leadership, consider Clinton/Kaine, in 2016.