Vladimir Putin is not a nice man. He is not playing by our rules. Like all Russian leaders, he is constantly expanding Russian influence through fair means or foul. This would not surprise our grandparents or their parents: Russian leaders whether Tsar or Commissar are power hungry autocrats. This is a fact and one that no rendition of You’ve got a friend will stop or hinder. This time Russia is not building a wall: they are hacking along with their usual gaming the middle east and oppressing the Tatars and Ukrainians. CNN discusses the latest issues here:

US-Russia relations have deteriorated sharply amid a barrage of accusations and disagreements, raising the stakes on issues ranging from the countries’ competing military operations in Syria, disputes over Eastern European independence and escalating cyber breaches.

This will be a challenge for our governing officials (neither candidate in my opinion is worth a warm bag of spit) to keep this from going bad fast.  And hacking is hardly a surprise.  This is typical Russian political maneuvering.  Invasion, intimidation of neighboring countries and deflecting the people’s attention back home from economic disaster.

Regardless of who inhabits the White House next, Putin isn’t likely to alter his course. Aligning Russia with Syria, countering the US at the UN Security Council and pushing back against NATO by flying bombers along the western Atlantic coast in September, among other moves, serve the Russian leader at home.

After November?

Putin is playing both Clinton and Trump like a conman in Vegas plays a mark. Putin also is successfully deflecting attention from issues at home. And how this is handled may be the difference between a cold war and a shooting war. Neither of which are good for America or her allies.

This is not the Bullwinkle show but Boris and Natasha

All joking aside, Russia is a danger to us, no matter how many times they put up a happy front.   Hopefully our congress and whoever is president can see that and not become either a pawn or a scapegoat.