PSYCHO need all caps Christine, because that is what this is. Your sense that they need to create something more than Putin's maniacal delusions to raise the ire of their people is exactly what they are up to. It's amatuerish the way they first set up and then try to close the mind loop. It gave me the vision that they were speaking to a mindless Russian audience smoking cigarettes and sucking on a vodka bottle. Their view of their people is pathetic; but then maybe it's deserved.

Reality is, these are just more lies from the politicians. We should assume theirs lie to their people just as ours do to us. Not that the import of the lie is on par; Putin's lies are far more vile. But there are similar examples within our own system. Far-left and far-right forces conjure lies abouyt each other incessantly; (The election was stolen, Russian collusion, "I did not have sex with that woman", Weapons of mass distruction, the Republicans want to kill Social Security...on and on) as they try to maintain, if not increase their grip on power. Plenty of fodder their for any propagandist, even amatuer Russian ones. Add to those lies the imagery and messaging of our "open" society and the colors by which to paint their ugly picture are plentiful; teaching gender "alternatives" to 3rd graders, blocking parental oversight of their minor children, handing out needles to addicts, racist America, smash and grab crime, mass shootings of school children, lawless borders... and it is not hard to paint a picture of an immoral, dystopian America and "propagandize" with it. The Russians aren't the only ones to do that.

To attain their sick goals for the world they are trying to portray themselves and their people as VICTIMS of "the Satanist West". It's a long practiced political ploy of creating a monster and claiming only you can slay it. It's just easier for them because we give them so much material to work with.