Comment on Starting a War with Iran Just to Change the Epstein Channel by sacredcow

Parent Post: Starting a War with Iran Just to Change the Epstein Channel · In Reply To

sacredcow · 2/23/2026, 12:43:27 PM · permalink

57 bumps

sonatime · 2/25/2026, 10:24:39 PM · permalink

Coming back to this since I feel like your idea and or knowledge of Russia is only the general vibes put out by MSM.   
  
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."  
  
Putin:  
One of the longest-serving and most consistently popular leaders of a major power in modern history  
Ended 1990s hyperinflation/oligarch chaos    
Real GDP per capita roughly doubled (oil boom + reforms)    
Poverty rate fell from ~30% to ~13%  
Made Russia world’s #2 oil producer and #1 gas exporter (pre-2022)    
  
Total time in top executive power:  ~26 years (1999–2026) as either President or Prime Minister    
Longest-serving Russian/Soviet leader since Stalin (~29 years)  
  
Approval rating (early 2026)  
Levada Center (independent Russian pollster, most credible source):  
85–87% approval in late 2025 – early 2026 (among those who express an opinion)    
Trust rating: ~80–82%    
Peaks: 89–90% in 2014 (Crimea) and 2022–2023 (early Ukraine war)   
  
Even Gaddafi, who was a dictator turned Libya, from one of Africa's poorest countries, into the continent's most prosperous nation by the late 1970s–early 2000s  
  
"The dude who puts people in jail?"  
  
I don't know if you can imagine the amount of political meddling that goes on around the world. You can study that for yourself in Ukraine. Recently, Armenia turned towards NATO after about 6000 NGOs and Foundations operated in a country with only 3 million people.  
  
If anything, Russia shows more restraint than most countries. It helps to have a strong national culture - something the West will never get to enjoy again.  
 
![image](https://us-lax-1.linodeobjects.com/sojooo/comments/2170/1772058279743-58e34e51810a6356.png)

34 bumps

sacredcow · 2/26/2026, 1:05:59 PM · permalink

29 bumps

sonatime · 2/26/2026, 9:42:03 PM · permalink

28 bumps

sacredcow · 2/27/2026, 4:08:17 AM · permalink

24 bumps

sonatime · 2/28/2026, 12:41:25 AM · permalink

Listen and understand.  
The pro-troll is out there.  
It can't be bargained with.  
It can't be reasoned with.  
It doesn't feel pity, remorse, or shame.  
And it absolutely will not stop… ever… until it has wasted your time:)  
  
Now, to the substance, since substance is apparently optional for you:)  
  
You reduce treason/espionage cases against Russian scientists to “they shared open-source info at international events and Putin got mad.” That's not what the charges are.  
  
The FSB cases (post-2022 especially) involve accusations of passing classified military-technical information — not open-source conference papers.  
Examples include:Anatoly Maslov &amp; Alexander Shiplyuk (Novosibirsk hypersonics lab) — charged with treason for allegedly transferring classified hypersonic research data.  
Dmitry Kolker (laser physicist) — arrested for “high treason” tied to foreign contacts (died shortly after in custody).  
Multiple others in the “Novosibirsk physicists” cluster.  
  
These are not “trumped-up charges because Putin couldn't take responsibility.” They fit a clear pattern: post-Ukraine invasion, Russia has dramatically increased treason/espionage prosecutions against scientists, academics, and even journalists with any Western ties. Levada and independent reporting (Meduza, The Insider) document this surge.  
  
On the “un-beatable hypersonic missile intercepted by 1980s tech” claim:  
  
You're likely referring to the Kinzhal (Kh-47M2) shoot-downs claimed by Ukraine (using Patriot PAC-3). Russia denies those were real Kinzhals or says they were decoys. Independent verification is unclear either way — no smoking-gun wreckage photos or telemetry released publicly.  
Oreshnik (the new IRBM-class hypersonic system Putin showcased in late 2024) is a different platform. Russian claims put it at Mach 10–11, but no confirmed combat use yet. Its “probable weakness” (inability to maneuver mid-course) is speculation — official descriptions say it has maneuvering warheads (MaRV-like), though unproven in real intercepts.  
  
You keep boiling complex, documented security cases down to cartoonish “Putin mad → jail scientists lol.” That's not argument; that's sensational ignorance dressed as skepticism. If you have actual counter-sources (not just “trust me bro” takes), show them.

23 bumps

sacredcow · 2/28/2026, 12:43:15 AM · permalink

20 bumps

sonatime · 2/28/2026, 1:00:11 AM · permalink

17 bumps

sacredcow · 2/28/2026, 1:06:23 AM · permalink

13 bumps

sonatime · 2/28/2026, 1:28:36 AM · permalink

11 bumps

tajudeen_bin_tijani · 2/28/2026, 3:10:26 PM · permalink

2 bumps

sacredcow · 2/28/2026, 12:36:34 PM · permalink

5 bumps

sonatime · 2/28/2026, 7:46:58 PM · permalink

3 bumps

sonatime · 2/23/2026, 8:52:39 PM · permalink

21 bumps

sacredcow · 2/23/2026, 9:45:17 PM · permalink

17 bumps

sonatime · 2/23/2026, 10:44:06 PM · permalink

16 bumps

rusalka · 2/23/2026, 10:55:29 PM · permalink

12 bumps

sonatime · 2/23/2026, 11:11:32 PM · permalink

8 bumps

rusalka · 2/23/2026, 11:17:17 PM · permalink

4 bumps

Signature