The specter of the dread Russian threat once mocked by Democrats but suddenly embraced by them from 2016 to 2020 is ending. So two pandemics are winding down.
Democrats are no longer perpetually agitated about the Russians:
Now comes Biden, making moves in Russia policy that are essentially conciliatory — freezing a military aid package to Ukraine, ending U.S. sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline linking Germany to Russia, a return of ambassadors — and setting up a summit that can reasonably be regarded as a modest propaganda coup for Putin.
The Democratic rage against Russia was as sudden as it was out of character.
You remember the not-so-distant mockery of the notion of a Russian threat and the Obama concessions to Putin, right?
I figured the rage wouldn't last after Trump. The change is dramatic:
If the Colonial Pipeline ransom hack was carried out by the white supremacist Unicorn that liberals claim are everywhere, the White House would call it a terrorist attack. It's really pretty amazing. Democrats went full Jack (D) Ripper in 2016 in their hatred of Russia. But now that Democrats have power in Washington, D.C., a Russian hack that disabled a major fuel pipeline for about a week is just business.
So yeah, the Russians are no longer the all-purpose Big Bad for Democrats:
Did bizarre Russian charges of "Russophobia" finally hit home with the woke-adjacent crowd?
And undermining allies is the other side of the suck-up-to-Russia coin.
Not that Russia is unique. All our enemies will get the systemically stupid "you guys are just friends we haven't made yet" treatment.
