It's not deflection if it directly affects our ability to have a discussion. > "he must have been a Russian puppet all along" No. Actually read what i'm sayin

It's not deflection if it directly affects our ability to have a discussion. > "he must have been a Russian puppet all along" No. Actually read what i'm saying. He chose a side. He knew that poking the eye of the US has consequences, and to avoid those consequences he needed to align himself with one of the few states left that doesn't bow to US wishes. The states that fit that criteria are themselves exclusively authoritarian. So in protesting the illegal surveillance of a liberal state, he made himself a pawn in the propaganda war of an illiberal state. That basic contraction was never his intention, but it became his reality. > Just that the (far) more plausible explanation is that anyone running from a superpower is running to another superpower. It's the only thing that makes sense. He did what he had to do to survive. Yes, we agree. His intentions can't ever be known, so arguing that is pointless. I'm simply pointing out the consequences of his actions and the basic contraction in his story vs the actual outcome.