about how rational putain sounds
For a person allegedly living in an information bubble, Putin does do surprisingly well with Western journalists.
On occasion, he'll say something comically conspiratorial - like something Alex Jones would say - but then go right back to sounding rational in the next sentence.
I think his understanding of America, is not a lot better than that of an emigrant that has lived for 6 months on Brighton Beach.
That's partly because Putin has lived nearly his entire life in Russia, with only a brief stint in Dresden(I'm not including his long tristes with Berlusconi in Sardinia).
But also Putin does not use the internet, or watch television. Instead, he watches a daily "cable news digest" on a VHS tape in the car, on the way to his office. When challenged about this by a journalist, Putin replied that "I learn all I need and more from classified briefings every morning." This is of course a total joke, and in no way a serious argument. But... there it is, Putin claims to get enough info from his spooks. You could be having a raging discussion on Telegram with millions of participants, and Putin won't even know it's happening.
His favorite music band, is a group called Lyube - which is mostly known for producing somber "military patriotic" music.
In the past, Putin has publicly backed funding for pseudoscientific inventions brought to his attention by known scammers and charlatans.
He routinely makes inappropriate jokes around women and gays about rape or genitalia.
The type of men he seems to enjoy spending his time with most, are simple workers of industry and other spooks.
Yet... this is the guy that wraps your journos around his finger? What will you do if Russia one day has some former diplomat or entertainment person elected? Will you anoint him as the new Churchill, just like Zelensky?