> The geopolitical consequences are profound, especially as a new president prepares to take office: If Russia, or any other country, were found culpable for violent attacks on U.S. government personnel, Washington would likely feel compelled to forcefully respond.
Seeing how Trump has repeatedly praised Putin and criticized Zalensky, it's doubtful there'd be any consequences if Russia really turned out to be behind all this.
It'll just mean that China is behind this, which means the tariffs are actually benign and justified response, not kickstarting a trade war. It'll be the truth, some new kind of Truth (Social.)
I don't want to sound apocalyptic, but I think the media and political narratives of the mainstream lost all reality checks in the past few decades (not for the first time - historically, it happens ever-so-often), which means that there's no point trying to reconcile them with facts mentally. It's tiring and pointless - politicians, commentators, and the public allowed their Overton windows to slide way too far from the reasonable. It'll pass - meanwhile, we can only hope the effects won't be as pronounced as if ImageMagick finally broke for good.
Seeing how Trump has repeatedly praised Putin and criticized Zalensky, it's doubtful there'd be any consequences if Russia really turned out to be behind all this.