I don't know how long it took you to assemble this program of destruction to our democracy and humanity. However you pulled it off, Vladimir Putin, you sure must have had a lot of friends (on the inside) to get so much accomplished in less than two years.

Yes, two short years is all it took us to be so inundated with lies and deception that the truth is nothing more than what we're told it is, over and over again. In less that two short years we've witnessed Nazis roaming freely and openly in the streets of America. We have corrupt Cabinet members who are beyond any possible redemption operating blatantly in their capacities, to rob and pilfer our money. We know how deeply you interfered with our elections and we not only turned a blind eye, we are doing nothing to prevent it from happening again.

We see that our politicians have all but ceded total power to one man who even has the unadulterated ability to rip children out of their mothers' arms and lock them up.

You've found a way to turn our allies into antagonists and the world's most brutal dictators into friends (sorry, you come in as a not too distant second to Kim Jong-un on this one). Now, we know that our military exercises with South Korea were a total giveaway to the North with your influence. Good work on keeping those sanctions against you down to a joke as well. We hear that you'll be having a private meeting soon where you can institute new orders and fine-tune your existing plans. The G-7 was a great coup when our allies were insulted and dissed while your name was blatantly praised and glorified.

But it's all you, Vlad; you've created a perfect scenario where no matter what happens, you win. You don't give a rat's ass for any of our leadership. You know that the harder they fight, and the more divisive it becomes, you reap the rewards of Americans becoming increasingly tribalistic and looking out only for their own. You know how to build a dictatorship from the ground up. You've done it for yourself and your tribe.

I have to say, though, that this is your most crowning achievement to date. The children being used as political pawns today to divide us further could become the criminals of tomorrow. Just think of it; becoming hostages at a tender age in an American internment camp could leave a lasting impression of us and possibly spurn some of them to seek retribution in a harmful, if not deadly way. Hurrah, a trifecta of hate and violence reaching well into our future.

So I take my hat off to you, Vlad, the master of psychological warfare. Just don't get too cocky though, it will take us a long time to dig our way out of this cesspool but it must be done, and it's up to every American to do their part. Δ

Larry Schiffer writes his opinion from Paso Robles. Send us your opinion for publication at [email protected].