Suzanne Harrington: Real 'strongmen' can dance in high heels
Suzanne Harrington
Google ‘why’ and the question that comes first on the search list is "Why is Russia invading Ukraine?" The rest of the top five whys - why is my eye twitching, why is my poo green, why am I always tired (could these be related?), why is Pluto not a planet – are considerably more answerable. Why, Putin? Is he driven by mad dictator grandiosity? Is this really about inhabiting a space formerly occupied by Catherine the Great?
Google "Is Putin mad’ and the hive mind’s response is a resounding no – from the Spectator and the Wall Street Journal to Dave on Twitter, opinion is overwhelmingly in favour of Putin being perfectly sane. Despotic, duplicitous, but not deranged. Labelling him mad is a cop-out. He knows exactly what he's doing.
