Putin and Trump: Masters of Imagining Makes It So.

Putin has announced the results of referendums held in four eastern provinces of Ukraine: In every one of them, citizens voted in favor of Russian annexation! The people have spoken! In accordance with their “wishes,” Russia has annexed these provinces. Congratulations to the citizens of these provinces for choosing to live on sacred Russian soil! Russia must defend its citizens! Any attempt by anyone to gain control of these new provinces will be treated as an attack on Russia itself!

Few people in the world will believe such a wild fabrication, though many prisoners of Russian state-controlled news media will. Putin will repeat this big lie in a convincing voice again and again. He has reason to think that it will succeed. He has only to notice that Trump’s Big Lie that the 2020 election was stolen is still alive in the United States — seventy percent of Republicans believe it. We must not slack off in our support for Ukraine or for holding Trump accountable for his crimes.