“Turn a globe and point your finger anywhere, you will find American interests and interference there.” — Vladimir Putin

The comment came during a national call-in show in which the Russian leader denied that his country meddled with the 2016 U.S. election process, criticized the “political infighting” in America and pointed out its hypocrisy.

But he also sounded upbeat, saying he doesn’t see the U.S. as an enemy and believes the two countries could do a lot more to work together — and make the world a safer place. (See AP report)

This came before breaking news this morning that Russia may have killed the leader of ISIS and several other top commanders of the terrorist organization in a drone strike on May 28.

If confirmed, Russia will be applauded by millions around the world while U.S. politicians continue to disgrace themselves with their very public infighting. Russia will be seen as the nation that gets the job done while some question whether the U.S. is making a genuine effort to rout ISIS from the region.

The big question for me is, why do so many American politicians feel the need to vilify the Russian government? Why do they need to portray the Russians as enemies? And more important, why are they so afraid that President Trump could normalize ties with Russia, as he indicated he would do from the outset of his presidency? I suspect that’s what is really behind the efforts to dethrone Trump: the military establishment and those profiting from it — as well as other economic forces — need Russia to be seen as a bogeyman. Forget about working together and giving peace a chance. It’s all about the money, money, money . . .

Still, normalizing ties with Russia may be the only way Trump will stop the political vultures circling the White House, that is, if they don’t move in for the kill before he has a chance to do so.

— Jillian

Photo: Official portrait of Vladimir Putin, 2006. (Source: Kremlin/Wikimedia Commons)