12/09/24 Afternoon CommStock Report – Russia’s Shadow Looms Larger than Russia Does

Russia walks, talks and projects itself to be a much larger profile than it is to cast a larger-than-life shadow. Vladimir Putin is fixated on the Russian past when it was an empire and later the Soviet Union which he revered. He thinks he can resurrect the past in the future with the use of intimidation and military power and instead is presiding over its demise. The reality is that Russia is a pretty pathetic country by any metric except its belligerent attitude and willingness to sacrifice its young in the cause of resurrecting an empire. Russia has caused decades of conflict that has cost the US $trillions to defend. US military expenditures reflect the perceived threats to our national security. Russia has often occupied the position of being the top threat so has strained our Treasury in the necessity of countering it. The demise of the Soviet Union was caused by economic collapse. This has gone on literally my whole lifetime. I was born in 1952 and it was 1953 before my father saw me as a baby for the first time as he was stationed in Germany serving in the 4rth Infantry Division in one of those geographic…