Yes, I know I’ve written about him before, this former President of Russia and current Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council. But he just keeps popping up in the news with bigger and . . . well, not better, but definitely more insane . . . threats of what Russia can and will do if the West doesn’t play nicely with them. “Nicely,” of course, meaning according to their rules.

It’s really not surprising that this long-time friend and ally of Vladimir Putin should turn out also to be the Charlie McCarthy to Putin’s Edgar Bergen. Despite the 13-year age difference, their paths crossed in their native city of Leningrad where they had both attended Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) State University, and both later came under the influence of the man who would become that city’s first democratic mayor: Anatoly Sobchak.

Finding a comfortable spot under Putin’s wing, Medvedev came up through the ranks, first in St. Petersburg and then in Moscow, with Putin ultimately landing in the catbird seat at the Kremlin. When Putin was serving his first term as President from 2000-04, Medvedev was appointed to the office of Kremlin Chief of Staff (2003-05); then was promoted to First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia from 2005-08.

At that point, Putin’s time as President ran out in accordance with the Russian Constitution, which at that time allowed only two consecutive terms of four years. Planning to run again in 2012, Putin managed to slide Medvedev into the President’s office for four years from 2008-12, during which his protege would naturally follow instructions like a good little puppet, all the while presenting to the world a face of reason and moderation. But somehow, during those four years, a constitutional amendment was passed, extending the two consecutive presidential terms to six years apiece. So, in 2012, Putin again was “elected” to the presidency, this time to serve until 2018, at which point he would repeat the process for another six years, until 2024. And by the way, somewhere in there he managed to push through an additional constitutional amendment removing that pesky provision of only two consecutive terms. So there he sits, firmly ensconced — since last month’s nicely-rigged election — until at least 2030, and possibly 2036.

Meanwhile, Medvedev assumed the post of Prime Minister of Russia from 2012 to 2020, when a major shuffling of personnel next saw him moved into the office of Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation (the Chairman being Putin himself) — seemingly a demotion, but in fact an equally significant role to that of Prime Minister. He is constantly seen at Putin’s side these days . . . when he isn’t screaming into the wind about Russia’s nuclear option.

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So now it is 2024; Russia is in the third year of its war against Ukraine; and Dmitry Medvedev can be heard on a nearly daily basis lobbing threats at the world of nuclear retaliation against any “Western” — i.e., NATO or NATO-friendly — country that dares to send troops onto Ukraine’s territory to aid in its defense, or in the event any Ukrainian attacks should strike missile launch sites inside Russia with arms supplied by the U.S. and/or its allies. In January of this year, he specifically stated on Telegram:

“What does this mean? It means only one thing — they risk running into the action of paragraph 19 of the fundamentals of Russia’s state policy in the field of nuclear deterrence. This should be remembered.”

Paragraph 19 sets forth the conditions under which a Russian president might consider using a nuclear weapon, in broad language referring to Russia’s response to any attack using nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction, or to the use of conventional weapons against Russia, “when the very existence of the state is put under threat.”

In other words . . . whenever.

In February, he added a threat to use nuclear weapons against the U.S., the U.K., Germany, and Ukraine if Moscow should lose all of its presently occupied Ukrainian territories — territories that Putin has long referred to as being “historically Russian lands.”

And in March, he completely blew out of the water Vladimir Putin’s consistent protestations that his “special military operation” was launched for the noble purpose of “liberating” Ukraine from its supposed fascist, Nazi-led government . . . and he did it in just three short sentences:

In so stating, “Medvedev spelled out his rejection of Ukrainian statehood and elaborated on the imperial objectives underpinning Russia’s ongoing invasion.” [Taras Kuzio, Atlantic Council, March 4, 2024.]

“One of Ukraine’s former leaders once said Ukraine is not Russia. That concept needs to disappear forever. Ukraine is definitely Russia.”

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Empires are not built on the basis of a single annexation. Like a billionaire snatching up pieces of prime real estate, a would-be emperor is never satisfied. There is always another piece of property waiting to be acquired, at any cost. Which begs the question I have asked numerous times in regard to Russia’s expansionist goals: Who’s next?

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I’ve always wondered — and still do — how a monster is created. Coincidentally, someone recently asked me if I’d ever noticed that the most rotten people always seem also to be the most charismatic, which led me to ask myself which characteristic most likely came first. Did the natural charisma cause the individual to become too self-assured, too cocky, and too aware of the power it gave them over others? Or was the person more likely born with evil instincts, which then guided them to develop the charismatic personality necessary to lead others along their desired path? I don’t know the answer; but look at this baby, and tell me what you see.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
4/10/24