THE PUTIN-TRUMP VERSION OF AS TIME GOES BY
(…a mutual greed for profit from power and glory)

Romance has nothing to do with this version of that old song. It’s a question about their motives for having what seems to be a mutual regard society between them.

But when it comes to trying to understand other people’s motives for how they act or what they do it’s always an iffy proposition. This is especially true when it involves people in positions of great power. One can only deduce such motivations from a preponderance of evidence which appears to support such deductions, circumstantial as that evidence may be.

In this instance, however, Putin’s motives for meddling in our political process seem to have been based on a very bluntly pragmatic question. That is…which of our two contenders for the Oval Office offered the most likely prospect of being amenable to back channel mutually profitable deals…while in that office? From Putin’s perspective the answer was a no-brainer. Trump was the only choice, hence his launching of whatever cyber and info manipulation resources at his disposal to help make that a reality.

We don’t really know what the extent of Trump’s business interests in Russia might be, but given the scope of his global business activities the odds are they have to be significant there. Since no significant business interests operate in Russia without some sort of Putin-granted “visas” to do so, that may explain the reason for Trump’s continuing admiring comments about him…and vice versa.

There are no other significant reasons for Putin to want Trump to win the Presidency. The Donald takes great pride at being a grand master for doing “deals”, especially if there’s a strong potential for making massive profits from them, so it’s as simple as that because, in some respects, they are just two sides of the same coin. Granted, Putin is less flamboyant in his ways, being more inclined to the Richelieu style of power manipulation, derived no doubt from his former KGB aparatnik environment wherein he managed to worm his way up through it to end up in his present oligarch position. By a similar process, Trump also managed to worm his way up through the intricacies of the real estate matrix and manipulate it to reach his own oligarch position. Thus, while they come from two very different environments, both have ended up with the same result, so both understand their similarities, and thus there’s mutual profit to be had from “dealing” with each other.

To what extent such a relationship might benefit the rest of us it’s hard to say. Obviously none of us working stiffs will ever get any direct goodies from it. Nevertheless, perhaps the collateral benefit will be that these two…Don Vladimir and Don Donaldo…are about to set up a new world order, one in which the rule of profit above all else will now be the guiding basis for any action. For such a profit-driven matrix to flourish, however, economic, social, and political stability everywhere, is an imperative. Without these no – profit – is possible.

So in that sense our benefit from their “relationship” will be that both will do their utmost to have that stability, and will jointly be prepared to enforce it against any parties which might try to disturb it. We might say their operating motto will be…Peace on Earth or Else…and to that end they will probably also have to invite their oriental counterpart…Don Ping…to also be a member of their new “syndicated” world order. A world order where the only “hegemony” allowed will be whose profit interest is paramount at any given time in any given geo-political arena, with the others accommodating to that in exchange for a share or piece of the action, no matter who has the lead.

It’s in that sense that we see any benefit from their “relationship”. The only disadvantage we foresee, however, is that any one of them, or even all, could renege on any deal. In that event…we ‘re all screwed…and may have to seek asylum on a passing Martian spaceship.

CENTURION