When the pundits talk about Vladimir Putin’s offensive in Ukraine, they usually mean troops and tanks, but his greatest weapons are, in fact, his propaganda machine and the gullible western media.

So far, he has been winning stunning victories without firing a shot. Make no mistake, Vladimir Putin cares deeply what the western public thinks and has an army of PR professionals and lobbyists to wage informational warfare, along with a network of sites including “Russia Today” and a variety of “strategy” blogs.

Amazingly, the western press in its desire to adopt what NYU Journalism professor Jay Rosen calls the view from nowhere, has been repeating many of the false assertions that Putin has promoted.

Read the article for a list of Putin’s fibs we are lapping up.

On a vaguely related note, anyone notice how just when our military is crying poverty, threatening drastic cutbacks and such, an old enemy suddenly appears (who doesn’t seem to give a shit about our willingness or ability to do anything other than phone their prez) which, of course, demands we NOT cut anything? Probably just coincidence since I haven’t heard Brian Williams, et al comment on it.