Madman across the water

Here's a clip from a paywalled post at TPM writing about a paywalled post in Le Parisien.

"The rule of these is that Macron has to sit and listen to the extemporaneous lectures, it’s highly sensitive diplomatic exchanges after all.

It’s an interesting if uh not totally great data point as to Putin’s mindset and muddled motivations. It gives off the eerie vibe of someone lost in his hall of mirrors, with grandiose historical ideas and paranoia about respect and such. In essence, the article depicts Putin as a weirdo comments section guy — I’m sure you are familiar with the type — rather than some canny geopolitical poker player. He comes across as unmoored. As I said, it’s not reassuring at all."