Dmitri Peskov says that the rumors are wrong, Putin is not dead. Fascinating.
When you have to deny a rumor like this, there is already a problem.
If you feel that you have to respond to such a rumor at all, it means that there is a realistic chance that people are actually believing something like this.
Now, the rumor apparently was seen online and on telegram, but it had not reached any major news sites. I actually saw it as a denial first without having seen it in reality.
This is how power decreases.
Maybe three examples, albeit from fiction, can illustrate this old political insight.
In the Doctor Who episode “The Christmas Invasion”, the Doctor warns the Prime Minister that he could bring her down by just uttering six words. He then turns to her aide and says, “Don’t you think she looks tired?” Just this mere rumor is enough to destroy her government eventually.
In Hans Christian Andersen’s well-known story “The Emperor’s New Clothes”, it takes a little child to speak the truth. The emperor, who has been pretending to wear new fancy clothes while actually being naked, is parading through the streets, and everyone pretends not to see what they are seeing. Once the child shouts out that the emperor has no clothes, the spell is broken, the emperor still continues walking, but his power is now in doubt.
Just before Toto removes the curtain in The Wizard of Oz, the self-proclaimed Wizard says “pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.” But at the point where he has to say that, the game is already over.
So, what do we make of Peskov’s denial?
Someone is panicking. Someone feels they have to state the obvious even there was no real reason to speak about it. If you have to say “No, the President is not dead”, even if no reputable news source has said it, if you are at the point where you have to respond to rumors on rumor-heavy messaging apps and internet platforms, you have already lost control of the narrative.
In addition, yesterday’s antisemitic attacks in Dagestan – which is part of Russia – show even more so a loss of control. The narrative is cracking. Someone – namely, the Russian regime – is reaping what they sowed.
Something is cooking in Russia. The war is going badly, the economy is crashing, people are noticing. They are looking for any crack in the system, and Peskov just revealed the paranoia behind the Kremlin walls.
Fascinating.
Ceterum censeo Ucrainam esse defendam. Слава Україні!
Erratic Attempts 