Stage-3 Butt-Hurt.

Bloomberg (yes, this famous propaganda outlet) produced today a fascinating example of delusion and an extreme, stage-3, butt-hurt, stage-1 and 2 being butt-hurts which still could be controlled by meditation and delusions. Stage-3 however, while allows one to produce delusions hits hard because those who stick to this delusion begin to understand that this is just that--a delusion and begin to grasp, however fleetingly, an unfolding reality. This is what makes Stage-3 so painful and makes delusions so unconvincing.  Get a load of that:

The real wild card here has been the coronavirus. Not just the direct economic hit, but also Putin’s distant initial reaction and the lack of a fiscal boost, which means he hasn’t seen the sort of rallying effect in the polls that has helped U.S. President Donald Trump and other political leaders. Nigel Gould-Davies, at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, suggests the risk is a repeat of Putin's Kursk debacle two decades ago, when his perceived leadership failure at the time of the submarine tragedy triggered widespread criticism. This isn’t a threat to the plan to change the constitution to allow him to stay on, but his “father of the nation” gambit may be harder to implement, especially if Russia’s under-resourced health system buckles.

The cretinism of this statement is such that it is even difficult to deconstruct it because it is basically a verbal diarrhea which even those who produce it know is shit. Reference to Kursk disaster and alleged "criticism" of Putin, of course, misses this teeny-weeny fact that it was precisely Kursk tragedy which DID reveal to Russia Vladimir Putin Russians came to know and appreciate. Then there was an end to war in Chechnya, then there was a Nord-Ost hostage drama, then there was a tragedy of Beslan and through all of this Putin  emerged as a true statesman and a national leader. But as it was always the case Western journos and "analysts" have huge issues with causality, that is they cannot properly tie together cause and effect (which is normal for people who have no viable education). Drawing parallels to Donald Trump's rating to Putin's position as a national leader is the same as comparing a high-school musical to opera from La Scala. But that is Western journos for ya. 

But why, one may ask, such statements:

Moscow is pragmatic. But Trump will need to make some concession-like noises at least on American production cuts, to help Putin save face. Not easy, but given the shut-ins already triggered by the price fall, also not impossible, with the help of U.S. state energy regulators.

LOL. So, it is not about killing, or letting live, US shale oil whose fate is in Russia's (not even Saudi) hands but to "help Putin save face". This is Stage-3, folks. It is a level of butt-hurt which triggers the only "defense" one hurting (in the butt) can offer--to project own pain onto those who are just alright. You  know like the statement on Russia's "under-resourced" health care. But why, why (wink, wink) such a drama--here is the answer.  

“The U.S. oil industry is being wrestled to the ground by the Russians and Saudis,” Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy and Economic Research in Winchester, Massachusetts, said before the report was released. “Involuntary participation is the best way to put it.” EIA forecasts that the U.S. will return to being a net importer of crude oil and petroleum products in the third quarter of 2020 and remain a net importer in most months through the end of the forecast period. The agency expects Brent, the global benchmark crude, to average $33.04 a barrel this year, down from earlier expectations of $43.30.

Ah, that's warmer. But here is even more increased temperature:

A deal still hinges on some form of co-operation with America, according to delegates involved in the talks. That may be difficult for OPEC to achieve, as President Donald Trump resists any partnership with the cartel that he’s vilified for years. However, the collapse in crude prices to 18-year lows has triggered deep reductions in U.S. drilling that mean a drop in production is inevitable, which could be enough to satisfy Saudi Arabia and Russia. “Nobody’s asked me, so if they ask I’ll make a decision,” Trump said on whether the U.S. would participate in cutbacks. American producers are “already cutting back and they’re cutting back very seriously. I think it’s happening automatically.”

So, Trump DOES make "some concession-like noises" after all to "help Putin save face" as we are told. And sure, he absolutely must "help" Putin to save "face" because the US shale oil industry is being wrecked completely even this very minute I type this, and the United States can do absolutely nothing about it unless (and even this may be too little, too late) it does cut production and gets to negotiate, de facto joining OPEC+ and turning it into OPEC++. If not, follow the news in coming weeks. I warned, genuine multi-polarity is a bitch--one suddenly needs to calculate consequences, a skill long time ago absent from current US political class, which is not surprising once one learns how the "history" is "taught" in the US and, this ever present trouble with cause and effect, add here the sudden epiphany about own self experienced through the acute, Statge-3, pain in the rear and, who knows, one may begin to suspect that producing verbal diarrhea is not the best way to deal with cold hard facts. This, mind you, without us going into the issue of REAL productive economy, which the United States needs to return in some form to its shores, thus giving itself at least some chance to survive intact. But that is a huge, separate discussion in itself since the projection numbers on the US GDP are staggering:

The bank expects second quarter GDP to contract by 33.5%, according to a Monday note. That means the period from April 1 to June 30 is shaping up to be the worst quarter on record going back to 1945, analysts led by Jonathan Golub wrote. It shows the stark effect the coronavirus pandemic is having on the US economy. In the financial crisis, the worst quarter of 2008 suffered only an 8.4% GDP slump, according to Credit Suisse. Coronavirus is also outpacing the previous record — a 10% slump in the first quarter of 1958, amid the Eisenhower recession. 

What it all means in real terms, even if the economy "bounces" back in some way in the future, nobody knows in the United States, unless we are talking about minds of the scale of Michael Hudson. Meanwhile, printing press is overheated and with each cycle it spells the end of the US Dollar as we know it and that can push butt-hurt to 11, granted we somehow survive to observe and experience it. I am not looking forward to it.