You're exactly right -- on both counts, Harold. And no, I don't think those Republicans would stay true to that shit, precisely because they're just as rabid as the rest. And Democrats are no better, just two sides of the same coin really, both internally AND internationally IMHO. Yes, it is quite abominable, given this country's fighting mightily to keep a third party out.

Yes, if they had their druthers, I really DO think their aim is to destroy Russia -- sooner or later. But that's just me. America's "Full Spectrum Dominance" goals, as laid out from the "The Project for the New American Century" (PNAC) in a letter to Bill Clinton back in 1991, arrogantly showed what the "plans" were to achieve those goals -- country by country (the site now however, has been scrubbed and no longer comes up in a search, but her's another hoarded link about it, absent the plans: https://militarist-monitor.org/profile/project_for_the_new_american_century/).

But as you said, now they appear to just want to "weaken Russia," as Secretary of Defense Austin said a while back: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/25/russia-weakedend-lloyd-austin-ukraine

“We want to see Russia weakened to the degree that it can’t do the kinds of things that it has done in invading Ukraine.” That meant Russia should “not have the capability to very quickly reproduce” the forces and equipment that had been lost in Ukraine. (Yeah, Lloyd, I get what you really mean -- "Full Spectrum Dominance" -- which the U.S. doesn't have, as long as Russia exists).

You said: "However, if Russia were to fall, that would lead to the biggest geopolitical unknown in history."

You mean like when the U.S.S.R. fell? Seems to me folk were chomping at the damned bit then too!

I TOTALLY enjoyed this piece, Harold!! While I'm neither technical nor philosophical, I'm always open to learn about that which I don't know before I check the hell out of this joint!!😄