It's wartime popularity. There is nothing mysterious about this. People pull for their own country, especially in a time of war.

Is it propaganda to say that the West is trying to bring down Russia? Certainly not. The sanctions and the hot rhetoric prove it. If you just glance at any Western MSM site you'll see story after story talking about how the sanctions are crushing Russia, stories wishing for the death of Putin, and stories about how Washington wants to use the war to weaken Russia.

If you're Russian, it's not propaganda that is shaping your thinking, it is loyalty and self defense.

I have to laugh at the power ascribed to the almighty Kremlin propagana machine. Is there anything it can't do? A few hackers and some writers working in an office somewhere are able to sway the entire world to their view.

They can change American elections and convince ordinary Americans to question their own government when it commences another bombing run on some defenseless nation on the far side of the globe!

If you want to see truly powerful propaganda in action, pick up any mainstream media publication and give it a gander. If you read it carefully, you might begin to see that it is packed with lies and half truths in a self-supporting web that spreads across our society. It is polished, subtle and has decades of practice and refinement behind it. State of the art.

But not even this propaganda machine can hide the fact that we are going broke in a hurry. As the cracks begin to form, more and more people are going to wake up and see the lies which oppress us for what they are. It won't be long, now.