THOUGHTS FROM A SMART FRIEND:

Putin has not only turned himself into an international pariah, laughingstock and domestic failure. He is costing the oligarchs a lot of money.

That creates a lot of tension. It puts him in danger, and makes him dangerous, to any possible rivals as well as to Ukraine and the rest of us.

Putin has overnight achieved what took Saddam Hussein decades in unacceptable despotism. Russia’s only path back to international acceptance is Putin on a platter. Putin as the fall guy. Gotta assume a lot of powerful people in Russia have figured that out. So how does that play out?

Badly for someone.