Putin relies on making subtle and not so subtle nuclear war threats and has done so for years. Currently, it’s his way of making his war crimes and ethnic cleansing seem not so bad in comparison, and trying to deter meaningful response from Ukraine’s allies to try to hold him accountable. We debate whether Russia would actually use a nuclear weapon, what the repercussions would be for Russia and the world if they were to do that, and discuss the strategies on dealing with nuclear threats that do not give in to Russian blackmail.   We also discuss the important historical context to today’s war and crisis with Russian fascism–the unfinished business of World War II. We go through the ways world leaders have fallen for Putin’s mind games, including Germany ensuring greater dependence on Russian gas, something we’ve long warned against, even though they knew they were leaving themselves vulnerable to Russia's energy weaponization, according to a stunning admission by Chancellor Scholz. While our bonus episode looks at Putin’s little helper – Elon Musk – we provide a peace plan of our own: get Ukraine what it needs to end the war quickly, because the Munich Agreement – giving Hitler land in exchange for peace – didn’t work in 1938, and the Minsk I and II negotiations with Russia promising essentially the same thing in recent years hasn’t worked either. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is not just a war; it’s ethnic cleansing. And it’s impossible to negotiate with a fascist state that doesn’t think you should exist.   The Gaslit Nation Early Show returns! This week, we open with our reaction to the unsurprising news that Elon Musk, the world's richest sh*tposter, was allegedly communicating with Putin before pushing Russian propaganda on Twitter in a so-called "peace deal" proposal (a.k.a. helping Russia re-group given that it's losing, badly, to Ukraine). Musk denies talking to Putin, but what about a Kremlin proxy, like maybe his financial backers from Russian ally Saudi Arabia in the Twitter deal? We discuss all that and more, answering questions from our listeners at the Democracy Defender level and higher, including what to do about movement in-fighting, what did Saudi Arabia get out of Jared Kushner so far, and where the hell is our justice for January 6th? We'll be back with an all new Gaslit Nation Q&A so keep your questions coming!

This post was originally published on Gaslit Nation with Andrea Chalupa and Sarah Kendzior.