We are told again and again that Russia is a dangerous aggressor looking for any excuse to start wars. But just imagine if a top American diplomat had dropped dead in Moscow.

We were the first alt media organization to point out that Vitaly Churkin's sudden death means that no less than four senior Russian diplomats have died unexpectedly in the last two months. (We have many admirers; one attempted to take credit for this observation without proper attribution. Alas, they made a real mess of it. "So it goes.")

The western media's disgusting glee and slime-slinging in response to Churkin's death was nothing less than expected. Far more extraordinary is how constrained Russia's response has been. Allegations of conspiracy or foul play have been nearly nonexistent in Russian media. Even alternative media has been surprisingly quiet about the obvious red flags Churkin's New York death raises.

We will know the truth eventually

Perhaps this is because many see Churkin's death as an extremely poorly-timed coincidence. There are other theories, of course:

Everyone knows what's happening, we just can't say it because that would mean big war.@RussiaInsider — Enrico Ivanov ☦ (@Russ_Warrior) February 20, 2017

Can we all just take a moment and recognize that if a top U.S. diplomat had dropped dead in Moscow, every major American media outlet would be screaming for all-out war?

When Ebola scare stories were circulating through the western press in late 2014, the Washington Post actually suggested that it was Russia's fault. They didn't even try to hide how strained and weak their conjectures were:

At a time when the world is grappling with an unprecedented Ebola crisis, the wall of secrecy surrounding [Russia's Siberian biological weapons lab] looms still larger, arms-control experts say, feeding conspiracy theories and raising suspicions.

To make matters even more depressing, look at the photo of this "Top Secret Siberian Ebola Factory", which was used in WaPo's story:

Forget allegations of Russia "hacking" every election in the world. Or accusations that the FSB regularly poops on the entryway carpet of each and every American diplomat. This is how the Washington Post reports on Ebola — by openly diving head-first into Russian conspiracy theories that would make even the most enthusiastic internet message boards blush with shame.

Again. Imagine if four senior American diplomats had died in the last two months. Imagine if one of those diplomats had been straight-up murdered in the capital city of a Russian military ally. Imagine that the most recent death happened in Moscow.

Imagine all the CNN special reports and Daily Beast columnists demanding war. Imagine what your Facebook feed would look like. Imagine the insane leaks from "anonymous intelligence officials". Imagine the mind-melting White House press briefings.

Just stop whatever you're doing and try to imagine it all.

Does Russian and alternative media dive into speculation more than they probably should? Of course. It's human nature.

But try arguing that it wouldn't be 1,000x worse — and 1,000x more dangerous — if it had been a U.S. diplomat who dropped dead in Moscow.

Go on. Try telling us that with a straight face.

@20committee They are implying that the US is behind deaths of Russian diplomats. Oh boy...https://t.co/h2sJaEFOwb — kittenninja (@kittenninja42) February 22, 2017

Thank God Russia actually values human life.