David Patrikarakos: Why The West Fell For Putin's Bluff

This, also, is along the lines of what seems plausible to me. As in the Miller piece, the main idea seems to be: there's a real threat, because Putin is Putin and Russia is Russia. But the Biden administration / media complex has made everything worse by being hysterical about it. 

   I'd add: I think it's also likely that part of the reason for pumping up the hysteria is, as some conservative sources have emphasized, to manufacture the appearance of a desperately-needed win for this catastrophically awful administration.