Dear Gary Grappo, do not you see that you are trying to persuade yourself in what is questionable? Russia is strong enough to be listened.
Your position, strategy and actions will lead to nuclear war.

Fallacy #1 – Russia has own concerns and interests. The same way, the US has Monroe doctrine. And there are historic reasons. No any other country in the world has experienced so many Western invasions. And if you forget, the US planned mass nuclear attack of USSR and even modern US strategy in Eurasia is focusing on prevention of any powerful players in Eurasia.
It is absolutely foolish to ignore Russia’s opinion. Ukrainian conflict was predictable yet the US preferred to support revolution despite implied risks.
So now you are saying that only Russia is guilty. Common stop lying. US government had know that Russia will have to react.

Fallacy #2 >>Western governments promote democracy all over the world. They have much to show that it has worked, not everywhere but most places.
Singapore is a good example of one of the most efficient non-democratic government. So what? Majority of countries in the world are non-democratic.
Many even so democratic countries in EU have significant issues with economy, minorities and xenophobia. If Western mass media is stronger, it does not mean anything.

As Russian who lived, worked and studied in the West, I would say that majority of Western countries are very efficient yet the core of this efficiency is culture and focus on innovations. Many other countries are focusing on different goals.

Fallacy #3 >>This is the ultimate rationalization
It is a failure of international politics and more importantly understanding that the world has changed. Now small wrong actions could justify much worse actions. The US is failing to understand that transatlantic strategy will fail if Russia does not support it.