Yes, but it worked. It got lots of people who felt very small and very threatened and who were/are envious of successful, educated "libs" to rally around populist candidates who didn't want to make everyone's lives better, but instead just make everyone else as miserable as the Tea Party followers.

I don't care how desperate someone is for a job, anybody who even approaches a national forest or park with a chainsaw...

Which makes it unfortunately possible that this general was maybe pushing against the war from the Ru**ian POV. He may have tried standing up to Pootin, and this was the result as well as being a message to others. But yeah, we'll probably never know for sure.