I understand where Patton was going with that and why, and why it might look like a good 'what if' today, but:
*The Soviet Army in Europe at the end of the war was HUGE and also experienced,
*Roosevelt and Truman would've thought attacking the Russians was insane,
*the troops and American public saw Stalin as a legitimate ally and
*Said troops and American public were heartily sick of the war by that time.
seriously, I wonder if the Winter of '45/46 was a harsh one in Russia too. Besides your other (very valid) reasons, I'd hate us tempting that traditionally Russian-flavored fate....
"*Said troops and American public were heartily sick of the war by that time."
Yes butwe had the bomb - and a few hundred thousand casualties in Moscow and Stalingrad would have saved us 50 million genocide victims.