“We will take America without firing a shot. We do not have to invade the US. We will destroy you from within.”
– Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, January 18, 1956
I know so many people who think they can do it alone
They isolate their heads and stay in their safety zone
Now what can you tell them?
And what can you say that won’t make them defensive?
-The Beach Boys, “I Know There’s An Answer”
All right, I’ve about had it.
I have dear friends and family who are Republicans, and I do not mean to denigrate their intelligence when I say that Donald Trump is a willing tool of Vladimir Putin. (Note to Republicans: the word ‘denigrate’ means ‘to put down.’)
But the fact of the matter is, Trump IS a Russian tool and at this point so is anybody who votes for him and his Party.
I have no qualms in saying this. I am not afraid to say that gay men can get AIDS due to unsanitary practices. I am not afraid to say that people like myself get morbid obesity and type II diabetes because we eat too much Haagen-Dazs.
Haagen-Dazs. Ben & Jerry’s. Steve’s Ice Cream. Anybody remember Steve’s Ice Cream? Wavy Gravy flavor? Aw, wow, man…
But that’s why I say you can link Russia and Trump, cause the evidence is so obvious. You ask, what evidence? Well, there’s this thing that happened in history called “the last eight years.” Much of it was on tape. Specifically that thing in the 2016 campaign where Trump did a press conference and openly begged, “Russia, if you’re listening — I hope you are able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press. Let’s see if that happens.” And wouldn’t ya know, that very day, Russian hackers released private emails from the Clinton campaign. If you run a political campaign and you beg a hostile power to release opposition info on your political opponent, most of us couldn’t make that happen. Even if it IS Hillary Clinton.
At this point, asking “Why does everybody think Trump is a Russian tool?” is like asking “Why Do All These Homosexuals Keep Sucking My Cock?” Everybody else already knows the answer. The question doesn’t just come up from out of nowhere. And frankly, with much of our foreign aid package, not just to Ukraine, being held up by Trump’s machinations with the Republican Congress, everyone in the press and the government needs to flat out say what they already know.
Of course they don’t. Cause as Trump said, “I think you will be mightly rewarded by our press” by helping him make the Democrats look bad. You’ve got one incumbent president who is really old, and then you’ve got Trump, who is so old his Social Security number is 1. You’ve got Biden who seems confused, and then you’ve got Trump, who is so dumb that when the judge said “Order in the Court” Trump said, “Big Mac and Diet Coke.” Simply for the sake of ratings, the press and the other powers that be want this to be more of a horse race than it is. There is simply no contest, whatever you might think of Joe Biden.
But people are looking at 8 dollar milk cartons and $15 Happy Meals and they want to blame the President who’s in office right now, cause that’s what you do.
I mean, contrary to what seems to be gospel these days, I still think that when the federal government spends massive amounts of money (much of which doesn’t go to its stated purpose) then that is a direct cause of inflation. And that’s why I only describe myself as a Democrat very reluctantly. I am not a Democrat because I LIKE these guys. I’m a Democrat Just To Fuck Trump. Because he’s a Russky traitor bitch and at this point so is everyone in his enabler party. And if you think he’s going to make the economy wonderful again, perhaps you don’t remember 2020 when he did everything he could to encourage the spread of Trump Virus (TM) because telling the truth about what the government knew about Wuhan would endanger that sweet trade deal Trump made with President Xi. And half of what’s fucked about the economy now is Trump completely fucking up coronavirus response, cause otherwise he might have won that election. (NEWS FLASH: Trump did not win the last election) But as is often the case, all the Republican Party has is America’s short-term memory.
The problem for them is that Trump keeps acting in the short term. Trump started the biggest round of liberal outrage since the last one when he told a crowd that some big shot in a NATO country asked him what would happen if Russia invaded, and Trump said, “One of the heads of the countries said, ‘Does that mean that if we don’t pay the bills, that you’re not going to protect us?’ That’s exactly what it means. I’m not going to protect you.” And of course BECAUSE the normies are so offended and everyone in the crowd loves it so much, Trump keeps repeating that line in every new speech.
First off, as much as Trump’s fan club was cheering and jeering, they didn’t seem to get the inherent joke that the guy who valued Mar-a-Lago as a private residence for tax purposes when his property contract specifically forbade him to do so is acting like it’s a bad thing to not pay your bills.
The even bigger joke is that these namby-pamby social-democrat Europeans had let the defense budgets go to nothing precisely because it was assumed there was nothing to defend against and if Trump’s Thunder Buddy For Life Vladimir Putin had not only not invaded Ukraine but not followed up with threats to the sovereignty of “natural Russian territories” in the Baltics, Poland and Finland, NATO wouldn’t have stepped up its military budgets. So you can say that Trump did have a real complaint and that it is being addressed, but it’s an issue as to why that happened.
(Incidentally, the name ‘Vladimir’ in Russian means ‘lord of the world.’ No really. Look it up.)
Paradoxically, as much as Trump seems to be in the tank for Putin, I think that’s all the more reason why he’s NOT the victim of kompromat or a deliberate Russian agent. Because the first thing any good intelligence agency teaches their assets is not to act like you’re an asset for an enemy power. But Trump sucks up to Putin every chance he gets, when he doesn’t have to, and when it’s really not in his best interests. For example, when they were together in Helsinki…
Photo taken from this article: https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2018/07/204518/trump-putin-press-conference-helsinki-summit-meeting
What’s funny is that Putin looks the way every other world leader looks when they’re posing with Trump. Meanwhile Trump is just SO happy. Like, “Look, Master gave me this shiny new collar! Isn’t it neat? If I’m a REAL good boy, he’ll clean my dog dish!”
One doesn’t have to produce some “pee tape” or assume that Trump is compromised by Russian intelligence. In 1990, way before his political aspirations, Trump did The PLAYBOY Interview and said that in dealing with the then Soviet Union, “That’s my problem with Gorbachev. Not a firm enough hand.” The interviewer said, “You mean firm hand as in China?” Trump responded: “When the students poured into Tiananmen Square, the Chinese government almost blew it. Then they were vicious, they were horrible, but they put it down with strength. That shows you the power of strength. Our country is right now perceived as weak … as being spit on by the rest of the world”.
After Stalin, the Soviet Union went to a collective leadership in the Politburo, which is how Khrushchev could be deposed and why Gorbachev almost was. In the ostensibly more democratic Russian Federation, the Duma (Parliament) mainly serves to ratify Putin’s decisions. If one can make an analogy to business, the Politburo was a corporate board and Putin’s system is effectively a privately-held company.
Trump has never run a corporation and never been responsible to a corporate board. All of his businesses are family outfits. So to speak. He has always run things unilaterally. Trump doesn’t serve Putin because he has to. He does it because he wants to. Because he thinks that’s what a real leader is supposed to be like. When he goes to bed at night, Trump probably has a picture of Vladimir Putin at his bedside, and tells it, “When I gwow up, I wanna be JUST WIKE YEW.”
Likewise there is no real mystery as to why the Republican Party is so enslaved to Trump. I mean before January 6, Republicans only suspected that any challenge to Trump’s divine right to rule would result in a lynch mob coming for them. But they didn’t need to be threatened into turning their Party into a Mob operation. They did it because they wanted to.
It’s easier than having to live with existential burdens like conscience and responsibility. Just do everything the angry war chieftain tells you in hopes that he will grant your wishes and not kill you or inflict a curse on you when he’s having a mood. It is basically their approach to religion, so it makes sense that they see politics like this. The Republicans have had, and still have, plenty of chances to turn away from Trump and his cult, but that would require taking a stand against the collective, and that defeats the purpose of the modern Republican Party organization.
Because people in general, and Republicans in particular, follow the leader and do what they’re told.
That is largely a principle of conservatism, not so much in that it’s synonymous with authoritarianism, but in that conservatives believe the authorities exist for a purpose and that trusting in proper authority makes more sense than being an iconoclast. So if, hypothetically speaking, you’re a sociopathic dictator marinated in the traditions of the KGB and USSR and you’re already inclined to skullduggery, and you want to subvert your greatest enemy, the best way to do it is to take over the institution that is most associated (at least in the minds of its own people) with patriotism and love of country. If the “official” Party of America is suddenly saying Russia is our friend, then they must be okay, right?
And if you dare to disagree, doesn’t that make you a bad person?
Russia has actually been doing this thing for quite some time, and not just with the Republican Party proper. The National Rifle Association has been on some level synonymous with the Republican Party since before the Reagan Administration, and they’re the main reason liberals can’t pass “sensible gun safety” laws. (When at this stage, they need all the guns they can get to defend against Republicans.) Wayne LaPierre has been an executive in the NRA since 1991. Following various investigations and lawsuits from and against creditors, LaPierre filed bankruptcy on the part of the parent organization and a Texas chapter. However a Texas judge dismissed the bankruptcy petition on grounds that it was intended to escape judgment in a New York court. “LaPierre’s excessive compensation and exorbitant spending of NRA funds on himself and his wife, such as extremely expensive suits, chartered jet flights, and a traveling “glam squad” for his wife, became a subject of testimony in the eleven-day Texas proceedings.” According to a 2022 ABC News report, that year’s NRA finance document showed “Revenue from membership dues has plummeted nearly 43% from a record high in 2018, according to the 2021 financial assessment, pulling in just over $97 million — down from nearly $120 million in 2020. Spending on the areas of “safety, education & training” was cut roughly in half over the past three years”. The article quotes a professor, “”By cutting back on core programs and legislative spending, the risk that the organization runs is that members will suddenly realize that they are paying the same dues for fewer benefits”. Meanwhile: “Investigations by the FBI and Special Counsel Robert Mueller resulted in indictments of Russian nationals on charges of developing and exploiting ties with the NRA to influence US politics by using the NRA to gain access to Republican politicians. Russian politician and gun-rights activist Aleksandr Torshin, a lifetime NRA member who is close to Russian President Vladimir Putin,was suspected by some of illegally funneling money through the NRA to benefit Trump’s 2016 campaign.” What got more press attention was how Torshin’s personal assistant, Marina Butina, not only acted as liason to the NRA in America but had an affair with Republican political operative Paul Erickson, and gave him an email proposal on how to influence the Republican Party to support Russia via the NRA. For this reason and others (like drunkenly confessing her ties to Moscow at American parties) Butina was arrested and charged as an unregistered foreign agent, and found guilty. After she served her sentence she was deported back to Russia in 2019 (during the Trump Administration) and now serves as a member of parliament in Putin’s party.
And who didn’t see this coming?
https://www.newsweek.com/who-konstantin-nikolaev-money-mike-johnson-1870600 “News of money previously given to House Speaker Mike Johnson‘s congressional campaign by Russian nationals has re-emerged after the Republican rejected a $95 billion foreign aid bill passed in the Senate.
“In 2018, a group of Russians were able to donate to Johnson’s bid for the Louisiana seat he eventually won as the money was funneled through the Texas-based American Ethane company.
“While American Ethane was co-founded by American John Houghtaling, at the time it was 88 percent owned by three Russian nationals—Konstantin Nikolaev, Mikhail Yuriev, and Andrey Kunatbaev. Nikolaev is known to be a top ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“A spokesperson for Johnson previously assured in 2018 that the campaign returned the money that was given to them by American Ethane once it was “made aware of the situation.” There was no indication that Johnson’s campaign team willfully broke federal law, which makes it illegal for a campaign to knowingly accept donations from a foreign-owned corporation, a foreign national, or any company owned or controlled by foreign nationals.”
Russia has gotten a LOT farther at suborning the American Right than the Nazis did with the Republican Party in the 1930s, and a lot farther than the Soviets got at undermining the American Left (given how many Democrats were on the House Un-American Activities Committee). Now some of this might be like “at least Mussolini made the trains run on time” or “at least Cuba has free education and healthcare” but you can actually point to real authoritarian achievements there. After his “interview” (or as Van Jones told Bill Maher on February 17, a lap dance) with Putin, Tucker Carlson took his camera out to Moscow markets and the Moscow Metro and praised the city while badmouthing American cities. Here’s the thing, back when the Metro was being built in the 1920s and 30s, it really was considered an engineering marvel and praised by foreign visitors. Of course that was when the fellow travelers for spreading Russian tyranny worldwide were on the Left. But nowadays even Russia’s railway system is going to hell.
And as Russian winters get more extreme – perhaps as a result of that “global warming” fueled by Russia’s petrol-based economy – entire communities, even in large cities, have their central heating systems breaking down from high demand, leading to entire neighborhoods losing water and even power. This winter, YouTube had all kinds of videos showing blackouts in the Urals and Moscow and St. Petersburg areas suffering massive flooding when heating pipes burst. “In one incident, more than a dozen people suffered from burns in the Western Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod when a large heating pipe burst, causing boiling water to flow into the streets, DW reported, citing a local news channel on Telegram. The damaged pipe also caused over 3,000 people to lose access to heating.”
Jeez, it’s like Russia’s maintenance support is ALMOST as bad as Calgary.
From the Business Insider article: “”We are still using the communal infrastructure that was made during the Soviet era,” said Russian lawmaker Svetlana Razvorotneva, who is a member of a national urban engineering committee, per (Deutsche Welle). About 40% of the communal heating grid in the country needs to be replaced urgently, she added.
“However, funding for public utilities made up just 2.2% of Russia’s total expenditure last year, according to the Financial Times. In contrast, Moscow’s spending on military expenses made up about 21% of Russia’s budget in the same year, per Reuters.“
But this is of a piece with a country that was the largest fuel exporter in Europe prior to 2022 having infantry vehicles stuck on the road because they ran out of gas, or the country where Nature stopped both Napoleon and Hitler not having adequate winter uniforms. While Ukraine begs for Congress to end its artificial choke of military aid, Russian soldiers are going without helmets.
“Capitalist” Russia is in many ways worse off than under the Soviet Union. Not as bad as the Soviet Union in its worst days, but on the whole, not as good as its best ones. It was still bass-ackward, given that it was both communist AND Russian, but the Soviets could at least run the largest country on Earth without collapsing. For a while.
Even the United States could not sustain the social and economic costs of being at war for a generation, which is why we left Vietnam, and eventually Afghanistan. And so did the Soviets. But again, Putin makes the Soviets look sane. As is, the Russian Federation has an economy maybe the size of California, so even if Putin’s Fifth Column Party in Washington can stop America from sending anything to Ukraine, the EU will do so, especially since Putin won’t hide the fact that they’re next. But to keep pressing the offensive, Putin has to take materiel, and men, away from the home front, and that actually makes the front line situation worse because there’s no logistical support, while also making things worse on the home front itself.
So here’s the ultimate punchline: The country that “post-liberal” “thinkers” see as the savior of White Christian civilization against the dark southern hordes can only maintain its delusions of power and prestige by making the empire that much more of a dilapidated, shithole country, that much more in hock to Xi Jinping, a communist, atheist, Asiatic. And it’s not like he’s doing so great himself.
But that’s the model for “conservatism” now.
That’s what Donald Trump, our greatest President since Jesus Himself, wants to turn America into.
But sure, let’s give the nuclear football back over to a “reality” TV show host who played a billionaire cause Biden is THREE YEARS older. Nobody complains about the fact that were it not for Biden, Trump would be the oldest guy ever to be President, because Trump is so scared of his own face in the mirror that he has to apply a paint roller to it. No big deal that you look like a reject Captain Planet villain, and think that the Democrats are gonna start World War II, just as long as you don’t LOOK old.
All Putin has left is the gullibility and cupidity of the West. And it may be enough.