So much this !
Ideological allignment is much more dangerous than corruption or coercion, and it matters little if it started out with kompromat and so and so some 30 years ago, the ideological allignment is crystal clear and has been for quite some time.
Puppets have more brains.
Trump had been in bed with Russian mobsters in America since he took over his fatherās business in the ā80s. These Russians bought properties sold by Trump for costs well above market value, to keep Trump afloat, when he was in danger of losing everything. Trump has been in Russian pockets ever since.
I canāt believe this. What good can it bring to make these discussions public? Nothing. And then they chose to go for arrogance and humiliation of their counterpart.
These people are really, really corrupt and disgusting to the core. Once again, itās all of the USA sinking in almost everyone elseās opinion by displaying this smugness and downright stupidity. Only putinism is laughing. They are laughing first and foremost at the USās expense.
Yeah, but like @Limiescouse , I am no longer interested in origin of his belifs and what the starting point was.
Itās a diversion from what is important. It is clear that there is ideological allignment and that his base is ideologically alligned with Russia and old imperialism. Political Social Darwinism.
And that is what is important and it is far worse than money, or kompromat as such. If it was corruption for instance, you could buy him back. But you canāt buy him back.
Had this been a Far Cry game youād have laughed it off as being too far fetched.
It was by design, of course, so did a lot of good for the Trump administration.
āThe free world needs a new leader, and it has one. His name is Vladimir Putin,ā ā Medvedev.
I am going for a cup of espresso.
Yeah, thatās it in a nutshell. Anyone trusting the US on anything from now on does it at own risk. At this point, I trust the Chinese far more. Hell, even the Russians are more trustworthy because at least, they have a readable and consistent foreign policy, albeit a terrible one. But at least, they donāt change tack and renege alliances and international cooperation treaties all the time, like the US have done since some time.
I donāt think it does, quite the opposite. Vance was handed a role to play in the skit they planned out. There is no way he would have jumped in like that otherwise.
I was listening to a conversation last week between an old CIA analyst and a political analyst talk about the problems our age of modern transparency of having cameras inserted into political discussions poses to getting difficult shit done. Their idea was it inhibits the tough conversations needed. It encourages a performative approach over an effective one. And worst of all it selects for a particular sort of psychological degenerate who values the amount of attention over the quality of attention received. It was an interesting conversation and then they got on to Trumpās use of it. They described him a guy largely disinterested in real world outcomes, only in shaping peopleās perception of outcomes. For him, the camera are a weapon to be used without regard for impeding progress because for him real world progress is unimportant.
I listened to this maybe only 2 days ago, and then we have this spectacle. It is pretty apparent that here the āreal world outcomeā of concern was the message itself.
What Iām getting at is that Trump has been bought and paid for by the Russians, he owes them everything. There is no ābuying backā, and Trump knows this. There is only ādo as we tell youā, or fall out a window, now.
Sure, but even if that is the basis of it all, his base is pro Russia and so the entire movement is shackled to the (far more dangerous) ideas of political Social Darwinism and old school imperialism. Itās not just about Trumpās mood or ego or kompromat. He, Trump, must navigate the movement he leads. And that movement is ideologically alligned with Russia. Trump wants to lead it. Trump leads it.
The origin of it all, plays less and less role and will be mostly interesting 20-30 years from now. Right now, it is a diversion that one can ill afford since there is no Smoking Gun and will not be any Smoking Gun. Not Smoking Guns that will convince the movement anyway.
What I am trying to say is that we are at NSDAP cult-like religious fervor. Some would say, almost beyond that.
If Trump dies, the movement does not die. If Hitler dies in 1939 and Heinrich Himmler comes out on top of the power struggle, he may have been slightly more risk averse, but he would still attack Poland most probably. And even if he didnāt attack Poland, the ideology would remain.
His base was never pro Russia, in fact, the exact opposite. But now that their cult leader has told them what to do, they will gladly do an about face, and use illogical reasoning to amend their beliefs in favor of dear leader.
Iād be willing to bet that half of the republican members of congress know that what occurred in yesterdayās meeting was disastrous for America, but fear retribution from Trumpās base, so will just fall in line.
Iām left wondering which will occur first: WWIII, or US Civil War 2.0.
His cult has a top echelon that you ignore. They are ideologically alligned. They will persuade the base. It is not just about Trump.
One should not ignore the radicalisation that has happened in the United States, of that segment, the last decade. We are far past the starting point. People have been convinced, there are some very powerful bad actors attached to the movement. Peter Thiels, Elon Musk are just two of them. You also have Project 2025. The ideologues.
The best assets are the ones who can be directed into acting in your interests because you have convinced them of it being in their interest, not the ones acting out of obligation and self preservation. They may well have that ace in their back pocket they could use against him, but they have never needed to because they have always presented their partnership as being one in which he can earn money from it
Itās frightening to think that if Churchill had been faced with Trump at the time, instead of Roosevelt, the UK and Europe would have been entirely under the rule of the Nazis for fuck knows how much timeā¦