What are we doing? No one is asking for this? This is absurdly stupid
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The real shit. How do people feel about the economyā¦
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From Trumpās side, I cannot say. But the weakness of Russian nationalist imperialist euphoria, means that it is impossible for them to ātalkā in another manner to their domestic audience. Kreml has cultivated fascism (real fascism, not the lame MAGA neo-fascist lite), which means that the Russian audience expects imperial grandeur and so it is impossible for Medveded and other Russian propagandists to change their ātoneā, as that would infuriate their ultra-nationalists, whom they rely on and Kreml is extremely cautious as to how they deal with that segment of the population. It is after all the segment that most supports the war and who most are willing to sacrifice economically as well as their lives. It took a hell of a lot for them to arrest Igor Girkin for instance (Tzarist-imperialist), despite Girkin mocking the weakness of Putin and the Russian MoD for years. Likewise, the Wagner rebellion, only the top echelon was killed. The organisation was then merged into the Russian MoD,their heavy weapons and jets taken from them. Then sent to Africa to fight for the Russian Empire there. But many of them were also merged into the Russian Army. Most of those who were part of prigozhinās rebellion, was not arrested. Why ? Because they are the Far Right base. Those willing to fight and die to expand the empire.
This means that Russian propaganda cannot turn mellow overnight. It is in hyper reactionary chauvinist mode, it is impossible for them to just become āmeekā as such.
However, it is worth noting that in reality, Medvedev is a powerless fool that no one truly respects in Putinās actual inner circle. He decided nothing. Patrushev, Naryshkin etc., these are the ones with the real power (and notable, they seldom say anything outwards for foreigner ears, but both of them are totally crazy and Pathrusev was at a point more hawkish than Putin; or used to be anyway and he actually BELIVES in the Dugin ideology of being the descendants of Rome and blah blah).
Medvedev is seen as a joke by this inner circle. Medvedev was a liberal, seen as weak by the Siloviki. Many observers and Russia experts have noted that Medveded have appeared to become more hawkish than the hawks in his rethoric and they speculate it is because he needed to carve himself out some ārespectā. But intelligence agencies (and those who are Russia political experts and have contacts there), all agree that he is not actually powerful. His position is theoretically powerful, as befitting a man who Putin used as president for a term, as Putin has always rewarded loyalty. But he is not a decision maker. yet, most agree that medvedev could be instantly made to shut up if Putin (or those scary motherfuckers pathrusev or Naryshkin) sent him a text. But in Russia, various officials are used to voice different opinions. Medvedev have been designated the Zhirinovsky role (of hyper agressive clown). It is quite obvious for those with knowledge of Russia. Hard to say if Medvedev believes the stuff he writes or not (but no doubt Kreml officials have radicalised themselves with their own propaganda, not at all unique in history sadly, that you start believing aspects of your own propaganda that is). But he serves a purpose.
Trump, and his infatuation with Russia and Putin has always been odd. There are reasons why he itās suspected that they have had something on him. Since they have never, in their internal propaganda, hidden their contempt for him. Yet, Medvedevās role (and others) is that of foreign propaganda outreach. So he and some others have been massaging Trumpās ego in their propaganda now for years. Yet, itās been clear for some time that they are incredibly unhappy with him, and the message has started to change a while ago.
But even so, Putin, the Tzar, has a system designed where he is above reproach. So the discontent with Trump is never stated out by Putin, but by hounds like Medvedev.
And this is interesting and ironic, because Russia has never ever had a US president who has been willing to compromise so much before, yet because of the fascist euphoria, they are unable to meet him on the halfway because they themselves are unable to back down, just like Trump. Itās a bit fascinating.
So yes, there is a bit of Kabuki theatre in that certain persons, like Medveded is acting in the Zhirinovsky role, while other Ru officials have a more conciliatory and careful rhetoric, because this is their role. The Tzar himself, is always haughty, arrogant, demeaning and speaks in absolutes, never ever betraying any uncertainty and Putinās threats are always powerful but never vulgar (because the Tzar is not supposed to be vulgar, everything he says and does is carefully choreographed).
I believe Trump is frustrated with Putin, because Putin has never ever given a single inch, no matter how much Trump praises him.
I find it far easier to understand (also because I know a lot about it) the inner workings of the Kremlin, than Trump, to be frank.
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But obviously, Trump reacts badly to the chauvinist piss from Medvedev. After all, Trump wants to be the Top Dog, so when Medvedev and others are so sneering; it makes Trump look pathetic and weak. That must infuriate him.
And thatās why I hope this goes on. Because even if Trump seeks ideological allignment with Russia, if they publically spit on him (at least loudly) time after time, and more and more agressively, Trump may feel forced to abandon his Russia love-story and even feel resentment and hatred (the latter is speculative), which would only be good for the world if he did.
Because Trump understands, surely, that Putin can stop Medvedev. There are no loose cannons in the Kreml (but many play a designated role). If you are a loose cannon, you are removedā¦
Medvedev does not threaten the US and NATO without the blessing of the Tzar. I guarantee you this. His role is that which Vladimir Zhirinovsky had; the Agressive Court Jester that says unbelievably ridiculous agressive things; for Kreml to gauge reactions in the Russian public by. And in 2014, the official Russian propaganda became as ridiculous and hyper agressive as Zhirinovsky ever was when he was alive (bio-labs, biological weapons designed to kill Slavic genes, full nazi take over of Ukraine, the " suffering Donbas Children" who must be saved and Ukraine who always belonged to Russia). This is the current public āmoodā in Russia.
Weāll see if Medvedev becomes reconciliatory, but Dugin now has the same message, so I doubt it (they say nothing that they think Putin wonāt like). It is now up to Trump to make concessions. They are THAT arrogant and care nothing that ātheir economy is the size of Italyā. They have nukes and a population willing to suffer and sacrifice more than the West for the sake of empire.
They actually do think themselves superior in every form and way except the economy. It may be hard for Westerners to understand this, as we do not think like this. But you have to think like a Nazi or Old School Fascist to understand them, because that is actually how they think (aka that they are superior and have a God-given right to expand their borders by force of arms).
Was German or Italian propaganda āmeekā and conciliatory in 1944, even when it would have been in their interest to be conciliatory, as they were losing the war ? No. Do not underestimate their chavinistic psyche and macho culture. They are not as flexible now as many think. They cannot be if they are to keep waging war; they need the chauvinistic euphoria to keep their people content with the grimmer reality of economic hardship and sacrifice.
And this is also one of their chief weaknesses. Lack of flexibility in their messaging. āRussia has no Bordersā, āWherever Russian soldiers thread, our Motherland isā. This is their official propaganda messages, impossible then for them to be very flexible. They are kind of caught in an escalation trap by their own design. They will fight unto victory or defeat. There is no other option for Putinās Russia. None at all. Because they have carefully over years orchestrated and designed Russian Public Opinion in the direction where they must win, or the stability of the regime is severely threatened by the very people who support the war.
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Could this be the pantomime where the final scene is of the elder statesman, Putin, to step in and save the world from the brink of āworld war iiiāā¦?
If thereās on thing the Russianās seem to like, itās theatreā¦
Maybe the bromance cools down a bit, not sure that would translate to more support for Ukraine though.
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Of the two things propping up the stats - AI is a bubble (doesnt mean worthless, but a huge amount of the recent investment is going to get exposed) and healthcare jobs are pending collapse as a result of medicare cuts (a significant percentage of jobs are at facilities that are kept open only because of the medicare fees received).
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You mean Ron Vara?
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This is an incredibly troubling jobs report, not least because there is no other way to put it than to say the reported May-June numbers were bullshit. The revision downward by 258k leaves them at 19k and 14k respectively. That is a ridiculous error term, which is raising questions as to whether or not the Adminstration put a hand on the scales for political purposes.
The US economy is in far more trouble than they have been admitting. Weak consumer spending, rising unemployment, slowing job creation, and they just slapped themselves with more taxes to push up inflation.
It suggests that the Federal Reserveās internal numbers were significantly askew versus the Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers, and their division was driven by struggling to understand whether or not inflation was surging versus output/employment declining - when in fact both were occurring.
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I am pretty sure it wonāt. But there could be some butterfly effects that are positive for Ukraine in theory.
The loss of fidelity in official government statistics was one of the common warnings of the outcome of a second Trump term. Whether the effect is destruction of the agencies responsible for gathering and reporting the data, or outright political interference, the end result was warned as being the same - a government that claims whatever it wants because there isnt the data to argue against it.
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35 percent toll on their closest neighbour Canada as baseline, seems odd and like self harm (yeah, I know that a ton of goods will be excepted).
@Arminius Canada has had some time to prepare for this (short time, but some). What will the likely effect of this be for Canada ? Same horrific ones that were forecast months ago, or have some sectors been able to prepare to reroute goods (not possible in some sectors of course) or something ? Not read a forecast on consequences for Canada in a bit.
It is going to hurt, no doubt. The real challenge is whether we hurt ourselves more by trying to mitigate the effects with subsidies. Personally, I think it is time to just let the North American car manufacturers go. Toyota already makes more vehicles in Canada than GM, Ford, and Stellantis put together. It remains to be seen whether the government has the courage to face up to that kind of re-alignment proactively, or will need to be dragged to it by inevitable slowing.
Writ large, we will likely be pushed into a recession.
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Just noticed that Switzerland now has a 39% tariff. That really is nuts.
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That means thousands of jobs in jeopardy for us. And higher prices for US consumers. And for what benefit? Square root of nothing. Lose-lose.
But what else can you expect from these cunts?
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Whatās your biggest market wuth the US?
Trump today ordered that 2 nuclear strike submarines are to deploy outside the Russian Northern Fleet in case Medvedevās threats are more than mere words(almost citation but not quite).
I chuckled and found it funny. Trump seems confused and surprised by the Russian rethoric, lol.
Absolutely very funny to me. Literally everyone have told Trump since forever that the Russians do not play politics and base their strategic relations on personal relationship like Trump, to no avail.
People voted for this guy to control both nukes and foreign policy. Pathetic
So we go from anti-confrontation with Ru to nuclear war preparations, just in case. Because that makes sense. Probably would have been easier to just help Ukraine defeat them, but no.
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So yes, Medvedev, please continue tweeting. Who the fuck knows what Caligula will do if you continue with the genocidal threats. More of them, and there is a lottery chance that he will aid Ukraine out of spite and frustration.
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He will bring the subs home and take credit for averting a war.
In Veep they used a joke about using a ācock thumbā approachā¦where if the president needs to cut the budget you threaten to cut off someoneās cock, metaphorically speaking, and they counter with a proposal that will only see their thumb cut off. The president accepts that proposal and takes the win.
Thatās what Trump does with his own fuck upsā¦promises something absurdly stupidā¦get everyone to prognosticate on how awful things will be if he does them, he then doesnt go full cock, but only thumb, so the results are bad but not quite as bad as they otherwise would be and then they run victory laps over having avoided the dire situation the experts warned of.
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