This is my first time hearing about it/them.
Read smh and Bismarcks posts during the election
Serious question:
Since Putin is the puppet master of m/l all of Russia (for 15+ years) - aren’t all meetings going to be connected to him? People he has placed, report to him, profit with his permission, etc.
I am sure @loppar could provide plenty of specifics, but this is an interesting read
http://archive.fortune.com/2008/09/04/news/international/powell_KGB.fortune/index.htm
More than 15 years later, many of these same men (and some of their closest friends) now run the country. Since Putin became President in 2000, thanks to President Yeltsin’s unexpected resignation, other members of the lake group have risen to the highest levels in Russian business and politics. Sechin, 47, now chairs Rosneft, the state-owned oil company; Yakunin, 60, heads Russian Railways. And Medvedev, 42, was chairman of Gazprom, Russia’s largest company, until succeeding Putin as Russian President in March. While Putin, 55, stepped into the No. 2 role of Prime Minister, no one doubts that he has extended his regime.
Keep in mind that it’s largely believed that Putin is the richest man in the world.
It is this type of confirmation that made me pose the semi rhetorical question.
Pointing out Trump / Russian connections has reached an art form, but with Clinton as Potus, how to justify - Clinton Foundation or Podesta on Joule board, etc?
How to have dealings with the (argumentatively) most dangerous country in the world, if the press is going to scream puppet every 2 seconds as a means of political sabotage.
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It’s not too difficult to see connections if you’re actually paying attention.
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This old-school terror is still happening in Russia, albeit in more remote corners of the Evil Empire. Chechnya, where the civilian body count during Putin’s pacification may have reached 250k, is still run along those lines. When people are foolish enough to voice a critical opinion of the Chechen government (poor infrastructure, corruption) what usually follows is either a sudden disappearance (coincidentally, the house of the missing person burns down) or a tearful apology to the Great Leader in public.
The Kremlin Mob - because they are actually a mob - know they cannot apply such draconian terror everywhere, so they have this unspoken deal with the middle-class city dwellers of St. Petersburg, Moscow and other major cities - if you stay inside the liberal bubble you can pretend you’re living in a normal country with designer shops, sushi bars and all other trappings of Western consumer culture, but don’t ask too many questions or venture too far away both physically and metaphorically .
After all, who cares whether Gopniks (white trash) are killing chernozhopkas (literally “black asses”, a racial slur describing Muslims from the Caucasus) or vice versa.
But just like any other mob, the Kremlin doesn’t go on unprovoked killing sprees, especially among the regime’s insiders. If there is a killing, it’s calculated to send a clear message for someone.
Usually, when regime insiders fuck something up, killing is not on the table - it’s sudden demotion from a government position, a tearful public apology to Putin (see Chechnya above) and, like in The Godfather, a hefty fine (racket?) for an unspecified transgression, with the tab going into hundreds of millions for the richest oligarchs. Khodorovsky refused to play ball and pay the “fine” so he ended up in a gulag in Siberia.
But even Khodorovsky, like Kasparov, was eventually released from prison and allowed to emigrate - there’s no point if killing them if they’re just a nuisance.
And that’s the clincher - regime insiders are being killed off, without any inkling about their alleged sins, except the fact that they were connected to Manafort’s dealings in Ukraine or communicated with Trump’s (former) advisors. That’s extremely unusual for the Kremlin, especially since some of the killings were messy and seem rushed.
The first thing one must understand is that there are no “businessmen” in Russia, Most CEOs are ex FSB/KGB men who are acting on directly Putin’s behalf. So if you owe something to one of them, you owe Putin a favor. Hence Deripaska/Manafort relationship.
That’s why many Westerners are shocked when Russian ambassadors in specific countries discuss loan disbursement from seemingly private institutions - “If so-and-so doesn’t do what we want, Sberbank/VEB/Alfa bank will pull their funding”. In Russia, business, politics and religion is integrated into one scary nexus.
Edit: It seems that Deripaska took out ads in WaPo and other papers to defend his relationship with Manafort (!). Truly bizarre.
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Thanks for that current run down.
I second that.
Thanks for the insights, loppar. Putin makes Al Capone look like a Snow Flake who needs a Safe Space…
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Third. Loppar I always greatly enjoy reading your posts, they are without exception very illuminating, even when I disagree.
Mufasa, I definitely agree wrt: Putin/Capone comparison. The thing is, I don’t believe Putin is a genuine “genius” like some have lampooned right leaning onlookers or voters as believing (not you, but some on this very board). He has made significant and rather large mistakes in his tenure and Russia’s economy has suffered/does suffer.
However…he has that kind of “mean cunning” that is incredibly Machiavellian, well exercised, and keeps him in power and getting richer with none of that crazy drama that North Korea or other despotisms illustrate. That is a form of (demented) genius I think, as I am using ‘cunning’ according to its archaic meaning here.
Drip, drip, drip…
Things might be about to get more interesting (if that’s even possible).
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Isn’t immunity a legally defined term ? He didn’t expressly ask for any specific legal request as far as I understand from reading that letter .
It could be he’s worried about publicity and having his name tarnished
I’m not sure as there are no details right now. We’ll see.
That’s because it’s a public statement, not confidential communications with the Committee.
But on the bright side, it appears you actually read the underlying document for once, so that’s progress.
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And it appears the guy who posted it and the 3 idiots who liked his post did not.
That document has absolutely nothing to do with requesting immunity in exchange for testimony.
Completely not a fucking story. Definitely sensational clickbait.
Aww snap the snitching has begun… Dont suppose anyone here watchs the Americans on FX… I have a fantastic conspiracy theory
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