Perhaps only novelists can help us see a way out of #TrumpRussia and Biglygate. More interesting will be discovering how many US politicians have been compromised by a Russian organized crime empire that shares the same objectives as the official government and its kleptocracy.
“...if the American experiment is going to end, it won’t be because of that fucking guy. In that, I have the fullest confidence.” Greg Olear
Without (Raymond) Chandler present to document and depict the drama of Trump’s venality, and (Robert) Mueller’s sleuth work, Americans would do themselves a gigantic favor by reading the new nonfiction book from acclaimed novelist Greg Olear, “Dirty Rubles: An Introduction to Trump/Russia.”
www.salon.com/...
Olear’s written a tweet thread for the weekend that could be a scenario which while optimistic about Trump resigning by the time of the Super Bowl, does remind us that much GOTV and winning Congress back is needed to correct for the perfect storm of 2016. Just remember that Everything Trump Touches Dies.
1/ Trump is NOT going to fire Jeff Sessions. Nazi Keebler Elf remains popular with GOP, and Trump has said repeatedly he hates him b/c of the Russia recusal. Firing Sessions = egregious obstruction.
2/ If Trump fires Sessions anyway, well, please re-visit this thread on what happens if he moves against Mueller:
3/ @Maddow name-dropping Semion Mogilevich is a VERY big deal. (this) Brainy Don is the head of the Russian mob—the guy who REALLY pwns Trump. The enemy must be identified to be defeated. It’s taken SO LONG to get here, but we’re here.
4/ As I explain in #DirtyRubles & re-stated in my Salon interview: Trump is a middling money launderer for the Russian mob who, thru a perfect storm of events, finds himself POTUS. He's a tool of Mogilevich, who with Putin rules the crime syndicate that is the Russian Federation.
5/ Trump has been mobbed up for DECADES. This was common knowledge pre-election, if you knew where to look. Lousy journalists (hi,
@EricLichtblau) shat the bed in 2016, and now we have a crooked puppet in the White House.
6/ Trump is a coward who ONLY cares about himself. He is the opposite of McCain and Mueller, men of courage who sacrifice for the good of others. These character flaws are key to his removal. As soon as he sees a deal he thinks will help him avoid prison, he will resign.
7/ If the House flips in November, the Dems control all the committees. Ex:
@RepAdamSchiff takes over for
@devinnunes at HPSCI. This will be like in Pac-Man, when Pac-Man eats the power dot and can go chase the ghosts. Subpoenas to infinity!
8/ If the Dems don’t impeach immediately, they will after the parade of Trump/Russia figures are brought before Congress and all plead the Fifth. The world will watch these traitors crumble under oath. Optics will be devastating.
9/ So after Election Day, Trump will have until January 3, and then the new House will publicly de-pants him. If he is impeached, he will resign. Trump will NEVER allow himself to be on trial in the Senate, even if he thinks he can win. Too humiliating.
10/ This means Trump has four months left before things get REALLY nasty for him. Before Junior and Kush and Ivanka are in Congress publicly testifying. Before everyone in his circle is bankrupted by legal bills. Before Semion Mogilevich is a household name.
11/ Trump has made a cottage industry of HRC-bashing. Let’s put HIM under oath for 11 hours & see how President CAPSLOCK holds up. Why do you only go after Russia specialists at FBI, Donnie? Did you know about the TT meeting? When was the first time you met Putin? Etc.
12/ Between now & Jan, lots of things will happen: Manafort’s DC trial; sentencing for Manafort, Flynn, George P; Stormy Daniels’ civil case deposition; Cohen’s case; NY’s suit against Trump Org; Midterms; and so on. All of this will go badly for Trump, because #ETTD. (Everything Trump Touches Dies)
13/ Even if Kavanaugh is confirmed, which would of course be terrible, it won’t help Trump: I suspect many GOP are waiting for that to happen before breaking ranks with the Sexual Predator in Chief. Ditto Fox News.
14/ When things look bleak, guys, remember: Trump’s only avenue now is to try and remove those investigating him. That’s weaksauce—the opposite of alpha male behavior. And when push comes to shove, he WILL resign.
15/ Things to ignore until then: Rudy Giuliani, Lanny Davis, NFL anthem kneeling, Kellyanne Conway, Dana Loesch, Space Force, Bernie Sanders, Corey Lewandowski, Rick Santorum, SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS (STOP SENDING EVERYONE TO COVER THOSE PRESS CONFERENCES FFS).
16/ Things 2 stress: Russian assets in Congress (Nunes, Rohrabacher, Rand Paul, Lindsey Graham); Jim Jordan’s defense of pedophiles & Putin; Mike Pence’s complicity in Trump/Russia (more of this PLEASE); Kavanaugh’s shady financial dealings; Trump's sex crimes; SEMION MOGILEVICH.
By the time the NFL playoffs start, Trump will be on the way out the door, if he hasn’t resigned already, and we can begin the important work of rebuilding our country. There’s plenty of common ground to build upon. It just doesn’t feel that way sometimes (by design!).
[END]
The non-fictional reality is more complex:
Analyzing Moscow’s efforts to undermine Western democracies, we can identify its several main channels of influence. Among them are
- propaganda (both broadcasting their own media to foreign audiences and bribing the local media),
- bribing officials and politicians,
- building corrupt ties through business lobbies, and
- working with various segments of the population to exacerbate friction, dissatisfaction and conflicts, which exist in any society.
Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, continues to stubbornly ensure that Russian propaganda broadcasts two mutually exclusive theses: “It’s not us” and “We are just defending ourselves.” Russian authorities, and after them the media, have for several years successfully proven to the population that any meanness and crime are justified by the unprecedented state of “external threat”.
They assure that the United States is to blame for all that Russia does today because they “organized” orange revolution at the Russian border, supported and continue to support the opposition, cultivate a “fifth column”, “lobby their interests in Russia” and so on. Thus, Russia is trying to prove that its actions are only a “mirror image” of Western foreign policy. However, this statement is absolutely untrue.
The basic methodology of Kremlin propagandists is not to introduce positive examples and concrete models for development as is the practice of Western countries, but rather to take advantage of any compromising material, disagreement, human fallibility, hatred, prejudice or fear, etc. They use stereotypes, name calling, the demonization of certain groups of people, the destruction of identities, the creation of false templates and clichés that make it difficult for people to regard one another objectively. As a result, even the most insignificant contradictions are taken as insurmountable, and completely natural difficulties are presented as catastrophes. The distortion of reality and drawing various political and social forces into a war of everybody against everybody else – this has always been the favorite method for destabilization used by Russian special services.