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Mig Greengard
@chessninja
, 3 tweets, 1 min read Read on Twitter
There is no "Russian" national interest in Russia’s foreign policy. It’s all in service of enriching Putin & his pals and keeping him in power. The "great power" shtick is limp domestic propaganda at best.
Anything about Putin's philosophy or USSR nostalgia has been superfluous for at least 10 years and serves mostly to keep western Russia pundits busy. It’s a mafia state. He’s a crook. It’s a heist.
Even some of the better analysts and books fall into this irresistible supervillain origin story about Putin's KGB background and Soviet revanchism, revenge on the West, etc. Nah. He’s a cynical opportunist who got lucky with high oil & a complacent, distracted West post 9/11.
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More from @chessninja see all

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Mig Greengard
@chessninja
As a speechwriter, I'm alert to what credit and blame goes on the speaker vs the author. What is clearest here is that the writers did a poor job of writing for Trump. He's not good, but this text makes him much worse.
You could read this cold and most of it wouldn't sound nearly as bad as it does coming from Trump. Not because he's so terrible (he's not a good reader), but because so much of it obviously isn't his language or cadence.
I suppose in that regard it's good news that most people will just read it and reactions to the text, not the delivery of it. If they wanted him to sound good, stick with the hokey boasting and mocking tone he does quite well. But not ideal for a SOTU.
Read 3 tweets
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Mig Greengard
@chessninja
That Frederick Douglass quote I just RT'd is deservedly known, but the entire "West India Emancipation speech" is a worth a read, as is usually the case with him. rbscp.lib.rochester.edu/4398 His remarks on technological progress (in 1857) are notable, too.
It risks appearing to distract from his greater message or your own by invoking Douglass to talk about the falseness of technotopianism. But he points out that all the amazing "steam and lightning" inventions of the age did not guarantee spiritual or national salvation.
I revisited this Douglass speech with @Kasparov63 to possibly include these elements in Deep Thinking, since there's a resurgence of technophilia in an era of moral calamity. Didn't make it in, but it's remarkable and powerful.
Read 7 tweets
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Mig Greengard
@chessninja
Of course not, and with good reason. 1) They only cared about the money. 2) The Putin regime isn’t against guns *in America*, but really only cared about the NRA as a conduit to the GOP and Trump, which the NRA likely understood and ignored due to point one.
At least some people on the NRA side saw this as a win-win. Get money and be of use connecting the GOP and the Trump campaign with Russian govt representatives. Helping! I’m sure they thought it was going to be pats on the head all round. Probably was.
Flynn had his Russian contacts, Kushner was working to set up his own, as the Post broke last year. (Link) With Butina/Torshin, Trump-Russia had more channels than DirectTV. A typical Russian "flood the zone" op. washingtonpost.com/world/national…
Read 7 tweets

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Russia arrests at least 839 peaceful protesters including young children for opposing Putin's pension overhaul which raises the age of retirement and increases the wealth gap between the working class and corrupt Russian oligarchs. cnn.it/2QhJ2wf
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