1/ Putin's show today -- all the dog and pony, dog-whistle, golden-oldies from K-Tel's Greatest Hits of the Soviet Era -- is an invitation to the West to stand up, take action, and crush his global klept in a sweeping asymmetric tide of lawfare and financial actions.
2/ Putin and his cronies care about hard power and hard cash. Chaos and division here at home (looking at the vast right-wing media apparatus) are Putin strengths.
The same instinct that led the Russian klept to move their assets overseas...
3/ …to nations with the rule of law, economic stability, and better schools, shopping, restaurants, housing, and quality of life is also a massive strategic weakness for Putin now.
The West can and should make this hurt.
4/ I'm not kidding about seizing Russian yachts and private jets. I'm not kidding about tossing their kids out of U.S. universities. I'm not kidding when I say it's time to turn Immigration on the Oligarch Girlriend-Industrial complex in Miami.
5/ Do all the grown-ass adult FINCEN stuff and deal with SWIFT etc. Fine.
But spectacular, showy, visceral pain for the the oligarch class financial diaspora is a front in this war we can fight with low risk and low cost.
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1/ We launched a new ad campaign this week that means a lot as Russia provokes a needless war and challenges the Ukraine, NATO, and the international order.
1/ I took a light weekend on the social media front, but let me say a few words about Newt's not-so-subtle threats this weekend.
He's right.
He's just saying the quiet part out loud.
2/ We've been warning you all along that this election isn't about BBB or prescription drugs or guns or climate or anything else in the policy domain.
It's about the emergent authoritarian state shambling its way toward the end of small-d democratic politics.
3/ Speaker Jordan (and no, Kevin, he didn't take your deal and he is going to shank you) and the MAGAe will comprise a clear majority of the GOP caucus in 2022 and they are Trump's political vergeltungswaffe.
They don't care about policy. They care about power.
1/ A year ago this morning the plan was in place. The conspiracy was in action. The players knew their lines and marks.
They had worked for weeks to contrive a ludicrous legal argument based on specious reasoning to retain Trump's hold on office.
2/ It ran deep, far across the entire right-wing ecosystem. Near the center was a putrid slurry of Trump, his crime family, his goon squad sycophants, cosplay lawyers, leathery degenerate Roger Stone...
3/ ...pernicious little ratfuckers like Ali Alexander, conspiracy loons like Alex Jones, and of course the throbbing, cancerous gristle of Steve Bannon.
1/ The head of the detail stared across the Governor's desk, his face a stone mask. Knowing the volcanic temper of the man who led his state, he knew he must choose his next words carefully.
"Sir, I understand the need for personal time. I understand the need for family time."
2/ "The responsibilities of your office are overwhelming. Everyone knows how hard you work."
He took a beat, waiting for even a flicker of reaction. Seeing none, he pressed on.
"With the legislative session coming, I wonder though if this is the best time..."
3/ "And naturally, the concerns we have for your security during your...breaks...remain paramount. I must insist your security team accompany you on this...break."
The Governor finally showed a flicker of emotion. It crossed his face like a cloud covering the sun, then reset.
2/ "Over these next 11 months, our efforts will be dedicated to defeating Pres Trump and Trumpism at the ballot box and to elect those patriots who will hold the line."
For four months, we fought largely in the shadows. Republicans hissed their hate and most Democrats shrugged.
3/ And then...Gasoline, meet fire.
So when we dropped "Mourning in America" the world -- and Trump -- was watching.
1/ Trump is an ongoing political reality. His imitators and acolytes will try to launder Trumpism and racial nationalism with less overt insanity and more Ivy League gloss.
If you lack the strategic vision and historic context to understand Trump will be the GOP nominee…🤷♂️
2/ The question you have to ask yourself is simple: do you want to leverage trumps destructive jealousy against his successors to weaken them for 2028 and beyond?
or, if Trump drops dead of a heart attack or struck by a meteor do you want a bloody, divided, brutal primary?
3/ further, given the unbelievable loyalty he controls with the base Republican voters, anything that divides them from the rest of the party is a benefit to pro democracy forces.
A lot of the complaints about the strategy from dollar store Sun Tzu types rests on delusion.