Emperor Xi Jinping paid a royal visit to Pu Tin, regional governor of the northern Chinese province of Ruxia.
That's what it looked like, because that is what is happening. Xi was beaming and Putin looked the servant that he is. This was the greatest humiliation Russia has ever seen.
This isn't an alliance, it's boss and lackey. Xi isn't talking about fighting NATO or the US. He'll take Russia first. Putin is trying to buy extra hours in power by selling Russia to China.
Putin's insane war on Ukraine is worsening the Russian demographic crisis, depopulating the country. China isn't doing well and needs space, resources, and victories. Putin's nationalist supporters see what's happening.
China has issued maps that list swaths of Russian border territory with Chinese names and configurations. Putin would give that up to do what, take Bakhmut temporarily? Why not? He doesn't care about Russia or Russians at all.
This will be the choice Russia faces when defeated and ejected from Ukraine. To crawl back to Europe with concessions, accountability, and reparations or to become a gas station province of the Chinese dictatorship.
The US should not make the same mistakes with Xi that it made with Putin. Xi and his gang are self-interested and couldn't care less about Putin or this supposed friendship. They respect strength and will advance if faced by weakness in Ukraine and elsewhere.
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Gabbard would be too much. Hesgeth may not be typically qualified but he's not a cheerleader for mass murdering dictators and I doubt Trump wants to pick such an bad fight with the Senate.
Musk's "efficiency" project is a bigger question. Is Congress going to allow one of the largest govt contractors to head a new department? Will it sit outside or above public agencies? As we learned in Russia, privatization is often little more than creating unaccountable power.
It’s not that they think they wouldn’t be confirmed, at least not in most cases. It’s that they want to plant a big flag early that there will be no transparency or oversight of Trump's wishes and power. Everything will be like this.
Putin steadily reshaped Russia's fragile democracy with the willing aid of the Russian Duma (Congress) and courts who didn’t want to cross him. Power is voluntarily ceded to the president and an autocratic vertical is created. Federal over state power next.
Same with all the constitutional changes that Putin made to cement his power. Why would a dictator bother with laws and elections? They want the argument of "well, everything was done legally so it’s fine". Autocrats adore sham democracy.
I’ll be writing on the election soon, but a few thoughts. Beyond the tactical, the resounding result is more evidence that far-right success follows far-left overreach. The media normalized Trump, but also downplayed how strongly many Americans disliked leftist agitation. 1/7
I.e., the prevailing tone was that leftist social agendas were simply progress, and anyone who didn’t embrace them was a fascist or dinosaur. But even if that’s an argument to be had on a talk show, it provokes moderate resentment and is a losing proposition electorally. 2/7
Harris was what we thought she was in 2020, an ineffectual candidate who only had a chance because she was running against Trump. The Dems missed the chance to find a stronger one due to Biden’s refusal to step down, as I proposed in October 2023. 3/7wsj.com/articles/biden…
American elections vote for people, not parties. This isn’t complicated. I supported GOP candidates almost exclusively before Trump, even meeting with some of their campaigns. Trump and the MAGA GOP have nothing to do with those good men or their policies.
If you had bothered to learn anything about me, my background, and my decades of public writing and speaking on politics, or even read my article you replied to, you would realize how dangerous Trump must be for me to endorse Harris. But Trump makes it obvious and necessary.
This list of questions are about politics and social tides. What a luxury to have those arguments, to vote your beliefs and opinions! In 2028, if the GOP has recovered its sanity, perhaps I will support Harris's challenger, as I supported Romney, McCain, and Haley.
When I was forced to escape Putin's crackdown in Russia and made my home in America, I never imagined I would be warning my new home about the threat of authoritarianism. But thanks to Trump, here we are. My article: thedispatch.com/article/us-des…
My endorsement of Harris is an endorsement of democracy, of institutions, of the country I grew up admiring from afar. America must not fall into the corrupt oligarchy that MAGA wants to build, one modeled on Trump's idol Putin, btw.
I warned about Trump from the beginning because I know from experience what autocrats look & sound like. I also know from experience what Communists sound like, and Harris, for all my concerns about American far left, is no Communist.
Like the Russian oligarchs, Musk sees himself as part of a shadow government—outside and above, unaccountable. It would be far worse with him inside Trump's government, operating with great power but no transparency. I’m sure Putin is a valuable mentor.
I called the Putin system an unholy mix of Adam Smith and Marx; they nationalize the costs and privatize the profits. They loot the state and then turn the state into a looting machine. Look at how Trump runs his campaigns, his foreign policy. Friends & family for profit.
Musk spews Russian misinformation & twists this platform into his image to elect Trump. It was purchased at great loss and dubious foreign cash for this purpose. Why, because he and his handlers really think the foaming, incoherent criminality of Trump is good for America?