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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsCHARLES PIERCE: "It is of capital importance that Trump never wield powers of the presidency again"
This Historian Drew a Line From January 6 to Putin's Dreams of a New Russian EmpireIt is of capital importance that Donald Trump never wield the powers of the presidency again.
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Ever since the country elected El Caudillo del Mar-a-Lago in 2016, with the essential aid of the Russian government, Snyder has been sounding the alarm about the rising general threat of 21st-century authoritarianism. In an interview with Greg Sargent of the Washington Post, Snyder employs a unique vantage point on the essential relationship between Vladimir Putins dreams of a new Russian empire and the events of January 6.
For me the most revealing text here is the victory declaration, which the Russian press agency accidentally published on Feb. 26. What they say is that the West just basically needed one more push to fall into total disarray. If you watch Jan. 6 clips over and over again, you can get that impression. The Russians really have been fixated on Jan. 6. They thought a successful military operation in Ukraine would be that nudge: Wed feel helpless, wed fall into conflict, it would help [Donald] Trump in the U.S., it would help populists around the world.
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I think you put it extremely well. Putins idea about Ukraine is something like, Ukrainian democracy is just a joke, I can overturn it easily. Everybody knows democracy and the rule of law are just a joke. What really matters are the capricious ideas of a tyrant. My capricious ideas happen to be that there are no Ukrainians. Im going to send my army to make that true.
That is much closer to the way Trump talks about politics than the way the average American talks about politics. Im not saying Trump and Putin are exactly the same. But Trumps way of looking at the world there are no rules, nothing binds me thats much closer to Putin. So theres a very clear through line.
And now the president is in Poland, demonstrating how far from reality both Putin and Trump have drifted. It is of capital importance that the latter never be in a position of political power ever again. The time of being entertained by the delusions of powerful men is long past.
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a39537737/putin-russian-empire-january-6-ukraine-timothy-snyder/
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CHARLES PIERCE: "It is of capital importance that Trump never wield powers of the presidency again" (Original Post)
kpete
Mar 2022
OP
Hekate
(90,202 posts)1. KnR for Charlie Pierce
CaliforniaPeggy
(149,308 posts)2. Time for this post to get a well-deserved bump! It is so right on.
It clearly shows us the connection between Putin and TFG.
He must never again be allowed to hold any political position of power, ever again.
Mme. Defarge
(7,982 posts)3. Charles Pierce is a much stronger soul than I am
if he was actually able to finish Bloodlands.
Lord have mercy.
Life on earth depends on it!