alexei navalny dead in russia, pays the ultimate price for wanting freedom in his country. pic.twitter.com/8qrKdhxaOV
— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) February 16, 2024
BREAKING: Alexei Navalny, the imprisoned Russian opposition leader, has died, the country's prison service says. He had been in jail since January 2021. https://t.co/pe9u4yIwdk
— The Associated Press (@AP) February 16, 2024
It was generally assumed — not least, I suspect, by Navalny — that his death in prison was a question of when, not if. Possibly his murder was intended to salve Putin’s wounded feelings that his big Tucker Carlson interview turned out to be a global source of mockery instead of awe. In any case, I believe the best way for America to respond is to pass a proper aid to Ukraine bill:
Alexei Navalny, the fiercest foe of Russian President Vladimir Putin who crusaded against official corruption and staged massive anti-Kremlin protests, died in prison Friday, Russia’s prison agency said. He was 47.
The Federal Penitentiary Service said in a statement that Navalny felt unwell after a walk on Friday and lost consciousness. An ambulance arrived to try to rehabilitate him, but he died.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says Putin was informed of Navalny’s death and the prison service was looking into the death in line with standard procedures…
Navalny, who was serving a 19-year sentence on charges of extremism, was moved in December from his former prison in the Vladimir region of central Russia to to a “special regime” penal colony — the highest security level of prisons in Russia — above the Artic Circle…
Navalny had been behind bars since January 2021, when he returned to Moscow after recuperating in Germany from nerve agent poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin. Before his arrest, he campaigned against official corruption, organized major anti-Kremlin protests and ran for public office.
He had since received three prison sentences, all of which he rejected as politically motivated.
In Putin’s Russia, political opponents often faded amid factional disputes or went into exile after imprisonment, suspected poisonings or other heavy repression. But Navalny grew consistently stronger and reached the apex of the opposition through grit, bravado and an acute understanding of how social media could circumvent the Kremlin’s suffocation of independent news outlets…
Another Russian opposition leader murdered by Putin. Is there any doubt @navalny was murdered? Putin murdered him because he finally feels comfortable doing so. Why? Because @realDonaldTrump is inviting attacks on NATO, @TuckerCarlson is cheering Putin, so time to kill Navalny.
— Alexander S. Vindman ❎ (@AVindman) February 16, 2024
‼️Saying "Navalny died" is wrong. "Navalny was killed by Putin" is the right way. https://t.co/CCgCmQtnMO pic.twitter.com/9ZTxOlfJQw
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) February 16, 2024
I just saw Yulia Navalnaya last night, who told me she had finally figured out what to tell people when they asked about Alexey Navalny: “he’s doing well under bad circumstances.” Sources close to the family say she didn’t know. “They killed him today,” a source said.
— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) February 16, 2024
The world has lost a fighter whose courage will echo through generations.
Horrified by the death of Sakharov Prize laureate Alexei Navalny.
Russia took his freedom & his life, but not his dignity.
His struggle for democracy lives on.
Our thoughts are with his wife & children. pic.twitter.com/JMSAkLpb0T
— Roberta Metsola (@EP_President) February 16, 2024
After poisoning, imprisoning and torturing his leading opposition leader Navalny, Putin has murdered him. Tucker never mentioned him to Putin and Trump has never uttered his name. Putin fans in America are all scum. Every last one of you. pic.twitter.com/uzJSEmEkwT
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) February 16, 2024
Navalny’s blood, like the blood of thousands of Ukrainians and so many others, is on Putin’s hands.
Congress needs to vote for the aid that will stop this monster.
— MarkHertling (@MarkHertling) February 16, 2024
Just yesterday:
Reports indicate Alexey Navalny has been thrown into a punitive isolation cell for an unimaginable 27th time. Navalny faces a 15-day stint in solitary confinement, adding to the 293 days he's already endured. We condemn this ongoing assault on @navalny's rights and we call for… pic.twitter.com/DB3dzT70RJ
— Michael Carpenter, U.S. Ambassador to the OSCE (@USAmbOSCE) February 15, 2024
Two weeks after taking office, President Biden condemned Putin’s jailing of Navalny. Trump never once mentioned his name and still hasn’t. pic.twitter.com/AqljQzKH3s
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) February 16, 2024
On The Road – TKH – Sinai Trail Pt. 4
Bupalos
Timing is interesting. Putin is campaigning for the show-election. The Kremlin had been allowing anti-war semi-fake candidate Boris Nadezhdin to gather signatures to qualify, but had to pull the plug on that project last week as there was too much genuine organic political response, which became too noticeable. Nadezhdin petitioners were drawing big crowds and lines in public.
OzarkHillbilly
“Nothing to see here, nothing to see. Move along, move along….”
Bupalos
All the responses that center the United States in this are ill-informed. It has little or nothing to do with Trump or Tucker Carlson.
Ksmiami
Shove Mike Johnson in a gd closet. Get the aid to Ukraine and vote out every single traitor trash Republican. I hope Biden goes on TV to address this
Ksmiami
@Bupalos: agreed. Even Russians are sick of the Ukrainian war so Putin has to silence all opposition to keep it going
Lyrebird
cosign!
Another Scott
As satby said below, the only surprise is the timing. As long as VVP is in power, the outcome was a foregone conclusion.
He had some horrid views as well, but he was willing to fight the monster VVP.
TIFG will misdirect, of course, as he did before, if he’s asked about it.
Comfort to the innocents who loved him.
Cheers,
Scott.
Bupalos
@Ksmiami: I can’t see any significant positive political outcome in the U.S. or Russia from Biden getting loud about Navalny.
p.a.
In regard to Ukraine, Navalny was ambivalent.
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2023/3/4/why-ukraine-is-wary-of-the-russian-opposition
rusty
Will the right wing, Putin loving, authoritarian assholes of this country learn anything from this? They will not. (Other than envy for being able to kill their political enemies.)
Princess
Tucker Carlson is a traitor.
So is Trump, and of course there are more. But Tucker’s fawning interview is on my mind today.
Spanky
“Felt unwell after a walk.” Right. He went for a walk. In a prison above the Arctic Circle. In February.
Gin & Tonic
@p.a.: “Ambivalent” is generous. When it came to Ukraine, Navalny’s russian imperialism was barely distinguishable from Putin’s. Relating his death to US aid to Ukraine is a category error.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Bupalos: Putin is forgetting that even Stalin kept an eye on popular opinion in the Soviet Union.
Baud
@rusty:
Probably learn to assassinate their political enemies, if anything.
Suzanne
This is terrible.
I would hope that my fellow American citizens who have somehow convinced themselves that Russia is a bastion of freedom think twice, thrice, four times about that position in light of this.
Betty Cracker
Navalny was brave, and I hope more Russians are inspired by his courage than intimidated by his murder.
Ksmiami
@Gin & Tonic: I know Navalny was a Russian imperialist and not a hero VI’s a vis Ukraine, but this moment could help shake some of the more traditional Republican Congress ppl from their stupor and I hope we can use the moment to help Ukraine fight a monster.
Baud
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
It is kind of an interesting question, what triggers a popular revolt that even authoritarians must avoid. Somewhat dovetails with the question of what will get people to see the GOP for what it is.
Bupalos
@p.a.: spoken like the irrelevant, divided Russian opposition. It’s counterproductive to confuse morals with politics. In Russia, it’s destructive and beyond silly. Navalny was the only democratically significant figure with perceived political legitimacy in Russia. “He didn’t have all the right views” is certainly true but really has no bearing on the biggest considerations here.
Bupalos
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: he isn’t forgetting that at all. Putin is obsessed with public opinion.
Ksmiami
@Bupalos: UM restating the full throated support for democratic ideals and support to our Allies in need like Ukraine seems important Rt now
Lyrebird
@Gin & Tonic: Even though N was – please forgive my understatement – no friend to Ukraine, I still see this news as potentially useful for getting aid through the US Congress.
Anything that reminds the US voting public about the horrific reality of VVP, not his propaganda, might help. Those representatives in the GOP who claim Reagan as a hero, who claim to care about foreign policy, etc., might be more likely to sign a discharge petition.
Anything that might increase scrutiny of those GOP pols on the Maria Butina gravy train might help, too.
ETA: @Ksmiami said it better than I did.
Best to both of you.
Bupalos
I assure you that further investigation will allow you to distinguish them quite clearly.
Another Scott
@Spanky: Made me look…
Time and Date info in Kharp, Russia
If that’s the right place, it’s been -10 to -30F recently. Very cold, but maybe not as cold as one might think. (Shirtsleeves weather in International Falls, MN, maybe.)
Cheers,
Scott.
Trivia Man
@Bupalos: If anything, orange head will use it to attack biden. SEE! It’s WRONG to use the power of the state to attack your political opponents and jail them! This is exactly the same situation!
OzarkHillbilly
@Bupalos: That’s why he puts so much effort into forming it.
rikyrah
RIP 🙏🏽😞
Fighter
Warrior
Just wanted freedom for his country
Murdered by Putin
Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly, Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.)
Kind of amazed that there were no windows for him to fall out of where they were holding him.
prostratedragon
Some interpret the timing in light of the Munich conference of NATO allies now taking place:
lowtechcyclist
“Round up the usual suspects.”
Bupalos
@Ksmiami: we really need to find the political will in some other way than bragging right now. We’ve already overextended the rhetoric past our demonstrated democratic capacity. More loud rhetoric will not change that democratic capacity for the better and will not reassure anyone.
It WILL be fodder for the propaganda machine in Russia and not be helpful to Navalnists.
John S.
@Another Scott:
The way Navalny had been looking, it’s doubtful he had even 5% body fat. That tends to make it much harder to deal with cold temperatures which are more easily tolerated by healthy or overweight Americans. 🥶
hueyplong
American aid to Ukraine is a fight between domestic partisan opponents in the US. Scratching the surface of Navalny’s opposition to Putin to note his support for Russian imperialism is both unhelpful and beside the point. It smacks of “she’s no angel” attacks from Republicans when they’re on the wrong side of an issue. The points right now are opposition to Putin, shaming the GOPers into losing on this issue, and getting aid to Ukraine. There is no shame in using Putin’s murder of Navalny for these laudable goals.
Soprano2
@Gin & Tonic: We make the mistake of thinking everything is about us, when it’s not. This is terrible, but it was inevitable the moment Navalny went back to Russia.
Elizabelle
@Betty Cracker:
That is a great way to put it.
I hope his family takes comfort in that thought.
zhena gogolia
@hueyplong: Thank you.
Elizabelle
@Soprano2: Truth.
Another Scott
@prostratedragon:
Good, good.
More, please.
Slava Ukraini!!
Cheers,
Scott.
Soprano2
@Suzanne: They know it’s not a “bastion of freedom”, but it’s a place where gay and trans people are legally repressed, where the government is open in its support of a particular Christian church, and where misogyny can be openly expressed. To them it sounds like a paradise where they are “free” to be the horrible people they are.
Rjv
Murderer. I wonder if Putin whispered to Tucker that he was going to do this
Bupalos
@Soprano2: It was not inevitable. He was not killed sooner for reasons and was killed now for reasons. And we don’t have a full accounting of those reasons.
Ksmiami
@Bupalos: totally disagree. I’d take the imperfect world of democratic ideals vs enabling authoritarian regimes any day of the week and pointing out our commitment to those ideals and our fight against Putin’s vision is a political win for Biden and team Blue. Plus it forces the media to cover the stakes not stupid polls.
Gin & Tonic
@hueyplong:
How many of your family members are serving in the Ukrainian armed forces?
HeleninEire
@rusty: This was my first thought when I read the news.
satby
@Bupalos: so what’s your take on the timing and effect, since everyone else’s is wrong?
lowtechcyclist
@Gin & Tonic:
I beg to differ. Both Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and Navalny’s death at Russian hands, show why the U.S. needs to oppose Russia. As do Navalny’s imperialistic views and those of millions of Russians.
Look at it this way: Russia cannot even have a debate over the legitimacy of its imperialistic aspirations as long as it’s a nation where any opposition to its rulers ends in imprisonment and death. As long as its Navalnys are killed, the possibility of Russia even considering turning away from its imperialistic designs is not possible. It will try to re-conquer its neighbors, and will ultimately succeed if we don’t oppose it.
Bupalos
Strikes me that one of the reasons for the killing may be internal political framing of a continued or boosted flow of western aid. The Kremlin has been publically triumphant of late over the prospect of it tapering off. They may need to explain it not doing so. “They think we killed their agent Navalny” is a good and potentially effective line.
hueyplong
@Gin & Tonic: If that’s the requirement for permission to comment, I guess nodding in agreement is all we’ve got.
So, yeah, I agree with you.
Ksmiami
@lowtechcyclist: well said. We need to use this moment to our and the world’s advantage. It should become a Putin own goal: a moment that ppl will look back on as the moment he well and truly lost. We can help make this happen.
Ksmiami
@hueyplong: your comment was Rt on. And you add a lot to the conversation.
lowtechcyclist
@Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly, Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.):
No shortage of acreage to build on in Siberia. No need to build upward.
Chief Oshkosh
@Gin & Tonic: Let’s concede that Nalvany was the second-worst human on the planet. Let’s also consider that using his murder to further the goal of bringing down the actual worst person in the world has merit.
hueyplong
@Ksmiami: Well, G&T has got a lot of skin in the game. I could have just let the one thing go.
lowtechcyclist
@hueyplong:
Seconded.
Another Scott
VP Harris to speak at Munich Security Conference soon (YouTube link).
Cheers,
Scott.
Frankensteinbeck
I’d put best odds that the timing here was chosen by nature and chance, not Putin. Navalny died after sickness brought on by being imprisoned and treated cruelly in a freezing environment for a long time. The intended result, but the timing picked itself.
Gin & Tonic
Time to go for a walk.
Ksmiami
@hueyplong: I know he does, but we definitely can use this moment to help Ukraine and bolster democracy.
Bupalos
@satby: my guess is that the kremlin either has decided on another round of mobilization or has word of an unexpected continuance or boost in western aid (maybe the US package is going through after all) and needs to frame these things for Russians while further isolating Navalnists as foreign agents.
But just a guess. The part I’m sure of is that Russia is simply more complicated and politically fragile than it looks, and that we in the U.S. don’t recognize this and don’t recognize how we turn our own internal polarization into false explanations for everything.
Soprano2
@Bupalos: I think it was inevitable he would die in prison. Unless something unlikely happened, like Putin being ousted, Navalny was never getting out of prison alive.
Elizabelle
@Frankensteinbeck: Yes. I think it’s entirely possible he died, at age 47, of the cumulative effects of his political imprisonment.
Was going to say that upthread, but already one of the blog’s Pollyannas. Thank you for bringing up the possibility.
Elizabelle
Anne Laurie: thank you so much for assembling this blogpost on short notice.
Did you have another you were going to put up?
Tragic news, but an open thread would be good.
Ksmiami
@Soprano2: Agreed, but it doesn’t change the reality that Putin killed him and we need to mobilize resources to defeat Putin Rt now.
Anne Laurie
There’s another Trump trial verdict due this morning. Anything I posted now would be stomped in no more than 64 minutes with yet another file dump of ‘Jack Smith’ tweets & long-winded speculation… and frankly, I haven’t the strength.
Give it a few minutes, I’m sure your open thread will post shortly.
Jeffg166
83 year old Russian woman tells all.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_LMdoCuSRM
Baud
@Elizabelle:
You have a weird definition of Pollyanna.
geg6
A true hero. If we only had a few of those here within the GOP. As if.
Elizabelle
@Anne Laurie: I hear you. Hugs for all that you do. You iz appreciated. Greatly.
Hugs to the pups, too.
YY_Sima Qian
Navalny was a deeply flawed man. I hate when hagiographies ignore the deceased’s flaw However, it is also impossible to form alliances to confront & defeat the greater threat if one insists that potential allies have to be perfect. In the end, it is always a judgment call whether the threat is truly dire enough that warrant allying w/ the only slightly lesser evil, & whether the unsavory characters are enough of a lesser evil for an alliance to be a net benefit. There is no formula to refer to. Making those judgments are what separates the wise from the imprudent, the fortunate from the hapless, & the great from the mundane.
Did the aggressive & genocidal alliance of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy & Militarist Japan justify the countervailing alliance of illiberally democratic U.S., imperialist Britain & France still ruthlessly exploiting their colonial possessions, an aggressive & genocidal USSR under Stalin, & a Fascist-Leninist ROC under Chiang Kai-Shek (from another vantage point one might have called such an alliance “unholy”)? The answer was & is a resounding yes, contemporaneously & in hindsight.
Does Putin the chaos agent present enough of a threat to warrant allying w/ a Russian nationalist/imperialist that only wants to establish an illiberal democracy in Russia, but who nonetheless opposes the current all out invasion of Ukraine, or Putin’s anarchy inducing foreign policy? I’d say yes, or at least not lump him/her into the same group as Putin.
Did Navalny hold imperialistic/revanchist views? Yes. Did he want true autonomy & equality for the ethnic peoples of the Russian Federation? Perhaps not. Had he been brave in opposing Putin? Yes. Did he ever have the chance to truly threaten Putin’s rule? Probably not.
Human beings are complex creatures w/ complex motivations, all flawed to one degree or another, whether they are allies, partners, neutrals, competitors, enemies. I think we should confront & embrace that complex, & not retreat to the comforting essentializations.
satby
@Anne Laurie: yet another file dump of ‘Jack Smith’ tweets & long-winded
speculation… and frankly, I haven’t the strength.I hesitate to put words in your mouth, but I would have used bullshit there. Thank you at least for not using parody accounts as a source.
zhena gogolia
@Jeffg166: Thank you, that is great.
RaflW
Relatedly:
It’s partly a chicken and egg thing, but because the American press doesn’t seem to give much of a shit about major foreign policy addresses by the Biden-Harris W.H., barely covers them, then people don’t know about them, which the press then points to as a ‘lack of interest’.
zhena gogolia
@YY_Sima Qian:
I think he would have had a better chance if he’d stayed in Germany.
MazeDancer
Even McFaul, who called Navalny friend, said on MSNBC that Navalny wasn’t perfect.
Wonder if Tucker Carlson will continue his “Russia is great” reports?
At least there is a Trump verdict today. And a trial on March 24th.
Nettoyeur
@Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly, Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.): Hard to builld high buildings in permafrost zones.
Elizabelle
The Los Angeles Times has a good backgrounder on Navalny. Credited to the AP, as well.
Putin foe Alexei Navalny dies in prison, Russian authorities say
zhena gogolia
Yeah, let’s dump on one of the front-pagers again. Really not a pleasant activity.
zhena gogolia
NO ONE EVER THOUGHT HE WAS PERFECT
Another Scott
@Another Scott: Harris opened her comments with acknowledgment of the reporting on Navalny and said that “if confirmed” there’s “no doubt that Putin is responsible”. She also said that Navalny’s wife was there at the Conference.
She then went into her prepared remarks.
Cheers,
Scott.
Jackie
@RaflW: MSNBC just cut away to air MVP’s speech.
Elizabelle
@Another Scott: Thank you.
Here’s a 44 second clip of her remarks, on C-Span. Which is not airing the whole program, unfortunately.
Will look if there’s another video source. It will be an important speech.
eclare
@zhena gogolia:
Thank you!
Trivia Man
How long until TIFG draws a comparison between Russian political opposition and himself? Ill be shocked 😳 f he doesn’t mention it today.
Here is my guess: “You must drop all charges against me or we are exactly like Russia. You must do it or else you agree with me that Russia is not evil.”
satby
@zhena gogolia: self appointed.
RaflW
@Bupalos: NPR had an interview with Boris Nadezhdin in early January. I remember thinking the guy seemed both a bit credulous, and likely to find his path thwarted if he kept rolling up attention.
AP says his Russian Supreme Court appeal of the block was, unsurprisingly, rejected yesterday. If he’s interested in living a long life, he might want to head for the exits.
Elizabelle
PBS has a live stream. Yay! This starts at the beginning. And may I say that I like Kamala’s voice and delivery.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/watch-live-vice-president-harris-speaks-at-the-munich-security-conference
RaflW
@Jackie: Oh! I’ll check it out, thanks!
Elizabelle
@RaflW: Appreciated Jackie’s tip, but got commercials when I tried the livestream.
PBS has MVP’s speech in its entirety. Link. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/watch-live-vice-president-harris-speaks-at-the-munich-security-conference
zhena gogolia
@satby: It’s John’s blog. If you don’t like a post, don’t read it.
Spanky
@Nettoyeur:
Especially when the frost is proving to be not so permanent.
Jeffro
Have to agree! There are some good Rampell and Bouie columns up today (Rampell’s in particular)
Elizabelle
LOL. As they always do, with news that might be bad for conservatives, the NY Post has gone to ….
Prince Harry. Yes. He is banner headline on their site right now. They did that very recently on another matter; I forget precisely what.
There’s a very small item about Navalny underneath. I missed it the first scroll. You have to really look.
Elizabelle
@Jeffro: You wanna put up a gift link for Rampell, and I’ll do so for Bouie?
p.a.
I certainly didn’t post what I did to say Navalnyists don’t deserve some support, just that we should make choices with full information and eyes wide open.
lowtechcyclist
@Gin & Tonic:
Zero. My grandmother emigrated to the U.S. from Kyiv with her family when she was a child. What of it? You want to use Navalny’s death to try and shame some Republicans into helping your family members in Ukraine’s armed forces, or don’t you? Maybe that connection would make no sense to someone living in Ukraine, but that’s got nothing to do with the sense it makes here.
Reminds me of when I was a relatively new Christian, and I knew some people who would try to shut down a religious debate by asking, “how many people have you led to the Lord?” Made about as much sense.
Jeffro
@Elizabelle: will do!
Btw Fox News dot com has neither Navalny’s death nor Harris’ speech nor the arrest of that guy who was lying about the Biden’s…
…yup…
…it’s Fanni Willis for the win. (eye roll)
Steeplejack
@Spanky:
On Morning Joe Eugene Robinson pointed out that the weather for the nearest town to the prison that he could find was at –5°F with wind chill around –20°F.
Jeffro
Anyway, this piece by Catherine Rampell at the Post about Lara Trump taking a position at the RNC is quite the a) summation of all the financial criming that the whole trumpov family engages in, and b) glee-filled preview of what is likely to befall the RNC and Republican candidates alike this coming year.
Gift link
The trump family is about to run over the RNC. Good.
I was crowing about this earlier in the week. Rampell has a slightly bigger audience, so I’m glad to see her putting it out there: put a trump in charge of your organization’s finances and you. are. fuuuuuuuuuuuuucked.
Elizabelle
@Jeffro: Bouie’s column is good. Gift link.
Will post some excerpts in a later thread. Do not want to spew TIFG into a thread about Navalny, who showed actual courage and principles
ETA: Not a criticism of you! And good for Rampell.
YY_Sima Qian
@zhena gogolia: Exiles tend not stay relevant to the developments of their home countries for long, unless they are installed by another invading power, & then they are often seen as illegitimate puppets.
Sun Yat-sen & the other republican revolutionaries exiled by the Qing government managed, from abroad, to maintain & expand their network of sympathizers & co-conspirators w/in the modernizing parts of the Qing bureaucracy & the New Army, eventually succeeded in overthrowing the Manchu rule in 1911, after repeated failures. However, that was against a crumbling Qing Empire that had been fatally weakened by decades of misrule, apocalyptic domestic rebellions, ruinous foreign invasions & characterized by poor governance capacity. Even then, Sun & the exiled revolutionaries were taking advantage of the momentum of an escalating wave of rebellions & defections by Qing New Army units & municipal/provincial governments, that had gathered steam before they managed to return from abroad. After the abdication of the Manchu court, & the establishment of a provisional republican government, Sun & co. also found themselves quickly outmaneuvered & marginalized by the local players w/ the real power, officers in the modernized Qing New Army that commanded the largest & best trained/equipped formations, who quickly became warlords that fought among themselves.
That is why Sun & his Kuomintang (KMT) had to launch a 2nd revolution in 1913 against the Beiyang government in Peiping (now Beijing), & the Northern Expedition in 1926 against the warlords in northern China. Sun also had to seek out assistance from the USSR & the Comintern to help develop & strengthen KMT party organization, raise & train an army loyal to the KMT (the National Revolutionary Army, or NRA), & allying w/ the burgeoning CPC in the process. When Chiang Kai-shek reached the rich Yangtze River Delta in 1927, he chose to ditch (by purge & massacre) the CPC & the leftist wing of the KMT, made a right wing pivot in order to win over the urban industrialists, the rural gentry & the Imperial powers, to consolidate his position. That is why the KMT ended up as a nationalistic party w/ a Fascistic ideology, but Leninist organizational structure.
That is a long winded way of saying that I don’t think Navalny would have amounted to anything if he had stayed in Germany. Nevertheless, it was quite brave of him to return to Russia after being poisoned. At least now he is a martyr that might inspire.
Bill Arnold
@Elizabelle:
There have been a few attempts on Navalny’s life. One, poisoning, was pretty overt and spectacular, and reasonably well exposed (shitty Russian OPSEC). The harsh prison existence in Siberia was another attempt, of a probabilistic nature, so yeah, the timing may not have been deliberate.
At any rate, he did not die because of his views about Russian Imperialism; he was killed (murdered? slow murdered? assassinated?) by V. Putin for leading some political opposition to Putin.
And yeah, D..J. Trump and his surrogates will make (have made) this US-centric and about him (DJT) and his felony prosecutions.
Shalimar
How do we know Putin didn’t make Tucker Carlson kill Navalny as a loyalty test?
Jeffro
@Elizabelle: Nope that’s a good point…will re-post it all later!
Nettoyeur
@Soprano2: Also a country where 20-30% of people don’t have indoor plumbing.
Nettoyeur
@Soprano2: Also a country where 20-30% of people don’t have indoor plumbing.@Spanky:
cain
@MazeDancer:
I do not believe Tucker will abandon his Lord and master when he needs Tucker the most.
Although he might think twice about living there.
geg6
@zhena gogolia:
Exactly. He was a hero because he was willing to risk his freedom and life for his people. No one is perfect. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson had slaves, but they were still great men. Margaret Sanger was a racist but she still did heroic things for women’s rights. Navalny was a strong voice for his country and countrymen, even if he was a nationalist. I accept that people, especially great people, have flaws. It’s the whole of a person’s life that you must weigh in the context of their time and place. In my mind, Navalny was a great man for his time and place.
Frank Wilhoit
The only puzzle here, but it is a real puzzle, is why Navalny wasn’t whacked, on some busy sidewalk, many years ago.
One of the vilest products of the Cold War was a book, or “book”, purporting to be reminiscences by a Russian composer who was in and out of trouble with the high-art division of the CPSU propaganda machine for most of his life. I will not name it or its author — and, please, no one else do either — but one of the threads that run through it is the notion that there were people whom Stalin wanted to eliminate, but durst not, because he thought they were some kind of warlocks — yurovniki? I am not sure of the word — whose doings were recorded in deep-time Russian folklore and who could bring down any manner of supernatural havoc upon persons who crossed them.
Most likely, like every other word in the book including “a” and “the”, this was a fabrication; but suppose there was a grain of truth in it, and as we know that nothing has changed in Russia since the Dark Ages, does Putin have yurovniki?
rikyrah
@Soprano2:
no lie told
Elizabelle
@geg6: So true. Consider the whole of the person.
UncleEbeneezer
@Elizabelle: Bouie is good as always but it needs one edit:
“The political media — and to some extent Voters — have allowed him to set the signature events of his administration aside as if they don’t count, as if they don’t define his past performance and weigh on what he might do with a second term.”
If anything, Voters don’t seem to struggle making the connection between Trump and Dobbs, nearly as bad as the media does. I don’t buy these polls or the notion that Special Elections have been consistently showing backlash to Dobbs, but somehow the voters in those backlashes are unaware of Trump’s role in creating the mess.
piratedan
to be honest, with Putin being so attuned to pushing disinformation and generating maskirovka, I wouldn’t put it past the rank bastard to have it announced that Navalny was dead even if he wasn’t. Considering the nature of most people to go “out of sight, out of mind”, removing him from public thought is just one more way to erase him and his legacy.
Elizabelle
@UncleEbeneezer: Yeah. The political media sucks. With a few valiant exceptions.
UncleEbeneezer
@Soprano2: Not to mention, Russia is only .03% Black. I think the overwhelming Whiteness is definitely a part of their Russo-FAP fantasies.
mrmoshpotato
Rest in peace, Mr. Navalny.
Fuck Russia.
Fuck Putin.
Glory to Ukraine.
Mike in NC
Trump can only dream about jailing and murdering his critics. So far, at least.
A favorite story about Fat Bastard was when he was told that when the dictator of North Korea gave a speech, the entire country sat at attention and hung on every word. Trump could only wish he could do that. His mendacity and stupidity have no bounds.
mrmoshpotato
@Mike in NC:
Even more reason to punch the Kremlin”s bitch in his fucking orange, fascist face with our votes in November.
Lyrebird
I think of FDR and LBJ. FDR’s work programs saved our family and Lend Lease did even more. That’s the white immigrant side. I plan to buy copies of George Takei’s book about his family’s unjust internment for my kids. I don’t expect Mr. Takei’s family to hold warm memories of FDR or consider him a hero. I’ll let others (hi Raven if you are around!) speak about LBJ. When people bring up Navalny’s example, even though I also want to make it all simpler, I try to think of FDR.
I am usually too long winded, though, so, quoting the short version for truth:
Soprano2
@Nettoyeur: They think none of them would be living in those parts of the country. What they want is to import that ideology here.
Bill Arnold
@Frank Wilhoit:
Thank you for this. (Yes, in general, such beliefs persist, modernized a bit.)
Anyway
@Soprano2:
They hate small-d democracy.
Alison Rose
wE jUsT wAnT tO rEtUrN iT tO tHe StAtEs
please just fuckin kill me
mrmoshpotato
@Suzanne:
Any Americans who think Russia gives a damn about anyone’s freedom are idiots who suck Dump’s orange ass.
Frankensteinbeck
@Jeffro:
It will be interesting to see if the RNC actually puts Lara in charge. They’ve ignored his demands for money repeatedly, which is why he has to do this to get it. If they do, he’s going to divert every cent to pay off his fines.
@UncleEbeneezer:
This. The national news has trouble grasping that anyone would care about Dobbs. What coverage it gets is more trying to claim nobody cares than giving it credit. Election results show people care very much. I would not trust any claims from the press about Dobbs at all, including polls, because they’ll be cherry picked for the narrative.
Soprano2
@Alison Rose: OMG, he picked a number not because it has any medical meaning but “because it’s round”. These are not serious people in any way, shape or form.
Another Scott
@Alison Rose: “studiously”.
Yeah, the guy who paid others to take tests for him is “studious”.
“Republicans don’t lie to be believed. They lie to be repeated.” – LOLGOP
Grr…,
Scott.
Alison Rose
@RaflW: It’s also because they are drooling over this Willis situation like it was the most corrupt thing anyone has ever done.
Jeffro
oh, so it’s based on sound science and medical knowledge then…
…this fucking moron, I swear…
mrmoshpotato
@Jeffro: They deserve it. Fuck the Rethuglican party.
ETA – they spent decades building this monster, then it turned on them and bellowed, “You’re my bitches now!”
Cry harder, you assholes. And Rick Wilson, Steve Schmidt, etc can fuck off into the Sun.
Kay
@Alison Rose:
They just refuse to accept reality. A 16 week ban with an exception for “life of the mother” still has physicians and hosiptals risking womens lives for emergency situations in pregnancy. Most of the women who the State of Texas almost killed when they were refused medical treatment were past 16 weeks.
It’s still lawyers dictating medical treatment. I love the media coverage too – it’s entirely abstract – it’s as if the last year of of real, on the ground information we have about abortion bans didn’t happen. There’s a WILLFUL kind of stupidity here- a refusal to look directly at the thing and describe how difficult it is to legislate around it. To get to the real issue they have to stop talking about “weeks” as if 15, or 16, or 20 are some magic number that means no one has to make any hard decisions and probably kill some women. I know media think womens health is icky. They have to muster all their grown up bravery and actually think about it – go thru the possible scenarios, listen to the women who were denied medical treatment.
Alison Rose
@Kay: Listening to women is something they will never do.
Also, if a pregnant person has the misfortune to end up in a CPC, those people FUCKING LIE and would probably say “oh no you’re 17 weeks no abortion for you” when they were actually only 14 weeks.
Jackie
@mrmoshpotato: When down ballot GQPers discover there’s no RNC monies available to help turn the tide in tight races because every penny is going to TIFG… MOAR POPCORN TIME!
Alison Rose
@Another Scott: The only things he’s ever “studiously” paid attention to are boobs.
Tazj
@Trivia Man: The right wing is already drawing comparisons. Both D’Souza and Lee Zeldin are saying Navalny =Trump. The Biden “regime” wants to persecute Trump.
Kay
@Alison Rose:
Media and Republicans think blowing off women with some breezy “16 weeks” bullshit will work but I talked to tens of women about this in Ohio during the campaign to mandate women not be denied medical treatment.
No one trusts them on this. People feel they were lied to by both media and conservatives when they were repeatedly assured the right wouldn’t be abolished. There’s real anger at that – they think media and conservatives are lying to them again. More moderate conservatives in Ohio actually tried this – they belatedly insisted they were up for some kind of compromise. Not a single woman I spoke to believed them.
Timill
@Soprano2: But it’s not round, it’s square…
Frankensteinbeck
@mrmoshpotato:
The freedom they care about and have been screaming about losing for over a decade now is the freedom to be bigots. They’re pretty sure that in Russia they can beat a gay person to death or sexually harass a woman coworker and face no legal or social repercussions. That’s the freedom they used to have in America and are angry they’ve lost.
Kay
@Alison Rose:
Who makes the decision that the mothers life is “at risk”? Donald Trump? What does “at risk” mean? 10% risk? 20%? 80%? This isn’t how modern medicine works. Physicians don’t use legal terms of art to treat people. No matter how many times media and Republicans insist they do or will, they don’t. That’s what we learned the last year and half. Well, some of us who read and listen, so not media and Republicans.
Alison Rose
@Kay: Doesn’t surprise me at all. The right wing (and most of the media) clearly believe women are all stupid children who don’t understand their own bodies. That’s not gonna go over well with the majority of women.
Jeffro
Well, he’s good at picking round numbers, so sure, why not?
// <— (that’s the sarcasm tag, right?)
Kay
@Alison Rose:
If I go in for surgery and they tell me there is a 20% risk of complications that could lead to death, is my life at risk? Sure it is. 1 in 5. It’s all a risk analysis. That’s why I get to decide, with my physician, whether to have the surgery or not. I don’t ask Donald Trump or the NYTimes political reporters or the editor of the Notre Dame law review. They won’t have useful definitions or information on this medical issue.
MazeDancer
Ali Vitali reports Manchin isn’t running for president.
Jeffro
@MazeDancer: I just saw that!
I guess Mitt Romney explained to him how 3rd party spoilers work?
Alison Rose
@Kay: Right. And we know right-wing politicians love to think they understand this stuff better than doctors.
We also know they don’t actually care if a woman dies, except that it means they lost another brood mare.
Jeffro
WaPo story on it here: Manchin not running for president
Baud
@MazeDancer:
I don’t think he ever was. He just wanted the attention. Still, good to hear.
Frankensteinbeck
@Baud:
I agree.
Baud
@Alison Rose:
I think that’s the idea.
Anywho, a 16 week ban is irrelevant if states aren’t prohibited from banning abortion before that.
Also, too, he’s a liar, and would sign anything a Republican Congress gave him.
Spanky
@Jeffro:
FOUR MONTHS IS 17 WEEKS, YOU STUPID FUCK!
Jackie
@Jeffro: Maybe this had something to do with it? 😂
Jinchi
I never understood why Navalny returned to Russia after Putin tried to kill him.
CaseyL
Manchin’s fund raising must not have gone as well as he hoped, which is interesting because there are so many Usual Suspects wanting someone to kneecap Biden by running a third party candidacy.
Wonder who they’ll put their money behind now. RFK, Jr doesn’t seem that useful.
Or maybe they figure the single issue “Gaza-ceasefire-or-I-stay-home” nitwits will do the job for them.
Kay
I’m surprised and disappointed there hasn’t been more effort to really put thought and work into abortion by women reporters and editors. They’re still using this kind of blithe and breezy frame that was in place under Roe, and the issue has changed.
I would have though the coverage would be better with 50% or more of political media being women. It’s just so surface and dumb. It could be really rich, layered stories and instead it’s like listening to some idiot male state legislator.
I know stupid people think we’re just negotiating terms like “weeks” and coming to some magic number of weeks makes the issue go away, buit no one who has done their own thinking believes that, because it isn’t true. This isn’t a rental agreement, you morons.
Baud
@Spanky:
Two to the four
Who would want more?
Bill Arnold
@Spanky:
Four Februaries, if one picks a block of four years with no leap year. (Next one, year 2100 IIRC the rules) (Also, four lunar months, the domain of (some) religious calendars.)
wjca
Assuming that they actually have a positive balance. Lara may discover that the money the RNC “has” is as real as TIFG’s net worth.
Matt McIrvin
@CaseyL: I thought it might be Cornel West, but nope.
sdhays
It’s amazing how even after all this time Trump’s confident stupidity can still be breathtaking. Never say the man has no skills.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Kay:
Just reinforces the idea that in order to get into/advance in the political media world, a requirement is to be “surface and dumb”.
They’re careerists like anybody else. Plus, most if not all would have access to abortions if need be so it’s not as if this actually would affect them in any personal way.
Alison Rose
@Jackie: LOL, Romney with the salt.
Matt McIrvin
@Mike in NC:
It wasn’t for lack of trying! Arguably, he did murder a lot of them by confiscating COVID PPE from blue states, but that was indirect.
If he gets back in office, he’s probably going to be more energetic about it, and he’ll probably get further. But we can only speculate.
sdhays
@Frank Wilhoit: You’ve made me curious – what was the purpose of this “book”? And what made it so vile?
Steve in the ATL
@Shalimar:
I like the way you think.
Jeffro
@Jackie:
@Alison Rose:
worst remake of Grumpy Old Men EVER
Leto
DA Willis explaining why he always keeps cash on hand: 1) apologizes to the judge, then: “It’s a black thing” and 2) talks about traveling and this one merchant not taking his credit cards, his traveler’s checks, but would take the $10 he had. Then talks about how he advised Willis to always have six months cash on hand.
cain
@CaseyL: Manchin has nothing to offer – and likely might steal GOP votes than Democratic as his brand of conservatism would be more in line with Republican moderates who are sick of the Trump show.
Which means that his conservative donors would probably not want to fund that.
delphinium
@Kay:
Always a safe bet. Thanks for continuing to bring the abortion reality to the forefront.
Scout211
New Biden campaign ad hits Trump on his NATO stance and his alignment with Putin.
I like that the campaign is starting to hit Trump harder.
Kay
@comrade scotts agenda of rage:
No forays into the wilds of rural Ohio to interview female abortion voters, even? There’s just this lazy, glib lack of real interest or effort. I do think NPR has been better than most on this, though. They actually get into nuts and bolts.
I knew it too because they assigned abortion to younger female reporters who aren’t prestigious or respected. You can tell what they value by where they put money – they don’t put any money into abortion reporting. It’s like education reporting- young women who will work for peanuts.
Jackie
@Leto: We definitely know where Fani’s spunk comes from 😂
Soprano2
So do we need to reboot the blog? Is it on?
Scout211
That actually depends on whether you are talking Lunar months (which the medical professionals were always using when I was pregnant) or actual calendar months. It was so confusing to me at the time. So, do you mean I will be pregnant for ten months (Lunar) or nine months (calendar)? Their answer: Yes. Huh?
It was so confusing. That was several decades ago but I can’t believe that the Republicans changing the laws are uniquely qualified to make the distinction between Lunar months or calendar months. And unfortunately, lives are stake here.
Subsole
@UncleEbeneezer:
Very much so.
Which is darkly amusing, because they see Russia as the Great White Wall against the Asiatic Hordes. And what does their great shield of Europe do?
Invades Europe.
trollhattan
Died “taking a walk” a day after a video courtroom appearance, during which he asked the judge to send money. Odds he was crushed by a giant white table?
There will be no German medical forensics this time. “Was old for a Russian” is my guess for coroner’s conclusion.
Brave man, but why put his family through this? Outcome was baked in.
Manyakitty
@Gin & Tonic: first thing I thought when I heard is Putin killed him now to get Ukraine out of the news again. So obvious.
Barbara
@Kay: From time to time someone tries to figure out the impact of the variety of practices that are loosely referred to as the “underground” economy — people working off the books, e.g., parking lot attendants who are paid solely in cash, or unlaundered drug money, and so on. It’s so shadowy that it’s hard to figure out its significance.
I feel this way about abortion when it comes to “social” policies that affect the achievement of women. You can look at raw numbers — Guttmacher tries — but it’s much harder to link those numbers to concrete impact: the women who didn’t drop out of college, who didn’t marry their immature and uneducated boyfriend at the age of 18 and get divorced at 25, who didn’t become a single mother more dependent on parents or the state than she might otherwise have been.
The impact is as real as it is mostly invisible.
Leto
@Jackie:
dang straight. Didn’t know he was a lawyer as well, and did work with Nelson Mandella, as well as Civil Rights work.
@Soprano2: have to first tap the mic twice, then ask.
Jackie
Just saw this headline; didn’t click, but I laughed!
Baud
@Kay:
They’re still looking for the “I’m a pro-abortion woman, here’s why I’m voting for Trump” voter.
narya
@Barbara: The Strict Scrutiny people interviewed a woman (women?) who wrote a book about exactly this: the authors compared two groups of women. Both groups wanted an abortion but half were able to get one and half were not. Not surprisingly, a lot of short- and long-term effects, especially (IIRC) on things like the amount of education the woman was able to acquire, etc. I wish I could remember the name of the book or the authors!
Shalimar
@Alison Rose: and 36 weeks is 9 months. and 48 weeks is 12 months. Republican math is really simple.
Another Scott
@narya:
ProPublica.org – The year after Dobbs may be something similar.
Grr…,
Scott.
Ken B
@Shalimar: Because Navalny’s dead.
Alison Rose
@Shalimar: Maybe that’s the problem with me. I was born super late, at 43 weeks. A very odd number. Mayhap it was a sign.
Jackie
The actual article is from Simon Rosenberg re Suossi’s winning NY3, but catch phrase at the top is perfect! Too bad it’s too long for a rotating tag!
https://www.publicnotice.co/p/simon-rosenberg-interview-trump-biden-polling
Elizabelle
@ Kay and @ Barbara and @ narya: free gift links to two exceptional articles from the Washington Post, about teens Brooke and Billy who found themselves pregnant, just as the Texas abortion deadline went into effect. Fabulous reporting.
WaPost free link, from June 20, 2022:
This Texas teen wanted an abortion. She now has twins.
Brooke Alexander found out she was pregnant 48 hours before the Texas abortion ban took effect
WaPost free link, from August 1, 2023.
An abortion ban made them teen parents. This is life two years later.
Long articles; lots of photos; definitely check out the reader comments too. (Often best to sort by “most liked” to skip a lot of trolls and nutjobs.)
cain
@Jackie: Probably still thinking of how to deal with that piece of news.
Likely, they’ll find an right wing influencer they can boost who has some new tired yarn.
Manyakitty
@Alison Rose: manchin was the slug
cain
@trollhattan: I’m not sure why he would return to Russia or even pursue anything political without protection in some fashion.
Also, I too when I’m not feeling well would like to take a brisk walk in sub zero temperatures outside. (it didn’t say, was it outside or was he just walking the halls) and are these people free to just walk around when needed in a prison?
Eyeroller
@Scout211: I have no personal experience but that may mean uniform 4-week months, which isn’t quite a lunar month (29.5 days) but is close. Going by calendar months would result in a variable number. The average gestation is 280 days or an even 40 weeks or 10 4-week months.
Another Scott
@Alison Rose:
[ insert “high 5” emoji, not “prayer hands” emoji ]
I was 2 weeks late. Maybe, indeed, it’s a sign.
Cheers,
Scott.
Kay
And just so everyone is clear- the Trump campaign fed the NYTimes that story about how Trump supports a 16 week ban but won’tsay it unti after the election, and the NYTimes, dutiful stenographers that they are, printed it.
But the Trump campaign and the NYTimes probably won’t be able to fool American women again, I don’t think, based on my conversations with those women during the Ohio campaign. But good effort, Team Trump!
Jackie
@Alison Rose: I was supposed to make my debut Memorial Day (May 31 before it became a Monday holiday,) but chose Flag Day instead – 2 weeks later.
Scout211
@Eyeroller: Reason number infinity why politicians cannot be trusted to make medical decisions. Pregnant people are not robots with predictable menstrual cycles. So due dates and the number of weeks a person is pregnant can be miscalculated by weeks.
Geminid
@cain: Kyrsten Sinema might be willing. She doesn’t act like she is running for reelection in Arizona.
wjca
The woman’s next sentence being “After all, if *I* need an abortion, I can always fly off to Canada/Europe to get one.”
Frank Wilhoit
@sdhays: Think back to the late 1970s and the anti-Soviet propaganda of that time. The vileness had to do with hijacking the reputation of a great artist to serve the topical political needs of a tiny exile lobby in Washington. That’s enough hints, you can find it easily enough, if you want to read several hundred pages whose only evidentiary value is to show that their author was obsessed with involuntary defecation.
Alison Rose
@Manyakitty: HAHAHAHAHA
Alison Rose
@Another Scott: @Jackie: My mom has said that she generally liked being pregnant, but she did note that by the time I finally decided to show up, she was about fucking done. Although one positive of a baby being that late is it only took 20 minutes in labor.
schrodingers_cat
@Anne Laurie: Good to know that I am not the only one who sees no point to those fake Smith posts.
Matt McIrvin
@Frank Wilhoit: [Googles]
Huh. And again: huh.
And I guess that’s all I’m going to say about that.
Matt McIrvin
@Jackie: One reason it’s been hard for me to maintain hope was that in the past, historically, when the polls were wrong, it always seemed to be bad news for Democrats. It was about shy Republican voters lying to pollsters, or not responding, and then voting Republican. The polls always understated how well the Republican would do. That certainly happened in the upper Midwest in 2016.
But lately… lately… it hasn’t been like that.
Eyeroller
@Scout211: “First day of the last period” was established as the convention sometime in the 19th century. I suppose it was mostly so male doctors wouldn’t be asking women directly about their sex lives, plus even if that information was provided it wouldn’t necessarily be all that accurate unless there was only one occasion. None of this is precise because there is so much variability in individuals. Only something like an ultrasound can establish true gestational age with any accuracy better than +- a week or so.
Ksmiami
And it looks like Biden IS getting in front of this. Squeeze the traitors in Congress. Get aid to Ukraine
Denali5
@Elizabelle,
Thanks to the link to Vice President Harris’s speech. I was very impressed with it.
Elizabelle
@Ksmiami: Yay! Go for it, Joe. You’re not wrong!
Elizabelle
@Denali5: Excellent. Maybe we can discuss it this evening, or tomorrow, once more have had a chance to view (or there will be a transcript soon; might be up already.)
Another Scott
@Another Scott: If one hasn’t clicked on the ProPublica link, it’s worth it for a reminder of what real people are going through.
Tragic, heart-breaking, and infuriating.
Never, ever vote for monsters who punch down. And those of us with our hearts in the right place have to do the work to make the systems work for people who are struggling (and not just assume that a program existing means that it actually works).
Grr…,
Scott.
Eyeroller
@Eyeroller: Missed my edit window. Googling around a bit, I find people asserting that 1 month=exactly 4 weeks all over the place. The actual average is 4 1/3 weeks per calendar month, which makes 40 weeks = 9.2 calendar months on average.
Paul in KY
@Another Scott: Great to see from our German allies! Slava Ukraini!
Geminid
@Denali5: I remember when Vice President Harris spoke at the 2022 Security Conference, right before Russia invaded Ukraine. I was impressed, and reporting on the various sideline meetings with top world officials indicated that Harris represented my countries government effectively. But all last year I saw “professional” journalists asking why they never heard about Kamala Harris when they could read about her foreign trips. The press in Malaysia and other nations took Harris seriously, and she had their attention when she met their leasers in Washington.
I would say the American journalists who underrate Harris are just lazy- and they are lazy- but I think they also know what they are doing. They have a general bias and even animus towards Democratic Party leadership, and they express it implicitely when they cannot express it explicitely.
Paul in KY
@Jeffro: Would think my senatortise is completely against this manuver.
Paul in KY
@YY_Sima Qian: Interesting and informative comments on early post-Manchu China. Thanks!
Paul in KY
@Shalimar: Cause Tucker isn’t competent enough to get the job done. Among many other reasons.
Paul in KY
@Frank Wilhoit: So that’s how Kaganovich survived…
Paul in KY
@Jackie: That’s ‘old money’ WASLDS Romney commenting on the help. Ha!
Shalimar
@Alison Rose: Join the club. I was supposed to be due in mid to late June. My birthday is July 26th. Supposedly the biggest baby in the history of the hospital, but it was an antebellum hospital in Tennessee, already 125 years old at that point, so there is no way in hell that is true.
Paul in KY
@Jackie: Mr. Rosenberg made me grin. Keep on stomping on TFG every day!
Eyeroller
@Geminid: Oh, I think it’s not just that she’s a Democrat. Whatever else might it be, it’s so hard to imagine.
I think that the sexism is even worse than the racism here. Many people have a visceral fear of women in positions of real power.
We’ve been talking about Jon Stewart lately. I know he’s not technically a “journalist” but he certainly checks the boxes of a lot of political journalists. Rich smug while male. I’ve been told that he was particularly disrespectful to women interviewees (as well as minorities). Misogyny and racism seem deeply embedded in our elite journalists and pseudo-journalists.
Paul in KY
@Matt McIrvin: My google-fu not working well. Can’t even find a definition of ‘ yurovniki’. Guessing it must be spelled wrong?
Elizabelle
@Another Scott: That was excellently reported. I want to hear more about Mayron and Chris and Zooey and Elayna.
Frank Wilhoit
@Paul in KY:
John Gunther described Kaganovich as having hands like bunches of carrots. But I cannot think that a Jew could be a yurovnik…?
Geminid
@Eyeroller: Harris is a Democrat, she has a Jamaican father and an Indian mother, and she is a woman. That’s three strikes against her for some people.
And Harris is a certain kind of Democrat: liberal within the larger national spectrum, but not on the left side of the party; not a “bold progressive.” I think some people tear her down because they are convinced the party must do “better” in 2028, and she’s in the way.
wjca
And, regrettably, misogyny is not confined to the far right.
Geminid
@wjca: Yes, and neither is racism. I’ve seen a lot of animus toward Black Democrats among the “dirtbag left,” because of the 2020 South Carolina primary result in particular and the important role Black Democrats play within the party in general. Same with two other components of the coalition: LGBTQ people and white woman, the so-called “Panera moms.”
Bill Arnold
@Frank Wilhoit:
In that book (whew. even searching for/within it was … unnerving) it is yurodivye.
At least that’s the only such I found by searching within it.
Baud
Moved.
Brachiator
@Kay:
I don’t know how many women editors there are. Or publishers. Editors have to assign the reporters, and if editors and publishers don’t understand the issue, or don’t care, reporters will have a hard time selling even the best stories on the issue.
Paul in KY
@Bill Arnold: Can’t seem to locate it. Can you say the ‘great artist’ who was defamed by this agitprop?
Bill Arnold
@Paul in KY:
Search with keywords composer book stalin russian
and add the years in late 1970s one by one. You’ll hit it.
Deferring to Frank’s request, here.
WaterGirl
@Jackie: Oh so tempting!
Frank Wilhoit
@Bill Arnold: What is really unnerving is the level of bitterness between opposing camps of musicologists who either believe in it or not. That is why I was so careful not to cite it by name; any mention of it, even at this late date, is liable to result in a trollfest.
Bupalos
@RaflW: Nadezhdin is a Kremlin asset. Think Alan Colmbs.
Quadrillipede
This is encouraging… 👍
Quadrillipede
We’ll never know, but maybe he figured it is better to die in Russia, than outside of it, like, say, Trotsky…
Paul in KY
@Frank Wilhoit: Seems to be either ‘*** ***** ** ****’ or ‘************ *** ******’. Is it the first one
Or could it be ‘*********’, maybe?