Prigozhin was the one financing and directing the Russian troll farm disinformation enterprise and election interference to get Trump elected over Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Another good summary analysis of what just happened (love Robert's title to tonight's newsletter!) is by Timothy Snyder:
Dr. Snyder has noted that Prigozhin is war lord, not a politician.
The observations about the apathy of Russian citizens and alerts to parallel apathy of voters here in the US are echoed by Jay Rosen on Twitter: @jayrosen_nyu. One of his commenters posted an apt cartoon:
Republicans’ and autocrats’ efforts to make attention to democracy pointless—and how to reframe and fix it by engaging voters—is also the point of the new book Saving Democracy: A Users Manual for Every American by David Pepper:
Spot on. I read Snyder first off and what you just wrote was taken right out of my mouth. You are absolutely right. We need to be on high alert for fierce disruption. Hapless Moehler was no Jack Smith and no contest for ruthless Barr. The clear evidence of 2016 Russian interference and Trump “are you listening” collusion were in his report but it got buried and the Republican faction scored a propaganda triumph which reaped 75 million voters in 2020. Fortunately a very healthy number of Independents and former Trumpers have seen the error of their ways. It remains to be seen how Dems hold onto them.
Nice work, Ellie. I'm sure the story is not over. I stopped taking Prigozhin seriously when he threatened to pull out of Ukraine over lack of support from Russia, and then said, "Never mind," and continued his campaign. It appears that his shenanigans have at least damaged Putin to the point where he'll have to refocus his efforts on internal affairs. That may be good for the rest of the world.
Thanks for this, Bill. I'd read one of her columns a few days ago, which I found very enlightening, and this one is so also. Gonna have to subscribe to her.
The cognitive dissonance in the right-wing media never ceases to amaze. Joe Biden suffers from dementia and can't dress himself. But wait! He has masterminded a coup attempt in Russia to distract from his son's legal issues. (Insert SMH emoji here.)
Jun 26, 2023·edited Jun 26, 2023Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
As long as we are quoting Winston Churchill...he countered in The House of Lords to an opposition member, "He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." Surely, this can easily be applied to not only "he who would be king" but sadly to the whole of the Republican Party. They were once known for criticizing the Dems for being negative about America and its future. They claimed themselves to be the party of "positive" - the economy will grow, the middle class will prosper, equality will flourish as wealth is spread among the deserving, we will no longer need to support an underclass - while also claiming, upon election to office - to de-fund food stamps; reduce funding to the VA; create a human embargo against immigrants seeking asylum in the U.S...and on and on.
"He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up", so said Paul Keating. An equally apt reference to Kevin McCarthy and his band of legislative merrymakers. Quivering charlatans who are playing with the stanchions of the very democratic system that gives permission for venal hobnobs to outdo one another with games of circular volley fire trying to out-impress their leader."Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go." We await that day, the day the frauds, cheats and con artists, and that is meant literally, have finally had their day and are summarily sent home. And, when the American people achieve this, as Mark Twain said on the passing of a critic, "I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it."
Thank-you again for this letter which is chock full’o information.I have a friend who is very knowledgeable and maybe a bit prescient.She called the 2016 election for Trump.I have been afraid to ask her what she thinks about 2024 but got up my nerve and did just that yesterday.She thinks the younger generation is most likely going to save us.She also stated that the only way Trump could come out victorious is for our mainstream media to keep pounding on Biden’s age and their take on his senility.Trump is only 3 years younger but you never hear the media address this.I try to not watch and listen to CNN,CBS, NBC and the rest of the media ilk but when I hear snippets of what they are fomenting ,it makes my blood boil.
Biden's age & senility are both laughable when looking at Trumps health & obvious mental challenges. We need to keep pounding this message & not allow this ridiculous messaging to go unchallenged.
I'm less than two years younger than Biden. I don't know whether to laugh or cry when someone claims that the temporary misremembering of a word is a sign of senility. It's actually very like the "why did I just walk into the kitchen" phenomenon, and starts WAY earlier than even 45.
There are no facts or actual news on cable "News" shows that we can't read with a quick scan of two or three newspapers and especially letters like this.
The original idea of the 24 hour news cycle brought to us by Ted Turner was brilliant for the time. But it is now antique and superfluous. Most of us have "breaking news" on our phones and sometimes we know it before it becomes a chyron on TV. My Google News feed from AP, Reuters, Guardian, NY TImes, WaPo, WSJ, and many others makes cable news obsolete. And...I don't have to listen to "personalities" drone on about the same stories.
As cable subscriptions shrink and shrink and advertisers move their money to multiple streaming platforms, I am not sure what "main stream media" will actually be. What I do know is that if CNN, Fox and MSNBC all fade away, we'll be fine.
A friend sent a cartoon (wish I had a link) of two people sitting on the couch, he with tv remote in hand, she "Not sure what to watch? Go to Menu/Settings/Power/Off/Pick up a book."
Kudos for reaching out to high school seniors to register to vote!
If you don’t mind some constructive criticism on your letter, make it as short and impactful as possible. Too many words = TLDR, no matter what our age. Add a visual up front, like a graph of the impact of GenZ voters, and include this cartoon on repo man coming for democracy:
The Civics Center (https://www.thecivicscenter.org, an excellent organization that strongly advocates registration of high school students, offers a wealth of information and support for students to either run voter registration drives, or to simply register themselves. Featured on its site, its resources are broken down by state: https://www.thecivicscenter.org/resources.
The League of Women Voters has a High School Voter Registration Manual (https://www.lwv.org/HSVRmanual) that offers practical advice as well. As if volunteering to run voter registration drives isn’t important enough in its own right, such work can even help students meet community service requirements!
Thanks for your thoughtful comments, Ellie. You're right about KISS (keep it short & sweet), and I like the graphics idea. The cartoon is certainly apropos, but it may be best at the end, after they've been "hooked." Also, I might need to get a license to use it.
I'm not actually reaching out to any particular students. It really started out as a thought exercise, but I was hoping (probably hallucinating, more likely) someone with connections to the US Dept of Education or something at a high level like that would pick up on it. I guess I may resort to the local approach as time diminishes, in which case the state links would be more appropriate.
I'll look at Voters of Tomorrow. I originally started with the Civics Center alone, then added LWV at someone's suggestion, with the concern that too many redirects may not be helpful.
I'm too ancient to understand what social media kids use these days. I haven't advanced much past Facebook myself. I'll be on the lookout for opportunities though. I'll also have to study up on the QR code idea. Hey, how did I wind up with so much homework?
You created a great opening for teachers to engage high school seniors. Civics Center and League of Women Voters (men welcomed and included!) both do the on the ground, in person engagement. Voters of Tomorrow does the social media engagement. I have the voter registration QR code for my state on a button that I wear. Engagement is engagement by any means, and all means are critical!
If you are not a teacher yourself, I hope you share your letter with every teacher you know, with friends/family who know teachers, with your local teachers' union, with your local boards of education, with your state Dept. of Education, and with the US Dept. of Education.
This is excellent action of amplifying that fits on your David Pepper scaling up footprint for saving democracy!
I just wanted to add two additional well reasoned and written takes on Russia (see below). Bill Kristol recommended them and I found them really helpful.
One paragraph from Timothy Snyder’s stood out about w biggest threat of all-apathy.
“The euphoria suggests to me that some Russians are ready to be ruled by a different exploitative regime. The apathy indicates that most Russians at this point just take for granted that they will be ruled by the gangster with the most guns”
We are a different country with a different history, but apathy is always the enemy of democracy. So. Instead of taking the route of “not talking about politics or religion” to be polite, this moment demands polite and civil engagement with our fellow citizens about our moment of disinformation and the dangers of autocracy. On this week of the anniversary of the gutting of the Voting Rights Act and the Dobbs decision, what is at stake is very clear to us. We need to make it clear to those who aren’t paying attention.
I wish that some of these conspiracy theorists would stop spreading wild stories. Someone must bring MTG under control. This stupid woman has no idea the damage that she does.
Holy shit! Her latest tweet about Russia that you included in the newsletter is the repetition of what she was TOLD to say. The wording sounds much too intelligent to be hers. She is a redneck idiot and could NEVER put a sentence together that well.
Just like her competitor, Lauren Boebert, who is also desperate for whacko attention, I fear that damage IS the goal. Essentially the GQP is devolving into anarchism. The kind of anarchy where the majority are hungry rabble and the Oligarchs text their lobbyists and Supreme Court Puppets from the decks of their yachts.
Thank you for your observations on Bartiromo. The MAGA folks seem to have no bottom. There seems to be no end of crazy they can spew, because the crazy is really hate in disguise. I've known genuinely crazy people, and many are the salt of the earth. Trump didn't create, but unleashed the tsunami of hatred & bigotry that has always been a part of our societal DNA. And that has always been pervasive in character disordered, not crazy, individuals.
Bartiromo was at one time a respected financial voice. But she seems to have been drinking from the same legacy destroying well as people like Rudy Giuliani and Lou Dobbs. The well of lunacy.
Don’t assume that Bartiromo et al. believe all that they say. They are propagandists; propagandists are manipulators who don’t necessarily believe their propaganda.
This may sound crazy—but I s there any chance that Putin and Lukashenko have conspired to neutralize Prigozhin? For all anyone knows, Prigozhin could be in prison in Belarus. Promises of amnesty are pretty worthless coming from Putin, and Lukashenko will do his bidding. I guess we’ll all learn soon enough.
Prigozhin has a lot of money and has a lot of "chits" to call in. Maybe it's he and Lukashenko who are working a deal. They have had a long relationship. Pure speculation, of course.
Prigozhin also has relationships with Oligarchs that might serve him well when they slip some Novichok in Putin's soup. Putin ultimately serves at the pleasure of the Oligarchs and military plunderers who have supported him. The Ukrainian boondoggle could be Putin's death sentence. I think we may be smelling Putin's expiration date. Alas, just more guessing. But it beats thinking about Republican treason, eh?
Putin has been very ill and this has been address in the media many times. The newsletter says 'he and his inner circle have not been seen for 24 hours’. Maybe Putin is dead?
Robert, I am very impressed with your mechanical skills. Who builds swing sets from scratch? No kit? Any chance you made a YouTube video? There are a couple of generations who could be impressed that such things are possible :)
My wife will do a video blog on it when done. we are installing artificial turf this weekend that is thick with extra padding to protect against falls. Right now, it looks like a construction site.
Today’s is perhaps my favorite edition of your newsletter, Robert, especially the first two paragraphs, which are masterful. It is good to reflect with Shakespeare upon the vanity and futility of absolute power—we need more poetry in our schools and in our lives. Never have human pretensions looked more futile and deadly.
Judge Luttig’s comments are right on and based on Trump’s performance and illegal acts he has lost a large number of Independents and normal Republicans. The battle in 2024 will be about turnout especially Generation Z and people of color and issues around abortion first and the loss of personal freedoms and the economy. Biden has a proven record of accomplishments and Republicans have a proven record of unrestrained chaos and deception. The key is not to forget or ignore down ballot candidates and state legislator candidates to protect our freedom. We are building momentum and accountability and voters inherently know that.
This is what I have been worried about. No matter how hard we try to keep the orange idiot out of the White House, Russia and BIG money will stoop even lower in 2024 to rig the election and put (see above) back in office. It is really scary what goes on behind the facade, and who is who’s pocket.
Notes on the Russian insurrection by Prigozhin:
Prigozhin was the one financing and directing the Russian troll farm disinformation enterprise and election interference to get Trump elected over Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Another good summary analysis of what just happened (love Robert's title to tonight's newsletter!) is by Timothy Snyder:
https://open.substack.com/pub/snyder/p/prigozhins-march-on-moscow?r=6pp8t&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
Dr. Snyder has noted that Prigozhin is war lord, not a politician.
The observations about the apathy of Russian citizens and alerts to parallel apathy of voters here in the US are echoed by Jay Rosen on Twitter: @jayrosen_nyu. One of his commenters posted an apt cartoon:
https://twitter.com/PatrickAlt4/status/1673063358893813761?s=20
Republicans’ and autocrats’ efforts to make attention to democracy pointless—and how to reframe and fix it by engaging voters—is also the point of the new book Saving Democracy: A Users Manual for Every American by David Pepper:
https://bookshop.org/p/books/saving-democracy-a-user-s-manual-for-every-american-david-pepper/20075262
How can each of us scale up our footprint to help save democracy?
Spot on. I read Snyder first off and what you just wrote was taken right out of my mouth. You are absolutely right. We need to be on high alert for fierce disruption. Hapless Moehler was no Jack Smith and no contest for ruthless Barr. The clear evidence of 2016 Russian interference and Trump “are you listening” collusion were in his report but it got buried and the Republican faction scored a propaganda triumph which reaped 75 million voters in 2020. Fortunately a very healthy number of Independents and former Trumpers have seen the error of their ways. It remains to be seen how Dems hold onto them.
They don’t have them in Texas
I would just clarify that Dems are we, not they. Hence David Pepper’s action manual and footprint graphic for saving our democracy.
Nice work, Ellie. I'm sure the story is not over. I stopped taking Prigozhin seriously when he threatened to pull out of Ukraine over lack of support from Russia, and then said, "Never mind," and continued his campaign. It appears that his shenanigans have at least damaged Putin to the point where he'll have to refocus his efforts on internal affairs. That may be good for the rest of the world.
Thank you Ellie. I love how you offer up a "manual" for saving democracy. You and Robert have similar spirit guides.
But here is another take on the Russian drama:
https://dianefrancis.substack.com/p/russias-sopranos
Thanks for this, Bill. I'd read one of her columns a few days ago, which I found very enlightening, and this one is so also. Gonna have to subscribe to her.
Massive -- M A S S I V E -- turnout for 2024.
Exactly.
Thank you, Robert Hubbell, and congratulations on your progress with the Swing.
Thank you, Ellie
The cartoon is excellent, thanks Ellie.
As Winston Churchill noted in 1939, "Russia is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma."
Some. Things. Never. Change.
The paragraph concerning the Fox infopainment clearly withstood the scrutiny of your editor-in-chief and is well spoken.
Spend the weekend being grandpa.
😉
The cognitive dissonance in the right-wing media never ceases to amaze. Joe Biden suffers from dementia and can't dress himself. But wait! He has masterminded a coup attempt in Russia to distract from his son's legal issues. (Insert SMH emoji here.)
As long as we are quoting Winston Churchill...he countered in The House of Lords to an opposition member, "He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." Surely, this can easily be applied to not only "he who would be king" but sadly to the whole of the Republican Party. They were once known for criticizing the Dems for being negative about America and its future. They claimed themselves to be the party of "positive" - the economy will grow, the middle class will prosper, equality will flourish as wealth is spread among the deserving, we will no longer need to support an underclass - while also claiming, upon election to office - to de-fund food stamps; reduce funding to the VA; create a human embargo against immigrants seeking asylum in the U.S...and on and on.
"He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up", so said Paul Keating. An equally apt reference to Kevin McCarthy and his band of legislative merrymakers. Quivering charlatans who are playing with the stanchions of the very democratic system that gives permission for venal hobnobs to outdo one another with games of circular volley fire trying to out-impress their leader."Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go." We await that day, the day the frauds, cheats and con artists, and that is meant literally, have finally had their day and are summarily sent home. And, when the American people achieve this, as Mark Twain said on the passing of a critic, "I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it."
This is gold: He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up.
Got my favorite quotes and some extras. Good job
Wow! So well said! I love the beautiful quotes both in this newsletter and in the comments like this one.
Thank-you again for this letter which is chock full’o information.I have a friend who is very knowledgeable and maybe a bit prescient.She called the 2016 election for Trump.I have been afraid to ask her what she thinks about 2024 but got up my nerve and did just that yesterday.She thinks the younger generation is most likely going to save us.She also stated that the only way Trump could come out victorious is for our mainstream media to keep pounding on Biden’s age and their take on his senility.Trump is only 3 years younger but you never hear the media address this.I try to not watch and listen to CNN,CBS, NBC and the rest of the media ilk but when I hear snippets of what they are fomenting ,it makes my blood boil.
Biden's age & senility are both laughable when looking at Trumps health & obvious mental challenges. We need to keep pounding this message & not allow this ridiculous messaging to go unchallenged.
Biden’s “senility” rests on a bunch of discredited assumptions that purport to link old age with mental decline (“agesim”).
It *may* be true that Biden is not as sharp as he once was, but that misses the main point. He is still is evidently more than sharp *enough*.
Moreover, he seems to have enhanced his store of experience.
I am 67. I am not as sharp or able as I was at 45. But I am a lot wiser. The trade off is worth it.
I'm less than two years younger than Biden. I don't know whether to laugh or cry when someone claims that the temporary misremembering of a word is a sign of senility. It's actually very like the "why did I just walk into the kitchen" phenomenon, and starts WAY earlier than even 45.
There are no facts or actual news on cable "News" shows that we can't read with a quick scan of two or three newspapers and especially letters like this.
The original idea of the 24 hour news cycle brought to us by Ted Turner was brilliant for the time. But it is now antique and superfluous. Most of us have "breaking news" on our phones and sometimes we know it before it becomes a chyron on TV. My Google News feed from AP, Reuters, Guardian, NY TImes, WaPo, WSJ, and many others makes cable news obsolete. And...I don't have to listen to "personalities" drone on about the same stories.
As cable subscriptions shrink and shrink and advertisers move their money to multiple streaming platforms, I am not sure what "main stream media" will actually be. What I do know is that if CNN, Fox and MSNBC all fade away, we'll be fine.
Maybe reading will begin to trend again?
A friend sent a cartoon (wish I had a link) of two people sitting on the couch, he with tv remote in hand, she "Not sure what to watch? Go to Menu/Settings/Power/Off/Pick up a book."
I wrote about this in a piece I posted in April: https://open.substack.com/pub/bobmorgan/p/age-of-reason
An observation I made about their 3-1/2 year age difference is that President "Biden acts his age while Trump acts like a 3-1/2 year old."
Thanks for sharing this. You make some very valid points.
To your point about the younger generation saving us, I drafted a letter for incoming high school seniors for the fall, encouraging them to register and vote: https://open.substack.com/pub/bobmorgan/p/junior-senior-to-a-junior-becoming
I'm still looking for a way to get traction on this.
Kudos for reaching out to high school seniors to register to vote!
If you don’t mind some constructive criticism on your letter, make it as short and impactful as possible. Too many words = TLDR, no matter what our age. Add a visual up front, like a graph of the impact of GenZ voters, and include this cartoon on repo man coming for democracy:
https://twitter.com/patrickalt4/status/1673063358893813761?s=46&t=G1vnalQqxYifVbjonWfCIA
Here’s your gold:
The Civics Center (https://www.thecivicscenter.org, an excellent organization that strongly advocates registration of high school students, offers a wealth of information and support for students to either run voter registration drives, or to simply register themselves. Featured on its site, its resources are broken down by state: https://www.thecivicscenter.org/resources.
The League of Women Voters has a High School Voter Registration Manual (https://www.lwv.org/HSVRmanual) that offers practical advice as well. As if volunteering to run voter registration drives isn’t important enough in its own right, such work can even help students meet community service requirements!
Add Voters of Tomorrow (https://votersoftomorrow.org/lot/)
What social media do your students use? Add the organization’s link, for example to Instagram.
Engage your students with the voter registration QR code for your state:
6190ddd9-bb6a-4637-8ca7-d953ca134fb6.png
QR Code to Voter Registration by State
autonix.io
Good luck!
Thanks for your thoughtful comments, Ellie. You're right about KISS (keep it short & sweet), and I like the graphics idea. The cartoon is certainly apropos, but it may be best at the end, after they've been "hooked." Also, I might need to get a license to use it.
I'm not actually reaching out to any particular students. It really started out as a thought exercise, but I was hoping (probably hallucinating, more likely) someone with connections to the US Dept of Education or something at a high level like that would pick up on it. I guess I may resort to the local approach as time diminishes, in which case the state links would be more appropriate.
I'll look at Voters of Tomorrow. I originally started with the Civics Center alone, then added LWV at someone's suggestion, with the concern that too many redirects may not be helpful.
I'm too ancient to understand what social media kids use these days. I haven't advanced much past Facebook myself. I'll be on the lookout for opportunities though. I'll also have to study up on the QR code idea. Hey, how did I wind up with so much homework?
Thanks again!
You created a great opening for teachers to engage high school seniors. Civics Center and League of Women Voters (men welcomed and included!) both do the on the ground, in person engagement. Voters of Tomorrow does the social media engagement. I have the voter registration QR code for my state on a button that I wear. Engagement is engagement by any means, and all means are critical!
If you are not a teacher yourself, I hope you share your letter with every teacher you know, with friends/family who know teachers, with your local teachers' union, with your local boards of education, with your state Dept. of Education, and with the US Dept. of Education.
This is excellent action of amplifying that fits on your David Pepper scaling up footprint for saving democracy!
I just wanted to add two additional well reasoned and written takes on Russia (see below). Bill Kristol recommended them and I found them really helpful.
One paragraph from Timothy Snyder’s stood out about w biggest threat of all-apathy.
“The euphoria suggests to me that some Russians are ready to be ruled by a different exploitative regime. The apathy indicates that most Russians at this point just take for granted that they will be ruled by the gangster with the most guns”
We are a different country with a different history, but apathy is always the enemy of democracy. So. Instead of taking the route of “not talking about politics or religion” to be polite, this moment demands polite and civil engagement with our fellow citizens about our moment of disinformation and the dangers of autocracy. On this week of the anniversary of the gutting of the Voting Rights Act and the Dobbs decision, what is at stake is very clear to us. We need to make it clear to those who aren’t paying attention.
--------
https://snyder.substack.com/p/prigozhins-march-on-moscow
https://samf.substack.com/p/that-was-the-coup-that-was
Thanks for this news roundup and especially for the Shakespeare!
I wish that some of these conspiracy theorists would stop spreading wild stories. Someone must bring MTG under control. This stupid woman has no idea the damage that she does.
Actually she does know the damage and she does not care.
A lot of Republicans get laundered rubles via the NRA, and I'm sure she is well paid. https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-campaigns-gun-politics-election-2020-lawsuits-949361ea529ea37139f401a64c7fa362
Holy shit! Her latest tweet about Russia that you included in the newsletter is the repetition of what she was TOLD to say. The wording sounds much too intelligent to be hers. She is a redneck idiot and could NEVER put a sentence together that well.
She revels in it.
Just like her competitor, Lauren Boebert, who is also desperate for whacko attention, I fear that damage IS the goal. Essentially the GQP is devolving into anarchism. The kind of anarchy where the majority are hungry rabble and the Oligarchs text their lobbyists and Supreme Court Puppets from the decks of their yachts.
"...damage IS the goal" ✅ and cruelty is the point.
pulling citizens off the street to be cannon fodder
does not increase loyalty to the top
my neighbor just said, haven't seen Putin in a couple of days
bullies hide hoping no one will see what they have done
when the damn breaks all the water comes out, the subconscious of these men who have wreaked havoc can be plainly seen on their faces
Thank you for your observations on Bartiromo. The MAGA folks seem to have no bottom. There seems to be no end of crazy they can spew, because the crazy is really hate in disguise. I've known genuinely crazy people, and many are the salt of the earth. Trump didn't create, but unleashed the tsunami of hatred & bigotry that has always been a part of our societal DNA. And that has always been pervasive in character disordered, not crazy, individuals.
Bartiromo was at one time a respected financial voice. But she seems to have been drinking from the same legacy destroying well as people like Rudy Giuliani and Lou Dobbs. The well of lunacy.
Don’t assume that Bartiromo et al. believe all that they say. They are propagandists; propagandists are manipulators who don’t necessarily believe their propaganda.
The orange one = Pandora’s Box.
Sorry Pandora
This may sound crazy—but I s there any chance that Putin and Lukashenko have conspired to neutralize Prigozhin? For all anyone knows, Prigozhin could be in prison in Belarus. Promises of amnesty are pretty worthless coming from Putin, and Lukashenko will do his bidding. I guess we’ll all learn soon enough.
Prigozhin has a lot of money and has a lot of "chits" to call in. Maybe it's he and Lukashenko who are working a deal. They have had a long relationship. Pure speculation, of course.
Prigozhin also has relationships with Oligarchs that might serve him well when they slip some Novichok in Putin's soup. Putin ultimately serves at the pleasure of the Oligarchs and military plunderers who have supported him. The Ukrainian boondoggle could be Putin's death sentence. I think we may be smelling Putin's expiration date. Alas, just more guessing. But it beats thinking about Republican treason, eh?
Putin has been very ill and this has been address in the media many times. The newsletter says 'he and his inner circle have not been seen for 24 hours’. Maybe Putin is dead?
Sounds like the swingset will be here for your grandkids' kids. Enjoy them and have a great week.
The frame is rock solid. Whoever removes it will need an acetylene torch.
Thank you for this newsletter.
Robert, I am very impressed with your mechanical skills. Who builds swing sets from scratch? No kit? Any chance you made a YouTube video? There are a couple of generations who could be impressed that such things are possible :)
My wife will do a video blog on it when done. we are installing artificial turf this weekend that is thick with extra padding to protect against falls. Right now, it looks like a construction site.
We eagerly await the video blog!
Today’s is perhaps my favorite edition of your newsletter, Robert, especially the first two paragraphs, which are masterful. It is good to reflect with Shakespeare upon the vanity and futility of absolute power—we need more poetry in our schools and in our lives. Never have human pretensions looked more futile and deadly.
Judge Luttig’s comments are right on and based on Trump’s performance and illegal acts he has lost a large number of Independents and normal Republicans. The battle in 2024 will be about turnout especially Generation Z and people of color and issues around abortion first and the loss of personal freedoms and the economy. Biden has a proven record of accomplishments and Republicans have a proven record of unrestrained chaos and deception. The key is not to forget or ignore down ballot candidates and state legislator candidates to protect our freedom. We are building momentum and accountability and voters inherently know that.
This is what I have been worried about. No matter how hard we try to keep the orange idiot out of the White House, Russia and BIG money will stoop even lower in 2024 to rig the election and put (see above) back in office. It is really scary what goes on behind the facade, and who is who’s pocket.