#michael mcfaul

[mylionheart2]

ACTIVE MEASURES 

[thecapitolradar]

Goodbye to my fearless friend, Alexei Navalny

Alexei was a friend to America, too. Read this piece, and get to know who and what we lost when Putin murdered him.

It takes a human to appreciate humanity, I guess; and Mike McFaul paints a picture of our friend, Navalny, that stands in sharp contrast to Putin's cruelty and depravity.

#freenavalny we tweeted when Putin imprisoned our friend. Our prayer has been answered in the saddest way possible.

#RIP Alexei Navalny.

[misseyres]

“If Michael McFaul had a vagina I’d be all over it” is the best thing I’ve ever heard in a work meeting

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Andrew Roth at The Guardian:

Donald Trump’s choice of JD Vance as his vice-presidential pick has reignited fears in Europe that he would pursue a transactional “America first” foreign policy that could culminate in the US pushing for Ukraine to acquiesce to Vladimir Putin and sue for peace with Russia. “It’s bad for us but it’s terrible news for [Ukraine],” said one senior European diplomat in Washington. “[Vance] is not our ally.” Foreign diplomats and observers have frequently called Trump’s actual policies a “black box,” saying that was impossible to know for certain what the unpredictable leader would do when in power. Some have soothed themselves by suggesting that names tipped for top positions, such as former national security adviser Robert O’Brien, would maintain a foreign policy status quo while Trump focuses on domestic affairs.

But a prospective Trump administration now has a much more energetic surrogate who will fuel Trump’s skepticism towards Ukraine and Europe, while urging on the party’s aggressive trade and foreign policy elsewhere around the globe. “Senator Vance was one of the leading opponents of the new assistance package to Ukraine last spring and has expressed indifference to what happens in that war,” said Michael McFaul, director at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and a former ambassador to Russia. “By choosing Vance as his running mate, Trump has clarified a very clear choice for American voters in November on foreign policy.” “President Biden’s foreign policy strategy radically contrasts with Mr Trump’s approach,” he said. “Biden and Harris have promoted democracy and stood up to autocrats. Trump and Vance have paid no attention to advancing democracy abroad and instead have embraced autocrats. The contrast in foreign approaches embraced by these two presidential candidates has never been clearer in my lifetime.”

In public, Vance has criticized US aid packages to Ukraine and pushed for negotiations with Russia, although Ukraine has said it did not wish to hold talks. He has accused the Biden administration of “micromanaging” Israel’s war in Gaza, and said that America should “enable Israel to actually finish the job”. He has advocated containment of China, saying that America was “spread too thin” in Europe and pushing for aggressive trade restrictions and intellectual property protections against China. [...] Vance also said he believed the Ukraine war “will end in a negotiated peace”, a view that appeared to be backed up on Tuesday by the Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán, who has been traveling on a rogue “peace mission” to Moscow and Mar-a-Lago, wrote that Trump after the elections will begin acting as a “peace broker immediately”, even before his inauguration.

Vladimir Putin and Viktor Orbán are happy at the news that Donald Trump tapped anti-Ukraine Senator J.D. Vance to be on the ticket.

If the Trump/Vance ticket wins, Ukraine is done for and Russia would terrorize the Baltics and some of the former Warsaw Pact nations.

A vote for Biden (or Harris) would keep Ukraine strong, so vote Biden/Harris!

[mariacallous]

The war in Ukraine has altered the course of global history. These authors explore how. When Vladimir Putin's forces sought to conquer Ukraine in February 2022, they did more than threaten the survival of a vulnerable democracy. The invasion unleashed a crisis that has changed the course of world affairs. This conflict has reshaped alliances, deepened global cleavages, and caused economic disruptions that continue to reverberate around the globe. It has initiated the first great-power nuclear crisis in decades and raised fundamental questions about the sources of national power and military might in the modern age. The outcome of the conflict will profoundly influence the international balance of power, the relationship between democracies and autocracies, and the rules that govern global affairs.

In War in Ukraine, Hal Brands brings together an all-star group of analysts to assess the conflict's origins, course, and implications and to offer their appraisals of one of the most geopolitically consequential crises of the early twenty-first century. Essays cover topics including the twists and turns of the war itself, the successes and failures of US strategy, the impact of sanctions, the future of Russia and its partnership with China, and more.

Contributors: Anne Applebaum, Joshua Baker, Alexander Bick, Hal Brands, Daniel Drezner, Peter Feaver, Lawrence Freedman, Francis Gavin, Brian Hart, William Inboden, Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Michael Kimmage, Michael Kofman, Stephen Kotkin, Mark Leonard, Bonny Lin, Thomas Mahnken, Dara Massicot, Michael McFaul, Robert Person, Kori Schake, and Ashley Tellis.

[yourreddancer]

Today in Politics, Bulletin 63. 2/3/25

Ron Filipkowski

Feb 4

∙

Paid

… Elon Musk locked USAID staffers out of their building this morning. AP reported that the entrance had yellow police tape with officers blocking entry to the lobby. Musk went on an X spaces in the wee hours of the morning to announce that he was shutting it down: “It became apparent that it’s not just an apple with a worm it in. What we have is just a ball of worms. You’ve got to basically get rid of the whole thing. It’s beyond repair.”

… Musk claimed that he checked with Trump first and got his approval: “I checked with him a few times. ‘Are you sure?’ Yes, we’re shutting it down. He agreed we should shut it down.”

… USAID’s website was down this morning with no explanation, and staffers told AP they were locked out of the agency’s computer systems.

… A USAID official to NBC: “No one feels safe to go anywhere near the Ronald Reagan building. We just had Elon Musk call us a criminal organization. Our security chief was escorted out. We know we are being surveilled by DOGE.”

… Trump was then asked this morning whether it would take an act of Congress to disband USAID. Trump: “I don't know, I don’t think so. Not when it comes to fraud. These people are lunatics and if it comes to fraud, you wouldn't have to have an act of Congress.”

… Elon Musk’s fans in Russia loved the move. Former President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev: “Smart move by Elon Musk trying to plug USAID's Deep Throat. Let's hope notorious Deep State doesn't swallow him whole.”

… Michael McFaul: “In 2012, when I was the US ambassador to Russia, Putin shut down USAID inside Russia. Why? Because their work supported free markets, democracy, human rights —ie causes that threatened Putins dictatorship. Shutting down USAID is exactly what autocrats all over the world want.”

… Independent Ukrainian journalist Jay in Kviv: “Putin never dreamed he could ever dismantle USAID. Musk did it for him in a few days.”

… NBC reports that Musk is seeking to access USAID systems that include personnel files and security systems — including on classified systems beyond the security level of at least some of the DOGE employees. The systems also included security clearance information for agency employees.

… Congressional Democrats immediately called a press conference in front of the USAID building where they angrily denounced that Musk was doing:

… Rep. Jamie Raskin: “This is about termination and obliteration of the major foreign aid programs of the US, all of which together total less than $40 billion. We have a Pentagon budget of $900 billion. The Pentagon budget is where the defense contractor Elon Musk, who became the richest man in the world off of our money, collects his payments from, and now he is trying to shut down USAID. We are not going to allow this to happen. It will not stand.”

… Rep. John Olszewski: “Prison guards overseeing thousands of ISIS combatants in Syria walked off the job after their pay was frozen until a waiver was thrown together after the fact. Let me say that again, prison guards overseeing thousands of ISIS combatants walked off the job.”

… Sen. Chris Murphy: "Let's not pull any punches about why this is happening. Elon Musk makes billions off of his business with China. And China is cheering at this action today. There is no question that the billionaire class trying to take over our govt right now is doing it based on self-interest.”

… Sen. Andy Kim: “As Trump and Musk gut USAID today, I think back to my first day ever working for the US gov at USAID. Shame on them for demonizing Americans who are serving our nation, often in difficult and dangerous places. I worked in USAID/Africa bureau where we helped rehabilitate former child soldiers in Uganda, helped with an emerging famine in Malawi. Trump complains about China’s growing influence in Africa but then shuts down one of our best tools to fight this.”

… More Kim: “USAID helps strengthen our nation’s reputation, showcasing our power and our values. Trump admin is now doing extraordinary damage to our reputation not just in trying to stop USAID’s work but by denigrating the mission of humanitarian and development assistance as a whole. These actions by Trump/Musk show America as a nation trampling the rule of law.

… Kim said it is illegal: “Trump/Musk cannot unilaterally close USAID or transfer under State. USAID is codified by the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998, 22 U.S.C. 6501. Any action to shut USAID down would need to go through Congress, and we will fight this. This is all self-inflicted damage. We face real national security threats, and right now our adversaries/competitors are loving what they see — America at war with itself.”

… AOC - “If you want to start with waste, start with Elon’s defense contracts at the Pentagon. In fact, we should start with transparency around defense contracts in general, which take up an enormous sum of public funds. But they won’t do that, will they?”

… Former USAID official Atul Gawande to Fox: “They have turned into a shell overnight from an organization that reaches 100s of millions of people around the world. Our health programs added 6 extra years of life to children by eradicating diseases. That is all being decimated with spurious charges of corruption and mismanagement. It is a playbook coming to an agency near you. This is a gift to our enemies and competitors.”

… Gawande: “We have 21 serious outbreaks worldwide. Three are serious now: an Ebola outbreak in the capital of Uganda. Bird flu has broken out in 49 countries. Our efforts to contain them have all been shut down. We were on the verge of ending HIV, TB, and malaria. We were funding de-mining operations in Vietnam to allow farmers to get back to their fields so people can farm. The insanity and cruelty to break this independent agency. They even took down the USAID Memorial Wall which honored employees killed in the line of duty overseas. Their Memorial torn down.”

… But then Sec of State Marco Rubio gave a press conference later in the morning and announced that the decision had been reversed and USAID was not going to be shut down after all, it was just doing to be put under supervision of the State Department - in other words, him. Rubio said he “delegated the authority” to run it to someone else. He did not say who that person was: “It’s supposed to respond to policy directives of the State Department, and it refuses to do so.”

… Rubio took a different position about it than Musk: “There are things that USAID, that we do through USAID, that we should continue to do, and we will continue to do. But everything they do has to be in alignment with the national interest and the foreign policy of the United States.”

… More chaos caused by Musk, the Trump Admin has to scramble and try to put out the ensuing firestorm, then they walk it all back but come up with a BS excuse to justify their incompetence.

… Another example of that played out today with tariffs, but this one was all Trump.

… Today was Trump Tariff Theater Day as he announced tariffs over the weekend, causing the markets to take a nose dive and Republican Senators to beg and plead for exemptions. With panic setting in, Trump caves but has to save face. So then he miraculously lifts the tariffs for 30 days after Mexico and Canada agreed to basically do the same things they have been doing for years.

… Then Trump declares victory despite looking like a fool to the entire world. All very predicable. The most common MAGA cultist post I saw on social media today: “Art of the Deal!”

… Canada PM Justin Trudeau: “Canada is implementing our $1.3 billion border plan — reinforcing the border with new choppers, technology and personnel, enhanced coordination with our American partners, and increased resources to stop the flow of fentanyl. Canada is making new commitments to appoint a Fentanyl Czar, we will list cartels as terrorists, ensure 24/7 eyes on the border, launch a Canada-U.S. Joint Strike Force to combat organized crime, fentanyl and money laundering.”

… Mexican President Claudia Scheinbaum: “We reached a series of agreements: 1. Mexico will immediately reinforce the northern border with 10,000 members of the National Guard to prevent drug trafficking from Mexico to the US, particularly fentanyl. 2. The US is committed to working to prevent the trafficking of high-powered weapons to Mexico. 3. Our teams will begin working today on two fronts: security and trade.”

… But on April 12, 2021, Mexico also announced that it was sending 10,000 members of the National Guard to the border at the request of the Biden Administration. They didn’t have to go through all the tariff drama to make that happen either.

… One Trump fan on X complained that he folded: “I don't like this at all. It shows no commitment or backbone from our President. It shows he can be manipulated, and they called his bluff. Why not demand results first and then we remove the tariffs? Now the whole world knows he's bluffing. Nothing will change. SAD DAY.”

… Rep. Claudia Tenney was panicking on Fox before Trump backed down: “One of the concerns I have with upstate NY is that one of my cities, the copper city from NY, we produce a lot of the copper. And the commodities and the ability of our country, and particularly our state and a lot of our long time manufacturing companies, many for over 100 years, to be able to react to this. I worry a little bit about some of the carnage with some of the small businesses in upstate NY who are going to have to react because Canada is our greatest trading partner.”

… Sen. Chuck Grassley: “I plead with President Trump to exempt potash from the tariff because family farmers in Iowa get most of our potash from Canada.”

… Sen. Ron Johnson to Newsmax: "Tariffs are a tax. When you tax something, you get less of it, so we'll probably get fewer imports, but then with retaliation, fewer experts. Smoot-Hawley was not particularly successful and helped sparked the Depression, so I share the markets' concern."

… Sen. Mitch McConnell to CBS: “It will drive the cost of everything up. In other words, it will be paid for by American consumers. I mean, why would you want to get in a fight with your allies over this?”

… Rep. Nancy Mace: “Quite frankly, as an American, I don’t care what Justin Trudeau and Canada has to say about this. If this is the tool that Trump says that he believes is going to work, then we have to try it. This is short term pain for long term gain. They made their bed and now they can lie in it. We have to play hardball with these countries who know where the meth labs are.”

… Rep. Carol Miller (R-WV) also wasn’t worried: “We have plenty of lumber here. We have wonderful energy products here. Trump is a negotiator - and he is going to take care of us just as he promised to do.”

… CNN Contributor Bakari Sellers: “Understanding Musk’s fascination with USAID also requires you to recall its role in dissembling apartheid South Africa.”

… Trump added South Africa to our enemies’ list: “South Africa is confiscating land, and treating certain classes of people VERY BADLY. It is a bad situation that the Radical Left Media doesn’t want to so much as mention. A massive Human Rights VIOLATION, at a minimum, is happening for all to see. The US won’t stand for it, we will act. Also, I will be cutting off all future funding to South Africa until a full investigation of this situation has been completed!”

… Musk deleted a post and suspended the account of a user on X who listed the names of the 6 people working for his DOGE office. Before nuking them, he responded to them: “You have committed a crime.” WIRED reported they are all between ages of 19-24. Musk reposted this comment from one of his fans about the incident: 

… Trump’s US Attorney for DC Ed Martin told Musk that he is ready to take action: “I recognized that some of the staff at DOGE has been targeted publicly. I ask that you utilize me and my staff to assist in protecting DOGE work and DOGE workers. Any threats, confrontations, or other actions in any way that impact their work may break numerous laws. Let me assure you of this: we will pursue any and all legal action against anyone who impedes your work.”

… CNN reports that DOGE official Edward Coristine requested and is being granted “access to all Small Business Administration systems, which includes HR, contract and payment systems.”

… Musk also made it clear that if they even suspect someone in the government is talking to the media, they will be fired: “With regard to leakers: If in doubt, they are out.”

… Right-wing podcast and attorney Tom Renz: “I like what DOGE is doing but am not convinced it’s legal and hate the precedent. What happens when we have the next Democrat presidency and they invite George Soros and Bill Gates in to do what DOGE is doing? Why aren’t conservatives concerned about the precedent? What’s the plan to keep this from being misused in the future?”

 NPR identified dozens of J6 defendants that Trump pardoned who had prior convictions or pending charges for rape, sexual abuse of a minor, domestic violence,manslaughter, production of child sexual abuse material and drug trafficking.

… Marge Greene then announced she is launching on investigation of NPR and PBS with her DOGE Committee: “PBS and NPR receive the tax dollars of hard-working Americans to stay on the air. Their coverage should serve every single American, not just a narrow slice of like-minded individuals and ideological interest groups. Notably, NPR refused to cover the Hunter Biden laptop story in an attempt to protect then-candidate Joe Biden leading up to the 2020 presidential election.

… Greene: “PBS falsely implied that Elon Musk made a fascist salute at the President’s inaugural rally. This kind of one-sided reporting, which attacks over half the country to protect and promote its own political interests, doesn’t deserve a single cent of American taxpayers’ money. I look forward to bringing the president of each of these so-called ‘media’ outlets before my brand-new DOGE Subcommittee to explain to me—and to the American people—why they deserve to continue receiving public funding.”

… The Trump administration hyped the arrest of 8,000 immigrants since he took office, which is still a slower pace than the Biden Admin deportations. But NBC reports that many of those have already been released back into the US on an ankle or wrist monitor program that has been used for over a decade. This is something Trump criticized Biden for constantly.

… ICE Spokesperson to NBC: “The agency’s federal law enforcement officers do everything they can to keep our communities safe. In some cases, ICE is required to release certain arrested aliens from custody.”

… Politico reported that nearly 100 employees of the Department of Education could be placed on administrative leave for previously attending a diversity training. They attended a voluntary two day training called, “Diversity Change Agents,” and were trained to serve as role models to educate and train the workforce on diversity and inclusion. Trump’s own former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos recommended the program to them.

… NYT reports that the Trump administration sent an email to 1,100 Environmental Protection Agency employees who work on climate change, reducing air pollution, enforcing environmental laws and other programs that they could be fired at any time.

… Michelle Roos, Executive Director of Environmental Protection Network told DNYUZ: “EPA is at the center of the bullseye for Trump’s vindictive purge of public servants. This is the most chaotic and vindictive transition in the history of the Environmental Protection Agency.”

… Trump signed an executive order to start the process of creating an American Sovereign Wealth Fund. A small handful of countries who typically run budget surpluses like Norway and Saudi Arabia invest their excess revenue in long-term investment funds. But the US has a massive deficit. So, I’m not exactly sure what the deal is here - are we going borrow more money and then invest it? Who decides where this money is going to go?

… Trump at his press conference with his Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce nominee Howard Lutnick: “The Saudi Arabia fund is on the large side but eventually we'll catch it." Lutnick: "I think Scott and I will create an amazing sovereign wealth fund for you, sir."

… “For you”. Interesting choice of words.

… Norman said the $500 billion proposal in cuts is “laughable,” and said conservatives were “shocked it was that low.” He wants a budget which cuts spending $2-5 trillion: “We’ve got a math problem. We’ve got to get a resolution we need which has a number which can get through committee and get through the floor.”

… Speaker Mike Johnson is complaining that NY Gov. Kathy Hochul has been dragging her feet on setting a special election to fill Elise Stefanik's seat, which is keeping their majority very slim: “This is open political corruption by state officials in NY. This seat should be filled within 90 days of Stefanik moving over to be UN Ambassador. But they're trying to delay this maybe to late Summer, maybe even to Fall. It's just it's corruption on open display. It's unconscionable.”

… The Senate Intelligence Committee will vote tomorrow at 2:00 ET in closed session on Tulsi Gabbard’s nomination. Gabbard must get the vote of every single Republican since they only have a one seat majority on the Committee. Todd Young and Susan Collins were considered the big question marks, but Collins told CNN that she will vote to confirm Gabbard. Musk threatened Young yesterday and said he locked down his vote. She will likely be voted out of committee now, but still has a floor vote to overcome.

… Semafor reports that right-wing white nationalist Darren Beattie is being appointed as a senior Spokesperson for the State Department under Rubio. Beattie is the first one who launched conspiracies that the FBI instigated J6 and claimed that Kamala Harris was somehow involved with the pipe bomber. Here are some of Beattie’s posts on X:

“Competent white men must be in charge if you want things to work. Unfortunately, our entire national ideology is predicated on coddling the feelings of women and minorities, and demoralizing competent white men.”

“Remember when the US allied with Ukranian neo-Nazis to destabilize Russian interests in Ukraine?”

“Imagine the whining from the Globalist American Empire if Putin ‘invades’ Ukraine. I love it when our national security bureaucrats fail!”

“Taiwan will inevitably belong to China, it’s not worth expending any capital to prevent.”

… Beattie also made several posts suggesting that Tom Cotton, Tim Scott and Lindsey Graham are gay. “They all have something in common …” And then: “For people like Graham and Cotton, foreign policy is one big leather clad BDSM fantasy.” I’m not arguing with him on this particular point, I’m just noting that Trump appointed him despite the fact that he said all this. Maybe because of it.

… Nancy Mace selling ‘Gulf of America’ gear now.

… Rep. Andy Biggs just introduced a bill to abolish OSHA, which would completely eliminate workplace safety protections for tens of millions of Americans.

… AZ AG Kris Mayes said she is looking to hire DOJ officials fired by Trump: “My message to all FBI agents and federal prosecutors who are being wrongfully fired by Trump: come see me about a job. We are hiring at the AZ Attorney General’s office and we actually support law enforcement.”

… Fox WH Correspondent Jennifer Griffin: “President Trump again said he ‘turned the water on’ in CA and that water could have been used to fight the wildfires. A few facts: The water released by the Army Corps of Engineers from 2 dams in Central CA has no way to reach Southern CA. The sudden rush alarmed local farmers whose land was nearly flooded. The water is usually kept in reserve to help farmers in Central CA during summer drought months. There are no crops that need the water right now. They are dormant.”

… Trump was asked about Rubio’s trip to the Panama Canal: “We’re gonna take it back, or something very powerful is going to happen.”

… Despite all this madness, we can rest easy tonight knowing that Kristi Noem was keeping us all safe today down on the southern border.

[freetheshit-outofyou]

The list of US K.I.A.'s from Operation Just Cause December 20, 1989 – January 31, 1990.

Army

Name    Home of Record

SSG Larry Barnard            Hallstead, PA

PFC Roy D. Brown Jr.       Buena Park, CA

PVT Vance T. Coats           Great Falls, MT              

SPC Jerry S. Daves            North Carolina

SGT Michael A. Deblois   Dubach, LA

PFC Martin D. Denson     Abilene, TX

PFC William D. Gibbs       Marina, CA.

SPC Phillip S. Lear            Westminster, SC

SPC Alejandro Manriquelozano*               Lauderhill, FL

PFC James W. Markwell  Cincinnati, Ohio

CPL Ivan M. Perez            Pawtucket, R.I

PFC John M. Price            Conover, WI

PFC Scott L. Roth              Killeen, TX

PVT Kenneth D. Scott       Princeton, WV

1LT John R. Hunter           Victor, MT

CW2 Wilson B. Owens    Myrtle Beach, SC

CW2 Andrew P. Porter    Saint Clair, MI

PVT James A. Taber Jr.    Montrose, CO

Navy

LT(JG) John Connors         Arlington, MA

BM1 Chris Tilghman        Kailua, HA

ENC Donald McFaul         Deschutes, OR

TM2 Issac G. Rodriguez III           Missouri City, TX

Marine Corps

Name    Home of Record

Cpl. Garreth C. Isaak                      Greenville, SC     * denotes service member is laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery.

[zenruption]

Is Vladimir Putin The Richest Man On Earth?

Among the very rich, it is an open secret that many believe Vladimir Putin is the richest person on the planet. Individuals like Elon Musk's net worth is largely calculable due to their public holdings in companies like Tesla, Twitter and SpaceX. When there is a change in value or earnings, there is a respective change in net worth.

With Putin, however, his wealth is related to Oligarchs and his stranglehold on opaque business practices. Even the modest estimates of Putin’s wealth make him a billionaire. How a KGB agent turned President amassed a billion dollars in wealth is not a story of innovation but exploitation.

Although the exact net worth of Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, is not publicly known, his personal wealth is shrouded in secrecy. However, many reports suggest that Putin's personal wealth could be in the billions of dollars.

In 2015, Russian businessman Sergei Polonsky claimed that Putin's personal net worth was $200 billion, making him the richest person in the world. However, this figure has not been independently verified and is widely regarded as an exaggeration.

Other estimates of Putin's net worth are more conservative, but still suggest that he is extremely wealthy. In 2018, for example, the former US ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, estimated Putin's net worth at $1.4 billion.

It's important to note that Putin's wealth is largely speculative and based on circumstantial evidence, given the lack of transparency surrounding his personal finances. Additionally, Putin has denied having any significant personal wealth, and the Russian government has dismissed claims of his vast personal fortune as baseless

The rankings of the world's richest people often fluctuate due to changes in the stock market, investments, and other factors. However, according to Forbes' Real-Time Billionaires list (as of March 31, 2023), the five richest people in the world are currently:

1. Elon Musk: The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX has a net worth of $163.6 billion.

2. Bernard Arnault & family: The CEO of LVMH (Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton) has a net worth of $160.2 billion.

3. Jeff Bezos: The founder and former CEO of Amazon has a net worth of $115.8 billion.

4. Bill Gates: The co-founder of Microsoft has a net worth of $103.2 billion.

5. Mark Zuckerberg: The co-founder and CEO of Facebook has a net worth of $96.6 billion.

It's worth noting that these rankings are subject to change and may be different depending on the source and methodology used to calculate net worth.

[winterbirb]

Look, it's about—vibes. A lot of people can be annoying about Freedom and America but their vibes are what tell apart their intentions.

Unfortunately, the second Obama term is still pretty heavily redacted, so the vibes have to be inferred. Luckily, there's a method! It's called: What Do The Russians Think. It works very well. I'll demonstrate.

Samantha Power and Michael McFaul both have incurable exposure to annoying Ivy League ideology. Power, who generally seemed like she was about to start crying, got along with her Russian counterpart, even though Churkin slightly roasted her a few times. McFaul, who's obnoxious, spent his 2 years as Ambassador as a squeaky toy for the Russian government and media because he had a meeting with oppositionists that Bill Burns scheduled and (also) attended.

Bill Burns has not been told to fuck off by the Russian government, or anyone else for that matter, even once.

So if all three of them say something along the lines of "freedom america democracy uwu" it's easy enough to differentiate, based on reactions from the Russian side, between Burns' "I'm literally just a diplomat doing my job" vs Power's "This is an important moral framework of mine but I would also be incredibly sad if anything bad happened to you, also" versus McFaul's "[blatant hypocrisy]"

Same with Secretaries of State. Colin Powell, Condi Rice, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, and Mike Pompeo could all feasibly make an argument based on America Freedom Democracy uwu. In fact, that's often the only feasible option. So, instead of labeling all of them as genocide apologists, let's take a look at how Russia has reacted to each person.

Powell: Generally ignored, except for (deserved) roasts about that UN speech

Rice: Russian delegation is openly irritated by her. Reasonable, considering her next job was "lobbyist for exxonmobil".

Clinton: 2016. Lmfao

Kerry: probably the one person in the US government who hasn't been sanctioned, so. Take that as you will ☺

Pompeo: HAHAHAHHAHAHAHHA HA. HAHHA. HA. HA. HA

Iran even fucking specified that Death to America doesn't mean all Americans or even American officials, but, well,

So uhhh I don't think Russia's a fan

[peacockcanyon]

My regular Twitter follows

Pope Francis

Sr. Helen Prejean

Kathleen Norris

James Martin, SJ

Frederick Buechner

Catholics For Choice

Washington Post

Jennifer Rubin

Michael McFaul

Heartland Signal

Public News Service

Right Wing Watch

United Farm Workers

Hatewatch

SF Gate

The Guardian

God (satirical account)

Rolling Stone

[cyberbenb]

‘Trump fundamentally doesn't care about Ukraine’ – Michael McFaul on US elections

On Nov. 5, U.S. voters will go to the polls in what could be the most consequential presidential election in living memory. Former U.S. President and Republican candidate Donald Trump , who regularly Source : kyivindependent.com/trump-fun…

[masterofd1saster]

CJ free speech - fantastic essay by Matt Taibbi

is one of the best essays I've ever seen on free speech.

Saying no is very American. From “Don’t Tread on Me!” to “Nuts” to “You Cannot Be Serious!,” defiance is in our DNA. Now disagreement is seen as a threat, and according to John Kerry, must be “hammered out of existence.” The former presidential candidate just complained at a World Economic Forum meeting that “it’s really hard to govern” and “our First Amendment stands as a major block” to the important work of hammering out unhealthy choices. In the open he said this! I was telling Tim Pool about this backstage, and he asked, “Was black ooze coming out of his mouth?” Kerry added that it’s “really hard to build consensus,” and told forum members they need to “win the right to govern” and “be free to implement change.” What do they need to be free of? The First Amendment, yes, but more importantly: us. Complainers. That’s our shared experience. We are obstacles to consensus.

***

Let me pause to say something about America’s current intellectual class, from which the “anti-disinformation” complex comes. By the way: There are no working-class censors, poor censors, hungry censors. The dirty secret of “content moderation” everywhere is that it’s a tiny sliver of the educated rich correcting everyone else. It’s telling people what fork to use, but you can get a degree in it. America has the most useless aristocrats in history. Even the French dandies marched to the razor by the Jacobins were towering specimens of humanity compared to the Michael Haydens, John Brennans, James Clappers, Mike McFauls, and Rick Stengels who make up America’s self-appointed behavior police. In prerevolutionary France, even the most drunken, depraved, debauched libertine had to be prepared to back up an insolent act with a sword duel to the death. Our aristocrats pee themselves at the sight of mean tweets. They have no honor, no belief, no poetry, art, or humor, no patriotism, no loyalty, no dreams, and no accomplishments. They’re simultaneously illiterate and pretentious, which is very hard to pull off.

***

Thomas Paine’s central message was that the humblest farmer was a towering moral giant compared to the invertebrate scum who wore crowns and lived in British castles. Common Sense told us to stand up straight. Never bow, especially not to a politician, because as Paine explained—I want you to think of Kerry and Hayden and Cheney here—“Men who look upon themselves as born to reign, and others to obey. . . are frequently the most ignorant and unfit of any throughout the dominions.” Oscar Wilde noted ours was the only country in the world where being a kook was respectable. Every other country shunned the tinkerer or mad inventor and cheerfully donated them to us, turbocharging our American experiment. We welcomed crazy, and the world has light bulbs, the telephone, movies, airplanes, submarines, the internet, false teeth, the Colt .45, rock and roll, hip-hop, and monster dunks as a result. 

***

To all those snoops and nosy parkers sitting in their Homeland Security–funded “Centers of Excellence,” telling us day after day we must think as they say and vote as they say or else we’re traitorous Putin-loving fascists and enablers of “dangerous” disinformation: Motherfucker, I’m an American. That shit does not work on me. And how can you impugn my patriotism, when you’re sitting in Klaus Schwab’s lap, apologizing for the First Amendment to a crowd of Europeans? Look in the mirror.  I’m not the problem. We’re not the problem. You’re the problem.  You suck. Thank you.

Get on your feet and give Matt a standing ovation.

[chetyarbrough]

PUTIN & UKRAINE

Books of Interest Website: chetyarbrough.blog From Cold War to Hot Peace (An American Ambassador in Putin’s Russia) By: Michael McFaul Narrated By: L. J. Ganser Michael McFaul (Author, American academic and diplomat, ambassador to Russia 2012-2014, former Professor of International Studies at Stanford.) Not since George Kennan’s brief time as Ambassador to Russia in 1952 has an American…

[mariacallous]

Foreign Policy Situation Report: Munich Reacts to Navalny’s Death

On Friday, news broke that jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, a prominent critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, had died at the Polar Wolf penal colony in Russia, sending shockwaves through the security conference in Munich where many of Navalny’s friends and supporters, as well as his wife and top Biden administration officials, are convening.

“Upon hearing the horrible news, I didn’t know if I should have immediately flown to my family or speak out,” Yulia Navalnaya, his wife, said in a last-minute address to the MSC, right after U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris exited the stage. “But then I thought, ‘What would Alexei do?’ and I’m sure he would be here,” she added.

Navalnaya’s remarks were greeted with a standing ovation from the somber crowd. “If this is true, I want Putin and everyone around him to know that they will be held accountable for everything they did to our country, to my family,” Navalnaya said.

Confusion and shock. At first, there was confusion at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof where the MSC is taking place, as news alerts about a cryptic post from Russia’s prison service saying that the dissident felt unwell after a walk, lost consciousness, and later died began circulating. In the hotel’s atrium, everyone’s necks craned down to look at their phones. Slowly, the grim realization of Navalny’s death set in.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” said Michael McFaul, the former U.S. ambassador to Russia, when a small gaggle of journalists informed him of the news. McFaul was a longtime friend of Navalny’s and had just come from visiting the family. “Navalny was my friend. Forgive me for not being able to answer journalists’ questions dispassionately right now,” he wrote later in a post on X.

Navalny, a former lawyer who highlighted Kremlin corruption on a popular blog before he entered opposition politics more than two decades ago, survived a previous assassination attempt when he was poisoned by Russian security services with the chemical agent Novichok in August 2020.

For more on the opposition leader’s life and his impact on Russia’s besieged democratic movement, read our colleague Amy Mackinnon’s obituary of Navalny.

“Russia is responsible.” Harris, the keynote speaker in Munich, said the Biden administration was still working to confirm whether Navalny had indeed died. “Whatever story they tell, let us be clear: Russia is responsible,” Harris said.

The question now is what comes next. In 2021, U.S. President Joe Biden warned Putin that Russia would face “devastating” consequences if Navalny died in prison. Already, reporters here have asked U.S. officials about what Washington’s response will be.

Biden gave his initial answer later in the day at the White House, and it’s one that’s not likely to satisfy Navalny’s incensed friends and supporters.

“That was three years ago. In the meantime, they faced a hell of a lot of consequences,” Biden said in response to questions about his 2021 comments. He cited steep Russian casualty figures in Ukraine and “great sanctions across the board.”

When asked if he’d roll out new sanctions on Russia, Biden gave a vague answer: “We’re looking at a whole number of options. That’s all I’ll say right now.”

Lithuanian Defense Minister Arvydas Anusauskas told SitRep that the West should work on tightening existing sanctions on Russia and put more secondary sanctions in place so that countries such as India that are courting the West while still buying Russian oil can no longer buy crude from the Kremlin.

U.K. Foreign Secretary David Cameron, meanwhile, echoed comments from Navalny’s wife, saying, “Putin should be accountable for what has happened. No one should doubt the dreadful nature of his regime.”

Beyond Navalny. After her comments about the Russian opposition leader’s death, Harris used her podium at Munich to make an election-year pitch for the Biden administration’s foreign policy, especially in the wake of former U.S. President Donald Trump’s comments over the weekend that he would let the Russians “do whatever the hell they want” to NATO allies who are slow to boost defense spending.

(NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said this week that 18 of 31 NATO member states will hit the alliance’s target of spending the equivalent of 2 percent of GDP on defense.)

Harris even had a campaign bumper sticker line ready-made for the moment. “Isolation is not insulation,” she said to the critics of the Biden administration’s globally minded foreign policy. “America cannot retreat. America must stand strong for democracy.”

In the eyes of most MSC conferencegoers, however, there’s a big, Congress-sized roadblock standing in the way of that.

The next tranche of $60 billion in U.S. military aid to Ukraine, as well as aid for Israel and Taiwan, is stalled in Congress as the House of Representatives goes on recess until the end of the month. Harris and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken thus face an uphill battle in trying to reassure allies about those U.S. commitments.

Both Harris and Blinken are set to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tomorrow. “We will work to secure critical weapons and resources that Ukraine badly needs,” Harris said. “The failure to do so would be a gift to Vladimir Putin.”

“If we stand by while an aggressor invades its neighbor with impunity, they will keep going,” Harris added. “And in the case of Putin, that means all of Europe will be threatened.”

Back at the White House, Biden was less diplomatic about the congressional impasse.

“It’s about time they step up now, don’t you think?” he said of Congress. “Instead of going on a two-week vacation? … Two weeks! What are they thinking? My God, this is bizarre, and it’s just reinforcing all the concern and almost—I won’t say panic—but real concern about the United States being a reliable ally.”

[gamboagarcia]

Gracias de antemano por sus comentarios Designar a Moscú como patrocinador del terrorismo no impedirá que EEUU hable con Rusia: Exembajador En entrevista exclusiva con la Voz de América, el ex embajador de EEUU en Moscú, Michael McFaul, habló sobre las propuestas de un proyecto radical de sanciones a Rusia tras la invasión de Ucrania. Estados Unidos (VOA) - Mientras las fuerzas ucranianas continúan luchando contra las tropas rusas en el este y el sur del país, Europa y Est... Sigue leyendo: https://www.adiario.mx/orbe/designar-a-moscu-como-patrocinador-del-terrorismo-no-impedira-que-eeuu-hable-con-rusia-exembajador/?feed_id=160991&_unique_id=6674f6388b9e8