Good Books from Masha Gessen and Timothy Snyder

Finished a couple excellent books over the weekend. Neither work is very long, and both are essential.

The first is Masha Gessen's illuminating account of the origins of Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin - The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin. The author does a good job summarizing his origins, and a less good job summarizing how he initially made his money (by defrauding the city of St. Petersburg in contracted food purchases totaling more than $100 million). I am much more interested in the latter than the former, so I could have used a lot more detail there but overall it is quite good. Gessen does a better job detailing the many, many ways in which the state (Putin, and his surrogates) manages to coerce, manipulate, intimidate, steal, and kill the competition. Russia is a very fucked up place, and Putin is a brutal dictator. It is more than a little disturbing that our current president admires Putin very much, and seems to endorse his extractive, exploitative economic policies as well as his control of the media. (Putin regularly kills people that he considers his enemies, and was also instrumental in a domestic terror bombing campaign in Russian apartment blocks that consolidated his power.) I rate this book 4 out of 5 Putin Centaurs.

The second book is short enough to read in a single sitting, although it is very a book I plan to revisit periodically. On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder is superb, and it summarizes very well why 'leaders' like Trump are dangerous for democracy. (Inciting violence against a free press, lying constantly and aggressively, subverting democratic principles such as voting rights for all, etc.) Buy two copies, and give one to a friend. (Trigger warning: if you want to bask in the ignorance and willful stupidity characterized by the Republic of Trumpistan then browse the one star reviews. Remember that when you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you is full of fuckwits and morons.)

Coal is Not Coming Back

John Oliver outlines why coal is not coming back, and even if it does, it will not do much to help the economy. Put simply: not enough people work in the coal industry. What would help the working class people that used to have viable careers in the coal mines is a social safety net. That would cost money, but the executives can spare it since they are making more money than they can spend. The problem is that the dumb fucks voted for the one person who will absolutely not, under any circumstances, help create a social safety net. They voted for a person that wants to cut taxes for rich people. Sad!

Lies, Walls, and Hypocrisy

Dear @realDonaldTrump: Here's a friendly reminder from @VicenteFoxQue that Mexico will not pay for your wall. pic.twitter.com/Osg8ZUYLlG

— Super Deluxe (@superdeluxe) June 7, 2017

How's that wall coming along, Mr. Trump?

Long time no talk, as usual. The past couple weeks have been very... interesting. Consider this: The embattled leader of the nation retreated to give a speech to religious fanatics while his former head of domestic security testified before the legislative branch about the leader's efforts to derail an investigation into corruption and collusion with foreign powers. Where could such a thing happen? Some pathetic banana republic or similar third world shithole? Yes! But also in the richest, most powerful nation on earth.

This week, while James Comey was testifying before Congress about how his boss had insisted on 'loyalty', Trump was giving a speech to the Faith and Freedom Coalition, a conservative Christian group. It was pretty great! Trump talks a big game about (hashtag)religion, and the fact that this is what is helping prop him up as he fails from one topic to another says a lot about how unbelievably hypocritical some people are.

Trump is not religious! Trump is not a Christian! He just mouths the words because they get a positive reaction from people that think they are 'under siege'. Which: if you want to create a theocracy of any type in America then you are not under siege, you are an anti-Constitutionalist fucktard. I want to live under evangelical Christian law exactly as much as I want to live under Sharia law, but only one of those things is being actively promoted by organizations around the country. Hint: it's not sharia.

Trump, the standard bearer for that special subset of devout christians who have repeatedly cheated on their wives and have no interest in paying their bills, will stay in office as long as he pushes their pro-business agenda. Donald Trump is a clown. He has no long-term plan. The vague initiatives his office has suggested so far are remarkable only in how they will line the pockets of himself and his associates, and how little they do to help the egregiously stupid lower-middle class and lower class citizens that voted him into office.

Trump is a mouthpiece and agent for a group of people who hate the working class, who want to keep every last red cent for themselves, and tough shit if you are poor or do not have health insurance or both. Consider again that Donald Trump, serial adulterer, a man that bragged on tape about being a sexual predator, is a champion of conservative Christian groups. Donald Trump, a man that serious business people famously do not take seriously, in large part because he does not pay his bills, is the champion of Big Business.

There is nothing these people will not do in order to push their agenda. They do not care if Russia helped swing the election. They do not care if the environment gets trashed. They do not care if national parks get bulldozed. They do not care if poor people die because they cannot get health care. They do not care if poor people go hungry. They do not care that jails are overflowing with non-violent drug offenders. They do not care that black people are being gunned down in record numbers. They only care about the holy dollar, and Donald Trump is truly their lord and savior.

Jesus wept.