The judgement in New York was a precise analogue to what was going on then in Russia. The GOVERNOR of New York in effect said that nobody else needed to worry because if they weren't Trump they would not be subjected to such arbitrary and patently unConstitutional abuse. How much clearer can it be made? Trump is our Navalny. Obviously.
Listen to this podcast, in which someone highly knowledgable about the matter discusses the details of how the same apparatus the CIA used to overthrow foreign governments has now been directed internally into ending the rule of the people, by the people, for the people, IN THE UNITED STATES.
We don't need to worry about the rule of law or democracy in Russia. Those problems are manifest and very bad (and getting worse) NOW right here.
Exactly. Trump doesn't care about anyone but Trump and MAYBE a smidge about a very few people in his inner circle. How people can compare someone who cares about the corruption in their country and someone who has profited by lying, cheating and stealing is bizarre.
Joe Biden takes bribes to do things contrary to our national interest. He has ordered our border open to all nations, in direct defiance of the laws he took and oath to enforce.
And the evidence he cheated his way into office is both vastly vastly more compelling than that Trump did. It is also vastly vastly less investigated.
Democrats got Mueller and a hundred million dollars to investigate charges THEY created.
Why not an honest investigation of that scale? Do we not bith know the reason is that the charges would be substantiated and the massive fraud revealed in the 2020 election, and presumably others.
You support fraud committed by your side. I get it. But dont expect anyone to listen when you claim to value “democracy”.
Not the point. The point is that Trump is so patently a sociopathic narcissist, that to compare him with Navalny in the same breath immediately puts you outside the scope of serious discourse whatever the Democrats may have done. Trump has never done a single thing for anybody but himself. In that regard he is the anti-Navalny.
I don't know what is in the heart and mind of anyone other than myself. I certainly can't tell you what either Trump (or Biden for that matter) feel about anything and none of us can really know their beliefs or their motivations. Just because one politician uses speeches tested on focus groups or written by expensive speech writers does that mean he has a better heart? What I do know is what I see happen. What I see happen is a complete loss of a moral compass by the Biden administration. If we have decided that equal Justice no longer matters in this country, then watch out because once you throw it away It is not coming back - and the generation coming after us could grow up not even knowing that that was ever a real thing. The argument that either politician feels a certain way is a useless and impossible argument. I would argue that Joe Biden has acted in a way that show a loss of any moral compass. I would say - I am not sure that Trump is our Navalny. However, the American Constitution describes certain inalienable rights. It does not describe these rights exist only for people we like and who support us. Trump is absolutely being persecuted. But it isn't just him. Look what they are doing to Elon. Look what they are doing to whistleblowers. Look what they are doing to a thousand Jan 6 defendants. That is evil. Trump would have to travel a long way to be that despicable.
You are capable of seeing what you are told to see, and repeating what you are told to repeat: this much is obvious.
But given that Trump, on most accounts of people who have acrually met him, is warm, empathetic and generous, why should I not believe them? Given how much it continues to cost him to fight left wing lunacy and subversion, why would I nit view his patriotism as sincere?
Because you and people like you object? PLEASE: that is an endorsement of Trump, nit an argument against him.
It does seem reasonable to assume though, that as most of your kind do, you are orojecting your own profound defects onto him, and presumably me.
This comment convinces me that you are utterly dim, and that it would be a waste of time to argue with you further. First of all, you know nothing about my “kind,” speaking of projection. I am well aware that TDS is a thing, and I am certainly not a carbon copy progressive, though left of center on some issues.
Nonetheless, I’ve lived in New York City for 30 years and I’ve been watching the buffoonish antics of Trump. That you can’t see his flaming narcissism says more about you than anybody else. Anything beyond self interest is as legible to him as hieroglyphics. His comments about NATO show him to be thoroughly ignorant of history and geopolitics. Probably not unlike yourself.
Beyond that, Navalny literally died for freedom. Trump on the other hand has his nose up the ass crack of some of the world’s most vile despots. For you to equate the two tells me all I need to know about your mental capacities. Flail away; I will not engage with you further. Have a pleasant evening.
When did I say I support fraud committed by my side? And if I'm reading it correctly, Biden was investigated and the FBI just arrested the "informant" for making things up. Regardless, if Biden has done anything criminal he should be charged. That still doesn't change anything about Trump.
BTW, can you please show me a link to Biden's order that the border be open to all nations?
Wow. Let me just ask this: 1) is it somehow STILL unclear to you that our border is open? And 2) is it somehow not obvious that Biden, as the top person in the Executive Branch, dictates enforcement policy?
Logically, if the border is open, it is open to everyone, and if it is open to everyone this includes our enemies.
Are you literally waiting for a headline to say what I just said? Why would you think it would ever appear? You have two choices: think for yourself and risk being wrong, or believe what you are told and CERTAINLY be wrong.
In some ways it is true. Mainly in that he is a populist and supported (numerically, and somewhat financially) by 'normal' folks. And, most importantly there is a parallel in that he has been subjected to what for most people would be crushing political persecution, yet somehow he carries on in the face of it. It remains to be seen if he will be jailed and/or bankrupted.
It would certainly be easier fir him to shut up and spend the rest of his life nearly anywhere in the lap of luxuxy. He could have chosen that. Obviously.
He could cut a deal. They want his silence. His destruction is merely a means to it.
Why do you think he chose to run for president originally instead of continuing to simply live out his days in all their luxury? Looking for what you honestly think. What was his real motive?
Serious question: I'm confused when people claim that Trump became President for profit when his net worth went down during his term. He even donated his annual presidential salary. And, of course, he is losing so much more with all of the lawsuits. I can understand another accusation; perhaps power? But I sincerely don't understand the accusation that Trump is motivated to serve for money. Can you explain? Thanks!
Hes not in jail yet on patently fabricated politically motivated charges. And he hasnt been murdered yet.
But that he is the most important and highly visible opponent of this corrupt regime is obvious, for those with the eyes and DESIRE to see. You would seem to lack one or both.
I just laughed at how ridiculous that statement is at so many levels. Inflating the value of his properties to get better rates and loans is not fraud to these people with blindfolds I guess.
Why not? The only reason Trump is not in jail now is he is innocent and they havent managed to frame him yet. He is pretty obviously the Regimes most prominent opponent. He is outspoken, blunt and popular.
There is no parallel between Navalny and Trump, not from their political stands to their family values. It is sickening that anyone would even fashion such a bizarre and evidence-free argument. I never, ever comment on threads. That's how scary this one is.
This entire speech is anti-lie - Navalny is against untruth ... yet somehow you liken Trump to him? It cannot be for his honesty or interest in exposing the truth... so then how are they the same? Trump, even for those who like him, is not a man interested in truths - this is very obvious.
Actually it isnt. I’ve seen many lies told about him. Little else, in fact, happens on an average day with our patently controlled and directed media.
But I’m not aware of any lies Trump has told. Ive never seen anyone back the accusation up. You cant. He is grandiose and often borders on the rudeness the Left deploys daily. But he doesnt lie. He is lied about. And before you post whatever link you are thinking of, I will tell you in advance it consists in lies told by the media. I will commit in advance though to refuting the first claim.
Joe Biden lies nearly EVERY DAY, about jobs he didnt have, about policies he isnt pursuing. He even tells lies about his sons death to Gold Star families, which in and of itself is particularly disgusting
i appreciate you saving me the time by making it clear that no facts will penetrate your feelings on this - so i give you back the floor for your theories :)
No facts exist. If claims count as arguments thats a draw.
The difference is that I am claiming Trumo is honest. If that were not true, providing some analogue to corn pop and fictitious mining careers should be easy enough.
You know, some whopper like “the border is secure”, or “we aim to heal division in this country”.
Do you deny either that 1) Trump is being subjected to politically motivated persecution—with many of these prosecutions seemingly having been discussed and Greenlighted at the Merrick Garland level; or 2) that it would be vastly easier for Trump to just shut up and disappear?
Lets be honest, shall we? YOU WOULD HAVE NO MORE IDEA THAN A GOAT WHO NAVALNY WAS IF IT HAD NIT BEEN MADE A STORY.
Can you name me ONE murdered dissident in China, Venezuela, Cuba, North Korea, or Zimbabwe? I doubt it. You read something spun a certain way, drew the conclusions you were expected to draw, and now here you are like someone who has been concerned for Navalny and people like him for many years.
“People have a right to rise up against this unlawful, corrupt regime. Against a junta that stole everything. That pumped trillions of dollars out of our country in oil and gas. And what did we get?”
Americans can no longer read this and think smugly that we are somehow different, that we retain this right. Only some have the right to rise up. Only some can make their voices heard. Only some live not by lies. What are we becoming? What have we become?
Well, Shirley, you're certainly right that this should give us pause over our own errors as a democracy -- unless what you really mean is that you support a bunch of insurrectionists overthrowing our rules, norms, and our Constitution in favor of someone who admires Putin, the man who most likely had Navalny killed. I can't understand those who take all the problems our country currently faces and funnel these real and deep problems into an argument that therefore we, too, should elect someone who has proved unfit for office time and again and admits he would love to be a quasi-dictator. Because that'll fix our democracy...?! I sure hope you don't mean that, sad to see a couple on this kind of site lean that way.
You’re conflating a lot of things here. You don’t have to vote for trump and I’m not here to advocate for him. Yet the great Insurrection you speak of has become a cloak under which any manner of things are forgiven, including suspension of the constitution. Just as misinformation and disinformation have become the dagger to put a stop to anything that maligns the diktat.
To all my fellow conservatives who keep comparing injustices done to Trump and J6 defendants to those done to Navalny and his followers, let me point out a few (very) minor differences: (1) Navalny was poisoned (I believe he is the only known survivor of this particular agent), then thrown to prison, then killed; as far as I know Trump is still alive and free, (2) people who dared to support Navalny or contribute to his cause have been thrown in jail (even for facebook likes), which - as his experience shows - can be a one-way ticket in Russia; as far as I know none of supporters of Trump or the J6 have been. I know that sitting on a comfortable couch in US these differences do seem minor, but believe me the perspective may be different from Russia. None of this is meant to belittle the injustice of NY verdict or many other cases, or the dangerous slope we are on in this country. However, a sense of proportion is always an asset.
Many of the J6 participants have been held in jail without trial this entire time! Those who’ve been tried have been given unbelievable sentences, decades long sentences. You need to look into their cases before you speak because all of them are suffering the weaponized justice system of Biden. These J6 defendants are political prisoners.
I believe the J6 defendants have been held in jail not because of some nefarious machinations but because they either couldn’t post bail or were deemed a flight risk. And sentences decades long? I believe some force was used. J6 wasn’t just chanting and sign holding. People were injured and property destroyed.
I don’t like Trump for a lot of valid reasons, but I believe he represents a point of view that those in power will not allow to survive. If he wins the presidency in spite of all these court cases, I will not be surprised if he ends up with a CIA heart attack.
You make some good points. However, my understanding is that a number of people who were involved in January 6 are actually in jail and their civil rights have been denied. This statement doesn’t condone Trump’s extremely poor judgment in organizing that rally.
1) The conditions that Navalny and other political prisoners have to endure (he was almost continuously in punishment cell for things like failing to great the jailer soon enough or not keeping his slippers together - i.e., pretense causes; his last place of incarceration was North of the Polar Circle) are - fortunately - nothing like what J6 convicts have to go through, though I am sure a jail is never a pleasant experience. However, in Russia the intent is to torture.
2) Many of the J6 cases I followed involved defendants pleading guilty. I understand this was on the advice of their public "defenders" (few could afford own lawyers). However, this is something Navalny and other political prisoners consistently refused to do. I think it is harder to mount public campaign for someone who has plead guilty to a crime.
3) Most surprising. Where were the public protests against the J6 arrests and verdicts? Where were the fund-raising campaigns to cover their legal costs? Where was Trump or Desantis or Pence or other conservative leaders? Why were they not leading a campaign to help J6 arrestees? In Russia, even now people are risking arrests to lay flowers at make-shift memorials. A few years ago, when Navalny was already in jail, there were 1000s of people on the street protesting (most of them were arrested and are facing prosecution). Somehow American Conservatives - with much less on the line - showed much less spine in this case.
Reading this, I have to wonder how Navalny has suddenly become a hero for the Left. He could as easily be addressing their own corruption and lies.
But as he says so astutely, "People don’t work like this." The Left has adopted Navalny as an icon solely because he was fighting against Putin, another of their designated "Literally Hitler"s.
If he were a citizen of the U.S., he would likely be rejecting the Leftist media who tell nothing but lies, rejecting political Democrats who deny the evidence of our own eyes. And they would turn on him just as readily as they have embraced him.
I am reminded of Solzhenitsyn’s parting words to the Russian people in his essay Live Not By Lies. We may not have the courage to stand alongside Navalny and walk knowingly to our death, but we can refuse to give our consent to the lies. This essay should be required reading for every American high school student. “And as for him who lacks the courage to defend even his own soul: Let him not brag of his progressive views, boast of his status as an academician or a recognized artist, a distinguished citizen or general. Let him say to himself plainly: I am cattle, I am a coward, I seek only warmth and to eat my fill.”
Colleen, thank you for this. It is now an addition to the list of quotes that I keep, of things said that particularly strike me as important, things that should not be allowed to the slide into the memory hole.
I am no hero, but I hope to live out my life without sinking into existence as an unthinking, unresponsive herd animal.
Be true and what we are told we must SAY is true in this country right now is unbearable. If you still support the left then I wish you would stop and consider what they are actually doing. I am reading a book
Series that takes place in WW2 Germany and someone looks around and asks - how did people ever let it get this far? I look at people who turn a blind eye to the evils of the left and I see clearly how it could happen and how it is happening here. The Free Press is the one looking away - they are the ones who are the censors - the totalitarians - the bullies. Maybe they think they are doing it for a good reason. But you guys know that the total lack of justice and free speech is wrong. I am tired of you guys voting for policies that are destroying everything I love about this country and then when those policies hurt someone you actually care about you want us to care. When you have shown no care for other people. Justice is important or it isn’t. Truth is important or it isn’t. Free speech and democracy is important or it isn’t. The rule of law is important or it isn’t. It is disingenuous to pick and choose when these ideals matter and when they don’t. Having integrity means you have to care - even when it is happening to others
You threw me when you capitalized "Free Press". On first reading I thought you were talking about this publication. But I realized that you mean something akin to the 'mainstream media'.
You are correct and so am I as far as I took it. Although I will say that I do think that Trump is risking much—his freedom, his financial empire, and maybe even his life—by not having quit long ago.
I do agree - but once the leaders in a country are able to show complete disregard for the law in order to push their agenda then where do you see that heading?
This is exactly what we are experiencing right now, here, in the United States. We are being told by the media to “look away, believe in the SCIENCE, not listen to so-called disinformation.” Any formally conservative viewpoints are now labeled “ultra-right.” Just look away!!
America has been moving down the same path for many years. I continue to refuse to look the other way. At some point the silent majority will be fed some shit they will refuse to eat. I hope a peaceful change in trajectory is possible with all my heart.
Alexei Navalny had a past as an extreme Russian nationalist until at least 2017, to the point that his hate speech caused Amnesty International to suspend his status as "prisoner of conscience":
His participation in the nationalist Russia Marches got him expelled from the liberal Yabloko party. This streak of extreme ethnic Russian nationalism against the "enemy nations within" dates from the Tsarist period and has resurged in Russia.
Navalny's elevation to near-sainthood matches the whitewashing of Ukraine's extremist elements, like the "controversial" Azov Brigade, renamed 3rd Special Assault Brigade. "Controversial" is used as a synonym for "neo-Nazi", as in the founder of the Azov Movement, Andrei Biletsky's statement that the movement would finish "the crusade against the Jewish Untermenschen in Europe". Definitely "controversial".
The flood of propaganda since the Ukraine War has turned every opponent of Putin into a democratic light, including Navalny and Azov.
Much more realistic is to view the Ukraine-Russia War like the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s: two awful regimes bashing each other. May they both lose.
Navalny was openly a Russian nationalist, yet I am not sure who elevated him into “near-sainthood.” I don’t believe he advocated for a violent uprising or a coup; instead, he sought a way to a legitimate election. His predecessor Michael Khodorkovsky wasn’t a Russian nationalist but would have met the same fate had he not been released thanks to the outside interference.
Azov Batallion and Pravi Sektor are militant, ultranationalist right wing groups that, yes, have been compared to Nazi.
And while I agree that both countries are deeply corrupt and problematic, comparing Navalny to people running Azov or Pravi is a bit of a stretch, don’t you think?
Navalny's statements that certain minorities are cockroaches, his gig dressing up as a dentist to extract the illness from Russia, show he is cut from the same cloth as other extreme nationalists in Ukraine and Russia.
He may not have had the organizational ability to turn those raw public statements into a coherent political movement like Azov.
Read all the recent obituaries on Navalny to see how they've whitewashed his past.
I'm not sure of the relevance of pointing out Navalny was preceded by non-extreme people of truly democratic convictions, other than reflecting badly on him.
I understand your overall criticism of the Western media's portrayal of resisting to Putin as martyrdom, regardless of the nature of the opposition, yet such distinctions are important. Putin suppressed ANY kind of opposition that challenged his ability to stay in power, be it Boris Nemtsov, Anna Politkovskaya (who reported extensively on the conditions in Chechnya), Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Aleksandr Litvinenko, or Alexei Navalny – all of whom are now dead, except Khodorkovsky. All these opposition leaders did have a coherent framework within which they worked, and nationalist or not they did not carry out their ideas the same way as Azov.
Actually Putin regularly attended receptions put on by Echo Moscow, a liberal and dissident radio station setup by Alexei Venediktov until the station was shut down at the start of the Ukraine war in 2022:
Compare with the unwillingness of Democratic officials to appear, in any context, at any event from Fox News.
I've been alarmed by the willingness to ignore any tendencies, even the most overtly neo-Nazi ones, by Putin's opponents in Ukraine and Russia in order to satisfy the geopolitical needs of the moment. The cure may be worse than the illness (remember the enthusiasm for arming Islamic fundamentalists in Afghanistan to fight Russia's invasion?).
I used to listen to Yulia Latynina's Access Code, a program of Echo Moscow until she left Russia after multiple attempts that initially scared her with violent pranks and then openly tried to assassinate her when her car was set on fire. She left Russia before the Echo Moscow was shut down, fearing for her life. In short, I don't know which receptions Putin attended as none of it matters. That does not mean that it is ok for the Western media to willfully or unwilfully ignore the corruption or extreme tendencies that take place in Ukraine - a concern of yours that I share - but again, comparing Navalny to Ukranian militant groups or Islamic Jihadis is a stretch too far.
"comparing Navalny to Ukranian militant groups or Islamic Jihadis is a stretch too far"
Possibly, although not the Russia March he participated in.
But, excluding literary talent, Navalny could compare to Solzhenitsyn. He too was idolized in the West as a democratic opponent of the Soviet system, although some of Sakharov's associates wrote about his nationalist tendencies. Sure enough, after the fall of the Soviet Union, he laid it bare with his criticism of Western freedom and his anti-Semitic diatribe "Two Hundred Years Together".
Russian nationalists of any stripe are closer to Azov than they are to Western democracy.
The judgement in New York was a precise analogue to what was going on then in Russia. The GOVERNOR of New York in effect said that nobody else needed to worry because if they weren't Trump they would not be subjected to such arbitrary and patently unConstitutional abuse. How much clearer can it be made? Trump is our Navalny. Obviously.
Listen to this podcast, in which someone highly knowledgable about the matter discusses the details of how the same apparatus the CIA used to overthrow foreign governments has now been directed internally into ending the rule of the people, by the people, for the people, IN THE UNITED STATES.
We don't need to worry about the rule of law or democracy in Russia. Those problems are manifest and very bad (and getting worse) NOW right here.
https://tuckercarlson.com/uncensored-the-national-security-state-the-inversion-of-democracy/
"Trump is our Navalny". Sorry I just threw up in my mouth a little. Thank God that is not true as I can't think of a more depressing statement
Exactly. Trump doesn't care about anyone but Trump and MAYBE a smidge about a very few people in his inner circle. How people can compare someone who cares about the corruption in their country and someone who has profited by lying, cheating and stealing is bizarre.
Joe Biden takes bribes to do things contrary to our national interest. He has ordered our border open to all nations, in direct defiance of the laws he took and oath to enforce.
And the evidence he cheated his way into office is both vastly vastly more compelling than that Trump did. It is also vastly vastly less investigated.
Democrats got Mueller and a hundred million dollars to investigate charges THEY created.
Why not an honest investigation of that scale? Do we not bith know the reason is that the charges would be substantiated and the massive fraud revealed in the 2020 election, and presumably others.
You support fraud committed by your side. I get it. But dont expect anyone to listen when you claim to value “democracy”.
Not the point. The point is that Trump is so patently a sociopathic narcissist, that to compare him with Navalny in the same breath immediately puts you outside the scope of serious discourse whatever the Democrats may have done. Trump has never done a single thing for anybody but himself. In that regard he is the anti-Navalny.
I don't know what is in the heart and mind of anyone other than myself. I certainly can't tell you what either Trump (or Biden for that matter) feel about anything and none of us can really know their beliefs or their motivations. Just because one politician uses speeches tested on focus groups or written by expensive speech writers does that mean he has a better heart? What I do know is what I see happen. What I see happen is a complete loss of a moral compass by the Biden administration. If we have decided that equal Justice no longer matters in this country, then watch out because once you throw it away It is not coming back - and the generation coming after us could grow up not even knowing that that was ever a real thing. The argument that either politician feels a certain way is a useless and impossible argument. I would argue that Joe Biden has acted in a way that show a loss of any moral compass. I would say - I am not sure that Trump is our Navalny. However, the American Constitution describes certain inalienable rights. It does not describe these rights exist only for people we like and who support us. Trump is absolutely being persecuted. But it isn't just him. Look what they are doing to Elon. Look what they are doing to whistleblowers. Look what they are doing to a thousand Jan 6 defendants. That is evil. Trump would have to travel a long way to be that despicable.
You are capable of seeing what you are told to see, and repeating what you are told to repeat: this much is obvious.
But given that Trump, on most accounts of people who have acrually met him, is warm, empathetic and generous, why should I not believe them? Given how much it continues to cost him to fight left wing lunacy and subversion, why would I nit view his patriotism as sincere?
Because you and people like you object? PLEASE: that is an endorsement of Trump, nit an argument against him.
It does seem reasonable to assume though, that as most of your kind do, you are orojecting your own profound defects onto him, and presumably me.
This comment convinces me that you are utterly dim, and that it would be a waste of time to argue with you further. First of all, you know nothing about my “kind,” speaking of projection. I am well aware that TDS is a thing, and I am certainly not a carbon copy progressive, though left of center on some issues.
Nonetheless, I’ve lived in New York City for 30 years and I’ve been watching the buffoonish antics of Trump. That you can’t see his flaming narcissism says more about you than anybody else. Anything beyond self interest is as legible to him as hieroglyphics. His comments about NATO show him to be thoroughly ignorant of history and geopolitics. Probably not unlike yourself.
Beyond that, Navalny literally died for freedom. Trump on the other hand has his nose up the ass crack of some of the world’s most vile despots. For you to equate the two tells me all I need to know about your mental capacities. Flail away; I will not engage with you further. Have a pleasant evening.
When did I say I support fraud committed by my side? And if I'm reading it correctly, Biden was investigated and the FBI just arrested the "informant" for making things up. Regardless, if Biden has done anything criminal he should be charged. That still doesn't change anything about Trump.
BTW, can you please show me a link to Biden's order that the border be open to all nations?
Wow. Let me just ask this: 1) is it somehow STILL unclear to you that our border is open? And 2) is it somehow not obvious that Biden, as the top person in the Executive Branch, dictates enforcement policy?
Logically, if the border is open, it is open to everyone, and if it is open to everyone this includes our enemies.
Are you literally waiting for a headline to say what I just said? Why would you think it would ever appear? You have two choices: think for yourself and risk being wrong, or believe what you are told and CERTAINLY be wrong.
In some ways it is true. Mainly in that he is a populist and supported (numerically, and somewhat financially) by 'normal' folks. And, most importantly there is a parallel in that he has been subjected to what for most people would be crushing political persecution, yet somehow he carries on in the face of it. It remains to be seen if he will be jailed and/or bankrupted.
Yes. He is a threat to the existing order, and subject to malicious prosecution. I agree.
There are many differences as pointed out below. My comment was motivated by a moral one:
Does anyone think Trump would risk his life for his country as Navalny did in returning to Russia? That he would willingly die for what he believed?
One man cares about himself and nothing else. The other cared enough about his country to die for it. Night and day.
It would certainly be easier fir him to shut up and spend the rest of his life nearly anywhere in the lap of luxuxy. He could have chosen that. Obviously.
He could cut a deal. They want his silence. His destruction is merely a means to it.
Serious question my friend:
Why do you think he chose to run for president originally instead of continuing to simply live out his days in all their luxury? Looking for what you honestly think. What was his real motive?
Patriotism. Obviously.
Biden got rich during his career as a politician. So too do most members of bith parties in Washington.
Trump entered public service rich and it has done nothing but cost him.
God gave you brain cells. Rub them together. You may find it enjoyable.
Serious question: I'm confused when people claim that Trump became President for profit when his net worth went down during his term. He even donated his annual presidential salary. And, of course, he is losing so much more with all of the lawsuits. I can understand another accusation; perhaps power? But I sincerely don't understand the accusation that Trump is motivated to serve for money. Can you explain? Thanks!
Pot sticker, altruism? Hahahahhahahaha
Hes not in jail yet on patently fabricated politically motivated charges. And he hasnt been murdered yet.
But that he is the most important and highly visible opponent of this corrupt regime is obvious, for those with the eyes and DESIRE to see. You would seem to lack one or both.
I just laughed at how ridiculous that statement is at so many levels. Inflating the value of his properties to get better rates and loans is not fraud to these people with blindfolds I guess.
You might be able to compare Trump to once imprisoned oligarch., Mikhail Khodorkovsky, but Trump to Navalny? No.
Why not? The only reason Trump is not in jail now is he is innocent and they havent managed to frame him yet. He is pretty obviously the Regimes most prominent opponent. He is outspoken, blunt and popular.
There is no parallel between Navalny and Trump, not from their political stands to their family values. It is sickening that anyone would even fashion such a bizarre and evidence-free argument. I never, ever comment on threads. That's how scary this one is.
Both are dissidents subjected to political harassment by regimes with no moral compass or concern for the law.
You say you disagree. Why?
Navalny cared about the plight of Russian people.
Trump only cares about himself.
Well said!
This entire speech is anti-lie - Navalny is against untruth ... yet somehow you liken Trump to him? It cannot be for his honesty or interest in exposing the truth... so then how are they the same? Trump, even for those who like him, is not a man interested in truths - this is very obvious.
Actually it isnt. I’ve seen many lies told about him. Little else, in fact, happens on an average day with our patently controlled and directed media.
But I’m not aware of any lies Trump has told. Ive never seen anyone back the accusation up. You cant. He is grandiose and often borders on the rudeness the Left deploys daily. But he doesnt lie. He is lied about. And before you post whatever link you are thinking of, I will tell you in advance it consists in lies told by the media. I will commit in advance though to refuting the first claim.
Joe Biden lies nearly EVERY DAY, about jobs he didnt have, about policies he isnt pursuing. He even tells lies about his sons death to Gold Star families, which in and of itself is particularly disgusting
i appreciate you saving me the time by making it clear that no facts will penetrate your feelings on this - so i give you back the floor for your theories :)
No facts exist. If claims count as arguments thats a draw.
The difference is that I am claiming Trumo is honest. If that were not true, providing some analogue to corn pop and fictitious mining careers should be easy enough.
You know, some whopper like “the border is secure”, or “we aim to heal division in this country”.
I may start using “junta” instead of “they” when who’s running our country ;)
That's not a bad idea, particularly given that much of it seems to originate in the military.
B.S. next time Tucker goes to Russia, you go with him. Trump is no more Navalny than you are.
Do you deny either that 1) Trump is being subjected to politically motivated persecution—with many of these prosecutions seemingly having been discussed and Greenlighted at the Merrick Garland level; or 2) that it would be vastly easier for Trump to just shut up and disappear?
Lets be honest, shall we? YOU WOULD HAVE NO MORE IDEA THAN A GOAT WHO NAVALNY WAS IF IT HAD NIT BEEN MADE A STORY.
Can you name me ONE murdered dissident in China, Venezuela, Cuba, North Korea, or Zimbabwe? I doubt it. You read something spun a certain way, drew the conclusions you were expected to draw, and now here you are like someone who has been concerned for Navalny and people like him for many years.
Nonsense.
Exactly
“People have a right to rise up against this unlawful, corrupt regime. Against a junta that stole everything. That pumped trillions of dollars out of our country in oil and gas. And what did we get?”
Americans can no longer read this and think smugly that we are somehow different, that we retain this right. Only some have the right to rise up. Only some can make their voices heard. Only some live not by lies. What are we becoming? What have we become?
This is exactly what I was thinking as I was reading this. Thank you for your words.
Well, Shirley, you're certainly right that this should give us pause over our own errors as a democracy -- unless what you really mean is that you support a bunch of insurrectionists overthrowing our rules, norms, and our Constitution in favor of someone who admires Putin, the man who most likely had Navalny killed. I can't understand those who take all the problems our country currently faces and funnel these real and deep problems into an argument that therefore we, too, should elect someone who has proved unfit for office time and again and admits he would love to be a quasi-dictator. Because that'll fix our democracy...?! I sure hope you don't mean that, sad to see a couple on this kind of site lean that way.
You’re conflating a lot of things here. You don’t have to vote for trump and I’m not here to advocate for him. Yet the great Insurrection you speak of has become a cloak under which any manner of things are forgiven, including suspension of the constitution. Just as misinformation and disinformation have become the dagger to put a stop to anything that maligns the diktat.
When in living memory was the Constitution suspended? Or are you just implying it COULD be suspended?
Ranks right up there with "Give me liberty or give me death." Navalny was the bravest of the brave. The world needs more like him.
To all my fellow conservatives who keep comparing injustices done to Trump and J6 defendants to those done to Navalny and his followers, let me point out a few (very) minor differences: (1) Navalny was poisoned (I believe he is the only known survivor of this particular agent), then thrown to prison, then killed; as far as I know Trump is still alive and free, (2) people who dared to support Navalny or contribute to his cause have been thrown in jail (even for facebook likes), which - as his experience shows - can be a one-way ticket in Russia; as far as I know none of supporters of Trump or the J6 have been. I know that sitting on a comfortable couch in US these differences do seem minor, but believe me the perspective may be different from Russia. None of this is meant to belittle the injustice of NY verdict or many other cases, or the dangerous slope we are on in this country. However, a sense of proportion is always an asset.
Many of the J6 participants have been held in jail without trial this entire time! Those who’ve been tried have been given unbelievable sentences, decades long sentences. You need to look into their cases before you speak because all of them are suffering the weaponized justice system of Biden. These J6 defendants are political prisoners.
I believe the J6 defendants have been held in jail not because of some nefarious machinations but because they either couldn’t post bail or were deemed a flight risk. And sentences decades long? I believe some force was used. J6 wasn’t just chanting and sign holding. People were injured and property destroyed.
You “believe.” You really should read about the details of their cases. You’d be surprised, and I bet your “beliefs” about J6 would change.
I don’t like Trump for a lot of valid reasons, but I believe he represents a point of view that those in power will not allow to survive. If he wins the presidency in spite of all these court cases, I will not be surprised if he ends up with a CIA heart attack.
Agreed completely. I’m struggling to think of something they won’t try in order to stop him. Including “saving democracy”.
You make some good points. However, my understanding is that a number of people who were involved in January 6 are actually in jail and their civil rights have been denied. This statement doesn’t condone Trump’s extremely poor judgment in organizing that rally.
I agree about J6. A few points however:
1) The conditions that Navalny and other political prisoners have to endure (he was almost continuously in punishment cell for things like failing to great the jailer soon enough or not keeping his slippers together - i.e., pretense causes; his last place of incarceration was North of the Polar Circle) are - fortunately - nothing like what J6 convicts have to go through, though I am sure a jail is never a pleasant experience. However, in Russia the intent is to torture.
2) Many of the J6 cases I followed involved defendants pleading guilty. I understand this was on the advice of their public "defenders" (few could afford own lawyers). However, this is something Navalny and other political prisoners consistently refused to do. I think it is harder to mount public campaign for someone who has plead guilty to a crime.
3) Most surprising. Where were the public protests against the J6 arrests and verdicts? Where were the fund-raising campaigns to cover their legal costs? Where was Trump or Desantis or Pence or other conservative leaders? Why were they not leading a campaign to help J6 arrestees? In Russia, even now people are risking arrests to lay flowers at make-shift memorials. A few years ago, when Navalny was already in jail, there were 1000s of people on the street protesting (most of them were arrested and are facing prosecution). Somehow American Conservatives - with much less on the line - showed much less spine in this case.
Thank you, Konstantin!
Reading this, I have to wonder how Navalny has suddenly become a hero for the Left. He could as easily be addressing their own corruption and lies.
But as he says so astutely, "People don’t work like this." The Left has adopted Navalny as an icon solely because he was fighting against Putin, another of their designated "Literally Hitler"s.
If he were a citizen of the U.S., he would likely be rejecting the Leftist media who tell nothing but lies, rejecting political Democrats who deny the evidence of our own eyes. And they would turn on him just as readily as they have embraced him.
I am reminded of Solzhenitsyn’s parting words to the Russian people in his essay Live Not By Lies. We may not have the courage to stand alongside Navalny and walk knowingly to our death, but we can refuse to give our consent to the lies. This essay should be required reading for every American high school student. “And as for him who lacks the courage to defend even his own soul: Let him not brag of his progressive views, boast of his status as an academician or a recognized artist, a distinguished citizen or general. Let him say to himself plainly: I am cattle, I am a coward, I seek only warmth and to eat my fill.”
https://www.solzhenitsyncenter.org/
Colleen, thank you for this. It is now an addition to the list of quotes that I keep, of things said that particularly strike me as important, things that should not be allowed to the slide into the memory hole.
I am no hero, but I hope to live out my life without sinking into existence as an unthinking, unresponsive herd animal.
Mary, read the whole essay if you get a chance. It’s replete with quotes I want burned into my memory.
The difference between what we know to
Be true and what we are told we must SAY is true in this country right now is unbearable. If you still support the left then I wish you would stop and consider what they are actually doing. I am reading a book
Series that takes place in WW2 Germany and someone looks around and asks - how did people ever let it get this far? I look at people who turn a blind eye to the evils of the left and I see clearly how it could happen and how it is happening here. The Free Press is the one looking away - they are the ones who are the censors - the totalitarians - the bullies. Maybe they think they are doing it for a good reason. But you guys know that the total lack of justice and free speech is wrong. I am tired of you guys voting for policies that are destroying everything I love about this country and then when those policies hurt someone you actually care about you want us to care. When you have shown no care for other people. Justice is important or it isn’t. Truth is important or it isn’t. Free speech and democracy is important or it isn’t. The rule of law is important or it isn’t. It is disingenuous to pick and choose when these ideals matter and when they don’t. Having integrity means you have to care - even when it is happening to others
You threw me when you capitalized "Free Press". On first reading I thought you were talking about this publication. But I realized that you mean something akin to the 'mainstream media'.
Still a great comment...
You are correct and so am I as far as I took it. Although I will say that I do think that Trump is risking much—his freedom, his financial empire, and maybe even his life—by not having quit long ago.
Thank you for sharing this. I wept when I read it.
I do agree - but once the leaders in a country are able to show complete disregard for the law in order to push their agenda then where do you see that heading?
Bravo!
This is exactly what we are experiencing right now, here, in the United States. We are being told by the media to “look away, believe in the SCIENCE, not listen to so-called disinformation.” Any formally conservative viewpoints are now labeled “ultra-right.” Just look away!!
Know the truth and the truth shall set you free. You cannot kill an idea.
Navalny quoted Solzhenitsyn, "Live not by lies." Good man. It also applies to us.
America has been moving down the same path for many years. I continue to refuse to look the other way. At some point the silent majority will be fed some shit they will refuse to eat. I hope a peaceful change in trajectory is possible with all my heart.
Alexei Navalny had a past as an extreme Russian nationalist until at least 2017, to the point that his hate speech caused Amnesty International to suspend his status as "prisoner of conscience":
https://www.npr.org/2021/02/24/970995185/amnesty-rescinds-prisoner-of-conscience-designation-for-russia-activist-navalny
His participation in the nationalist Russia Marches got him expelled from the liberal Yabloko party. This streak of extreme ethnic Russian nationalism against the "enemy nations within" dates from the Tsarist period and has resurged in Russia.
Navalny's elevation to near-sainthood matches the whitewashing of Ukraine's extremist elements, like the "controversial" Azov Brigade, renamed 3rd Special Assault Brigade. "Controversial" is used as a synonym for "neo-Nazi", as in the founder of the Azov Movement, Andrei Biletsky's statement that the movement would finish "the crusade against the Jewish Untermenschen in Europe". Definitely "controversial".
The flood of propaganda since the Ukraine War has turned every opponent of Putin into a democratic light, including Navalny and Azov.
Much more realistic is to view the Ukraine-Russia War like the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s: two awful regimes bashing each other. May they both lose.
Navalny was openly a Russian nationalist, yet I am not sure who elevated him into “near-sainthood.” I don’t believe he advocated for a violent uprising or a coup; instead, he sought a way to a legitimate election. His predecessor Michael Khodorkovsky wasn’t a Russian nationalist but would have met the same fate had he not been released thanks to the outside interference.
Azov Batallion and Pravi Sektor are militant, ultranationalist right wing groups that, yes, have been compared to Nazi.
And while I agree that both countries are deeply corrupt and problematic, comparing Navalny to people running Azov or Pravi is a bit of a stretch, don’t you think?
Navalny's statements that certain minorities are cockroaches, his gig dressing up as a dentist to extract the illness from Russia, show he is cut from the same cloth as other extreme nationalists in Ukraine and Russia.
He may not have had the organizational ability to turn those raw public statements into a coherent political movement like Azov.
Read all the recent obituaries on Navalny to see how they've whitewashed his past.
I'm not sure of the relevance of pointing out Navalny was preceded by non-extreme people of truly democratic convictions, other than reflecting badly on him.
I understand your overall criticism of the Western media's portrayal of resisting to Putin as martyrdom, regardless of the nature of the opposition, yet such distinctions are important. Putin suppressed ANY kind of opposition that challenged his ability to stay in power, be it Boris Nemtsov, Anna Politkovskaya (who reported extensively on the conditions in Chechnya), Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Aleksandr Litvinenko, or Alexei Navalny – all of whom are now dead, except Khodorkovsky. All these opposition leaders did have a coherent framework within which they worked, and nationalist or not they did not carry out their ideas the same way as Azov.
Actually Putin regularly attended receptions put on by Echo Moscow, a liberal and dissident radio station setup by Alexei Venediktov until the station was shut down at the start of the Ukraine war in 2022:
https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/how-putin-s-war-changed-my-moscow-a-3b5049e7-93fd-4c2a-9c9f-742635ae2099
Compare with the unwillingness of Democratic officials to appear, in any context, at any event from Fox News.
I've been alarmed by the willingness to ignore any tendencies, even the most overtly neo-Nazi ones, by Putin's opponents in Ukraine and Russia in order to satisfy the geopolitical needs of the moment. The cure may be worse than the illness (remember the enthusiasm for arming Islamic fundamentalists in Afghanistan to fight Russia's invasion?).
I used to listen to Yulia Latynina's Access Code, a program of Echo Moscow until she left Russia after multiple attempts that initially scared her with violent pranks and then openly tried to assassinate her when her car was set on fire. She left Russia before the Echo Moscow was shut down, fearing for her life. In short, I don't know which receptions Putin attended as none of it matters. That does not mean that it is ok for the Western media to willfully or unwilfully ignore the corruption or extreme tendencies that take place in Ukraine - a concern of yours that I share - but again, comparing Navalny to Ukranian militant groups or Islamic Jihadis is a stretch too far.
"comparing Navalny to Ukranian militant groups or Islamic Jihadis is a stretch too far"
Possibly, although not the Russia March he participated in.
But, excluding literary talent, Navalny could compare to Solzhenitsyn. He too was idolized in the West as a democratic opponent of the Soviet system, although some of Sakharov's associates wrote about his nationalist tendencies. Sure enough, after the fall of the Soviet Union, he laid it bare with his criticism of Western freedom and his anti-Semitic diatribe "Two Hundred Years Together".
Russian nationalists of any stripe are closer to Azov than they are to Western democracy.