16 Comments

It’s frightening that anyone is getting behind this friend of dictators, and this dictator wanna be! We shudder to think what will happen if he and his family, and his host of collaborators are not brought to justice!

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I will not be surprised if/when we learn that from that first meeting with Lavrov et al (seared in my brain forever for how hostile that nationally televised event was directed at the American public) that Trump has been sharing stuff or that his open door policy at MarALago is a breeding ground for spies. This is like the Leslie Nielsen version of Homeland…it would be funny if it wasn’t so terrifying!

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I don’t mean this in a snarky way, but are there revelations that surprise you at this point? Or, is all of this so predictable now? Maybe you can address today!

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I think Jan Stickel has it right: We are all asleep at the wheel. Ron DeSantis is waiting in the wings to take over if his mentors (Trump, Bannon etc., etc.) are finally incarcerated. DeSantis is more of a threat now as Trump is distracted with "legalities". We all need to stand up and support our our democracy by making our voices heard - loudly and clearly - by getting the vote out, Let's also meet frequently with our Democratic supporters and keep building our voices. We can't stand to have a "mini-Trump" take over or even have another 4 years as Governor to destroy the state with more and more lies. Kari Lake of Arizona, Abbott of Texas et al are just a few of the other dangerous anti-democratic Republicans we have to watch daily; we have to complain and shout loudly when they attack democratic norms and the foundational meanings of our Constitution. We can't fail, otherwise the autocrats, the dictators and the Trump-like money grabbers take over our free world and we become slaves to their dictates. It's happened before so many times - and it's up to us to detect these monsters and stop them before they do any more serious damage. Thanks to Dr. Ruth, we are all becoming "awoke"!

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The example you give of former CIA and NSA director Michael Hayden & others 2016 warnings and now the 2022 search of Mar-a-Lago is a rock solid display of voters asleep at the wheel. It is a direct consequence of American voters not paying attention to the content and character of the candidates. I would say 20-30% of people I talk to speak of a candidate's physical appearance, fashion sense, their spouse, their 'attractive family' as elements that attract them to a candidate. It's always unbelievable to me, that one's ability to follow fashion should be a consideration. Almost a 'Camelot' kool-aid. The populace needs re-instruction on elements of good candidacy (experience, education, values & view). Leave the family out of it, it's a distraction. Yes, it's entertaining to watch TV shows on corruption and who-done-its; but this is now real life. People I talk with are either alarmed by Trump & allies, or intrigued. Intrigued is not a good sign for society. We are reaping the consequences for being intrigued.

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Even the people are properitized and monetized. Furthermore now with Roe's overturning. The unborn, the moms, the dads, it's a cattle call. It creates a subset of society to pity/ manipulate. We now must focus on the states to hold the line.

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Excellent piece Ruth! I tend to agree that the documents were there for Trump’s benefit;likely to address the debts he has coming due. Jared could have been the mole in exchange for no investigation into himself. We’ll have to see…….

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There is a lot to unpack here because of the many nuances that Ruth Ben-Ghiat specializes in.

I would characterize Trump as a one trick pony. He does not have that inventive, expansive mind. He is basically a grifter who focuses on exploiting the human condition of greed and self-interest. That's right - Trump thinks that there are enough people who think just like him, so he uses his limited marketing talent to say, I'm just like you and together we can Make America Great Again. (Wink, wink) I'm your guy because like you I hate blacks and every other ethnicity that is not like us. If we get rid of them, there will be more for us. It is so basic, so seminal.

Of course, the Republican leadership is loving that Trump is shoring up a naturally declining base and is willing to thwart democracy to give the minority Republican Party unearned victories. For Trump, the party is a means to an end - wealth accumulation. In politics there are unlimited way to make a fast buck!

Trump has all the tendencies of a strongman, but his motivation is different. It is not power for the sake of power (which automatically ensures a grand lifestyle), like every other autocrat; it is strictly about wealth accumulation. Trump sees himself as being the richest person in the world. Trump thinks less about power and more about control. People who constantly gauge how much control they have keep score. Scorekeepers naturally are vindictive and petty. Sound familiar?

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Let's start with one undeniable fact: Trump did not keep these Secret and TS/SCI documents because he ever intended to read them. We know he's not a reader or writer of anything much more than 256 characters.

The only plausible reasons he took possession of these USG documents are:

1) He believed he could sell some of them to a hostile power (almost certainly Putin/Russia)

2) He thought he could trade them for something he badly wants.

3) He imagined that there might be some possibilities for blackmail or revenge.

4) He wanted to show off some of them to Mar-a-Lago visitors.

Of these four, I consider item 1 - the "offer them to Putin" option in exchange for Putin's help in getting back into the White House - the most likely. Trump would know that TS/SCI nuclear weapons documents would be extremely valuable to Putin. Putin may have even told him exactly the kinds of documents to take while Trump was in his last days of his first term. Putin [former KGB agent] is the only national leader able to execute such a plan as long as he had Trump's cooperation.

Is this proof? No of course not: it's merely a reasoned attempt to identify the most likely explanations and of those, the most probable. Best of luck to the FBI!

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Thank you for such a clear explanation.

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Thank you, Ruth. Question: Why would Kushner leak about the files if he benefited from them being taken to MAL? That is, if the Saudis' $2B to his firm happens to be related to information they received from said files. I can't think why Kushner would rat out father in law other than for something personal (and that's not hard to imagine!).

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