Follow The Money

As a general rule I don't like to fall for conspiracy theories; in my experience more bad stuff happens through stupidity and neglect than by design.

But a couple of current currents in the news remain inexplicable unless you link them, and the linkage is money. As is too often the case, money makes the inexplicable explainable.

One thread is The Corruption of the Republican Party. They are elected by their constituents to represent them, yet they are pushing WIDELY unpopular agendas.  They are taking the country into areas we haven't experienced since the McCarthy era.  Why?

Another thread is the war in Ukraine.  This was a disaster that was visible a long time coming, yet nobody did anything to prevent it.  Even today, it is allowed to continue without much meaningful opposition.

A third thread is the inexplicable lack of judicial movement on Trump & associates & seditionists in Congress.  Where is Merrick Garland?  Why is his DOJ refusing to do their job?

What do these three threads have in common?  Russian organized crime money.

Republicans (and some Democrats) rely on ROCM, funneled through such front organizations as Koch Industries, The Heritage Foundation, The Federalist Society, Americans for Prosperity, American Crossroads, Cato Institute, American Enterprise Institute, GOPAC, and others.  The benefactors may not even know the money is Russian, in fact the think tanks themselves may not know the full extent of it.  The ledger books are secret, and shell companies hide the true pathways of the money.  But there are hints and clues, and the agenda is Russian through-and-through.

Which explains Congressional inaction on Ukraine.  Even if they don't know their campaign coffers are kept full by ROCM, they listen when their donors tell them to stay "hands off" in Ukraine.  Putin knew he had permission to seize a sovereign neighbor, or at least he knew nothing would be done, because he owns Congress.

The sanctions HAVE hurt Putin, and Russia may actually default on their sovereign debt.  The Russian government finances are not exactly the same as ROCM, but there's no doubt the two are inextricably linked.  The Russian economy is a kleptocracy.

Therefore.... when(if) the Russian economy collapses in the next couple of months, there is a chance Republicans will wake up and realize whose bidding they've been doing.  But only a chance -- and it would be a devastating blow to the country if this becomes widely known.

Merrick Garland--in the most charitable interpretation of the available facts--knows that opening the Pandora's box of Russian interference in American politics, going back at least to the rigged election of 2016, will result in chaos in Washington.  At least half the Congressmen would end up on charges.  Entire elections come under doubt.  Supreme Court rulings become suspect.  The entire foundation of the past six years slips out from under us.

That's not a rug he can pull out until there's an alternative government available to take control.  The whole edifice teeters.

He's waiting for Putin's house of cards to fall down.  Only a few Democrats (Schumer, Pelosi, Swallwell, Jayapal, OAC) know the score, and they're moving the levers to bring the whole edifice down in a controlled manner.

They have until October or so to do so, ahead of the mid-terms.

May you live in interesting times.