[Magdalen] IANAP

[ME Michaud]

I think this assessment is spot on.

BTW
The Americans (which I saw some of in Florida,
where we have cable,
and which I admired very much)
is actually based on a local story.

A couple lived and worked in Cambridge.
When they were finally exposed and deported,
there was much consternation re: their children,
who attended local schools and had NO CLUE
that their parents were spies.
-M


On Monday, July 24, 2017, Sally Davies <sally.davies at gmail.com> wrote:

> I think, FWIW, that the Russians did two things...they tried to get
> intel/kompromat on politically influential Americans and especially once
> they realised Trump was serious about running for office. This was easy as
> they already had business dealings with him and because he's so easily
> bowled over by their showy displays of wealth on the one hand and
> untrammelled violence on the other (including violence towards women and
> suppression of free speech).
>
> When I say "they" I don't mean Russians in general, but the particular
> clique of super rich, morality free oligarchs that are closely tied to
> Vladimir Putin in all kinds of ways that are possible in a fake democracy
> like the Russian Federation, which still has so many of the trappings and
> dreams of a military superpower and is tolerant of all kinds of abuses of
> that power.
>
> They may look like they are buying property in the USA but they are also
> buying people, and have a long history of being astute in building up
> portfolios of collaborators and spies (which reminds me, when will another
> season of The Americans come on TV?? I used to think that show was far
> fetched but not any more!)
>
> Then secondly I think they tried to meddle in the US elections in all sorts
> of ways, attempting to corrupt data, manipulating the discourse in social
> media, and so on. Also tried elsewhere with limited success but in the US
> they hit pay dirt.
>
> In both cases it seems to me that their success was not only unprecedented
> but largely unexpected.
>
> The Russians must be watching the house of cards collapse with
> astonishment, delight and awe. Someone, somewhere is being richly rewarded
> for this.
>
> No mistake, they are enemies; not because they hate the USA (they
> apparently do not) but because anything which stands in the way of Russian
> power and influence in the world needs to be brought under control and
> failing that, brought down.
>
> Trumps puerile admiration for "strong men" like Putin is what makes him
> dangerous as well as his intellectual weakness. He is the weakest link at
> the point of greatest tension.
>
> No one in the Western world or any true democrat anywhere, could possibly
> rejoice in what's happening no matter how much we long for Trump to fall
> and fall hard. The USA may be a flawed democracy but it's been the centre
> for so long, it's hard to imagine a world without that strong leadership.
>
> The Russians are also waiting to buy up South Africa, once the current pack
> of hyenas has finished chewing up Treasury. One thing is clear: moral
> bankruptcy will soon turn into the other kind and the middle classes will
> erode, mostly into getting-by poverty.
>
> Unless we see what is happening and work as hard together to stop it, as
> our parents, grandparents and great grandparents had to work to establish
> social justice in their day.
>
>