Ask any sensible SNP supporter on PB (i.e. Alistair, Carnyx, TUD etc...) what they think about the prospect of a Tory-SNP deal. They know it would be a fucking disaster for the pro-independence movement.
I don't know about Putin's mental state or political nous, but as I've noted before he's definitely getting lazier. Making himself PM for 4 years because of rules around consecutive terms was relatively creative as autocracies go, but now he's just gone for the 'term limits are reset because of constitutional reforms' move, which is just lame.
If Putin does invade it would make more sense to just go into the east under the guise of protecting Russian speakers.
This gives him his hard man win for the Russian public and serves notice to the west . A complete takeover of Ukraine I think is the least likely option .
Putin and sense are not a good fit and Biden's warning tonight was stark for all Ukraine
None of this makes sense from the Russian viewpoint, does it? If he just goes for the eastern bit that he always controls, he gets zero benefit and moderate Western sanctions. If he goes for some more so as to build a land bridge to Crimea, he get modest benefit and huge Western sanctions. If he goes for the whole country, he gets a nightmare occupation of a well-developed nationalist country as well as gigantic Western sanctions. I can't see what's in it for him personally, never mind Russia, Ukraine or the wider world.
I do not think you can rationalise Putin who is a very real threat to peace in Europe
On the contrary, love or loathe him, his actions are usually rational from his own perspective. At least up until now. And it's a bit of a stretch to imagine he's gone completely doolally in the past couple of years. We've seen no public displays of it at least.
Yes, that's what's so peculiar - he's a nationalist authoritarian reactionary, but not obviously nuts like Bolsanaro or Lukashenko - he seems quite rational and sober. So you'd expect his policies to be driven by cold self-interest, or possibly national interest. But...?
If Putin does invade it would make more sense to just go into the east under the guise of protecting Russian speakers.
This gives him his hard man win for the Russian public and serves notice to the west . A complete takeover of Ukraine I think is the least likely option .
Putin and sense are not a good fit and Biden's warning tonight was stark for all Ukraine
None of this makes sense from the Russian viewpoint, does it? If he just goes for the eastern bit that he always controls, he gets zero benefit and moderate Western sanctions. If he goes for some more so as to build a land bridge to Crimea, he get modest benefit and huge Western sanctions. If he goes for the whole country, he gets a nightmare occupation of a well-developed nationalist country as well as gigantic Western sanctions. I can't see what's in it for him personally, never mind Russia, Ukraine or the wider world.
None of this makes sense from a rational standpoint. A desire to rebuild the Russian empire isn’t particularly rational, but it is a real thing. Killing tens of thousands by launching a war of aggression isn’t rational either. It doesn’t mean it won’t happen.
BNO News @BNONews · 14m Satellite images show Russian helicopter unit, tanks, armored personnel carriers and support equipment has arrived at Millerovo Airfield, minutes from the border with Ukraine - Reuters
Less than 12 miles as the crow flies from the border.
If Putin does invade it would make more sense to just go into the east under the guise of protecting Russian speakers.
This gives him his hard man win for the Russian public and serves notice to the west . A complete takeover of Ukraine I think is the least likely option .
Putin and sense are not a good fit and Biden's warning tonight was stark for all Ukraine
None of this makes sense from the Russian viewpoint, does it? If he just goes for the eastern bit that he always controls, he gets zero benefit and moderate Western sanctions. If he goes for some more so as to build a land bridge to Crimea, he get modest benefit and huge Western sanctions. If he goes for the whole country, he gets a nightmare occupation of a well-developed nationalist country as well as gigantic Western sanctions. I can't see what's in it for him personally, never mind Russia, Ukraine or the wider world.
I do not think you can rationalise Putin who is a very real threat to peace in Europe
On the contrary, love or loathe him, his actions are usually rational from his own perspective. At least up until now. And it's a bit of a stretch to imagine he's gone completely doolally in the past couple of years. We've seen no public displays of it at least.
Yes, that's what's so peculiar - he's a nationalist authoritarian reactionary, but not obviously nuts like Bolanaro or Lukashenko - he seems quite rational and sober. So you'd expect his policies to be driven by cold self-interest, or possibly national interest. But...?
After a while I think powerful people just start to believe their own hype, and that’s when it all goes wrong. Even the cleverest seem to succumb eventually.
I have just watched the documentary "Berlin 1945" on iPlayer - in 3 parts. No narration other than at the very start and end. It is film from the time and actors reading extracts from the diaries of Berliners and Americans, Russians and others. It covers the period from April 1945 to the end of the year.
Quietly moving. The last 5 minutes had me weeping. Do watch if you can.
If Putin does invade it would make more sense to just go into the east under the guise of protecting Russian speakers.
This gives him his hard man win for the Russian public and serves notice to the west . A complete takeover of Ukraine I think is the least likely option .
Putin and sense are not a good fit and Biden's warning tonight was stark for all Ukraine
None of this makes sense from the Russian viewpoint, does it? If he just goes for the eastern bit that he always controls, he gets zero benefit and moderate Western sanctions. If he goes for some more so as to build a land bridge to Crimea, he get modest benefit and huge Western sanctions. If he goes for the whole country, he gets a nightmare occupation of a well-developed nationalist country as well as gigantic Western sanctions. I can't see what's in it for him personally, never mind Russia, Ukraine or the wider world.
I do not think you can rationalise Putin who is a very real threat to peace in Europe
On the contrary, love or loathe him, his actions are usually rational from his own perspective. At least up until now. And it's a bit of a stretch to imagine he's gone completely doolally in the past couple of years. We've seen no public displays of it at least.
Yes, that's what's so peculiar - he's a nationalist authoritarian reactionary, but not obviously nuts like Bolanaro or Lukashenko - he seems quite rational and sober. So you'd expect his policies to be driven by cold self-interest, or possibly national interest. But...?
After a while I think powerful people just start to believe their own hype, and that’s when it all goes wrong. Even the cleverest seem to succumb eventually.
Though there is a tiny bit of me wondering if he’s Logan Roy and we’re about to find out he’s got our mum to sign away the voting rights.
If Putin does invade it would make more sense to just go into the east under the guise of protecting Russian speakers.
This gives him his hard man win for the Russian public and serves notice to the west . A complete takeover of Ukraine I think is the least likely option .
Putin and sense are not a good fit and Biden's warning tonight was stark for all Ukraine
None of this makes sense from the Russian viewpoint, does it? If he just goes for the eastern bit that he always controls, he gets zero benefit and moderate Western sanctions. If he goes for some more so as to build a land bridge to Crimea, he get modest benefit and huge Western sanctions. If he goes for the whole country, he gets a nightmare occupation of a well-developed nationalist country as well as gigantic Western sanctions. I can't see what's in it for him personally, never mind Russia, Ukraine or the wider world.
I do not think you can rationalise Putin who is a very real threat to peace in Europe
On the contrary, love or loathe him, his actions are usually rational from his own perspective. At least up until now. And it's a bit of a stretch to imagine he's gone completely doolally in the past couple of years. We've seen no public displays of it at least.
Yes, that's what's so peculiar - he's a nationalist authoritarian reactionary, but not obviously nuts like Bolanaro or Lukashenko - he seems quite rational and sober. So you'd expect his policies to be driven by cold self-interest, or possibly national interest. But...?
After a while I think powerful people just start to believe their own hype, and that’s when it all goes wrong. Even the cleverest seem to succumb eventually.
Plus people think they can get away with it if nobody is willing to say no. Its why democracy always beats autocracy in the end.
Ironically domestically if Boris does survive the next few months then he could be more measured and sensible going forwards after the scare of being challenged and put on notice than he was when he was trying to excuse Owen Paterson because he thought he could get away with it.
There's rumours that Putin has been isolated during covid and he's very afraid of catching it. Add that to his age, time in office and the paranoia that must go with leading such an autocratic state - it could be a potent cocktail.
Ask any sensible SNP supporter on PB (i.e. Alistair, Carnyx, TUD etc...) what they think about the prospect of a Tory-SNP deal. They know it would be a fucking disaster for the pro-independence movement.
Likely quite true.
But note that Conservative parties in British mold are noted for self-serving pragmatism.
For example, during first century of confederation, the basic glue of Canadian Conservatism was working partnership, ultramontane French Catholics in Quebec + ultra-Protestant Orangemen in Ontario.
Politics do make strange bedfellows. Just ask Lynne Cheney!
If Putin does invade it would make more sense to just go into the east under the guise of protecting Russian speakers.
This gives him his hard man win for the Russian public and serves notice to the west . A complete takeover of Ukraine I think is the least likely option .
Putin and sense are not a good fit and Biden's warning tonight was stark for all Ukraine
None of this makes sense from the Russian viewpoint, does it? If he just goes for the eastern bit that he always controls, he gets zero benefit and moderate Western sanctions. If he goes for some more so as to build a land bridge to Crimea, he get modest benefit and huge Western sanctions. If he goes for the whole country, he gets a nightmare occupation of a well-developed nationalist country as well as gigantic Western sanctions. I can't see what's in it for him personally, never mind Russia, Ukraine or the wider world.
At a guess, Putin has decided that vassalizing Ukraine and winning plaudits at home as the liberator of oppressed Russians is more important to him than his economic relationship with the West. That, and the various theories about his desperation to keep Ukraine out of both NATO and the EU for strategic reasons are correct.
And so, a new iron curtain descends across Europe from the Arctic Ocean to the Black Sea - Finland, regardless of whether it chooses to accede to NATO, is closely aligned with the West - and Russia takes the economic pain until it can build the necessary infrastructure to reorient its energy exports to China.
Certainly the idea that Russia wants to attempt to install a friendly regime to toe the line in Kyiv is bolstered both by the recent statements of Western leaders and intelligence agencies, and their diplomatic postures. British and American delegations have moved to Lviv rather than fully evacuate the country for a reason. It would appear they expect Putin to take the capital and thereafter lend his new puppet Russian internal security forces to round up dissidents and suppress dissent, rather than attempt a direct military conquest of the whole country. Best case scenario: the Ukrainian military collapses and the puppet assumes full control. Worst case scenario: it regroups in the West and the country collapses into a civil war, with pro-Russian and pro-Western factions knocking seven bells out of each other for years.
In any event, the threat of a pro-Western Ukraine succeeding as a peaceful liberal democracy, and therefore showing Russia up as a basket case, is removed.
I don't know about Putin's mental state or political nous, but as I've noted before he's definitely getting lazier. Making himself PM for 4 years because of rules around consecutive terms was relatively creative as autocracies go, but now he's just gone for the 'term limits are reset because of constitutional reforms' move, which is just lame.
Yes, a decade ago Putin was wrastling with bears. These days believe he's down to grappling with gophers.
Ask any sensible SNP supporter on PB (i.e. Alistair, Carnyx, TUD etc...) what they think about the prospect of a Tory-SNP deal. They know it would be a fucking disaster for the pro-independence movement.
Thanks Yes, we live in strange times but I just can't see them becoming that strange. If the SNP can stay consistent for decades about the comparatively less compromising temptation of sending representatives to the HoL, they're not going to fuck it up by dealing with the cesspit of BJ and the current Tory party.
BNO News @BNONews · 1m U.S. official says 40 to 50% of Russian troops near the border with Ukraine are in "attack positions" - Reuters
He risks the end of his regime if he presses the 'go' button.
Bogged down in a terrible street by street war with an enemy literally fighting for its homeland. Massive sanctions. No chance of selling oil or gas to the west for years.
Does he feel a lucky punk tonight?
We are in Guns of August Territory. Putin has got all his ducks in a line, and all his troops in place, doing nothing now looks like a massive defeat and retrenchment, and his military will resent the embarrassing farce, and that is not Putin's style. He is an expansionist Tsar
He will likely attack Ukraine in some form, if he is not already doing so. If forced to put odds on it, I'd say it is 85% probable. And yes I plucked that out of my butt, so feel free to counter with an equally vacuous guess
Presumably the easiest solution for Putin is to do some kind of formal 'liberation' of one of the already disputed Russian speaking areas. Can argue he has won, probably won't meet any resistance, and the west will do very little.
I think that's right: he marches troops into an area they already - de facto - control. Announce that the car bombings and other stuff has been dealt with and the areas secured safe for Russians.
Maybe send some refugees West, and organise a quick poll (with troops ensuring the right result is reached)
It’s worth recalling how Putin came to power. The idea that he shares our concept of what is societally desirable - or even what constitutes stability - is illusory.
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/01/putins-real-long-game-214589/ … To understand the shift underway in the world, and to stop being outmaneuvered, we first need to see the Russian state for what it really is. Twenty-five years ago, the Soviet Union collapsed. This freed the Russian security state from its last constraints. In 1991, there were around 800,000 official KGB agents in Russia. They spent a decade reorganizing themselves into the newly-minted FSB, expanding and absorbing other instruments of power, including criminal networks, other security services, economic interests, and parts of the political elite. They rejected the liberal, democratic Russia that President Boris Yeltsin was trying to build.
Following the 1999 Moscow apartment bombings that the FSB almost certainly planned, former FSB director Vladimir Putin was installed as President. We should not ignore the significance of these events. An internal operation planned by the security services killed hundreds of Russian citizens. It was used as the pretext to re-launch a bloody, devastating internal war led by emergent strongman Putin. Tens of thousands of Chechen civilians and fighters and Russian conscripts died. The narrative was controlled to make the enemy clear and Putin victorious. This information environment forced a specific political objective: Yeltsin resigned and handed power to Putin on New Year’s Eve 1999…
The article is from five years ago, but it reads just as well in today’s context.
@michaeldweiss The strategy of aggressively declassifying and leaking so much of the intel the US had on this was rooted in deterring a war. If one comes to pass, it won't have worked because Putin fundamentally didn't care if we knew what he was up to. This gambit will be studied for years.
One Ukrainian official told me earlier today, "the Americans started this 'drama' of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. And now Putin is going to show us he's much better than the West at drama production."
@michaeldweiss The strategy of aggressively declassifying and leaking so much of the intel the US had on this was rooted in deterring a war. If one comes to pass, it won't have worked because Putin fundamentally didn't care if we knew what he was up to. This gambit will be studied for years.
One Ukrainian official told me earlier today, "the Americans started this 'drama' of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. And now Putin is going to show us he's much better than the West at drama production."
Even if doesn't work at preventing a war, it has allowed the West to get massively more aid to the Ukraine than would otherwise have been the case.
Yes, by not pretending to buy it for sake of appearing 'reasonable' they had space to try something at least even if it cannot counter a determined invader.
BNO News @BNONews · 1m U.S. official says 40 to 50% of Russian troops near the border with Ukraine are in "attack positions" - Reuters
He risks the end of his regime if he presses the 'go' button.
Bogged down in a terrible street by street war with an enemy literally fighting for its homeland. Massive sanctions. No chance of selling oil or gas to the west for years.
Does he feel a lucky punk tonight?
We are in Guns of August Territory. Putin has got all his ducks in a line, and all his troops in place, doing nothing now looks like a massive defeat and retrenchment, and his military will resent the embarrassing farce, and that is not Putin's style. He is an expansionist Tsar
He will likely attack Ukraine in some form, if he is not already doing so. If forced to put odds on it, I'd say it is 85% probable. And yes I plucked that out of my butt, so feel free to counter with an equally vacuous guess
Presumably the easiest solution for Putin is to do some kind of formal 'liberation' of one of the already disputed Russian speaking areas. Can argue he has won, probably won't meet any resistance, and the west will do very little.
I think that's right: he marches troops into an area they already - de facto - control. Announce that the car bombings and other stuff has been dealt with and the areas secured safe for Russians.
Maybe send some refugees West, and organise a quick poll (with troops ensuring the right result is reached)
Declare victory.
But crucially, avoid getting into a firefight.
It’s entirely possible - and would be something of a relief. He might even do this a few times so he can carry on accusing our intelligence services of crying wolf. See if political consensus in Ukraine starts to weaken under the pressure of economic destabilisation, etc.
A lot of options are open to him if Russia can bear the expense of keeping 100k plus troops hanging around for a few months.
Has the advice from NPHET, the Irish advisory body for their government, about ending PCR testing and mask-wearing been mentioned? A lot of nonsense is being written and said about how reckless ending testing in England would be, but it's not far out of line with what is being recommended in Ireland.
WAY OFF TOPIC - From US Senate website: The Senator and his Secretary, November 1867
Mark Twain On a fateful day in 1867, Senator William Stewart of Nevada was startled by a visitor. “[A] very disreputable-looking person slouched into the room,” Stewart recalled. “[A]rrayed in a seedy suit…A sheaf of scraggy black hair leaked out of a battered old slouch hat…an evil-smelling cigar…protruded from the corner of his mouth…[He had] a very sinister appearance.” When Stewart recognized the man as a reporter who had penned unflattering articles about him, he blurted out: “If you put anything in the paper about me, I’ll sue you for libel.” The visitor was Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain.
Newly arrived in Washington, Twain was seeking an easy job with suitable income to subsidize his writing career. Reporters often supplemented their incomes by moonlighting as government clerks or secretaries. . . . Stewart agreed to hire him and even arranged for Twain to have a room in his boarding house. “Help yourself to whiskey and cigars, and wade in,” he told the aspiring novelist.
Twain’s Senate career did not last long! . . . . He routinely forged Stewart’s frank on personal letters. He rejected a report from the Treasury Department simply because it was too boring. . . . He arrived late, departed early, and accomplished very little. When confronted by a frustrated senator, Twain retorted: “Sir, do you suppose that I am going to work for six dollars a day?”
Most annoying of all, Twain answered Stewart’s constituent mail with reckless abandon. For example, when constituents requested the establishment of a post office in their Nevada mining camp, Twain wrote: “What the mischief do…you want with a post office?…If any letters came there, you couldn’t read them.…No, don’t bother about a post office…What you want is a nice jail.” . . . .
Twain also worked for a few months for Nevada's other senator, James Nye. His short story, “My Late Senatorial Secretaryship,” described an incident when a constituent wrote to ask for legislation to incorporate the Episcopal Church in Nevada. Senator Nye told Twain to advise the writer that this was a matter for the state legislature.
Here is what Twain wrote on the senator’s behalf. "You will have to go to the state legislature about this little speculation of yours. Congress doesn’t know anything about religion.…This thing you propose to do out in that new country isn’t expedient—in fact, it is simply ridiculous. You religious people there are too feeble, in intellect, in morality, in piety—in everything pretty much. You had better drop this—you can’t make it work. You ought to be ashamed of yourselves—that is what I think about it."
In later years, Twain occasionally mocked Stewart in his novels, while the Nevada senator woefully acknowledged their past association. “I was confident that [Twain] would come to no good end,” Stewart wrote in his memoir, “[but] I understand that he has…become respectable.”
Has the advice from NPHET, the Irish advisory body for their government, about ending PCR testing and mask-wearing been mentioned? A lot of nonsense is being written and said about how reckless ending testing in England would be, but it's not far out of line with what is being recommended in Ireland.
Ternopil, in the West of Ukraine, where my Grandma was born, is forecast to reach 9C today (Saturday). Kyiv is forecast to remain above freezing until Wednesday night, Kharkiv in the east, the same. Pretty mild for the time of year.
NEW: U.S. says kicking Russia out of SWIFT financial messaging system will "probably not" be in any package of sanctions levelled if Russia invades Ukraine. Washington hints it would be unlikely to get EU support and would have too many "spillover effects"
NEW: U.S. says kicking Russia out of SWIFT financial messaging system will "probably not" be in any package of sanctions levelled if Russia invades Ukraine. Washington hints it would be unlikely to get EU support and would have too many "spillover effects"
It is true that a large number of international (including US banks) would be impacted by Russian banks, oil companies, etc., not being able to fulfil their obligations.
NEW: U.S. says kicking Russia out of SWIFT financial messaging system will "probably not" be in any package of sanctions levelled if Russia invades Ukraine. Washington hints it would be unlikely to get EU support and would have too many "spillover effects"
It is true that a large number of international (including US banks) would be impacted by Russian banks, oil companies, etc., not being able to fulfil their obligations.
But that's also kinda the point of sanctions.
That seems potentially an overlarge claim, given that Russian GDP is somewhere between that of Spain and Italy in USD terms. ie not much above 1% of global GDP.
Comments
Fortunately we live on a Hill high above any flooded areas. But still ....
What a day to be driving up there.....
A desire to rebuild the Russian empire isn’t particularly rational, but it is a real thing.
Killing tens of thousands by launching a war of aggression isn’t rational either. It doesn’t mean it won’t happen.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Ukraine
Ironically domestically if Boris does survive the next few months then he could be more measured and sensible going forwards after the scare of being challenged and put on notice than he was when he was trying to excuse Owen Paterson because he thought he could get away with it.
But note that Conservative parties in British mold are noted for self-serving pragmatism.
For example, during first century of confederation, the basic glue of Canadian Conservatism was working partnership, ultramontane French Catholics in Quebec + ultra-Protestant Orangemen in Ontario.
Politics do make strange bedfellows. Just ask Lynne Cheney!
And so, a new iron curtain descends across Europe from the Arctic Ocean to the Black Sea - Finland, regardless of whether it chooses to accede to NATO, is closely aligned with the West - and Russia takes the economic pain until it can build the necessary infrastructure to reorient its energy exports to China.
Certainly the idea that Russia wants to attempt to install a friendly regime to toe the line in Kyiv is bolstered both by the recent statements of Western leaders and intelligence agencies, and their diplomatic postures. British and American delegations have moved to Lviv rather than fully evacuate the country for a reason. It would appear they expect Putin to take the capital and thereafter lend his new puppet Russian internal security forces to round up dissidents and suppress dissent, rather than attempt a direct military conquest of the whole country. Best case scenario: the Ukrainian military collapses and the puppet assumes full control. Worst case scenario: it regroups in the West and the country collapses into a civil war, with pro-Russian and pro-Western factions knocking seven bells out of each other for years.
In any event, the threat of a pro-Western Ukraine succeeding as a peaceful liberal democracy, and therefore showing Russia up as a basket case, is removed.
Yes, we live in strange times but I just can't see them becoming that strange. If the SNP can stay consistent for decades about the comparatively less compromising temptation of sending representatives to the HoL, they're not going to fuck it up by dealing with the cesspit of BJ and the current Tory party.
https://twitter.com/murphy_simon/status/1494716804308029450?s=20&t=-MW_xhcfiXld9GwgzBOgug
Maybe send some refugees West, and organise a quick poll (with troops ensuring the right result is reached)
Declare victory.
But crucially, avoid getting into a firefight.
max seddon
@maxseddon
Just your average Friday night on a Ukrainian political talk show, where life is continuing as normal
Glenn Kates @gkates
Small update: Yuriy Butusov punched out Nestor Shufrych and got him in a headlock for a minute.
https://twitter.com/maxseddon/status/1494803744193757184
===
Love the way the sign language person kept signing. Ending up with making a throat slit move across her neck.
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/01/putins-real-long-game-214589/
… To understand the shift underway in the world, and to stop being outmaneuvered, we first need to see the Russian state for what it really is. Twenty-five years ago, the Soviet Union collapsed. This freed the Russian security state from its last constraints. In 1991, there were around 800,000 official KGB agents in Russia. They spent a decade reorganizing themselves into the newly-minted FSB, expanding and absorbing other instruments of power, including criminal networks, other security services, economic interests, and parts of the political elite. They rejected the liberal, democratic Russia that President Boris Yeltsin was trying to build.
Following the 1999 Moscow apartment bombings that the FSB almost certainly planned, former FSB director Vladimir Putin was installed as President. We should not ignore the significance of these events. An internal operation planned by the security services killed hundreds of Russian citizens. It was used as the pretext to re-launch a bloody, devastating internal war led by emergent strongman Putin. Tens of thousands of Chechen civilians and fighters and Russian conscripts died. The narrative was controlled to make the enemy clear and Putin victorious. This information environment forced a specific political objective: Yeltsin resigned and handed power to Putin on New Year’s Eve 1999…
The article is from five years ago, but it reads just as well in today’s context.
He might even do this a few times so he can carry on accusing our intelligence services of crying wolf.
See if political consensus in Ukraine starts to weaken under the pressure of economic destabilisation, etc.
A lot of options are open to him if Russia can bear the expense of keeping 100k plus troops hanging around for a few months.
(Though they probably still get stuck.)
https://www.rte.ie/news/coronavirus/2022/0218/1281557-mask-rules/
Mark Twain
On a fateful day in 1867, Senator William Stewart of Nevada was startled by a visitor. “[A] very disreputable-looking person slouched into the room,” Stewart recalled. “[A]rrayed in a seedy suit…A sheaf of scraggy black hair leaked out of a battered old slouch hat…an evil-smelling cigar…protruded from the corner of his mouth…[He had] a very sinister appearance.” When Stewart recognized the man as a reporter who had penned unflattering articles about him, he blurted out: “If you put anything in the paper about me, I’ll sue you for libel.” The visitor was Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain.
Newly arrived in Washington, Twain was seeking an easy job with suitable income to subsidize his writing career. Reporters often supplemented their incomes by moonlighting as government clerks or secretaries. . . . Stewart agreed to hire him and even arranged for Twain to have a room in his boarding house. “Help yourself to whiskey and cigars, and wade in,” he told the aspiring novelist.
Twain’s Senate career did not last long! . . . . He routinely forged Stewart’s frank on personal letters. He rejected a report from the Treasury Department simply because it was too boring. . . . He arrived late, departed early, and accomplished very little. When confronted by a frustrated senator, Twain retorted: “Sir, do you suppose that I am going to work for six dollars a day?”
Most annoying of all, Twain answered Stewart’s constituent mail with reckless abandon. For example, when constituents requested the establishment of a post office in their Nevada mining camp, Twain wrote: “What the mischief do…you want with a post office?…If any letters came there, you couldn’t read them.…No, don’t bother about a post office…What you want is a nice jail.” . . . .
Twain also worked for a few months for Nevada's other senator, James Nye. His short story, “My Late Senatorial Secretaryship,” described an incident when a constituent wrote to ask for legislation to incorporate the Episcopal Church in Nevada. Senator Nye told Twain to advise the writer that this was a matter for the state legislature.
Here is what Twain wrote on the senator’s behalf. "You will have to go to the state legislature about this little speculation of yours. Congress doesn’t know anything about religion.…This thing you propose to do out in that new country isn’t expedient—in fact, it is simply ridiculous. You religious people there are too feeble, in intellect, in morality, in piety—in everything pretty much. You had better drop this—you can’t make it work. You ought to be ashamed of yourselves—that is what I think about it."
In later years, Twain occasionally mocked Stewart in his novels, while the Nevada senator woefully acknowledged their past association. “I was confident that [Twain] would come to no good end,” Stewart wrote in his memoir, “[but] I understand that he has…become respectable.”
British lifting of restrictions: Crazy, reckless irresponsible experiment.
European lifting of restrictions: Sensible, rational steps.
https://twitter.com/JakeCordell/status/1494771937519804416
But that's also kinda the point of sanctions.
Do we have a list, or some data?