As always, thank you for the excellent summary. I keep reading reports of multiple convos between Musk and Putin; I haven't followed up on whether those have been confirmed. Curious what you think about the possible contact between them.
Thanks for reminding us that "the arc of the moral universe" has no agency; we humans who do have agency must be the ones doing the bending. Also thanks for your clear and understandable (even by non-wonks such as me) delineation of how Trump's policies benefit Russia. As you note, Trump and Putin don't need to be "in cahoots" for Trump's naturally-acquired illiberal (may I say anti-American) tendencies to aid his BFF.
I can't disagree with any of the substance, but I have to say, however, that I choked a little when I got to this:
". . . paddling hard below the surface to try to keep the ship afloat. . . "
Wow, a triply mixed metaphor, and using immiscible metaphors to boot -- that may be a record.
You can't "paddle below the surface" -- paddling doesn't work under water; you need the air for drawing the paddle back for the next stroke, otherwise no drive.
And you don't paddle to keep a ship afloat -- that doesn't work either. Paddling moves a vessel horizontally along the surface of the water.
As always, thank you for the excellent summary. I keep reading reports of multiple convos between Musk and Putin; I haven't followed up on whether those have been confirmed. Curious what you think about the possible contact between them.
Thanks for reminding us that "the arc of the moral universe" has no agency; we humans who do have agency must be the ones doing the bending. Also thanks for your clear and understandable (even by non-wonks such as me) delineation of how Trump's policies benefit Russia. As you note, Trump and Putin don't need to be "in cahoots" for Trump's naturally-acquired illiberal (may I say anti-American) tendencies to aid his BFF.
Very good, if depressing article.
I can't disagree with any of the substance, but I have to say, however, that I choked a little when I got to this:
". . . paddling hard below the surface to try to keep the ship afloat. . . "
Wow, a triply mixed metaphor, and using immiscible metaphors to boot -- that may be a record.
You can't "paddle below the surface" -- paddling doesn't work under water; you need the air for drawing the paddle back for the next stroke, otherwise no drive.
And you don't paddle to keep a ship afloat -- that doesn't work either. Paddling moves a vessel horizontally along the surface of the water.
But anyway, thanks for the giggle.