Skiluros

If there are no guarantees around security, there is no point in signing a deal with the Americans.

Then of course there is the issue that the US cannot be trusted in principle…

I lived in russia for many years (as a minor), while I speak fluent russian and have an understanding of local culture, I and my family (everyone speaks russian) constantly got harassed by security goons, including some almost comical situations where their reflexive racism almost made the outcomes worse for the cops/security. There was also some really mean-spirited stuff; a completely wasted cop aggressively harassing me on a major street without any reason at all other than me walking by, I was in my pre-teens, it got to the point where his colleague had to drag him away and tell me to leave.

But it seems that the Americans (no disrespect to sane Americans) have decided to enter in a competition with the russians. Week long interment without any real reason? This is insane.

The funny thing is that I’ve also lived in the US and travelled there a lot when I moved to Canada; while there was a lot of what I call “cowboy roleplay”, it never got this bad.

This is some super fucked up shit.

Americans, you’ll need make sacrifices and deal with very difficult and scary choices if you want to deal with this and everything else that is happening in your country. Freedom isn’t a mere polemic.

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The US is such a corrupt country. This was basically a kangaroo court, but with typical American-style pomp and self-absorption.

I wouldn’t call it buyer’s remorse.

Let me share a hot take based on my experience of living in the US, Ukraine and Russia (and closely following politics).

There are two factors that are likely driving Roberts’ behaviour:

1. They need an alibi. They need something that can differentiate them from the current oligarch regime in the US. While the US is a pretty conformist country (not saying the most conformist there is, but far more conformist than the popularity of recital of freedom polemics would suggest), you always have the possibility of black swan type events. One example would be Trump and his close associates being taken down in a forceful and public manner. The judicial wing of the oligarchic regime wants a failsafe, something that would allow them to say “we are not oligarch shills, we were just following a conservative judicial philosophy, it is not our fault that it was exploited by bad actors!” They are smart enough to know that if black swan type events do happen, they often take a life of their own and all bets are off. They want an exit strategy.
2. Judicial independence. I don’t mean this in the American sense of the term. I am talking about different power centres within an oligarchic regime. Let’s take russia for example. Even though it’s a highly centralized regime, it still has different power centres. The russian central bank has a modicum of independence. Different cliques in the power structures (and there are many cliques) have their own agenda and capabilities. Regional warlords (Kadyrov being the most well know, but he is not the only one) do have some manner of leverage in the system. The oligarchs, while being banned from politics, do have freedom in how they run their businesses. The one notable example without any leverage is the russian judicial system. They are little more than rubber stamp goons with no independent power. Roberts does not want to turn into Judge Ivan of Govnogorsk. He needs to show the other power centres in America’s oligarch regime that cooperation has a price and that other thugs need to show him respect.