Kendzior first talks about the uses of the offspring of an authoritarian ruler, such as the pandemic prince and princess. They’re trustworthy confidants in regimes high in paranoia. They’re good for laundering money. They tend to have a warmer public profile. In a kleptocracy (government by theft) they are a way to keep stolen assets in the family and the leader can legitimize them as successors. And they’re not going to turn on the despot.
And in the current regime the prince and princess have been busy running all the deals with world despots, an integral part of the Trump Crime Family. Their crimes, committed now and through history, are well documented. So if the nasty guy is defeated in November, it won’t be the end of Trumpism. The kids will still be active.
Chalupa said that when we feel hopeless, art matters, because when the justice system fail, art can rise up and demand justice. Art therapy can help heal. Art, such as writing a short play in which the prince and princess are brought to justice, allows us to go to the darkest, worst possible outcomes. We tend to think if we imagine something bad it means we want it. But imagining it is to prevent it.
About ten days ago (days before this episode was posted a week ago) the price of oil went negative. That happened because of the drop in demand and there is no place to store what is being pumped out of the ground. Which means there is a greater possibility of an oil spill. This could cause an environmental disaster. Even without it the economic disaster could be worse with a thousand oil companies going bankrupt. That would set off a massive chain reaction. That would include devastation to Ukraine’s economy to the delight of Putin.
A lot of analysts of the oil industry are worried about what the drop in prices will do to Russia. It gets nearly 40% of its budget revenue from oil and gas. Plummeting prices would supposedly stop Russia from invading its neighbors. But Putin is the richest person in the world and the rich oligarchs are subject to Putin’s bidding (or they or their fortunes get liquidated). So Putin and his money won’t be harmed. He’ll still be able to meddle in world affairs and gamble with national revenue. The ones who will suffer are the Russian people. The gamble is they can bankrupt the US oil industry.
Many times I’ve called the nasty guy a Russian asset. Kendzior said that Russia controls him through debt, by bailing him out and buying his properties.
When US oil companies go bankrupt, and many will over the next year, they could go in a fire sale. One person or group able to buy them will be Russian oligarchs. Germany might be seen as the leader of the free world right now, but Germany’s gas comes from Russia. And a business lobby puts strong pressure on the German government to keep them from putting sanctions on Russia. Which is why Germany hasn’t helped Ukraine. Russia could have that same leverage over the US.
Oklahoma is the biggest inland oil distribution center. The oil collapse plus the pandemic could cause 10K jobs in just the oil industry. Senator James Inhofe from OK, one of the worst of the GOP, is now begging his mafia boss, the nasty guy, to stand up to Putin. At least Inhofe recognizes that the Saudis and Russians are trying to crush American oil and American oil independence. So please put tariffs on their oil.
Ah, Senator, your trying to talk to the guy you just acquitted. Chalupa said:
Now he's screwing you just like he's screwing the brown people and the black people that you can't stand. Welcome to the club of pain and anxiety and helplessness. You're in the club now. He doesn't care.Kendzior adds: good luck trying to make a deal with the proxy of the Russian Mafia. Everyone in the GOP, well, every American, is a pawn. That includes Moscow Mitch and others who are getting rich by being a pawn. But it’s golden handcuffs. Once you take their bribe they own you. The only out is to retire or resign, as several GOP Congressmen have, though Kendzior notes they did not condemn the nasty guy or Russia on their way out.
And the ones who will hurt the most are the common people.
The threat of Russian takeover of US oil would be a fine time to reduce our fossil fuel dependency and pass the Green New Deal. But our time to be able to do that is short.
The episode turned to those protesting the virus lockdowns. They are also pawns. The game is to let the virus spread, to create a permanent crisis. It’s extremely hard to combat this crisis with the normal methods of combating an autocracy. The corporate media are also pawns. They help the nasty guy’s propaganda spread. So many people wanted to cover the protesters there were more media requests than actual protesters. Yet they’ve ignored the protests against the nasty guy – the largest protests in American history.
A propaganda tactic is projection – describing your opponents doing things you would be doing if it wasn’t for societal constraints. That’s the foundation for the next step, which is putting that narrative out there in advance so when you raise the actual subject your sound insane. Example: declaring the Democratic governors and their lockdowns are trying to take our freedom and destroy our economy. Which is what the Trump Crime Family is doing – but when Kendzior says so she can be dismissed with, “You sound like those protest lunatics.”
Blood money (in the title of this episode) is a part of most of the topics in this episode, but isn’t actually mentioned until the end when they discuss the rumor that Paul Manafort might be pardoned. Chalupa describes what Manafort has done and that if he is released she and her sister are in danger. Her sister had tried to warn people about who Manafort is and has been threatened.
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