I’m waiting for the day he starts supporting Bolsonaro.
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After they realized they could just accuse Democrats of literally eating babies and then 40% of the population would believe anything they said … why bother to make anything believable 
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Hey Glenn…
Russian occupation is freedom.
It seems like it’s what he actual believes… it’s crazy that he can be so critical of western media (rightly so) and then just accept and promote Russia just because they are “anti-western”…
thanks, Trump!
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(source: NYT; By David Leonhardt)
Their man in Moscow
Donald Trump turned Vladimir Putin into a popular figure among a significant segment of Republican voters. As a candidate, president and ex-president, Trump has repeatedly praised Putin, calling him “strong,” “savvy” and “genius.” Trump has also echoed Putin’s ideology, by harshly criticizing NATO.
Taking their cue from Trump, some Republican voters began to view Putin more favorably. A YouGov poll in January found that Republicans viewed Putin more favorably than they viewed President Biden, Kamala Harris or Nancy Pelosi.
Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has changed the situation, damaging his popularity in the U.S., even among Republicans. If anything, many Republican voters say they wish the Biden administration would take more aggressive action to help Ukraine, according to the Pew Research Center. Yet Trump’s effect on Putin’s popularity has not entirely disappeared: There is still a meaningful faction of Republican elites who feel an affinity for the Russian president.
Today’s newsletter looks at this faction. Representative Liz Cheney, the Wyoming Republican and frequent Trump critic, describes it as “the Putin wing of the G.O.P.” It both admires him as a strong leader and likes his right-wing nationalism, including his opposition to NATO, Western liberalism and L.G.B.T. rights.
For now, this wing remains on the party’s fringe, with little ability to affect policy. Senator Lindsey Graham has called Putin’s defenders “outliers,” while Kevin McCarthy, the Republican leader in the House, has described Putin as an evil dictator who is murdering people.
But the G.O.P.’s Putin wing still has influence. It is affecting coverage by the most important news source for Republicans voters: Fox News. It seems to be shaping the behavior of another major corporation: Koch Industries. And Trump remains a leading contender to win the 2024 Republican nomination, which suggests the party’s Putin-friendly faction may not remain on the fringe.
In their own words
In the days leading up to the invasion, Trump praised Putin for recognizing Ukraine’s economic and strategic value to Russia. “He’s going to go in and be a peacekeeper,” Trump said. “We could use that on our southern border.”
In recent days, Trump has shifted to a more mixed message, both saying that Putin should negotiate a peace agreement and praising him as “driven.” Trump has also encouraged Putin to release negative information on Biden’s family.
Tucker Carlson, the host of one of cable television’s highest-rated shows, has suggested that American liberals represent a bigger threat than Putin. “It might be worth asking yourself, since it is getting pretty serious, what is this really about?” Carlson said in February. “Why do I hate Putin so much? Has Putin ever called me a racist?”
Carlson has also promoted a false rumor, popular in Russia, accusing the U.S. of funding biological weapons labs in Ukraine. These comments are consistent with Carlson’s history of arguing that the U.S. should align itself with Russia over Ukraine. “I think we should probably take the side of Russia, if we have to choose between Russia and Ukraine,” he said in 2019.
Koch Industries, the conglomerate whose controlling family is a major funder of Republican candidates and conservative causes, has said it would continue to operate in Russia even as many Western companies have left.
Political advocacy groups affiliated with Charles Koch have also questioned why the U.S. is levying harsh sanctions on Russia and have suggested that a Ukrainian victory is not in America’s interest, as Judd Legum of the Popular Information newsletter has reported. “The United States can and should do very little for Ukraine,” Will Ruger, the president of a Koch-funded group, has said. “Ukraine simply doesn’t matter to America’s security or our prosperity.”
Marjorie Taylor Greene, a far-right Georgia congresswoman, has criticized both Russia’s invasion and Ukraine’s government. President Volodymyr Zelensky’s government is corrupt, she claimed (without offering evidence), and is in power only because the Obama administration helped overthrow the previous regime (which is not true). She has argued that the U.S. should not send weapons to Ukraine.
Matt Rosendale, a Montana congressman, called Zelensky “a less-than-forthright president of the Ukraine.”
Former Trump administration officials have echoed their boss’s comments. “I have enormous respect for him,” Mike Pompeo, the former secretary of state, said of Putin. “He is very savvy, very shrewd.” Peter Navarro, who was a Trump economic adviser, said that Ukraine was “not really a country” because it used to be part of the Soviet Union. Douglas Macgregor, another administration official, said that Russian forces had been “too gentle” with Ukraine.
At least two Republican candidates have made similar comments. “I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine one way or another,” J.D. Vance, who is running for Senate in Ohio, said. Joe Kent, who is trying to win a primary over a House Republican who voted to impeach Trump over the Jan. 6 riot, called Putin’s demand to control part of eastern Ukraine “very reasonable.”
In some cases, Russian state television has shown its appreciation for these kind words toward Putin. It has aired clips of Carlson’s show, defended Trump from what it calls unfair attacks by the American media and suggested that Trump should become president again.
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This is my surprised face: 
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Among other things, the defendants contacted members of the U.S. Congress from 2012 into 2017 to seek meetings and to offer free travel to at least one Congressmember on behalf of Babakov, as well as other foreign officials aligned and associated with Babakov. For example, in 2012, at the direction of the defendants, CC-1 sought to secure a meeting for Babakov with multiple members of Congress, including by offering an “all expenses paid” trip to a particular Congressmember to meet with European politicians and receive “an award.” Congressmembers rebuffed these efforts.
In March 2017, the defendants sought to arrange a meeting for Babakov with a member of the U.S. Congress in pursuit of the objective of “strengthen[ing] the ties of cooperation between” Russia and the United States. To secure that meeting, the defendants, through CC-1, transmitted a letter drafted by CC-1 and signed by Babakov to a particular Congressmember.
Rudy? Mike? Paul?
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(There is a Xeni mention in this.)
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Funny he didn’t bring anything like this up with the previous occupant of the White House.
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Every USian asshole that goes to this meeting is missing the point that in Orban’s world they wouldn’t f’ing exist.
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…Lemtov is constantly flanked by his entourage of muscular, shirtless dancers and in one scene, he outrageously flirts with Kevin Swain (Jamie Demetriou) – yes, the Kevin Swain! – a flamboyant creative who is hired to help Lars and Sigrit win.
To Lars’ discontent, Sigrit respects Lemtov’ artistry and befriends him (at one point, Sigrit awakens to find that Lemtov has spent six hours braiding her hair). Towards the end of the film, she asks the question: “Are you gay?”
This is where Eurovision gets political. In 2017, Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov said rumours of the country’s ‘gay purge’ were false because there are no gay men in Chechnya, stating “we don’t have these kinds of people here.”
A year later, Russia’s justice minister claimed government officials were unable to find any evidence of LGBTQ people in Chechnya, telling the United Nations: “The investigations that we carried out did not confirm evidence of rights’ violations, nor were we even able to find representatives of the LGBT community in Chechnya.”
Lemtov and Sigrit’s subsequent back-and-forth shades these ludicrous allegations, with Lemtov responding (in denial): “No… No no no, of course not, I am Russian. There are no gay people in Russia. 100%, the fucked off truth. No gay in Russia.”
LGBTQ+ ally Sigrid tells him, “Statistically speaking, I think that is impossible,” before questioning whether he identifies as gender fluid or non-binary. “No no no binary, he/him pronoun. He/he,” he hits back. -GayTimes
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