re: #44 Scout

Thanks for that. I found the Atlantic article by Anne Applebaum really fascinating. I wonder though if the apathy she writes about was maybe due in part to how fast everything seemed to be happening. No one really knew what to think about anything. (I sure didn’t.)

I’m glad you found the article of interest. I did as well.

As you point out, there were probably a bunch or reasons for their inaction.

Applebaum points out that Putin’s Russia has worked hard to suppress people by ensuring there is such a firehouse of lies that nobody can determine what is the truth.

And as you point out, a situation moving faster than information can get out, decisions made, and orders sent is another reason. This is a very effective military technique. “Cause events to happen faster than an organization can respond.”

Additional reasons might include:
- The antagonists were in Putin’s top inner circle. So no prole is likely to have any idea what is going on there.
- The power of the antagonists and their lack of scruples significantly reduces any benefits to picking a side. Even if, in the end, one guesses correctly.
- There is no benefit because there really isn’t any reward for being right.

What fascinated me is how closely GOP efforts to suppress people follow similar tactics to those used by Putin:

- Firehose conspiracy theories so it is hard to tell what is the truth.
- Suppress ability of independent media to function effectively

Use threats of state power, lawfare, and private threats of violence to
- Suppress voting
- Suppress opposition to their policies.