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Of course neither Putin nor the Russian government had any motive to kill Navalnyii. Doesn’t matter, they will be blamed, no evidence needed, just as anyone who points out, for example, the manifold absurdities of the official story concerning Jeffrey Epstein’s death will be branded a loon.

Of course, Navalnyii was no saint, to put it mildly. Doesn’t matter, those who control the narrative are the ones who decide, and making Navalnyii a saint happens to suit their purposes at the moment.

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Feb 20Liked by Niccolo Soldo

This level of sarcasm is achievable only by those who need it to be true.

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Feb 20·edited Feb 21Liked by Niccolo Soldo

I understand turning a man into a symbol based on who they were but this feels like a symbol is being forced into the shape of a man. The fact that almost no one is even talking about who Navalny was as a man does not help my suspicion.

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Feb 20·edited Feb 20Liked by Niccolo Soldo

With the Ascension of Saint Alexei, Hercules and Comrade Ogilvie will be relegated to the dustbin of history. How can anyone compete with such magnificence?

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Feb 20Liked by Niccolo Soldo

I love this so much

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I was NOT expecting A+ level sarcasm when I started this, in spite of the prominent Norm Macdonald reference in the subhead. Extremely well played, sir.

There’s a play on Broadway now that was previously in London about Berezovsky and Putin. I can’t bring myself to go, even though I think Michael Stuhlbarg is fantastic, for the suspicion I have that it will be a non-ironic version of this very essay.

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Feb 20Liked by Niccolo Soldo

I have trouble believing that the Western intelligence agencies seriously imagined that they could establish Navalny as another Yeltsin. Are they really that dumb? Or that consumed with contempt for Russia that they imagine Russians would fall for him?

Navalny's real significance lied in his use for narrative management within the West. As the West faces catastrophic failure in Ukraine it is retreating into a cocoon of fantasy. Foreign policy is less about achieving concrete ends overseas than it is about manipulating perceptions at home. I fully expect that Navalny's widow will make anti-Trump statements as required in the months ahead.

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Never let it be said that shitlibs are not religious.

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Feb 20Liked by Niccolo Soldo

it really is hilarious that mentally impaired partisans genuinely believe that an obvious glowjig beholden to a foreign power should be allowed to run Russia

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Feb 20Liked by Niccolo Soldo

What an inspiring hagiography, I enjoyed this old style so thank you. Speedy path to sainthood yet to be embellished with priestly recitals from the beer garden party. Did Lenin come from Switzerland to stir a revolution?

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I will not eat a single morsel of food until Alexei Navalny is dead and buried!

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A wonderful, inspiring, literary masterpiece. Greetings from Belgrade

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Feb 20Liked by Niccolo Soldo

“Mikhail Shishkin is fighting for democracy in Russia on the frontline in Switzerland”

Gold

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Feb 20Liked by Niccolo Soldo

When the "intelligentsia" seeks to define who are the angels and who are the devils for you,

4 dimensional shredding is a refreshing thing to see.

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Feb 20Liked by Niccolo Soldo

A friendly suggestion: Stick with what you're good at, reporting and analyzing. You suck at satire.

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