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Mookie Roland00 Send a noteboard - 18/07/2018 04:13:03 PM

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Having an important person in your pocket is much more effective if it isn’t common knowledge. If everyone knows, where’s your leverage?

In business we do not want a lack of rivals, for a lack of rivals introduces competition and anti-trust action. In business we want incompetent rivals. Facebook is glad that Twitter exists, let me repeat Facebook wants Twitter to exist, but any rival that looks like it has competent management such as Instagram or Whats App they buy out before they get too big.

Destabilizing forces where you "lower the oxygen" in the room is very much an acceptable business tactic if you have large lungs and your competitor does not. Some business want regulation where they find it cheap and easy to comply with regulation due to scale but their competitors would not. It is called a "moat" / "economic moat" to borrow Warren Buffet's term.

[...] Pivots back to the matter at hand after that metaphor [...]

The same applies to politics and geo-politics. Russia wants very little from the US in a direct fashion. What Russia wants from the US is not a strong trustworthy US with strong alliances with Europe and Asia and a non working government in the US so the people in the US do not have trust in the possibility of working government.

Russia wants this for several reasons, one of which is a US without working alliances does not have leverage. Another reason is that it helps national politics in Russia for the US and other democracies are less a model for the Russia people the "more messy they look."

Increasing distrust with US people and US government furthers Russia's goals. Increasing distrust with Europe people and the US government furthers Russia's goals.

[...]

There are multiple ways to play the game, and trust me the current leader of Russia with his 16 years of being a foreign intelligence officer prior to his entry in politics (he got all the way to Lt. Colonel aka 2 ranks short of General), he knows the relative variabile strengths and weaknesses of the different ways / styles of playing the geo-politic game.

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trump is not the first US president to hand the white house to the russian government - 17/07/2018 07:22:36 PM 1205 Views
What about Ted Kennedy's alleged 1984 request to Andropov to help him win the Presidency? - 17/07/2018 07:59:12 PM 640 Views
This isn't based on the Steele dossier - 17/07/2018 08:50:04 PM 623 Views
Hanlon's razor, really. - 17/07/2018 11:50:17 PM 662 Views
It wouldn't be the first time. - 17/07/2018 11:57:13 PM 563 Views
I just believe the stupidity came earlier - 18/07/2018 12:09:20 AM 578 Views
Apparently you also believe Putin is equally stupid. - 18/07/2018 12:15:29 AM 559 Views
Why? - 18/07/2018 03:35:33 AM 553 Views
Obviously - 18/07/2018 03:49:34 AM 633 Views
Oh please - 18/07/2018 05:39:01 AM 575 Views
Mookie - 18/07/2018 04:13:03 PM 606 Views
Well said. - 18/07/2018 06:03:17 PM 581 Views
Notice how everyone claims to understand what Russia wants? - 22/07/2018 05:55:44 AM 591 Views
What does Russia actually want? - 22/07/2018 04:15:07 PM 623 Views
To be treated and respected as a significant power - 23/07/2018 04:20:26 PM 648 Views
Thanks, that was a very interesting read. - 23/07/2018 10:39:07 PM 553 Views
New questions..... - 24/07/2018 01:19:04 AM 566 Views
So many ways to answer this - 24/07/2018 03:16:30 AM 648 Views
That was a good answer. *NM* - 24/07/2018 04:13:50 PM 329 Views
*Claps* well said. *NM* - 24/07/2018 03:33:41 AM 328 Views
Honest question - 26/07/2018 05:50:38 PM 664 Views
Very interesting essay Tom. *NM* - 31/07/2018 03:54:26 PM 882 Views
I’ve always suspected... - 22/07/2018 06:45:28 PM 545 Views
Of course - 23/07/2018 04:22:32 PM 568 Views
Mental Shorthand - 24/07/2018 03:20:05 AM 576 Views
And how about Obama trying to defeat Netanyahu a few years ago? - 18/07/2018 03:31:00 AM 542 Views
Hey, that was also Soros *NM* - 18/07/2018 09:13:55 AM 327 Views
Not sure what the point of the homophobic imagery is... - 17/07/2018 08:38:42 PM 586 Views
I don't read much news.... - 17/07/2018 10:55:31 PM 565 Views
Re: I don't read much news.... - 17/07/2018 11:17:01 PM 568 Views
Re: I don't read much news.... - 18/07/2018 12:19:54 AM 617 Views
It appears you don't read much news either, Cannoli... - 18/07/2018 06:23:12 AM 520 Views
I agree with everything you have said, barring one thing: - 20/07/2018 12:14:14 PM 582 Views
Hmm - 21/07/2018 03:25:03 AM 549 Views
Re: Hmm - 21/07/2018 03:46:12 AM 585 Views
Re: Hmm - 26/07/2018 05:58:19 PM 539 Views
We see the world differently.... - 18/07/2018 11:08:27 PM 534 Views
Moondog be better than the NYT Opinion section please *NM* - 18/07/2018 12:17:03 AM 325 Views
moondog = *NM* - 04/08/2018 05:52:18 PM 296 Views

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