this post was submitted on 16 Feb 2024
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[–] [email protected] 107 points 8 months ago (6 children)

and half this country wants to see these kind of headlines coming from ours. 😢

[–] [email protected] 96 points 8 months ago (10 children)

Not half. Never forget that the insane, reactionary conservatives are a minority in this country. They're just extremely loud.

[–] [email protected] 41 points 8 months ago

They're only a "minority" because a third of the country will happily sit on the sidelines while they try to kill the other third.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 8 months ago

They’re a solid 30%. Which means they’re life or death for their party. Which means they get their way. They’re as influential as any other group, or even more successful than others with similar numbers. I don’t see how we can just wave that away as “they’re a minority.”

[–] [email protected] 16 points 8 months ago (1 children)

They are a minority by population but US elections are by county and state. This is the last presidential election:

https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2020_Presidential_Election_by_County.svg#mw-jump-to-license

Everyone thinks that because Biden won the last election everything is fine and they can go back to ignoring elections.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

US elections are mostly by state not by county. You can see states that voted blue despite being majority red on the county level. And Alaska is the opposite example where county level seems more blue but the state is red. It's a misleading map because it doesn't represent population density. Most of red counties are low population areas.

The state distribution however is kinda BS, but the real reason republicans can have power with a clear minority is because of the FPTP voting that prefers a two party system instead of a multiparty system. GOP would be far more fringe party if more alternatives existed.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 8 months ago

Half the people who vote. Technically the others don't matter to the system.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago

Oh, I know, speaking in euphemisms. Maybe I should have said half the electorate (which I know is still not completely accurate). Point is, there is a real chance he gets elected and if so, we’re fucked. I’m not taking chances by downplaying the danger.

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[–] [email protected] 24 points 8 months ago (1 children)

This is World News. We're not all from America.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 8 months ago

You are right, apologies, I'm talking from the US perspective but we aren't alone, same could be said from several..

[–] [email protected] 18 points 8 months ago (2 children)

We assumed way too much that our country is split in half. Conservatives are much less than half but due to gerrymandering and voter suppression tactics are not targeted towards them. They are cheating to make you think it's half.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago

Right, but that’s what I’m talking about. It may not be half, but we need half to overcome it based on their cheating. I wasn’t speaking mathematically, more in terms of the power structure.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago

Don't forget the tankies though, they luv this shit too

[–] [email protected] 13 points 8 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 8 points 8 months ago

US but IMHO there's several places that could say the same.

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[–] [email protected] 64 points 8 months ago

Yeah, generally that's how you feel after being poisoned.

[–] [email protected] 45 points 8 months ago (4 children)

I still don't understand why Navalny returned to Russia. He knew he would be arrested, so why do it at all? Now he's dead, quite conveniently for Putin.

[–] [email protected] 57 points 8 months ago

My assumption would be that he hoped he could at least become a martyr for the Russian people. It is one thing to be accused of crimes, and flee your country forever, it leaves space for Russians to think “well if he is an innocent man, why is he on the run? If he wishes to represent this country, how can he if he flees it?”. Maybe he hoped that by coming back and facing the ridiculous charges, it could at least give him some credibility with the citizens who would maybe see the absurdity of it all, and maybe spark some kind of political unrest. It obviously didn’t work, but in the face of the hopeless political situation in Russia, can you blame him for trying?

[–] [email protected] 35 points 8 months ago (1 children)

He purposely martyred himself.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 8 months ago

If I'm honest, I don't think many will care enough to do anything.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 8 months ago

Martyrdom is my guess

[–] [email protected] 7 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

I don't think he wanted to die. People like Alexei have a strong moral character. When they know their cause is good and right they will refuse to back down every time. That sense of righteous gives them strength to stand up to even the most horrible dictators. While short sighted in terms of self preservation many would rather die on the side of righteousness than live in a world that is inherently flawed. He died with his dreams in tact which many of us will never have. I don't think he wanted to be a martyr he just never saw any other choice.

[–] [email protected] 39 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (6 children)

He's absolutely not Vladimir Putin but let's not hail him as this shining beacon of truth just because he's a martyr. He was still a Russia first nationalist that supported the Russians during the Russo-Georgian war and was vocally supportive of the annexation of Crimea. He even made a youtube video where he played a pest control specialist and explains how to rid themselves of immigrants while comparing them to fleas and cockroaches. In the video he is attacked by a figure presumed to be one of the muslim immigrants he is calling to be exterminated and shoots them twice in the chest.

[–] [email protected] 36 points 8 months ago (1 children)

And yet would still be an improvement on the psychopath currently in the presidents office. crazy ain't it?

[–] [email protected] 17 points 8 months ago

100%

I understand that better needs to not be the enemy of perfect, but I don't want people to think that Navalny was going to be some savior of Russia like they seem to. He was just an island of semi-sanity in an ocean of diarrhea.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago (1 children)

It's not "muslim immigrant". It's Shamil Basayev, a former Ichkerian guerilla fighter (which short existence was fueled largely by kidnappings and slave trade), who later turned terrorist and is directly responsible for numerous bombings and hostage crisises.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago

So what. I can still appreciate what he tried to do

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[–] [email protected] 27 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I don't get the focus on whether he was poisoned/actively killed or not. If he died of "just collapsing" the Russian regime is still 100% responsible for his death. They killed him either way. Putin killed Navalny, the means by which that happened are secondary.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Because he very likely has been. Putin has a long history of people "mysteriously" dying. if it happens once in a blue moon, it's a conspiracy theory. But it happens so damn often that it's practically undeniable.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I agree, but does it matter in this case? It feels like a potato potato discussion. Let's assume for a moment he wasn't poisoned. Was he not still killed brutally by Putin's regime? From years of being mistreated and abused? What difference does it make whether he was poisoned, shot, or just exhausted to death? The means by which his death occurred are secondary, him dying by the hands of Putin is primary, isn't it? Putin is his killer, one way or the other.

And I think we are all in the clear that Putin and his regime like to kill off people that aren't taking part in their shenanigans. Navalny's death, even if officially proven to have been accelerated by direct means, will not change the minds of those who don't believe in the government's brutal killing spree.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago

True enough i suppose. Though the direct approach is more likely to convince some.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Sad to see him die. Not that surprising though.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

He was a dead man the moment he ran and he knew this. I hope his message reaches out to the citizens of Russia

[–] [email protected] 21 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Feel free to call me a conspiracy theorist, but I think this is a bit fishy.

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 8 months ago

General malnutrition plus weakened health from the previous poisoning is my guess.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (2 children)

So what's the verdict? Novichok? Polonium?

This crap right here is why we need to keep Putin in check.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago

Putonium, obvs.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago

No need for poisoning. Where he was -30°C is normal at this time of year. Not giving him a coat would have been enough to kill him

[–] [email protected] 10 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Now do Tucker Carlson next

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago
[–] [email protected] 9 points 8 months ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:


Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny - a vocal critic of President Vladimir Putin - has died, according to the prison service.

The Federal Penitentiary Service for Yamal said in a statement: "On 16 February, 2024, in penal colony No 3, convict AA Navalny felt unwell after a walk, almost immediately losing consciousness.

Nobel Peace Prize winner and campaigning journalist Dmitry Muratov, who is editor-in-chief of Russia's most famous independent newspaper, Novaya Gazeta, described the death of Mr Navalny as "murder" and said he believed prison conditions had led to it.

French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne said Mr Navalny has paid with his life for his "resistance to a system of oppression".

"But it does seem very shocking that his health should have deteriorated to the extent that he's dead now - given we have seen him in court videos, we have also had a lot social media presence from him via his lawyers where he is constantly seen upbeat and cheerful.

"He was only recently moved to this prison colony up in the very far north of the country, and it is an absolute tragedy for any notion of a free Russia, a Russian democracy, which was all that Alexei Navalny devoted his life to since he burst onto the scene in 2012.


The original article contains 669 words, the summary contains 213 words. Saved 68%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

[–] [email protected] 8 points 8 months ago (2 children)

I wonder why it took this long. Did Putin just want to torture him? Why did Putin keep him around for this long.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 8 months ago (1 children)

No, the strategy is to let potential martyrs rot in prison until people forgot about them. THEN poison them. I guess Putin just felt like it had been long enough.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago

I guess the plan worked, his communications with his team and the public were severely hampered by his imprisonment and his team went in a different direction, effectively splitting Navalny's name into the movement in his name and Navalny himself, but the latter is now dead and the former lost most of it's traction due to his team's actions, inaction, and general lack of charisma.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 8 months ago

To send the sort of message that only the most dimwitted “conservative” could miss: “fuck with me and i will torture you to death, slowly and publicly”.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago

Epstein didn’t kill himself.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Death is just the last time someone loses consciousness... And lots of things can cause a loss of consciousness, in this case, maltreatment, abuse, and neglect.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago

The guy is named Vladmir putin for fucks sake of course he will leach the life out of people who oppose hin

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