When kleptocratic oligarchs stick together, dystopia grows... Setya Novanto Trump, Putin
Maddow and O'Donnell had some interesting topics tonight.
Setya Novanto is Indonesia's speaker of the house who was led to rescue easing a year ago, when a tape was released which showed him trying to extort a $5 Billion ownership in one of the world's largest copper mines, in Indonesia, from the US mining company that owned it, Freeport-McMoRan..
He resigned, but because he pulls so many strings, a court ruled that the tape could not be used in court, and bizarrely, he was able to have his job restored to him. Yes, even though he has been recorded seeking a $5 Billion bribe, he is back in power.
Roll back the clack to September, 2015, to the day that Donald was announcing that he had indeed signed "The Pledge" to support the Republican nominee "whoever that is". Next to Donald Trump at that event, and introduced by him, was Setya Novanto.
Donald's project to build the biggest, most luxurious resort in Bali will proceed, according to the NYT and the Boston Globe in the last couple days. And Trump named Carl Icahn to be his new adviser on regulatory issues, who is a top shareholder in the mining company. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/31/world/asia/indonesia-donald-trump-resort.html?_r=0
Novanto's extortion attempt was the direct use of his power as Speaker of the House to try to enrich himself grotesquely. Putin has enriched himself, as a very rich man who has drawn modest government salaries throughout his life. Trump will be building resorts and getting investments for as long as he keeps his stubby little hands on the reins of the White House.
The Republican agenda will try to ram through their long desired agenda of eliminating the social safety net and privatizing everything that they can which is now public. In the course of that, there will be payoffs and favors to their billionaire constituents. In the meantime, Trump and some of the well-connected Congressmem will do their private deals on the side, to pad their personal fortune.
In addition to the moral and humanitarian consequences of such a kleptocracy, I do not trust that the US economy will be predictable with this kind of leadership. Maybe the market will puff up and then collapse. Congress wants to get rid of the CFPB, Dodd-Frank, and the Congressional Independent Ethics Panel.
When I read the Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein, i learned of the idea that imposing such a massive shock -- through multiple means, suddenly, during a time of confusion -- can disarm your opponents and prevent effective opposition because there are too many fronts on which to fight a war. No evolution of policy but a massive rewrite of a government's laws. I expect that this is the Republican plan: Trump is there for personal profit, while Paul Ryan -- who by the way supposedly opposes the elimination of the Comgressional Ethics panel -- is in it for the free-market, small-government, privatize-everything ideology.
What to do? Not just picking a political cause to work on, but deciding how to personally prepare for the multiple storms. Re-read the Shock Doctrine to get a sense of what can be expected. Simplify and pare down one's needs to better withstand the disruptions.
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Who knows how far this goes? 
