Putin Gets a Pass as Navalny Dies, Oklahoma Mean Girls Stomp Out a Non-Binary Life

Stochastic terrorism in action

Russian dissident Alexi Navalny died suddenly at the IK-3 penal colony north of the Arctic Circle. The cause of death was “sudden death syndrome.”

A 16 year old non-binary student died in Oklahoma after getting their head bashed in on a restroom tile floor by fellow students.

What does their death have to do with the death of a Russian dissident? Everything; the fanatics involved in both deaths were merely doing what was expected of them. 

Using assassins (outside of foreign policy) is no longer necessary for eliminating “others;” leaders merely need to set the expectation of death and some followers will oblige eventually.

Here’s commentary from the Brookings Institute on Navalny’s passing:

• There is no doubt that the Kremlin is responsible for the death of Alexei Navalny. He died a slow death, beginning with his poisoning with the deadly nerve agent Novichok by the Russian Federal Security Service in 2020. He only survived then because he was able to receive treatment at Berlin’s Charité hospital. 

• Since his return from Germany early in 2021, he was arrested, jailed in increasingly harsh conditions, and more recently transferred to a remote, brutal prison colony above the Arctic Circle, where he was regularly placed in solitary confinement for long periods against Russia’s own laws. Navalny’s health was increasingly frail and his requests for proper medical treatment were repeatedly denied. 

All too often we Americans find ourselves stuck in outmoded perceptions when it comes to understanding current events. The assassination of dissident Alexi Navalny is a case in point.

Nowadays, Russia serves as a beacon of righteousness for former president Trump and his Christian Nationalist allies. Wrong thinking, LGBTQ+ humans, and political criticism are verboten.

The Putin-approved Russian Orthodox Church preaches the “theology of war”, saying a stronger nation has the right to subjugate a weaker one that does not submit to it voluntarily. Entry to heaven is guaranteed for anyone who gives their life to bring about this subjugation.  

A religion that survived years of Soviet repression has become an organ of repression. Priests are defrocked for leading prayers for peace rather than victory.

It should come as no surprise that the former president’s commentary about Navalny’s ending amplified his personal victimhood, saying the death of the dissident  “made me more and more aware of what is happening in our Country.”

There was no mention of Vladimir Putin, and people who expected criticism obviously haven’t been listening to Trump. He’s refused to condemn the Russian leader for obvious political assassinations going back to the 2016 campaign with statements made on national television.

Via Dean Obdeidallah: 

• What makes it so deeply concerning now is that Trump’s top priority if he wins in 2024 is “retribution.” He was vowed to weaponize the Department of Justice to go after Biden and his critics. And recently Trump repeated that the 2024 election is our nation’s “Final Battle,” promising his supporters that “With you at my side” we will “demolish” everyone who has opposed him from “the Fake News media” to “globalists” to “ the sick political class” and more. And what has Trump asked his supporters to help him do to these people? “We will liberate our country from these tyrants and villains once and for all!”

• Trump is not hiding he wants to “liberate” the United States from his critics. How he will do that is the question?

• Let me ask: If Trump won in 2024 and soon began arresting his critics—from members of the media to even Democratic members of Congress such as Adam Schiff, Ilhan Omar, AOC and others-do you think MAGA would denounce that or cheer? You know the answer. And given MAGA’s embrace of violence, if some of those people were to mysteriously die in jail, do you have any doubt Trump and his base would cheer it? Of course they would.

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Although the circumstances of a 16 year old non-binary student in Oklahoma were different from the Russian opposition leader, the thought processes preceding death each had much in common. Public hate fueled by leaders being the root cause of death.

Oklahoma has been on the front lines of implementing right wing policies intent on marginalizing LGBTQ+ humans. Controversial far-right Superintendent Ryan Walters has been aggressively working to ban books and education on LGBTQ+ issues in schools across the state.

The state legislature has seen 54 bills introduced this year –six of them will likely pass– with potentially negative impacts on people existing outside the “normal” heterosexual spectrum. 

The nation’s most notorious self-described stochastic terrorist and January 6th Capitol rioter Chaya Raichik, owner of the social media account Libs of TikTok, has an official position on the state’s Department of Education’s Library Media Advisory Committee. They are the state’s book banners. 

Via VPS Reports: 

• Officials from Oklahoma told NBC News that they believe Chaya Raichik’s anti-LGBTQ+ culture warring “sparked threats in their localities with her posts on social media that digitally heckle people such as drag performers, LGBTQ teachers and doctors who treat transgender patients.”  

• One of these instances was at the Owasso School District (just outside of Tulsa, Oklahoma). In 2022, Chaya Raichik targeted an Owasso teacher for speaking out in support of LGBTQ+ students who lacked acceptance from their parents. Raichik’s post was shared thousands of times on social media and resulted in the teacher getting condemned and harassed until they resigned. The posts Raichik made about the teacher were later deleted, but have been archived. It’s unclear what prompted the deletion of the posts by Raichik. We know Raichik’s Libs of TikTok posts have contributed to a culture of intolerance against LGBTQ+ youth in schools, and now this hate may be manifesting beyond mere threats.

• This month, a non-binary 16-year-old student at Owasso High School was brutally murdered in the girl’s restroom. According to local news outlets and family, Nex Benedict was beaten by three older female students. The mother of Benedict’s best friend told KJRH News that "one of the girls was pretty much repeatedly beating [Benedict’s] head across the floor.” Reports say Benedict was unable to take themselves to the nurse’s office after a teacher finally intervened in the brutal assault. For reasons that remain unclear, Owasso High School refused to call an ambulance for 16-year-old Nex Benedict, who died from their injuries in the hospital the next day. A motive for this killing has not been shared by law enforcement, but we know that schools in Oklahoma have been specifically pushing violent eliminationist rhetoric against transgender and non-binary youth— a fact exemplified by the state’s hiring of Chaya Raichik following her incitements of terror against the state’s schools over LGBTQ+ rights. 

There will be no consequences for anybody connected with these deaths. For all we know, the Russian claim of a blood clot in the brain may be the truth. But we also know that neither death would have occurred outside of an environment that winks at inflicting suffering on the “other.” 

Here’s a Media Matters video on the spreading of execution fever on the right.

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Tuesday’s Food for Thought

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Are We Transitioning From Capitalism to Silicon Serfdom? An interview with Yanis Varoufakis in Jacobin

• If capitalism is market-based and profit-driven, well then this is no longer capitalism, because this is not marketplace-based. It’s based on digital platforms that are closer to techno-fiefdoms or cloud fiefdoms, and they’re driven by two forms of liquidity. One is cloud rent, which is the opposite of profit, and the other is central bank money, which funded the building of cloud capital. And that is not capitalism.

• Now you can choose to call it capitalism if you want, if you redefine capitalism and if you say that anything that stems from the power of capital is capitalism, but it’s not capitalism as we’ve known it. To paraphrase Spock in Star Trek: “It is life but not life as we’ve known it.”

• And I think that it’s important to make the linguistic transition from the word “capitalism” to something else, which is very difficult to make, because we’re all wedded to the idea that we’re fighting against capitalism. After all those decades of feeling that we came to this planet to overthrow capitalism, it’s really very difficult to have an idiot like me coming along and saying, “But this is not capitalism anymore.” You say, “Bugger off. Of course it is capitalism. If it’s not socialism, it must be capitalism.” That’s what a fellow Marxist said to me. And I killed myself laughing because I remember my Rosa Luxembourg. No, it can be barbarism.

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Tama’s 2024 Voting Guide, Primary Election via Change Begins with Me.

I don’t always agree with Tama (and these are her picks, not the organization’s), but I respect her process. She researches and even interviews candidates and causes. I’m one of the people she consults regularly. She’s done the hard work, now go vote.  

Also: Change Begins with Me is a great group to tap into if you believe in electoral activism but don’t like the corrupt vibes of the local Democratic party. 

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Trump allies prepare to infuse ‘Christian nationalism’ in second administration Via Politico

• Christian nationalists in America believe that the country was founded as a Christian nation and that Christian values should be prioritized throughout government and public life. As the country has become less religious and more diverse, Vought has embraced the idea that Christians are under assault and has spoken of policies he might pursue in response.

• One document drafted by CRA staff and fellows includes a list of top priorities for CRA in a second Trump term. “Christian nationalism” is one of the bullet points. Others include invoking the Insurrection Act on Day One to quash protests and refusing to spend authorized congressional funds on unwanted projects, a practice banned by lawmakers in the Nixon era.

• CRA’s work fits into a broader effort by conservative, MAGA-leaning organizations to influence a future Trump White House. Two people familiar with the plans, who were granted anonymity to discuss internal matters, said that Vought hopes his proximity and regular contact with the former president — he and Trump speak at least once a month, according to one of the people — will elevate Christian nationalism as a focal point in a second Trump term.