Trump’s role modelby digby
I’m sure Trump thinks this is an excellent idea. Certainly he likes Putin’s tactic of banning his political rivals from running against him by trumping up charges and then saying he’s disqualified from running due to his criminal record. Trump’s DOJ put a bunch of American on trial for protesting his inauguration but it didn’t work. And he is still pushing for his former political rival to be put in jail.
Russian protesters shouting slogans including “Putin is a thief!” gathered briefly around the Russian government’s headquarters while marching through central Moscow.
The lengthy march Sunday by the mostly young group of several hundred protesters came after a large gathering at Pushkin Square dispersed. The rally was among protests nationwide in support of opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s call to boycott the March 18 presidential election.
The marchers headed down Novy Arbat, one of Moscow’s widest and busiest avenues, to the riverside government building colloquially known as the Russian White House. They shouted slogans and some threw handfuls of snow through the high, spiked fence surrounding the building before moving on.
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who was detained by police en route to an unauthorized protest rally in Moscow, is expected to be charged with a public-order violation.
That charge could bring a punishment of 20 days in jail.
Navalny called for nationwide demonstrations Sunday to support a boycott of Russia’s March 18 presidential election, in which Vladimir Putin is seeking a fourth term. Navalny has been barred from running in the election.
Navalny was seized by police Sunday while walking to the Moscow protest. Russian news reports cited police as saying he was likely to be charged with violating a law on calling public demonstrations.
Who is President Putin going to blame this time? Hillary Clinton hasn’t even said a word about it.
Trump holds the same sentiments about dealing with his political rivals, he just hasn’t been able to figure out a way do it. Perhaps this is one silver lining of the Russia investigation I hadn’t thought of. Trump is so distracted by his legal troubles that he’s only testing his powers to protect himself instead of fully embracing the authoritarianism he so obviously believes in.
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