DL Open Thread: Saturday, March 5, 2022

The Roger Stone Tapes.  When a vain person participates in a vanity project, the results often don’t paint said person in a positive light:

As a mob ransacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Roger Stone, Donald Trump’s longest-serving political adviser, hurried to pack a suitcase inside his elegant suite on the fifth floor of the Willard hotel. He wrapped his tailored suits in trash bags, reversed his black face mask so its “Free Roger Stone” logo was hidden, then slipped out of town for a hastily arranged private flight from Dulles International Airport.

“I really want to get out of here,” Stone told an aide, as they were filmed at the hotel by a Danish camera crew for a documentary on the veteran Republican operative. Stone said he feared prosecution by the incoming attorney general, Merrick Garland. “He is not a friend,” Stone said.

Stone allowed the filmmakers to document his activities during extended periods over more than two years. In addition to interviews and moments when Stone spoke directly to the camera, they also captured fly-on-the-wall footage of his actions, candid off-camera conversations from a microphone he wore and views of his iPhone screen as he messaged associates on an encrypted app.

Stone privately coordinated post-election protests with prominent figures, and in January he communicated by text message with leaders of far-right groups that had been involved in the attack on the Capitol, the footage shows. The filmmakers did not capture conversations between Stone and Trump, but on several occasions, Stone told them or his associates that he remained in contact with the president.

Read it. Even if it means getting a subscription to the Washington Post. Support quality journalism.

Krugman On ‘Autarky’–Putin’s Other Serious Miscalculation:

We don’t know yet how this plays out, but if we see the kinds of mass civilian casualties and reign of terror that seem all too likely in the weeks ahead, the effect may be to largely isolate Russia from the rest of the world economy.

Economists have a rather arcane term for this kind of isolation: “autarky.” And it’s likely to be extremely damaging.

You might think that autarky is just a strong form of protectionism, which also tends to reduce trade. But it’s actually a lot worse.

The dirty little secret of international economics is that while economists love to sing the praises of free trade, the economic costs of tariffs — even fairly high tariffs — tend to be modest. Why? Because the private sector responds to tariffs by cutting off only the least essential imports…If an imported good is really needed — for example, if it’s a crucial input for manufacturing that we can’t quickly start making here — companies will simply pay the tariff and continue buying abroad.

If events cut off a large fraction of a nation’s international trade, however, that kind of prioritization won’t be possible. The domestic economy will lose access not just to cheap stuff but also to goods it has a very hard time doing without.

That’s just the Cliff’s Notes (memo to self: find out who Cliff was) version.

Read it.  Even if it means getting a subscription to the Times.  Support quality journalism.

Yup. Trucker’s Convoy Just Another Excuse To Bilk Money From The Mouth-Breathers:

They want to do something, so they give. In this case, to the AFCLF Foundation, which launched last year and names as its executive director a Texas woman named Pamela Milacek, whose arrest is sought, records show, by authorities who allege she violated the terms of her community supervision after pleading guilty to felony fraud and exploitation charges in 2020.

They don’t trust the government, but they are placing their trust in the nonprofit group, which lists among its top issues “election integrity” on a website decrying “ideological discrimination, “big tech censorship,” “cancel culture” and “forced COVID vaccinations.”

Betcha those high fuel prices ain’t gonna help the turnout, neither.  Not to mention, most of the mandates the’re protestin’ have been lifted.

Why Going After The Oligarchs Is So Effective:

And some of Russia’s best-known oligarchs—business figures who have built up huge fortunes, in most cases through their connections to the state—are now calling for an end to the war.

The oligarchs play essential roles in Putin’s Russia: They provide invaluable public support for the regime, lead key companies and institutions, and distract attention from and, by some accounts, help conceal the president’s own enormous wealth.

Oligarchs who are cut off from accessing their offshore wealth won’t starve, but they will be unable to maintain their jet-setting luxury lifestyle…looting your country’s wealth is pointless if you can’t show off the spoils.

So, who was Cliff?  He was Clifton Keith Hillegass of Lincoln, Nebraska.

”Most people have come to know them as cheat sheets,” said his daughter Kimberly Newton. ”He never, ever intended for people to use them that way, as a substitute, because he had such great respect for the works. He just basically wanted to help them get as much out of their education as they could.”

In each of the slender pamphlets, Mr. Hillegass included a note to readers with his signature at the bottom, ”A thorough appreciation of literature allows no shortcuts.”

We all learned something new today.  I’ve done my job.

What do you want to talk about?