This Account Has Been Marked Rude
@rhombusticks.bsky.social
Ungood. Double Plus Ungood. One must not be Rude to Narc Narch Unthority.
https://tossinggrenadesatwindmills.blogspot.com/2025/07/the-king-is-dead-chapter-1.html
https://tossinggrenadesatwindmills.blogspot.com/2025/07/the-king-is-dead-chapter-1.html
Same box.
Different failure modes.
That’s the danger people keep missing.
Different failure modes.
That’s the danger people keep missing.
February 3, 2026 at 5:43 PM
Same box.
Different failure modes.
That’s the danger people keep missing.
Different failure modes.
That’s the danger people keep missing.
Putin’s system survives by absorbing conflict.
Xi’s system avoids conflict until it can’t—and then it has no shock absorbers.
Xi’s system avoids conflict until it can’t—and then it has no shock absorbers.
February 3, 2026 at 5:43 PM
Putin’s system survives by absorbing conflict.
Xi’s system avoids conflict until it can’t—and then it has no shock absorbers.
Xi’s system avoids conflict until it can’t—and then it has no shock absorbers.
Fear can suppress dissent.
It cannot substitute for succession, legitimacy, or error correction.
It cannot substitute for succession, legitimacy, or error correction.
February 3, 2026 at 5:43 PM
Fear can suppress dissent.
It cannot substitute for succession, legitimacy, or error correction.
It cannot substitute for succession, legitimacy, or error correction.
That makes China brittle.
Not because people rebel—but because no one is allowed to tell the truth fast enough when reality changes.
Not because people rebel—but because no one is allowed to tell the truth fast enough when reality changes.
February 3, 2026 at 5:43 PM
That makes China brittle.
Not because people rebel—but because no one is allowed to tell the truth fast enough when reality changes.
Not because people rebel—but because no one is allowed to tell the truth fast enough when reality changes.
In Russia, elites maneuver when things get tight.
In China, elites go silent, risk-averse, and inert.
In China, elites go silent, risk-averse, and inert.
February 3, 2026 at 5:43 PM
In Russia, elites maneuver when things get tight.
In China, elites go silent, risk-averse, and inert.
In China, elites go silent, risk-averse, and inert.
This isn’t about coups.
It’s about paralysis.
It’s about paralysis.
February 3, 2026 at 5:43 PM
This isn’t about coups.
It’s about paralysis.
It’s about paralysis.
Result: the one group that could manage continuity is forbidden from doing so.
Awareness without permission. Power without a future.
Awareness without permission. Power without a future.
February 3, 2026 at 5:43 PM
Result: the one group that could manage continuity is forbidden from doing so.
Awareness without permission. Power without a future.
Awareness without permission. Power without a future.
Xi knows this.
So he binds them personally to himself, rotates them constantly, and punishes any hint of future-thinking.
So he binds them personally to himself, rotates them constantly, and punishes any hint of future-thinking.
February 3, 2026 at 5:43 PM
Xi knows this.
So he binds them personally to himself, rotates them constantly, and punishes any hint of future-thinking.
So he binds them personally to himself, rotates them constantly, and punishes any hint of future-thinking.
That creates the real doom loop:
The only group with the structure and reach to plan succession is internal party discipline/security.
The only group with the structure and reach to plan succession is internal party discipline/security.
February 3, 2026 at 5:43 PM
That creates the real doom loop:
The only group with the structure and reach to plan succession is internal party discipline/security.
The only group with the structure and reach to plan succession is internal party discipline/security.
When a Leninist system runs out of justifications, succession becomes mandatory.
Except Xi has criminalized succession planning.
Except Xi has criminalized succession planning.
February 3, 2026 at 5:43 PM
When a Leninist system runs out of justifications, succession becomes mandatory.
Except Xi has criminalized succession planning.
Except Xi has criminalized succession planning.
He came to power with bullet points: anti-corruption, discipline, growth, competence, stability.
Those arguments are exhausted. Some didn’t just expire—they reversed.
Those arguments are exhausted. Some didn’t just expire—they reversed.
February 3, 2026 at 5:43 PM
He came to power with bullet points: anti-corruption, discipline, growth, competence, stability.
Those arguments are exhausted. Some didn’t just expire—they reversed.
Those arguments are exhausted. Some didn’t just expire—they reversed.
Xi broke that bargain.
But he didn’t replace it with a new one.
But he didn’t replace it with a new one.
February 3, 2026 at 5:43 PM
Xi broke that bargain.
But he didn’t replace it with a new one.
But he didn’t replace it with a new one.
China’s post-Deng system was built to avoid exactly that.
Managed succession. Predictable retirement. Procedural brutality, not chaos.
Managed succession. Predictable retirement. Procedural brutality, not chaos.
February 3, 2026 at 5:43 PM
China’s post-Deng system was built to avoid exactly that.
Managed succession. Predictable retirement. Procedural brutality, not chaos.
Managed succession. Predictable retirement. Procedural brutality, not chaos.
Putin can survive a legitimacy vacuum because Russian elites expect power to be ugly, contested, and informal.
That system bends violently—but it bends.
That system bends violently—but it bends.
February 3, 2026 at 5:43 PM
Putin can survive a legitimacy vacuum because Russian elites expect power to be ugly, contested, and informal.
That system bends violently—but it bends.
That system bends violently—but it bends.
Xi and Putin are in the same box: personalist rule with no clean succession story left.
The difference is cultural tolerance. Russia is used to elite knife fights. China is not.
The difference is cultural tolerance. Russia is used to elite knife fights. China is not.
February 3, 2026 at 5:43 PM
Xi and Putin are in the same box: personalist rule with no clean succession story left.
The difference is cultural tolerance. Russia is used to elite knife fights. China is not.
The difference is cultural tolerance. Russia is used to elite knife fights. China is not.
February 3, 2026 at 5:21 PM
Reposted by This Account Has Been Marked Rude
happening this morning in Minneapolis -- ICE agents drawing guns on observers. I reiterate again that it is only a matter of time before DHS kills more innocent people in Minnesota. Congress needs to shut this shit down right now.
February 3, 2026 at 4:19 PM
happening this morning in Minneapolis -- ICE agents drawing guns on observers. I reiterate again that it is only a matter of time before DHS kills more innocent people in Minnesota. Congress needs to shut this shit down right now.
@markey.senate.gov This is why you are being primaried. This is why @warren.senate.gov and her KOSA bill are pissing me off. This is why @moulton.house.gov should be elected and every DSCC dem is an aipac dem except Bernie
www.reuters.com/legal/govern...
www.reuters.com/legal/govern...
Trump-backed deal to end shutdown faces tight House vote
The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives will try to pass a deal that would end the latest government shutdown over opposition from an unusual alignment of Democrats and hardline conser...
www.reuters.com
February 3, 2026 at 5:13 PM
@markey.senate.gov This is why you are being primaried. This is why @warren.senate.gov and her KOSA bill are pissing me off. This is why @moulton.house.gov should be elected and every DSCC dem is an aipac dem except Bernie
www.reuters.com/legal/govern...
www.reuters.com/legal/govern...
Reposted by This Account Has Been Marked Rude
Maxwell Frost was assaulted by a racist and Ilhan Omar was charged at and sprayed with a substance by a devoted Trump supporter.
While I’m glad both are OK, we need to seriously address political violence. The hate & lies spewed by Donald Trump is a good place to start. -SWM
While I’m glad both are OK, we need to seriously address political violence. The hate & lies spewed by Donald Trump is a good place to start. -SWM
January 28, 2026 at 10:11 PM
Maxwell Frost was assaulted by a racist and Ilhan Omar was charged at and sprayed with a substance by a devoted Trump supporter.
While I’m glad both are OK, we need to seriously address political violence. The hate & lies spewed by Donald Trump is a good place to start. -SWM
While I’m glad both are OK, we need to seriously address political violence. The hate & lies spewed by Donald Trump is a good place to start. -SWM