Disillusion

As the world literally burns, the Guardian reports on Russian efforts to subvert American politics.

Vladimir Putin personally authorised a secret spy agency operation to support a “mentally unstable” [Fuckface von Clownstick] in the 2016 US presidential election during a closed session of Russia’s national security council, according to what are assessed to be leaked Kremlin documents.

And five years after that Kremlin meeting, reporting from Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig shows how close we are to the brink of authoritarianism.

General Mark Milley, was so concerned the outgoing president would try to stage a military coup he warned the heads of the U.S. Military branches, did daily "check-in" calls with the White House Chief of Staff, and likened the Commander in Chief's efforts to retain power to Adolf Hitler.

"They may try, but they’re not going to fucking succeed," Milley told his deputies.

In turn, Manbaby denies comtemplating a coup.

[I]f I was going to do a coup, one of the last people I would want to do it with is General Mark Milley.

So who did he have in mind to help with the coup? 

Update (July 16):  Chaucey DeVega notes that military leaders preparing to defy civilian rule sets a dangerous precedent.

Any "democracy" where such decisions become normalized — and are welcomed by the public — is in practice an autocracy, or eventually a military dictatorship.

America's political institutions did not "hold" in the face of the [Fuckface] regime's many assaults. If anything, [Dear Leader's] attempt to overthrow American democracy was sabotaged by his own incompetence and stopped by a few courageous individuals.

[O]ne thing is certain: if there are no severe consequences for the [Orangeman] regime's ongoing assault on American democracy, or for its other crimes, that will offer both permission and a blueprint for future fascists and other types of demagogues. They will learn from the [von Clownstick] regime's tactical and strategic errors, and will not repeat them.

Heather Digby Parton agrees that

it's very unnerving to see a general in this position, working with others to thwart the will of the civilian leadership. That is NOT how it's supposed to work.

Parton adds a further detail from Rucker and Leonnig that Vice President Pence refused to get into a car with Secret Service on January 6. She quotes Nicolle Wallace:

[S]omeone familiar with this reporting tells me that Pence feared a conspiracy. He feared that the Secret Service would aid [Dear Leader] in his ultimate aims that day.

Update (July 20):  Chauncey DeVega discusses the Guardian report.

Whatever one concludes about the authenticity of these Kremlin papers, one conclusion is obvious: Their observations about [Fuckface von Clownstick], and about the vulnerability of American society to disinformation and subversion, are correct.

Both Robert Mueller's report and the Senate Intelligence Committee's report on the 2016 election (the latter completed under Republican leadership) have conclusively shown that Russia interfered to help [Dear Leader] win as a way of advancing its strategic goals. Moreover, it is a matter of public record that [Manbaby's] inner circle included at least one Russian agent.

Russia's strategy would prove to be brilliant: [Fuckface] left the White House with the U.S. a weakened world power, gripped by a plague that has killed at least 600,000 people, along with a neofascist insurgency that shows no signs of dying out. Right-wing terrorism and other violence is escalating, and the nation has become irreparably polarized by the increasing radicalism of Republicans and the right.