Well, they would, wouldnât they?
âRussia has a lot of commodities that need to go somewhere else,â said Benjamin J. Nolan, a financial analyst who covers Navigator for Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. He added, âOdds are, they are going to have long term contracts with Western shipping companies.â
Benjamin, old buddy, you may know something about the shipping market, but you apparently donât know jack shit about ethics, particularly as they apply to Cabinet officers. Try to pay attention.
ETA: Bonus points to @lizzymom for MR-D reference!
What the hell is up with all the âsaid to beâsâ in this article about Putinâs daughter?
Typical AP. This is the false dichotomy:
Are all connections to Russia now suspect? Or are they sometimes merely
an inconvenient consequence of doing business in a country where major
corporations often are controlled by the Kremlin?
Theyâre both. The thing about doing business âsuccessfullyâ with a country controlled by a corrupt dictator is that you are inevitably drawn into the corrupt dictatorâs orbit. You could write almost precisely the same article about companies doing business in a city controlled by a mob boss, but it wouldnât save company officials from indictment.
Well of COURSE âindustry expertsâ would shrug this off- doing business with dictators is the cost of doing business (and getting YUUGE tax cuts, too!).
And apparently like Donald he lies about what heâs worth, sure he under reports vs exaggerating but still.
âBut now, in what might seem almost an echo of the Red Scare that lasted in America for generations, this business relationship is seen as tainted, an ominous connection to a country that unleashed cyberwar against American democracy and the 2016 election that put Trump in the White House.â
What is this kind of blatant opinionating doing in a straight AP news story?
Are all connections to Russia now suspect?
âAllâ is a rhetorical dodge. Weâre not talking about âallâ ⌠weâre talking about connections with people appearing on a list of individuals subject to US sanctions. That certainly changes things a bit, yes?
Itâs worth remembering that divestment of assets has been the time-honored way of tidying up these entanglements before they give any appearance of impropriety.
The article implies that you can hardly do business with Russian companies without being in bed with Putin cronies. Assuming that to be true, you had better put divesting from Russian business on the top of your to-do list if youâre a cabinet official.