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Al Brown's avatar

Russell Vought is the MAGA Mastermind that Elon only pretended to be. Indifferent to fame, impervious to criticism, He wasn't the least bothered by Trump's public renunciations of Project 2025 during the campaign: he was counting on that he'd be able to execute it when Trump won, regardless of what he said before. He's a cold-eyed true believer, Professor Moriarty in Trump's service. Stephen Miller is only the second-most dangerous acolyte in Trumpworld: Vought is way ahead of him.

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Christopher Perello's avatar

Agreed. His pronouncement that the president decides how much of appropriated money gets spent---it's a *ceiling* not a floor---effectively creates a dictatorship.

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Al Brown's avatar

And unlike many in Trumpworld, he's not spinning, and he's not cosplaying: he means every word. He has no doubt about his goals, and he's pursuing them with a determination that, in someone trying to do good instead of harm, would be admirable.

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Christopher Perello's avatar

Worth repeating. Just because you hate someone, be honest in your analysis of their abilities.

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Tracey Queripel's avatar

And he probably believes that he is doing good.

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Sean O's avatar

I'm sure he does, but for a 'Christian', he sure is not the least bit Christ-like. He seems to enjoy peoples suffering, and he seems to want to punish the poor.

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LHS's avatar

Vought = smug, smarmy ***hole. And that's the nicest thing I can say about him.

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Carrie Shaw's avatar

Trump is simply Vought's and Miller's tool. They run the government. They're finally getting to carry out their fantasies.

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JF's avatar

And also, according to Heather Cox Richardson, Eldridge Colby is running DoD.

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Lisa GL's avatar

Again the movement needs to remove their nefarious and treasonous asses.

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Memo-55's avatar

Vought is the puppet master. But not many seem to know his name. Which is a large part of how he's been so deadly effective.

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Christopher Perello's avatar

Like Leonard Leo, the fascist court stuffer.

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Memo-55's avatar

Yep, both of them silent predators. Moving just under the surface.

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Lisa GL's avatar

We need to get #impeachvought and #removevought going harder.

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Joshua Scholar's avatar

If someone in civilized country said the things Vought said, he'd be fired that day and have to move away from his neighborhood and change his name.

Seriously. This is an evil piece of shit and civilized people who don't hate their neighbors don't put up with evil.

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Al Brown's avatar

One thing that distinguishes him from his more flamboyant co-conspirators is that he seems to shun the limelight and avoid the "attention economy" of podcasts and the manosphere almost completely. Only insiders and policy wonks -- like Bulwark members -- even know who he is. And he's so nondescript in appearance (photographs pick up the thousand yard stare of those cold, serial killer eyes, but I bet most people look away instinctively in real life and don't register them) that he reminds me of the Grey Men, the undead assassins in Robert Jordan's legendarium, who are so unremarkable looking that they can walk through a crowd and kill, yet most people won't even see them. I bet he's the least likely major Trump figure to be turned away from a restaurant, because the staff won't recognize him.

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Carol S.'s avatar

He exudes malice under a thin veil of soft-spoken restraint. (Someone with a similar vibe is Brendan Carr.)

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Lisa GL's avatar

It is how he stays in the game. We need to get #impeachvought and #removevought going harder.

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Judith Hofeditz's avatar

Totally agree, he needs a big spotlight on him. Slippery fanatic.

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Sean O's avatar

Totally agree, Al.

Vought is the real power behind the throne, mostly hidden, because he chooses to be. He is very dangerous, and he's frightening.

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Lisa GL's avatar

We need to get #impeachvought and #removevought going harder.

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