Russian defector sheds light on Putin paranoia and his secret train network

[Daily Kos Morning Roundup]( A morning roundup of worthy pundit and news reads, brought to you by Daily Kos. [Click here to read the full web version.]( - [Russian defector sheds light on Putin paranoia and his secret train network]( Russian defector sheds light on Putin paranoia and his secret train network, Andrew Roth and Pjotr Sauer, The Guardian The Guardian has reviewed an interview with Karakulov by the Dossier Centre, a political information outfit founded by the exiled Russian billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky, and confirmed the credentials of the senior Russian communications engineer, who travelled with Putin extensively and helped transmit some of his most secret messages. [...] In the interview, Karakulov called Putin a “war criminal” and told fellow officers they should come forward with information being hidden from the Russian public. “Our president has lost touch with the world,” he said. “He has been living in an information cocoon for the past couple of years, spending most of his time in his residences, which the media very fittingly call bunkers. He is pathologically afraid for his life. He surrounds himself with an impenetrable barrier of quarantines and an information vacuum. He only values his own life and the lives of his family and friends.” Karakulov described a virtual state within a state that includes firefighters, food testers and other engineers who travel with Putin on his trips abroad, providing a rare first-hand insight into the levels of paranoia and sheltered lifestyle of the Russian president. “They call him the Boss, worship him in every way and only ever talk of him in those terms,” he said. - [Alvin Bragg, Donald Trump, and the Pursuit of Low-Level Crimes]( Alvin Bragg, Donald Trump, and the Pursuit of Low-Level Crimes, Jelani Cobb, The New Yorker In Alvin Bragg’s third day as the Manhattan District Attorney, in January, 2021, he stated that his office would no longer prosecute low-level offenses such as subway-fare evasion, resistance to arrest, or prostitution unless they were part of an accompanying felony charge. Despite the fact that Bragg had campaigned as a reformer, the bluntness of his statement raised eyebrows. The pledge marked a sweeping departure from the “broken windows” philosophy of law enforcement, in which the prosecution of low-level offenses was thought—erroneously, it turned out—to prevent more serious ones. Those presumptions shaped Bragg’s early interactions with police in New York, and his subsequent outlook as Manhattan’s first Black D.A. Bragg told me recently that he has spent “twenty-plus years of professional work and almost fifty years of life living at the intersection between civil rights and prosecution.” He added, “I decided to go to law school in large part because, when I was growing up in central Harlem, during the height of the crack-cocaine epidemic, I had a gun pointed at me six times, three by police officers”—during search stops—“and three during more traditional public-safety issues.” He said that he will continue to do what he has done throughout his career, which is “looking at collateral consequences of prosecutions.” The move away from the prosecution of petty crimes made Bragg an immediate target of conservatives, and the subject of frequently derisive coverage in the New York Post. (A lede from a story published this past November began, “Soft-on-crime Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has downgraded more than half his felony cases to misdemeanors,” and went on to accuse him of ineptly handling the felonies that he does prosecute.) Last year, amid a notably competitive gubernatorial race, Lee Zeldin, the Republican nominee, ran on a promise to remove Bragg from office. Yet, as recent events have made exceedingly clear, the disdain that Bragg inspires for not prosecuting certain misdemeanor cases is minuscule in comparison with the rage that can result from a decision to file dozens of criminal charges against a suspect—especially when he is the twice-impeached forty-fifth President of the United States. - [Bad news: Daily Kos is facing tough financial times. Grassroots donors like you make it possible for us to offer top-notch political coverage & activism. Can you chip in $5 to help us keep fighting?]( - [Tricia Cotham once spoke of her abortion. Will she help NC Republicans restrict it?]( Tricia Cotham once spoke of her abortion. Will she help NC Republicans restrict it?, Paige Masten, Raleigh News and Observer In 2015, Rep. Tricia Cotham stood on the floor of the North Carolina House of Representatives and bravely spoke about her own experience with abortion. She described how her first pregnancy ended in an abortion after her doctor told her that the pregnancy was not viable and medical intervention would be necessary to save her life. “It was awful. It was painful and it was sad. And it is and was personal,” Cotham said in that speech. [...] This week, however, Cotham shocked North Carolinians when she announced that she would switch her party affiliation, potentially giving Republicans the final vote they need to achieve major policy goals, including further restrictions on abortion across the state. Of course, abortion was top of mind for reporters and voters upon hearing the news, given how fundamentally it impacts people’s lives. But at a press conference Wednesday, Cotham wouldn’t say whether she would support any changes to existing abortion policy — namely, whether she would support a ban on abortion after 13 weeks. - [How Johnson did it: Flawless execution of ‘smart typical playbook in Chicago politics’ won mayoral race]( How Johnson did it: Flawless execution of ‘smart typical playbook in Chicago politics’ won mayoral race, Fran Spielman, Chicago Sun-Times He won 29 of 50 wards, including a clean sweep of majority African-American wards. He won six Hispanic majority wards to Vallas’ nine. The Latino wards Johnson carried included the 22nd Ward that is home to former mayoral challenger Jesus “Chuy Garcia, the Southwest Side congressman who endorsed Johnson. And the impact of Vallas’ showing in the nine Latino wards he won was greatly diminished by the anemic Hispanic turnout. That was driven, in part, by so few Latino wards — only the 10th, the 30th, and the 36th — also holding City Council runoffs, which help bring out more voters. In the Southwest Side’s 14th Ward, where Council race was already decided, only 4,283 total votes were cast. While Vallas was falling short of the big numbers he needed in Hispanic wards, Johnson was padding his vote totals along the lakefront and racking up big victories in predominantly Black wards after winning none of the majority African American wards in Round One of the mayoral sweepstakes. - [Daily Kos hats are here just in time for spring. Click here to get yours.]( - [As GOP sticks with Donald Trump and his felony charges, Democrats keep winning elections]( As GOP sticks with Donald Trump and his felony charges, Democrats keep winning elections, Rex Huppke, USA Today Away from the Trump circus, it certainly feels like a shift is happening. The go-to Republican scare tactics – Socialism is coming! Crime is rampant! The family is under attack! – aren’t working. And when the face of your party becomes the first former president ever indicted, the old “party of law and order” line falls a bit flat. Republican lawmakers spent the day howling about the injustice of the charges against Trump. And Trump spent Tuesday night at his Florida resort delivering an almost tragically whiny, lie-filled speech bemoaning the various criminal investigations he’s facing, dragging those listening into his own personal pit of grievance and despair. It was, in theory, a campaign speech, but there was nothing positive, no hope for a brighter tomorrow. Just selfishness and anger, which seem to be the only two things on the GOP menu these days. - [Inside Janet Protasiewicz's massive win in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race]( Inside Janet Protasiewicz's massive win in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race, Alexander Shur, Wisconsin State Journal There were early signs that conservatives thought Kelly wasn’t a strong candidate even in a non-presidential year. When conservative Waukesha County Circuit Judge Jennifer Dorow entered the race, many prominent conservatives, including retiring Justice Patience Roggensack, rallied behind her. Liberals appeared to sense Dorow’s political strength over Kelly, too. Soon after she entered the race, the liberal group A Better Wisconsin Together Political Action Fund began spending more than $2 million on ads attacking her. “State liberals clearly believe Dorow is stronger than Kelly,” conservative talk show host Mark Belling wrote about the ads. “They are running attack ads against Dorow, but leaving Kelly alone.” [...] Immediately after the primary, Dorow encouraged her supporters to support Kelly, then she all but ducked out of the campaign, deleting her Twitter account along the way. Despite her call for unity, conservatives again voiced doubt about Kelly’s candidacy, worried that he couldn’t coalesce Dorow supporters or even win with them. ICYMI: Popular stories from the past week you won't want to miss: - [Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene F-s around in New York City and finds out]( - [Ukraine Update: In Bakhmut, an unusual weapon put to use with devastating results]( - [The most important woman in Trump's life is reportedly keeping her distance. 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