“Don’t worry. The story will end well. Evil people eventually turn inward and devour each other.”-Dr. Ruth C. May, author of How Putin’s Oligarchs Funneled Millions Into GOP Campaigns
Each time I find a new source of reporting inspiration, I mine their knowledge as much as possible. Dr. May was one of those sources. In thread after thread, I kept delivering her well-informed bombshells. Dr. May wrote the definitive investigation into Putin’s oligarchs funding the GOP back in December of 2017. A professor of global business at the University of Dallas, who specialized in Ukraine and Russian economy, she had scoured campaign finance reports for connections between donors with Russian ties and top Republicans, including Trump.


I tracked down Dr. May when I had gone as far as I could investigating Robert Mercer’s ties to Russia, and there I was at the precipice of understanding that his super secret hedge fund, with its myriad ties to Russia, sure looked like it could be (insert euphemism here) - helpful to the Russia mob.
Dr. May told me: “I’ve always regretted that our current securities laws do not require more transparency of hedge funds… the dark money eats away at us every day from the inside.”
And then she cautioned me to avoid banisters. And I have.
It does appear that the very same dark money that is eating away at our democracy as I wrote about in Haunted Cities is also devouring the perpetrators committing crimes against humanity in order to acquire their filthy lucre.
Consider Putin, Prigozhin, and Murdoch - who fit the “unhappy rabbits” description Marilyn Monroe applied to theater producers with indigestion in All About Eve.
“Why do they always look like unhappy rabbits?” her character Miss Casswell of the Copacabana School of the Dramatic Arts quipped.
“Because that’s what they are,” responded Addison DeWitt, as played by George Sanders.
Each time I see Putin, Prigozhin, and Murdoch, I see unhappy rabbits - attempting to remake the world in their miserable visages.
Putin’s two-hour annual address to the Russian Federal Assembly yesterday was his worst theatre craft to date. As filtered through How Fascism Works, it was a cavalcade of unreality, mythic past, victimhood, sexual anxiety, and just an overall crock of bullshittery.
He can’t even make himself look pretty anymore - and his audience was giving off full North Korea vibes. Some couldn’t even contain their boredom.
He appeared desperate - he has the blood of hundreds of thousands of Russian men on his hands and tens of thousands of Ukrainians, and it’s not washing out. He’s losing in Ukraine, and Biden pwned him in Kyiv on Monday. So he flaps his gums about nuclear blah blah, something I do not fear because he’s laundered so much money in the West, he would be shooting his own d**k, so to speak.
“The Russian president started his speech by going full Orwell, claiming that the West started the war and that Russia was obliged to take up arms to put a stop to it all. He might as well have said, ‘Eurasia has always been at war with Oceania,” and he came close,’” wrote Tom Nichols masterfully in The Atlantic. “After a year of war, there are only so many young men left to kill and only so many generals left to blame.”
And then there’s Yevgeny Prigozhin - the jowliest of the unhappy rabbits. The Wagner Group founder has gone full monster - releasing photos of dead Russian soldiers. The private army founder has been accusing Russian generals of trying to destroy the Wagner Group by cutting off their supply of ammunition. He claimed the photos he’s posting on a pro-Russian war Telegram channel are due to “ammunition hunger.”
As rumors swirl that the Kremlin might have Prigozhin assassinated, again, I hear the calm, confident words of Dr. May: “Don’t worry. The story will end well. Evil people eventually turn inward and devour each other.”
Prigozhin, who served time in prison on violent criminal charges, and now returns to prison to recruit soldiers for Putin’s war of annihilation in Ukraine, was indicted by the Department of Justice for running the large-scale troll subversion operation out of St. Petersburg that caused ‘chaos on every level’ in our 2016 election.
A panel of Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) judges gave Prigozhin the title “Corrupt Official of the Year.”
“Prigozhin is a soldier of corruption,” says OCCRP’s Drew Sullivan. “He fights and murders to install corruption. Wagner is nothing more than an organized crime group sanctioned by the Russian government.”
And as Rick Wilson so deftly tweeted…
“The most magnificent part of this saga will be when Putin is killed or deposed and the MAGAs will suddenly find Yevgeny Prigozhin perfectly embodies their values.”
Because the ugly has no bottom.
And speaking of ugly on the inside, I am not taking my eye off Rupert Murdoch and the Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit. Keeping the spotlight on the explosive court documents released last week is part of Bette Dangerous’ mission.
The grassroots organization TruthOverFox did a fantastic job of trolling Fox in front of the world yesterday, reporting facts on a large screen in front of Fox’s headquarters about what the network refuses to report to its viewers. According to the explosive court documents, the anchors and top management knew the Big Lie promoted by Trump flunkies was propaganda, but they promoted it anyway for fear of losing their radicalized viewers to Newsmax - a Kremlin-propaganda outlet.
You can read more in my Thank You for Not Smoking Fox and Fox Is a Shithole Country reports, and please watch RadPod’s breaking news special - posting today at 2 pm PT - with our media correspondent, Milo, from FixMediaNow. We do a deep dive on that unhappy rabbit Murdoch, Fox, and corporate media’s dereliction of duty in these times of mass deception. As Milo notes, democracy dies in neutrality.
Lastly, I want to share something quite beautiful with our community - we are starting to attract former conservatives who view Bette Dangerous as a safe space for them to get reacquainted with facts in a non-judgmental arena.
I believe that is because I view many of them as victims. And because there but for the grace of God go I…
No one brainwashes themselves. And when people are fed weapon’s grade outrage all day long, it’s no wonder their ability to discern facts from slickly designed fiction erodes over time.
As I often say, no one is beyond redemption who seeks it. I am grateful to those who welcomed me during my Fox deprogramming daze.
So please allow me to share some words from a Bette community member, who spent many radicalized years but through the words of Ruth Ben-Ghiat and me, he says he found his way home:
“Something Sacred never dies in almost all of us, that can hear the invitation of Truth to take another step out of the shit … which gives me greater pause in reaction to others’ stupidities (I’ve been there!) … and great admiration for those who stand in spite of their scars and chronic disabilities (I want to be there!).
“It seems the Universe is bringing us together in new places of safety (like these virtual communities on Substack, gathering thru Zoom), where we can come with both our strengths and brokennesses.”
If you are crying reading those words, just know you are not alone.
Allow me to keep investigating and exposing the unhappy rabbits trying to harm our world, and all I ask of you is to keep sharing these reports which helps grow this beautiful, sacred community.
I look forward to seeing many of you this Sunday, as filmmaker Jen Senko tells us how she unbrainwashed her dad, giving hope to us all.
****
Bette Dangerous is a reader-funded magazine and Substack bestseller. Thank you to all monthly, annual, and founding members. Thank you, as well, to those who support my work with coffee tips and who buy my ebooks. My reflection, Confessions of a ‘Fox Blonde’ was recently published in Byline Supplement. In a review of my latest ebook, the erotic novella Fox Undercover, I’ve been called “The punk rock Anaïs Nin” and author Greg Olear called it “The Big Sleep 2.0” except with “not so much sleep happening.”
Save the date - Sunday, February 26, 4 pm PT; paid members will receive an invite to our bimonthly gathering on Zoom, where we feature special guests. The last Zoom with bestselling author Craig Unger was phenomenal.
This Sunday’s guest is award-winning filmmaker and author Jen Senko, director of “The Brainwashing of My Dad” - about how Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, and anti-democrat propaganda emails radicalized her liberal father to right-wing extremism. And how her family managed to bring him back. Registration is required. Invites sent out by Sunday morning.
More info about Bette Dangerous - This magazine is written by Heidi Siegmund Cuda, an Emmy-award winning investigative reporter, author, and veteran music and nightlife columnist. She is the cohost of RADICALIZED Truth Survives, an investigative show about disinformation and is part of the Byline Media team. Thank you for your support of independent investigative journalism.
I love your phrase; the ugly has no bottom. Another thing. Putin is very short. Other leaders owe above him. He looks like a Possum.
Radpod
Curious, Star Tribune the twin towns fish-wrap in graphic with WSJ and NYT made an appearance.
Senator Amy Klobuchar( known since she was a pig tailed kid) father was a favorite read there! My neighbor, a lifelong editor as well.
Enjoyable and poignant!