Freedom in Russia and the US.

Observe that Brandaun Raub was arrested for calling for the imminent start of Civil War 2, whereas Pussy Riot committed numerous acts of subversion, desecration and obscenity in their own venues without encountering any response, before they were arrested for desecrating someone else’s altar in someone else’s venue.

So we are moving from the position that subversion in the US is likely to lose you your job, because your employer may be punished for your views, to the position that you yourself may be punished directly by the state.  We are, however, not there yet.  Brandaun Raub was predictably released.  Someone is just trying it on to test the waters, and found that the US is not yet ready for direct repression of dissidents.  But then, a couple of years ago, was not yet ready for gay marriage.

Shortly before this happened his facebook page was censored by Facebook, which suggests to me that it was Facebook that asked to have him committed. If so, this is probably a business trying to disassociate itself from politically incorrect views. For a business, it is always safer to err on the side of repression, to get out in front of the movement towards the left singularity, rather than lag behind it. And the faster we move towards the left singularity, the further in front, the further forward towards the singularity you want your business to be.  You don’t want to find your business, like Chick-fil-A, subject to reprisal for taking the same position as Obama took two years previousy.

Brandon Raub was rightly criticized for engaging in politics while in uniform, which is forbidden for the same excellent reasons as leading assembled troops on the wrong side of the Rubicon was forbidden, to which criticism he responded by engaging in politics in his underwear.

But someone more important than Brandon Raub designed the marine dress uniform to look distinctly reactionary, or chose to retain its reactionary look even though times have changed. The marine dress uniform is itself political, as political as the altar that Pussy Riot desecrated, which may be why they changed their minds about arresting Brandon Raub.  I read the marine dress uniform as indicating that, as in past left singularities, the political leadership is getting out ahead of the army.