Who is Pavel Durov?

Pavel Durov, the founder and owner of Telegram, is a significant figure in the tech world. As of August 24, 2024, his net worth is estimated at $15.5 billion, placing him among the world’s wealthiest individuals, ranked #120.

Durov’s notable achievements began with the creation of VKontakte (VK), Russia's largest social network, which he co-founded with his brother Nikolai in 2006. VK quickly became a dominant platform in Russia, similar to Facebook. #Durov’s tenure at VK was marked by disputes with Russian authorities over data privacy and content control. In 2014, facing mounting pressure, he was compelled to sell his stake and leave the company.

Elon Musk was talking about the importance of user privacy and security at the exact same time he was secretly complying with the DOJ to give the metadata of all Donald Trump supporters from his platform. These things do not reconcile, and I refuse to pretend the conflict between Musk’s words and his actions doesn’t exist. When he first bought the platform, Elon Musk promised that Direct Messages (DM’s) on Twitter would be encrypted. After the first few stories about DHS controlling Twitter content, ie “the Twitter Files”, Musk never followed through.

My conclusion from this and other similar pieces of information is that Trump is now "on the team". It is literally impossible to become President if you act in constant opposition to certain forces. Trump has made the calculation that most other Republicans eventually do - if you want to do some good as an elected official, you first have to get the job. That requires at least feigned compliance with the Deep State's prerogatives. There is no way Kennedy, Gabbard, Musk and other "dissidents" would be backing Trump so strongly without some sign that he has been deemed acceptable.

This doesn't mean Trump is any kind of traitor to MAGA - only that the Deep State is not a monolith and at least one faction is now willing to let the poor man have his stolen job back because they think Kamala is too much of a cackling moron to maintain the type of facade Biden and his handlers kept up until June of this year. It doesn't do much good to secretly rule a nation on fire. My guess is that the most powerful Deep State faction - the IC/foreign policy complex - has in the wake of the unauthorized assassination attempt by the government/media complex decided Trump is a better bet, this time. The corporate/central banking complex may remain undecided, but will probably lean toward Trump as the campaign grinds on. Big Pharma and Big Ag excepted - as the appearance of Kennedy has got them freaking out.

This leaves Trump with a much more winnable battle against a panicked government/media complex that has irrationally made him their Devil - with the IC/foreign policy forces remaining on the sidelines and a significant amount of corporate money changing sides from its 2016/2020 position.

I know it's an uglier picture than the idea of MAGA riding to glorious victory over the collectivists, but it is important to be realistic. The assassination attempt - though probably a desperate and rogue government/media complex operation - has changed the game. Trump will take his wins on the social battlefield - as the Deep State allowed Obama to do - and cede much of the Presidency's Constitutional authority over foreign policy to the IC/foreign policy complex. As all Presidents are eventually forced to. Trump will Make America Better Again, but it will be the work of decades to reestablish a true representative republic.

These are my speculations, of course. Take them as a work of fiction if you disagree. :)

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