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vgr's profile
Venkatesh Rao
Venkatesh Rao
Venkatesh Rao
@vgr

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Venkatesh Rao

@vgr

Conversational account. For work follow @ribbonfarm, @breaking_smart, @artofgig. Tweets are 90% vacuous views, apathetically held. Mediocritopian. IKEA builder.

Los Angeles, CA
venkateshrao.com
Joined August 2007

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    1. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Nov 9
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      He’s also a southern baptist but I doubt he’s actually religious. I *think* he’s a cross between a disillusioned liberal and a competent Steve Bannon. Nor racist but civilizationalist. Sees himself holding back barbarians at the gates. Even if he sometimes has to deal with them.

      6 replies 1 retweet 33 likes
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    2. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Nov 9
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      I suspect he’s intelligent but not introspective. Straussian, touch of holy warrior, likes the game but plays it for some mix of higher purpose and personal profit. Much concerned with mortality and legacy. I’m curious about anything he has no personal connection to.

      5 replies 0 retweets 32 likes
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    3. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Nov 9
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      He’s 78 so easier to wait him out than outthink him I suppose

      3 replies 0 retweets 33 likes
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    4. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Nov 9
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      Looking at his history more carefully. He *is* the “more competent authoritarian” we’ve been warned about 🤔

      7 replies 3 retweets 63 likes
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    5. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Nov 9
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      Venkatesh Rao Retweeted Brady Pramberg

      Ok maybe he’s not that interesting after all. It really could be as simple as basic careerist ambition as several have suggested.https://twitter.com/B_rade8/status/1326044513790537728 …

      Venkatesh Rao added,

      Brady Pramberg @B_rade8
      Replying to @B_rade8 @vgr
      The only thing you really need to know from the book: his goal is high school was to be class president, his goal in college was to be class president, his goal in law school was to be class president.
      3 replies 0 retweets 11 likes
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    6. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Nov 9
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      “On three occasions (voting for LBJ when he ran against Goldwater, supporting a primary challenger against a Republican who didn't support the Civil Rights Act, voting for sanctions against South Africa during apartheid) McConnell took a stand in support of civil rights.”

      2 replies 0 retweets 4 likes
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    7. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Nov 9
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      Huh “He states that he regrets two of those great stands he took in support of civil rights (voting for LBJ and supporting a primary challenge) because party loyalty is the most important thing.https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27209388-the-long-game …

      2 replies 0 retweets 7 likes
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    8. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Nov 9
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      Not gonna read the book but excerpts make him sound like the political equivalent of a cartoon techbro. Money as voice plus growth hacking, pure transactional mindset. Reminds me of the kind of founder who only thinks in terms of valuations and exit multiples and share prices.

      1 reply 1 retweet 18 likes
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    9. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Nov 9
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      I get the sense now he himself is oddly blind to the historic poetry of what he’s achieved. The exquisite destructions. A pure tactician whose strategic impact is almost an externality. Maybe there’s an Efficient Mitch Hypothesis just like there’s an Efficient Trump Hypothesis.

      1 reply 1 retweet 19 likes
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    10. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Nov 9
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      “People don't see it, but there are two things about him that don't always come across in interviews with him. One is his empathy for people, and the other is his humor. He has this really dry wit that a lot of people don't get to see.”https://www.eenews.net/special_reports/offtopic/stories/1060144865 …

      1 reply 0 retweets 3 likes
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      Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Nov 9
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      Ok for once a voxsplainer is helpful. Confirms the picture that was forming in my head. A life seeking repeated validation of one really strongly held belief (“money talks”) through winning elections. Basic scorecard guy. Shallow/incurious about all else.https://www.vox.com/2017/1/2/14123496/mitch-mcconnell-motives …

      11:00 PM - 9 Nov 2020
      • 15 Likes
      • Michael Tindley Winter Deidre ❄ Roy 😷 Herr Dr Mr Modern Major General brrr Seitz neil21 Jason Eli is actually offline for a week John David Pressman stupid twitt account
      1 reply 0 retweets 15 likes
        1. New conversation
        2. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Nov 9
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          I was looking for just about any human color to who he is and found nothing. No hobbies, no real interests outside of the political process, not even any policy interests besides the procedural one if campaign finance. He’s a banker of political capital.

          2 replies 0 retweets 17 likes
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        3. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Nov 9
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          In many ways very similar to Trump, except within politics and actually successful. He runs a successful political casino and real estate business. SCOTUS is just his Trump tower. The difference is, he’s self-aware and not needy for validation as being things he is not.

          1 reply 0 retweets 12 likes
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        4. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Nov 9
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          The nickname turtle is well-deserved. Hard to find a point of attack. It’s all shell. Only thing I think that will get to him is stuff spinning out of control in ways that money can’t fix for even his personal zone of power. Nearly uncritical belief in money is his only weakness.

          1 reply 2 retweets 10 likes
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        5. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Nov 9
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          Hmm. Biden might be his perfect adversary. All ground game, no air game at all. Two effective but stylistically different 1:1 social network broker types grappling with each other. The difference is Biden is sensitive to narrative which is both a strength and a weakness.

          1 reply 1 retweet 16 likes
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        6. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Nov 9
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          It’ll be very hard to get inside his OODA loop though. With a majority he’s Bartleby the scrivener “I would prefer not to” Without a majority he’s like “build up the warchest and ride it out till you win again.” Cut deals when weak, obstruct when strong.

          1 reply 0 retweets 11 likes
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        7. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Nov 9
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          Besides cutting money lines and propping up internal competition the only real way to threaten him is to build up competing centers of power. Or perhaps go after whoever he works through. He wields too much power to do it alone, so weakness in personal staff should weaken him

          2 replies 0 retweets 8 likes
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        8. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Nov 9
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          Interesting adversary. Whenever I’ve encountered this type, I’ve either co-opted or avoided them. Going directly up against them is almost never worth it. Absent a lucky break you have to be prepared for the same long attrition grind they are. Few care for the game that much.

          4 replies 0 retweets 18 likes
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        9. End of conversation

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