That’s what I’m thinking too. Because to say that Putin has something on Trump at this point, is in some ways taking agency away from Trump. But I think Trump and the other Putin lovers are terrible enough people on their own. He doesn’t need to have any dirt on them, they just want to work with him because they think he’s doing well for himself, and they want that kind of power too. It feels like a much simpler explanation.
It makes me think Putin doesn’t actually have anything on Trump and the other Russia loving Republicans. They just really like him and are envious of his authoritarian regime.
Edit: https://ploum.net/2023-06-23-how-to-kill-decentralised-networks.html
My thoughts are similar to yours, I don’t think instances should be defederating unless there’s a serious issue with the content of another instance.
Good instances should be winning over people by being better than whatever Facebook’s ad ridden, algorithm driven, instance ends up being.
Also my co-workers and conservative family love to say it whenever a Republican does something illegal or immoral. It’s a scape goat they throw out when they get backed into a corner and can’t face the fact that they’re wrong.