Who among us does not love sweet irony?

Blinken puts his self-unawareness on full display over Russia’s conviction of Navalny

U.S. officials have “strongly condemned” Navalny’s latest conviction.

[And] there’s more. U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller also said, “This is an unjust conclusion to an unjust trial.”

The irony gets even more delicious. Navalny said in a statement released by his supporters on Thursday, prior to the verdict being announced, “I urge you to think why such a demonstratively huge sentence is necessary. Its main purpose is to intimidate. You, not me. I will even say this: you personally, the one reading these lines.”

Navalny was arrested and put in prison in 2021 after returning from Germany, where he was recovering from being poisoned. He blames the Kremlin, however Russian officials deny they are responsible. Once he was imprisoned, he was then sentenced to two-and-a-half years for a parole violation, and at that point, charges against him kept mounting. In still more irony, Navalny says the goal for the government is to keep him in prison for as long as possible, and Russian officials are also cracking down on Navalny’s supporters.