Patterico's Pontifications

7/17/2018

President Trump: What I Said, What I Really Meant To Say

Filed under: General — Dana @ 2:04 pm



[guest post by Dana]

In the wake of having been pilloried from all sides after his joint press conference with President Putin, President Trump felt the need was pressured by Republicans to backpedal clarify his statements regarding Russian meddling in the 2016 election. This after he told Sean Hannity in an interview last night that, “I thought that President Putin was very, very strong.” In his clarification today, President Trump expressed his support of the U.S. intelligence community. But of course, he didn’t just leave it at that:

“I thought that I made myself very clear, but having just reviewed the transcript…I realized that there is a need for some clarification,” Trump said Tuesday at the White House. “The sentence should have been…’I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t be Russia’.”

“I have felt very strongly that while Russia’s actions had no impact at all on the outcome of the election, let me be totally clear in saying…that I accept our American intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election took place,” the president said.

But, Trump added, “Could be other people also, there’s a lot of people out there.”

Further:

During his Tuesday remarks, Trump also said that his administration took the threat of continued Russian interference seriously and vowed to move aggressively to “repel” any efforts by Moscow to interfere in future U.S. elections. “We’re doing everything in our power to prevent Russian interference in 2018,” he said.

Responses to President Trump’s statements yesterday were sharp – and insightful – to say the least:

President Trump and Russian president-for-life Vladimir Putin’s news conference in Helsinki on Monday was the lowest point in the history of the American presidency. Standing next to a dictatorial leader accused by U.S. intelligence and law enforcement of attacking the foundations of American democracy, Trump often appeared confused and incoherent — and those were his best moments at the podium. The rest of the time he spent praising the KGB dictator to his left and attacking the institutions he swore an oath to defend. It was a Russia First performance, from beginning to end.

For Putin, the summit was a great success before it even started. Without the recurrent legitimacy of the ballot box — I assume no one still believes that Russia’s elections are real — dictators crave ways to demonstrate their credibility and to pass off their own interests and power as those of the nation. The tried and true methods are war, hosting sporting spectacles and appearing with important foreign leaders, especially democratically elected ones. Putin has managed a hat trick with his invasion of Ukraine still ongoing, the World Cup that ended in Moscow on Sunday and an imposing performance in Helsinki next to a feeble and cowed American president.

Other than Putin wanting it badly, there was no purpose behind this spectacle in Helsinki. Putin’s wish list is transparent: legitimacy as the ruler of Russia and stature on the global stage; Russia as power broker in Ukraine, Syria and Iran; weakening the United States’ commitment to its Group of Seven allies, NATO and the European Union; lowered Western defenses against his attacks; and Trump’s help in all these things. Putin also wants the United States to end sanctions and recognize his annexation of Crimea, but he senses that that would be too much to ask right now, and that they could be taken out of Trump’s hands if he pushes too far. In contrast, there is nothing the United States needs from Putin other than to stop the hostile acts that he uses to achieve his ends. He must be stopped, not negotiated with.

Despite the long list of Putin’s suspected atrocities, including the downing of Flight MH17 over Ukraine and aiding Bashar al-Assad’s massacres in Syria, Trump eagerly applied the Kremlin’s patented technique of moral equivalence, saying, “I hold both countries responsible” and that “we’re all to blame” for poor Russian America relations. To this I can only cite Polish writer Stanisław Jerzy Lec: Just when you think you’ve reached the bottom, someone knocks from below.

–Dana

451 Responses to “President Trump: What I Said, What I Really Meant To Say”

  1. Hello.

    Dana (023079)

  2. Hey, Dana. Good to see you back at it. Hang in there.
    ____________

    Christ, the cablers have photos of Traitor Trump’s text today on the table showing he added, ‘there was no collusion’ w/his Sharpie and yes, ad-libed again from the prepared text adding “could be other people also, there’s a lot of people out there…” as noted in the post, to his messy clean-up comments on election meddling.

    The dope’s a dope. If only Disney was hiring an eighth dwarf, Trumpy would get the gig in a New-York-minute.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  3. Real problem with the Helsinki meeting is that it distracts from the damage done by Trump earlier in the week while in Brussels.

    kishnevi (6b8fa6)

  4. Leave it to Big Zer0 to make a speech in S. Africa trying to stir up racial unrest. Perhaps he said something about the black SA leader over there who is talking of killing whites, but perhaps not.

    Colonel Haiku (d52d85)

  5. @3. It’s one, long swing of the five iron and he shanked it badly. The NATO clan can manage for a time but they’re on alert not to depend on this WH for the immediate future and certainly will think long and hard before sharing any intel only to get shafted again. Russia couldn’t be happier. But what he did in Helsinki to Americans is totally unforgivable. Even the most mundane American tourist knows they’re representing the country when travelling and interacting overseas. The jackass doesn’t get a do-over on this; there are no second chances to make a first impression. He can’t talk his way out of it and anybody who tries to help him spin it, at Fox or otherwise, is essentially complicit and ‘colluding.’ Real life is a bitch when covered ‘live’ and you can’t edit it before broadcast.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  6. Yes thats what the wonderful land of azania has wrought, it took 25 years to get to this point, shepherded by the respectable Trevor Manuel, haklyut board member.

    narciso (d1f714)

  7. Classic. Trump attempted to clear the air by saying that he accepted the IC findings, but he only polluted it with that “could be other people also” nonsense. Unfit.

    Paul Montagu (91b6ad)

  8. http://www.newser.com/article/b00cb22b7ba94539a21b2742ed48b768/the-latest-trump-says-he-misspoke-on-russia-meddling.html

    WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump and his summit with Russian President Donald Trump (all times local):

    2:40 p.m.

    President Donald Trump says he meant the opposite when he said in Helsinki that he doesn’t see why Russia would have interfered in the 2016 U.S. elections.

    Back at the White House on Tuesday, the president told reporters that he said he meant he doesn’t see why Russia “wouldn’t” be responsible.

    Why didn’t President Ford think of something like that!

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  9. @6. Piggly Wiggly with radar ranges and Baskin Robbins scoops the Dreyfus shimmering stars but South African diamonds sparkle while Cubans leave ashes in trays.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  10. Well the server was exposed like Kim Kardashian at St. Tropez, anybody could have been there. As delavan the fellow who unplugged from the net and fled into the woods.

    narciso (d1f714)

  11. In the wake of having been pilloried from all sides. ..

    I think you overcounted by 1 side.

    BuDuh (fc15db)

  12. President Trump: What I Said, What I Really Meant To Say

    And to think he said he has been “preparing for my whole life for this.”

    Traitor Trump: you choked, loser.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  13. Well let’s just be clear about one thing: Trump had admitted he is aware that Russia “meddled” with the 2016 US election.

    That’s nice that we can stop pretending this is in controversy.

    Dustin (ba94b2)

  14. Of course, Max Frankel had given him a chance to backtrack immediately.

    http://www.debates.org/index.php?page=october-6-1976-debate-transcript

    MR. FRANKEL: Mr. President, I’d like to explore a little more deeply our relationship with the Russians. They used to brag back in Khrushchev’s day that because of their greater patience and because of our greed for – for business deals that they would sooner or later get the better of us. Is it possible that despite some setbacks in the Middle East, they’ve proved their point? Our allies in France and Italy are now flirting with Communism. We’ve recognized the permanent Communist regime in East Germany. We’ve virtually signed, in Helsinki, an agreement that the Russians have dominance in Eastern Europe. We’ve bailed out Soviet agriculture with our huge grain sales. We’ve given them large loans, access to our best technology and if the Senate hadn’t interfered with the Jackson Amendment, maybe we – you would’ve given them even larger loans. Is that what you call a two-way street of traffic in Europe?

    MR. FORD: I believe that we have uh – negotiated with the Soviet Union since I’ve been president from a position of strength. And let me cite several examples. Shortly after I became president in uh – December of 1974, I met with uh – General Secretary Brezhnev in Vladivostok and we agreed to a mutual cap on the ballistic missile launchers at a ceiling of twenty-four hundred – which means that the Soviet Union, if that becomes a permanent agreement, will have to make a reduction in their launchers that they now have or plan to have. I’ve negotiated at Vladivostok with uh – Mr. Brezhnev a limitation on the MIRVing of their ballistic missiles at a figure of thirteen-twenty, which is the first time that any president has achieved a cap either on launchers or on MIRVs. It seems to me that we can go from there to uh – the uh – grain sales. The grain sales have been a benefit to American agriculture. We have achieved a five and three quarter year uh – sale of a minimum six million metric tons, which means that they have already bought about four million metric tons this year and are bound to buy another two million metric tons to take the grain and corn and wheat that the American farmers have produced in order to uh – have full production. And these grain sales to the Soviet Union have helped us tremendously in meeting the costs of the additional oil and – the oil that we have bought from overseas. If we turn to Helsinki – I’m glad you raised it, Mr. uh – Frankel. In the case of Helsinki, thirty-five nations signed an agreement, including the secretary of state for the Vatican – I can’t under any circumstances believe that the – His Holiness, the Pope would agree by signing that agreement that the thirty-five nations have turned over to the Warsaw Pact nations the domination of the – Eastern Europe. It just isn’t true. And if Mr. Carter alleges that His Holiness by signing that has done it, he is totally inaccurate. Now, what has been accomplished by the Helsinki agreement? Number one, we have an agreement where they notify us and we notify them of any uh – military maneuvers that are to be be undertaken. They have done it. In both cases where they’ve done so, there is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe and there never will be under a Ford administration.

    MS. FREDERICK: Governor Carter?

    MR. FRANKEL: I’m sorry, I – could I just follow – did I understand you to say, sir, that the Russians are not using Eastern Europe as their own sphere of influence in occupying mo- most of the countries there and in – and making sure with their troops that it’s a – that it’s a Communist zone, whereas on our side of the line the Italians and the French are still flirting with the possibility of Communism?

    MR. FORD: I don’t believe, uh – Mr. Frankel that uh – the Yugoslavians consider themselves dominated by the Soviet Union. I don’t believe that the Rumanians consider themselves dominated by the Soviet Union. I don’t believe that the Poles consider themselves dominated by the Soviet Union. Each of those countries is independent, autonomous: it has its own territorial integrity and the United States does not concede that those countries are under the domination of the Soviet Union.

    As a matter of fact, I visited Poland, Yugoslavia and Rumania to make certain that the people of those countries understood that the president of the United States and the people of the United are dedicated to their independence, their autonomy and their freedom.

    President Gerald Ford clearly meant to say that the Soviet Union did not dominate Eastern Euroep because of the Helsinki Agreement, but the sentence was too long and he finished the sentence in a way that more musical.

    Then when asked, he defended it and reached for counterexamples.

    First, there was Yugoslavia. Everybody knew about that. Tito in 1948 and how Truman had helped him.

    Then – there was Romania. Romanian Communist dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu had, since about 1966, conducted an independent foreign policy.

    Now he reached for a third example. He needed a third one. He remembered Kissinger had just visited three countries in Eastern Europe. So he threw in Poland, which was a little independent.

    I see now that Ford himself had visited those three countries, whc=ich I didn’t know. I thought it was just Kissinger.

    Now this conntinued.

    You could see that Jimmy Carter was a little afraid to say something unliberal and Cold Warish, (the Democrats had pretty much noit critixied the government based in Hanoi) but he managed. He did not, however, cite the CIA or the State Department or any college professor or think tank or professor as the reason for saying that the Soviet Union dominated Eastern Europe.

    MS. FREDERICK: Governor Carter, may I have your response?

    MR. CARTER: (chuckle) Well, in the first place, I’m not criticizing His Holiness the Pope. I was talking about Mr. Ford. The uh – fact is that secrecy has surrounded the decisions made by the Ford administration. In the case of the Helsinki agreement – it may have been a good agreement at the beginning, but we have failed to enforce the so-called basket three part, which insures the right of people to migrate, to join their families, to be free, to speak out. The Soviet Union is still jamming Radio Free Europe – Radio – uh- uh – Radio Free Europe is being jammed. We’ve also seen a very serious uh – problem with the so-called Sonnenfeldt document, which apparently Mr. Ford has just endorsed, which said that there’s an organic linkage between the Eastern European countries and the Soviet Union. And I would like to see Mr. Ford convince the Polish-Americans and the Czech-Americans and the Hungarian-Americans in this country that those countries don’t live under the domination and supervision of the Soviet Union behind the Iron – uh – Curtain. We also have seen Mr. Ford exclude himself from access to the public. He hasn’t had a tough cross-examination-type press conference in over thirty days. One press conference he had without sound. He’s also shown a weakness in yielding to pressure. The Soviet Union, for instance, put pressure on Mr. Ford and he refused to see a symbol of human freedom recognized around the world, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. The Arabs have put pressure on Mr. Ford, and he’s yielded, and has permitted a boycott by the Arab countries of American businesses who trade with Israel, or who have American Jews owning or taking part in the management of American – companies. His own secretary of commerce had to be subpoenaed by the Congress to reveal the names of businesses who were subject to this boycott. They didn’t volunteer the information. He had to be subpoenaed. And the last thing I’d like to say is this: This grain deal with the Soviet Union in ’72 was terrible, and Mr. Ford made up for it with three embargoes, one against our own ally in Japan. That’s not the way to run our foreign policy, including international trade.

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  15. Putin is 5,000 miles away now, not 5 feet, Donald.

    And asleep.

    Go ahead and shovel some more sh!t.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  16. And the end result, was they elected a naive Ga governor with an aversion to ‘an inordinate fear if communism,’ whose staff sanctioned the zia regime, encouraged the shah not to react, and let the sandinistas fill the vacuum. Thats what muskrat love logic gets you.

    narciso (d1f714)

  17. The issue in 1976 was the Helsinki Agreement, which Brezhnev wanted very much. What he wanted was an an agreement that there should be no more boundary changes in Europe. Practically all European governments signed it, including the very small Vatican City.

    There was controversy before that, and as a sop to make it more palatable, an additon was added to it – ahuman rights section.

    As it was, that became the only important part of it, after Anatoly (now Natan) Scharansky started a Helsinki agreement monitoring group.

    https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/07/11/once-upon-a-time-helsinki-meant-human-rights-trump-putin-summit/

    But this exchange took place before that and teh Helsinki Agreement was thought of as something dealing with international biundaries.

    The dcharge was, that the United States and most countries iun Euroep had ratified the Yalta Agreement. That was not something that gave the SZoviet Union control of Eastern Europe. ZStalin was not sure taht was going to happen. The Yalta agreement let the soviet Union keep the portion of Poland that Stalin had negotiated with Hitler. In 1976, we can see, Brezhnev was still worried this could be reversed. (The eastern part of Poland wound up in Ukraine and Belorussia (Belorus) because they were separate Soviet “Republics” with their own votes in the United Nations.)

    In additon the Soviet Union got part of Eastern Prussia (which is actually now part of Russia proper, completely surrounded by Poland and Lithuania, and the Baltic Sea, and is basically a military region with few or any tourists allowed) and a little bit of Czechoslovakia and Hungary.

    Poland, also, as compensation, got part of Germany and there was a population exchange as well. Not absolutely 100%

    Breslau became Wroclaw.

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  18. When did knowledge and competence turn into disqualifying attributes. That’s the huge disconnect with the Donald, and its not new. He loves talking about not preparing, going with his “gut”. This isn’t a reality TV show.

    His performance today was actually more disturbing than yesterday, and his performance during the NATO summit worse still. He shows he is a weak willed,soft, man, unwilling to say hard truths to anyone. Why else does he cower when face to face, then mean tweet them? People calling him a bully are wrong, he isn’t even a bully, he’s a mean 13 year old, who knows nothing, and trolls. via twitter.

    You will see lots of that below. That and whataboutism.

    Biff Radukowski (6e7a1c)

  19. Jimmy Carter was not naive. He was a big liar.

    When he wasn’t acting as a liar, he trusted the experts. On everything.

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  20. A not-Putin Russian spy (Ms. Butina, who was arrested yesterday) asks Trump a question.

    Paul Montagu (91b6ad)

  21. Consequently, the fall of the shah encouraged the soviets to invade Afghanistan, also the grand mosque siege whose end closed off the brief liberalization king Khalid had engaged in.

    narciso (d1f714)

  22. During the NATO summmit Donald Trump was indirectly critical of Russia. He was. Because he said Germany was totally controlled by Russia because of the natural gas pipeline.

    But by the time he met Putin that seems to have been forgotten.

    This was because his criticism of Angela Merkel was purely tactical: Find something that other people have criticized her (or Germany) for, and repeat it. He does a lot of that, occasionally even using National Enquirer stories.

    Trump also apparently got a little concerned that the NATO countries would commit to actually spend 2% of their GDP on defense, so he advanced the date, and floated the idea of 4% – which is more even than the United States spends annually now. (I’m not spesaking about decades ago)

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  23. It’s all optics. It won’t change one single American’s life the tiniest little bit.

    As for the so-called American intelligence community, Hollywood has been telling us that it’s America’s worst enemy for forty years. Or don’t you trust Robert Redford, Clint Eastwood, Kevin Costner, Harrison Ford and Benicio del Toro?

    nk (dbc370)

  24. The Soviets actually took control of Afghanistan in 1973. Then in 1978 there was another coup.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saur_Revolution

    What happened in December, 1979 was an attempted replacement of the dictator, Hafizullah Amin with a milder one because Brezhnev realized he was causing a problem.

    But because of the Iranian hostage crisis, spy satellited had been diverted to the region, and everything about direct Soviet involvement in the coup was seen by U.S.spy satellites. This was not the start of anything.

    The start was the overthrow of the king in 1973.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1973_Afghan_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat

    It had been a pretty good situation for the Soviet Union, which Khrushchev praised in his memoris, but a lot of subversive efforts were on autopilot and they messed up something that was working pretty well for them.

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  25. How did I leave out Matt Damon?

    nk (dbc370)

  26. They are not as competent as even the reboot of condor, or the winter soldier which is derivatives of the first, now the operation against Pablo escobar was derivative of present danger

    narciso (d1f714)

  27. It seems the decision to embarrass/ pressure Trump by filing those indictments before he met Putin was made by…Trump.
    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-07-17/trump-said-to-decide-russia-indictments-should-come-pre-summit

    kishnevi (5bd7eb)

  28. What trump ment to say was look you neo-con vermin. You lost! The republican party, independents and even some democrats voted for me, not you! The liberal news media and deep state intelligence agencies baxked crooked hillary. Libertarian conservative cold warriors you lost too! 90% of the republican partys is with me not you. Whine and wimpier here all you want. Who cares except bill kristol and tame ex-republicans who take their pay checks from the liberal media.

    wendell (478316)

  29. The Bourne books were more cynical but also more logical as to motivation, David webb is an American diplomat in Thailand who becomes a mercenary in a southeast Asian foreign legion, medusa, out of a personal tragedy. He takes the identity of an austraLian criminal in order to lure Carlos out of the cold, that is Jason Bourne.

    narciso (d1f714)

  30. So its personal grief that forces him into this role, of course ramirez illyich Sanchez was already in a French jail, at that time Arthur limans whelp reboots the series

    narciso (d1f714)

  31. The republican party, independents and even some democrats voted for me, not you!

    Sure, but even more people voted against Trump, who did not win the support of a majority of voters in the 2016 election. It is solely because the USA is not like Russia, and we respect the rule of law, that Trump is allowed to set foot in the White House at all. Most Americans dislike him, and a majority of voters selected Trump’s opponent, to the tune of millions.

    Whine and wimpier here all you want.

    It seems to infuriate you that Traitor Trump is being criticized for bashing America.

    Dustin (ba94b2)

  32. Perry/wendell did include one sensible sentence:

    The liberal news media and deep state intelligence agencies baxked crooked hillary.

    nk (dbc370)

  33. Libertarian conservative cold warriors you lost too!

    OK, but how did the libertarian conservative neocon free-market evangelical defense hawk chamber of commerce Republicans fare?

    JVW (42615e)

  34. Most Americans dislike him, and a majority of voters selected Trump’s opponent, to the tune of millions.

    No Dustin, that is a stupid talking point that the left has been tossing out that there is entirely untrue. Hillary Clinton won 48.2% of the popular vote, emphatically not a majority. Please, let’s not have our side repeat their side’s completely wrong talking points.

    JVW (42615e)

  35. This gets under my skin because the left is trying to get everyone to believe a number of lies about Hillary Clinton’s performance in the 2016 election:

    1. She received a majority of the vote: No, she received 48.2%.
    2. She received more votes than any candidate in history: No, Obama received more votes in 2008.
    3. She ran up the largest popular vote margin in history (seriously, I have heard some lefties make this claim): She was three million votes ahead of Trump. Nixon won by 18 million votes in 1972; Reagan won by 17 million votes in 1984. Hillary had the 20th highest popular vote margin (by raw numbers) in history, and the 41st highest popular vote margin by percentage in history.

    Let’s make sure we call out these bald-faced lies when we hear them.

    JVW (42615e)

  36. here you go

    this is what you get for hiring sleazy military trash

    Kelly lobbied Republicans to rebuke Trump after Putin press conference: report

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  37. So in the film, the first target we become aware, is wambosi, Bourne falls overboard in trying to set up an accident for this fmr Nigerian dictator I suppose in the model of abacha, or perhaps the current president buhari

    narciso (d1f714)

  38. Add in the people like me who voted for a third party candidate instead of the authoritarian statist grifters running at the top of the Democratic or Republican tickets* and you find a majority of voters voted for someone other than the Republican grifter.

    *Some of them voted of course for the nonauthoritarian nonstatist grifter McMuffin or whatever his name is.

    kishnevi (5bd7eb)

  39. As we see over and over in the media, and decidedly in comments sections around here, there is a super strong push to reduce people to slogans and bumper stickers.

    What an awful world.

    Simon Jester (2eda7b)

  40. “Most Americans dislike him, and a majority of voters selected Trump’s opponent, to the tune of millions.”

    A very sad talking point from the Left. I hate to see people who know better fall for this sort of stuff.

    Colonel Haiku (d52d85)

  41. But having said that, those who do can chortle deez ballz.

    Colonel Haiku (d52d85)

  42. Well that ignores the electoral college, but like William roper lets dispense with procedures

    narciso (d1f714)

  43. this is a great whirl i still haven’t had a paris-brest in my whole life for example

    i looked them up and they seem like something you maybe wanna save for the holidays though

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  44. i read where they were particularly well-received by cyclists cause of their high calorie content

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  45. By the second film Bourne is remembering he iced a Russian dissident politician, who is covering up a deal with the Russian govt, the second book suggests that the great villain is a secret kuomingtang princeling who behaves like den Thao ping

    narciso (d1f714)

  46. =yawn=

    Clinton received 65,844,610 votes, or 48.2% of the total vote.

    Trump received 62,979,636 votes, or 46.1% of the total vote. (That’s a difference of 2.86 million votes.)

    The remaining 5.7% of the vote went to other candidates.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  47. These folks in government who scream the loudest about Russia being our biggest enemy and Trump rolling over are the same folks who’ve made a shambles of our intelligence gathering and mismanaged America’s foreign policy for well over 20 years now.

    Derp State. Derpity Derp Derp.

    Colonel Haiku (d52d85)

  48. “Clinton received 65,844,610 votes, or 48.2% of the total vote. Trump received 62,979,636 votes, or 46.1% of the total vote. (That’s Trump received 62,979,636 votes, or 46.1% of the total vote. (That’s a difference of 2.86 million votes.)”

    So California was all in for Clinton. Shockah!

    Colonel Haiku (d52d85)

  49. mismanaged America’s foreign policy AND the tranny-trash military for well over 20 years now.

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  50. Yes indeed, coronello, look at the froth that rises to the top Brennan clapper comey

    narciso (d1f714)

  51. “Most Americans dislike him, and a majority of voters selected Trump’s opponent, to the tune of millions.”

    A very sad talking point from the Left. I hate to see people who know better fall for this sort of stuff.

    He received 46.4% of the vote, less than Hillary, and by using some pretty basic math, you can figure out that 53.6% didn’t vote for Trump, i.e. voted for his opponents.

    I’m mean your making a point, a completely stupid one, since its the electoral college is what matters. He lost the popular vote, not the first time its happened, probably won’t be the last. But best and brightest and all that. He didn’t win that by the -est margin of anything, he won, that is all, not bigly, in any way.

    Biff Radukowski (6e7a1c)

  52. Do most Americans dislike Trump, Bill?

    Colonel Haiku (d52d85)

  53. No w did too, in large part due to j roves brilliant strategery and suppressing the military vote, Al gore would likely have surrendered to bin laden after this second wave of attacks, but he would have felt very sad about it, thats if the popular vote mattered then people would only care about campaigning in new York new jerseyband California, the way elections seem to play out in France.

    narciso (d1f714)

  54. The people here who think they now have Trump on the ropes are resorting to the election tally argument?

    Hahahahahaha!!!

    BuDuh (fc15db)

  55. By the third film, the amoral nature of this leviathan had been exposed, a guardian reporter who is using Bourne as. Source is dispatched in the
    Middle of a major train station.

    narciso (d1f714)

  56. he didn’t follow instructions

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  57. “Please, let’s not have our side repeat their side’s completely wrong talking points.”

    You are making a big assumption there, JVW.

    Colonel Haiku (d52d85)

  58. True, but stupidity shiuldnt be fatal, at the time of the film, the puzzle palace hadn’t expanded into the 51 flavors of surveillance (prism, tempora, bullrun, it al)

    narciso (d1f714)

  59. There’s also a piece about the interesting ties the senior stzok has with iran the kingdom and Haiti, why those three countries

    narciso (d1f714)

  60. Who said Trump is on the ropes? He’s not getting impeached, he’s also not very popular, but he’s more popular than W. at the end. Facts that are not not ambiguous and are not in dispute should just be a given. More people voted for Hillary than him, most voted for not him, less than half of the people approve of him. Those are all just true things, why argue about it?

    There’s no way the Senate flips to the point that you’re going to get 67 senate votes for impeachment, unless something dramatic happens.

    The point of the article is that it is a fact that the Russia did its darnedest to influence the election, to A) cause chaos as a primary goal, B) get someone elected that would let Putin’s pals free up their money from personal sanctions. They’ve succeeded wildly with A, congress has made it impossible for B. Trump was more likely to make B happen so sure, they wanted him in, but A was still their primary goal.

    Did Trump have to collude to be advantaged by that? Absolutely not. He does seem hell bent on conflating A and B as personally as possible, but frankly Russia probably didn’t care one bit if it was him or someone else, although as their state media has been genuinely giddy for the past week, it didn’t hurt.

    Trump’s petty narcissism blinds him from any ability to look at what Russia did as an attack on us, since he still equates it with it A and B are true, then C (he is illegitimate) is also true,but that’s just out of small mindedness.

    I just don’t get the need, by the US at least, to care about Russia other than their Nuclear arsenal. Sure, that’s important, but are they more or less likely to use theirs than Pakistan? They’re a blip of a trading partner, 30th, a blip of the global economy, 11th, behind Australia.

    Countries that border Russia and rely on them for energy must be beholden, but that should make us MORE in the corner for Germany, Estonia, Latvia, Ukraine, etc, not less. And that is especially true after we’ve caught them red handed trying to meddle, even a little bit. They are a pimple on the ass of history, not even enough to expend the time to pop.

    So with all of that said, why in the world is Trump so enamored with Putin, even if they floated him financing in the past, he’s the president now, all of those sorts of issues were baked in when he won the election, why in the world does he care now? Other than ego in that the transitive property that A+B=C means he believes it hurts his feelz.

    Biff Radukowski (6e7a1c)

  61. Who said Trump is on the ropes?

    The 1st paragraph of this post gave me that idea.

    BuDuh (fc15db)

  62. Monkeys still flinging poo I see.

    Sorry monkeys, it still isn’t sticking.

    lee (4a7319)

  63. You guys can keep sticking your heads in the sand if you want. The fact of the matter is that Trump’s presidency is the result of an entirely antiquated, openly anti-democratic structure, with no real Madisonian justification in the modern era.

    More American voters wanted a non-Trump president. The fact that Trump is president should embarrass any self-respecting self-governing people.

    Leviticus (adc343)

  64. Even in czarist times, an incursion against Russia wee perilous, lets skip inkerman and balaclava and napoleon, in the time of troubles in the 16th century, the poles took advantage , they never forgot that and as a result Poland dissapearedfor about a century, dzerzinski was imprisoned in a facility in the old land holdings there.

    narciso (d1f714)

  65. Vladimir Putin Set a Trap for Robert Mueller in His Press Conference with Donald Trump
    Reporters in Moscow usually hear the same brush-off a few times a week: Send us your request in writing, and we’ll deal with it as we see fit. But when President Vladimir Putin urged Special Counsel Robert Mueller to “send a formal and official request to us” about the indictment he brought on Friday, it was not the lazy reflex of a Russian bureaucrat who doesn’t want to answer questions. It was a calculated attempt to pull the Mueller investigation onto a playing field that Putin can control.

    Here’s roughly how the Russian leader would like things to unfold: Now that the Special Counsel has indicted a group of 12 Russian intelligence officers for interfering in the U.S. elections, Putin wants to see the evidence, ideally translated into Russian and sent to the authorities in Moscow, all in accordance with an obscure law-enforcement treaty that the U.S. and Russia signed nearly two decades ago.

    http://time.com/5340695/putin-trump-press-conference-robert-mueller-russia/

    *snicker*

    Anon Y. Mous (acdecf)

  66. Trump voters know why they voted for trump and it wasn’t russia meddling. 51.8% of the voters voted against hillary. Jill stein got more votes in michigan, pennsylvania and wisconsin then trumps winning margin over clinton in those three states. That is why trump is called mr. president!

    wendell (283d8e)

  67. “I thought that I made myself very clear, but having just reviewed the transcript…I realized that there is a need for some clarification,” Trump said Tuesday at the White House. “The sentence should have been…’I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t be Russia’.”

    “I have felt very strongly that while Russia’s actions had no impact at all on the outcome of the election, let me be totally clear in saying…that I accept our American intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election took place,” the president said.

    But, Trump added, “Could be other people also, there’s a lot of people out there.”

    Sorry monkeys, it still isn’t sticking.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  68. Lesson learned don’t apologize or concede anything ever again:
    https://www.britannica.com/event/Time-of-Troubles

    To us, history is just things that happened long ago, to the Russians the Serbs or the Arabs, history is ongoing

    narciso (d1f714)

  69. Jill Stein got those votes due to absolute disgust with both Clinton and Trump. Any attempt to convert that margin into a legitimate mandate for Trump is going to come across as intellectually half-as*ed.

    Any attempt to justify Trump’s presidency via the will of actual American voters is impossible. It requires the imposition of an unnecessary middleman, and the defenses of that middleman (via baseball analogies or otherwise) are exceedingly weak.

    Leviticus (adc343)

  70. The Koreans don’t forget the Japanese occupations, and I imagine Persians don’t forget their losses to the Russians how they lost baku and similar engagements with the british

    narciso (d1f714)

  71. Where is the evidence that Russia “meddled/interfered/hacked” our election?

    Ever seen any? It seems to be a near universal assumption, like Hillary’s enivetable victory, or Obama’s legitimacy.

    Perhaps it’s an article of faith, like the virgin birth, second coming, the rainbow contract, or those frisky 72 virgins.

    Where’s the beef?

    ropelight (d89b9d)

  72. Ah yes you think Anthea butler says something profound but dubois could have come up with better in his sleep, langston Hughes put in verse and robeson direct it.

    narciso (d1f714)

  73. Has stephen coan and the neo-cons started the military coup against trump yet? Just asking for a friend.

    wendell (283d8e)

  74. You’d think some Cubanoamericano expat would have something valuable to say regarding the notion of votes belonging to individuals. Apparently, you’d be wrong. Any sugar daddy but Castro, I guess.

    Leviticus (adc343)

  75. Cubanoamericano

    i’d like to buy a vowel

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  76. You know what we call run and coke, the little lie, nearly 60 years without anything resembling a real election.

    Narciso (9fd7e1)

  77. So we can all guess why Trump admires/respects/has a crush on Putin – but why did Putin say he preferred Trump as President? Does Putin prefer the US have the strongest, smartest, best, most capable leader because he loves America so much, or because he doesn’t see the US as a foe, or just because he’s an idiot? Why would Putin not prefer Hillary as President if Hillary would clearly be so much worse for the US? It’s a puzzle.

    Jerryskids (cfad51)

  78. i think if you go to cuba it should be for the seafood

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  79. So we can all guess why Trump admires/respects/has a crush on Putin – but why did Putin say he preferred Trump as President?
    Jerryskids (cfad51) — 7/17/2018 @ 6:50 pm

    What if Trump were to say that he wishes someone else had gained power in China? Would that endear him to the Chinese leadership? Would it further Trump’s goals in any way in dealing with them?

    The only time it would make sense is if you think you can bring about a change. Like maybe with May in England.

    Anon Y. Mous (acdecf)

  80. “By the third film, the amoral nature of this leviathan had been exposed, a guardian reporter who is using Bourne as. Source is dispatched in the
    Middle of a major train station.

    By the third film, you’d think they’d quit making mistakes about how brilliant Bourne is in being random.

    In the first film he hangs on to the bright red knappy way too long.

    In the third, he declined to tell the writer to lose the man purse.

    harkin (e3be5c)

  81. but why did Putin say he preferred Trump as President?

    He was either lying or, if truthful, Putin preferred Trump because Trump would do more to advance Putin’s interests. Putin lied a lot in that press conference, but that answer seemed sincere and our IC has already concluded that Putin preferred Trump.

    Paul Montagu (91b6ad)

  82. True, but he has to play the part of a red shirt, to motivate his search.

    Narciso (9fd7e1)

  83. “Who said Trump is on the ropes? He’s not getting impeached, he’s also not very popular, but he’s more popular than W. at the end.

    Some polls have the president as popular as Chairman Zero was at the same point in office, and that’s with a 90% hostile media as opposed to the 80% love-fest for Zero.

    harkin (e3be5c)

  84. “You know what we call run and coke, the little lie, nearly 60 years without anything resembling a real election.”

    – narciso

    So why settle for such a cheap substitute? Where is the reverence for the value of the individual vote?

    “You want your vote to count? Don’t live in Cuba Oklahoma or California.”

    It shouldn’t matter where you live. A free vote is a free vote, and should be counted and honored as such.

    Leviticus (adc343)

  85. Fidel had committed his first murder by age 20, that was when he was hands on, he waa the illegitimate son of a Lebanese maid and a Spanish owner, in similar way that bin Laden was Yemeni with Syrian roots.

    Narciso (9fd7e1)

  86. the downing of Flight MH17 over Ukraine

    this happened during coward-ass slutbama’s reign and guess what

    he didn’t do a goddamn thing

    here’s a statement where he didn’t have a single shred of criticize for Mr. Putin about the doomed jetliner

    now you failmericans want to pee your navy-panties to where they’re damp and smelly!

    it’s just so grotesque, watching failmericans try to take the moral high ground after all the people you slaughtered in your idiot bush wars of choice

    this is why President Trump is so refreshing!

    he wants to put America’s interests first (this is where we live)

    and that means we don’t dry-hump the dog every time someone says the word Putin

    and you know what

    it’s a good feeling

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  87. WHATABOUT Obama. He did a horrible weak thing on Russia. Trump–Hold my beer

    Biff Radukowski (6e7a1c)

  88. Russians would say much the thing about chechnya and Dagestan, it was a simple mission like the as minnow but it went pear shaped and claimed likes in beslan, Moscow proper and a hundred other venues.

    Narciso (9fd7e1)

  89. 65-Leviticus, so you think respecting the electoral college as established in the constitution of this republic (not democracy), should strip a person of self respect? Interesting.

    69- DCSCA, so you think Russia us the only country that meddles in our elections, and this last election was the first time for them?

    79-Jerryskids, not much of a puzzle. When world leaders get together for an event like that, they usually flatter each other. It’s called “diplomacy”.

    Otherwise known as saying “nice doggy” to a threatening canine while looking for a rock.

    lee (4a7319)

  90. The Putin spy who loved conservatives.

    Maria Butina, who was indicted this week on charges of being a covert Russian agent, struck up friendships with the influential leaders of the National Rifle Association and the Conservative Political Action Conference, touting her interest in U.S. affairs and efforts to promote gun rights in Vladi­mir Putin’s restrictive Russia. She sidled up to GOP presidential candidates, seeking first an encounter with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and then, after his rising candidacy stumbled, with Donald Trump.

    Paul Montagu (91b6ad)

  91. Sooooo, no real answer then. Fidel was illegitimate, got it. Your attempt at a principled argument is illegitimate- what do you think of that?

    Leviticus (adc343)

  92. Fidel was illegitimate cause he didn’t invest in opportunity zones

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  93. Yes, lee, I do – just as I think continuing to respect the 3/5ths Clause should strip a modern American of self-respect. The principle behind the two mechanisms is the same: disenfranchisement of individual citizens and the votes they are due for the protection of power-brokers and “property holders.”

    Make of it what you will.

    Leviticus (adc343)

  94. So what exactly was the harm in That, I know guns belong exclusively in the hands of the state.

    Narciso (9fd7e1)

  95. We don’t need freedom of religion neither, freedom of worship where the,state designates your faith

    Narciso (9fd7e1)

  96. President Trump doesn’t even drink beer Mr. Radukowski

    he’s 5 by 5 at all times

    scanning the horizon for DANGER

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  97. You do? That’s interesting. I thought you believed in human autonomy.

    Leviticus (adc343)

  98. Well Brookings only has 15 million reasons to worry

    https://mobile.twitter.com/alimhaider/status/1019367514181128192

    Narciso (9fd7e1)

  99. So much for the conspiracy theory that Rosy and/or Mueller were giving Trump the middle finger for publicizing the indictments on the Friday before the Trump-Putin meetup.

    President Donald Trump gave the go-ahead to announce new Russian election-hacking indictments before his meeting with Vladimir Putin rather than after — in the hopes it would strengthen his hand in the talks, according to accounts from people familiar with the decision.
    Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein went to Trump last week and offered him the choice: before or after the Putin summit on Monday in Helsinki? Trump chose before, ultimately putting the issue into the spotlight just 72 hours before the high-stakes meeting, the people said.

    This makes sense because Rosy is in the chain of command, and it would be reasonable for him to ask Trump about the timing, and it was actually reasonable on Trump’s part because it would have given him leverage in case he wanted to pressure Putin. Unfortunately, he slobbered all over the dictator.

    Paul Montagu (91b6ad)

  100. 97-Um, the 3/5ths clause was put in by abolitionists so the slave states couldn’t use their slaves to give them more reps in congress.

    If you’re going to be so superior, you might want to learn some history.

    As for the use a of popular vote for president, I’m a proud federalist, and you can stick your self respect. As a matter of fact, I think the 17th amendment should be repealed to give more power back to the states.

    lee (4a7319)

  101. You think I’m committed to certain positions to which I am not committed, narciso. My questions still stand. Answer them if you feel equipped.

    Leviticus (adc343)

  102. That he went to law school, so he wouldn’t need to know history, but thomas woods must have made some impression

    Narciso (9fd7e1)

  103. …scanning the horizon for DANGER

    Intentional or no, that was funny, hf.

    Paul Montagu (91b6ad)

  104. Fidel was illegitimate because he came to power in an armed coup and ruled over Cuba with an iron hand as dictator for life.

    ropelight (d89b9d)

  105. lee,

    I don’t care who put it in there, it was an abomination to human dignity and democratic values, and should never have been negotiated. If anything, the 5/5ths Clause should have been extracted by blood from the outset. What do you think of that, as a “proud federalist”?

    Leviticus (adc343)

  106. The amusing thing was Fidel pledged to uphold the 1940 constitution, a totally unworkable document that promised every sjw wish under the sun, he instituted the changes I mentioned above, he made children the property of the state, he sent them away to camps to drill and serve as slave labor.

    Narciso (9fd7e1)

  107. I believe it was last December, I made a prediction here that Captain Chaos would be out of office within a year. If this is any indication, those odds have suddenly increased:

    President Trump is an odds-on favorite — for impeachment.

    Irish bookmaker Paddy Power says the betting has suddenly gone from 8/1 for the President’s ouster to 2/1, and the touts are saying it’ll happen sooner rather than later.

    The line on the President’s removal this year, rather than next, dropped from 12/1 to 2/1.

    http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-bookmakers-gamblers-trump-impeachment-20180717-story.html#

    Tillman (d34303)

  108. A key identifying characteristic of Russian troll farms, inability to recognize satire and pop topics. So let me help you out.

    Hold my beer:
    We have to go all the way back to the mid-’90s, an era in which I’m sure a good percentage of you currently reading this were born. That was when comedian Jeff Foxworthy — who made it big on a strain of southern-fried standup that poked fun at red-state life — relayed a common “redneck” punchline to the wider world.

    In Foxworthy’s familiar formula, the joke went like this: “You might be a redneck if … your last words before losing consciousness have ever been, ‘Hey, y’all! Watch this?'”

    But a common variation of the “redneck’s last words” gag includes an additional (and some might say pivotal) detail. Before saying “Watch this” and embarking on some grand, dangerous idiocy, the speaker must safeguard his emboldening beverage.

    Therefore: “Hold my beer.”

    Biff Radukowski (6e7a1c)

  109. Pathetic. Do you believe that the votes of individual citizens should count, or not?

    Leviticus (adc343)

  110. Not yours.

    ropelight (d89b9d)

  111. “Sooooo, no real answer then. Fidel was illegitimate, got it. Your attempt at a principled argument is illegitimate- what do you think of that?”

    Hey, narciso… he callin’ you out!

    He once had a life, or rather
    Life had him
    He was one among many
    But you are don’t has to call “Jim”
    Well, he read an old citation in a law book yesterday
    Said “Gonna reap just what you sow,
    The debts you make you have to pay. ”
    Can you get to that?
    Can you get (He wanna know)
    He wanna know if you can get to that (hey!) (get to that!)
    Can you get (can you get to that)(He wanna know)
    He wanna know if you can get to that
    He recollects with a-mixed emotions
    All the good times he used to have
    But he was making preparations
    For the coming copulation
    He ain’t Jim, jus’ call him “Dad”
    But he based his life on credit
    Now his lovin’ days are done
    Checks he signs with a “love and kisses”
    Later come back signed “insufficient funds”
    Yeah, get to that!
    Can you get (He wanna know)
    He wanna know if you can get to that (hey!) (get to that!)
    Can you get (can you get to that)(He wanna know)
    He wanna know if you can get to that

    Colonel Haiku (d52d85)

  112. but why did Putin say he preferred Trump as President
    Easy.
    Trump as candidate was saying he would conduct foreign policy in certain ways, most of them beneficial to Putin.
    In fact, much of his current policy can be seen as fulfilling those promises. He wanted to disengage from Nato and let Russia have a free hand in Syria, etc.

    Putin would have bern crazy not to prefer him.

    And that’s even if Trump was not laundering money for the Russian mafia…

    kishnevi (5bd7eb)

  113. Actually getting them to pay their fair share, is something Hillary would never have broached, actually challenge Syria on the ground not from 10,000 feet, retreat from the deal they bent over backwards to get Putin’s blessing.

    Narciso (9fd7e1)

  114. Leviticus, if you want the desolation of the United States, doing away with the electoral college is the best way to go about it.

    You talk about disenfranchisement, do you know LA county has more people than the whole state of North Carolina? Do you imagine states like North Carolina want to be ruled by California and New York?

    You’re an igno.

    lee (4a7319)

  115. Lee, reverse your logic.
    Why should LA County have less input than North Carolina?

    kishnevi (5bd7eb)

  116. Apparently that’s what he wants, he wants California and New York to determine the fare of the nation, which would mean only ‘safe speech, religion would be a memory, the state would provide impartial security etc etc

    Narciso (9fd7e1)

  117. Because they have more in-breds…

    Colonel Haiku (d52d85)

  118. Because it has served us in good stead for nearly 230 years.

    Narciso (9fd7e1)

  119. They don’t. How many electors does NC have? How many does California have?

    States elect the president in this republic. You want to disenfranchise smaller states.

    While talking about respect.

    lee (4a7319)

  120. You talk about disenfranchisement, do you know LA county has more people than the whole state of North Carolina? Do you imagine states like North Carolina want to be ruled by California and New York?

    You’re an igno.

    lee (4a7319) — 7/17/2018 @ 7:46 pm

    Instead of insulting Leviticus, explain why one vote in North Carolina should count so much more than one vote in Texas or California.

    We had a choice between A and B in the last election. Most Americans choose A, and yet because the aristocracy waved their hands a certain way, we get B, which is exactly not what the voters wanted. You say any alternative is “desolation” because of propaganda meant to pit us against eachother.

    Indeed there are some real arguments for states rights. Perhaps a compromise would give the Senate back to the state governments and cement some filibuster powers in law, while eliminating the electoral college? Perhaps we just get rid of the president all together? Let the Senate pick a Prime Minister once every two years. But the real problem is our partisan nature.

    It is not a good strategy for a politician to solve problems. It’s much better for a politician to make these juicy problems into crises they use to foment outrage at the other political party. It’s much better for a politician to just spend their time scandalizing the other party. At no point does it make sense to, say, balance the budget. We must fix that. I think with a PR system where every party has to negotiate with eachother to even create a government at all.

    But no, Leviticus is not an “igno” just for thinking outside the box. We got Trump, and that’s argument enough that a lot has gone wrong with primaries and general elections in the USA. It’s simply too easily manipulated by our nation’s enemies like Putin.

    Dustin (ba94b2)

  121. The Russian Infiltration stench is strong on this one..

    Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) is the U.S. Congressman named in Monday’s FBI affidavit against Russian national Maria Butina, which alleges Rohrabacher was part of a 2015 delegation that traveled to Moscow and planned to meet with a Russian official widely believed to be Alexander Torshin, reports The Daily Beast.

    Why it matters: Torshin, who has been described as a “godfather” in a Russian organized crime syndicate, has been under FBI investigation for potentially funneling money through the NRA to help President Trump win the 2016 election. The notoriously pro-Russia Rohrabacher did not deny being the congressman referenced in the document, but said that the charge against Maria Butina is “bogus,” according to Politico.

    https://www.axios.com/report-gop-rep-dana-rohrabacher-referenced-in-affidavit-of-russian-spy-3b29a9be-d6d9-4d3d-9bf8-0eac4919a25c.html

    Tillman (d34303)

  122. Lee, reverse your logic.
    Why should LA County have less input than North Carolina?

    kishnevi (5bd7eb) — 7/17/2018 @ 7:50 pm

    Well no surprise someone is more succinct than the least succinct commenter here.

    But as far as presidential elections go, the few in the swing states matter thousands of times more than people in solid red or blue states.

    The popular vote issue presents a problem, though: corrupt city political groups can and will stuff the ballot boxes. Another reason to just abandon a presidential election concept at all.

    Dustin (ba94b2)

  123. Trump’s mystery military agreement with Putin, secretly negotiated with the dictator yesterday.

    Russia announced it was ready to pursue agreements reached by Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump “in the sphere of international security,” though the White House and Pentagon would not confirm any agreements had been made or offer any details.

    There’s no way to know what Trump agreed to, unless his translator has something to say, which perhaps explains why Democrats in Congress want his interpreter to testify and find out WTF Trump gave up and appeased to Putin.

    Paul Montagu (91b6ad)

  124. Seems the nevertrumpers are showing their true colors tonight. No respect for the constitution or traditions of this country.

    My work here is done, and now to rest for tomorrow’s work. Goodnight.

    I said, GOODNIGHT!

    lee (4a7319)

  125. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA)

    My congressman, and Putin’s.

    Dave (445e97)

  126. Sorry Dave! All I can do is shake my head.

    Tillman (d34303)

  127. @93. It’s good he’s essentially neutered the modern conservative movement, cooked the odd set of weenies, fried Tedtoo’s Canadian bacon, sidelined the Bushes, humiliated the Clintons and upstaged Reagan while peeing on his grave. A center right court was expected and a modest price to pay. And if our Captain want to sh!t on his personal reputation, diddle porn stars, Playboy bunnies and crave a Forbes spanking or two like the proud New Yorker he is, fine. It’s grand entertainment and long time Big Apple metro area residents have known his shtick and seen the act for decades; it was Steinbrenner, Helmsley and Trump who ran Steady Eddie Koch’s New York w/assists from Reggie, Billy and Yogi.

    But what Traitor Trump did in Helsinki to Americans is completely, totally and unconditionally unforgivable. Even the most mundane American tourist knows they’re representing the country when travelling and interacting overseas. The jackass doesn’t get a do-over on this; there are no second chances to make a first impression, particularly after boasting he’s been ‘preparing for this his whole life.’ He can’t talk his way out of it and anybody who tries to help him spin it, at Fox or otherwise, is essentially complicit and ‘colluding.’ Real life is a bitch when covered ‘live’ and you can’t edit it before broadcast.

    Donald Trump strode on to the global stage in Helsinki, dropped his pants, and sh!t on every American citizen in front of a worldwide audience, then wiped his azz w/t U.S. flag.

    And what would his supposed ‘hero’ say?!?!…

    “‘Despicable!’ That the first time in my life anybody’s ever applied that word to me…” – Gen. George S. Patton [George C. Scott] ‘Patton’ 1970

    End of story.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  128. Lee, reverse your logic.
    Why should LA County have less input than North Carolina?
    kishnevi (5bd7eb) — 7/17/2018 @ 7:50 pm

    Because we’re a constitutional republic that still places importance on the states. If it were just based on a popular vote, we’d see politicians pandering to a few population centers and ignoring the rest of the country. I kind of like a system that has over a dozen battleground states to compete in, and that those battlegrounds can change from one election to the next. Until 2016, it has served us well.

    Paul Montagu (91b6ad)

  129. “There’s no way to know what Trump agreed to, unless his translator has something to say, which perhaps explains why Democrats in Congress want his interpreter to testify and find out WTF Trump gave up and appeased to Putin.”

    Too bad he didn’t pull an Obama and discuss it inadvertently with a hot mic.

    Ben Shapiro on Trump’s original statement:

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kIrn4SzJiis

    harkin (e3be5c)

  130. LMAO. Is this an IQ test? If you believe that “would/wouldn’t” assertion…. then you will need to score about 60 points higher to join Mensa.

    noel (96c84f)

  131. Don’t strain yourself patting your own back on the way out, lee. You’re not the first, or the best. Goodnight.

    Leviticus (adc343)

  132. Trump says he doesn’t drink. So there goes that excuse.

    noel (96c84f)

  133. Trump says he has a great brain too, and is a stable genius.

    Biff Radukowski (6e7a1c)

  134. Here’s an interesting thing to contemplate: Let’s say we do away with the Electoral College and elect the President by popular vote. If we were to do that, some compromises would have to be made to assuage the smaller states who would feel like they were now at the mercy of the big cities, and more specifically, the big political machines. So what do people think about the following compromise:

    Eliminate the electoral college and elect the President directly, but implement nationwide voting standards including
    * require a valid ID to vote
    * eliminate motor voter, automatic registration, and election-day registration
    * restrict Presidential election day to no more than four days: the first Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday of November
    * eliminate voting by mail, except for absentee ballots which now must be notarized
    * require the states to purge voter rolls of dead voters and those who have moved away
    * require any voter under age 25 to have worked and paid taxes at some point in the past three years in order to be eligible to vote (for all Federal elections; states can do whatever they want for local elections)
    * make vote tampering or election fraud a felony punishable by prison time and permanent loss of voting privileges

    One thing that concerns people like me about direct election of the President is that it opens the door to deciding policy by a national ballot initiative and referendum.

    JVW (42615e)

  135. President Trump’s revealed so much stanky

    he exposed the stanky FBI

    he exposed stanky treasonous coward John McCain (so what does a boy gotta do for some porridge around here charlie)

    he exposed the lickspittle CNN Jake Tapper fake news

    he exposed the feckless parasitism of NATO

    he exposed the lying ineffectual CIA

    he exposed America’s laughingstock judges

    and he’s just getting started

    which means our gratitude

    it will only grow and grow

    thank you India

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  136. Or the other option is to elect the President by popular vote but then severely restrict the executive office’s power so that the executive is subservient to Congress. Perhaps eliminate the President’s power to nominate his/her own cabinet and make those positions chosen by Congress.

    JVW (42615e)

  137. And they would eventually bring it back, no deal.

    You’ve proven the point, trump should concede on nothing, because you don’t argue in good faith, one considers what trump has actually done and what red queen promised to do, its not only night and day, its not on the same solar plane

    narciso (d1f714)

  138. Dear Russian bot, a solar plane is an airplane that is solar powered, i.e. powered by the sun. I think what you meant was either solar system, or orbital inclination. You may want to rely on something other than Google Translate.

    Biff Radukowski (6e7a1c)

  139. Schwarzenegger: Spanky just “stood there like a little wet noodle … like a little fanboy.”

    http://www.tmz.com/2018/07/16/arnold-schwarzenegger-slams-trump-selling-out-country-vladimir-putin/

    Tillman (d34303)

  140. From last year… “If Trump were the Manchurian candidate that people keep wanting to believe that he is, here are some of the things he’d be doing:

    Limiting fracking as much as he possibly could
    Blocking oil and gas pipelines
    Opening negotiations for major nuclear arms reductions
    Cutting U.S. military spending
    Trying to tamp down tensions with Russia’s ally Iran

    That Trump is planning to do precisely the opposite of these things may or may not be good policy for the United States, but anybody who thinks this is a Russia appeasement policy has been drinking way too much joy juice.

    Obama actually did all of these things, and none of the liberal media now up in arms about Trump ever called Obama a Russian puppet; instead, they preferred to see a brave, farsighted and courageous statesman.”

    https://www.the-american-interest.com/2017/02/24/trump-isnt-sounding-like-a-russian-mole/

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  141. JVW,

    What in the world do any of those conditions have to do with “one person, one vote”?

    Leviticus (adc343)

  142. Dear President Trump. Get it right the first time because your many enemies will give you no slack. I you say “good morning” and it’s actually after noon — even in another time zone — 10,000 articles will be written about your mental deterioration. So, just read off the teleprompter, please. It worked for Obama.

    Kevin M (5d3e49)

  143. You’re bringing in mean and stupid people, while chasing off people who have been here for year, I could name a few, but that’s all in service of the narrative, right simon.

    http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/eclip.html

    Narciso (75250d)

  144. So you meant plane of the elliptic, not “solar plane” good thing you googled it after the fact.

    Oh, and Russian influence campaigns on the web have been going on since at least 2016, maybe you’ve heard. Dosvedanya comrade.

    Biff Radukowski (6e7a1c)

  145. the maid was stooped over in fear

    like a wet latin noodle

    as the teutonic governor thrusted into her over and over and over

    when will this stop she thought when will he stop thrusting

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  146. You know they had entertained another terminator genesis film but the last one stank like camembert audience, same for miles teller f4 reboot

    Narciso (80b978)

  147. damn that was unreadable stuff. Couldn’t get through the first paragraph. You Brennanites just seem so doomed.

    And not a word about Seth Rich. Well, okay. Good luck with your little confused narrative. I can’t imagine who you find to latch onto that.

    jcurtis (161898)

  148. Zombie Harold stassen, I think he was a republican.

    Narciso (80b978)

  149. i love the terminator franchise mostly cause it probably saved nick stahl’s life

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  150. Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 7/17/2018 @ 8:52 pm

    It’s early yet, just give him some time. I’m sure he’s working on it…

    Tillman (d34303)

  151. I want the best for my country, Tillie. You on the left make a conscious decision to go in the opposite direction.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  152. Since I never saw my so called life, I didn’t realize that was the extent of her range.

    Narciso (80b978)

  153. i never saw that either

    but where i am now is

    i don’t think playing bi-polar is really a stretch for her

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  154. Then you want Traitor Trump thrown out of office Drunku? If not, you don’t know what’s best for our country.

    Tillman (d34303)

  155. Until the last two seasons, it worked for her she was off kilter but insightful, now I stand like Heaton saying ‘You maniacs you blew it up’

    Narciso (80b978)

  156. i’ve only seen like 2 episodes and them ones were kinda silly

    The Americans i’m a binge next winter

    such a great premise

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  157. And it’s based on at least one true life incident

    Narciso (80b978)

  158. You are either high or willfully ignorant, Tillie. I won’t rule out a combination of the two.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  159. And not a word about Seth Rich.

    What does that even mean, curtis?

    Paul Montagu (91b6ad)

  160. 157.I want the best for my country…

    =Haikumakov= Gesundheit!

    And Mother Russia is proud you do: Red Colonel, white Russians, blue balls; now you’re a genuine patriotsky, comrade!

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  161. @166. It’s about cashews and almonds:

    Right-wing conspiracy nuts refuse to let go of their Seth Rich fantasy

    ‘Two years ago this week, Seth Rich was on the phone with his girlfriend as he walked home from a bar in the early morning hours. His girlfriend heard other voices on Rich’s end. Then the call abruptly ended. The 27-year-old Democratic National Committee staffer was shot and killed in his Washington, D.C., neighborhood that morning. Local police investigated and determined it was a robbery gone wrong, possibly connected to a string of recent street robberies in the area.

    But that’s not the story some conservatives like to tell. According to stories breathlessly reported by a wide range of right-leaning sites, Rich was a deep-state whistleblower who leaked thousands of DNC emails to WikiLeaks, then found himself in the crosshairs of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.’ – source, latimes.com

    source- Richwikibio: ‘Rich’s parents condemned the conspiracy theorists and said that these individuals were exploiting their son’s death for political gain, and their spokesperson called the conspiracy theorists “disgusting sociopaths”. They requested a retraction and apology from Fox News after the network promoted the conspiracy theory, and sent a cease and desist letter to the investigator Fox News used. The investigator stated that he had no evidence to back up the claims which Fox News attributed to him. Fox News issued a retraction, but did not apologize or publicly explain what went wrong. In return, the Rich family filed a defamation lawsuit against Fox News in March 2018, stating “The pain and anguish that comes from seeing your murdered son’s life and legacy treated as a mere political football is beyond comprehension.”‘

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  162. Something to consider : our intelligence experts said “we think” not “we know.” Unless they all learned English as their second language, that should mean something. There is quite a difference between thinking and knowing. If the intelligence experts think something happened but have no proof that what they think is true, it is not wise to base policy on an unproven assumption.

    Michael Keohane (947544)

  163. Is it based on defector reports, first hand technical analysis, no its like the grapevine in Malaysia against anwar ibrahim.

    narciso (d1f714)

  164. Browsing through the Smear Machine a/k/a the #FakeNews Media, I just remembered that they got to calling Reagan “The Teflon President” because nothing they flung at him would stick. Or at least not so that he noticed. I wonder why I remembered that.

    nk (dbc370)

  165. “I think when Rod Rosenstein went out and announced this indictment, and then admitted that no votes were affected by this Russian meddling – that the outcome of not a single election was affected by what these Russians are alleged to do in this indictment – it caused a panic to ripple throughout the deep state, throughout the Democrat Party and the media. I think it was seen as, “Oh, my God. Mueller doesn’t have the goods!” I think these people have believed…
    They’ve gone to bed every night and they’ve gotten up every morning believing that Mueller has the smoking gun – that Mueller, even if he doesn’t have it, that he’s going to say he does. Mueller has been the singular hope in which the deep state’s desire to get rid of Trump has been invested. Mueller was gonna find something. His 13 anti-Trump lawyers? They were gonna find collusion. They were gonna find something.

    Here comes this indictment, and it finds nothing – and in effect, may actually signal the end of the Mueller investigation. Rosenstein made it plain… Nothing in this indictment, nothing alleged to have occurred by these defendants affected the outcome of a single election. Many people thought that the Mueller indictment announcement was yet another nail in the Trump coffin. I think it’s the opposite.

    I think it was a cold shock to the system that Mueller doesn’t have anything, because there isn’t anything speaking of evidence of collusion… and then Mueller handed this case off to a division of the Justice Department where it’s never gonna be seen. This case has been tossed out.

    This case… Rosenstein announced that Mueller is sending this case to the counterintelligence investigative department in the justice department. Where they do not investigate crimes!…There are no crimes in counterintelligence investigations, and that’s where this case has been sent… and then Trump had the audacity at that press conference yesterday to ask everybody about the Democrat server? That’s where the hacking took place, and that’s where the collusion took place. It’s all on the Democrat side. All of this is falling apart, and the chances that all these people are gonna be exposed is causing them to panic. I have very little doubt about that.”

    —- Rush Limbaugh

    Colonel Haiku (d52d85)

  166. that was mckews old boss, showing she’s has liz mair’s gift for missing the point,

    narciso (d1f714)

  167. they receive fusion handouts like Columbia record club,

    https://twitter.com/GPIngersoll/status/1019320760756678656

    narciso (d1f714)

  168. seeing that Egypt and Saudi arabia, are perhaps less globally integrated, it looks like a category error,

    https://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2018/07/17/obama-south-africa-9-11-rise-putin-backlash-globalization/

    narciso (d1f714)

  169. #137, Biff, that someone was me at #73. I haven’t seen any evidence of Russian meddling/interference/hacking during the 2016 presidential election.

    I’ve seen lots of speculation and a ton of accusation, and I’ve seen opinions galore, but I’ve yet to see any real evidence, none.

    Just saying that (you) accept the Intelligence Community’s conclusions isn’t evidence of anything but opinion based on assumption. Depending on the issue, the Intel community has often been relied upon for accurate information, but not in this particular case.

    The DOJ, FBI, and CIA each and all by their actions both before and after the 2016 elections have demonstrated their so-called conclusions are little more than transparently self-serving attempts to conceal a baltent criminal conspiracy to shield Hillary Clinton from prosecution for numerous felonies, while at the same time illegality misusing the agencies and powers of the Federal Government to spy on and infiltrate Trump’s campaign.

    Moreover, following Trump’s victory those same criminal conspirators have engaged in a prolonged attempt to delegitimize the President and cover up their own previous treachery.

    So, enough of speculation, assumption, and opinion. We’ve all had a belly full of distraction, squirrel stew, tap dance, and foot-dragging. Let’s see the evidence of Russian interference in the 2016 election.

    Where’s the beef?

    ropelight (72ff69)

  170. if we didn’t have speculation rumor and innuendo, we would have to cover the actual news, we can’t pull our hair out, under those conditions,

    narciso (d1f714)

  171. “Where’s the beef?”: an all-purpose phrase questioning the substance of an idea, event or product: see Peller, Clara

    Colonel Haiku (d52d85)

  172. In this case, where’s teh Biff?

    Colonel Haiku (d52d85)

  173. el me cree un robot ruso, lo puedes creer, he thinks i’m a Russian bot, I feel insulted,

    narciso (d1f714)

  174. Those aggressive, war-mongering Montenegrans.

    “I understand what you’re saying, I’ve asked the same question,” Trump responded. “You know, Montenegro is a tiny country with very strong people. … They are very aggressive people, they may get aggressive, and congratulations, you’re in World War III. But that’s the way it was set up. Don’t forget, I just got here a little more than a year and a half ago.”

    Montenegro entered NATO last year, but not without interference from Putin. Anyways, Trump’s comment is classically brainless and wrong. If Montenegro gets aggressive and attacks Russia, NATO is under no obligation to join the fight. Article 5 deals with a common defense in the event Montenegro is attacked.

    Paul Montagu (91b6ad)

  175. But of course…

    “Ex-FBI chief James Comey urges Americans to vote for Democrats in midterm elections
    “All who believe in this country’s values must vote for Democrats this fall. Policy differences don’t matter right now. History has its eyes on us,” Comey said in a tweet late Tuesday.
    Comey’s tweet comes as tensions continue to boil over in Washington, following President Donald Trump’s extraordinary press briefing alongside his Russian counterpart in Helsinki on Monday.”

    https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/18/trump-ex-fbi-chief-james-comey-urges-voters-to-support-democrats.html

    Colonel Haiku (d52d85)

  176. There is no beef. Mueller, the media and the Democrats are serving up heaping helpings of baloney and, traditionally, that’s made from pork. And it really pisses me off because it’s putting a crimp on my Trump-Putin manlove jokes.

    nk (dbc370)

  177. Derp State… derpity Derp Derp

    Colonel Haiku (d52d85)

  178. But… but… muh putinz…

    Colonel Haiku (d52d85)

  179. What if Russia invades Montenegro because a Montenegrin assassinated the Archduke of Moscow?

    nk (dbc370)

  180. What if Russia invades Montenegro because a Montenegrin assassinated the Archduke of Moscow?

    Your hypothetical has nothing to do with Trump’s clueless point about those feisty, expansionist Montenegrans. It doesn’t matter if its Montenegro or Latvia or France. Article 5 is pretty clear that an attack on one nation is an attack on the entire alliance.

    Paul Montagu (91b6ad)

  181. those redheads are troublesome:

    https://twitter.com/redsteeze/status/1019603650581278720

    narciso (d1f714)

  182. How does the electoral college violate the principle of “one person, one vote” any more than plenty of other ways of apportioning votes?

    JVW (42615e)

  183. The bizarro right would have us believe that the FBI are the bad guys, but the Kremlin’s KGB are the good guys. Agent Orange has obviously been poison for the GOP.

    Tillman (d34303)

  184. Anyhow, Montenegro is strategically important. More than a lot of people realize. It landlocks Serbia, a Russian ally. Air space and land routes, too, directly from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean.

    nk (dbc370)

  185. And leaving aside their paltry $63 million defense budget, every single one of their adult population, all 500,000 of them, are ruthless killers!

    Paul Montagu (91b6ad)

  186. And if you think about it, what if a Russian warplane violates Montenegrin airspace and Montenegro shoots it down? The Turks already did it on the Syrian border, if you’ll remember.

    nk (dbc370)

  187. Breaking- Traitor Trump says ‘no’- tells Cabinet, press pool and America again today Russia is not targeting U.S. elections, contradicting himself again.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  188. And leaving aside their paltry $63 million defense budget, every single one of their adult population, all 500,000 of them, are ruthless killers!

    I know Montenegrins very well. I have some in the family. In fact, I have one degree of separation from both the last President of Montenegro and the pretender to the throne (the man who would be king had the monarchy not been abolished). They’re nice people, no more ruthlessly killerly than anybody else. But there is a revolver named after them because a former king had decreed that every adult Montenegrin must wear one. 😉

    nk (dbc370)

  189. Montenegro is strategically important.

    On that we agree. But for Syria, Russia was denied a naval port in the Mediterranean by their vote to enter NATO.

    Paul Montagu (91b6ad)

  190. Rand Paul’s a stalwart stand-up guy with as much or more integrity than anyone in that sodden and sleazy little city

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  191. Without the inclusion of the Electoral College, not enough States would have ratified the proposed Constitution to replace the Articles of Confederation.

    Without the Electoral College there would have been no Constitution. And, it should be obvious that current calls to abandon the EC are really attempts to undermine the Constitution and it’s pesky first ten amendments.

    Anyone who has pledged to protect and defend the Constitution and who advocates abandoning the Electoral College without strict adherence to the established amendment process is in violation of their oath.

    ropelight (72ff69)

  192. When Montenegro changes its name to the Caucasia, racist Tucker ‘I-haven’t-been-fired-by-Animal-Planet’-Carlson can send his coward kid to defend it and please Traitor Trump.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  193. “The bizarro right would have us believe that the FBI are the bad guys, but the Kremlin’s KGB are the good guys.”

    The FBI’s leadership have had to work very hard to put themselves in the position they find themselves in. The same holds true for the leadership of the Intelligence apparatus and the DOJ. Your flexibility re: teh Kremlin is duly noted.

    Colonel Haiku (d52d85)

  194. 194 Tillman, ya winning elections and having our agenda actually advanced for a change is poison, can’t wait for my next dose in 2020.

    Nate Ogden (972633)

  195. @202. Only his hairdresser knows for sure, Mr. Feet.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  196. 198… the 80s are calling, ASPCA, they want their paranoia and foreign policy back.

    Colonel Haiku (d52d85)

  197. 185, thought expirementfor you Paul, how does Article 5 apply to a preemptive strike? Ala Israel, or do they need to wait till it’s to late like Georgia and Ukraine.

    Nate Ogden (972633)

  198. On this day in 1969, Senator Ted Kennedy – the Frasier of the Senate – drove his car, his hopes and his dreams, off a bridge.

    Colonel Haiku (d52d85)

  199. Make that Montenegrins, not Montenegrans.

    Paul Montagu (91b6ad)

  200. 208. =Haikumakov= Gesundheit!

    And the 80s left you a message; Limbaugh is an entertainer and a drug addict. Why don’t you to pass the time by playing a little solitaire. Red Colonel, white Russians, blue balls; A patriotsky from red dawn to crimson dusk, comrade!

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  201. So we are going to the revisit the Russo Turkish war of 1877 and the 1912 Balkan war, wonderful,

    Narciso (f5aa26)

  202. Remember Jajce which is now in Bosnia btw.

    Narciso (f5aa26)

  203. Some emails about the DNC hurting Bernie and putting down Catholic voters and all of a sudden the Russians have meddled in the election. Nuts.

    AZ Bob (885937)

  204. Dana,

    Do you really think, after attempting to manipulate Russia since 1991, that the US is blameless? We installed a puppet president and helped him loot the country ffs. We have done our level best to turn Russia’s neighbors against them. We have fomented and engaged in war on the borders, in their traditional sphere of influence. We are shooting at them in Syria.

    Yeah, we have a part in it and calling it “moral equivalence” is disingenuous at best.

    Kevin M (5d3e49)

  205. 166. 168. The Seth Rich conspiracy theory absolves Russia from the hacking, and probably originated with Russia, not with anyone connected with Trump. Wikileaks’ Julian Assange dabbled in it.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kp7FkLBRpKg

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  206. Russia doesn’t actually affect the lives of real people in America to be honest.

    They have a little bit of an effect on oil markets i guess, but their power there has peaked to where they have to coordinate with the perverted Saudis.

    The “Russia” what’s threatening to real people in America is wholly an invention of the hot and horny lying sluts of the corrupt and perverted fbi.

    What russia threatens is the prerogatives and perks of our tranny-trash military, some lobbyists, and hangers-on in the corrupt intelligence community and state department.

    And everybody knows this now.

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  207. It is curious how almost cliched and scripted things are.

    In all the questioning of Trump nothing was mentioned about something he probably discussed with Theresa May – Russia’s assassination(s) and atempted assassinations of several people using poisons. Which is robably alittle bit more serious than fake Facebook ads.

    Nor did anyone ask him if he believed Russia and Putin was the source of the information in the anti-Trump Christopher Steele dossier. That might have elicited an answer you couldn’t predict.

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  208. And then there is today’s news….

    “When pressed on if Russia was still targeting the U.S. and its election system, Mr. Trump replied, “Thank you very much, no.”

    His latest comment comes in direct contrast to Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats’ statement released shortly after the president’s summit in Helsinki, which said the intelligence community has “been clear in our assessments of Russian meddling in the 2016 election and their ongoing, pervasive efforts to undermine our democracy.” (CBS News)

    Gawd, it must be comforting to dismiss every news account that you can’t defend as “fake news”.

    S.N.A.F.U.

    noel (96c84f)

  209. Happyfeet refers to that…. “tranny-trash military”.

    So, you are not into that? Well, then it seems to me that you really got a problem with everything, and I do mean everything, having to do with the US military. Why is that again?

    noel (96c84f)

  210. I see why you like Trump, Mr. Happyfeet.

    noel (96c84f)

  211. There are three things Russia did regarding the 2016 election.

    1. Spying. Obama’s policy, over the years, was never to make this a diplomatic issue, since the U.S. also spies. He got a little concerned when Russia began publishing or leaking some of the results. That was a diplomatic issue, but he didn’t want to complain too much.

    Russia only began leaking after their spying was discovered. At that point, about July 2016, Putin decided to make a serious effort to try to elect Trump. By early to mid-October he had given up.

    Then, after the election, when Trump looked for awhile like he might name Mitt Romney as Secretary of State (!) he tried to take it away from Trump by promoting Jill Stein recounts and maybe defections by Electors.

    Then, maybe he decided, Trump would not be so bad. Now he thinks the political situation and the Mueller investigation (which Putin interprets politically) prevents Trump from being more favorable to him – or maybe Trump wants him to think that. By now Trump must know Putin probably tried to plants agents in his administration.

    2. Paying for false flag ads on social media. The ads were incredibly stupid and not aimed at one result. Sometimes it was on opposite sides of the same issue (with the idea, probably, of having one side have much more support than the other)

    3. Attempting to alter the actual election results, or create uncertainty about the results. But this started way too late to affect anything. The actual voting system is offline and decentralized and it would require numerous steps to affect anything and the summer of 2016 was just too late to begin the process. (This is what Rosenstein was talking about) when he said no votes were affected. Obama had said that before.

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  212. putting trannies in uniform is no good and it’s a symbol of the perversion of our once-respectable military, which increasingly has its own agenda what is wholly inrelated to the national security interests of America 🙁

    and plus they’re bleeding us effing dry

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  213. oopers *unrelated* i mean

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  214. There probably is no new information about Russians (or anyone else) trying to hack U.S. electoral systems, and they are probably more secure than they were in 2016. Anyone trying to do something is probably several steps away. It would probably be almost as difficult as sabotaging Irtanian centrifuges.

    Of course it is logical to work on the basis that somebody might try.

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  215. We installed a puppet president and helped him loot the country ffs. We have done our level best to turn Russia’s neighbors against them. We have fomented and engaged in war on the borders, in their traditional sphere of influence. We are shooting at them in Syria.

    Revisionist history.

    Paul Montagu (91b6ad)

  216. Well Sammy, if you don’t think that Russia’s stealing Democrat emails and disseminating them strategically changed any votes….. you’d be wrong. Trump knew it was effective and raised the issue repeatedly during the election. And asked for more!

    As you know, that 2016 vote was razor thin in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Russia’s effort was Watergate by proxy.

    noel (96c84f)

  217. What manifestedly DID NOT HAPPEN was collusion by the Trump campaign with Russian hacking or anything else. It would have been illogical and unnecessary for Putin to co-ordinate this.

    Contacts took place between Russian government officials or agents and BOTH campaigns.

    In the case of the Donald Trump campaign, the Russians approached Trump people, and claiemd to be able to provide damaging information about Hillary Clinton. They never delivered anything except attempts to undo the Magnitsky Act – which was often approached gingerly, by taklking about
    adoptions.

    In the case of the Hillary Clinton campaign, people associated with Hillary Clinton approached the Russians.

    Of course, since they knew that Putin looked favorably Trump, they disguised that, and all this was done through several cutouts and a former British MI-6 agent, Christopher Steele. Putin would have thought he was working for somebody British or maybe still the UK government.

    The Clinton people tasked Christopher steele with finding out WHY Putin suported Trump.

    They got told lies. They were mainly of two kinds:

    1) That Putin had comproomising ifnromaiton on Trump. Case in point: Suppposedly Trump hated Obama so badly that, when he visited Moscow because of the 2013 Miss Universe Pageant he paid two Russian prostitutes to urinate on abed Barack Obama had slept in. Never mind this makes no sense.

    2) That Russia had a longstanding economic relationship with Donald Trump, and Russia had told Deutsche Bank to lend money to Trump, which ti di as a result of otgehr business deals. Of course now we know it was Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy who told his son at Deutsche Bank to lend money to Donald Trump.

    Several other allegations went along with thsi, like Michael Cohen visiting Prague and agreeing to split the cost of the hacking.

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  218. “putting trannies in uniform is no good and it’s a symbol of the perversion of our once-respectable military, which increasingly has its own agenda what is wholly inrelated to the national security interests of America.”

    Sometimes you read like that recently arrested redhead talks.

    noel (96c84f)

  219. Sammy…. “What manifestedly DID NOT HAPPEN was collusion by the Trump campaign with Russian hacking or anything else. It would have been illogical and unnecessary for Putin to co-ordinate this.”

    Really? Sammy Mueller speaks!

    noel (96c84f)

  220. “President Trump and Russian president-for-life Vladimir Putin’s news conference in Helsinki on Monday was the *lowest point* in the history of the American presidency.”

    Yeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaah no. It may be the lowest point for those whose personal history is, like Kasparov, heavily invested in the “Oceania is AT WAR with Eurasia, Oceania has ALWAYS BEEN AT WAR with Eurasia” line, but circumstances and people actually do change.

    As the first and greatest Republican, Lincoln, who himself had to deal with LOTS of international intransingence, internal betrayal, and rich-boy whining from his Southern flank (who are now probably the *most* stereotypically Republican of Republicans and American of Americans, because actual statesmen don’t believe war is forever) said: “I am controlled by events. My policy is to have no policy.”

    In a world where the leaders of what’s ostensibly your own intel services but practically a power center for your opponents openly take sides and deliver bad-faith judgments against you, judge-like equivocation and the bare minimum institutional respect for organizations that may or may not be currently infested with Communists is the only smart play.

    But I really have to laugh at everyone saying ‘TRUMP LOOKED WEAK, IT’S *WEAK*, MANG!’ like they just discovered Bullying 101 yesterday(they probably did.) Trump has a lifetime achievement award in the field and any appearance of weakness is probably a feint.

    Computer Wizard (90d016)

  221. David French nailed it.

    It does not say that an attack by one is an attack by all. It’s a defense treaty. An “aggressive” Montenegro can’t drag the United States into war.
    But even if Trump had gotten his facts straight, how should he have responded to Tucker Carlson? Let’s start with two sentences. “Tucker, if the last two centuries of American history teach us anything, it’s that allied military strength keeps the peace. Allied military weakness invites war.” In other words, if you don’t want Americans fighting in foreign lands, you maintain your alliances.

    Paul Montagu (91b6ad)

  222. redhead just sent a couple emails – literally a couple emails – that’s all she did, and the pitiful corrupt justice department is throwing her ass in jail (contrast that with how they treated hillary)

    i’ve made like a hundred comments on the internet

    she’s probably copying me

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  223. Trump questioning a key plank of the NATO treaty is incredibly dangerous. Particularly if you live in the Baltics.

    Appalled (96665e)

  224. NATO’s antiquated and silly

    and polluted with turks (dirty turkey people)

    and expensive

    and it’s a deeply unserious organization

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  225. As opposed to when the entire polish cabinet was decapitated outside smolensk

    https://mobile.twitter.com/The_War_Economy/status/1019482312969478144

    You’ll recall this fetch fellow

    Narciso (d735f1)

  226. 229. 231. “What manifestedly DID NOT HAPPEN was collusion by the Trump campaign with Russian hacking or anything else. It would have been illogical and unnecessary for Putin to co-ordinate this.”

    noel (96c84f) — 7/18/2018 @ 11:29 am

    Really? Sammy Mueller speaks!

    And what does he say?

    The whole problem is that this has been approached from the perspective of

    DID any American, especially one working for Trump, assist the Russians in illegal activities?

    Or any activities for that matter, since that would be an illegal camoaign contribution.

    And NOT:

    What did the Russians do, any why? Meaning Russians acting for Putin.

    Now I think Putin attempted to penetrate Trump’s campaign, and one of his agents may have been Mike Flynn.

    Mike Flynn, whom Obama suspected might have been recruited by the GRU while he was head of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA)

    [Well, it was no longer called the GRU after 2010. Its acronym is now just GU. But everyone still calls it the GRU]

    Mike Flynn spent a whole day at GRU headquaretrs in 2013 and requested they visit and that he be given permission for aanother trip.

    And, as result, fo these growing suspicions , Obama took action:

    He had him leave his job early, and usually nobody ever got fired in the Obama Administration.

    And then there’s Paul Manafort – maybe more likely Paul Manafort was someone Putin hoped could be turned into an agent.

    The big question is: How did Mike Flynn and Paul Manafort get hired in the first place?

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  227. Yes, Appalled. Trump just invited Russia to annex another country. At least that is how I would read it if I were Putin.

    noel (96c84f)

  228. 228. noel (96c84f) — 7/18/2018 @ 11:19 am

    Well Sammy, if you don’t think that Russia’s stealing Democrat emails and disseminating them strategically changed any votes….. you’d be wrong. Trump knew it was effective and raised the issue repeatedly during the election. And asked for more!

    trump was spekaing about teh wrong thinsg. It was the emails taht cost Hillary votes and FOIA requests.

    The whole hacking cost Trump votes.

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  229. No he was fired, because he called attention to the growth of al queda and Islamic state.

    Narciso (d735f1)

  230. “NATO’s antiquated and silly” says happyfeet.

    So, I am here wondering how that comment would differ from your typical Russian troll?

    noel (96c84f)

  231. “The whole hacking cost Trump votes.” Sammy says.

    Then why did Trump keep bringing it up?

    noel (96c84f)

  232. number one i’m from Texas and i love America more than butter beans and cornbread

    number two russia’s a completely made up scare hoax like plastic straws

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  233. 243. “The whole hacking cost Trump votes.” Sammy says.

    Then why did Trump keep bringing it up?

    The net effect was to cost Trump votes.

    It cost Trump votes because the Democrats kept accusing him of being supported by the Russians.

    http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/sep/26/hillary-clinton/hillary-clinton-claims-donald-trump-invited-russia/

    Hillary Clinton said that Donald Trump gave Russian president Vladimir Putin the thumbs up to hack away at U.S. emails.

    Putin has “let loose cyber attackers to hack into government files, to hack into personal files, hack into the Democratic National Committee,” Clinton said during the first general election presidential debate at Hofstra University.

    Here is an artivle from a more impartial source:

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jul/25/russia-dnc-hack-vladimir-putin-donald-trump-us-election

    All this hurt Trump.

    But wait, why then did Trump think it helped him?

    Because it gained Trump votes, or Trump thought mentioning it did, because of its contents.

    Or rather the general topic of Hillary secrets. Not really its contents, which Trump never discussed, and probably couldn’t have, but because this gave people a reason to talk some more about all the other things relating to Hillary’s lying, cynicism and possible criminality. It was actually the wrong thing to mention.

    Trump was mentioning it because it was another indication of Hillary Clinton’s dishonesty.

    Actually it was wrong thing to mention because not all that much was revealed by the Russian hacking and some of it benefited Hillary. I mean she probably gained from the revelation of the contents of the speeches she gave to Goldman Sachs and others, as they didn’t turn out to be very bad.

    All in all, the hacking probably cost Donald Trump more votes than it gained, and it gained very little, because that was not the source of Hillary’s reputation for dishonesty.

    It was the email scandal (discovered as a byproduct of a subpoena from the Benghazi committee) and then her public request to release ALL her “work-related emails

    What was discovered as a result of Freedom of Information Act Requests, for her surviving emails, and for other governmnet files, by the Associated Press, by the Western Journalism Center, and bu the Republican National Committee, was much more damaging than anything revealed by the Russia hacking. This didn’t come from the hacking.

    But if it had, wait a second, is there some kind of 4th amendment exclusionary rule for politics here? The Russians didn’t forge anything, although they did in other cases, which they circulated in otehr countries. (including quotes from an imaginary book by Hillary Clinton)

    They were maybe too afraid to try.

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  234. “How does the electoral college violate the principle of “one person, one vote” any more than plenty of other ways of apportioning votes?”

    – JVW

    You mean beyond rendering millions of votes meaningless?

    What other vote-apportioning methods are you contemplating?

    Leviticus (efada1)

  235. we’re only talking about getting rid of the electoral college cause the criminal pig woman lost against the valiant and much-loved champion of the people Donald Trump

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  236. All in all, the hacking probably cost Donald Trump more votes than it gained

    people forget that all the information that was released was completely factual and guess what

    it’s all good stuff to know!

    these hackers did Americans an invaluable service

    and we love them for it

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  237. I thought you said you were from the midwest last time, happyfeet??

    noel (96c84f)

  238. The electoral college didn’t matter with Obama, only w, then again with clinton

    narciso (d1f714)

  239. that’s where i live now

    i’m a go visit the apocalypse islands in wisconsin soon too!

    i’m very excited this is my second lake superior adventure the first one was grand marais in minnesota

    i don’t suspect i’ll live in chicago forever so I’m trying to experience as much of the region as i can but also i still love just exploring this magnificent city

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  240. @218. Russia doesn’t actually affect the lives of real people in America to be honest.

    To be honest, only the lifestyles of the rich and famous, eh, Mr. Feet: champagne wishes and caviar dreams!

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  241. Russia’s only good for if you want a sturdy yet affordable hooker

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  242. 235.Trump questioning a key plank of the NATO treaty is incredibly dangerous. Particularly if you live in the Baltics.

    Christ Almighty, a phone and a pen and a live mike in Traitor Trump’s hand is incredibly dangerous.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  243. @254. And a good ride, Mr. Feet; to space. Russian To Judgment is the Mark Lane sequel.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  244. You mean beyond rendering millions of votes meaningless?

    Do you have the same impression of The House of Representatives?

    BuDuh (fc15db)

  245. 246. SF: All in all, the hacking probably cost Donald Trump more votes than it gained

    happyfeet (28a91b) — 7/18/2018 @ 12:43 pm

    people forget that all the information that was released was completely factual and guess what

    it’s all good stuff to know!

    Actually most of it wasn’t very important. That was not the source of Hillary Clinton’s bad reputation.

    That’s why I say that the hacking probably cost Donald Trump more votes than it gained. The Democrats never discussed contents of the hacks, but they did discuss the FACT of the hack, and the release of the hacked information, and what it implied: Putin supoported Trump, and THAT probably cost Trump votes.

    It didn’t gain Donald Trump too many votes, because the email scandal was more important, and because other things were revealed other ways, although perhaps it helped to keep Trump, and the press, focused on how Hillary was crooked and a liar and so on. But he could have used much better things.

    Like this:

    https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/fobs-hillarys-state-dept-gave-special-attention-friends/story?id=42615379

     Tweet

    Email 
    Email

    In a series of candid email exchanges with top Clinton Foundation officials during the hours after the massive 2010 Haiti earthquake, a senior aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton repeatedly gave special attention to those identified by the abbreviations “FOB” (friends of Bill Clinton) or “WJC VIPs” (William Jefferson Clinton VIPs).

    “Need you to flag when people are friends of WJC,” wrote Caitlin Klevorick, then a senior State Department official who was juggling incoming offers of assistance being funneled to the State Department by the Clinton Foundation. “Most I can probably ID but not all.”

    [That is, she was asking for help in knowing who was a FOB}

    This didn’t come from a hack into email by the Russians.

    This came from a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by the Republican National Committee

    But Donald Trump was too focused on the hacking to talk much, or at all, about that.

    The reason it was discoverable by a FOIA lawsuit was that it wasn’t written by Hillary, but by a young, rather newly hired patronage employee at the State Department, who ddin’t realize that it was probably incriminating.

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  246. White House denies what Traitor Trump said on camera.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  247. noel @250. I think happyfeet was originally from Texas but now lives in or near Chicago.

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  248. 259. Back in 2016 Politifact ran this: (July 6, 2016)

    http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2016/jul/06/17-things-donald-trump-said-and-then-denied-saying/

    Some of these are stretches.

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  249. Leviticus, should Senators be elected my having the nation split by 100 equally populated districts or should every voter get to make 100 selections?

    BuDuh (fc15db)

  250. Actually most of it wasn’t very important.

    we learned it was all rigged against bernie

    and we learned that CNN cheated and gave Hillary the debate questions

    we learned some of what hillary told the dirty sackies in exchange for unholy amounts of money

    and most important of all Mr. Finkelman

    mark this well

    we learned that the hot and horny men and women of the perverted FBI don’t even bother to examine hacked servers before drawing conclusions

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  251. Thats right. Last time you said you lived near Fenway Park in Chicago. My fault.

    noel (96c84f)

  252. nono not terribly near fenway cause of i never even been there in fact i don;t yet really count massachusetts among the states i’ve been too

    i probably went when i was little but not since

    to be honest that part of the country is maybe my least favorite cause it’s poor but in the worst way

    there’s such depravity there in the new england states

    casual and unremarked upon depravity

    it’s hard to explain and not sure i want to get to know it well enough to articulate it

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  253. oopers *don’t* yet really count i mean

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  254. ugh been *to* i mean

    gonna go get a stimulating beverage brb

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  255. Filed under “when you’re right, you’re right”…

    “John Brennan started out his adulthood by voting for the communist party presidential candidate. He is now ending his career by showing himself to be the most biased, bigoted, over the top, hyperbolic, and unhinged Director of the CIA we have ever had.”

    —- Sen. Rand Paul

    Colonel Haiku (d52d85)

  256. 264.

    Fenway Park is in Boston? Where the Red Sox play.

    https://www.mlb.com/redsox/ballpark

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  257. The major leage baseball fields in Chicago were Wrigley Field (Cubs) and Comiskey Park (White Sox)

    The White Sox got a new ballfield. (as long ago as 1991!)

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_baseball_parks_in_Chicago

    Apparently it was called “New Comiskey Park” but is now known as U.S. Cellular Field.

    In New York, Yankee Stadium was relocated, and demolished (and they had fixed it up on;y in the 1970s) and Shea Stadium was also moved (or replaced) and renamed Citi Field (for Citibank)

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  258. Rand Paul is defending the Trump/Putin love fest. I am more worried about him than our former Director of the CIA. Just a guess here…. you don’t get to be CIA Director without a top secret clearance that is well deserved.

    noel (96c84f)

  259. I know where Fenway is. Just checking to see if happyfeet knows it is not in Chicago this time.

    If the happyfeet dude really grew up in Texas, he has the strangest Texas vernacular that I have ever heard. Just my opinion.

    noel (96c84f)

  260. SF: Actually most of it wasn’t very important.

    263. happyfeet (28a91b) — 7/18/2018 @ 1:16 pm

    we learned it was all rigged against bernie

    But we actually knew that before!

    https://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/04/29/bernie-sanders-campaign-dnc-data/

    The fight between the committee and the Vermont senator’s campaign began in December when several members of Mr. Sanders’s data operation were found to have gained access to, searched and stored proprietary information from Hillary Clinton’s team because of a software glitch with the voter database. The party quickly denied the Sanders campaign future access to its 50-state voter file, which contains information about millions of Democrats and holds daily value for campaigns.

    In response, the Sanders campaign sued the D.N.C. and accused it of actively trying to help Mrs. Clinton. Eventually, the party and the Sanders campaign agreed to restore access to the voter file while the party continued to investigate the breach.

    They had also changed the rules to keep Lawrence Lessig out of a debate.

    Now perhaps the hacks made it a little bit more apaprent, or undeniable.

    and we learned that CNN cheated and gave Hillary the debate questions

    That actually, came later from the hack of John Podesta’s emails. Which happsned because the DNC hired a patronage appointee for computer security. He got aphishing email purportedly from Gmail and was told it was genuine (and he didn’t want to institute 2 part authentication)

    https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/01/us/politics/donna-brazile-wikileaks-cnn.html

    CNN has severed ties with the Democratic strategist Donna Brazile, after hacked emails from WikiLeaks showed that she shared questions for CNN-sponsored candidate events in advance with friends on Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

    Donna Brazile had frowarded email to Podesta, who acted as a clearinghouse for some camopaign related material.

    See https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/emailid/5205

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  261. I think the most damaging thing that came from the Russian hacks was this:

    https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/28/us/politics/bill-chelsea-clinton-foundation.html

    In response to the scrutiny, Mr. Band wrote a 13-page memo outlining how he had raised many millions of dollars for the foundation from Teneo’s corporate clients, including Coca-Cola and Dow Chemical, without taking a fee. In the memo, which WikiLeaks released this week, Mr. Band also described arranging tens of millions of dollars in income for Mr. Clinton in the form of lucrative speeches and consulting arrangements, some of them from foundation donors.

    “We have solicited and obtained, as appropriate, in-kind services for the president and his family — for personal travel, hospitality, vacation and the like,” Mr. Band wrote.

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  262. happyfeet says… “The “Russia” what’s threatening to real people in America is wholly an invention of the hot and horny lying sluts of the corrupt and perverted fbi.”

    I tried that line in my best Texas drawl. Doesn’t feel right. Do you Texans really talk like that?

    noel (96c84f)

  263. we learned some of what hillary told the dirty sackies in exchange for unholy amounts of money

    As I said, that actually benefitted Hillary, once the fact that she gave seeches wsas known, because what was in the imagination was worse than the reality.

    And I think if she did anything in return for Goldman Sachs or others, it wasn’t contained in teh texts of the prepared speeches.

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  264. Seats won 241 194
    Popular vote 63,173,815 61,776,554
    Percentage 49.1% 48.0%

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives_elections,_2016

    Looks like a lot of voters didn’t get their vote to count. Going off of the popular percentages the Republicans should have 214 seats and the Democrats should have 209 seats and the other 12 seats should go to the voters who deserved them.

    BuDuh (fc15db)

  265. They’ve known him for 10-12 years, we’ve known you for a few months and you’ve already worn out your welcome.

    Narciso (6c4eb9)

  266. Fox News is now KGB-TV.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  267. Seats after 52 46
    Popular vote 40,402,790 51,496,682
    Percentage 42.4% 53.8%

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_elections,_2016

    Oh, this is even worse. By popular vote the Dems should have 54 seats and the Republicans 42.

    BuDuh (fc15db)

  268. The most damaging thing about the speeches was a speechwriter writing that he had put in something just in case it got released.

    and most important of all Mr. Finkelman

    mark this well

    we learned that the ….FBI don’t even bother to examine hacked servers before drawing conclusions

    The question is, did that matter?

    We are not getting the reason why that should be important.

    The reason for getting the server may be just to determine if the computer has been cleared of malware.

    The Democrats of course didn’t want any secrets revealed to the FBI. they didn’t want secrets revealed to facebook, and as a result, Facebook helped Donald Trump develop ads (the Trump people used them for fudraising and they used responses to fundraising and attendance at rallies as a form of polling)

    But didn”t help Hillary. Hillary and Trump were bnoth told teh Facebook people they would work with would be supporters of the candidate.

    the trump people believed that or believed they could detect infiltrators. But the Clinton people didn’t want to risk any leak of their secret ads.

    After all, in 1992, Bill Clinton had obtained and used the texts of Bush campaign ads so that responses were available almost immediately.

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  269. 272. happyfeet I think lived in several places around the country over the years.

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  270. I’m thinking back several years ago when Russia actually did invade a country, the US didn’t do much of anything and I don’t remember French advocating going to war with Russia… but perhaps he did.

    Colonel Haiku (d52d85)

  271. Ivanka’s terrified ‘Daddy’s losing it’ glare in the WH today on camera is priceless.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  272. 271. ….noel (96c84f) — 7/18/2018 @ 1:34 pm

    you don’t get to be CIA Director without a top secret clearance that is well deserved.

    Security clearances are kind of worthless.

    They mostly look for problems in life (and sometimes have problems with connections abroad, treating everything as unknowable.

    They just rejected pretty much everyone who immigrated to the US and kicked them out of the military. (maybe it is just those who came here legally but not as immigrants. e.g. on a student visa and now they join the army while still in status.)

    https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2018/07/05/us/ap-us-immigration-service-discharges.html

    Some of the service members say they were not told why they were being discharged. Others who pressed for answers said the Army informed them they’d been labeled as security risks because they have relatives abroad or because the Defense Department had not completed background checks on them.

    They make very many Type I errors, but this doesn’t prevent Type II errors.

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  273. 283. That country hadn’t joined NATO and the United States hadn’t signed a treaty with that country.

    Oh, by the way did you know, Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 was not shot down by Ukrainian rebels, but by a Russian military unit (the missile never left Russian custidy) and probably on purpose. (although they haven’t figured out or guessed why)

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/putins-aggression-is-the-issue-in-helsinki-1531680433

    Most of all, Mr. Putin will want Mr. Trump to be silent about Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, which was shot down over Eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014. Last year I was asked to be an expert witness in the case against Russia, brought by relatives of the 298 victims, in the European Court of Human Rights. I was prepared to testify that although MH17 might have been downed accidentally by Ukrainian separatists, the Putin regime’s action in providing the irregulars with a weapon like the BUK-M1 missile showed a wanton disregard for human life.

    This May, however, the Netherlands and Australia announced that the joint task force investigating the incident had concluded that MH17 was shot down by a BUK-M1 belonging not to separatists but to the Russian 53rd Air Defense Brigade, based in Kursk. Jerry Skinner, the aviation lawyer representing 274 relatives of the victims, determined with the confidential help of a former BUK-M1 field commander that the camera in the launcher from which the missile was fired was capable of obtaining a thermal image of the target. The two engines of a large commercial airliner like the MH17 Boeing 777 could not have been mistaken for the smaller, single engine of a Ukrainian military jet. It was also determined with the help of Ukrainian air-traffic control that no Ukrainian aircraft were in the sky within 30 miles of the Malaysian plane. The evidence suggests that MH-17 or one of three other passenger airliners in the air corridor at that time was targeted deliberately.

    Russia has denied involvement in the downing of MH17, producing more than 60 alternative theories, each of which has been debunked. For the sake of international air travelers everywhere, Mr. Trump needs to raise the evidence of Russian culpability with Mr. Putin.

    I can figure out wy they oicked aMAlaysian Airliner. Because Malaysia had a corrupt government at the time. But why Putin wanted to do it — maybe to “show” taht the war in the Ukraine was dangerous so people should accept Russian offers to end it?

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  274. The supposedly 100 most damaging to Hilary Clinton things Wikileaks published (not all from Russian hacking)

    http://www.mostdamagingwikileaks.com/

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  275. The US made some security guarantees to THAT country, Sammy.

    Colonel Haiku (d52d85)

  276. The dossier (or Christopher Steele’s greatest hits) is here

    https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/kenbensinger/these-reports-allege-trump-has-deep-ties-to-russia#.rljMVw2OL

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  277. Which country are we talking about?

    If it is Ukraine, in 1994, the U.S. and Russia under Boris Yeltsin agreed taht the borders of Ukraine would not be changed. But that’s not a military guarantee.

    If Georgia, what security guarantee?

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  278. Ivanka Trump Op-ed in the Wall Street Journal today:

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/training-for-the-jobs-of-tomorrow-1531868131

    her idea seems to be there are many jobs going unfilled because there are no workers, but the rtraining that is needed is not college.

    Although encourgeing apprenticeships is probably very good, tThis is probably all just a big selling job by somebody

    Already this administration has taken action to expand apprenticeships, increase access to STEM education for K-12 students, and help 11 million students and workers by working with Congress to pass an improved Perkins Career and Technical Education bill. On Thursday the president will sign an executive order to prioritize and expand workforce development so that we can create and fill American jobs with American workers.

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  279. 290… the Ukraine…

    “December 5 [2014] marks the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances for Ukraine. Russia has grossly violated the commitments it made in that document. That imposes an obligation on Washington to support Ukraine and push back against Russia. This is not just a matter of living up to U.S. obligations. It is also about preserving the credibility of security assurances, which could contribute to preventing nuclear proliferation in the future.”

    https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2014/12/04/the-budapest-memorandum-and-u-s-obligations/amp/

    Colonel Haiku (d52d85)

  280. The only time NATO’s atatck on one is an attack on all treaty language was invoked was afetr Sept. 11 2001.

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  281. It was a security assurance but not a pledge of militay help.

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  282. I can figure out wy they oicked aMAlaysian Airliner. Because Malaysia had a corrupt government at the time.

    As I recall, I think they intended to shoot down a Ukrainian military jet, but a clusterf**k happened.

    Paul Montagu (91b6ad)

  283. Read the article at the link, Sammy. It was certainly more than what you claim and what was provided by the previous administration.

    Colonel Haiku (d52d85)

  284. Interesting to see what would happen if someone attacked Turkey, no?

    Colonel Haiku (d52d85)

  285. It was a similar circumstance to kal 007, when they mistook it for the cobra ball surveillance, the fmr had drifted into soviet airspace, in that case the mig pilot could see it was a civilian aircraft

    narciso (d1f714)

  286. Trump's unpatriotic and anti-American follies are continuing. Aside from the mystery security agreement that Trump and Putin forged in their mystery meeting…
    https://twitter.com/Lucian_Kim/status/1019223013110272001
    …Putin broached the idea of having Trump send Americans (and one ex-American) over to Putin operatives for questioning. First, it was Bill Browder, an ex-American investment fund manager who was blacklisted and shut down by Putin. Mr. Bowder's attorney was Seth Magnitsky, who was murdered after exposing corruption, leading to a Magnitsky Act that allows the US to sanction Putin's pet oligarchs.
    And now it's Michael McFaul, a former US ambassador.

    Current and former American diplomats are expressing disgust and horror over the White House’s willingness to entertain permitting Russian officials to question a prominent former U.S. ambassador.
    One serving diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he was “at a f**king loss” over comments that can be expected to chill American diplomacy in hostile or authoritarian countries – a comment echoed by former State Department officials as well.
    […]
    On Wednesday, Russian prosecutors escalated the stakes. The prosecutor-general’s office said it wanted to interview Michael McFaul, the former U.S. ambassador to Russia, another Putin bete noire. McFaul—the Obama-era ambassador to Moscow—replied on Twitter that the Russians know well that he wasn’t even in Russia during the relevant time frame for any case against Browder.
    At the White House, however, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders declined to rule out permitting the Russians to question McFaul. Sanders said that there had been “some conversation” in Helsinki about the issue, though Trump made no “commitment.”

    Unsurprisingly, Mr. McFaul is a little ticked off at the prospect of being used as a bargaining chip between two corrupt heads of state.
    https://twitter.com/McFaul/status/1019680168095330304
    The US doesn't have an extradition treaty with PutinLand, which is why Edward Snowden is safe as kittens from American law enforcement, and the Putin operatives under indictment by the Special Counsel are equally as safe. Instead of telling Putin to pound sand regarding Browder, McFaul and other US officials and federal agents, Trump was actually considering the idea.

    “What he did is an incredible offer,” Trump said of Putin. “He offered to have the people working on the case come and work with their investigators with respect to the 12 people. I think that’s an incredible offer. Okay?”

    Incredible is the word, but not in the manner Trump expressed it. I think the final paragraphs in the Ackerman piece say it best.

    “The president has first and foremost his interests at the top of his mind, as opposed to the government’s. That’s very clear over the past week and a half, between sh**ting on our NATO allies and kissing Putin’s ass,” the diplomat said. “He cares more about himself than the nation and any of us who serve it.”
    The diplomat continued: “Either he’s compromised by Putin or he’s a pu$$y, in which case he should grab himself.”

    Paul Montagu (91b6ad)

  287. “They’ve known him for 10-12 years, we’ve known you for a few months and you’ve already worn out your welcome.” says Narciso

    Is that for me, Narciso?

    noel (96c84f)

  288. Speaking of the Putin sphere, the one-degree-removed agent for Putin, i.e., Paul Manafort, is losing one legal challenge after another. He was moved out of his Club Fed jail cell, the judge refused his request to move the trial to Roanoke and, today, the judge refused to suppress evidence that was seized at his house. It becomes more all the more mysterious as to why he’ll chose to stay in jail for the rest of his days instead of cut a deal with Mueller.

    Paul Montagu (91b6ad)

  289. Cold cash Jefferson’s lawyer,,should be a little more understanding, keep in mind judge Sullivan did much the same thing in a case that ended up being fradulent, which was largely continued because the chief witness had a thing for his FBI handler, in other news Mueller is giving five more crooks immunity to testify against manafortm

    narciso (d1f714)

  290. Well, if that comment was for me…. let’s see what valuable tidbits happyfeet has posted just since comment 139 above.

    “horny lying sluts, affordable hooker, trannies in uniform, perverted Saudis, perverted FBI, teutonic governor thrusted into her over and over and over, lying ineffectual CIA, stanky treasonous coward John McCain”

    Of course I can’t compete with that. I see why I might disappoint you, Narciso. I will do some soul-searching to see what’s wrong with me.

    noel (96c84f)

  291. Pikachus a performance act, like Andy Kaufman, others know him best. I am sincere in my beliefs and have the facts behind them,

    narciso (d1f714)

  292. @302. The Penguin laughs with us and at us.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  293. When I first started here as a semi regular in 2015, I thought Happyfeet was a gay male but she has self reported as a black woman. Re the vernacular, she’s probably more the east Texas toward Beaumont and Orange.

    urbanleftbehind (8b68c4)

  294. Trump skipped his last two intelligence briefings so he could have his “executive time”, I’m guessing because he didn’t want to hear Coats tell him about those red blinking warning lights Putin has been causing.

    Paul Montagu (91b6ad)

  295. Tourette’s. I am sorry but when I read his comments, that’s all that comes to mind.

    noel (96c84f)

  296. President Trump: “What I Said, What I Really Meant To Say:”

    “When my empire collapsed and went bankrupt; my marriages went bust; my name bumped from the Forbes and Fortune lists, my bank buddies settled, screwed the little people, but cut me off, stopped loaning me cash and put me on an allowance and I needed capital for fresh scams. So Russia oligarchs, pals of Boris and Vlad, who needed to launder the cash they swiped from Russians used me to wash it through the West and we all got whole and a piece of the action. Sweet!”

    “Illegal? Honey, nothing’s illegal if they don’t catch you!” – Joey DePalma [Tony Franciosa] ‘A Face In The Crowd’ 1957

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  297. Trump’s mystery agreements at his mystery meeting with Putin.

    Two days after President Trump’s summit with Russian President Vladi­mir Putin, Russian officials offered a string of assertions about what the two leaders had achieved.
    “Important verbal agreements” were reached at the Helsinki meeting, Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, told reporters in Moscow Wednesday, including preservation of the New Start and INF agreements, major bilateral arms control treaties whose futures have been in question. Antonov also said that Putin had made “specific and interesting proposals to Washington” on how the two countries could cooperate on Syria.
    But officials at the most senior levels across the U.S. military, scrambling since Monday to determine what Trump may have agreed to on national security issues in Helsinki, had little to no information Wednesday.

    My guess is that Putin recorded the meeting whereas Trump did not, so we really don’t know how much Trump appeased the dictator.

    Paul Montagu (91b6ad)

  298. “Repetition is conviction.” — Josef Goebbels
    (Also George Frideric Handel.)

    nk (dbc370)

  299. And leave happyfeet alone!

    nk (dbc370)

  300. My guess is that Putin recorded the meeting whereas Trump did not, so we really don’t know how much Trump appeased the dictator.

    Guess?!?! ROFLMAO in stereo!!!!!

    Button mikes, lapelpincam, pencam, beltcam, Rolexcam, ringcam, interpretercam and much, much more. Vlad was a walking KGB-TV station.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  301. Karen deyoung I don’t remember but I read when she had knee pads out for the sandinistas, the misguided lads with crimson flags who fooled tip o’neil

    narciso (d1f714)

  302. @313. Maria made a cell call and broke your date and your heart, narcissy.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  303. I don’t have any sympathy for men and women who cheered at the firing squads gulags ration books and mobs like the turbas. Then they have the nerve to complain about trump, bah humbug.

    Narciso (dfcc42)

  304. “She was high on our list on the Democratic side to interview on the House Select Committee intelligence investigation. The Republicans refused to allow her to come testify.” – Rep. Mike Quigley on the criminal indictment of Russian national Maria Butina

    https://twitter.com/CNNTonight/status/1019429229119750145

    Davethulhu (270006)

  305. The lefties on here who cheer an ideology that’s killed hundreds of millions get indignant and righteous about others who disagree with supporting such actions. Hilarity.

    NJRob (b00189)

  306. It’s zany mad cap humor, unless you have a,uncle who drowned an uncle who drowned in the Florida straits.

    Narciso (3cd402)

  307. It’s all amusing till they start nabbing grad students with any kind of govt connected financing over there.

    Narciso (3cd402)

  308. NYT: [Traitor] Trump Shown Intel Evidence About Putin Hacking U.S. Elections in 2017

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WjKYOcmxgw

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  309. A nice comparison between the Intelligence Community Assessment and Trump’s misstatements and falsehoods. It should be noted that Pompeo, Coats and Wray–and Republicans and Trump appointees–affirmed those conclusions.

    Paul Montagu (91b6ad)

  310. The truth is that ALL of the former and current intelligence, military and justice leadership in the US government, that I am aware of, agree that Russia has been…. and is…. attacking our electoral process. Yes, Trump appointees too. But one guy is viewing it differently. One. President Trump.

    So, if it isn’t ignorance, blackmail or treason, what is it? And can you explain it without pointing to some other shiny object?

    noel (96c84f)

  311. Gaslighting??

    Here we go again. Questioned yesterday whether Trump believes that Russia is still interfering in our elections, he said “thank you very much, no”. ASKED AGAIN…. “no”.

    And so now, it didn’t happen. Don’t believe your lyin ears. The President has been clear…. No is yes. Would is wouldn’t. What is so hard to understand?

    “Gaslighting is a form of psychological manipulation that seeks to sow seeds of doubt in a targeted individual or in members of a targeted group, making them question their own memory…” wikipedia

    noel (96c84f)

  312. “It really is quite simple. Everyone is smart except Donald J. Trump. That’s why they all are billionaires and all got elected President. Only Trump does not know what he is doing. Only Trump does not know how to negotiate with Vladimir Putin. Anderson Cooper knows how to stand up to Putin. The whole crowd at MSNBC does. All the journalists do.

    They could not stand up to Matt Lauer at NBC. They could not stand up to Charlie Rose at CBS. They could not stand up to Mark Halperin at NBC. Nor up to Leon Wieseltier at the New Republic, nor Jann Wenner at Rolling Stone, nor Michael Oreskes at NPR, at the New York Times, or at the Associated Press. But — oh, wow! — can they ever stand up to Putin! Only Trump is incapable of negotiating with the Russian tyrant.”

    https://spectator.org/everyone-is-smart-except-trump/

    Colonel Haiku (d52d85)

  313. Don’t forget, the Dems lionize this D-Bag…

    “According to (KGB Chief) Chebrikov, Kennedy was deeply troubled by the deteriorating relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union, which he believed was bringing us perilously close to nuclear confrontation. Kennedy, according to Chebrikov, blamed this situation not on the Soviet leadership but on the American president—Ronald Reagan. Not only was the USSR not to blame, but, said Chebrikov, Kennedy was, quite the contrary, “very impressed” with Andropov.
    The thrust of the letter is that Reagan had to be stopped, meaning his alleged aggressive defense policies, which then ranged from the Pershing IIs to the MX to SDI, and even his re-election bid, needed to be stopped. It was Ronald Reagan who was the hindrance to peace. That view of Reagan is consistent with things that Kennedy said and wrote at the time, including articles in sources like Rolling Stone (March 1984) and in a speeches like his March 24, 1983 remarks on the Senate floor the day after Reagan’s SDI speech, which he lambasted as “misleading Red-Scare tactics and reckless Star Wars schemes.”

    Even more interesting than Kennedy’s diagnosis was the prescription: According to Chebrikov, Kennedy suggested a number of PR moves to help the Soviets in terms of their public image with the American public. He reportedly believed that the Soviet problem was a communication problem, resulting from an inability to counter Reagan’s (not the USSR’s) “propaganda.” If only Americans could get through Reagan’s smokescreen and hear the Soviets’ peaceful intentions.

    So, there was a plan, or at least a suggested plan, to hook up Andropov and other senior apparatchiks with the American media, where they could better present their message and make their case. Specifically, the names of Walter Cronkite and Barbara Walters are mentioned in the document. Also, Kennedy himself would travel to Moscow to meet with the dictator.

    Time was of the essence, since Reagan, as the document privately acknowledged, was flying high en route to easy re-election in 1984.”

    https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/270783/ted-kennedy-and-kgb-jamie-glazov

    Colonel Haiku (d52d85)

  314. Narciso:

    I respect your standing to complain about the left turning its head aside about Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua. But I am curious, because you consistently deflect the question. What do you think of Trump’s handling of his summit with Putin — his inability to enunciate on a consistent basis his agreement or disagreement with the intelligence community on their 2016 Russia findings? And let’s face it, a lot of good old fashioned hawks with as much standing as you have (McCain qualifies, whether you like it or not, as well as practically everyone at the Weekly Standard) have the same kind of complaints. Also, when Trump rattles on about his doubts about defending Montenegro as part of NATO (an odd country to pick — did Putin suggest it? There was a plot to have a pro-Russian coup there.) Does this cause even the whisper of doubt?

    Answer or not — but, as I have said before, I am curious how far down the road an intelligent and vehement anti-Ccommunist Trump supporter will go.

    Appalled (96665e)

  315. Because they don’t have anything substantial, if someone had briefed me from the dossier, I would have thrown the briefing book back at him and tell him not to bother.
    When they have real info from defector reports. Atnthe time he had general fLynn who wrote the book on intelligence in Afghanistan, reviewing the data. But they conjured up a bigud visa warrant then they lied about the content of what they overhead. They used criminals like greenberg and time serving hacks like helper.

    narciso (d1f714)

  316. Then you have the caliber of the likes of pompeo and bolton on staff, pompeo was first in his class at west point, saw through the frauds the administration created in north Africa and the middle east

    narciso (d1f714)

  317. Narc:

    There are two things here you may (or may not) be conflating. First is the argument that Trump’s people worked with Russia to get Trump elected. That’s been asserted endlessly but not really proven. Second is that Russia did certain things in 2016 that constituted interfering in our election — stuff like the Guccifer hacks.

    The problem I see is that Trump is vehemently denying the second point, then accepting it, then denying it, and that denial even conflicts with the findings of the House Intelligence Committee (the most Trump friendly body there is). So, do you believe Russia did not do anything (short of some lame facebook ads, maybe) in our 2016 election?

    Appalled (96665e)

  318. So, narciso, you believe the Prez is getting sound advice from his closest advisors and that the adversarial position the former Intelligence apparatus leadership took from Day One has not served the country well, yes?

    Colonel Haiku (d52d85)

  319. Yes.

    Narciso (ab6eb8)

  320. Thanks

    Colonel Haiku (d52d85)

  321. National Guard trash bimbo Joni Ernst and her bread bags think the hot and horny men and women of the sleazy frat-pig Chris Wray’s corrupt fbi need to question President Trump’s interpreter?

    jesus god she’s a loony hoo

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  322. ugh the

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  323. Everyone seems to forget the attempted hacking on the RNC, but they weren’t stupid enough to fall for a phishing scam or using p@ssword as their security. But that wouldn’t fit with the TDS collusion scam and they couldn’t scream TRAAAAAAIIITORRRRR anymore.

    NJRob (b00189)

  324. OK, the narciso, Haiku position appears to be that Trump has good foreign policy advisers (Bolton, Pompeo, Haley), and no reason to trust the intelligence community. That sort of suggests a “I trust Trump, or at least the people around him” answer to my questions. And I will take that as an answer.

    Just one note — Trump has had a habit of rebelling when he doesn’t like what the advisers have to say, and he’s the guy in charge. So I may take less comfort than you guys do. (And the NATO/Montenegro thing bothers the living daylights out of me…far more than the performance in Helsinki.)

    Appalled (96665e)

  325. Mr. Rob all of this phony Russia baloney is an op being run on the presidency by the hot and horny men and women of the sleazy treasonous FBI

    they’re not even trying to hide it anymore

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  326. Putin and his poodle make the cover of Time.

    Dave (445e97)

  327. Time magazine hates jews

    this is problematic

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  328. MR. DCSCA did you see this?

    he got Mr. Goz that’s not too shabby

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  329. what’s a “Lukas Haas Collins”

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  330. My opinion of our president, and particularly his personal flaws, I have stated many times.

    But the overblown rhetoric makes we want to support him nonetheless. Take this, for example:

    “President Trump and Russian president-for-life Vladimir Putin’s news conference in Helsinki on Monday was the lowest point in the history of the American presidency.”

    Now let’s see.
    * FDR ordering the internment of Japanese-Americans.
    * Richard Nixon ordering the coverup of Watergate.
    * John Adams pushing passage of and enforcing the Alien and Sedition Act.
    * James Buchanan pressuring a Supreme Court justice to vote with the southerner to support the Dred Scott decision.

    In my book those were far lower.

    Trump is a rambling narcissist. Yet his actual policy regarding Russia is much tougher than, say, Obama. I wish someone else was president. I did not vote for him last time. But if this keeps up, I may do so in 2020.

    (As I said before, voting for Trump is like putting up your middle finger. Crude and vulgar, but sometimes appropriate.)

    Bored Lawyer (998177)

  331. Haiku says, “It really is quite simple. Everyone is smart except Donald J. Trump. That’s why they all are billionaires and all got elected President.”

    “He is rich and he won” is your defense? Nice.

    noel (96c84f)

  332. 55% of Americans (CBS Poll) disapprove of Trump’s handling of the Putin meeting. But only 21% of Republicans felt the same.

    Wow.

    noel (96c84f)

  333. One bad press conference does not a bad foreign policy make.

    nk (dbc370)

  334. It’s all a show, and now they’re looking to cast Maria Butina as the female guest star, Stormy having had her run, and I’m tired of it.

    nk (dbc370)

  335. Kevin Williamson:

    He is not engaged in treason or anything like treason. He is engaged in hypocrisy and moral illiteracy. He is a frank admirer of caudillos such as Vladimir Putin, because in his mind ruthlessness, grasping, and amorality are associated with effective leadership. Hence the praise for Kim Jong-un.

    Paul Montagu (91b6ad)

  336. Brennan, Clapper and Comey have been defanged and that is a very good thing. They will continue to act out and have their hissy fits – and in Comey’s case, offer unsolicited advice – but America is a better place for their absence.

    Colonel Haiku (d52d85)

  337. 343… written by Dov Fischer, noel. Shake your head, your eyes are stuck.

    Colonel Haiku (d52d85)

  338. He is not engaged in treason or anything like treason. He is engaged in hypocrisy and moral illiteracy.

    He can be engaged in both.

    Trump is not just an admirer of Putin from afar. Whether you call it treason or “only” disloyalty, Trump has sold out his country to a foreign dictator for the sake of his own venal political interests.

    As long as you are on Donald Trump’s side, it doesn’t matter what you do to America. That was the message sent, and the message received, at the surrender summit.

    Dave (445e97)

  339. 336… okay, so appalled’s position appears to be that he accepts the Brennan, Clapper, Comey, Strzok, etc. subterfuge as legitimate means to an end.

    Colonel Haiku (d52d85)

  340. Dave,

    You are the one trying to overthrow the constitutionally elected President by supporting an attempted coup. If anyone is a traitor, it’s you and your ilk.

    NJRob (6f733b)

  341. It’s good he has made that clear.

    Colonel Haiku (d52d85)

  342. 352… spot on, NJ Rob.

    Colonel Haiku (d52d85)

  343. You are the one trying to overthrow the constitutionally elected President by supporting an attempted coup.

    How’s that?

    Paul Montagu (91b6ad)

  344. You are the one trying to overthrow the constitutionally elected President by supporting an attempted coup.

    Calling for impeachment is NOT the same thing as supporting a coup-de-tat. Let’s dial back the rhetoric a bit.

    Chuck Bartowski (bc1c71)

  345. “The latest scandal is that Trump still won’t admit that RUSSIA tried to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, which is an important admission for the media because they want to delegitimize Trump’s election. Do you notice how often the media point out in their pieces or on television that the intelligence agencies agree the RUSSIAN inteference didn’t impact the election outcome? They almost never mention this or if they do, it’s in paragraph 47.

    https://pjmedia.com/blog/liveblogevent/live-blog-37/entry-235358/

    Colonel Haiku (d52d85)

  346. 351 —

    Hm. I assume there is a level of sarcasm here, borne of disliking how I summarized your inherent argument from the discussion I was having up in the 330s. But of course you might be serious, in which case I have to wonder where you got that from.

    In the effort of utter fairness, would you like to try making further explanation? Or do you prefer ambiguity.

    Appalled (96665e)

  347. @340. They add fruit to yogurt to try and make it more appealing. A Canadian won’t help either, Mr. Feet.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  348. yogurt’s a very weird category

    there’s only one single serve yogurt configuration on the market what even tries to deliver a guy-sized portion, and even that could stand to be bigger I think

    noosa gives you 8 ounces too but that has as much sugar as dessert

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  349. Haiku says….. never mind….. it’s just another lame insult.

    noel (96c84f)

  350. cnn that had to fire lichtblau and a whole host of others, who didn’t disclose evan perez had ties to glenn simpson, that cnn, that is being beaten like the animal and the cartoon channels,

    narciso (d1f714)

  351. Pointing out the fact that Trump was siding with Putin over his own intelligence agencies’ and their overwhelming evidence of Russian interference…. is somehow a “coup”?

    That’s rich, considering this President was the one who birthed the birther movement challenging Obama’s qualifications for President.

    noel (96c84f)

  352. If you make yogurt properly, with the right milk and cultures, you don’t need to add anything to it unless you have an especially sweet tooth. The milk fats and sugars are sweet enough. Maybe a slice of bread. Good bread. But the FAGE 5% is probably the best you’ll be able to find in stores over here.

    nk (dbc370)

  353. no the fact that everyone in his circle, sans his stepfather, who was an Indonesian officer and oil services employee was a Marxist or militant revolutionary, wright ayers davis bell khalidi, et al, didn’t matter to people,

    narciso (d1f714)

  354. no that was sid Blumenthal, who raised that point, and berg something or other, trump was rebounding from a late infatuation with Obama in 2009-2010, at that point,

    narciso (d1f714)

  355. Cite… quote… look them up, noel.

    So, Dem leadership is shying away from use of the words treason… traitor… one can surmise because they don’t poll well at all. AP puts the word out as an in kind contribution to help the Dems turn away from self-immolation…

    https://apnews.com/amp/36d0ad64b1964bca871d1cf7d386d62d

    Eliminating ICE must be faring as well. After Alexandria Occasional-Cortex’s win, the Dems thought it was teh new hot. It’s not… as only 18 House Dems voted to eliminate ICE and 155 voted present.

    L-L-L-Loserz!!!

    Colonel Haiku (d52d85)

  356. The House followed up and approved what had been submitted in full support of ICE.

    Colonel Haiku (d52d85)

  357. why can herr mueller indict russian officials but our dirty state department sluts are off limits for other countries to indict?

    this is insane

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  358. taking a break from low carb since i have pizza and dancen this week so this would be a good time to try the fage

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  359. That last comment by happyfeet is precious. He, and many Republicans, will do whatever Trump wants. Including turning our own State Department folks over to Russia’s Putin upon his demand to do so. Pathetic happyfeet. Pathetic Republican Party.

    I agree with George Will. Vote em out! All of them.

    noel (96c84f)

  360. Calling for impeachment is NOT the same thing as supporting a coup-de-tat. Let’s dial back the rhetoric a bit.

    Chuck Bartowski (bc1c71) — 7/19/2018 @ 9:48 am

    Since there are no high crimes and misdemeanors, just a political coup, yes it is.

    Trying to use false intel to impeach, yes it is.

    Not accepting the results of an election and trying to overturn it, yes it is.

    NJRob (b00189)

  361. @360. noosa gives you 8 ounces too but that has as much sugar as dessert

    There’s no Tang to it, Mr. Feet.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  362. This ought to give a few folks around here a good leg tingle…

    Bill Kristol

    @BillKristol
    Hey, Congress: While you’re in session, could you take a few minutes and pass legislation prohibiting the expenditure of any appropriated funds for Trump’s planned military parade? Thanks.

    Colonel Haiku (d52d85)

  363. happyfeet comment 369 that is.

    noel (96c84f)

  364. Hey, there you have it! When Putin comes here for the next shoe shining, maybe Trump could throw him that great military parade… and make him feel right at home.

    noel (96c84f)

  365. There’s no Tang to it, Mr. Feet.

    astronauts love the stuff but when i was little i also had it once from this lovely vietnameser lady who mixed it into sprite

    this was a vietnameser family mom and dad sponsored to come live in america and they got them all set up and guess what all their kids went ivy and every one is a doctor or a lawyer

    i love that so much

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  366. Including turning our own State Department folks over to Russia’s Putin upon his demand to do so.

    if they do the crime they gotta do the time just like herr mueller and the hot and horny men and women of the perverted FBI say we gotta do on russian government people

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  367. 376… noel’s tingling in what his mom used to call his naughty parts…

    He’s on my Christmas list… I know just teh gift for him… https://freebeacon.com/culture/liberals-send-female-senate-democrats-pee-proof-underwear-oppose-trumps-scotus-pick/

    Colonel Haiku (d52d85)

  368. foggy bottom was an apologist for stalin, except for George kennan, and William bullitt, referred in the kengor link, the former wrote the long telegram, the marshall plan, was in part about confronting communists in france and Italy, fighting guerillas backed by the soviets and tito, it took years to purge the odious Stalinist apologists in the 50s. in Cuba, in the 50s, Rubbottom and Wieland were Castro apologist, in China, Chubb, stewart service, et al, made excuses for mao the more the blood tide continued, in Vietnam, the delegation there was more against diem, than against ho chi minh, hence the tragic execution of diem, those are just some examples, of how wrong they have been,

    narciso (d1f714)

  369. why can herr mueller indict russian officials but our dirty state department sluts are off limits for other countries to indict?

    Um, because our dirty State Department sluts have diplomatic immunity?

    Paul Montagu (91b6ad)

  370. When asked about Treasonpalooza, Noam Chomsky [i hear he’s a big star in the faculty lounges] said:

    “First of all, it is a joke. Half the world is cracking up in laughter. The United States doesn’t just interfere in elections. It overthrows governments it doesn’t like, institutes military dictatorships. Simply in the case of Russia alone—it’s the least of it—the U.S. government, under Clinton, intervened quite blatantly and openly, then tried to conceal it, to get their man Yeltsin in, in all sorts of ways. So, this, as I say, it’s considered—it’s turning the United States, again, into a laughingstock in the world.”

    https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/302587/

    Colonel Haiku (d52d85)

  371. No pink sneakers?

    nk (dbc370)

  372. are you really this ignorant, this happened when the blood tide, neared 100,000 in China and the Soviet Union, North Vietnam and Cambodia, rounded off the last 5 million or so, but American forces were the problem, in South America, the pattern was not repeated, because the Reagan administration’s chief spokesman, Jeanne Kirkpatrick would not be cajoled into abandoning our allies, some of whom engaged in methods we might not respect,

    narciso (d1f714)

  373. Donald is the one who needs a pair of Depends, Colonel Haiku. Shivering in front of the great Putin like that.

    noel (96c84f)

  374. The United States doesn’t just interfere in elections. It overthrows governments it doesn’t like, institutes military dictatorships.

    That was The Phone Company.

    Ajit Pai, reviled as he is, may have saved us by repealing Net Neutrality or we may have been next.

    nk (dbc370)

  375. Chomsky is another schlemiel, he tried to deny year zero until the Vietnamese marched into phnomh and ousted their Chinese client, saloth sar, was after all, a diligent pupil of mao, the madness was of a smaller gauge in peru, the dancer upstairs, gives a flavor of it, and commandante gonzalo’s shining path, painted the mountains and hillsides in crimson and gore,

    narciso (d1f714)

  376. @383. =Haikumakov!= Gesundheitski!

    The Red Colonel has reservations at the Russian Tea Room. You still have time to dine and dash make to a Russian consulate before you’re caught, colluder.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  377. “Salvador Allende, Juan Batista, Patrice Lumumba and Ngo Diem could not be reached for comment.”

    Colonel Haiku (d52d85)

  378. until Fujimori settle the account, in part to his vizier, montesinos, who ultimately outstayed his welcome, in Nicaragua, it was carter’s factotum, Robert pastor, and Anthony lake who forced the power vacuum that the sandinistas filled, it was dickey, DeYoung, and gutman, who were apologists for the latter, the fact there wasn’t a repeat in el Salvador, was due to strong measures by the administration,

    narciso (d1f714)

  379. Um, because our dirty State Department sluts have diplomatic immunity?

    this is stupid why should they they get the immunity idol when our Russian friends are hounded to the far corners of the planet by the slavering dogs of Herr Mueller

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  380. @381. Get your bucket and mop; clean-up on aisle 45, narcissy.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  381. “the dancer upstairs”… good movie, narciso.

    Colonel Haiku (d52d85)

  382. “Salvador Allende, Juan Batista, Patrice Lumumba and Ngo Diem could not be reached for comment.”

    English is foreign to the NY Mets infield, circa 1966.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  383. oh dear

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  384. so you ask me if I trust foggy bottom’s judgements, well I’ve given a half dozen reasons why not, re the Congo, they probably bet wrong on mobutu, who was not helpful, but Moises tsombe had a very selective audience, bet we’ve seen in the last 20 years, the horror show that it’s become, something susan rice and joseph Wilson point to as a success, I’d hate to think what they consider a failure,

    narciso (d1f714)

  385. Leave it to Noam Chomsky to take the anti-American side, every single time, and ignore the transgressions of everyone else. He’s been banging on that one-sided schtick for decades. That Instapundit lauds this crap should tell anyone the bad direction that site has gone.

    Paul Montagu (91b6ad)

  386. I think we should buy Drunku a one-way ticket to Russia and let the KGB question him. Traitor Trump thought it was a wonderful idea to let Russia question our citizens! That can’t be bad, can it Drunku?

    Tillman (d34303)

  387. this is stupid why should they they get the immunity idol when our Russian friends are hounded to the far corners of the planet by the slavering dogs of Herr Mueller

    Yeah, it’s stupid that our diplomats have immunity, that they’re exempt from getting arrested by tinpot despots on trumped-up charges in foreign lands. Anyways, the use of “our Russian friends” to describe the hackers who cyber-attacked America on Putin’s orders and the use of “Herr Mueller” to describe an ex-FBI director is a tell, and not a good tell.

    Paul Montagu (91b6ad)

  388. Sorry happyfeet. There is a change in your orders.

    White House press secretary Sarah Sanders just issued a statement that says President Trump disagrees with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s proposal to question Americans, including the former US ambassador to Russia.

    “It is a proposal that was made in sincerity by President Putin, but President Trump disagrees with it,” she said.

    Another day, another Stable Genius reversal.

    noel (96c84f)

  389. @324. =Haikumiski!= Gesundheitov!

    Товарищ! The Red Colonel keeps colluding. Please shower.

    “Well, it’s no trick to make a lot of money… if what you want to do is make a lot of money.” – Mr. Bernstein [Everett Sloane] ‘Citizen Kane’ 1941

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  390. yes, Chomsky has had his pom poms out for every sanguinary despot, as far back as he thought his linguistic theory, gave him props to opine on other matter, john Bolton, as I was about to say was one of those from jesse helms staff when trusting the soviets was derigour, and deriding our latin American partners was the other side of the coin, the guerillas never succeeded in battle, but they were able to take power after a generation, on the poison pill that elections offered them,

    narciso (d1f714)

  391. @396. Aero Spacelines ‘Pregnant Guppy’ is very old school, Mr. Feet. NASA should sue.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  392. Chavez followed the same fidel formula, uprising capture and release, but he did stand for election, correa and morales, cut the first part out, the second was the respectable looking one, which as with all these shams wasn’t not what it’s cut out to be,

    narciso (d1f714)

  393. I don’t want to be the one to explain this to you and the Colonel, happyfeet. But, let me put it this way…. you are Charlie Brown and the President is Lucy. And she has this football. Follow me so far?

    noel (96c84f)

  394. One minute it’s “would” and the next it’s “wouldn’t”. And “no” is “yes” an hour later. I get it. Hard to keep up. But nobody said being a sycophant would be easy.

    noel (96c84f)

  395. @401. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders just [just??? it took a day to figure this out???]issued a statement that says President Trump disagrees with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s proposal to question Americans, including the former US ambassador to Russia. “It is a proposal that was made in sincerity by President Putin, but President Trump disagrees with it,” she said.

    Sincerity?! From the mouth of a preacher’s daughter?!?!

    God Bless Tammy-Faye-Huckabee for reaffirming daily my wise decision half a century ago to avoid all organized religious services because of sincerely lying middle men and women like her and her daddy.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  396. DON’T BLAME TRUMP FOR MUELLER’S GRANDSTANDING F**KUP! ASKING Russia to EXTRADITE its own SPIES? What would OUR response be if RUSSIA indicted OUR SPIES and demanded we EXTRADITE them to RUSSIA?

    nk (not Dysphoria Sam/Computer Wizard) (dbc370)

  397. DCSCA says, “God Bless Tammy-Faye-Huckabee for reaffirming daily my wise decision half a century ago to avoid all organized religious services because of sincerely lying middle men and women like her and her daddy.”

    Gawd, that is funny. Even for a ‘pure as the driven snow’ Christian boy like myself.

    noel (96c84f)

  398. It would be turn about but not fair play to hand over mcfaul to russia, his category error should not be compounded by martyrdom

    narciso (d1f714)

  399. ugh former pornographic movie actress Mia Love wants to do carbon taxes all up in it

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  400. Our TV strongman meets real strongman Putin. Gets his orders. Then annoying Senators tell TV strongman to forget that notion. And here we are. Another reversal.

    noel (96c84f)

  401. If trump were really a strongman, well they eouldnt be so diligent in denouncing trump, for one thing

    https://mobile.twitter.com/LeeSmithDC/status/1019808207227801600

    narciso (d1f714)

  402. This is absolutly insane:

    Trump … called the proposal to have Russians interrogate the Americans ‘an incredible offer.’

    https://www.politico.com/story/2018/07/19/michael-mcfaul-trump-russia-question-732356

    Tillman (d34303)

  403. Right. He is a TV strongman. Fake strongman, if you will. A wannabe strongman. Exactly.

    noel (96c84f)

  404. 415… there was a time here when posting links to Politico was a capital offense.

    Get a rope!

    Colonel Haiku (d52d85)

  405. @377. Actually, they don’t Mr. Feet; spiked w/potassium for heart issues, it gave’em the farts.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  406. How about raw story, that is wolfesbane or deadly night shade.

    narciso (d1f714)

  407. To Trump, Putin is not an enemy. Instead, the “real enemy” is “Fake News Media!” which is basically any media that doesn’t suck up to Trump. This is how far whacked this president is.

    Paul Montagu (91b6ad)

  408. hrm i wonder if that’s just a space thing or if the vietnamesers were trying to give us gas

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  409. the “real enemy” is “Fake News Media!”

    this.

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  410. 415… unbunch those pink panties, Tillie:

    Incredible: usage: “incredible” means ‘unbelievable’ or ‘not convincing’ and can be applied to a situation, statement, policy, or threat to a person.

    Source: New Oxford American Dictionary

    Colonel Haiku (d52d85)

  411. I know pikachu, is an act , but you genuinely seem ignorant of much of what happened innthe last thirty years. Montague.

    narciso (d1f714)

  412. 395, I thought that would have been more 2006 under the Omar Minaya Latin infusion, and in 1986 it was the Florida Coke Boys.

    urbanleftbehind (4e4a2c)

  413. So this is level of insanity we have to stoop to, all because of Traitor Trump.

    Senate approves resolution warning Trump not to hand over US officials
    http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/397904-senate-approves-resolution-warning-trump-not-to-hand-over-us-officials

    Tillman (d34303)

  414. China is much more of a threat to America and the rest of the world than the Russkies, but the Democrats, Big Biz, Silicon Valley, etc. are too busy making money off/with them to speak about it.

    Colonel Haiku (d52d85)

  415. @424 Drunku proves that he’s a weasel, or a slimy eel, take your pick.

    Tillman (d34303)

  416. “I know pikachu, is an act , but you genuinely seem ignorant of much of what happened innthe last thirty years. Montague.”

    It’s teh “red”… blame teh red.

    Colonel Haiku (d52d85)

  417. Yes coronello, like it’s incredible they can walk and chew up without asistance

    Narciso (7b6d23)

  418. 425.I know pikachu, is an act , but you genuinely seem ignorant of much of what happened innthe last thirty years. Montague.

    The Penguin laughs at us and with us. Table 45 needs cleared; hop to it, narcissy.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  419. Tillie… don’t go away mad, go away educated.

    Colonel Haiku (d52d85)

  420. Trump was right to discount the so-called Intelligence Community assessment that Russia intefeared in the 2016 election. Although it’s certainly highly likely, even probable, that Russian influence operations did occur, however their impact was so negligible that as yet no evidence has surfaced to validate the IC’s assessment.

    What we do know is that significant interference did occur all right, but it wasn’t the Russians, all available evidence points directly at the Obama Administration and prominent high level members of the IC. The obvious ongoing cover up should give even sonombulants a clue, if not a wake-up call.

    During his 8 years in office Obama had thoroughly corrupted most key frderal institutions. However, the CIA, FBI, and DOJ were central to Obama’s conspiracy to manipulate the 2016 presidential election putting Hillary Clinton in the White House thereby securing the continuation and further implementation of his policies, in addition to providing protection from criminal prosecution, and offering the means to spy on his operatives and on his opponents.

    The plan was foolproof, Obama had his co-conspirators in place, his cat’s paw newly whitewashed and primed for the coronation, his lapdog media hungry and licking their stained lips, and all the power of his IC to infiltrate, spy on, and sabotage any future opponent’s campaign.

    Onama left no stone unturned, he pulled all the strings, nothing was left to chance. This was to be his crowning achievement, Frank and Red would be proud.

    But sometimes even the best made plans go belly up, or sometimes devine providence intercedes, or sometimes the Founder’s confidence in electoral democracy is vindicated. Whatever…

    Despite all the dirty tricks, despite the army of street thugs, despite the media’s unrelenting smear campaign, and despite the FBI’s spying, America rejected Crooked Hillary and embraced Donald J Trump.

    Such are the times we’re especially proud and grateful to be Americans. Our system of self government still works to keep us free from the tyranny of ideological dictatorship. But freedom isn’t free.

    This was a close call, had it not been for one extraordinary man, Donald J Trump, The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave would ring hollow, a mere slogan devoid of any real meaning, save for nostalgic longing.

    Consequently, it would be laughable to expect Trump to accept the IC’s assessment that Russia intefeared in his election, when he knows damn well it was Obama, Hillary and their perverted IC itself hiding behind the curtains all along.

    (Leftist scum always accuses others of their own evils, it’s an ingrained kneejerk reaction. Whenever the mask slips and the American people get a chance to see through media obfuscation, Leftists wrap themselves in cloaks of benevolent concern for the downtrodden (which their own policies are designed to keep down) and begin to loudly accuse others of their own crooked misbehavior. The lapdog media floods TV and big city newspapers with confirming reports while they ridicule any one who won’t kowtow to their false narrative.)

    ropelight (ad3ae7)

  421. you genuinely seem ignorant of much of what happened innthe last thirty years

    Thank you, narciso. About what?

    Paul Montagu (91b6ad)

  422. Trump was right to discount the so-called Intelligence Community assessment that Russia intefeared in the 2016 election.

    Trump’s own IC appointees affirmed the ICA. Why didn’t this president believe Coats, Pompeo and Wray?

    Paul Montagu (91b6ad)

  423. @436. He’s bitter; he missed his flight. 😉

    Twenty-three Cuban aliens were put aboard an airplane here today bound for Havana, the first of more than 2,700 unwanted Cubans who could be sent back as part of an agreement with the Government of Fidel Castro. – http://www.nytimes.com/1985/02/22/us/first-group-of-cuban-aliens

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  424. See, post 433 proves that in spite of being 90+ percent in agreement with the Disco agenda, there are those bigoted comments that make it not such a clear decision if I hold a pistol with a single round and it’s Disco or “Pastor Sandwich” in the same room.

    urbanleftbehind (4e4a2c)

  425. Paul says, “Why didn’t this president believe Coats, Pompeo and Wray?”

    You remember…. he knows better than the generals. Cuz…. he just does.

    noel (96c84f)

  426. Not even close, ulb. I’d say be careful not to damage the BarcaLounger, but teh S ofa B probably has to be declared an EPA hazmat clean-up site with all the Cheeto dust, used Tucks, peanut shells and other detritus.

    Colonel Haiku (d52d85)

  427. I went out nearly 90 years and thats leaving out Soviet agents like hiss Duggan Currie at doggie bottom, and Duncan Lee Ames agee and Nicholson at the company.

    Narciso (330e0d)

  428. As for magnitsky that was a decade late and 100 billion short, that’s what the dance of the oligarchs wrought.

    Narciso (330e0d)

  429. Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse…..

    This afternoon from Sarah Sanders……In Helsinki, @POTUS agreed to ongoing working level dialogue between the two security council staffs. President Trump asked @Ambjohnbolton to invite President Putin to Washington in the fall and those discussions are already underway.

    Oh yay!! Then Putin can let Trump redeem himself and act tough right before the election.

    noel (96c84f)

  430. @439. Cubans are a dime a dozen in Florida and Mar-A-lago is hiring for the winter, ubl.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  431. @441. =Haikumakov!= Gesundheitki!

    Red Colonel; white Russians; blue balls! You be a true patriotsky now, comrade! A proud Puttie! Why don’t you pass the time by playing a little solitaire, comrade!

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  432. @439. Threats, ulb!? That’s only for U.S. ambassadors to Russia.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  433. In other news, Rosanne Barr says she thought Valerie Jarrett was white.

    https://abcnews.go.com/US/roseanne-barr-rages-obama-official-video-thought-jarrett/story?id=56708761

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  434. Hey DCSCA:
    http://youtu.be/-VUb_6-XJWQ

    urbanleftbehind (9ec32c)

  435. @449. ROFLMAO Touche.

    DCSCA (797bc0)


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