President Trump- The Implications

[BKDotCom]

Just want to make sure that you realize that article is satire...if you knew that already, then apologies.

Poe's Law applies more now than ever

[Hoss]

FBI Director Comey admits the worst kept secret in Washington. The FBI and Justice are formally investigating Russia and the Trump campaign and have been investigating since July.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/fbi-director-confirms-probe-russias-alleged-election-interference/story?id=46240979

Anyone still think this is nothing? Fake news?

His supporters will say fake news.  They're all so gullible.  They got duped from the first day of his campaign.

[heironymouspasparagus]

10 golf vacations in 8 weeks....


https://www.facebook.com/NowThisPolitics/videos/1493464957351656/


Just another lie...

[swake]

Nothing to see here, nothing at all:

President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, secretly worked for a Russian billionaire to advance the interests of Russian President Vladimir Putin a decade ago and proposed an ambitious political strategy to undermine anti-Russian opposition across former Soviet republics, The Associated Press has learned. The work appears to contradict assertions by the Trump administration and Manafort himself that he never worked for Russian interests.

Manafort proposed in a confidential strategy plan as early as June 2005 that he would influence politics, business dealings and news coverage inside the United States, Europe and the former Soviet republics to benefit the Putin government, even as U.S.-Russia relations under Republican President George W. Bush grew worse. Manafort pitched the plans to Russian aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska, a close Putin ally with whom Manafort eventually signed a $10 million annual contract beginning in 2006, according to interviews with several people familiar with payments to Manafort and business records obtained by the AP. Manafort and Deripaska maintained a business relationship until at least 2009, according to one person familiar with the work.


"We are now of the belief that this model can greatly benefit the Putin Government if employed at the correct levels with the appropriate commitment to success," Manafort wrote in the 2005 memo to Deripaska. The effort, Manafort wrote, "will be offering a great service that can re-focus, both internally and externally, the policies of the Putin government."

Manafort's plans were laid out in documents obtained by the AP that included strategy memoranda and records showing international wire transfers for millions of dollars. How much work Manafort performed under the contract was unclear.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-paul-manafort-putin-russia-20170322-story.html

[Conan71]

Some of the developments regarding Russia do bother me, but how much of this is butthurt from Democrats who still can't believe Hillary was such a crappy candidate that an a-hole like Donald Trump could have possibly beat her?  This seems like an over-inflated issue to me with everyone trying to draw lines from Russia to Trump.  It could have easily been said other foreign governments were lining up to support Hillary as a quid pro quo with their donations to the Clinton Family Foundation.

Find any election in the last 100 years where there hasn't been some sort of foreign influence whether it was straw donations from industrialists or the rhetoric of powerful foreign leaders.

The Democrat Party ceding the race for their candidate to Hillary before the primaries even started is why we have Donald Trump in office, not because Vladimir Putin wanted him there.  It is impossible to quantify what damage, if any, was done to Hillary's aspirations to be POTUS as a result of the Russian hacking.  No one can put a number of votes on it, there simply is no way.

Picking Hillary to run against anyone was simply a poor choice.  Pick better in the next election.  Go back to someone young and dynamic, not a corrupt political re-tread.

[erfalf]

Remember the good ol days when ties like this just seemed to fall by the wayside.

http://articles.latimes.com/1999/apr/04/news/mn-24189

http://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/25/opinion/essay-the-china-connection.html

I know it's truly probably not a whole lot, but it had a lot more connections than the current iteration.

[erfalf]

And no one seems to remember Obama's promise to be more "flexible".

Working with Russia is not a crime...yet. Or at least it isn't when a Democrat does it.

[swake]

Please. This is not normal.

When Obama tried to reengage Russia, that was before they invaded Crimea. Situations change.

The current situation is that we know that Russian Intelligence hacked the Democratic party and others in addition to conducting a propaganda campaign in the United States to elect Trump. If that isn't really serious to you, you have a problem.

In addition to that there is a ton of evidence linking the Trump campaign to Russia, including Russian Intelligence. Add to that strong circumstantial evidence of collusion and coordination between the Russian government/Russian Intelligence and the Trump campaign on those hacks and propaganda campaigns by Russian Intelligence.

This has nothing to do with Clinton and isn't like anything we have faced before as a country.

[swake]

[erfalf]

and isn't like anything we have faced before as a country.

Well maybe not like anything I have seen before (as I wasn't alive):

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/01/when-a-foreign-government-interfered-in-a-us-electionto-reelect-fdr-214634

While the UK was an ally, they were still looking out for their own best interest. If you think every country in the world just sits back and watches EVERY other country go about their business, you are living in fantasy land. There are dozens of countries that would love to be in front of major shifts of power like this and likely do everything they can to do so. Hell, we do the same.

And maybe you are partially right in that we haven't faced this kind of thing before. On the flip side, how many countries could say the same thing, because I'm sure we have been "diddling" in other countries affairs for pretty much our entire existence.

Also, never mind the DNC's attempts at propagandizing the better part of the national media (that was uncovered by supposed Russian hackers no less). THAT is not a problem at all thought. Because I assume domestic propaganda is all right.

[rebound]

Because I assume domestic propaganda is all right.

Yep. That's right.  Or, at least par for the course and something that is standard in American politics.   Again, and per an earlier poster, if the basic premise is that this is Russia, actively attempting (and succeeding) in altering the course of an election, and you don't care, then there's no arguing with you on this one.

Now, if Putin had actually campaigned for Trump?  Above board where everyone could see?  That would be strange, but have at it.  But this is Russian spying and manipulating the US, with the aid of members of the current administration.  That does not work for me.

[erfalf]

Yep. That's right.  Or, at least par for the course and something that is standard in American politics.   Again, and per an earlier poster, if the basic premise is that this is Russia, actively attempting (and succeeding) in altering the course of an election, and you don't care, then there's no arguing with you on this one.

Now, if Putin had actually campaigned for Trump?  Above board where everyone could see?  That would be strange, but have at it.  But this is Russian spying and manipulating the US, with the aid of members of the current administration.  That does not work for me.

I'm not at all saying that it is ok with me, just that it is not incredibly, can't believe it, over the top has never happened before in this or any lifetime. That kind of thinking just reminds me of the ding bats at ESPN commenting on Sunday morning about how Saturday's game was the greatest ever...every weekend. It gets old and it also desensitizes the audience into not believing them...ever. I have a feeling that finding the Trump connection to Russia will be akin to finding the Obama's connection to Kenya (or lack there of in the end). Acting like Russia shouldn't have interests that benefit themselves is dumb, and thinking that they wouldn't use means necessary to that end is doubly dumb. The connected world makes this all the more possible. That being said, it makes it all the more impossible to skirt detection. And considering I think Trump is a guy that couldn't find his way out of a paper bag, I find it incredibly hard to believe that he is capable of pulling of such a thing. So, either Trump is as dumb as you all (and I) say he is, or he is one of the most cunning. Which is it. I'm so damned confused at this point.

All this in my opinion of course.

[guido911]

Well there is apparently a "smoking gun" on spying. Nope. Not caring (and not believing).

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/03/23/potential-smoking-gun-showing-obama-administration-spied-on-trump-team-source-says.html

[patric]

Well there is apparently a "smoking gun" on spying. Nope. Not caring (and not believing).

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/03/23/potential-smoking-gun-showing-obama-administration-spied-on-trump-team-source-says.html

We live in a country that has for the past couple of administrations spied on its citizens wholesale and without just cause; computers vacuum up every email, text and phone call to feed to the latest algorithm.  What are the odds that some political staff somewhere got inventoried?

[erfalf]

We live in a country that has for the past couple of administrations spied on its citizens wholesale and without just cause; computers vacuum up every email, text and phone call to feed to the latest algorithm.  What are the odds that some political staff somewhere got inventoried?

And then gossiped around the office...