Just before the Republican National Convention, the Republican party released their new platform for 2016. The New York Times called it “the most extreme Republican platform in memory.” Among other things, according to the Times, this new platform outlined positions “making no exceptions for rape or women’s health in cases of abortion; requiring the Bible to be taught in public high schools; selling coal as a ‘clean’ energy source; demanding a return of federal lands to the states; insisting that legislators use religion as a guide in lawmaking; appointing ‘family values’ judges; barring female soldiers from combat; and rejecting the need for stronger gun controls — despite the mass shootings afflicting the nation every week.” This apparently came to pass largely because Donald Trump, who would go on just a few days later to accept the party’s nomination for President, didn’t push back. With one notable exception, Trump and his team, accepted everything that was suggested without debate.
That’s right. They didn’t push back against any of the retrograde domestic policies, but, curiously, they insisted that proposed wording about our need to arm the Ukraine to fight Russian and rebel forces be stricken, “contradicting the view of almost all Republican foreign policy leaders in Washington,” according to the Washington Post.
And this is the first thing that came to mind this morning when I read Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager’s comments concerning the recent Wikileaks release of some 20,000 DNC emails which appear to show that those overseeing the Democratic primary process were biased in favor Clinton. Telling CNN’s Jake Tapper “I don’t think it’s coincidental that these emails were released on the eve of our convention,” Robby Mook went on to say that security experts have indicated that the hack was initiated in Russia. “What’s disturbing to us is that experts are telling us Russian state actors broke into the DNC, stole these emails, and other experts are now saying that the Russians are releasing these emails for the purpose of actually of helping Donald Trump,” Mook said.
And, with that, I went down a rabbit hole leading me to the terrifying conclusion that Trump very well may be running as a proxy for Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
I mean, I knew the two men had made statements in the past concerning their admiration for one another, but I had no idea just how deep the connections went. Take, for instance, the fact that Trump’s campaign manager, Paul Manafort, had worked for many years for Viktor Yanukovych, the Putin-backed former president of Ukraine. Or, how about the fact that a good deal of Trump’s current wealth can be tracked backed to Russia?
Following are three points from Talking Points Memo about the financial connection between Trump and Russian oligarchs with ties to Putin.
1. All the other discussions of Trump’s finances aside, his debt load has grown dramatically over the last year, from $350 million to $630 million. This is in just one year while his liquid assets have also decreased. Trump has been blackballed by all major US banks.
2. Post-bankruptcy Trump has been highly reliant on money from Russia, most of which has over the years become increasingly concentrated among oligarchs and sub-garchs close to Vladimir Putin.
3. One example of this is the Trump Soho development in Manhattan, one of Trump’s largest recent endeavors. The project was the hit with a series of lawsuits in response to some typically Trumpian efforts to defraud investors by making fraudulent claims about the financial health of the project. Emerging out of that litigation however was news about secret financing for the project from Russia and Kazakhstan. Most attention about the project has focused on the presence of a twice imprisoned Russian immigrant with extensive ties to the Russian criminal underworld.
Relevant to the second point, here’s an interesting quote from Trump’s son, Donald Jr., as reported by the Washington Post earlier this year. “Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets… We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia.” [This, according to the article, was said at a 2008 real estate conference.] And Trump himself said in a 2007 deposition, “Russia is one of the hottest places in the world for investment.”
So, having been turned away by every bank in the United States, where he’s known to be a crook and swindler, Trump apparently cozied up to Russians like Aras Agalarov, who was among those in 2013 to pony up a reported $14 million to bring Trump’s Miss Universe pageant to Moscow. [It’s been reported that Agalarov and Trump have also talked about building a Trump Tower in Moscow.]
In an article posted just recently on The Atlantic’s site titled It’s Official: Hillary Clinton Is Running Against Vladimir Putin, Jeffrey Goldberg put’s it this way. “I am not suggesting that Donald Trump is employed by Putin… I am arguing that Trump’s understanding of America’s role in the world aligns with Russia’s geostrategic interests; that his critique of American democracy is in accord with the Kremlin’s critique of American democracy; and that he shares numerous ideological and dispositional proclivities with Putin—for one thing, an obsession with the sort of ‘strength’ often associated with dictators. Trump is making it clear that, as president, he would allow Russia to advance its hegemonic interests across Europe and the Middle East. His election would immediately trigger a wave of global instability—much worse than anything we are seeing today—because America’s allies understand that Trump would likely dismantle the post-World War II U.S.-created international order. Many of these countries, feeling abandoned, would likely pursue nuclear weapons programs on their own, leading to a nightmare of proliferation.”
And it seems to be getting worse. Just recently, in an interview with Maggie Haberman and David Sanger of The New York Times, Trump suggested that we may have to reduce our military presence in the world. He even went so far as to say that, if he were president, he may not automatically honor the security guarantees we have with other NATO nations. “He even called into question whether, as president, he would automatically extend the security guarantees that give the 28 members of NATO the assurance that the full force of the United States military has their back,” wrote Habermas and Sanger. “For example, asked about Russia’s threatening activities that have unnerved the small Baltic States that are the most recent entrants into NATO, Mr. Trump said that if Russia attacked them, he would decide whether to come to their aid only after reviewing whether those nations ‘have fulfilled their obligations to us’.”
So this goes a little bit deeper than Trump just saying that he admires Putin and the way he “handles” journalists, and Putin making complimentary comments in response… Just how financially beholden is Trump to Putin and his fellow oligarchs? I don’t know. But, given everything outlined above, I’d say that it’s at least possible that there are Russian forces other forces pushing Trump toward the White House. I know it’s unlikely, but, the more I read, and the more I think back about all of the insane things that Trump has said over the past year, the more I wonder if, just maybe, he’s been trying this whole time to throw the election and get out of some agreement he’s had with Putin, only to find his polling numbers jumping every time he calls a woman a “pig” or makes fun of a handicapped reporter. What if, beneath it all, Trump’s a decent man who just can’t get free of the Russian mob?
[I made the image at the top, but this one is from an old article in New York Magazine.]
53 Comments
Whoever released the DNC emails, I suspect it will have the effect of further alienating the Bernie supporters, who had, over the past few weeks, been making their way reluctantly to Team Clinton. Hopefully it won’t be enough to throw the election in Trump’s favor, but if they can keep 15% of the more fervent lefties from the polls, it could have a significant impact. If I could just observe this, I’d find it fascinating. It’s hard to appreciate the drama, whoever, when the future of the world is at stake.
Now that Wasserman Schultz has been driven from the DNC, it’s been suggested that Granholm may get the job.
Read more:
http://www.freep.com/story/news/2016/07/24/granholm-could-considered-replacement-dnc/87509966/
Of course it is no coincidence that this leak happened on the day before the convention, and only time will tell who was actually behind it.
But neither of those things erases the fact that Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and the DNC conspired to sabotage Bernie Sanders’ campaign to ensure a smooth path to victory for Clinton, as many Sanders supporters had alleged, and as Wasserman Schultz’s surprise resignation basically confirms.
As far as this latest news “alienating the Bernie supporters,” I don’t think that will be much of an issue, since it seems pretty clear that – with Clinton’s pick of Tim Kaine as her running mate – she basically plans to win by gaining the votes of moderate Democrats, Independents, and anti-Trump Republicans. At this point, I’m guessing she feels she has basically already won, and doesn’t really need the left-wing.
There is no difference between Trump and Clinton. Bernard Sanders was our last great hope.
But people were mean to him.
Sanders’ camp is denying that Russia was behind the DNC leak to favor Trump.
I know it’s the Huff Post, but still…
“Pussy Riot On Trump: We Laughed When Vladimir Putin Rose To Power, Too”
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_56741df9e4b0b958f65644d0
Trump is so driven by greed and his ego that Putin would be able to play him like a violin.
Democratic National Committee Chair (that is, until the end of the convention) Debbie Wasserman Schultz was repeatedly interrupted and booed this morning as she sought to speak to Florida’s delegation. She was defiant, insisting delegates would see more of her. “You will see me every day between now and Nov. 8 on the campaign trail and we will lock arms and we will not stand down,” she said.
As long as she’s an official presence in Philadelphia – gaveling the convention to order and officially presiding over it — Debbie Wasserman Schultz is a continuing reminder of the Democratic National Committee’s bias against Bernie and all the voters who supported him. Hillary and the rules committee ought to take the gavel out of her hands and send her home.
And what did Clinton do after finding out what Debbie Wasserman Schultz did to sabotage the primaries? She hired her to run her campaign. Hell No, DNC, We won’t vote for Hillary.
The problem with #NeverHillary is that the alternative is so much worse, it isn’t even funny. It scares me to no end.
I don’t know how to make people like Clinton since I like her. I find it interesting that these emails, which mostly indicate a bias against Sanders but actually don’t indicate any actual wrong doing, might actually hurt her. I find the whole “thought police” aspect of it to be chilling since mostly these emails indicate that the DNC had personal biases against Sanders which they probably didnt act on and expressed in a context they felt was private.
Does anyone remember the story about the Democratic National Committee revoking the Sanders campaign’s access to its voter data files? In the context of these recent leaks, it’s not difficult to imagine that this was politically motivated. Regardless, Putin is brilliant, and we will all be his subjects soon enough.
She wasn’t hired to run the Clinton campaign, EOS. She was made an honorary chair. There’s a difference.
From Daily Kos.
Read more:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/07/25/1551930/-Debbie-Wasserman-Schultz-did-not-get-promoted-and-she-s-not-running-Hillary-s-campaign
Nate Silver has Trump in the lead with a 56.7% chance of winning.
http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2016-election-forecast/#now
“Putin’s Buddy Trump Is About To Get National Security Briefings. Intel Officers Are Worried.”
Members of the intelligence community are worried that Donald Trump ― who has deep ties to Russia and is apparently the preferred presidential candidate of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin ― could have access to highly classified national security briefings as early as Friday.
Trump and presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton will begin receiving the briefings after the Democratic National Convention ends on Thursday, ABC News reported Monday. As the Republican nominee for president, Trump is now among a handful of people who do not hold a security clearance but have the potential to get these briefings. But he also has closer ties to a foreign government than perhaps any presidential candidate in recent history.
Trump has called for following Moscow’s lead on various global issues and questioned whether it’s necessary for the U.S. to always defend other members of NATO, the alliance created during the Cold War to protect American partners from an expansionist Soviet Union. His rhetoric about foreign policy neatly matches the message coming out of Moscow: that America has little need for its long-time partners in Europe ― particularly in NATO ― or elsewhere, and that the U.S. should have less influence internationally. Trump has extensive business and financial ties to Russia. The Washington Post has described his relationship with Putin as a “bromance.” Troll accounts tied to the Russian government have promoted Trump on Twitter, the New Yorker’s Adrian Chen noted last year. And this week, mysterious hackers released internal Democratic National Committee emails ― a move that security experts and reporters are increasingly convinced was an attempt by the Russian government to swing the presidential election to Trump.
Trump’s deep relationship with Russia has the intelligence community worried.
“Never have we had a candidate so tied to a foreign power, especially one that is so hostile to the U.S. in many ways, and one that is actively messing with our election,” said one former senior intelligence official. “Many [in the intelligence community] don’t care about U.S. politics and pride themselves on being nonpartisan, but the ties to Russia are deeply disturbing.”
Former intelligence officials say that Trump would not be briefed on covert actions or learn about sensitive sources or methods of collecting intelligence, but he could have access to information that would be highly valuable to Putin.
That could include briefings on U.S. strategy in Syria or Ukraine; the CIA’s assessment of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad or the Russian leadership; or U.S. spy agencies’ knowledge of Russian military movements.
“The notion that the Trump team could request intel briefings on Russia when they clearly have close ties is horrifying, especially after the DNC leak,” said the former intelligence official.
Read more:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/putin-trump-national-security-briefings_us_57963cd6e4b02d5d5ed2476b
For some reason, the last several times I’ve posted comments to Mark’s blog, they have not gotten past the review process. I haven’t said anything particularly offensive, or even particularly meaningful. So I don’t understand why I’ve apparently been banned.
Yes, no one is certain what Trump would do if elected. But there is no doubt about the despicable things that Clinton would do. She has a very consistent track record of failures, lies and cover-ups. And a long list of dead persons who got in her way.
EOS, would you care to list those failures, lies, cover-ups and murders?
Or should we all not bother with details?
lol
Motherboard has a detailed analysis of why its thought that the DNC hack is Russian….
In the wee hours of June 14, the Washington Post revealed that “Russian government hackers” had penetrated the computer network of the Democratic National Committee. Foreign spies, the Post claimed, had gained access to the DNC’s entire database of opposition research on the presumptive Republican nominee, Donald Trump, just weeks before the Republican Convention. Hillary Clinton said the attack was “troubling.”
It began ominously. Nearly two months earlier, in April, the Democrats had noticed that something was wrong in their networks. Then, in early May, the DNC called in CrowdStrike, a security firm that specializes in countering advanced network threats. After deploying their tools on the DNC’s machines, and after about two hours of work, CrowdStrike found “two sophisticated adversaries” on the Committee’s network. The two groups were well-known in the security industry as “APT 28” and “APT 29.” APT stands for Advanced Persistent Threat—usually jargon for spies.
CrowdStrike linked both groups to “the Russian government’s powerful and highly capable intelligence services.” APT 29, suspected to be the FSB, had been on the DNC’s network since at least summer 2015. APT 28, identified as Russia’s military intelligence agency GRU, had breached the Democrats only in April 2016, and probably tipped off the investigation. CrowdStrike found no evidence of collaboration between the two intelligence agencies inside the DNC’s networks, “or even an awareness of one by the other,” the firm wrote.
This was big. Democratic political operatives suspected that not one but two teams of Putin’s spies were trying to help Trump and harm Clinton. The Trump campaign, after all, was getting friendly with Russia. The Democrats decided to go public.
[more]
http://motherboard.vice.com/read/all-signs-point-to-russia-being-behind-the-dnc-hack
A tie to Russia could/should be a nail in almost any campaigns run. I am still at a loss of words for how Trump is ahead and gaining.
I still am at a loss to hear that Trump’s supporters know he is loose with facts, but still think he is the key to change and betterment of the United States.
iRobert,
The movie “Hillary’s America” is playing at the RAVE theater on Carpenter. 2 hours barely scratches the surface.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/oct/12/bill-clinton-hillary-clinton-scandals-ranked-from-/
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/RANCHO/POLITICS/BODIES.php
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/07/tracking-the-clinton-controversies-from-whitewater-to-benghazi/396182/
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/a-brief-guide-to-clinton-scandals-from-travelgate-to-emailgate/article/2562906
These are some of the scandals and dead bodies associated with the Clintons. Failures? Everything she touches.
Lies? Ask the FBI.
We are in a post-fact America.
I’m happy to hear that Dinesh D’Souza was able to keep his cock out of his assistant long enough to make another movie. That’s exciting.
I’m stuck arguing EOS’s point? HillDawg’s failures are pretty blatant and not limited to:
Honduras
Ukraine (hat tip to Nuland)
Libya
Syria
Egypt
while she was at State, and a significant role in legitimizing the invasion of Iraq while in the Senate.
Our choice is between incompetent and corrupt on the one hand, and a megalomaniac on the other. The Tap Room will be seeing a lot of me the next four years.
Seconding the Motherboard piece. It seems like it’s not a question at all that Russia was behind the hack and leaks. Well worth the read –
http://motherboard.vice.com/read/all-signs-point-to-russia-being-behind-the-dnc-hack#
I’m pretty firmly of the belief that Trump is Putin’s Manchurian Candidate. First night of the DNC confirmed good unity from most of the Democrats I trust (Michelle, Bernie,
Elizabeth, Al Franken…others…). I’m more than ok with the lesser of two evils represented by HRC…It’s not long until the election (+100 days now…). I can go all in and not feel bad at all about supporting her.
I’ll be more than critical once the Dems have this thing in the bag and vanquish Trump, but we’re not there yet and the future is very much in doubt.
I like it when Americans pretend they know anything at all about foreign policy.
It’s getting weirder. And scarier. I just received the following from the NY Times.
“Donald J. Trump called on Russia to hack Hillary Clinton’s email, essentially sanctioning a foreign power’s cyberspying”
Donald J. Trump said during a news conference on Wednesday that he hoped Russia had hacked Hillary Clinton’s email, essentially sanctioning a foreign power’s cyberspying of a secretary of state’s correspondence.
“Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,” Mr. Trump said, staring directly into the cameras. “I think you will probably be mightily rewarded by our press.”
Encouraging another world power to hack into the emails of a US Secretary of State — pretty much the definition of treason, right?
Peter, I know lots of Americans who are experts on foreign policy, fwiw. My brother for instance.
But yes, I get your meaning. We Americans like to pretend we we experts on a lot of things and we also like to accuse people of not knowing about things we think we are experts on. LOL. So you can feel good knowing that you too are a typical American in that way :)
From The Hill:
Republican presidential candidate Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s campaign has released a new website and video satirically touting a Trump-Putin 2016 bid for the White House.
Its slogan: “Make tyranny great again.”
@M,
It’s the Democrats who are claiming that is was Russia who hacked Hillary’s emails. Trump jokingly asked them to release the 30,000 emails that she deleted. Are you serious? The treason charges should be directed at the person who used a private server to send and receive highly classified government documents, not the dozens of persons who were able to hack the server and least of all any person trying to reveal the truth.
Only liberals don’t get the humor of Trump’s facetious call for Russia to turn over email HRC claims were lost and unrecoverable. I thought you liberal hipsters understood irony. By the way, it only makes him more popular with his base when you people get torqued by his antics. Trump punks liberals even better than he does his base. I’m sorry to say I’m becoming convinced he’s going to win.
Meta: “Putin’s Buddy Trump Is About To Get National Security Briefings. Intel Officers Are Worried …. Members of the intelligence community are worried that Donald Trump – who has deep ties to Russia and is apparently the preferred presidential candidate of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin – could have access to highly classified national security briefings as early as Friday.”
Translation: “Neocon warmongers, old CIA/Nazi cold warriors, and military/industrial/intel/security complex flacks — enraged at Trump’s questioning of the anti-Russia/anti-Putin narrative that they have so carefully cultivated, and terrified at the prospect of a scaled-back NATO and a new era of peaceful U.S./Russia cooperation (which would threaten $TRILLIONS$ in military and “intelligence”/”security” spending and contracts) — are seeking now to portray Donald Trump as dangerously friendly to “our enemies” and a threat to national security. And it seems that, among the credulous, and among those who swallow the endless barrage of lies of right-wing mainstream media (e.g. New York Times, and almost every other major Western platform), they are succeeding.”
Other translations are possible, but that one is pretty good.
The real problem with Trump is that he is not far-right enough to suit the establishment: the fascist deep state, the vast war machine, and its plutocratic supporters and dependents. He is not enough of a warmonger. He is not enough of a shill for neoliberalism and global corporatism. He is against the TPP, he wants a long-overdue reining-in of NATO, he wants peaceful and productive relations with Russia (instead of preparations for war), and so on. He does not buy-in to the toxic anti-Russia, Putin-is-the-devil narrative. He is not a true, dedicated neoliberal/corporate fascist and warmonger, as is Hillary; in fact the opposite: he actually has the temerity to question aspects of neoliberalism and the war machine! THAT is what makes him unacceptable, not his silly retail bigotry and misogyny.
That’s why the establishment hates Trump and loves Hillary, and why they will do damn near anything (poll-rigging, voter fraud, etc., etc., including perhaps being part of a ginning-up of this Putin/Trump scare story) to get Hillary into the WH.
An amazing variety of neocon bastards and hard-right assholes have flocked to Hillary, including goodly portions of the old Republican establishment. Even the fucking KOCH BROTHERS are behind Hillary, and NOT Trump! And for good reason. Hillary is fully on-board with them, and Trump is not.
Hillary is the real far-right candidate and substantive fascist, in terms of actual policies. Trump is just a some-time rhetorical fascist.
Trump is a terrible candidate, no doubt about it — the absolute worst imaginable candidate, with the likely exception of Hillary. He is to the left of Hillary in several critical areas, and is quite possibly less dangerous to life than her.
It seems that no one is listening to William Perry, former sec’y of defense and an intelligent and astute geopolitical analyst: “Today, the danger of some sort of a nuclear catastrophe is greater than it was during the Cold War and most people are blissfully unaware of this danger.”
There is abundant evidence that the risk of nuclear war with Hillary in the WH is greater than with Trump. With her proven jingoistic nature, and coterie of bloodthirsty warhawk advisors, anxious for confrontation with Russia, Hillary represents an existential threat to life on planet earth. Meanwhile, Trump the deal-maker wants to make friends and business deals with everyone: Putin, Xi Jinping, the lot of them. So, what do you want? War-maker, or deal-maker? Keep in mind, before answering, that the war-making may involve more than the death of a couple million brown people 10,000 miles away. It may involve the end of life as we know it, everywhere.
Or avoid that awful choice and vote for Jill Stein — obviously far superior to both Trump and Hillary.
“Hillary Clinton is determined to push Russia to the nuclear brink if not beyond, whereas Donald Trump opposes doing that. That basic difference between the two nominees cannot be honestly reported in the U.S.”
snippets:
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2016/07/60095.html
How America’s Press Are Covering the Trump Campaign
Posted on July 28, 2016 by Eric Zuesse.
America’s press cover the Trump campaign with barely concealed hostility toward it, and with an obsessive emphasis upon the candidate’s positions regarding Russia; they’re attacking Trump as being (wittingly or unwittingly) an agent of Russia — and portraying Russia as being America’s enemy.
snip
Paul Krugman, in The New York Times, at the same time as [the] HuffPo propaganda, bannered “Donald Trump: The Siberian Candidate”, and he linked there to (as his article’s sources) the rabidly anti-Putin articles that will here be discussed below. All of these articles were written by neoconservatives whose careers have been assisted by some of American’s biggest weapons-makers (the profits of which are now booming with ‘the new cold war’ that those writers had helped to create by their hate-Russia propaganda).
snip
Another of Krugman’s sources was the July 21st article by Jeffrey Goldberg at The Atlantic, a neoconservative magazine that’s directed both at Republicans and at Democrats, and which pretends to be ideologically ‘nonpartisan’ because it publishes (only) articles ranging between, say, the neoconservative Republican John McCain on the ‘right’, to the neoconservative Democrat Hillary Clinton on the ‘left’. Goldberg’s diatribe against Trump was titled, “It’s Official: Hillary Clinton Is Running Against Vladimir Putin”. Yet again: the central message was that a vote for Trump is a vote for America’s enemy.
snip
Trump is being criticized in Democratic Party ‘news’ media because Trump hints that he rejects both the Democratic Party’s and the Republican Party’s neoconservatism. This anti-neoconservatism is the major reason why Trump receives very little support from other members of America’s aristocracy (i.e., from other billionaires and centi-millionaires).
snip
the war against Russia can end only in America’s defeat, or else in a globe-destroying nuclear war, because Russia, like the U.S., is nuclear-armed to the teeth. So: if there is any insanity here, it’s from Hillary Clinton, not from Donald Trump — though the nation’s ‘news’ media portray Trump as being (by far) the more dangerous of the two (because he hasn’t, at least not yet, sold out to the rest of America’s aristocracy).
An actual invasion of Russia would be enormously worse than was America’s invasion of Iraq in 2003. This reality — and American ‘news’media’s participation in causing it — is the reality that’s unpublishable in the United States. (One can’t even report, in the West, that America is building toward an invasion of Russia.) But it helps explain those ‘news’media’s ‘news’-reporting about Trump’s proposed foreign policies, and also the American press’ coverup of the reality: Hillary Clinton is determined to push Russia to the nuclear brink if not beyond, whereas Donald Trump opposes doing that. That basic difference between the two nominees cannot be honestly reported in the U.S.
That’s the central issue in America’s 2016 Presidential campaign. And the way it’s being dealt with by the press is the way one would expect it to be dealt with, in a dictatorship.
snippets:
http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/neoconservatives_endorse_hillary_clinton_for_president_because_they_know_sh
Neoconservatives Endorse Hillary Clinton for President Because They Know She’s One of Them
Posted on Jun 29, 2016
Neoconservatives like Iraq warmonger Robert Kagan aren’t endorsing Hillary Clinton for president merely because they want rid of Donald Trump, but because she’s one of them, writes Trevor Timm at The Guardian.
snip
On the economic front, Hank Paulson – former Goldman Sachs chief and the man who oversaw the financial collapse and economic bailout as George W Bush’s treasury secretary – put himself firmly in the #NeverTrump camp while also endorsing Clinton in a Washington Post op-ed. After talking about Trump’s business acumen (or lack thereof) and Trump’s appeal to ignorance, Paulson says this: “I find it particularly appalling that Trump, a businessman, tells us he won’t touch social security, Medicare and Medicaid.” END QUOTE
………………………………
Yes, appalling, and galling, that he won’t gut social security, Medicare and Medicaid. Time for a president with the balls to eviscerate the social safety nets! Surely Hillary will have the fortitude for this essential, progressive work. Amen.
I think Jesse Ventura has it about right. Trumps pick of Pence as his running mate pretty much guaranties that Trump will die during his first 100 days in office and we will have a President Pence. Trump hopes to assuage the deep state by promising Pence complete control of domestic and foreign policy. It is really Pence that people like EOS are for, not Trump–he is just a tool.
I don’t like Pence or Trump. Pence caved when he should have stood strong. He’s no friend of conservatives. And I don’t consider myself to be a Republican. But I do think Clinton is evil and would destroy our country if she gets elected. Hoping to vote 3rd party again, but I won’t if it’s close.
Wobblie: “Trumps pick of Pence as his running mate pretty much guaranties that Trump will die during his first 100 days in office”
Maybe.
In any case, if Trump were successful at anything even remotely progressive, he would probably be assassinated. In the new fascist Amerika, nothing remotely progressive can be allowed. That is the product of 30 years of lesser-evilism. And that is why Hillary will almost certainly win. She is the perfect far-right candidate, with an ultra-thin veneer of plausible “progressivism” — phony as a three-dollar bill, but sufficient to fool the idiots (~95% of DP stalwarts).
The perfect far-right candidate, with the perfect far-right running mate.
snippets:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-07-29/and-now-closest-nastiest-most-unpredictable-campaign-you-can-imagine
Kaine is among the most hawkish figures among Senate Democrats. As governor of Virginia from 2006 to 2010, Kaine oversaw billions of dollars in cuts to the state budget. The state of Virginia is a major center for the military and defense industry, and is home to the Pentagon and the headquarters of the CIA.
Between 2009 and 2011, Kaine served as the head of the Democratic National Committee, the leadership body of the Democratic Party. He is close to Wall Street, having recently backed measures to deregulate banks.
As a Senator since 2013, Kaine has regularly called for increased US involvement in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. He has consistently supported the Obama administration’s reckless brinkmanship against Russia and China, two nuclear-armed powers. He has repeatedly pushed for a Congressional resolution officially declaring war against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in order to clear the way for stepped-up US intervention.
Like Clinton, Kaine has also supported the creation of a no-fly zone in Syria, an action that would quickly provoke a confrontation with Russia. END QUOTE.
I was so impressed with Clinton’s speech last night. She is plenty progressive! She is the second most progressive person out of four still in the race. Stein, who is more progressive, has some koo koo whacked out ideas which would be really dangerous for our country such as using quantitative easing instead of tax dollars to pay for things. Yikes!
Clinton is going to be an amazing president. If she gets elected of course. I think the Clinton supporters are really going to have to be extra motivated this political season in order to avoid Stein being a spoiler like Nader was in 2000. And also, it is helpful to remember how much damage the Tea Party has done by working within their party. There are certain people who are best in a fringe party with no chance of accomplishing anything. I think that all of the appeals to people’s sense of common decency have probably converted all that are going to be converted to the Clinton camp and it is time to just let the far left wall themselves off in their ineffective party where they can’t do much harm.
I can’t tell you how happy I am though that I get to cast my vote for a woman in November. I wouldnt ever vote for anyone just because of their gender which is why I am so happy that the person who is clearly the most qualified to become president is on the ticket and is a woman.
“I think that all of the appeals to people’s sense of common decency have probably converted all that are going to be converted to the Clinton camp and it is time to just let the far left wall themselves off in their ineffective party where they can’t do much harm.”
charming. i wonder why some aren’t persuaded.
plus that old Nader myth. Gore fucked himself.
I don’t know for sure, but I’m guessing that you probably won’t change your opinion under any likely circumstances.
Scarborough: Trump asked adviser why US can’t use nuclear weapons
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/290217-scarborough-trump-asked-about-adviser-about-using-nuclear
Michael J. Morell, the acting director and deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 2010 to 2013, had this to say in a New York Times op-ed this past Friday:
Read more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/05/opinion/campaign-stops/i-ran-the-cia-now-im-endorsing-hillary-clinton.html
Trump’s Daughter And Putin’s Girlfriend Just Went On Vacation Together
“Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka and the ex-wife of Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch and current girlfriend of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, Wendi Deng Murdoch, are best buddies who just went on a lavish vacation together. Might that explain Fox News’s unbelievably slanted favorability towards Trump’s despicable brand of politics? Could you imagine the outrage by Republicans if one of President Obama’s daughters were hanging around with Putin’s girlfriend? Fox News would found an entirely new channel for the sole purpose of harping on the subject around the clock. However, as is true to form, because the subject is Trump’s daughter they remain quiet as church mice. Similarly, Trump’s vow that he does not know or speak to Putin is now obviously proved untrue. Unless his supporters believe Putin and Trump have never spoken, and it is a mere coincidence that Trump’s daughter and Putin’s girlfriend just happen to know each other. Right — like the two met coincidentally at the supermarket while buying supplies to cook for the homeless. One really can’t make this stuff up.”
http://occupydemocrats.com/2016/08/15/trumps-daughter-putins-girlfriend-just-went-vacation-together/
Washington Post: “Russian meddling in U.S. election backfiring on Putin, hurting Trump”
Read more:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2016/08/23/daily-202-russian-meddling-in-u-s-election-backfiring-on-putin-hurting-trump/57bb9b5bcd249a2fe363ba31/
Fron Newsweek:
WHY VLADIMIR PUTIN’S RUSSIA IS BACKING DONALD TRUMP
Read more:
http://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-vladimir-putin-russia-hillary-clinton-united-states-europe-516895
Now the truth come out.
The Washington Post: “Moscow had contacts with Trump team during campaign, Russian diplomat says”
Read more:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/moscow-had-contacts-with-trump-team-during-campaign-russian-diplomat-says/2016/11/10/28fb82fa-a73d-11e6-9bd6-184ab22d218e_story.html
More Truth.
“The NSA Chief Says Russia Hacked the 2016 Election. Congress Must Investigate”
Read more:
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/11/will-congress-investigate-russian-interference-2016-campaign
I just checked Snopes, and this billboard is apparently real. It just went up in the town of Danilovgrad, in Montenegro.
The evidence is in. Putin rigged the election for Trump.
From today’s Chicago Times:
“The CIA concluded Russia worked to elect Trump. Republicans now face an impossible choice.”
Read the article:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-analysis-cia-russia-trump-republicans-20161209-story.html
We now know that Kislyak was at the Republican National Convention, where pro-Russia language was added by the Trump administration into the party’s platform.
12 Trackbacks
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