We’ve yet to discuss it here, but, two days ago, the Senate Intelligence Committee, which, it’s worth noting, is chaired by the Republicans, released a report stating unequivocally what most of us already knew to be true — that Russia meddled in the 2016 election to hurt Hillary Clinton and help Donald Trump as part of an ongoing campaign to destabilize the democratic underpinnings of the United States. Following is an excerpt from the report, which essentially says that there is no credible evidence which would cause one to question the Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) that “Putin and the Russian Government aspired (through various means) to help President-elect Trump’s election chances.”
Interestingly, the very day after this report was issued, seven elected Republicans, led by Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama, were in Moscow, meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. In another era, given the facts outlined above, it would have been a tense meeting. Shelby and his fellow Republicans, however, didn’t seem to care too much that the Russians had interfered in our election, hacked into our state voter registration databases, spread fake stories with the intention of sowing discord, etc. In fact, Shelby started the meeting by actually saying, “I’m not here today to accuse Russia of this or that or so forth.” [The Republican delegation consisted of Senators Richard Shelby (Alabama), Steve Daines (Montana), John Thune (South Dakota), John Kennedy (Louisiana), Jerry Moran (Kansas) and John Hoeven (North Dakota), and Congresswoman Kay Granger (Texas).]
So, our esteemed Republican delegation, in spite of the evidence showing that Vladimir Putin and his government had actively sought to select our president for us, just sat there, talking about how the United States, to quote Senator Shelby, should be striving for “a better relationship” with the country that had, quite literally, attacked us. But, really, who would have expected anything different from the shameless and craven Trump enablers who remain in the Republican Party? They take their direction from the President, and the President, it’s quite well established, doesn’t give a fuck about the Russian attack on our democracy. Here, in case you missed it, is just the most recent example of Trump’s pro-Putin stance, recorded at a rally in Montana earlier this evening.
Trump: “You know President Putin is KGB… Putin is fine. He’s fine. We are all fine, we’re all people” pic.twitter.com/EHJktcEZu4
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) July 5, 2018
None of this is normal. It wasn’t normal when, shortly after we learned the extent to which Putin had gone to see Trump in the White House, our president suggested that we turn to Russia to help safeguard future elections, and it’s certainly not normal now, after all of the indictments and guilty pleas.
Here, for those of you who can’t remember back that far, is that tweet of Trump’s about how we should partner with the Kremlin to form “an impenetrable cyber security unit” that would guarantee the security of our elections going forward.
And here’s our patriotic Fourth of July delegation to the Kremlin, laying the groundwork for a July 16 meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Helsinki — a meeting which, we’re told, Donald Trump has requested that no other Americans be present for… Again, this is not normal. None of this is normal. And we cannot accept it. Our nation is not just under attack by a foreign adversary, but that foreign adversary is being aided in its efforts by our elected officials. In any other period of American history, the authorities would be waiting at the airport to greet these seven Republicans on their return from Moscow, and we’d be discussing the possibility of treason charges. Instead, though, because we live in the era of constant chaos and the 5-minute news cycle, we’re already onto the next horror. [Take you pick: The sexual abuse scandal involving Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan, Donald Trump mocking a war hero dying of brain cancer, or the firing of an EPA director who is currently the subject of a staggering 14 ethics inquiries.]
I know they say the issue of Russian election interference isn’t something that American voters care about, and that we’d have a better chance of retaking Congress if we just forgot about it, and focused instead on health care and the economy, but we are quite literally under attack, and our elected officials not only refuse to take action, but they’re actively coordinating with our enemies to ensure that the assault on our democracy continue. We cannot allow this.
[Today’s post is dedicated to the memory of Trump’s soon-to-be-departed EPA Director Scott “I pray as I have served you I have blessed you” Pruitt.]
61 Comments
It was a nice touch that Putin ordered them to come over on Independence Day. He’s clearly having fun with this.
Putin is clearly having fun with them, ordering them to Moscow on Independence Day. He’s enjoying himself.
Those are simply crisis actors. That never really happened.
Woooahhhhh phuuuuck so haaaaai obamaconspiracykushdeepstatewheresthedog420gangviolencethebabyisintheovenmaaaan
.@MaddowBlog: Trump isn’t just attending a private one-on-one meeting with Vladimir Putin, he also wants no official record of what the two discussed.
Part of me wonders if maybe all of this kissing up to Putin is just Trump baiting the left to take our attention away from health care, the economy, and his money laundering operation. I know that’s giving him way too much credit, but I can’t help it.
The thing is that the Russians didn’t interfere with our elections in a way that bothers those guys. They are not interested in fairness. They have no integrity. They cheat. And Putin helped them. They love the guy.
Yes, because they are fascists. They do not care for elections or checks on power.
And then suggest jailing their opponents, even when they have no power.
Trump’s presentation at the MT rally was steeped in grievance. People close to him believe he was angry about having to fire Pruitt and lashed out publicly at almost everyone else (except Putin) in his remarks.
Ttrump is a child, as are his followers who can’t think of anything else but jailing those who dare to criticize the Great Leader.
They aren’t children though. They don’t have that excuse.
Trump considered invading Venezuela last year.
Seems that he is determined to have his very own boots on the ground conflict, sooner rather than later.
Further:
“Last year, the US dropped around 9,000 more bombs on ISIS than President Obama did in 2016. Trump has increased America’s support for Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen while more than doubling troop levels in Somalia. He extended America’s existing wars, sending thousands more troops into Afghanistan and Iraq, and authorized an indefinite military presence in Syria.
And the president put confronting two of America’s biggest potential rivals in the world — China and Russia — at the center of his national security strategy. His administration continues to send more ships and planes into the Pacific region, and he has increased America’s military presence in Eastern Europe.
Trump’s increased use of the military in part led to at least 33 US military deaths in war zones in 2017 — the first time US war zone casualties rose in six years.”
https://www.vox.com/2018/7/6/17536908/trump-venezuela-invade-military
But, you know… Hillary Clinton.
So haaaaiii dude, fuck that bitch check out my steel bong duuuuuddde
There is a legitimate humanitarian crisis in Venezuela though. However, I am sure whatever Trump cooked up would be more about stealing their oil than helping the people there.
He will be so sad if he can’t get a full blown war going during his tenure.
Are we not still engaged in Afghanistan and Iraq? Or do you think he will be sad because he didn’t get to start those ones?
He will be sad if he can’t lead his own invasion.
Looking like Iran will be a nice candidate for him.
Does anyone else think they had Pruitt resign today to take coverage away from the fact that six Republican senators met with the Russians?
It is part of the Dear Leader’s plan. We will just have to wait to see what happens. I predict that the Dear Leader will bring world peace and solve every problem through this along with legalization of marijuana by jeff sessions removing obama era orders to refrain from pursuing marijuaba cases. So many exploited children will be free.
You just wait.
Well the battle of Portland has concluded. Nazis have fled back to their trailer park in Vancouver. Only casualty was the keg of Bridgeport IPA. He never had a chance.
Returning to Midwest ops for preparation for the Labor Day surge. Keep prepping for defense of American ideas, and give Progressive candidates another cash infusion to ease your anxiety.
McMaster complained that Trump “thinks he can be friends with Putin”: report hill.cm/ICKbQyB
Stick around while the clown who is sick does the trick of disaster
Only two Facebook “likes,” and one of those is mine. I guess that reflects how little people actually care about “the Russia thing.” Sad.
The Treason Caucus.
Ron Johnson is now talking about rolling back sanctions.
Looks like we know now who really won the Cold War.
The funny thing is that this is what the alt-right was predicting the Kremlin would do, but they foolishly assumed it was going to be a socialist they’d install as our puppet President. Installing a phony alt-right clown got them all to roll over like trained dogs.
Imagine if we next get a guy with all the same intentions, but who hides them behind an intelligent, inspiring, charismatic, persona. Check-mate, muthafuckas!
The Russians understood just how stupid and tribal the American people were, and they weaponized that stupidity and tribalism.
More like escalate mothafuckers! iRobert. I dont want to win by corruption. I’d rather we defended our democracy by respecting its institutions more and realizing how we can be manipulated by both naivety and outrage (which is another form of naivety). We need to understand we are marks and figure out how to be more discerning. We are all capable of being fooled by a leader who tells us what we want to hear. If 2016 taught us anything it was that. Although many Dem supporters forget that they were putty in the hands of Sanders. This forgetfulness or unwillingness to self-examine. THAT’s our vulnerability.
Because we are never ever going to beat the GOP at their game. And if we cant even beat the GOP in being strategic, Machiavellian uncooperative assholes, we sure as hell cant beat Putin at psychological warfare. Hillary upset him and look at the lengths he went to to get revenge. The guy is diabolical and we need to keep him at arms length.
PS Many people are calling this era the Hot Peace instead of the Cold War. I dont know why they are calling it peace though…. I think someone came up with it hoping it would stick so he could sell his book. And I just repeated a term I dont fully understand and that I dont think is accurate…. so see how vulnerable we are.
“The Russians understood just how stupid and tribal the American people were, and they weaponized that stupidity and tribalism. ” Yes, This.
So what’s the appropriate defense?
“So what’s the appropriate defense?”
I’m tempted to say it’s too late for defense, but I do think there are things that we can do about it. Increase education funding, stressing civics and history. Hold media platforms, from Fox News to Facebook, somehow accountable for what the the messages they propagate. Push free community college for all plans. Prosecute racists, driving them back into the shadows. Etc.
Once again, Jean, you’ve read the meaning of my comments wrong. I said, “Imagine if we next get a guy with all the same intentions, but who hides them behind an intelligent, inspiring, charismatic, persona. Check-mate, muthafucka!”
The muthafuckas are us (the US, and believers in democracy the world over). We are the ones who will be in check-mate.
“Prosecute racists, driving them back into the shadows. ”
No way, expose them wherever they are. Call them out everywhere. Give them no comfort and don’t shield them with mealy mouthed calls for “civility.”
Outwitting Americans is really easy. This culture has rendered the population incredibly vaulnerable to any and every manipulation.
Jean, my point was that Trump is a joke. He’s such a ridiculous clown, there are naturally a lot of people turned off by him. But imagine a person who serves the same interests, but is intelligent, charismatic, and who speaks in a manner that the vast majority of the public finds inspiring. That is the dangerous thing that we are likely to get next. That’s the situation where, speaking in the devil’s voice, I say, “Checkmate, muthafuckas!”
For the hundredth time – we the people have to be ready to fight, literally. Congress has to know that we have their back in this fight, and that if they fail we the people will take their power away as readily as Ruskie Stooges would. If you aren’t getting ready to fight it’s already over.
Ah. I see. Apologies iRobert. I’m hoping against hope that we are more prepared the next go around. I’m always amazed at who historically has been able to develop a cult of personality around them strong enough to move into totalitarian rule. They aren’t charming or charismatic guys. As a rule. Which tells us there’s more at work than a charm offense. There is something about the primitive appeal of what these men offer (Triumphalism, nationalism, xenophobia, control, order) that overwhelms the more civilized beauty of the messy, peaceful and diplomacy-dependent democratic process.
Racists and racist tendencies are in their dying days. Their demise is inevitable due to rapidly changing demographics. That is also what has triggered this last-ditch resurgence among a shrinking (and aging) ethnocentric subculture.
Racism and racists will die a natural death, but we can also help that process along.
However, we will get another Trump soon. This one will appeal to a much wider population including most of those who now oppose Trump as a racist.
That’s what I see happening, Mark. It’s clear that cosmetic and superficially, social trends are going in a direction we’d want. However, what’s happening below the surface is quite the opposite story.
Jean, many charismatic personalities are not particularly charming to folks like you or me. We’ll be getting the one that grows out of this particular culture, with all its unique sicknesses.
I envy your optimism, as I envy HW’s as well. I can only dream of what it must be like to think this population as it is here in America could ever take anything in a positive direction.
iRobert– I agree with you completely– almost.
Many of Black people do not believe that racism will ever end in this country. Ever. And they have a point (which doesn’t mean it won’t get better). They see all the strings and pulleys and poles and fulcrums in the web of structural racism.
Racism hasn’t ended in places with more miscegenation or inherent diversity, like Britain and Brazil, though it does seem to get better. But then look at South Africa.
An end to racism won’t happen until power is distributed more equitably.
And that won’t happen unless we have zero tolerance to open racism AND explore deeply the systemic inequity and work to recalibrate access to opportunity and social mobility and so access to power.
What did Beyonce say?
“Okay, ladies, now let’s get in formation
You know you that bitch when you cause all this conversation
Always stay gracious, best revenge is your paper”
I know it sounds crazy, but Black people may just be the best people to listen to when it comes to ending racism.
“I envy your optimism, as I envy HW’s as well. I can only dream of what it must be like to think this population as it is here in America could ever take anything in a positive direction.”
See my post that follows.
We are cynical about different things. You seem to actually think Dems will make things better enough to not require an intense multi-layer inside and outside the system and decentralized fight for social justice. I think that fight for social justice is our only hope.
So far POC have been less naive and more aware and prepared to compromise as voters (as though they ever had any choice but compromise). Black voters have consistently saved our assess which is why we say they dont vote enough when they vote at numbers comparable to the rest of the population. We need them to vote more. And what we really need os for more of them to assume power in politics and elsewhere.
I think you are WAY more optimistic about politics than I am.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHG0ezLiVGc
Jean, I agree that racism will never be eradicated completely. But it is dying simply as a consequence of the rapid blending of the “races.” It will be increasingly replaced by classism, and as wealth continues to concentrate, and as the culture as a whole continues to degrade, that classism will become more distinct.
I don’t recall ever having been accused of being more optimistic than anyone else. I don’t think the decline of race as a factor in bigotry is going to mean much in an environment of increased social tensions, deterioration, and collapse.
I’m not a Democrat and though there are some individual Democrats I could support, I have absolutely no hope that they will accomplish anything.
The culture here in the US is absolutely corrosive. Nothing good can come of it now. It’s inevitably going to implode. Even the people I like don’t seem to have any comprehension as to what I’m talking about when I say that, or how we all have been feeding, and continue to feed, this doomed culture.
IRobert is a pessimist. Whowouldathunk?
No one understands him, not even the people he likes.
Doomed I say, doomed!
I guess the reason you might think I’m optimistic is because of the different way you and I perceive racism. So when I say it’s dying a natural death, it sounds to you like I’m saying people are improving in some way, but I’m not. I am certain people will continue to deteriorate, and will simply choose other expressions of those inner conflicts.
Democrats don’t ease racial tensions, they capitalize on them, thus feeding the tensions. So, I don’t see Democrats as bringing us all together in any positive way.
It’s good to talk to a person who considers themself so deeply pessimistic though. That makes me feel a little less isolated. And of course, that’s what I like about Mark and his blog. It’s a steady stream of misery.
You Are more pessimistic than I overall, iRobert. Which is impressive, given the impossible battles I’ve chosen over the years and the hits I’ve taken as a result. I’m cynical due to adequate information and experience.
BUT you are wrong about racism. It’s so much more entrenched in American structures, culture and belief systems than you admit. There is no way to address inequality and classism without first (or at once) addressing racism as its own issue. That is the blind spot of the white left. (Not that the establishment left doesn’t have it’s own issues) And its why Black people distrust everyone in politics.Activists, advocates and politicians, doubly so. They didn’t even trust Obama, even though they loved him, broadly speaking, (Apologies Dr West) And that was a reasonable position to take.
You really need to start engaging in a dialogue about race with someone other than me. I’m telling you, you are underestimating it’s power and significance. And if we address economic inequality politically, without addressing racism, guess who will benefit most from the change and guess which groups will be largely left behind?
Economic recovery 2008, anyone?
Fuck the movement for economic equality if it doesn’t address racism as its own thing.
Fuck anyone who thinks America can survive without dealing head on with its mortal sin.
America’s not surviving regardless.
As usual. Jean, I’m not going to heed your advice. I’m not going to dwell on anyone’s race, or on the endless blathering of those who do. I’m simply going to continue valuing individuals for their uniqueness and the beauty of their souls, and I’ll certainly confront any racism I encounter. I won’t be doing it as part of some grand plan to fix humankind, but simply because racism is ignorant and destructive. I will continue to marvel at the value and beauty of all people, of every race, ethnicity, or origin. I won’t kid myself that I’m anyone’s savior, or that they’re in need of one. I will identify myself as a friend and ally to anyone who is suffering in any way as a result of the ignorance of another person. I’ll do that because it’s simply the right thing to do, it’s what I respect in others, and because, like everyone else, I know what it’s like to suffer some injustice as a consequence of the ignorance of others.
From the sound of it, Sad, you might even be doomed a little sooner than the rest of us.
I was doomed the moment I slipped out from my mother’s womb.
It is the fate of all of us grotesque monsters. Some more than others.
The world is hard. But luckily we all encounter, occasionally,a few soft spots.
Now you sound worse than Jean, or me.
I guess the truth is, I am very optimistic about the potential of individuals to improve their lives. What I’m so pessimistic about is the potential of humanity collectively to do anything. Even the simplest challenges seem insurmountable to humanity as a whole. Individuals on the other hand, seem to have the potential to do almost anything, if they find the inspiration.
“I was doomed the moment I slipped out from my mother’s womb.”
At least you got to slip out. I was pulled out with forceps from my unconscious mother.
When she woke up, the story goes, they attempted to hand me to her, and she pushed me away, saying, “I haven’t had my baby yet.”
I emerged screaming.
No surprises there.
Your mother tried to pretend she didn’t know you, Mark? On the delivery table, no less. Wow, that’s gotta hurt. Does she continue to evade you to this day?
Have you considered going on the Murray show to prove she is your mother?
Jean, I assumed you emerged from the womb talking, and telling the doctor how to do his job.
Oh gawd! Worse than you two? Probably not.
Sunday is church, so everything starts anew. And then Monday.
And so on, and so on…..
PS. How could a dawg contribute that much to climate change? That just seems crazy.
iRobert– I’m sure I was trying. What comes out in these comment threads is something akin to an internal scream, translated.
I think I can relate to that, Jean.
Sad, it’s not that I feel misunderstood personally. I am not needy in that way. There are always great individuals to be found who are incredibly understanding.
However, I am just astonished at how the vast majority of people fail to comprehend the simplest aspects of the world around them. It really is stunning. Our contemporary culture socially patterns people to be completely incapable of critical thinking. That is such a disturbing thing to observe all the time.
What is it that makes you Sad?
During the campaign Trump keep calling all the things that I like and believe in sad. Finally I realized that I must be Sad. It was reeforced on here when I was attacked for wanting to tax rich people more to pay for schools. Have you ever seen schools in Detroit compared to , say Greemhills? I was attacked. Then I wanted to do away with the mortgage interest deduction. I was attacked. It made me Sad. I thought there might be some progressives over here.
Natty was kinda fun, but they got chased away.
Reading Electablog makes me really really Sad.
But away from politics things are good,
Even there I took heart when I learned that President Obama and I have a similar coping mechanism for dealing with President Trump.
But mostly it’s an act. I thought this site was a type of intellectual cosplay. Then I found out these are real people. At first I was a little embarrassed. But then I said, what the hell.
This site definitely has a cosplay feel to it, Sad. It seems that these days that’s sort of the best we can hope to get out of anything. Meaningful discussion appears always to be drowned out by idiological vomit now.
Who’s Natty? What was Natty’s routine?
America is anti-breastfeeding.
No doubt, our local right wingers will come on and talk about how necessary it was for the US to embarrass itself by failing to sign a simple health resolution on breastfeeding and how necessary it is to threaten a poor country like Ecuador over restrictions on the importation of infant formula made in the United States.
Pro-life as long as it is sponsored by giant US food companies.
lol
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rra0aBOwyUo