Support the Arctic Sea Ice Forum and Blog

Author Topic: The Russiagate conspiracy theory  (Read 1120231 times)

Buddy

  • Young ice
  • Posts: 3379
  • Go DUCKS!!
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 49
  • Likes Given: 34
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2300 on: January 11, 2018, 05:42:39 PM »
Quote
Putin is admired by some 85% of Russians,

Yes...it is amazing what feeding Russians lies from Russia Today (and previously Tass) will do.

If everyone in the US were forced to watch FOX.....Donnie would be popular as well.  Fortunately..... we still have freedom of the press..... and some press outlets THAT REPORT FACTS RATHER THAN THE LIES OF FOX OR RUSSIA TODAY.

Russia Today is nothing more than an extension of Vladi.....just as FOX is nothing more than an extension and arm of Donnie.

FOX News:  "The Trump channel....where truth and journalism are dead."


FOX (RT) News....."The Trump Channel.....where truth and journalism are dead."

TerryM

  • First-year ice
  • Posts: 6002
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 893
  • Likes Given: 5
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2301 on: January 11, 2018, 06:07:52 PM »
So, the transcript contains nothing seriously new regarding Trump.
It's perhaps more interesting regarding Browder (responsible for the Magnitsky act).
The only effect is that now suddenly everybody takes The Dossier seriously.
Good.
Well, perhaps not quite everybody.


I thought we were all supposed to pay attention to the Greek Geek, the Maltese Professor and Olga, Putin's Seductive, but Secretive Supposed Niece.


The Pay 4 Pee Dossier didn't have anything to do with anything according to the NYT.
The Maltese Professor and Seductive Olga, who had plied poor Papadopoulos with Uzo in a darkened London Lounge, they were responsible for Mueller's Mulish insistence on investigating these inebriated instances of treasonous treachery!


If not for the bravery of a slightly intoxicated Australian Ambassador, their plan would have seen fruition. Fortunately this bright, if rheumy eyed, stumbling Statesman spilled the beans, or the borscht, to a minion in his security staff, who quickly alerted his superiors in the American FBI.
Within a year Papadopoulos had been charged with getting his facts wrong, and the rest, as they say, is history.


NYT said it. I believe it. That settles it.  ::)
Terry


Sorry for quoting my own post, but after the responses I had to check the original.


It is as I recalled, Putin's imaginary niece is addressed, but I never a mentioned the Russian leader.


Why would someone reply to the above by asking questions about people and places never mentioned in the original? Is this indicative of some grade school attempt to change the topic?


If you don't remember Papadopoulos's party with Olga and The Professor I can provide links.
If it's that you're so unsure of the wet bed dossier that you won't discuss it, then simply ignore it, but a juvenile attempt at diversion remains nothing but a juvenile attempt at diversion.


I really did expect more from the posters at this forum.
Non sequitur is not a valid argument - above the 4th grade.
Terry  8)

SteveMDFP

  • Nilas ice
  • Posts: 2476
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 583
  • Likes Given: 42
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2302 on: January 11, 2018, 06:13:41 PM »

As Palmer has reported on.....Grassley and Lindsay Graham are NOT making sense.  I have NEVER trusted Grassley.  But Graham....really has done a 180 degree turn.  One thing I continue to see in business is this:  If things don't make sense....THERE IS ALWAYS A REASON BEHIND IT.  And it is usually NOT A GOOD REASON.

What caused Lindsay Graham to do a 180?  Is it....as Palmer suggests....that he might be getting blackmailed by Donnie for something he has done?  Does Donnie "have something on him".


I seriously doubt that Trump has much of anything on anyone, he's just not very clever.  However, it's quite plausible that, say, the Mercers might have informed Lindsey Graham that if he doesn't support Trump, massive funding will go to a primary challenger in his next re-election bid.

Sadly, this would seem to be perfectly legal blackmail.  Sigh.  Citizen's United is destroying my country.

TerryM

  • First-year ice
  • Posts: 6002
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 893
  • Likes Given: 5
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2303 on: January 11, 2018, 06:22:33 PM »

As Palmer has reported on.....Grassley and Lindsay Graham are NOT making sense.  I have NEVER trusted Grassley.  But Graham....really has done a 180 degree turn.  One thing I continue to see in business is this:  If things don't make sense....THERE IS ALWAYS A REASON BEHIND IT.  And it is usually NOT A GOOD REASON.

What caused Lindsay Graham to do a 180?  Is it....as Palmer suggests....that he might be getting blackmailed by Donnie for something he has done?  Does Donnie "have something on him".


I seriously doubt that Trump has much of anything on anyone, he's just not very clever.  However, it's quite plausible that, say, the Mercers might have informed Lindsey Graham that if he doesn't support Trump, massive funding will go to a primary challenger in his next re-election bid.

Sadly, this would seem to be perfectly legal blackmail.  Sigh.  Citizen's United is destroying my country.
Once the Supremes were politicized the battle was lost. Harper attempted to do likewise here in Canada. Fortunately, almost anyone bright enough to pass the bar was bright enough to see through Harper.  ::)
Terry

Hefaistos

  • Guest
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2304 on: January 11, 2018, 08:12:44 PM »
Quote
Putin is admired by some 85% of Russians,

Yes...it is amazing what feeding Russians lies from Russia Today (and previously Tass) will do.

If everyone in the US were forced to watch FOX.....Donnie would be popular as well.  Fortunately..... we still have freedom of the press..... and some press outlets THAT REPORT FACTS RATHER THAN THE LIES OF FOX OR RUSSIA TODAY.

Russia Today is nothing more than an extension of Vladi.....just as FOX is nothing more than an extension and arm of Donnie.

FOX News:  "The Trump channel....where truth and journalism are dead."
Buddy, it's really not that simple, that Russians are just victims of propaganda. There are quite a few independent media, radio stations (Echo Moskva), several brilliant newspapers, blogs, even excellent specialized web sites like Medusa.ru that give independent coverage from abroad (Latvia) aimed at a Russian audience. Still, most Russians choose to consume state media because they want to. They want their Putin, they want to look at the pro-Putin propaganda.They want their strong-man Putin, they want Russia Great Again.

(Also, you got it completely wrong about RT.  RT is not aimed at Russians, there are practically no Russians looking at it, even though there is a Russian language version.)

Hefaistos

  • Guest
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2305 on: January 11, 2018, 11:53:35 PM »
Deep state in action, Russia-gate is becoming FBI-gate, thanks to the official release of unguarded text messages between loose-lipped FBI counterintelligence official Peter Strzok and his garrulous girlfriend, FBI lawyer Lisa Page.

The FBI Hand Behind Russia-gate

"Thanks to the almost 10,000 text messages between Strzok and Page, only a small fraction of which were given to Congress four weeks ago, there is now real evidentiary meat on the bones of the suspicions that there indeed was a “deep-state coup” to “correct” the outcome of the 2016 election. We now know that the supposedly apolitical FBI officials had huge political axes to grind.
...
Besides forcing the removal of Strzok and Page, the text exposures also sounded the death knell for the career of FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, in whose office some of the plotting took place and who has already announced his plans to retire soon.

But the main casualty is the FBI’s 18-month campaign to sabotage candidate-and-now-President Donald Trump by using the Obama administration’s Russia-gate intelligence “assessment,” electronic surveillance of dubious legality, and a salacious dossier that could never pass the smell test, while at the same time using equally dubious techniques to immunize Hillary Clinton and her closest advisers from crimes that include lying to the FBI and endangering secrets.

Ironically, the Strzok-Page texts provide something that the Russia-gate investigation has been sorely lacking: first-hand evidence of both corrupt intent and action. After months of breathless searching for “evidence” of Russian-Trump collusion designed to put Trump in the White House, what now exists is actual evidence that senior officials of the Obama administration colluded to keep Trump out of the White House – proof of what old-time gumshoes used to call “means, motive and opportunity.”"

https://consortiumnews.com/2018/01/11/the-fbi-hand-behind-russia-gate/

AbruptSLR

  • Multi-year ice
  • Posts: 19703
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 2268
  • Likes Given: 286
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2306 on: January 12, 2018, 12:21:43 AM »
Maybe Mueller's cyber-crime specialist, Ryan Dickey, can prove that Team Trump was communicating with the Russian Alpha Bank.

Extract: "Mueller adds DOJ cybercrime prosecutor to his team"

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/10/russia-special-counsel-mueller-adds-cybercrime-prosecutor-276499

Extract: "Special counsel Robert Mueller has added a prosecutor with significant cybercrime expertise to his team.
Ryan Dickey, a senior lawyer in the Justice Department’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, has been detailed to Mueller’s team since early November, a U.S. official told POLITICO."

Regarding Alpha Bank see:

Title: "Trump Organization Computer Server Tied to Russian Bank?"

https://www.snopes.com/trump-server-tied-to-russian-bank/

Extract: "Claims that Donald Trump's organization was deeply connected to a Russian bank via a computer server have not yet been proved."
“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
― Leon C. Megginson

SteveMDFP

  • Nilas ice
  • Posts: 2476
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 583
  • Likes Given: 42
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2307 on: January 12, 2018, 01:06:37 AM »
Deep state in action, Russia-gate is becoming FBI-gate, thanks to the official release of unguarded text messages between loose-lipped FBI counterintelligence official Peter Strzok and his garrulous girlfriend, FBI lawyer Lisa Page.

The FBI Hand Behind Russia-gate

"Thanks to the almost 10,000 text messages between Strzok and Page, only a small fraction of which were given to Congress four weeks ago, there is now real evidentiary meat on the bones of the suspicions that there indeed was a “deep-state coup” to “correct” the outcome of the 2016 election. We now know that the supposedly apolitical FBI officials had huge political axes to grind.
...
Besides forcing the removal of Strzok and Page, the text exposures also sounded the death knell for the career of FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, in whose office some of the plotting took place and who has already announced his plans to retire soon.

But the main casualty is the FBI’s 18-month campaign to sabotage candidate-and-now-President Donald Trump by using the Obama administration’s Russia-gate intelligence “assessment,” electronic surveillance of dubious legality, and a salacious dossier that could never pass the smell test, while at the same time using equally dubious techniques to immunize Hillary Clinton and her closest advisers from crimes that include lying to the FBI and endangering secrets.

Ironically, the Strzok-Page texts provide something that the Russia-gate investigation has been sorely lacking: first-hand evidence of both corrupt intent and action. After months of breathless searching for “evidence” of Russian-Trump collusion designed to put Trump in the White House, what now exists is actual evidence that senior officials of the Obama administration colluded to keep Trump out of the White House – proof of what old-time gumshoes used to call “means, motive and opportunity.”"

https://consortiumnews.com/2018/01/11/the-fbi-hand-behind-russia-gate/

This is ridiculous nonsense.  FBI agents, like all other Americans, are allowed to have political opinions.  There's been no evidence presented that Strzok's opinions led to unprofessional actions in regards to the investigation.

Nevertheless, Mueller removed him from the investigation upon becoming aware of the texts.  This demonstrates that Mueller doesn't tolerate even the appearance of bias.

And no, the FBI didn't favor Clinton over Trump during the campaign.  Exactly the opposite is true.  The "Comey memo" by itself may have been enough to turn the election to Trump.  Essentially every whiff of an inquiry about Clinton was leaked to the press.  But ongoing investigations of Manafort and Russian efforts to influence Trump were kept completely secret.

Consortiumnews is, again, the mouthpiece of right-wing propaganda here.

Archimid

  • Young ice
  • Posts: 3511
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 899
  • Likes Given: 206
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2308 on: January 12, 2018, 03:36:29 AM »
85% approval rating huh. I feel sorry for that “15%”, but I admire their courage for publicly disapproving.
I am an energy reservoir seemingly intent on lowering entropy for self preservation.

Rob Dekker

  • Nilas ice
  • Posts: 2386
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 120
  • Likes Given: 119
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2309 on: January 12, 2018, 05:42:56 AM »
Buddy, it's really not that simple, that Russians are just victims of propaganda. There are quite a few independent media, radio stations (Echo Moskva), several brilliant newspapers, blogs, even excellent specialized web sites like Medusa.ru that give independent coverage from abroad (Latvia) aimed at a Russian audience. Still, most Russians choose to consume state media because they want to. They want their Putin, they want to look at the pro-Putin propaganda.They want their strong-man Putin, they want Russia Great Again.

Thank you Hefaistos. That explains a lot.

It also explains why the majority of Russians think that MH17 was shot down by the Ukrainian military and other falsehoods.

It doesn't explain why some westerners also fall for the same Russian state-run media propaganda, but I think Martin gave a plausible explanation for that phenomenon.
This is our planet. This is our time.
Let's not waste either.

Rob Dekker

  • Nilas ice
  • Posts: 2386
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 120
  • Likes Given: 119
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2310 on: January 12, 2018, 08:59:22 AM »
I really did expect more from the posters at this forum.
Non sequitur is not a valid argument - above the 4th grade.
Terry  8)

Terry, it was not Non Sequitur. It was a genuine inquiry :
In a previous comment you mentioned :

Quote
We vilified America, Canada, Britain, and most of the Western World. I wasn't alone in praising Putin,...

In this particular case, what triggered my inquiry was that you still question the credibility of the Steele dossier, despite a 9 hour long testimony from Glenn Simpson from Fusion GPS explaining every single detail of how exactly that dossier came about and the context.

So I am honestly interested in how your opinion was formed and why you keep on holding the Kremlin/Trump line and praising Putin, apparently regardless of the evidence presented.

« Last Edit: January 12, 2018, 10:03:37 AM by Rob Dekker »
This is our planet. This is our time.
Let's not waste either.

Buddy

  • Young ice
  • Posts: 3379
  • Go DUCKS!!
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 49
  • Likes Given: 34
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2311 on: January 12, 2018, 10:47:44 AM »
Yes.....Donnie is "the gift that keeps on giving"... ..while those on the alt right claim that "the deep state" is out to get Donnie.  LAUGHABLE and pathetic.
FOX (RT) News....."The Trump Channel.....where truth and journalism are dead."

AbruptSLR

  • Multi-year ice
  • Posts: 19703
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 2268
  • Likes Given: 286
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2312 on: January 13, 2018, 03:13:29 AM »
As Bannon has just hired the same lawyer (Bill Burck) as Priebus (who is a fully cooperating witness), Bannon must also be a fully cooperating witness otherwise, legally, Burck could not represent them both:

Title: "Steve Bannon Lawyers Up... as Russia Investigators Get Ready to Pounce"

https://www.thedailybeast.com/steve-bannon-lawyers-up-russia-investigators-ready-to-pounce

Extract: "The Daily Beast has learned that the former top White House strategist has retained Bill Burck, of the firm Quinn Emanuel. Two sources tell us Burck is helping Bannon prepare for an interview with the House intelligence committee, which is currently scheduled for next week. Sources also said Bannon plans to “fully cooperate” with investigators.
...
Burck also represents White House Counsel Don McGahn and former Chief of Staff Reince Priebus for the purposes of the Russia probe, as Law360 reported last September."
“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
― Leon C. Megginson

AbruptSLR

  • Multi-year ice
  • Posts: 19703
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 2268
  • Likes Given: 286
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2313 on: January 13, 2018, 04:47:25 PM »
The linked article indicates that Bannon has stated that Trump's lawyer, Marc Kasowitz,"… "took care" of 100 women during the presidential campaign".  This pattern, of ignoring germs when in the company of naked women, makes the likelihood that Putin has black mailed Trump with the 'Pee Pee Tape'  that much more probable:

Title: "Steve Bannon suggests Trump's lawyer 'took care' of 'a hundred' women during the presidential campaign"

http://www.businessinsider.com/bannon-trump-lawyer-took-care-of-a-hundred-women-2018-1

Extract: "Steve Bannon, President Donald Trump's former top strategist, alleged in journalist Michael Wolff's tell-all book about the Trump White House that the president's longtime attorney, Marc Kasowitz, "took care" of 100 women during the presidential campaign.

"Look, Kasowitz has known [Trump] for twenty-five years. Kasowitz has gotten him out of all kinds of jams," Bannon reportedly said. "Kasowitz on the campaign — what did we have, a hundred women? Kasowitz took care of all of them." 

This apparently off-hand remark may take on new significance after The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that another lawyer for the president, Michael Cohen, sent $130,000 to a porn star just weeks before the 2016 presidential election to keep her silent about an alleged 2006 sexual encounter with Trump."
“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
― Leon C. Megginson

AbruptSLR

  • Multi-year ice
  • Posts: 19703
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 2268
  • Likes Given: 286
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2314 on: January 13, 2018, 05:13:29 PM »
The linked article adds background details about the web on connections between the Russian government and the Trump campaign:

Title: "Meet the Russia specialist who worked on 2 of Fusion GPS' most controversial projects"

http://www.businessinsider.com/ed-baumgartner-fusion-gps-christopher-steele-russia-projects-2018-1

Extract: "Baumgartner, a fluent Russian speaker, said he was hired by Fusion to serve as "an interface" with Veselnitskaya, who does not speak much English. They worked "very closely" together in Washington and Moscow, Baumgartner said, reviewing documents and finding witnesses who could bolster Prevezon's case.

He said he overheard Veselnitskaya speaking by phone to the Russian prosecutor, Yuri Chaika, several times in a way that struck him as being "friendly, like a family friend," rather than hierarchical.

Chaika's relationship with Veselnitskaya was heavily scrutinized last summer after Donald Trump Jr. released emails showing he had been promised incriminating information on his father's opponent Hillary Clinton from the "crown prosecutor of Russia" — an apparent reference to Chaika, Russia's current prosecutor general.

Veselnitskaya attended a meeting at Trump Tower on June 9, 2016."
“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
― Leon C. Megginson

AbruptSLR

  • Multi-year ice
  • Posts: 19703
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 2268
  • Likes Given: 286
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2315 on: January 13, 2018, 05:24:52 PM »
The linked article indicates that the Trump Administration is apparently coordinating with members of the Freedom Caucus in a joint attempt to discredit Mueller.  This sounds like obstruction of justice to me:

http://www.businessinsider.com/freedom-caucus-fights-mueller-russia-investigation-for-trump-2018-1

Extract: "Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows told Business Insider that his members have taken the lead on battling Mueller because they have a disproportionate number of their members on a key committee.

Some of the congressmen have been in touch with the administration to discuss the probe. Gaetz and DeSantis reportedly discussed the probe with Trump during an Air Force One flight last month. Asked in a CNN interview about whether he has discussed the probe with the administration, Jordan hinted that he talks with the White House "about all kinds of things.""
“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
― Leon C. Megginson

AbruptSLR

  • Multi-year ice
  • Posts: 19703
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 2268
  • Likes Given: 286
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2316 on: January 13, 2018, 06:28:31 PM »
When thinks about possible conspiracies between Putin and Trump, we should not forget that according to H.R. Haldeman, in the summer of 1969, the Soviet Union asked Nixon to join them in a nuclear attack on China, and that when Nixon said that he would not, the USSR asked if America would standby as a neutral party while the USSR attacked China.  Per the following linked articles, this request precipitated Nixon's madman policy and eventually to Nixon playing the 'China Card'.

However, it is conceivable that if Trump is in league with Putin, that they could use the unfolding of the North Korean nuclear crisis as an opportunity for a joint nuclear strike on China, before China becomes the dominate power in the world:

Title: "Soviet Denies Plan to Attack China, Calls Assertion by Haldeman .a Lie"

http://www.nytimes.com/1978/02/18/archives/soviet-denies-plan-to-attack-china-calls-assertion-by-haldeman-a.html

Extract: "The official Soviet press agency Tass today described as “a lie from beginning to end” the assertion by H. R. Haldeman, the former White House chief of staff, that the Soviet Union asked the Nixon Administration in 1969 to join it in a nuclear attack against China.

“Haldeman's nonsensical statements are a lie from beginning to end and pursue provocative, and only provocative, aims,” Tass said in an unusually quick and categorical. response to the publication in the United States today of excerpts from Mr. Haldeman's book, “The Ends of Power.”"

&

Title: "Nixon intervention saved China from Soviet nuclear attack"

http://www.scmp.com/article/714064/nixon-intervention-saved-china-soviet-nuclear-attack

The Soviets moved thousands of troops to its far east and prepared missiles armed with nuclear warheads. It told its allies in eastern Europe that it planned a nuclear attack 'to wipe out the Chinese threat and get rid of this modern adventurer'.

On August 20, the Soviet ambassador in Washington told Kissinger of their plans and asked the US to remain neutral. Wishing to stop the attack, the White House leaked the story to The Washington Post. Its edition of August 28 reported that the Soviet Union planned to launch missiles with hundreds of tonnes of nuclear material on Beijing, Changchun , Anshan and its missile-launch centres of Jinquan, Xichang and Lop Nor.

In late September and October, war fever in China reached its peak. Lin ordered the army to move from its bases and residents of major cities to dig shelters and store food.

In the final step before the attack, Moscow sought the opinion of Washington. Nixon saw the Soviet Union as his main threat and wanted a strong China against it; he feared the effect of a nuclear war on 250,000 US troops in the Asia-Pacific. On October 15, Kissinger told the Soviet ambassador in Washington that the US would not be neutral and would attack Soviet cities in retaliation.

Bluff or not, it worked. 'The Americans betrayed us,' the ambassador said. They called off the attack on October 20 and began negotiations with China in Beijing. The crisis was over.

&

Title: "Forgotten Fact: Russia and China Almost Started a Nuclear War in 1969"

http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/forgotten-fact-russia-china-almost-started-nuclear-war-1969-21398

Extract: "… CIA director Richard Helms had informed the press that the Soviet leadership had been discreetly inquiring with foreign governments about their opinion on a preemptive strike on China.

If the Soviet Union had chosen war, it would have had two choices. The first choice would have been a conventional mechanized attack into Manchuria, where much of China’s industry was located, coupled with a limited “counterforce” nuclear strike against Chinese nuclear forces and nuclear-research facilities. A Soviet attack into Manchuria in 1969 would have resembled the invasion of the same region in 1945 against Japanese forces, and would likely have followed the same invasion routes. Such an attack would likely have been more modest in scope and focused—the 1945 attack had been carried out by 1.5 million troops by a fully mobilized Soviet Union. An attack in 1969 would likely have been carried out by half as many troops but with more firepower, supported by modern armor, artillery, tactical air forces and possibly even tactical nuclear weapons.

A second option would have been the same nuclear strikes against China’s new nuclear-weapons program without an accompanying invasion of Manchuria. China had tested its first nuclear weapon in 1964 and conducted its first underground nuclear test in 1969. It is not clear whether or not any of China’s nuclear weapons would have been useable in a war with the Soviet Union, but Moscow could not have afforded to find out the hard way. One major question is whether or not the Soviet Union would have coupled an attack on China’s nuclear weapons with a thermonuclear attack on Beijing and China’s leadership. An attack on Beijing by just one Soviet SS-8 intercontinental ballistic missile, armed with a 2.3-megaton thermonuclear warhead, would have obliterated the city and killed more than half of the city’s 7.6 million residents."

See also:

Title: "The Nukes of October: Richard Nixon's Secret Plan to Bring Peace to Vietnam"

https://www.wired.com/2008/02/ff-nuclearwar/

“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
― Leon C. Megginson

AbruptSLR

  • Multi-year ice
  • Posts: 19703
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 2268
  • Likes Given: 286
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2317 on: January 13, 2018, 07:27:19 PM »
Maybe Trump made his 's**hole' comment because he didn't want the mainstream media to pick-up on the following story that there are multiple sources (besides Christopher Steele's dossier) confirming that the Russians have caught Trump multiple times (including with video and audio tapes) with different Russian women:

Title: "Trump Bragged That He Likes To Go To Russia Because The Women ‘Have No Morals’ (AUDIO)"

http://addictinginfo.org/2017/01/12/trump-bragged-that-he-likes-to-go-to-russia-because-the-women-have-no-morals-audio/

Extract: " Benza: He used to call me when I was a columnist and say, “I was just in Russia, the girls have no morals, you gotta get out there.” [Trump’s] out of his mind.

Trump did not deny making the statement.

On Wednesday, a British news anchor revealed that there are not one but multiple sources confirming that Donald Trump has been caught in “compromising situations” with Russian women. In fact, there may be more information than we know (including video and audio).

“I saw the report, compiled by the former British intelligence officer, back in October,” BBC correspondent Paul Wood said. “He is not, and this is the crucial thing, the only source for this.” Wood said that he reached out to the U.S. intelligence community and “got a message back” from a contact that there is “more than one tape, not just video, but audio as well, on more than one date, in more than one place, in both Moscow and St. Petersburg.”"
“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
― Leon C. Megginson

TerryM

  • First-year ice
  • Posts: 6002
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 893
  • Likes Given: 5
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2318 on: January 13, 2018, 08:09:30 PM »
Anyone have any idea on why suddenly all of these old stories are being dragged out one more time?


Trump screwed a porn star in 2006 - although everyone involved denies it.


H R Haldeman shows Nixon to have saved the world from nuclear war in 1969 - If you can't trust in Nixon, what is the matter with you.


Putin has the goods on Trump because of Trump's lustful ways - but having Bill sleep over at his house wouldn't have lead to any blackmailable footage.


Is it just a very slow news day?
Terry

SteveMDFP

  • Nilas ice
  • Posts: 2476
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 583
  • Likes Given: 42
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2319 on: January 13, 2018, 08:36:40 PM »
Anyone have any idea on why suddenly all of these old stories are being dragged out one more time?


Trump screwed a porn star in 2006 - although everyone involved denies it.


H R Haldeman shows Nixon to have saved the world from nuclear war in 1969 - If you can't trust in Nixon, what is the matter with you.


Putin has the goods on Trump because of Trump's lustful ways - but having Bill sleep over at his house wouldn't have lead to any blackmailable footage.


Is it just a very slow news day?
Terry

There are hints from some reporting that recent stories of Trump's past misconduct may be sourced from Steve Bannon, in revenge for being kicked out of Breitbart.  There's also a story that in the weeks before the election, his lawyer paid off "a hundred" women with stories to tell, possibly also sourced from Bannon.

The alleged tryst with the porn star is old news.  What seems to be new is the specific dollar amount of hush money given to her.  So for a sitting President as the center of these stories, I think it's newsworthy.  Reports in the major media have apparently been independently confirmed from knowledgeable 2nd sources. 

Given what we already know of Trump's sexual attitudes (from his own words), I find these accounts credible. 

Since Bannon knows about Trump's personal life more than almost anyone, I think we can expect a steady drip-drip of more damning stories.  I, for one, am looking forward to it.  I just hope we can get rid of Agent Orange before he starts a nuclear exchange with N Korea.

Jim Pettit

  • Nilas ice
  • Posts: 1175
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 41
  • Likes Given: 11
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2320 on: January 13, 2018, 08:55:14 PM »
Trump screwed a porn star in 2006 - although everyone involved denies it.

yes, it happened in 2006--but the payoff happened a week before the election, so it's not really 'old'. And the fact that "everyone involved"--meaning both parties--deny it is hardly reason to dismiss. After all, one of those parties paid handsomely for the story to go away, while the other party was paid handsomely to deny it.

That's how these things work.

H R Haldeman shows Nixon to have saved the world from nuclear war in 1969 - If you can't trust in Nixon, what is the matter with you.

Nixon's is being compared to Trump today, as a new report suggests NK may have backed off a bit from its nuclear chest-thumping due to Trump's obvious mental instability.

Putin has the goods on Trump because of Trump's lustful ways - but having Bill sleep over at his house wouldn't have lead to any blackmailable footage.

So far as I know, none of the nation's--or world's--intelligence agencies have stated that Bill Clinton conspired against the US with Putin to get him elected in the way that Trump and his Manhattan Mafia did.

Buddy

  • Young ice
  • Posts: 3379
  • Go DUCKS!!
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 49
  • Likes Given: 34
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2321 on: January 14, 2018, 04:12:08 PM »
Seth Abramson discusses Donnie's "consciousness of guilt".  Interesting article.  I love psychology, whether it is in a business setting or legal setting.  And anyone who CLOSELY WATCHED Donnie from the beginning should have seen many "tells" along the way.  As I have noted a few times already....Donnie is NOT good at keeping a good "poker face".

As Seth points out....Donnie shows most of the signs of consciousness of guilt. 

http://www.ifyouonlynews.com/politics/former-criminal-lawyer-explains-trumps-erratic-behavior-toward-russia-probe-this-is-perfect/

Consciousness of guilt defined:  https://definitions.uslegal.com/c/consciousness-of-guilt/
FOX (RT) News....."The Trump Channel.....where truth and journalism are dead."

Buddy

  • Young ice
  • Posts: 3379
  • Go DUCKS!!
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 49
  • Likes Given: 34
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2322 on: January 14, 2018, 05:06:06 PM »
One other thing to note on "consciousness of guilt".....and WHO is likely to get caught up in RussiaGate and what I refer to FBIGate (ala Rudy Guiliani, Jason Chaffetz, Nunez, etc):

Who are the people that previously showed....or NOW SHOW.....consciousness of guilt?  There are going to be a LOT of folks caught up in this......

As we go through the next 8 - 18 months....watch closely WHAT people do and say.....as well as HOW they say it.....and WHO they say it to.  All the time thinking about "consciousness of guilt"....


 
FOX (RT) News....."The Trump Channel.....where truth and journalism are dead."

AbruptSLR

  • Multi-year ice
  • Posts: 19703
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 2268
  • Likes Given: 286
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2323 on: January 14, 2018, 11:34:36 PM »
Anyone have any idea on why suddenly all of these old stories are being dragged out one more time?

Bill Moyer's Trump-Russia Timeline has over 700 entries going back to 1979.

'Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.'

Title: "Interactive Timeline: Everything We Know about Russia and President Trump"

http://billmoyers.com/story/trump-russia-timeline/

See also:

Title: "Additions to Our Trump-Russia Timelines"

http://billmoyers.com/story/heres-whats-new-trump-russia-timeline/
“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
― Leon C. Megginson

AbruptSLR

  • Multi-year ice
  • Posts: 19703
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 2268
  • Likes Given: 286
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2324 on: January 14, 2018, 11:43:36 PM »
The "… hard facts scare the hell out of the Republicans"

Title: "Trump's nightmare"

https://www.axios.com/trumps-nightmare-1515938294-93dd2060-0790-4cbe-95e5-7a4183891d4f.html?source=sidebar

Extract: "Trump's day of reckoning ... The one thing that could dramatically diminish President Trump’s chances of avoiding impeachment and chalking up legislative wins is Democrats winning the House.

•   And, thanks to series of recent developments, Trump knows this no longer just seems plausible, but probable.
•   Hill sources tell us that a House Democratic takeover is now likely.
•   One strategist close to Republican leaders believes that a loss of the House is "baked in," and said top Republicans don't see a way to avoid it.
•   It would take a flip of 24 seats for Dems to take over. The average loss for the president's party in his first midterm is about 32 seats, and we're hearing forecasts of 40+ losses.

You can’t predict outcomes this far out, but these hard facts scare the hell out of Republicans"
“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
― Leon C. Megginson

crandles

  • Young ice
  • Posts: 3379
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 239
  • Likes Given: 81
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2325 on: January 16, 2018, 11:43:37 PM »
Surprising there are no comments yet on

Trump Russia: Bannon 'ordered to testify to grand jury'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-42710630

Quote
Mr Bannon was subpoenaed last week, the New York Times reports, quoting an unnamed person with direct knowledge of the matter.

However the summons could be a negotiating tactic by Mr Mueller to persuade Mr Bannon to agree to be questioned by investigators in the less formal setting of the special counsel's offices in Washington, the paper's source added.


Rob Dekker

  • Nilas ice
  • Posts: 2386
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 120
  • Likes Given: 119
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2326 on: January 17, 2018, 09:21:37 AM »
Thanks crandles. It did not go unnoticed.

Since Bannon was in the White House, and so close to the president, and chief executive of Trump's presidential campaign, and part of the transition team, he could likely easily clear up this whole RussiaGate thing.

But Bannon refuses to talk.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/16/steve-bannon-congress-testimony-subpoena-341492

Quote
Lawmakers in both parties attributed Bannon's silence to the White House, which they said told him to refuse to discuss his time in the West Wing or on Trump's transition team. Bannon's refusal to speak clearly angered lawmakers on the House Intelligence Committee, who vowed to make him speak.

"We’re going to get answers from Mr. Bannon," said Rep. Mike Conaway of Texas, the top Republican on the committee's probe of Russian interference in the presidential election.

Tensions flared early in the proceedings after Bannon informed the committee that he was refusing to answer any questions about his time in the White House or on the post-election transition, infuriating Democrats and Republicans on the panel, who subpoenaed him on the spot, according to a source familiar with the interview.

According to Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), after the subpoena, Bannon's attorney contacted the White House, which he said "doubled down" on its demand that he refuse to answer the committee's questions.

Bring out the popcorn... This is going to be interesting.
« Last Edit: January 17, 2018, 09:51:17 AM by Rob Dekker »
This is our planet. This is our time.
Let's not waste either.

Buddy

  • Young ice
  • Posts: 3379
  • Go DUCKS!!
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 49
  • Likes Given: 34
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2327 on: January 17, 2018, 02:26:01 PM »
A couple things to remember....

1) The SAME attorney serves Bannon, Preibus, and Don McGhan (current White House Counsel.....same position as John Dean held in the Nixon administration).   It is my understanding (from my law degree earned at Trump University:) that those three clients have to pretty much be "on the same page", otherwise the SAME ATTORNEY could NOT serve them.

2)  Don McGhan's wife has already turned in her resignation letter a week or two ago....so she has already planned to "get out of Dodge".  Is her husband going to follow her out the door?

3)  In a grand jury hearing.....the prosecution, officers of the court, and the jury CAN NOT give out information of the goings on in the case.  THE WITNESSES CAN, however.  AFTER Bannon is questioned...we may hear some of what went on FROM THE WITNESSES.

Tick...tick....tick....Donnie.....


 
FOX (RT) News....."The Trump Channel.....where truth and journalism are dead."

Alexander555

  • Young ice
  • Posts: 2503
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 185
  • Likes Given: 49
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2328 on: January 17, 2018, 03:12:54 PM »
Maybe tick tick tick for the entire US. You use 20 million barrels of oil a day. You produce 9 million barrels a day. That means other countries have to supply 11 million barrels every day. You have 400 million barrels in reserves. That's like 35 days . That's 35 days before your economy starts to collaps.

SteveMDFP

  • Nilas ice
  • Posts: 2476
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 583
  • Likes Given: 42
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2329 on: January 17, 2018, 05:34:54 PM »
A couple things to remember....

1) The SAME attorney serves Bannon, Preibus, and Don McGhan (current White House Counsel.....same position as John Dean held in the Nixon administration).   It is my understanding (from my law degree earned at Trump University:) that those three clients have to pretty much be "on the same page", otherwise the SAME ATTORNEY could NOT serve them.
. . .
3)  In a grand jury hearing.....the prosecution, officers of the court, and the jury CAN NOT give out information of the goings on in the case.  THE WITNESSES CAN, however.  AFTER Bannon is questioned...we may hear some of what went on FROM THE WITNESSES.


This is a fascinating and perplexing question, one that Rachel Maddow discussed at length last night.  More info is here:
Steve Bannon’s mysterious — and potentially pivotal — grand jury subpoena
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/01/17/steve-bannons-mysterious-and-potentially-pivotal-grand-jury-subpoena/?utm_term=.32dab1716930
Excerpt:
Quote
We just found out that special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's investigation last week issued its first known grand jury subpoena to a member of Trump's inner circle. The recipient: Stephen K. Bannon. The story, which was first reported by the New York Times, broke the same day that Bannon was testifying behind closed doors to Congress, and it suggests that Mueller is switching up tactics — or at least starting to employ new ones. The big, unanswered question is why.

Bannon's lawyer can only represent Bannon if Bannon is a cooperating witnesses, as are his other clients.

But cooperating witnesses are very, very rarely called before a grand jury.  They give testimony voluntarily, under less formal and less stressful settings.  Nobody seems to have reported a clear way to reconcile these facts.

My own suspicion is that Bannon is, indeed, a fully cooperating witness.  Perhaps Bannon is afraid that if he is publicly *seen* to give testimony freely, he'll be targeted by Trump and his Trumpkins for many years to come.

So, he may have told Mueller "I'll tell you everything I know.  But you have to make it appear that I've been compelled to testify."

This way, his testimony can be full and cooperative, but held in tight secrecy until a criminal trial takes place.  Grand jury testimony is probably more secret (by far) than Intelligence Committee testimony given in "closed door" sessions.  This interpretation would explain why he refused to answer questions in the Intelligence Committee yesterday, despite having no solid legal ground to do so.  I imagine he'll only give testimony to the Intelligence Committee upon being held in Contempt of Congress.

This way, even the staunchest Trump supporter can't find fault with Bannon testifying.  Though, of course, they'll still refuse to believe the content, if it ever sees the light of day.  I suspect Bannon wants to win back his standing with the alt-Right, as well as his prospects of employment somewhere, anywhere.  Right now, Bannon is unemployed and unemployable.

P.S.  An alternate interpretation is that this is all according to Mueller's preferences alone.  Mueller recently had the records of his investigation subpoenaed by Congress, an unprecedented act of Congress intrusively interfering with a criminal investigation.

Congress can apparently do so under the Constitution.  But even Congress can't subpoena Grand Jury testimony, I understand. 
« Last Edit: January 17, 2018, 05:44:47 PM by SteveMDFP »

TerryM

  • First-year ice
  • Posts: 6002
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 893
  • Likes Given: 5
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2330 on: January 17, 2018, 07:55:58 PM »
Well thank heaven the intrepid reporters from the NYT are back on the case.


So, was Bannon meeting with the Professor, Lovely Olga, or Stumblin' George?


Thanks to the NYT, we've known for some time that Mueller's efforts have all been based on the admittedly soggy evidence supplied by Papadopoulos to the "Ambassador".


My guess is Bannon in the Wine Cellar with Olga, using a Vodka Gimlet.


But questions remain!


Why did "The Octogenarian" leak testimony re. the Pee Pee Papers. This was probably a federal crime, and certainly went against hundreds of years of president. Does this place "The Ocogerian" in the same position as Ms. Manning, or Mr. Snowden?
Could her "head cold" have so diminished her capacities as to render her blameless, or is this a sign that rapid onset alzheimer's has struck yet again in the "Foggy Bottom"?


I'm sure that with the fine reporters of the NYT on the case, the truth will out and the 4th Estate will once again save us from our evil overlord, or overlords.


Terry
PS
If a board game should be in the offing, I'd like it noted that on this date I claim a copyright ownership for "CLUELESS", "George of the Jugular," and "Putin's Pee Pee Playhouse".

SteveMDFP

  • Nilas ice
  • Posts: 2476
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 583
  • Likes Given: 42
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2331 on: January 17, 2018, 09:09:32 PM »
Thanks to the NYT, we've known for some time that Mueller's efforts have all been based on the admittedly soggy evidence supplied by Papadopoulos to the "Ambassador".
. . .

Why did "The Octogenarian" leak testimony re. the Pee Pee Papers. This was probably a federal crime, and certainly went against hundreds of years of president. Does this place "The Ocogerian" in the same position as Ms. Manning, or Mr. Snowden?
Could her "head cold" have so diminished her capacities as to render her blameless, or is this a sign that rapid onset alzheimer's has struck yet again in the "Foggy Bottom"?
. . .

Terry
 

Tnis is, once again, a parroting of right-wing propaganda talking points from Trump defenders, all nonsense.

No, Mueller's investigation was NOT entirely based on Papadopoulos's mentioning to the Austrialian Ambassador that he'd been informed by a (perhaps second-hand) contact of the Kremlin that they were in possession of thousands of damaging Clinton emails.  There were *many* separate reasons justifying FBI investigation into meddling by Russia.  Besides which, we've already hashed over this point here.  The FBI was advised of this conversation by Australia when DNC emails were published, indicating that Papadopoulos had knowledge well in advance of anyone in the public. This raises the possibility that Russia was tempting the Trump campaign with juicy bait. That alone is sufficient to start investigating, even if the conversation he had was actually referencing non-existent e-mails from Hillary's server.

Diane Feinstein's release of the Fusion GPS testimony was assuredly NOT a crime, that's also a right-wing propaganda talking point.  The testimony was before the Judiciary Committee, not the Intelligence Committee.  It wasn't classified.  Fusion GPS *wanted* the testimony released.  Abundant false rumors were circulating, including that the witness was "hostile" and "uncooperative."  A simple reading shows these assertions to be lies by the Republican members.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/01/dianne-feinstein-release-fusion-gps-steele-russia-dossier-testimony.html    (link to transcript is in this article)

Many on the Left *and* Right have applauded Feinstein's action.  It was a violation of Senate customs and precedent only.  But so was referring Steele for criminal prosecution on the basis of inconsistency in documents already supplied by the Justice Department.  This action by the Republican members can only serve to impugn Steele's credibility.  A very dirty trick, which demanded Feinstein's act of transparency.  We do like transparency, don't we?

Meanwhile, in addition to not repeating ridiculous points promoted by Fox News, we should all try to avoid necrohippoflagellation, the beating of dead horses.



Susan Anderson

  • Grease ice
  • Posts: 527
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 40
  • Likes Given: 279
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2332 on: January 17, 2018, 09:30:48 PM »
@Terry Moran
Quote
Why did "The Octogenarian" leak testimony re. the Pee Pee Papers. This was probably a federal crime, and certainly went against hundreds of years of president. Does this place "The Octogerian" in the same position as Ms. Manning, or Mr. Snowden?
Could her "head cold" have so diminished her capacities as to render her blameless, or is this a sign that rapid onset alzheimer's has struck yet again in the "Foggy Bottom"?

Shameful! And you appear to be in a rage, it's precedent not president, and octogenarian; perhaps you might have thought a bit and remembered that you are a humanist before you posted?

If I didn't know you better, I'd think you're with Republicans in wishing to appoint three new special prosecutors, two for Hillary and one for Steele, firing or at least discrediting Mueller, and getting rid of all whistleblowers and Democrats who stand up for the truth in favor of condemning anyone who dares point to what is going on and/or who criticizes Trump and his enablers and coconspirator kleptocrats. Nunes is moral, is that your idea? I think you should either become better informed or stand down.

Ageism does not come well from a guy who, like me, is getting older.

In the Nixon era, we had people of conscience in charge. The Pentagon papers were published partly because Democrats were in the majority.

The majority Republicans in Congress (who do not represent the majority in the US) are now doing everything in their considerable power to eliminate all opposition. My opinion of Senator Feinstein went way up when she did this. (I think you should check her out before consigning her to the extreme dementia set (I spend a lot of time in a nursing home and my mother suffers from some dementia, and even she would disagree with your insults).)

We need the truth yesterday. I would agree that the pee pee stuff is in the way of the rest of the information, since it's so outrageous, but that does not discredit the lot, which has been shown to be credible on multiple fronts.

I have the impression you believe in "the preponderance of the evidence" about climate change; why is it so hard for you to accept the mounting evidence that Trump was played as a Putin asset and is deep in debt, possibly to the level of blackmail, to Russian oligarchs?

TerryM

  • First-year ice
  • Posts: 6002
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 893
  • Likes Given: 5
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2333 on: January 17, 2018, 09:54:00 PM »
Steve


I "parrot" no one as my thoughts are mine alone. These thoughts do not come from the a right wing viewpoint as my leftist leanings have been evident at least since my days of marching for People's Park in Berkley. You might note that my avatar is a photo of me protesting one of Harper's more outlandish power grabs here in Canada, where Fox News isn't seen.


Lumping all opposition together, then pushing it far to the right, does nothing but obscure the fact that many from the left also reject your narrative. Noam Chomsky doesn't follow the script. Do you consider him to be "Parroting right wing propaganda points from Trump supporters"?


Terry

SteveMDFP

  • Nilas ice
  • Posts: 2476
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 583
  • Likes Given: 42
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2334 on: January 17, 2018, 10:08:11 PM »
Steve


I "parrot" no one as my thoughts are mine alone. These thoughts do not come from the a right wing viewpoint as my leftist leanings have been evident at least since my days of marching for People's Park in Berkley. You might note that my avatar is a photo of me protesting one of Harper's more outlandish power grabs here in Canada, where Fox News isn't seen.


Lumping all opposition together, then pushing it far to the right, does nothing but obscure the fact that many from the left also reject your narrative. Noam Chomsky doesn't follow the script. Do you consider him to be "Parroting right wing propaganda points from Trump supporters"?


Terry

Some on the Left have interests in common with some on the Right.  When this happens, they use the same erroneous narratives.  Reverence for St. Putin is one such area where alt-Right and alt-Left seem to agree.

Apart from an appeal to one authority, do you have any substantive response to the corrections I stated?  But on that one appeal to authority, any specific links to offer?

TerryM

  • First-year ice
  • Posts: 6002
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 893
  • Likes Given: 5
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2335 on: January 17, 2018, 10:55:53 PM »
Susan


Apologies for precedent, but fail to find fault with octogenarian?


I've always found a 30 year window of agism comfortable. If you're 10 years younger you're "young", if 20 years older you're "old". Unfortunately I'm creeping into damn near everyone's definition of "old".


The rant re. Feinstein was in part triggered by her own claims that she had a head cold, and wasn't able to think clearly. The unspoken implication was that had she had her wits about her, she certainly wouldn't have done what she did.
If she isn't willing to stand for her actions, why should I?


Dementia was undoubtedly a bridge too far, but when octogenarians complain of not being able to think clearly, it is what comes to mind. BTW I don't consider octogenarian to be a pejorative, but it is a little long in the tooth for someone in change. I'm a day younger than Trump, and personally wouldn't consider myself fit to be heading a large enterprise, let alone a country.


After a 12 year run I resigned the presidency of the local chapter of an international group on my 70th birthday. I'm not sure that the new leader is as good as I was at 58, but she's a real improvement over me at 70.
The membership would have kept me in power for another decade based on changes I'd made when I took over. I knew better, and I suspect that Feinstein has seen the handwriting on the wall.
We need new blood.


As far as mounting evidence of Trump and Putin's collusion, I have to ask, what evidence?
Terry

AbruptSLR

  • Multi-year ice
  • Posts: 19703
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 2268
  • Likes Given: 286
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2336 on: January 17, 2018, 11:08:38 PM »
Per the linked article: "Bannon admitted that he'd had conversations with Reince Priebus, Sean Spicer and legal spokesman Mark Corallo about Don Junior's infamous meeting with the Russians in Trump Tower in June 2016."

Title: "Inside the room: What Steve Bannon told Congress yesterday"

https://www.axios.com/steve-bannon-congress-testimony-inside-room-e30bd797-3720-44f0-bf32-5760cb6882e9.html

Extract: "Steve Bannon made one conspicuous slip up in his closed-door hearing on Tuesday with the House Intelligence Committee, according to four sources with direct knowledge of the confidential proceedings. Bannon admitted that he'd had conversations with Reince Priebus, Sean Spicer and legal spokesman Mark Corallo about Don Junior's infamous meeting with the Russians in Trump Tower in June 2016.

Why it matters: The meeting — and the subsequent drafting of a misleading statement on Air Force One — has become one of the most important focal points of the Russia investigations, both on Capitol Hill and within Robert Mueller's team, because it provides the closest thing that exists to evidence that the Trump campaign was willing to entertain collusion with Russians."
“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
― Leon C. Megginson

TerryM

  • First-year ice
  • Posts: 6002
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 893
  • Likes Given: 5
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2337 on: January 17, 2018, 11:10:33 PM »

Some on the Left have interests in common with some on the Right.  When this happens, they use the same erroneous narratives.  Reverence for St. Putin is one such area where alt-Right and alt-Left seem to agree.


Thank god there are intellectual giants such as yourself to correct both the Left and the Right.
Quote
Apart from an appeal to one authority, do you have any substantive response to the corrections I stated?  But on that one appeal to authority, any specific links to offer?

There was no "appeal to authority", only an irrefutable example that disproved your contention.


Terry
BTW - It's considered bad form to edit one's comments while a discussion of them is ongoing, but I'm sure you are aware of these niceties.

TerryM

  • First-year ice
  • Posts: 6002
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 893
  • Likes Given: 5
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2338 on: January 17, 2018, 11:15:30 PM »
Per the linked article: "Bannon admitted that he'd had conversations with Reince Priebus, Sean Spicer and legal spokesman Mark Corallo about Don Junior's infamous meeting with the Russians in Trump Tower in June 2016."

Title: "Inside the room: What Steve Bannon told Congress yesterday"

https://www.axios.com/steve-bannon-congress-testimony-inside-room-e30bd797-3720-44f0-bf32-5760cb6882e9.html

Extract: "Steve Bannon made one conspicuous slip up in his closed-door hearing on Tuesday with the House Intelligence Committee, according to four sources with direct knowledge of the confidential proceedings. Bannon admitted that he'd had conversations with Reince Priebus, Sean Spicer and legal spokesman Mark Corallo about Don Junior's infamous meeting with the Russians in Trump Tower in June 2016.

Why it matters: The meeting — and the subsequent drafting of a misleading statement on Air Force One — has become one of the most important focal points of the Russia investigations, both on Capitol Hill and within Robert Mueller's team, because it provides the closest thing that exists to evidence that the Trump campaign was willing to entertain collusion with Russians."
Miss - Mile
There isn't much evidence at all then, is there.
Terry

SteveMDFP

  • Nilas ice
  • Posts: 2476
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 583
  • Likes Given: 42
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2339 on: January 17, 2018, 11:39:35 PM »

The rant re. Feinstein was in part triggered by her own claims that she had a head cold, and wasn't able to think clearly. The unspoken implication was that had she had her wits about her, she certainly wouldn't have done what she did.
If she isn't willing to stand for her actions, why should I?


Yet another right-wing propaganda point.  Feinstein stands firmly behind her decision to release the transcripts.  She does say, though, that she regrets not having informed the Chairman first.  That incidental nicety is the matter for which she brought up having a head cold, in passing.  It's a detail of near-zero importance, mere etiquette.

But do a simple Google search for "Feinstein cold Fusion" and you'll see this propaganda smear trumpeted by Fox News, Breitbart, ZeroHedge, DailyCaller, InfoWars, and the like.

Once again, the propaganda of the alt-right convinces the alt-left of lies.

AbruptSLR

  • Multi-year ice
  • Posts: 19703
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 2268
  • Likes Given: 286
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2340 on: January 18, 2018, 01:28:13 AM »
Per the linked article: "Bannon admitted that he'd had conversations with Reince Priebus, Sean Spicer and legal spokesman Mark Corallo about Don Junior's infamous meeting with the Russians in Trump Tower in June 2016."

Title: "Inside the room: What Steve Bannon told Congress yesterday"

https://www.axios.com/steve-bannon-congress-testimony-inside-room-e30bd797-3720-44f0-bf32-5760cb6882e9.html

Extract: "Steve Bannon made one conspicuous slip up in his closed-door hearing on Tuesday with the House Intelligence Committee, according to four sources with direct knowledge of the confidential proceedings. Bannon admitted that he'd had conversations with Reince Priebus, Sean Spicer and legal spokesman Mark Corallo about Don Junior's infamous meeting with the Russians in Trump Tower in June 2016.

Why it matters: The meeting — and the subsequent drafting of a misleading statement on Air Force One — has become one of the most important focal points of the Russia investigations, both on Capitol Hill and within Robert Mueller's team, because it provides the closest thing that exists to evidence that the Trump campaign was willing to entertain collusion with Russians."
Miss - Mile
There isn't much evidence at all then, is there.
Terry


The WH's invocation of Executive Privilege may stop Bannon from giving secrets to Congress, but it will not stop Bannon from spilling his guts to Mueller:

Title: "Steve Bannon has reached an agreement with Special Counsel Robert Mueller to come in for an interview: Sources"

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/steve-bannon-reached-agreement-special-counsel-robert-mueller/story?id=52418777

Extract: "Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon has reached an agreement with Special Counsel Robert Mueller to come in for an interview with the special counsel’s team office after he was subpoenaed by Mueller to appear before a grand jury, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The interview has not yet been scheduled, according to one source."
“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
― Leon C. Megginson

pileus

  • Grease ice
  • Posts: 536
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 45
  • Likes Given: 9
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2341 on: January 18, 2018, 01:48:34 AM »

The rant re. Feinstein was in part triggered by her own claims that she had a head cold, and wasn't able to think clearly. The unspoken implication was that had she had her wits about her, she certainly wouldn't have done what she did.
If she isn't willing to stand for her actions, why should I?


Yet another right-wing propaganda point.  Feinstein stands firmly behind her decision to release the transcripts.  She does say, though, that she regrets not having informed the Chairman first.  That incidental nicety is the matter for which she brought up having a head cold, in passing.  It's a detail of near-zero importance, mere etiquette.

But do a simple Google search for "Feinstein cold Fusion" and you'll see this propaganda smear trumpeted by Fox News, Breitbart, ZeroHedge, DailyCaller, InfoWars, and the like.

Once again, the propaganda of the alt-right convinces the alt-left of lies.

I’m old enough to remember when Democrats were criticized here on the forum for caring too much about the rules, not playing to win, or being willing using hardball tactics against the opposition. Senator Feinstein does a power move, and the Alt Left rolls out more propaganda and CT, aligning with their brethren on the Far Right.

I will say tho that I fully support ageism WRT national politics.  We need to recognize that almost everyone 75+ experiences a degree of cognitive decline or impairment, and they typically bring an outdated frame of reference that is not geared towards the solutions we need for the future.

Susan Anderson

  • Grease ice
  • Posts: 527
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 40
  • Likes Given: 279
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2342 on: January 18, 2018, 01:53:26 AM »
@TerryM

You defended yourself instead of looking at the substance of what I said. Just like Trump. He and his supporters are monsters, I don't believe you are. Attacking Feinstein when she makes a principled move, citing "pee pee tapes" and her age is both shallow and wrong. Do you really want to support Republicans?

Please try again.

Rob Dekker

  • Nilas ice
  • Posts: 2386
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 120
  • Likes Given: 119
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2343 on: January 18, 2018, 04:14:46 AM »
Maybe tick tick tick for the entire US. You use 20 million barrels of oil a day. You produce 9 million barrels a day. That means other countries have to supply 11 million barrels every day. You have 400 million barrels in reserves. That's like 35 days . That's 35 days before your economy starts to collaps.

This is a common mis-conception.
Yes, the US uses 20 million bpd of oil, but we also export 7 million bpd (mostly in refined products). Consequently, the NET import of the US is only about 3 million bpd :

https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=WTTNTUS2&f=W

which is lower than any time since EIA data started recording.

Also note that Canada is our largest foreign oil provider, and our dependency on OPEC is far, far reduced.
Times have changed.
This is our planet. This is our time.
Let's not waste either.

TerryM

  • First-year ice
  • Posts: 6002
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 893
  • Likes Given: 5
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2344 on: January 18, 2018, 04:16:51 AM »

If I didn't know you better, I'd think you're with Republicans in wishing to appoint three new special prosecutors, two for Hillary and one for Steele, firing or at least discrediting Mueller, and getting rid of all whistleblowers and Democrats who stand up for the truth in favor of condemning anyone who dares point to what is going on and/or who criticizes Trump and his enablers and coconspirator kleptocrats. Nunes is moral, is that your idea? I think you should either become better informed or stand down.


I have the impression you believe in "the preponderance of the evidence" about climate change; why is it so hard for you to accept the mounting evidence that Trump was played as a Putin asset and is deep in debt, possibly to the level of blackmail, to Russian oligarchs?


Susan
I cut all but two of your paragraphs in an effort to address your concerns.


I've no idea why you think I'd support appointing any new prosecutors. I've no interest in continuing with these proceedings on any level. Hillary lost. I fear that the DNC cares more for it's own survival than the survival of liberal policies, but this will play out at the polls, not in the courts or investigative committees.
I can't imagine why you would think that I'd appreciate Nunes? Perhaps I need to watch American news channels - but I'd much prefer to demure.


After following Putin for ~3 years, I'd be relieved to believe that Trump was somehow being manipulated by Putin. Alas, I've seen nothing that indicates this to be true. Puppets don't arm your enemies or bomb your allies.


The White House tell-all book so recently available tells the story of an oaf who unwittingly wins the Presidency. His populist rants unexpectedly thrust him into his present position & he's now come to believe that he's qualified for the position.
He promised everything to everyone during the campaign because he had no hope, (or fear), of having to make good on these promises. He never learned the ins and outs of running the country because neither he nor his entourage had considered winning a possibility.
There is some degree of truth here.


I do believe that Hillary, like Romney, McCain, and the others, were vulnerable to Russian Blackmail. Trump less so if only because he'd come so recently to politics.


Collusion is no crime, conspiracy is.
Why has the country been fed a collusion narrative? Could it be because conspiracy has been ridiculed since JFK's demise? Could it be that the folks who made up this story didn't want it to be compared to other conspiracies?


Trump's an ass, Republicans are the problem. Putin is innocent.
Terry


Rob Dekker

  • Nilas ice
  • Posts: 2386
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 120
  • Likes Given: 119
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2345 on: January 18, 2018, 04:27:16 AM »
Trump's an ass, Republicans are the problem. Putin is innocent.

Trump's an ass, Republicans are the problem. Putin denies everything.

See ? Fixed that for you.
Also never forget MH17.
This is our planet. This is our time.
Let's not waste either.

Rob Dekker

  • Nilas ice
  • Posts: 2386
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 120
  • Likes Given: 119
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2346 on: January 18, 2018, 04:47:35 AM »
Once again, the propaganda of the alt-right convinces the alt-left of lies.

Indeed the far-left and far-right are using the same rhetoric, and have the same blind spots for evidence that disputes their (common) position.

This is troubling and surprising to me.

I pointed out before that Jimmy Dore and Alex Jones are using the same baseless talking points (Uranium One and the Clintons etc).

Also, their talking points are remarkably consistently pro-Russia, just as Putin himself supports extreme left and extreme right alike around the world.

For example in Crimea, where Putin invited international extreme-left (Neo-Stalinists) and extreme-right (Neo-Nazis) political figures to 'observe' the illegal 'referendum' in Crimea. Look who he invited :

http://anton-shekhovtsov.blogspot.com/2014/03/pro-russian-extremists-observe.html

It is almost as if extreme left and right have joined hands in a full frontal attack on the voices of reason and rational thought.
« Last Edit: January 18, 2018, 05:00:38 AM by Rob Dekker »
This is our planet. This is our time.
Let's not waste either.

Rob Dekker

  • Nilas ice
  • Posts: 2386
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 120
  • Likes Given: 119
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2347 on: January 18, 2018, 06:52:47 AM »
Lumping all opposition together, then pushing it far to the right, does nothing but obscure the fact that many from the left also reject your narrative. Noam Chomsky doesn't follow the script. Do you consider him to be "Parroting right wing propaganda points from Trump supporters"?

Noam Chomsky has recently made some very dangerous statements about NATO, and some very questionable statements about Crimea, both of which reflect Russian and far-right propaganda, which seriously reduced my trust in his opinions.
This is our planet. This is our time.
Let's not waste either.

Alexander555

  • Young ice
  • Posts: 2503
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 185
  • Likes Given: 49
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2348 on: January 18, 2018, 07:35:40 AM »
Maybe tick tick tick for the entire US. You use 20 million barrels of oil a day. You produce 9 million barrels a day. That means other countries have to supply 11 million barrels every day. You have 400 million barrels in reserves. That's like 35 days . That's 35 days before your economy starts to collaps.

This is a common mis-conception.
Yes, the US uses 20 million bpd of oil, but we also export 7 million bpd (mostly in refined products). Consequently, the NET import of the US is only about 3 million bpd :

https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=WTTNTUS2&f=W

which is lower than any time since EIA data started recording.

Also note that Canada is our largest foreign oil provider, and our dependency on OPEC is far, far reduced.
Times have changed.

Maybe you should learn the difference between consumption and trade. Nothing has changed.

Rob Dekker

  • Nilas ice
  • Posts: 2386
    • View Profile
  • Liked: 120
  • Likes Given: 119
Re: Russiagate
« Reply #2349 on: January 18, 2018, 10:00:03 AM »
Maybe you should learn the difference between consumption and trade. Nothing has changed.

Or maybe YOU should. I gave you the link to NET imports.
Times have changed.
This is our planet. This is our time.
Let's not waste either.