Out of curiosity, how do you define collusion? What has to be shown for you to believe the Trump campaign actively engaged with a foreign hostile power to help win an election? Because the goal posts just keep being moved farther away. Because the meeting in Trump tower with Jr, Kushner, Manafort and like 5 others with that indicted Russian lawyer wasn’t enough. The email Jr. sent back confirming that meeting and what he hoped to get out of it. Not to mention the like 75 indictments and 4 guilty pleas. I mean if this was a democrat, would you be so skeptical? I think the investigation has grown to a point where the crimes bring investigated stemming from the election has opened Pandora’s box of other shit. I may be wrong, but if there was nothing to see, I think we would have been told that already.
There have been 19 indictments with 5 guilty pleas so far in this process. There is something there, and Meuller is methodically unravelling it. Whether it’s collusion or something else, I don’t know. Trump has a long history of fucking people over for his gain, and I think he’s doing it again at the expense of the American people.
Does anyone else find it slightly disturbing that classified information from a presidential briefing was leaked to the press within hours?
Based off the difficulty that a lot of the staff has with obtaining a security clearance and the clear issues everyone there has with communication, it doesn’t surprise me in the least. But it is disturbing.
I have no idea what you're referring to. But in other news, don't forget that Gates, Manafort's right-hand man, pleaded guilty to Conspiracy against the United States, by funnelling millions of dollars into the country for lobbying and PR on behalf of a foreign country or interest. If anyone wants to read the details of what he pleaded guilty to, just read the indictment itself: https://www.justice.gov/file/1038796/download
The notes provided to Trump before his call to Putin. Presidential briefings are usually classified top secret.
Ahh. Honestly, not surprising. I can't see him inspiring much loyalty. If anything I think he's motivating people to speak out to show what's going on, or out of "fuck you" for his bullying nature. Contrast that with what's going on with Mueller, and you definitely see a difference in leadership styles.
Yes, I can see where he wouldn't inspire loyalty. However, this is not only disloyalty to the president, it's disloyalty to the trust the country has bestowed upon the individual(s) responsible . Treason, with no other motive then to make the president look foolish and to #Resist. This president doesn't need treason to make him look foolish, he does that well enough on his own. It also makes me wonder what other classified information they are providing and to whom so they can advance their own personal agenda.
When he fills the White House with "his" people, what do you expect? The real politicians were apoplectic over how the White House was being staffed and run, and were demanding that shit change... but the decision "it's fine" came from the top. The mere fact that Kushner is/was allowed to do what he's been doing all this time speaks volumes. The tone of any organization is set from the top... and that includes that kind of leak. For all we know, they very well may think that they are doing the right thing by trying to expose the shit that is really going on... who knows.
But of course, I'm kind of expecting this to be the latest Trump/GOP talking point... "it's the leaks that are the problem." Anything to distract from what is really going on. Blame it on the individuals, not on the leadership that is supposed to actually lead, and ensure that this kind of thing doesn't happen. Yelling and screaming, "STOP THE LEAKS" won't work... neither will threatening people's jobs... that's not how leadership works. If anything, it induces this kind of "leak all the things" behaviour, in the hopes that he gets removed from office sooner. Never mind the fact that there's a fucking bromance going on between Trump and Putin, with REAL shit that is public knowledge to back it up (Russian sanctions being overturned, etc), and people are complaining about the notes that were given to Trump before his call. Where he doesn't follow the advice of his advisors, and goes off-script. Trump has the situational awareness of a gold fish, and that's part of why he's so fucking terrifying. Don't forget, we're talking about a guy who needed THESE NOTES when talking to kids from a shooting:
Two weeks ago he was criticized for using notes. Today he was criticized for not using notes. A year ago he was criticized for not using diplomacy with NK. As soon as he did pursue a diplomatic solution he was "Playing right into their hands." Face it, he can't do anything right.
No, it's the fact that he HAS to use notes in the first example, and then he ignores notes from his senior security advisors when dealing with your country's biggest enemy in the second. The notes themselves aren't the issue, it's the context. A year ago he was calling Kim Jun a "fat rocket boy" and publicly poking a stick at him and goading him on with a "my nukes are better than your nukes" message. He wasn't "not being diplomatic", he was being an asshole on the public stage and bullying the big, stupid kid on the playground. Now he IS playing right into their hands by even attempting what are normal diplomatic relations, because as many experts have pointed out, it's a no-win situation for the US, and a fucking stupid move. And THIS, by far, is the most frustrating thing about your politics. EVERYTHING gets dumbed down to stupid talking points that do not reflect the proper context or nuance. It's not about using or not using notes... it's not that simple, but people try to argue like it is. If you honestly think it is that simple, then, with all due respect, you're a fucking idiot. If you don't think it's that simple, then you're being intellectually dishonest and just trying to win an argument by making comparisons based on invalid simplifications.
In a general sense my problem with him is it seems like there is no thought or plan to the things he is doing combined with the fact that he acts like he has all the answers. It’s a hard job (understatement of the century) and a lot of the problems he is trying to solve don’t have clear answers because there are so many uncontrollable variables and also there is no precedent for a lot of them. But take the steel tarrifs for an example. It seems as if he woke up one morning and decided this seems like a good idea without putting more than five minutes of thought into it and then just screams and yells about trade deficits while giving no proof that he understands the complexities involved in calculating those numbers and what they mean. Which is fine, he’s not an economist. But, people who are spend years studying these concepts and theories and they don’t all agree. in my opinion he would gain a lot by not acting as if he has the correct answer to everything and show some level of humility in saying “it’s complicated stuff but we think this is the best solution for the country to prosper”. Not “they’re all morons and I know best”
This is one of the main issues. He’s filled the WH with people who are financially compromised and trying to use the power of the office to pay down some serious debts. Kushner needs a billion dollars in by this time next year for a building on 5th Avenue. That for some reason isn’t making back the money he thought it would. So now he’s been going around the world trying to “solve the Middle East peace problem” by essentially trying to get investors and when they don’t want to give him money, he gets them fucked politically. Qatar comes to mind. Remember that blockade? The bar mitzvah boy has been on a quest for a pot of gold and trying to sell our country to do it. Financial vulnerability is a real quick way to fail a background check. That and the fact that Kushner’s dad is convicted felon and the whole Trump organization has been nothing but bankrupt-infested grifters, racists, con artists and criminals.
My honest feelings are that Trump doesn't give a fuck about the US, other than how it represents an opportunity for him and his friends to benefit. Promoting his hotels on official Government web sites... The stupid amounts of money that is spent on him "vacationing" at his own resorts, never mind the fees HE is charging the US for his Secret Service to do so... There are a lot of people who feel frustrated and wanted things to change, and he said all the right things to make it happen. Just look at the recent findings regarding the Facebook and Cambridge Analytica data "breach"/sale... about how they were systematically and scientifically taking advantage of that huge amount of data to engineer the win for Trump. They knew exactly what had to be said to get him in (and to block Clinton), and that's what Trump said. He doesn't mean any of that shit, he's just a parrot saying what they told him to in order to win. Now that he's in, he's not following through on his promises, because he didn't mean them in the first place, and it goes against helping him and his friends. It's going to be VERY interesting to see what comes out of the Cambridge Analytica stuff... because it's "weapons grade" psy-ops, built by the same guys that did it for the US Military in Afghanistan. Only this time it had the data inputs from Facebook... which is HUGE. If the American people (or anyone, really) thinks that they are somehow magically immune from such things, well, they'd be wrong.
Interesting timing considering my above post. https://theintercept.com/2018/03/21/jared-kushner-saudi-crown-prince-mohammed-bin-salman/
So you’re saying the Russians were buying the same info? I’m not following your Ludlum esque thought here. Hell even notably biased CNNs write up doesn’t come close to painting them this sinister. Mostly inept and not recommended by other campaigns that used them. Their psyopps didn’t get Carson or Cruz out of the gate.
No, the Trump campaign is trying to downplay it by calling them ineffective. What Nett is saying is that foreign money paid CA to help the Trump campaign. It’s also likely that foreign(Russian) money paid for high level staffing of his campaign. Manafort worked for free while living in an apartment in Trump tower. And now he’s looking at something like 32 counts of bank fraud among other charges.