Paul Revere by Cyrus Dallin, North End, Boston

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Thursday, December 15, 2016

Trump on Putin: "I respect Putin and Russians..."


Well, do we blame Donnie Little Hands for respecting Putin? Afterall, Donnie's pal, Vlad, helped Donnie get the White House.




U.S. Officials: Putin Personally Involved in U.S. Election Hack


U.S. intelligence officials now believe with "a high level of confidence" that Russian President Vladimir Putin became personally involved in the covert Russian campaign to interfere in the U.S. presidential election, senior U.S. intelligence officials told NBC News. 


 Two senior officials with direct access to the information say new intelligence shows that Putin personally directed how hacked material from Democrats was leaked and otherwise used. The intelligence came from diplomatic sources and spies working for U.S. allies, the officials said.

[skip]

The latest intelligence said to show Putin's involvement goes much further than the information the U.S. was relying on in October, when all 17 intelligence agencies signed onto a statement attributing the Democratic National Committee hack to Russia. The statement said officials believed that "only Russia's senior-most officials could have authorized these activities." 

That was an intelligence judgment based on an understanding of the Russian system of government, which Putin controls with absolute authority. Now the U.S has solid information tying Putin to the operation, the intelligence officials say. Their use of the term "high confidence" implies that the intelligence is nearly incontrovertible.



More praise from Donnie for the former head of the Communist KGB:


June 2013: Trump wonders if Putin will be his "new best friend" "Will he become my new best friend?" Trump asked of Putin in a tweet wondering whether Putin would attend the 2013 Miss Universe pageant Trump brought to Moscow.


October 2013: Trump says Putin is outsmarting the US "I think he's done really a great job of outsmarting our country,"


Asked on CBS' "Face the Nation" about similarities between him and Putin, Trump pointed to their appearance on same edition of "60 Minutes." "I think the biggest thing we have is that we were on '60 Minutes' together and we had fantastic ratings. One of your best-rated shows in a long time," Trump joked. "So that was good, right? So we were stable mates." 


 Dec. 17, 2015: Trump returns Putin's praise Donald Trump issued a statement after Putin praised the real estate mogul as a "talented person" and "the absolute leader of the presidential race." "It is always a great honor to be so nicely complimented by a man so highly respected within his own country and beyond," 

Feb. 17: Trump says he'd be "crazy" to disavow Putin's praise "I have no relationship with him other than he called me a genius. He said Donald trump is a genius and he is going to be the leader of the party and he's going to be the leader of the world or something," 

Trump said, embellishing Putin's praise. "If he says great things about me, I'm going to say great things about him," 

Trump said. "I've already said, he is really very much of a leader. I mean, you can say, 'Oh, isn't that a terrible thing — the man has very strong control over a country.' 

"Now, it's a very different system, and I don't happen to like the system. But certainly, in that system, he's been a leader, far more than our president has been a leader." 

 Note this part: "I mean, you can say, 'Oh, isn't that a terrible thing — the man has very strong control over a country.' 

" Part of the reason that Putin is so popular is precisely that: He has strong control over his country. That control takes many forms, one of which is that he has zero tolerance for dissenting media opinions.



Donnie told America what he admires most about Putin -- he's a totalitarian who does not allow dissenting opinions from a free press -- zero tolerance meaning death to those who have dissenting opinions.

Donald Trump, President-elect, likes and admires that in a leader.

Think about that.




9 comments:

Les Carpenter said...

What does Comey say?

Lee Arnold said...

There could be no more “useful idiot,” to use Lenin’s term of art, than an American president who doesn’t know he’s being played by a wily foreign power. Or maybe it’s as Mr. Trump says: He’s “a smart person,” and avoids presidential intelligence briefings because they repeat what he already knows. If so, what else does he know about Russia that the intelligence agencies don’t?

Albert from S.C. said...

OT, Shaw. You may not have seen this:

The GOP crime syndicate is now moving in on South Carolina to strip the duly elected Democratic governor of any powers due his governorship. The GOP doesn't recognize anyone elected to office unless he or she is a Republican.

Republicans in the state legislature are moving to strip powers from the incoming Democratic governor, Roy Cooper, after a bitter election.
The measures include an effort to end the governor’s control over election boards and requiring State Senate approval of cabinet members.


Fascists pigs.

Dave Miller said...

Albert... I saw that one in a number of papers. Is that what the US has come to? Unless "our" party wins, the election is not legitimate.

That's what you get when political parties allow people who say the elections will only be fair and legal if I win. [And yes, I am paraphrasing.]

It's also what we get when elect dictator loving candidates to office.

Albert from S.C. said...

Republicans don't believe in allowing the winner of elections unless it's them to govern. They're fascists and thugs.

Republicans Are Staging a Coup in North Carolina


From The Charlotte Observer:

Lawmakers want to hobble the incoming Democratic governor, Roy Cooper, before he takes office Jan. 1 by making his Cabinet appointments subject to approval by the state Senate and cutting his ability to appoint members to UNC schools' boards of trustees and the state Board of Education. Another proposal in the mix would equally divide election boards between the two major political parties, ending control by the governor's party.

If anyone doubts what a bunch of thieving double crossing thugs the Reppublicans are, here's more proof. This is the sort of thuggish manipulation they practiced on Obama when he won the presidency.

The GOP are America's enemies. They don't believe in democracy.

anymouse said...

Terrifying how we've allowed this Russian puppet to steal the White House. Terrifying and disgusting.

Unknown said...

Here's some very cool information on the status of the dissenting Electors

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-trump-electoral-college-republican-faithless-electors-stop-election-result-a7473296.html?cmpid=facebook-post

And here, if you're not already aware of the Hamilton Electors
http://www.hamiltonelectors.com

I'm a little disheartened by the resignation of Art Sisneros, the Republican Elector in Texas who says he did so because his conscience wouldn't allow him to vote for Trump.

That was a complete waste - had he dissented instead, that would have been one more to the count, and that particular one more, coming from a state as red as TEXAS would have an incredible impact on the others. What a wasted opportunity to live with his conscience in a far better manner.

Shaw Kenawe said...

Bob,

I don't think this will change the outcome, as much as I'd like that. Too many electors are invested in party loyalty, not loyalty to America. Just visit some of the far right blogs to understand how tribalism has convinced easily duped people that Trump was a normal candidate and is a normal president-elect.

The working class that helped Trump win his electoral victory will have to find out the hard way what a con man he truly is.

Unknown said...

Sadly, I think you're right Shaw. The conservatives I encounter everywhere are still adamantly supporting Trump. It's utterly baffling, especially when they are female. it seems to me, that a female supporting Trump is tantamount to an African-American supporting David Duke.

We are living in one very mixed up rabbit hole.