I think you summarize both positions very well-- I just don’t think the “dumb” argument is as implausible as you make it sound. Steele certainly had incentive to come up with anything he could on Trump-- that’s what he’s paid for. But even if you take the dossier as absolutely true, there’s nothing in it that’s all that damning of Trump himself (except the pee thing, which is so ridiculous that even if true does not make good kompromat); he is shown as resisting attempts to make deals with Putin. Trump’s choice of advisors can be down to a combination of most reputable Republican operatives not wanting to touch him, which is how he ended up with Manafort, who was just looking to get paid; and the crazy counter-jihadist crowd he had already fallen in with, which is quite friendly to Russia. I’m sure people in the campaign knowingly coordinated with Wikileaks, but more direct coordination with Russian hacking is far-fetched, and I seriously doubt Trump himself had any idea he was being helped along by the Russians.
Just because something is stupid doesn’t mean it isn’t also illegal or (more specifically) criminal. Trump’s a triple threat, he can do it all!
So basically we have evidence that Trump operatives were involved in wrongdoing, but no direct evidence that Trump himself was involved. Exactly where we were during the Watergate scandal, before we found the “smoking gun”. I think your question answers itself.
Except no one disputes that Nixon was capable of managing the activities of his underlings, and the actual wrongdoings of
Trump’s operatives remain nebulous.
When are you going to accept that the GOP you want is not the GOP you have. They closed ranks around someone we knew had questionable ties to Russia just so they could push their pet projects. Party first; country last is the GOP motto.
Then the Democrats and the Press need to step it up and make it impossible for the GOP to do nothing. At the very least, turn 2018 into a cry for justice and change.
Does anyone know anything about the book Foundations of Geopolitics? I’m completely unfamiliar with it besides what’s on wikipedia, but this jumped out at me:
Some other parts stood out to me as well, but I know nothing about this book besides what’s in the wiki page, so I don’t know how reliable any of this stuff is. Is anyone here familiar with this material? I just find it interesting if accurate, because that’s pretty much exactly what I’ve been watching in the United States for the past little while.
I believe that’s what is happening. This steady release of information is keeping the pressure up, and I’ve little doubt there is more to come from the intelligence agencies. I really want to know if that peepee tape is the real deal - but not watch it, ew.
The worry, I suppose, is that these are all there is. The CIA is reportedly airing all of this to disarm any possibility of Russia blackmailing Trump. But that suggests there is nothing else.
That would be a a bit of a let down.
People have been all but begging McMullin to primary his ass.
And he’s in the House so it isn’t like he can wait 5 years for things to blow over.
He’s accepted it. I can’t blame him for yearning for a return to sanity though, it doesn’t do our country any favors to have a two party system where one of the parties is insane.
I realize this is completely anecdotal so take it with a grain of salt, but that isn’t the case at all from what I’m able to see, at least at the ground level.
I have not seen or heard a single complaint about Chaffetz from anyone who would potentially vote for him (i.e. the Left in SLC doesn’t like him, but they already didn’t like him). In the 3rd district, if he gets primaried it will likely be by someone even further to the Right… if that’s possible.
Well I hope he has better luck next time around than with his presidential bid.
You have my Sword.
He ended up with 700k votes as a third party that was thrown together at the last minute. That’s pretty damned good. Gary Johnson got like 4 mil with an actual party behind him and years to “prepare” (but it was Johnson so he fucked the dog on that one).
Keep in mind he announced in August.
And to be clear, it’s not like I think the Democrats are in anyway perfect. Even when they control the house, senate and presidency they bicker like children and can barely get shit through. I would still choose that over a rubber-stamp that the GOP is. And I agree, I may be socially liberally but I am moderate almost conservative economically. I am still asking my state government why they asked for 6 billion with a ridiculously bill to cover a 1.3-1.7 billion shortfall instead of asking for something reasonable… and of course didn’t get it passed. Those people were nuts to think that would pass.
Not familiar with it directly, but a blogger I respect (with a background in national security) has been talking about it since the summer.
Here’s a Bloomberg article on Dugin and his influence on Putin and Erdogan.
I’d be interested in reading said blog if you would like to share the link.
I think that describes a sizable group of people, or least a group that would happily take moderate liberalism and fiscal conservatism over the other options available at the moment, which is why I think a moderate their party could do wonders right now.
