[Winstonm]

The Snowflake-in-chief was complaining that prior to his becoming a politician he didn't realize how mean the media was, (and I paraphrase) that they asked him real questions.

[barmar]

Winstonm, on 2018-July-15, 17:50, said:

The Snowflake-in-chief was complaining that prior to his becoming a politician he didn't realize how mean the media was, (and I paraphrase) that they asked him real questions.

Why would "fake news" need to ask "real questions"?

[Winstonm]

I think Snowflake Dennison has hit the ultimate in irony by claiming today that the U.S. Russia investigation that is being conducted by our own F.B.I. and Justice Department, that has so far indicted 25 Russian nationals for attacking and disrupting the democratic processes of the U.S. 2016 elections, is the reason U.S.-Russia relations are poor.

It's time for this guy to go.

[Winstonm]

Congratulations. Your votes put Alex Jones in the oval office.

Quote

An Associated Press reporter asked whom he believed, the US intelligence agencies asserting Putin interfered with the 2016 election or Putin’s own denials of it. He also asked whether Trump would “denounce” what happened in 2016 and “warn” Putin never to do it again.

Trump did no such thing, instead immediately launching into a conspiratorial rant about the investigation and Democrats. He began by questioning why the FBI “never took” the DNC’s “server,” another favorite talking point of right-wing media.

Quote

So let me just say that we have two thoughts. You have groups that are wondering why the FBI never took the server, why haven’t they taken the server. Why was the FBI told to leave the office of the Democratic National Committee. I’ve been wondering that. I’ve been asking that for months and months and I’ve been tweeting it out and calling it out on social media. Where is the server? I want to know where is the server and what is the server saying. With that being said, all I can do is ask the question.

I guess it doesn't matter that Mueller's team was able to pinpoint the names of the Russian intelligence officers who were sitting at the keyboards and hacking into the Democratic headquarters and the actual times when they hit "enter".

[Winstonm]

An interesting development: Politico reports that...

Quote

The Department of Justice has arrested 29-year-old Maria Butina, a Russian national living in Washington, DC, on charges of "conspiracy to act as an agent of the Russian Federation within the United States without prior notification to the Attorney General.

Butina works alongside Alexander Torshin, and the two have close ties to the National Rifle Association. Torshin is referred to as the RUSSIAN OFFICIAL in FBI Special Agent Kevin Helson's affidavit submitted for the criminal complaint against Butina.

[Winstonm]

As this thread was started by a supporter of Dennison, I am curious:

Quote

Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
Russia continues to say they had nothing to do with Meddling in our Election! Where is the DNC Server, and why didn’t Shady James Comey and the now disgraced FBI agents take and closely examine it? Why isn’t Hillary/Russia being looked at? So many questions, so much corruption!

6:25 AM - Jun 28, 2018

Do you guys actually believe this incredibly nonsensical crap?

Here is a way to educate yourselves about why this is such consummate nonsense: https://www.thedaily...server?ref=home

[barmar]

So does anyone actually believe that Trump "misspoke" on Monday when he said he couldn't imagine why Russia "would" have meddled in the election? Is this like the least believable attempt at spin-doctoring ever?

[Winstonm]

barmar, on 2018-July-18, 08:28, said:

So does anyone actually believe that Trump "misspoke" on Monday when he said he couldn't imagine why Russia "would" have meddled in the election? Is this like the least believable attempt at spin-doctoring ever?

Yes, he misspoke. He meant to say, Ich bin ein Moscowvite!

PS: And it seems this morning that he is so loathe to self-examination he is now walking back his walk back, with Damage Dennison Syndrome and "haters" being the cause of the Helsinki uproar. Sad!

[barmar]

Winstonm, on 2018-July-18, 08:35, said:

Yes, he misspoke. He meant to say, Ich bin ein Moscowvite!

PS: And it seems this morning that he is so loathe to self-examination he is now walking back his walk back, with Damage Dennison Syndrome and "haters" being the cause of the Helsinki uproar. Sad!

And everything went so well in Helsinki, we're already planning round 2 in a couple of months.

It would have been nice if he'd run this by his National Security Advisor first. OTOH, his reaction when he heard about this while on stage (an on camera) at a conference was priceless.

[Winstonm]

David Frum at The Atlantic:

Quote

Maybe you do not much care about the future of the Republican Party. You should. Conservatives will always be with us. If conservatives become convinced that they cannot win democratically, they will not abandon conservatism. They will reject democracy.

The continual messaging from this president that winning is more important than country is his legacy.

[Winstonm]

Unbelievable!

In case you don't know, Rusal is owned by Oleg Deripaska, the oligarch connected to Paul Manafort.

[cherdano]

Remind me - how do we use this to get whole?

[Winstonm]

cherdano, on 2018-July-21, 15:29, said:

Remind me - how do we use this to get whole?

If you liked that one, you'll like this one:

Quote

1) Maria Butina, the Russian woman charged in federal court last week with acting as an unregistered agent of her government, received financial support from Konstantin Nikolaev, a Russian billionaire with investments in U.S. energy and technology companies, according to a person familiar with testimony she gave Senate investigators.

2)Nikolaev’s fortune has been built largely through port and railroad investments in Russia. He also sits on the board of American Ethane, a Houston ethane company that was showcased by President Trump at an event in China last year.

3)Nikolaev has never met Trump, according to his spokesman.

4)However, Nikolaev’s son Andrey, who is studying in the United States, volunteered in the 2016 campaign in support of Trump’s candidacy, according a person familiar with his activities. Nikolaev was spotted at the Trump International Hotel in Washington during Trump’s inauguration in January 2017, according to two people aware of his presence.

5) Konstantin Nikolaev is a major investor in American Ethane and sits on the company’s board.

6) The company was spotlighted by Trump during a visit to Beijing in November. During the trip, Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping presided over a ceremony in which U.S. companies publicly signed deals with Chinese partners. One of the 15 deals deal inked at the event was a $26 billion deal for American Ethane to deliver liquid ethane to China.

Fortunately, there was no collusion.

[Al_U_Card]

Despite winning the Republican nomination, Trump might not only be the first "independant" president since Washington (Tyler was booted from the Whig party during his presidency so that doesn't really count...) but the most isolated from the political class of all time. This iconoclastic presentation was part of his popular "drain the swamp" rhetoric. Is he really such a threat to the establishment or is he really the worst evah president?

[Winstonm]

Al_U_Card, on 2018-July-27, 15:22, said:

Despite winning the Republican nomination, Trump might not only be the first "independant" president since Washington (Tyler was booted from the Whig party during his presidency so that doesn't really count...) but the most isolated from the political class of all time. This iconoclastic presentation was part of his popular "drain the swamp" rhetoric. Is he really such a threat to the establishment or is he really the worst evah president?

Neither - he is the swamp.

[Al_U_Card]

Winstonm, on 2018-July-27, 15:54, said:

Neither - he is the swamp.

Just despite the length and breadth of the investigation, it seems that the punishment for his "crimes" is mostly exposure and ridicule. Cruel and unusual comes to mind in terms of the extent of the continual speculation. It rivals JFK assassination research. Lots of tantalizing info and innuendo but hardly a smoking gun in sight.

[Winstonm]

Al_U_Card, on 2018-July-27, 18:47, said:

Just despite the length and breadth of the investigation, it seems that the punishment for his "crimes" is mostly exposure and ridicule. Cruel and unusual comes to mind in terms of the extent of the continual speculation. It rivals JFK assassination research. Lots of tantalizing info and innuendo but hardly a smoking gun in sight.

It is impossible for the public to know at this point. We get bits and drabs from political leakers - but nothing from Mueller.

[johnu]

Al_U_Card, on 2018-July-27, 18:47, said:

Just despite the length and breadth of the investigation, it seems that the punishment for his "crimes" is mostly exposure and ridicule. Cruel and unusual comes to mind in terms of the extent of the continual speculation. It rivals JFK assassination research. Lots of tantalizing info and innuendo but hardly a smoking gun in sight.

Why would there be any formal punishment for Dennison, unless Congress decided that they wanted to impeach him which this Congress isn't going to do without Mueller's final report.

Dennison and his supporters have been having a year+ PR war on Mueller trying to discredit Mueller, his investigators, the evidence, anything that could lead to Dennison being impeached or indicted. They have successfully convinced almost all of the Republicans and much smaller percentages of others. I admit that they have done a lot with virtually nothing to go on except the Fox Propaganda network and alt-right news organizations.

So far, 32 individuals and 3 businesses have been indicted by Mueller, and 5 have already plead guilty. The only time the public knows what Mueller has found is when there are formal court documents filed which are publicly available. Otherwise, Mueller's team is remarkably free from leaks, so nobody outside that team really knows what they have on Dennison. There are a lot of people that were close to Dennison that have been indicted. You can put your own spin on that.

[Al_U_Card]

johnu, on 2018-July-27, 22:06, said:

Why would there be any formal punishment for Dennison, unless Congress decided that they wanted to impeach him which this Congress isn't going to do without Mueller's final report.

Dennison and his supporters have been having a year+ PR war on Mueller trying to discredit Mueller, his investigators, the evidence, anything that could lead to Dennison being impeached or indicted. They have successfully convinced almost all of the Republicans and much smaller percentages of others. I admit that they have done a lot with virtually nothing to go on except the Fox Propaganda network and alt-right news organizations.

So far, 32 individuals and 3 businesses have been indicted by Mueller, and 5 have already plead guilty. The only time the public knows what Mueller has found is when there are formal court documents filed which are publicly available. Otherwise, Mueller's team is remarkably free from leaks, so nobody outside that team really knows what they have on Dennison. There are a lot of people that were close to Dennison that have been indicted. You can put your own spin on that.

Certainly lots of illegality going on in Washington, for some time now... Nixon's impeachment process, as well as the attempt on Bill Clinton seemed to take less time but Trump may just be involved in more things or perhaps is less well-connected. Also seems that the leaks (or a least the rumour-mill) is hard at work speculating on the various nefarious involvements and emoluments. Will Trump be able to complete a second term before they get around to charging him?

[johnu]

Al_U_Card, on 2018-July-28, 07:46, said:

Nixon's impeachment process, as well as the attempt on Bill Clinton seemed to take less time but Trump may just be involved in more things or perhaps is less well-connected.

A lot of people have said similar things about a long investigation of Dennison. My personal opinion is that Dennison and Fox Propaganda have spiked the conversation to discredit the investigations by trying to say "look how long these investigations have gone on and they haven't found anything".

The Watergate break-in was on June 17, 1972 and Nixon didn't resign until August 9, 1974, so things went on over 2 years. No telling how long impeachment proceedings would have taken if Nixon hadn't resigned.

The first Whitewater independent counsel was appointed in January 1994 and the final Clinton impeachment proceedings weren't completed until February 1999, so over 5 years.

The conclusions to take away on this are:

1. The investigations haven't taken that long compared to recent historical comparisons.
2. We don't know what Mueller has found out about Dennison. This is a very complex case covering dozens of people over a fairly long period of time.