Welcome to Saturday.
It’s freezing-ass cold.
“All the leaves are brown, and the sky is grey (and the sky is grey)…”
Another day in the bizzaro world. We’re living in a Salvador Dali painting. Watching the news is like looking into a funhouse mirror. Add “2017” to the Wikipedia page for “surrealism.” The “new normal” is decidedly “abnormal.”
We woke up to find Donald Trump in stream of consciousness mode (as usual). Here’s a sample:
Gross negligence by the Democratic National Committee allowed hacking to take place.The Republican National Committee had strong defense!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 7, 2017
Intelligence stated very strongly there was absolutely no evidence that hacking affected the election results. Voting machines not touched!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 7, 2017
Only reason the hacking of the poorly defended DNC is discussed is that the loss by the Dems was so big that they are totally embarrassed!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 7, 2017
Having a good relationship with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing. Only "stupid" people, or fools, would think that it is bad! We…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 7, 2017
have enough problems around the world without yet another one. When I am President, Russia will respect us far more than they do now and….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 7, 2017
both countries will, perhaps, work together to solve some of the many great and pressing problems and issues of the WORLD!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 7, 2017
It goes without saying at this point that virtually no one (Republicans or Democrats) agrees with Trump with regard to the hacking allegations.
For instance, although Paul Ryan tried his best not to delegitimize or in any way cast doubt upon Trump’s victory, the Speaker said on Friday that Russia “clearly tried to meddle in the US political system.” This is apparently “clear” to everyone on both sides of the aisle.
The only thing that isn’t clear is why the President-elect is so hell-bent on defending the Kremlin. This goes far beyond any story (real or make-believe) about cyber espionage. Trump’s obsession with Moscow has crossed the line from comical to downright bizarre.
Look at his ties to the alt-right media (the Breitbart connection) which is unabashedly pro-Russia. And then there’s the decision to make Rex Tillerson the nation’s top diplomat. And the constant pro-Kremlin Twitter harangues. It’s the weirdest damn thing I think I’ve ever seen from an incoming President.
Yet somehow, large swaths of the American electorate have decided they don’t even want to consider how strange this is. Here’s a guy whose campaign was built on a nationalist, protectionist, “America-first” agenda, and half his waking life seems to be tied up in defending Moscow (with the other half dedicated to deriding Mexico and China).
If it ever comes out that there’s more to this story than the public knows (and you can bet there is), there are going to be a whole lot of disillusioned people out there.
*******
Bonus charts from Goldman:
The hacking DID affect the election as far as influencing opinions. Comey knew about the Russian influence and played into their hands by releasing his letter days before the election. In spite of all this tampering, Hillary Clinton won the election by almost 3 million votes. Trump only won in the Electoral College, which disenfranchised the majority of voters.
Excuse me, but the founding Fathers of this country created the Electoral College so that citizens not living in the cities were not disenfranchised. Let’s get real here.
The electoral college was written into the constitution to protect “rural citizens”, read southern slaveholders, by “rural citizens”, ditto, just as they included the 3/5 of a person rule. A slave wasn’t quite a whole person but it helped in representation count since the southern whites were a definite minority in their states.
Well, it’s January . . . does tend to be cold then. A warm snuggle with a nice girl under a blanket helps.
Trump want’s to get along with Russia. Really, that’s not a bad idea considering they have thousands of nuclear weapons.
Russian aggression? What about CIA’s antics in Ukraine and NATO war games — right on Russia’s borders. In 1941 Russia also saw armies massed on their borders – so, yeah, you can see why they are a bit paranoid.
As for the U.S. There are no Russians in Mexico or Canada so why this sudden move to restart the Cold War – The communists are long gone? Reminds me of McCarthyism in the early 1950’s.
Excuse me, your statements are dubious at best. The notion that Putin is dumb enough to start pressing buttons is ridiculous. Please! 1941 get real it’s the other way around and it’s today not 1941. Putin is all over the Baltic states and Europe is nervous as well they should be. When this Trump connection with Putin and his cronies finally comes out and it will, the answer will be obvious $$$$$$$$$$$. Trump doesn’t give a sh*t about anything except staying one step ahead of the law and the bank. It’s called make” Trump great again”. So be careful what you wish for, it just may come true.
Maybe he is being strategic in ‘Draining the Swamp’, ie: To clear the barn infested with rats simply set the barn on fire, then swat the terrified critters as they depart 🙂
Whoever hacked the DNC, the evidence of tampering in the election by the DNC in damning. They schemed to throw their own nomination to Hillary over Bernie, then colluded internally and with CNN and the media to help Hillary out during the debates. No doubts exist about that.
And now the FBI has stated that the DNC was not cooperative in the investigation on Hillary’s server.
Hillary made herself a target by keeping an unsecure server in her bathroom. That’s foolish.
The DNC, not Russia, or other state actors, are the real threat to democracy in the US. Need to keep that in mind. Trying to constantly say “Russia did it” is pure propaganda at it’s finest and a serious attempt to de-legitimize Trump.
You got that right John!
Bizzaro World? Living in a Dali painting? Oh, c’mon Heise, that is only ongoing hyperbole to believed by anyone very innocent and naive while sitting around watching TV and reading infotainment news without context.
I mean really, Russian’s are carrying out espionage, cyber attacks, propaganda and any form of meddling and anyone is truly shocked and disillusioned by that?? How naive can one get? That is why we spend massive resources on our spooks. Not to mention that our spooks have been known to attempt to ‘influence’ opinions in other countries as in Chile (Allende), Iran (Mosaddeq) and South Viet Nam (Diem).
As pointed out by “John”, it was the CONTENT of the hacks that was damning to the DNC. To dwell on who is or is not pro-Russian enough (in your opinion) over this issue serves what point? Were you or would you have been this excited about the leak process in Watergate, the Pentagon Papers or WkiLeak War Logs? Really now, in the latter case you would have thought it more important to determine the motives of the leaker and leak beneficiaries than deal with the truth that was revealed?? That would really be “Bizzaro”.
I nominate a different aspect of the Trump administration as the most bizarro. Michael Flynn Sr. is involved with fake news. How bizarre is it that the incoming coordinator of national security promotes fake news? Does Flynn know the difference between fiction and reality? It’s a terrible quality for Flynn to have, for someone feeding intelligence information to the President. But then, Trump was the leader of the birther movement for all those years, so what should I expect?
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38231532