Comrade Trump

[Jeff Lebowski]

This is hilarious. Trump cites Soviet propaganda to defend Russian invasion of Afghanistan. Somewhere Walter's head must be exploding.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/ar...3T15%3A28%3A44

“Russia used to be the Soviet Union,” he said.

"Afghanistan made it Russia, because they went bankrupt fighting in Afghanistan. Russia … the reason Russia was in Afghanistan was because terrorists were going into Russia. They were right to be there. The problem is, it was a tough fight. And literally they went bankrupt; they went into being called Russia again, as opposed to the Soviet Union. You know, a lot of these places you’re reading about now are no longer part of Russia, because of Afghanistan.

The reason Russia was in Afghanistan was because terrorists were going into Russia. They were right to be there."

It’s amazing enough that any U.S. president would retrospectively endorse the Soviet invasion. What’s even more amazing is that he would do so using the very same falsehoods originally invoked by the Soviets themselves: “terrorists” and “bandit elements.”

[BlueK]

This is hilarious. Trump cites Soviet propaganda to defend Russian invasion of Afghanistan. Somewhere Walter's head must be exploding.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/ar...3T15%3A28%3A44

"Putin-style glorification of the Soviet regime is entering the mind of the president, inspiring his words and—who knows—perhaps shaping his actions. How that propaganda is reaching him—by which channels, via which persons—seems an important if not urgent question. But maybe what happened yesterday does not raise questions. Maybe it inadvertently reveals answers."

Lots of fun to come as the House starts doing some real hearings and investigations, and not just in Russia related matters. If they handle those well I think it's only a short matter of time before even significant chunks of Trump's base starts to peel off.

[Walter Sobchak]

This is hilarious. Trump cites Soviet propaganda to defend Russian invasion of Afghanistan. Somewhere Walter's head must be exploding.

Trump says something dumb, so we should stay in Afghanistan for 17 more years. You got me this time Lebowski!

[Jeff Lebowski]

Trump says something dumb, so we should stay in Afghanistan for 17 more years. You got me this time Lebowski!

Logic fail.

[Walter Sobchak]

Logic fail.

I'm glad you picked up on your error. Can't wait for the next one: Trump says something dumb about Syria, ergo Walter's head will explode!

[BlueK]

Logic fail.

It's worse than just saying something dumb. Trump didn't just come up with crafted Russian propaganda on his own. Someone has to be feeding it to him.

[myboynoah]

Ha, Manafort sharing polling data with Russian official during the campaign. And, lying about it.

[BlueK]

Ha, Manafort sharing polling data with Russian official during the campaign. And, lying about it.

Raises some questions for sure as to what Russia wanted to or did do with that kind of information. And from what I also read, this particular lie Manafort told Mueller came AFTER he had already agreed to cooperate with the investigation. So he's risking blowing up his whole deal and hope for limited punishment for all his crimes just to protect the fact that the campaign was sharing info with the Russians. You wouldn't think someone rational would do that if it was just nothing. Or he's protecting Trump thinking he could get a pardon. Still, that's not entirely smart either considering there are lots of state charges he could easily be stuck with that a pardon wouldn't affect.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/08/politics/unredacted-manafort-filing-analysis/index.html

"Beyond the fact that Manafort was in regular touch with Kilimnik, the unredacted court filings shed new light on the content of some of their conversations. For the first time, the public learned that Manafort shared "polling data" about the 2016 campaign with his Russian friend.
"Issues and communications related to Ukrainian political events simply were not at the forefront of Mr. Manafort's mind during the period at issue and it is not surprising at all that Mr. Manafort was unable to recall specific details prior to having his recollection refreshed," Manafort's lawyers wrote. "The same is true with regard to the Government's allegation that Mr. Manafort lied about sharing polling data with Mr. Kilimnik related to the 2016 presidential campaign."

There aren't any additional details -- all this tells us is that Mueller believes that Manafort fed polling data to Kilimnik, possibly even polls commissioned by the Trump campaign.

Polling data is a key part of any modern political operation -- presidential campaigns and outside groups like super PACs spend millions of dollars on polls. These numbers can drive decisions on messaging, where to campaign and advertising, both on television and in the digital space.

Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and 2020 campaign manager Brad Parscale ran Trump's data team in 2016. They've publicly touted about how they used data to target voters.
It's possible Manafort innocuously gave the polls to Kilimnik because he is a political junkie and wanted to dig into the crosstabs. But there's also a possibility that Kilimnik, with his active ties to Russian intelligence, funneled the information to Russian agents to influence the election.

The primary suspect would be the "troll farm" in St. Petersburg that essentially acted as a pro-Trump super PAC and pumped out political propaganda to millions of Americans on social media during the 2016 race. These messages can be targeted to specific demographics based on polling data. There aren't any publicly known ties between Kilimnik and the troll farm."

[BlueK]

Here we go.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/10/politics/michael-cohen-testify-congress/index.html

[Uncle Ted]

Here we go.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/10/polit...ess/index.html

[BlueK]

is this the new Trumpologist strategy? Hope he comes up for an impeachment vote before all the Russian dirt comes out in Congressional hearings?

[Uncle Ted]

is this the new Trumpologist strategy? Hope he comes up for an impeachment vote before all the Russian dirt comes out in Congressional hearings?

Why wait for the lame Russian dirt? (i.e., "OMG... says here in Mueller's report that Drumpf talked to Putin!") Impeach him "for his high misdemeanors, which need not be a crime!"... I am holding the dems to keeping their campaign promises.

[frank ryan]

F.B.I. Opened Inquiry Into Whether Trump Was Secretly Working on Behalf of Russia

In the days after President Trump fired James B. Comey as F.B.I. director, law enforcement officials became so concerned by the president’s behavior that they began investigating whether he had been working on behalf of Russia against American interests, according to former law enforcement officials and others familiar with the investigation.

The inquiry carried explosive implications. Counterintelligence investigators had to consider whether the president’s own actions constituted a possible threat to national security. Agents also sought to determine whether Mr. Trump was knowingly working for Russia or had unwittingly fallen under Moscow’s influence.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/11/u...a-inquiry.html

[Uncle Ted]

F.B.I. Opened Inquiry Into Whether Trump Was Secretly Working on Behalf of Russia


https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/11/u...a-inquiry.html

hmm... I wonder why the FBI would do something like that?

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Hey, I have an idea! Let's sick California on Russia and have them kick their ass.

[YOhio]

hmm... I wonder why the FBI would do something like that?

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Hey, I have an idea! Let's sick California on Russia and have them kick their ass.

LOL! Great post! California taking on Russia. How do you come up with this stuff?!? Brilliant!