Comrade Trump

[Jeff Lebowski]

My Trump voting aunt would totally 'like' that shit. She also shared the Obi-Wan Kenobi pic that said, "Most people are too ashamed of the Savior to share this to their wall". Had me DYING!

There are some more here:

https://www.politico.com/story/2017/...-to-see-244423

Love the arm-wrestling one. I think someone posted that here at some point in time.

Read the print on the Texas Secession one. "Killary Rotten Clinton".

Those Russians are funny.

[BlueK]

I suppose it would be good to force facebook to label the source of their content when they can trace it to Russia. But maybe it wouldn't matter since for much of our silly populace it would probably only have the effect of helping them feel positive toward Russia as long as the message reinforces their preconceived biases.

It's still ridiculously ironic to me that for Trump and the anti-foreigner, anti-immigrant, close our country off from the rest of the world crowd, they would be so inclined to feel like it's ok for a foreign country to have influence in our political process.

Again, if we were talking about say, Mexico messing with us, instead of Russia, it would be a HUGE issue for the Trump lovers.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

There are some more here:

https://www.politico.com/story/2017/...-to-see-244423

Love the arm-wrestling one. I think someone posted that here at some point in time.

Read the print on the Texas Secession one. "Killary Rotten Clinton".

Those Russians are funny.

By far the most effective Russia scheming for Trump is a "Black Lives Matter" ad according to that article. Interesting.

[frank ryan]

I suppose it would be good to force facebook to label the source of their content when they can trace it to Russia. But maybe it wouldn't matter since for much of our silly populace it would probably only have the effect of helping them feel positive toward Russia as long as the message reinforces their preconceived biases.

It's still ridiculously ironic to me that for Trump and the anti-foreigner, anti-immigrant, close our country off from the rest of the world crowd, they would be so inclined to feel like it's ok for a foreign country to have influence in our political process

You already see some of that on this board. Not so much that it's ok, but that it's not a big deal, and not a cause for alarm.

[BlueK]

By far the most effective Russia scheming for Trump is a "Black Lives Matter" ad according to that article. Interesting.

not that surprising it would freak out Trump's base.

[BlueK]

You already see some of that on this board. Not so much that it's ok, but that it's not a big deal, and not a cause for alarm.

Why should actual American citizens have to disclose who they are on their political messages, but Russians don't have to? I think it would be kind of fun to see an old style red hammer and sickle on every ad or post from Russia on facebook.

[creekster]

Why should actual American citizens have to disclose who they are on their political messages, but Russians don't have to? I think it would be kind of fun to see an old style red hammer and sickle on every ad or post from Russia on facebook.

DO we? IS there some sort of disclosure requirement on facebook or twitter? I don't think so. Thats the point that congress was trying to make in those proceedings the other day.

[BlueK]

DO we? IS there some sort of disclosure requirement on facebook or twitter? I don't think so. Thats the point that congress was trying to make in those proceedings the other day.

Right. Not on facebook yet. Sorry, I wasn't clear about that in my post.

On traditional avenues like TV and radio and print there are those regulations around political ads. This is just a situation where the intent of the current law hasn't caught up with the technology. I think we can agree that with our elections it's not really the business of non-citizens to participate.

[Walter Sobchak]

What about Facebook saying they've found thousands of fake accounts from Russia all posting stuff designed to piss off one side or the other or set different segments of the population against each other? Is that fake too? In this case it's a private media company saying it from their own membership data. Everything Trump does seems to be around the idea of dividing up the country. At the very least, this seems to also be what the Russians want. Weird.

I thought it was Facebook ads and Twitter accounts that Russia controlled. You sure you aren't mixing the two?

Embedded Tweet

[frank ryan]

Ex-Putin adviser: Putin 'believed' he elected Trump

In an interview on PBS's "Frontline," former Kremlin adviser Gleb Pavlovsky said he wasn't sure how much influence Putin had over the Kremlin's disinformation campaign during the 2016 U.S. presidential election, but said he thinks Putin believes he helped elect Trump.

"It’s really difficult to understand what was the level of Putin’s involvement or blessing in that," Pavlovsky said of election meddling. "After November, after Trump was elected, the situation changed. Now Putin understands, or he believed at least, that he was strong. I don’t know who believed in America that Putin elected Trump, but Putin believed that. Putin believed that, and that has become a political factor."

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefi...-elected-trump

[frank ryan]

Republicans just introduced a resolution to remove Mueller from the Trump-Russia investigation

http://www.businessinsider.com/repub...ounsel-2017-11

[frank ryan]

Maybe Flynn will be next.

Mueller Has Enough Evidence to Bring Charges in Flynn Investigation


"The investigators are speaking to multiple witnesses in coming days to gain more information surrounding Flynn's lobbying work, including whether he laundered money or lied to federal agents about his overseas contacts, according to three sources familiar with the investigation.

Mueller's team is also examining whether Flynn attempted to orchestrate the removal of a chief rival of Turkish President Recep Erdogan from the U.S. to Turkey in exchange for millions of dollars, two officials said."

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...gation-n817666

[Jeff Lebowski]

[frank ryan]

Massive Leak Reveals New Ties Between Trump Administration and Russia, Implicating Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Jared Kushner

In at least two cases, the documents highlight top administration officials’ previously undisclosed connections to Russia and Kremlin-linked interests.
The so-called Paradise Papers were leaked to the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, the same publication that obtained the “Panama Papers.” Süddeutsche Zeitung shared the new documents with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which led a global effort of 96 media organizations from 67 countries to pore through the records. The findings were published on Sunday.

The documents show that many of the wealthy individuals Trump brought into his administration have worked to legally store their money in offshore havens where they would be free from taxation in the United States. Trump has promised repeatedly to “drain the swamp,” in condemning the idea that well-connected individuals in Washington, D.C., preserve their own interests at the expense of the rest of the country.

Among the Trump administration officials implicated in the leaks is Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who according to the documents concealed his ties to a Russian energy company that is partly owned by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s judo partner Gennady Timchenko and Putin’s son-in-law, Kirill Shamalov. Through offshore investments, Ross held a stake in Navigator Holdings, which had a close business relationship with the Russian firm. Ross did not disclose that connection during his confirmation process on Capitol Hill.

“In concealing his interest in these shipping companies—and his ongoing financial relationship with Russian oligarchs—Secretary Ross misled me, the Senate Commerce Committee, and the American people,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said in a statement on Sunday. He characterized Ross’ financial disclosures as a “Russian nesting doll, with blatant conflicts of interest carefully hidden within seemingly innocuous companies.”

Ross has been linked to Russian interests before; in 2014, he poured hundreds of millions of dollars into the Bank of Cyprus, an institution regarded by financial watchdogs as a haven for Russian money laundering. Ross' fellow investors included a pair of Russian oligarchs, including Dmitry Rybolovlev, the man who bought a Trump property in Palm Beach for $95 million, even though it was valued at less than $60 million. Ross became a vice chair of the bank, along with a reported former KGB officer. Former Deutsche Bank executive Josef Ackermann was installed as chairman. Deutsche Bank—one of Trump’s biggest creditors—subsequently paid hundreds of millions to settle disputes that it shipped $10 billion or more to Russia in suspect loans.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/massiv...-jared-kushner

[Donuthole]