Russia Intervened to Help Trump

Posted by $ MikeMarotta 8 years, 5 months ago to News
59 comments | Share | Best of... | Flag

You can find this all over the interwebs. Just put the sentence in your search engine.

Foreign intervention in our elections goes back at least to the XYZ Affair. Probably still stinging from the Zimmerman Telegram, the German government of 1940 openly distanced itself from the American nazi party ("German American Bund"). During the Cold War, the Communist Party of the USA had zero status in the public eye. "Fair Play for Cuba" and other front groups were known, of course.

Allow me to deflect those here who would disparage the CIA and other intelligence agencies by saying that they serve the Democratic administration in opposition to President-elect Trump. Such ad hominem arguments do not address the facts... if facts there be.

President Obama tasked the entire intelligence bureaucracy to investigate those findings from the CIA. Whether induction will validate the hypothesis remains to be seen.

The deeper question is about Donald Trump, a man who is famous for deal making and infamous for his lack of principles. He is a range-of-the-moment pragmatist for whom even America's Constitution is on the table for a price.




All Comments

  • Posted by Dobrien 8 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    So you continue to evade backing up your statement. Evasion is , in ethics, an act that deceives by stating a true statement that is irrelevant or leads to a false conclusion.
    Peter Bull identified the following evasion tactics
    For answering questions:
    #1 ignore the question
    #2 acknowledge the question without answering it.
    He finishes with "placing the responsibility to answer on someone else"
    You employed those three so far!
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  • Posted by $ CBJ 8 years, 4 months ago
    If Russia really did intervene to help Trump, the obvious question is “why”? Hillary’s collectivist “progressive” and “globalist” views are much more compatible with those of the former Soviet Union than Trump’s mix of capitalism and mercantilism. Either Putin has strayed far from his KGB roots, or he so dislikes Hillary that he prefers an unpredictable populist in the White House, or he thinks Trump is naïve and can be manipulated to serve Russia’s interests, or there is some other reason for Putin to help Trump. What is it?
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  • Posted by $ 8 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    First, "one term, two fisted policies, and no excuses" are not principles. We could accept them as his rules, but just today he spoke again of eight years rather than one term. So, that "principle" was violated before it got started.

    April 2 here:
    http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/p...
    Nov. 22 here:
    http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/22/politic...

    December 12: "President-elect Donald Trump: "No, no, I get it when I—first of all, these are very good people that are giving me the briefings. And I say, if something should change from this point, immediately call me. I’m available on one minute’s notice. I don’t have to be told—you know, I’m like a smart person. I don’t have to be told the same thing and the same words every single day for the next eight years."

    I will grant that "no excuses" is closest to an actual guideline that he seems to follow consistently. He is a bully - "two-fisted policies" - but he does not back down in a confrontation. So, I will give him that. He does prevaricate, but never says, "I'm sorry."
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  • Posted by $ jbrenner 8 years, 4 months ago
    If Russia or any other country intervened in our elections, it would be fitting retribution for our intervention in their affairs. I am sure that Objectivists would like a return to the original inscription on American coinage, "Mind your business." America has often inserted itself into everyone else's business.
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  • Posted by scojohnson 8 years, 5 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I would think the Israelis before the Russians, Netanyahu is pretty disgusted with Obama and Hillary.
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  • Posted by $ Abaco 8 years, 5 months ago in reply to this comment.
    And Hillary was surely going to fan the flames of war like no other in my lifetime.
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  • Posted by $ Abaco 8 years, 5 months ago
    Russian might have had some involvement in WikiLeaks. If so...so what? If you watch the tv news coverage very closely this is the angle you're left with. It's a lot of sizzle and no steak.
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  • Posted by walkabout 8 years, 5 months ago
    Obama sent operatives to Israel to thwart their recent election, The Kaiser sent Lenin into Russia to fight a new, different front in WWI, My guess is -- actually my hope is -- countries routinely attempt to impact other countries to the betterment of their own country. I seem to remember Obama apologizing to the German chancellor not too long ago for "hacking" her phone. Don't you watch westerns? The Indians crawled up the telegraph polls to "hack" the cavalry. Intelligence gathering! The point of interest is the stuff they (whoever "they" really is) could find to embarrass the DNC, Hillary and all the others who understood they could not win fair and square; that the ideas they believe in cannot stand on their own when compared to Capitalism and Christianity/enlightenment.
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  • Posted by $ allosaur 8 years, 5 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Yeah, and me dino wants to see what The Donald does and does not do when he actually becomes a really for really real businessman, oops, I mean president, in the Oval Office.
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  • Posted by coaldigger 8 years, 5 months ago
    This is absolutely true and Oceania is no longer at war with Eastasia but our true enemy Eurasia!!! Also Big Brother has announced that the price of chocolate has been reduced fro $5.00 per pound to only $10.00 per pound.
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  • Posted by IndianaGary 8 years, 5 months ago
    It was reported this morning that, "The Washington Post has reported that the CIA claims to gave evidence that Russia intervened in the US election to elect Trump." They lost me at "Washington Post." Anything reported by that piece of bird-cage paper or the equally corrupt New York Times is automatically suspect by me. These are the largest purveyors of "fake news" and the propaganda arm of the Democrat Party. Cyber attacks should by all means be investigated but let's not start with a conclusion and work backward.
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  • Posted by Dobrien 8 years, 5 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Hi MikeMarotta,
    Your statement was made based on your conviction. I asked for your reason to make that statement. I am not a Trump apologist but I did vote for him. BTW I have a lot of respect for him after the last 6 mo.s he endured a concerted effort to destroy him and he withstood the daily onslaught. I will be disappointed if you don't respond to your claim.
    Respectfully,
    DOB
    Re: (triple dog dare)
    Donald Trump "I would center my presidency on 3 principals. One Term, two fisted policies, and no excuses. For voters it would be a business approach and the best one available in the market place. I'd lead by example."
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  • Posted by $ Olduglycarl 8 years, 5 months ago
    Not sure Russia would, even if they wanted to...if they were truly that smart, they would of seen that everyone outside our cities would not vote for more demoncrapic bullcrap, criminals or another aristocracy.
    I do believe the various towns, cities and states that have recounted or investigated and come up zilch.
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  • Posted by ycandrea 8 years, 5 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I agree. But the CIA let a top secret hacking tool kit out very carelessly and now everyone around the world has it. That is what I was referring to about being more careful. It is a given that we need more decent people running for the most powerful position on earth.
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  • Posted by gafisher 8 years, 5 months ago
    Sorry, "consider the source" is prudence, not ad hominem.
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  • Posted by scojohnson 8 years, 5 months ago
    Let's start with the obvious points:

    1. Podesta ran the campaign from a gmail account and I'm doubting he used a 20 character alphanumeric and symbol password. This wouldn't require Russian state-sponsored security, only to snag his Galaxy phone - Hillary went through dozens of them after all.

    2. If you listened to Comey, you would have thought he was recommending the death penalty, then nothing, no one would bother with this.

    3. Huma thought her pedophile pervert husband'a laptop that he gets Lolita sexting on would be the perfect place for 6 years of state dempartment archives on.... I'll just let that one hang there.

    If the Russians did it, it's because Putin couldn't stomach another 8 years of this. We're not his best friend, but the US brings stability.
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  • Posted by Ed75 8 years, 5 months ago
    This whole thing reminds me of a comment from a few years ago, "The only time they told the truth is when they admitted they lied".
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  • Posted by Dobrien 8 years, 5 months ago in reply to this comment.
    "Maybe they will learn to be more careful" How about we have ethical people who base the campaigns on the betterment of the country. These Podesto's and Wasserman Schultz's and Huma's and on and on and on. We the people are not served well by the crooked conniving manipulating Kakistocrats who would send a blind person into oncoming traffic if it served their ruinous goals.
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  • Posted by LarryHeart 8 years, 5 months ago
    This is just more slime propaganda. The CIA does not investigate internal elections only external to the country. There is no secret leaked report. It is not in the CIA's purview. The FBI yes.

    In any case the whole idea is nonsense. How does anyone know A - that Russia was involved B - what their motivations are C even if a few polling booths were hacked, which I doubt, that could not influence an election. Machines are not tied to the internet so they couldn't be hacked. They would have to send an agent to change the hardware.

    It is so absurd a theory that it has zero probability of being credible. It is just a another paranoid smear from the opposing Political party who are willing to believe anything
    that will point away from their own failure.

    Truth is the Russians already have influenced the country since the '50s with their communist propaganda that half the country has accepted.

    Political correctness is Russian Political correctness not our original Political system. Trump is fighting that.
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  • Posted by ycandrea 8 years, 5 months ago
    Ya know, I just read the whole thing about all of this and...SO WHAT?? I don't care who got the information out there. I am just glad it got out there. If the CIA messed up and let their hacking tools kit get hacked and Russia got it GOOD! Maybe they will learn to be more careful!
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