As discussed on Friday, DAG Rosenstein announced the indictment of 12 Russian military-cyber-operative guys. In the process, he ruled out any collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia in the DNC/Clinton campaign email hack and distribution. Also, I guess he verified that the emails were authentic all along. Donna Brazile hardest hit.
I’m not going to rehash everything since we have an active thread on it already, but what we know from this indictment has a tie-in to this week’s horribly cringe-inducing Congressional hearing with Peter Strzok.
I didn’t have much of a chance to watch the hearing live, so I missed a lot. The clips I have seen are terrible, from Gohmert personally attacking Strzok for lying to his wife over screwing one of his co-workers to Steve Cohen suggesting that Strzok should get a Purple Heart for, apparently, lying to his wife about screwing one of his co-workers while he was poisoning the two most important FBI investigations of 2016.
Congress’s procedural antics and grandstanding aside, my worst suspicions of Strzok were confirmed by the hearing. He’s a creepy psychopath who fully believes in the righteousness of every shitty thing he has done.
The giveaway was that “duping delight” smirk he wore repeatedly throughout the hearing, when he wasn’t sneering. It’s the look of a guy who not only thinks he’s better and smarter than the people he’s conning, but that he’s already proven it.
It’s not a stretch for me to say this. His text messages to Page said as much for his contemptuous attitude toward our elected representatives. It’s good that he’s no longer in charge of investigations, but the fact that he ever was highlights why the FBI is such a shitshow on wheels.
That, plus the politicization of the FBI’s role.
In Obama’s defense, Wikileaks didn’t really expect Trump to win either. They gave it a 25% chance. So there’s some consolation.
What else for scandal news?
Jim Jordan savages Rosenstein, runs for Speaker, and totally coincidentally gets accused of ignoring old cases of sexual abuse. Also, not uncoincidentally at all, the same law firm that hired Crowdstrike to scrub inspect the hacked DNC server hired Fusion GPS to build the Trump Dossier is all over it. Of all the scandals going on, this one is the dumbest and most transparently political, I think. I’m so bored with these obvious Deep State plot twists.
Let’s see; Manafort hasn’t been convicted and is locked up in solitary confinement. Flynn has been convicted and Mueller hasn’t gotten around to locking him up. His sentencing is delayed for the third time.
Outside of DC, there’s Harvey Weinstein, who you should feel sorry for, you jerk.
“You were born rich and privileged and you were handsome. I was born poor, ugly, Jewish and had to fight all my life to get somewhere. You got lotsa girls, no girl looked at me until I made it big in Hollywood. Yes, I did offer them acting jobs in exchange for sex, but so did and still does everyone. But I never, ever forced myself on a single woman.”
Is it bad that I have about as little pity for his victims as I do for him, on that basis? Not the office employees and regular women he victimized, but the ones who became A-list actresses with his support. The whole system is disgusting. Is he simply unlucky to have become not the face of the problem, but to be portrayed as the entire problem?
That’s all I have. There’s plenty of entertainment on pfluffy’s DJ thread.
Oh! Hey, Hal wrote an article over at Ordinary Times on the human trafficking thing I mentioned a couple of weeks ago. Check it out.
Such a lot to love about Trump’s latest foreign travels but this is possibly my favourite…
With regard to Rosenstein and Jordan, the move is afoot to impeach the former.
https://www.bizpacreview.com/2018/07/14/rosenstein-not-smiling-anymore-after-house-republicans-spotted-with-his-impeachment-docs-654125
I don’t know how that’s supposed to work. The House might pass articles of impeachment, but there’s no way the Senate votes to remove him from office.
The better option is to find Rosenstein in contempt for stonewalling and have him jailed if they’re really wanting to target him now. I’m on the fence as to whether or not that’s the best idea right now.
Game Of Thrones: 8 Changes To The Books That Were Completely Justified
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnIzW2yvWUg
I vociferously agree on all points.
Apparently the ENTIRE European Union is now the enemy:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/07/15/trump-says-european-union-is-foe-to-us-ahead-summit-with-putin.html
France won the World Cup. So depending on your POV, 2018 continues to suck, or not.
You can no longer marry a 15 year old in Missouri. You have to wait until she’s at least sixteen, and not a cousin:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/07/15/missouri-governor-signs-law-banning-marriage-15-year-olds.html
“Two children dollars! I want my two children dollars!”
https://pjmedia.com/trending/pelosi-tax-cut-will-add-two-children-dollars-more-to-deficit/
He’s really throwing Europe out of the nest and telling them to flap their wings, isn’t he?
Yeah, I have no idea how we let that go on this long. I’ve lived here for years and never knew I could do that.
So I guess we gotta now assume the pee-tape is real.
We do?
This story is confusing. It amounts to “Russian woman charged with working for Russia”
https://www.yahoo.com/news/russian-woman-arrested-washington-accused-acting-russian-government-191240520.html
I’ve read the story in four sources and can’t figure out what she’s being charged with or why any of the described activities are illegal.
And yet, Christopher Steele walks free.
You mean “wee doo” 😉
Like almost everyone else in existence, I don’t see any other plausible explanation.
If the sources haven’t revealed that information it’s probably because they don’t have that information.
https://twitter.com/TheOnion/status/1019005349028945920
It’s totally baffling why Trump might want to de-escalate needless tensions with a major nuclear power that presents no threat to our core national interests if left alone and might even be willing to help us contain another nuclear power that is threatening our core interests.
But sure, forget all about geopolitics and strategy. It’s obviously about the mythical pee tape.
It’s obviously about the mythical pee tape. Sure, you can replace the pee tape with something else. It could just be his own personal gain (post Presidency). It’s totally baffling why Trump might want to de-escalate needless tensions with a major nuclear power that presents no threat to our core national interests if left alone and might even be willing to help us contain another nuclear power that is threatening our core interests. The costs of the immense damage don’t make this plausible. Your democracy and institutions are about as ‘core’ as it gets, and Russia is absolutely not leaving… Read more »
And don’t forget escalating needless tensions with pretty much ALL your allies. Which works against you containing nuclear powers (unless you believe you only need Russia as an ally). Germany have already noted that they can’t trust the whack-job in the White House.
Has division in the US made the US stronger? If not, how does division in the world make it stronger?
Sure, you can replace the pee tape with something else. It could just be his own personal gain (post Presidency). I don’t know what to tell you then. I offered you a plausible explanation and you’d rather indulge in conspiracy theories about the possible existence of some unknown blackmail material. Your democracy and institutions are about as ‘core’ as it gets, and Russia is absolutely not leaving them alone. With what? Facebook ads? You must think our institutions are pretty weak if you think that those same democratic processes that persisted even during an apocalyptic civil war and all manner… Read more »
By demanding that they pay their fair share of the costs of being our allies? That’s hardly needless nor is it any type of escalation of tensions. We’re tired of being taken advantage of.
Is there anything suspicious going on between Trump and Putin? We may never know for sure, but the media sure is having another freakout about it. That aside, I don’t trust Putin any further than I can throw him across the Finnish border. Meanwhile, you can caption this picture. I’ll start-“Coming, Master…”:
What do you mean by this?
I offered you a plausible explanation and you’d rather indulge in conspiracy theories about the possible existence of some unknown blackmail material. It just wasn’t/isn’t plausible. I’m the last to buy into conspiracy theories but in this case it makes the most sense. And it’s not just me, so that strategy doesn’t really work either. I would rather a better plausible explanation be found. I’ll keep looking. With what? Facebook ads? You must think our institutions are pretty weak if you think that those same democratic processes that persisted even during an apocalyptic civil war and all manner of social… Read more »
I’m speaking colloquially. You want to be in a club, you pay your dues. I mean that if they really need US protection, they should maintain adequate defense funding and recognize that the US demands trade agreements that provide us with tangible benefit as well as them.
As I see it, Western Europe gets more out of this arrangement than it puts in and the US gets very little despite putting a great deal of money and risk into it.
It just wasn’t/isn’t plausible. No, you can say that you don’t think it’s likely, but you can’t say it’s not plausible that Trump would try a rapprochement with Russia based on the fact that there’s no compelling reason to be locked into a cold war with that country. It is plausible and you can either try to show me that there are compelling reasons for having a cold war with Russia in which we wage proxy wars against them in areas where we have no vital interests and wreck their economy with sanctions as they retaliate by using cyber attacks.… Read more »
Here’s a fresh perspective. Russia can’t beat us in a cyberwar. https://kek.gg/u/LJyY Explains one former CIA officer: “Given that we clearly had so much of the Russian internal communication and cyber footprints, they must be asking what else do we have? Do we have communications between the units and more senior officers in the GRU? With the General Staff? With the Kremlin? With Putin? Probably not the latter directly, but the Russians are very bureaucratic and it’s hard for me to imagine there is not a clear trail of higher level approvals, progress reports, etc.” Friday’s indictment is a legal… Read more »
Which intelligence agencies and specialists? The ones who papered over his opponent’s and her associates’ crimes during the election? The ones who sent confidential informants against his campaign and won’t even clearly admit when they started the investigation? Are you speaking of the same intelligence agencies and specialists who submitted false information gleaned from a contractor hired by his opponent’s campaign to a FISA court so they could run surveillance against his campaign? Surely you don’t mean the same intelligence agencies and specialists who spread damaging leaks about the Administration to the media. Yep, them. But also the CIA. And… Read more »
No, you can say that you don’t think it’s likely, but you can’t say it’s not plausible that Trump would try a rapprochement with Russia based on the fact that there’s no compelling reason to be locked into a cold war with that country. Your whole argument relies on false choice fallacy. Nobody is calling for a war with Russia, cold or otherwise. Before you tell me that it’s not plausible, I want you to explain why Russia is a threat to the United States. Their actions helped tip the balance to get their preferred candidate elected and he’s been… Read more »
.
NATO was designed for an enemy that no longer exists from a time when Europe was too weak to defend itself. The threat is gone, or at least almost entirely diminished, and Europe has a large enough economy, population, and technical capability to protect itself from whatever is left of the Soviet Empire. I’d still like someone to explain to me why we should fear Russia. I don’t see it. I’ll take a swing at this. This isn’t meant to persuade you, but just to try and explain (my understanding of) Western Foregin policy thus far. Essentially it boils down… Read more »
Nobody is calling for a war with Russia, cold or otherwise. Then what are you calling for? People who are angry that Trump doesn’t think we should be in a state of war with Russia never explain what they think should be done. I’ll let you tell me what you think the best option is, or at least what the available options are. Their actions helped tip the balance to get their preferred candidate elected There is no proof of that whatsoever. Comey had more impact on the election than Putin, at least as far as Nate Silver is concerned.… Read more »
I’ll take a swing at this. Thank you, sincerely. I was about to give up on having any sort of reasonable answer. Everything you said is valid, though I think you’re overemphasizing the purity of the West’s motivations in expanding democracy and human rights instead of economic and strategic motivations. But everything you said about how the reason for this shift needs to be articulated is correct. The truth is that what’s happening now is long overdue–25 years or so overdue. It seems sudden, but American dissatisfaction with the old status quo is very real and would be present regardless… Read more »
Then what are you calling for? I’m not ‘calling’ for anything. Again, why are you adamant that the only options are two extremes? People who are angry that Trump doesn’t think we should be in a state of war with Russia never explain what they think should be done Have you stopped to consider that perhaps they’re not saying the US should be in a state of war with Russia? There is no proof of that whatsoever. It’s hard to measure because of wasn’t one discrete event, but as this piece notes, it’s now extremely difficult to deny. https://www.wired.com/story/did-russia-affect-the-2016-election-its-now-undeniable/ Comey… Read more »
I’m not ‘calling’ for anything. Again, why are you adamant that the only options are two extremes? I’m asking you because I want to know your opinion. What do you think US policy should be toward Russia? To me, it comes down to whether we will stop treating them as an enemy or not. What do you think; that’s what I’m asking. It’s hard to measure because of wasn’t one discrete event, but as this piece notes, it’s now extremely difficult to deny. https://www.wired.com/story/did-russia-affect-the-2016-election-its-now-undeniable/ Yet they didn’t find a single person who would be interviewed and say, “Yup, I changed… Read more »
One thing’s for sure-Trump seems to be doing an awful lot of correction lately:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-on-whether-he-holds-putin-responsible-i-would-because-hes-in-charge-of-the-country/
Then there’s this chick (I guess MeToo hasn’t hit the spy world yet):
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/07/18/accused-russian-spy-maria-butina-offered-sex-in-exchange-for-us-job-prosecutors-say.html
Good God Almighty…..
Mueller “indicted” a bunch of Russians knowing full well they would never appear in a US court, so it’s all utterly meaningless. Mueller can concoct whatever “sophisticated” scenarios he can dream up, because he will NEVER have to prove any of it in a court of law. But it is enough for left-wingers to cling to, to “confirm” their “Trump is Illegitimate Hillary Shoulda Won” preconceptions.
It’s all a load of horseshit, but it’s enough for you, apparently. And Wired, of course.
I was in Times Square yesterday and saw the beginning of this. It was something special…
I’m asking you because I want to know your opinion. What do you think US policy should be toward Russia? To me, it comes down to whether we will stop treating them as an enemy or not. What do you think; that’s what I’m asking. The US policy towards Russia should be to continue to try and stop the advancement of illiberal power that is a danger to the stability and security we’ve all largely enjoyed for 70 odd years. Bascially as described in this thread: https://twitter.com/ClaireBerlinski/status/1015872007521603585 No one is suggesting you go to war with Russia, but the actual… Read more »
That’s purely a narrative you can believe in (for some weird reason), but that doesn’t make it true.
Can you point specifically to which parts of the indictment have been shown to be bogus/bullshit?
Just when I think I’ve seen it all, liberals are now mad at a president for criticizing the CIA and trying to prevent conflict with another country.
Great feedback, CM. Let me finish up tomorrow’s DJ thread and ruminate on what you said for a bit.
The US policy towards Russia should be to continue to try and stop the advancement of illiberal power that is a danger to the stability and security we’ve all largely enjoyed for 70 odd years. I’d agree on stopping Russia’s advancement into, say, Poland. However, why does that also mean that we have to advance our own power into the sphere of influence that they have maintained is their’s since the end of the Cold War? You’re saying that we should put up a defensive front against Russia expanding to the West, and I agree with that in theory (I… Read more »
That’s purely a narrative you can believe in (for some weird reason), but that doesn’t make it true. Can you point specifically to which parts of the indictment have been shown to be bogus/bullshit? It is hard to know where to begin. Mueller has absolutely zero jurisdiction over Russian citizens. Zero. He can “indict” them until the end of time, but he cannot force them into a US court of law, and they have no compelling reason to be tried voluntarily. From their perspective, they were just doing their jobs, and their jobs amounted to little more than astroturfing. Now,… Read more »
You know why I think the indictments are just for show? They shouldn’t have been made public. The US should’ve kept the indictments sealed, waited for the targets to leave Russia for a country where they could seize them, and then bring them back for trial.
Publicly announcing the indictments did absolutely no good and it’s as good an indicator as any that Mueller doesn’t actually intend to prosecute them.
Sorry Will, I did read your response but didn’t get a chance to completely absorb it and respond before family life rudely got in the way. Rather than keep this alive I’ll pick it up somewhere else. Cheers.
Although I will say that Russia being weak and no threat to the US makes the possibility that they have blackmail material on Trump MORE likely (as an explanation for all his behavior on Russia, notwithstandingall the campaign contacts), not less.
Understood and appreciated.