US Politics Thread

[teddytennisfan]

russia-insider.com
Dear CIA: No One Believes You - Time to Put Up or Shut Up About Russia
Caitlin Johnstone (Newslogue) Wed, Dec 14, 2016 | 2,302 30
Thank you sweet baby Mall Santa for The Intercept. The latest state propaganda pieces being circulated by the Washington Post and the New York Times have been producing a face-shaped indent in my desk where I’ve been slamming my head with a percussive intensity to which you could record studio-quality Led Zeppelin covers, so it’s nice to have the brief respite of some occasional journalistic integrity in my world.

This morning The Intercept’s Jeremy Scahill and Jon Schwartz published this glorious article titled “Obama Must Declassify Evidence Of Russian Hacking,” arguing that since intelligence agencies have such an extensive record of lying to the American people and getting things so spectacularly bass-ackwards wrong, it is the President’s duty to provide the American people with undeniable proof of the alleged Russian conspiracy to get Donald Trump elected.

But they didn’t stop there. They then proceeded to provide a link to their secure drop with the invitation for a “patriotic whistleblower” to leak proof of Russian election tampering to them, which they will publish once verified.

The Intercept has an extensive history of not only

advocating
for whistleblowers, but for working with them. Just

reading
about Glenn Greenwald’s collaboration with Edward Snowden to release the NSA surveillance leaks provides a clear window into how honest, professional and trustworthy these people are, as does the mutual respect Greenwald and Snowden have for each other. A patriotic whistleblower could not possibly ask for a better resource to drop evidence of Russian election tampering, if indeed any such evidence exists.

So there it is. Any of the many, many people involved in the CIA, along with the anonymous source who told the Washington Post about the unproven findings of its “secret assessment”, now has the ability to provide hard substantiation for this extremely serious allegation to the American people. If it was so important that they could share the accusations against Russia with the state media pawns in the Washington Post, it should also be important to them to provide evidence of these accusations to the people Donald Trump will ostensibly be presiding over as of January 20th. It’s really not too much to ask, and anyone can do it.

So put up or shut up, CIA. You’ve got the venue all made up for you. Whoever it is back there who so urgently desires the American public to believe that the Russians successfully conspired to get Donald Trump elected, you’ve now got a wide open door to a great big stage on which to share that. You can share it alone or together, legally or illicitly, officially, unofficially or officially-pretending-to-be-unofficially. No one cares, just share it. Whoever you are, they'll protect your identification.

Because guess what? We don’t believe you right now. No American with two braincells to rub together will ever believe anything the CIA says for any reason, because they’ve got such an extensive and well-documented record of lying to us at every turn. Jon Lovitz’s pathological liar character from SNL has more credibility than the CIA at this point, and I’m talking about a fictional character from a pointless season on a routinely dreadful sketch comedy show in a decade we’d all rather forget about. There is no reason for any American citizen to ever believe anything the CIA says unless they happen to be one of the few powerful elites they send proof of termination to when they assassinate a whistleblower.

Believing something the CIA says is like trusting a meth addict with your car, and trusting the CIA when they’re working with the Washington Post is like trusting a meth addict with your car and leaving your kid in the back seat with the house keys and money for Taco Bell. There is now no reason for the American people not to demand conclusive evidence for this thing they’re being asked to swallow, and no reason not to dismiss these allegations as one more act of CIA psy-ops if that proof fails to come through.

Quit clowning around, CIA. This is the most powerful political office on earth we’re talking about here, not one of your dorky little tinhorn state operations. Clinton insiders are already hinting at a push for an electoral coup, and Democratic party loyalists are soiling themselves with excitement. Start treating this thing with the seriousness it deserves or stop pretending your words have relevance to civilians.

 

[teddytennisfan]

strategic-culture.org
From ‘Fake News’ to ‘Fake Intelligence’

BY WAYNE MADSEN

Never in the history of the Central Intelligence Agency has it and its surrogates so blatantly and boldly interfered in a U.S. election. The U.S. media, in a matter of hours, altered course from concentrating on «fake news» about innocent pizzerias being linked to child sexual exploitation to spotlighting «fake intelligence» about Russia’s alleged cyber-espionage operation designed to elect Donald Trump president. The CIA leaked to The Washington Post, the owner of which has a $600 million contract with the CIA to provide cloud computing, findings of a secret report on Russia’s alleged «fixing» of the 2016 U.S. presidential election to favor Trump over Democrat Hillary Clinton.

The scandal-plagued Mrs. Clinton was defeated by Trump not because of nefarious cyber-sleuths from Moscow but because she and her campaign forgot how Barack Obama’s and her husband’s free trade deals destroyed the economic lifeblood of America, particularly in the «rust belt» Midwestern states. Rather than talk jobs and the economy, Mrs. Clinton’s campaign concentrated on such trivial matters as trans-gender restrooms and a former Miss Venezuela harping in poor housemaid English about how she was insulted over her weight by Trump.

Mrs. Clinton has been reduced to appearing in public dressed in purple outfits looking like the children’s character «Barney» the dinosaur. Clinton’s «purple haze» is a continuation of George Soros’s election-overturning «Purple Revolution». While Soros-paid protesters commit acts of vandalism across the country, the failed presidential candidate is pathetically complaining about «fake news». But when it comes to the CIA’s «fake intelligence» about Russia and the U.S. election, some of Mrs. Clinton’s ardent supporters are demanding that the results of the November 8th election be rejected and that President Obama remain in office indefinitely until a new election can be sorted out. Of course, none of this is constitutional. And the Clintonistas even have a novel solution for dealing with the certain resulting protests by states that voted for Trump and his supporters: Obama must declare martial law and suspend the U.S. Constitution.

The CIA intelligence on Russian involvement in the U.S. presidential election is so sketchy that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), in response to questions from members of Congress who were briefed on the CIA report, testified before the House Intelligence Committee that the CIA’s contentions about Russia were «fuzzy and ambiguous». The FBI did not support the CIA’s findings, claiming that the CIA’s conclusions lacked «facts and tangible evidence». Even the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Representative Devin Nunes of California, told The Washington Post that, as far as he was concerned, the CIA conclusions about Russia lacked «clear evidence», adding, «There’s a lot of innuendo, lots of circumstantial evidence, that’s it».

But the comments of Nunes and the FBI have not prevented the CIA and their puppet-stringed Democrats and media pundits from complaining about a «rigged» election and even the need for an election «do over». There are no constitutional provisions for election remakes in the United States. Obama, who claims to be a constitutional scholar, did not help matters by ordering the intelligence community to undertake a full-scale investigation of Russia’s alleged involvement in the U.S. election. Chomping at the bit to derail Trump’s selection of Exxon’s CEO Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State are the «all-but-married» neocon duo of Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham. This political version of «Ken and Barbie» want to turn Tillerson’s Senate confirmation hearing into a Russia-bashing event.

McCain, continuing to show classic signs of dementia, declared that Russia waged a form of «warfare» against the United States during the election campaign. This is the same man who thought selecting Alaska’s governor Sarah Palin as his 2008 vice presidential running mate was wise political move.

It is instructive that Obama, by ordering an investigation into foreign interference in the election, helped provide ammunition to the CIA in trying to nullify the election results. Obama’s actions came the same week that Gambia’s dictator president, Yahya Jammeh -- after conceding his re-election loss to his opponent -- reversed course and nullified the election and Ghana’s President John Mahama, dragged his feet on conceding his election loss to his opponent. Obama, who is a friend of both Jammeh and Mahama, was acting more like a tin-pot African dictator than President of the United States in lending official credence to the election conspiracy story involving Russia.

Trump’s transition team dismissed the CIA’s charges and their flimsy report, stating, these are «the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction».

It was CIA director George Tenet that told George W. Bush and Dick Cheney in the aftermath of 9/11 that it was a «a slam dunk case» that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. The claim was used as prima facie evidence for the U.S. to justify its invasion and occupation of Iraq. Now, the very same CIA and some of the same discredited CIA officials are trying to convince the American people that Russia somehow «selected» Trump as president of the United States.

During the election campaign, it was not Russia, but the CIA that was trying to influence the American people. In August, after Trump’s nomination for president, former acting CIA director Michael Morrel said, «Donald J. Trump is not only unqualified for the job, but he may well pose a threat to our national security». Morrel then began the CIA’s campaign to link Trump to Russia by telling CBS News that, «we would say that Mr. Putin had recruited Mr. Trump as an unwitting agent of the Russian Federation». By «we», Morrel was saying the CIA. Those comments, alone, showed a CIA that was not hesitant to play favorites in the U.S. election. The entire meme that Russia interfered with the presidential election is a false one. The real headlines should read: «CIA interfered in presidential election by supporting Clinton over Trump».

Former CIA and National Security Agency director Michael Hayden, the architect of NSA’s unconstitutional warrantless wiretapping program, said that Trump was «factually incorrect" in dismissing the CIA’s report about Russia’s alleged hacking of the Democratic National Committee’s emails prior to the election. Five days before the election, Hayden penned an op-ed column for the CIA-linked Washington Post, in which he claimed that Trump was a «polezni durak», or «useful fool», for President Vladimir Putin. Such political commentary by intelligence chiefs, active or retired, is unprecedented in modern times.

Former CIA clandestine operative Robert Baer told CNN that he favors an election re-vote, even though there is no constitutional provision for one. Baer said, «It looks like to me, the Russians did interfere in our elections... Having worked in the CIA, if we had been caught interfering in European elections, or Asian elections or anywhere in the world, those countries would call for new elections, and any democracy would». This is where Baer is altering history to suit himself and his Democratic friends. The CIA repeatedly has interfered in elections in Europe and Asia, as well as Latin America, Africa, and Oceania and there were no «do-overs» but plenty of coups engineered by the boys from Langley. Baer continued, «I don't know how it would work constitutionally, I'm not a lawyer, but I’m deeply disturbed by the fact that the Russians interfered, and I would like to see the evidence... If the evidence is there, I don’t see any other way than to vote again as an American citizen».

It is doubtful that Baer would have made his comments had he not been given some sort of green light from the CIA director, the Saudi-loving John Brennan. Brennan spent so much time as the CIA station chief in Riyadh kissing the robes of the Saudi royals that he lost any conception of what a constitutional federal republic is all about. It was Brennan who prevailed on Obama to fire Trump’s national security adviser-designate, Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, as chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency. Flynn concluded that it was Brennan and Obama who authorized the creation of the Islamic State to help topple the Syrian government.


The CIA has learned nothing from its blatant involvement in the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the 1972 set-up of President Richard Nixon in the Watergate break-in and cover-up, the 1980 «October Surprise» that resulted in President Jimmy Carter’s re-election loss, and the 1980s «Iran-contra» scandal that almost forced President Ronald Reagan from office through impeachment and his replacement by the former CIA director, Vice President George H. W. Bush.

The CIA is the actual villain in the 2016 presidential election, just as it has been the villain in every major domestic and foreign scandal involving the United States since 1947.


The problem with the CIA is that for the past 70 years it has held sway over almost every facet of America’s political, social, religious, entertainment, and educational life. As described in this author’s newly-released book, «The Almost Classified Guide to CIA Proprietaries, Front Companies & Contractors», the CIA has stamped its insidious imprimatur on every sector of American society, including the media.


It is the CIA’s remote-controlled media, with its «fake news» and its pushing of the CIA’s «fake intelligence», that is victimizing the American people. President Trump’s first action as commander-in-chief should be a complete shake-up of the CIA with the goal of doing what President Kennedy vowed to do with the «bastards» who ran the agency: splinter it in a thousand pieces and scatter it to the winds

The CIA were bastards in the early 1960s and they continue to be bastards today. Trump should fire every one of the bastards on January 20, 2017.

 

[teddytennisfan]

ONE CAN CONCLUDE -- HILLARY CLINTON HAS BEEN A CIA 'ASSET".

the ''shadow government" CIA and its other organization submissives -- BUT ALL of them serving of course the TRUE BASTARDS of bastards

the VERY RICH -- SELF-STYLED ''global nobilities"

such as the ROCKEFELLERS, ROTSHCHILDS, DUPONTS, MORGANS...at the top of the ''crown" with THEIR ''sub crowns" -- such as the CONNIVING BASTARD rulers of submissive other countries like SAUDIS, QATARIS, TIN POT COMPLIANT DICTATORS...AND SO ON...

and ANYONE that does NOT OBEY -- as general smedley butler, jur, US MARINES -- 1933 put "would be destroyed who got in OUR way".


ASSAD was supposed to be one of those that 'got in the way" -- PUTIN TOO

and they're -- again -- TRYING with ''repressive XI JINPING " of china although THAT is one project TOO BIG for even the US empire - lol

so were SADDAM, GADDAFI ..CHAVEZ, .etc. etc. etc.

 

[teddytennisfan]

but then -- manhy americans will SWALLOW what the LOSER HILLARY DEMOCRFAT CAMPS -- THE NEOCONNEOLIBERAL WAR MONGERS WILL TELL THEM ..like swallowing SANTA CLAUS and pass it on to their children...

no wonder WINSTON CHURCHILL said:

"NO ONE ever lost a penny betting on the STUPIDITY OF AMERICANS".

 

[Federberg]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...a-224pm:homepage/story&utm_term=.e44efb1e0a47

Well well well.. welcome to the party, the ice is melted but there's plenty of fun to be had!

 

[mrzz]

^honestly, Federberg... reading this, reading CNN... you have all this media outlets with a very aggressive tone, the own US president increasing the tone... I hope it all ends just in words and accusations, but it could get far worst.

What I mean is simple: I guess you need something a bit more concrete than what they produced to justify their tone. Watching from another hemisphere, it looks like threats from a bully.

What I mean is that people are letting their dislike of a guy blind them to a lot much more serious stuff than an unpleasant person on the presidency. My personal opinion is that they will use this to get back control of information: in two years you will have a huge control over the internet and alternative media. It will sound and feel like dictatorship. Dictatorship with an emoji:
"Sorry, this site cannot be trusted "

Or they could use this to somehow justify full scale war on Syria. It is getting uglier by the minute.

 

[Federberg]

^honestly, Federberg... reading this, reading CNN... you have all this media outlets with a very aggressive tone, the own US president increasing the tone... I hope it all ends just in words and accusations, but it could get far worst.

What I mean is simple: I guess you need something a bit more concrete than what they produced to justify their tone. Watching from another hemisphere, it looks like threats from a bully.

What I mean is that people are letting their dislike of a guy blind them to a lot much more serious stuff than an unpleasant person on the presidency. My personal opinion is that they will use this to get back control of information: in two years you will have a huge control over the internet and alternative media. It will sound and feel like dictatorship. Dictatorship with an emoji:
"Sorry, this site cannot be trusted "

Or they could use this to somehow justify full scale war on Syria. It is getting uglier by the minute.

You're preaching to the choir my good man. My issue with the hacking has always been more than the election outcome. This is about interference in a US election, the integrity of the democratic process and the sovereignty of the US electorate. I've been amazed that some Americans on this site seemed happy for Russia to manhandle them. The long term consequences of this could well be as nasty and illiberal as you suggest. Not good!

 

[Federberg]

What's going on? I don't check this site for a week or so and find that dome of you are still crying about the election. And now, rather than admit that Hillary was a bad candidate with a bad message and poor personal characteristics you are looking for an excuse that is so farfetched it's boarding on idiotic. A few points of observation make these Russian claims outlandish.
1. IF Russia was successful in influencing the U.S. election then why haven't they done it with other western democracies that are anti-Russia. You'd think the Russians who put their hands in every election in order to change the world into a policy space that supports them.

Didn't see this before. This is precisely my concern. Russia has successfully interfered with elections in Europe a few times. This wasn't a first. Ignorance or complacency can be a dangerous thing mate.

 

[Moxie]

http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/...hEXmX5kchhP/story.html?event=event25#comments

Obviously, Trump has an interest in not exploring the Russian influence on the election, but does that make it right that he dismisses it so lightly? And especially given his already questionable connects to Russia, business and otherwise? It's not anti-Russia to point out that they are also a large power and have no reason to have US interests at heart.

 

[Federberg]

http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/...hEXmX5kchhP/story.html?event=event25#comments

Obviously, Trump has an interest in not exploring the Russian influence on the election, but does that make it right that he dismisses it so lightly? And especially given his already questionable connects to Russia, business and otherwise? It's not anti-Russia to point out that they are also a large power and have no reason to have US interests at heart.

He's still thinking like The Donald. At some point we have to hope he thinks about what is best for America and not just himself

 

[Moxie]

He's still thinking like The Donald. At some point we have to hope he thinks about what is best for America and not just himself

If it's too much to ask of the entire Republican party, it's not going to happen with Trump.

 

[Moxie]

The Electoral College went down with a whimper. I wonder how many who supported Trump here are so comfortable with him, now. Except Teddy, obviously.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/19/opinion/donald-trump-this-is-not-normal.html?mwrsm=Facebook

 

[Federberg]

The Electoral College went down with a whimper. I wonder how many who supported Trump here are so comfortable with him, now. Except Teddy, obviously.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/19/opinion/donald-trump-this-is-not-normal.html?mwrsm=Facebook

They say countries get the governments they deserve. We'll see

 

[britbox]

http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/...hEXmX5kchhP/story.html?event=event25#comments

Obviously, Trump has an interest in not exploring the Russian influence on the election, but does that make it right that he dismisses it so lightly? And especially given his already questionable connects to Russia, business and otherwise? It's not anti-Russia to point out that they are also a large power and have no reason to have US interests at heart.

What questionable connects does Trump personally have to Russia?

 

[britbox]

This whole thing is fascinating to watch unfold from afar... interesting to see the apparatus of American politics, media, defence and corporates pulling together to defend the status quo from a figure who didn't bend the knee.

 

[Federberg]

What questionable connects does Trump personally have to Russia?

I would guess that she is referring to the fact that before he ran for office hisson talked about how an increasingly large proportion of their business was with Russian entities. I'm sure you can find a link somewhere. Couple that with the association with people like Manafort and it should at least raise questions, but no one has seemed to care in this post-truth world

 

[britbox]

I would guess that she is referring to the fact that before he ran for office hisson talked about how an increasingly large proportion of their business was with Russian entities. I'm sure you can find a link somewhere. Couple that with the association with people like Manafort and it should at least raise questions, but no one has seemed to care in this post-truth world

The article talked about "Treason" Federberg... I mean really? Obviously based on rock solid evidence like some guy who Trump knows doing an interview on RT, another sitting next to Putin at a gala dinner.... Yeah, hang em all. Read the article - it's dire.

I imagine Trump's got a wide network of business interests... most of whom you could probably connect with Kevin Bacon easily enough.

 

[mrzz]

I would guess that she is referring to the fact that before he ran for office hisson talked about how an increasingly large proportion of their business was with Russian entities. I'm sure you can find a link somewhere. Couple that with the association with people like Manafort and it should at least raise questions, but no one has seemed to care in this post-truth world

I am quite sure those ties are real. However, every candidate from every party in every country has ties to economical groups. The fact that politics and economics are linked is the basic assumption of both political and economical sciences. Examine further the support network of any candidate, and you will find links with foreign countries, that obviously lead up to the political figures there. Don´t you think Chinese companies haven´t helped Clinton? What connection do you think those companies have with the Chinese state, which officially controls the economy?

This has nothing to do with post-truth (honestly, it does not mean squat). This is old politics, you find the narrative that best suits your interest. Some group found this one, which plays with old Cold War feelings, and it works.

Days ago I saw a journalist piece on a "Russian Hacking Center" that showed an office with people producing social media content. It was portrayed as super fantastic proof of an unprecedented evil scheme. C´mon, even in Brazil, which is far from a developed country, we have private companies that their only objective is to produce social media content. We had them back in 2012. Governments around the world probable discovered that trick when Orkut was on its heyday... and now this is "discovered" and used only by Russia? Yeah right...


Some people don´t seem to care because the story is kind of ridiculous. Impossible? Sure no, we´ve all seen worst things happening. But right now the most logical explanation is that people are just being fooled with it. I repeat what I said before, people dislike Trump so much (and that part I can surely understand), that they are buying the first thing shown to them to explain his rise to power.

 

[Federberg]

It might be a bit hysterical but if there were found to be real connections then it needs to be aired. At the end of the day a case could be made if there are real associations that US democracy has been corrupted, I'm not sure if under US law that's treason. But to be honest my point of view is more the surprise that Republicans were so eager to win that 50yrs of distrust of Russia was set aside, and no searching questions were asked during the campaign. Trump is President now so it's almost odd that GOP politicians are now pushing this

 

[Federberg]

I am quite sure those ties are real. However, every candidate from every party in every country has ties to economical groups. The fact that politics and economics are linked is the basic assumption of both political and economical sciences. Examine further the support network of any candidate, and you will find links with foreign countries, that obviously lead up to the political figures there. Don´t you think Chinese companies haven´t helped Clinton? What connection do you think those companies have with the Chinese state, which officially controls the economy?

This has nothing to do with post-truth (honestly, it does not mean squat). This is old politics, you find the narrative that best suits your interest. Some group found this one, which plays with old Cold War feelings, and it works.

Days ago I saw a journalist piece on a "Russian Hacking Center" that showed an office with people producing social media content. It was portrayed as super fantastic proof of an unprecedented evil scheme. C´mon, even in Brazil, which is far from a developed country, we have private companies that their only objective is to produce social media content. We had them back in 2012. Governments around the world probable discovered that trick when Orkut was on its heyday... and now this is "discovered" and used only by Russia? Yeah right...


Some people don´t seem to care because the story is kind of ridiculous. Impossible? Sure no, we all seem worst happened. But right now the most logical explanation is that people are just being fooled with it. I repeat what I said before, people dislike Trump so much (and that part I can surely understand), that they are buying the first thing shown to them to explain his rise to power.

That's fair enough. But given Putins activities in Europe it's somewhat surprising that this wasn't taken seriously before. I thought this was one of those things that cut across party lines. I guess not anymore.

By the way HRC seriously offended China when she was Secretary of State. I doubt there was any such assistance