Sunday, May 14, 2017

Alex Christoforou — Million dollar question no one asks: How exactly did Trump “collude” with Russia?


I have been using this to good effect lately, too. When someone goes off on Trump "colluding with Russia" (media talking point), I say, "I am no fan of Trump, but just how has he colluded with Russia? 

Silence.

Then I explain how a soft coup is being mounted in the media against the democratically elected president of the United States and ask whether the person is in favor of that.

Then some go on to argue that Trump should be investigated. I say that investigations are only mounted with there is reason to think that a crime has been committed and I ask what reason there is to think that this is true of Trump.

Again silence. Or handwaving.

12 comments:

Penguin pop said...

Where's that indictment, Ms. Mensch?

https://twitter.com/LouiseMensch/status/863576083626688512

https://patribotics.blog/2017/05/14/exclusive-sealed-indictment-granted-against-donald-trump/

How do I know if this person wasn't somehow colluding with Russia to create fake news?

Seriously Tom, did you see this Keith Olbermann citing this conservative nutter as a valid source?

https://twitter.com/KeithOlbermann/status/863579669152620544

"Can't speak to this story's accuracy but Louise was right on FISA court in 11/16; and @TrueFactsStated right about Trump-Russia Grand Jury"

"Also, I know this is no joking matter but I can't resist the Twitter cliche:

Could be huge if true."

Noah Way said...

He sold real estate to oligarchs, could be considered money laundering depending on the source.

Hillary on the other hand sold US government deals for payments to The Clinton Foundation including multiple deals with Russians.

Peter Pan said...

Give the investigation more time. When you go fishing, how often do you land something big right off the bat?

;)

NeilW said...

If you have any sympathy for Scapegoat Theory, then there's a simpler explanation.

If Russia stops being the 'big bad' in the US, the population might realise that the 'big bad' is actually Wall Street.

Dave said...

Trumps connections to oligarchs and mobsters is what they are trying to uncover, and probably already have. The investigation has also caused him to commit some serious unforced errors which will come back to haunt him when it comes time for him to testify. He should have gone the route of Reagan and said I don't recall, I have dementia, etc. He managed to make James Comey a sympathetic figure. Only a total incompetent could have pulled that one off.

The election stuff will be harder to prove, but if they get a chance to look at the data base at Cambridge Analytica, they could find something there. Once investigations start, all sorts of things pop up. This will be no different.

I am certain that this experience will make Americans less trustful that government, as currently constructed, can do anything to positively impact their lives.

Tom Hickey said...

The only practical ways to remove Trump from office is to impeach in the House and remove him in the Senate, or get him to resign.

It would be almost impossible to get the needed votes in the Senate even if the House were to impeach him, and forget Trump resigning of his own accord.

And if Trump were to go, the US comes apart at the seams through a populist revolt.

The deep state and establishment have been playing with fire abroad and now they are doing it at home.

This bodes ill.

Peter Pan said...

Why would there be a populist revolt if Trump were removed legally? I doubt there'd be a revolt if he were removed extralegally.

Mid-terms are in two years and the next election in four. That would be the time frame for a populist movement looking to organize and take power.

I agree with Dave.

My take is that the level of apathy amongst the electorate will rise with 4 years of Trump (or Pence).

Tom Hickey said...

We are already seeing torchlight parades in the US.

Torchlight protest in US draws comparisons to "days of the KKK"

An incipient Civil War 2.0 has been brewing since the 60's. It was fed by Nixon's Southern strategy and the GOP has been using it ever since. Now things are coming to head as US demographics and culture shift toward a majority non-white and multicultural society.

Actually, I have been astonished lately by some of my (formerly) liberal friends complaining in private about the cultural repression of the American white male. That really woke me up.

Dave said...

I do think both possibilities will happen at the same time. That is apathy and revolt. I said from the beginning, Trump is playing the role of the fool, who forces tectonic changes upon a corrupt society unwittingly. By choosing Trump, we have chosen the end of The Anglo-American Empire.

Having said that, China's Silk Road idea is fascinating to me. I wonder if Europe will begin to decouple from the US and become more open to The Chinese economy?

Peter Pan said...

A torchlight protest is not violence, in spite of its connotations with the past. I'll be surprised if Americans are so angry that they're willing to engage in violence against their fellow citizens, for any reason.

If Europe were to decouple from the US it would be a change for the better. Reduced chances for WWIII, and a reality check on Washington's dream of ruling the world.

Dan Lynch said...

@Tom, it's far more complicated than Nixon's Southern Strategy.

Like it or not, Southern whites have a culture and an identity, just as people all over the world have a culture and an identity. It's true that many Southern whites are racist, but even non-racists grow up admiring Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee for their military genius (though no one ever accused Jefferson Davis of being a genius).

Southern whites view the Civil War as part of their heritage. Blacks and other parts of the world equate the Confederacy with racism and slavery. Both sides have a legitimate point.

The best way I can explain it is to compare it to WWI statues. Everyone now agrees that WWI was pointless slaughter, yet veterans of that war on both sides were very proud of their service. My hometown's best known landmark is a statue of a WWI "doughboy." The intent of the doughboy statue was to honor the veterans for their service and sacrifice, not to honor WWI for its senseless slaughter.

If I were king I would keep the statues of Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee out of respect for their military genius, but definitely get rid of the statues of Jefferson Davis and the other shady Southern characters.

By the way, my racist Southern relatives voted for Huey Long and LBJ because they helped the working man. It was only after Jimmy Carter's disastrous economy that my Southern relatives abandoned the Democratic party for good. Both parties use identity politics to rally their base but at the end of the day, most people vote their pocketbook.

Trump will not be impeached as long as the Republican base supports him. However if he continues to break his campaign promises to his base then impeachment cannot be ruled out. The Republican establishment would certainly rather have President Pence.

The litmus test will be how Trump handles the next recession.

Tom Hickey said...

The difference now is the demographic and cultural shifts, couple with the economic shift that is turning the middle class into a precariat. The cultural shift is not only the emergence of multiculturalism but also the replacement of modernism with postmodernism.

The result is rising fear and anger. This what people mean when they say, "I want my country back."

From the sociological POV, the pace of change is too fast for many people to adapt, and they are flailing out.

There are a lot of directions this could go nationally and globally in this phase transition that is taking place, Some are good and some not. The bias now is toward not.

That could change with new vision and new leadership, but it is not very visible in the West at present.

The issue now is what happens when the next crisis hits.