Is it, though? If you can convince yourself it was a good thing when Russians hacked the Secretary of State or the Democratic National Committee servers then it’s not exactly a stretch to think they might do some good with Pelosi’s data.
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Metaphor not simile. Their turn to Trumpism wasn’t like joining a cult, it was joining a cult.
If Donald Trump ever invites you to a rally at a Trump resort with snacks and the drinks smell a bit like bleach and bitter almonds, you might want to pass.
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In a world where our government chose to violate out basic standards (see NSA, COINTELPRO), it’s not difficult to imagine a world where someone would think the Russians are the good guys. Edward Snowden is the flag bearer for that too.
Yes, we “needed” him to rat out the NSA but running to Russia didn’t make him Nelson Mandela either. Nelson Mandela stood up for the things he did.
Right. The family and friends aren’t necessarily malicious or vindictive. They’re the ones who knew the cultists before they went full MAGA, and are using the FBI for an intervention by proxy, hoping it will jolt their loved ones back to reality.
I have no opinion on the likelihood of this happening.
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Snowden didn’t believe the Russians were the good guys for a second. He just had nowhere else to go because whistleblower protection is a joke, apparently.
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Yeah, definitely for many people - certainly for the Trumper-Qanon overlap. I think there are others who came to it more through Republican tribalism, who aren’t so committed to rejecting reality (they’re just plain old ignorant), but they probably aren’t the ones who went to Capitol Hill…
It’ll be interesting to see if anyone figures out how to deprogram Trumpers, because this might just save the country.
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Clancy in his later years would have been fetishising the protestors.
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For what it is worth, if this had been true, I would expect the Russians to turn the woman into the FBI and return the laptop. Yes, they do espionage, monitor communications, etc. But they do it in ways which are relatively safe for them. Accepting random stuff from random US people is not safe.
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“What is this? I do not want this. Is no fun if you just give to me.”
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Well, the problem that Reagan had with the Russians was not their Russian…er, ness, it was their communism. He’d probably be a fan of the modern Russian state, since he most certainly did not have a problem with authoritarian regimes, so long as they conformed to capitalist principles. Mass murder and state suppression was never the problem he had with the Soviet Union.
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I wonder if mom would be so aggressive if she had known just how (rightly) punitive the US response is going to be. The woman is going to get the Reality Winner treatment and will be lucky to serve only 5 years in a federal prison, if she isn’t pardoned.
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The Russia fascination goes back before Trump entered politics, and before these groups glommed onto Trump.
The far right views Russia as a pure, white ethno-state. And Putin as the sole defender of white, christian Europe from an invasion by Islam.
Russia has pushed this idea in their propaganda, often referencing medieval and pre-modern history when the Balkan states bordered the Ottomans and other Islamic polities. And frequent military clashes along that border. The narrative has a central place in Putin’s self promotion at home and Russia’s project of promoting and fostering far right movements and groups abroad.
It’s become endemic in the alt right. But shades of it float straight through more mainstream movements like the religious right. And your businessy free market fetishists.
Trump is picking this up from the chuds, not selling it to them.
It’s more likely this woman views this as protecting the white race from the libs. Rather than betraying her country to trolley.
Most of these movements are openly anti-democratic, and actively antagonistic to the government. Because fascism. Betraying and fighting their own nation is the point.
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If the last 12 months (with backstory) were written as a novel as opposed to reality, it would be laughed off as too unrealistic.
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Given that Riley’s now in the doghouse, I would say Raymond Chandler.
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On general principles, wouldn’t US government laptops with classified material on them use hard-disk encryption?
Even my employer requires me to use hard-disk encryption on my work laptop, and that machine doesn’t go anywhere near stuff that anyone would consider worth stealing. (I’m mostly working on open-source code.)
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The Rosenbergs were executed for something along these lines. And Ethel didn’t even commit the crime. This is espionage and could be prosecuted as treason under that whole “or providing aid and comfort” to enemies of the United States. I have no patience with traitors
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Besides, would it have anything they hadn’t already seen through the “work” of their operative in the White House, code name Agent Orange? [Yes, I’ve heard code names are assigned somewhat at random so they don’t hint at the real identity of the agent or purpose of the project to which they are assigned.]
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“suspending the account” is that different than FB jail? I’m a week into a 30 day ban… I think each ban is progressively longer. My first ban for was posting “fucking white people” (I’m white)… one ban was for asking when we’d hang traitors (Bannon/Barr and a few others) I’m not actually mad about that one… the last ban for 30 days was for telling someone they’re “too stupid to understand” what another commenter was explaining to them on a local news article about the insurrection at the capital. Not sure if that’s the same as being “suspended” I just can’t post/comment/like anything for awhile and I’ll tell you what, if the intent is to punish me it’s not working very well. I almost wonder what I can do to get a permanent ban that doesn’t require anything that would break a law.
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I dunno. His naivety in thinking that it was a good idea to fly from Hong Kong to Moscow and then not board a flight to Cuba, instead remaining in Moscow, does not mesh well with his claims of being a superspy. He did what he had to to protect himself, but he must have at least understood that Putin would use him as a propaganda tool, if not more. After all, Russia’s whistleblower protection consists of, “This window isn’t that high. You might survive the fall.”
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