Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2017/09/12/this-short-video-clearly-expla.html
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and…
The US becomes a laughing stock
The very idea of democracy is denigrated, since it has resulted in Trump being elected.
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Well, I don’t know if there is that wide of a conspiracy, but it is a compelling argument.
I said from day one, any collusion with Russia isn’t because they want to be friends, it is to weaken the US and strengthen Russia.
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A good video in the specifics, but to be precise it wasn’t the president* who delivered on all those things for his shirtless mancrush. It was instead “the best, really the most elegant” advisors that his Russian oligarch creditors “suggested” (at the behest of Putin) he hire: Manfort, Flynn, Page, Tillerson, etc.
Putin, being an old KGB hand, understands more than most the value of a cut-out.
Really, though, the Russians didn’t bring him into office single-handedly --plenty of blame to be apportioned out there. However, they certainly did their part to help.* The expected ROI was reducing confidence in liberal-democratic institutions – anything else was a bonus.
[* as elsewhere in the West where Putin has meddled]
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This stuff is increasingly getting divorced from reality. In fact, we increased sanctions on Russia: http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/26/europe/russia-us-sanctions/index.html - Trump signed it into law (under duress, but he signed it), and Russia complained bitterly. Not much of a payday. The rest of the stuff is indistinguishable from “Trump is an asshole/isolationist”.
As for Russia bringing Trump into office, I’m still unclear on how exactly they’re meant to have done that - the Wikileaks dumps? Those hardly turned the election - what in them is supposed to have thrown the election to Trump?
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Yes, I understand your points, Reich himself says it’s not proof, and he presents no evidence that Putin rigged the election, but the amount of stuff that looks suspicious is more than just these coincidences.
There is evidence that Putin was meddling in our election, even if it doesn’t mean he was some kind of puppet-master in complete control. It’s not like he needed a guaranteed victory to attempt something, even just sowing discontent would be satisfying. Sanctions hurt, but Russia was already being sanctioned, so it’s not like that would scare him away.
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A conspiracy by definition doesn’t need to be “wide”. Just two people (with or without their proxies). Intent has been proven from the Trump side via Jr’s meeting with Russian lawyer and subsequent admission that the intent was to gather intel to defame Clinton.
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Precisely. If nothing ever come from this it will be solely because of Putin’s savvy and, possibly, tRump advisors’ paranoia. Cheeto is a chump in all ways, but Putin? His aloof and emotionless gamesmanship is a precision weapon.
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Stealing voter roles to be able to accurately target opponents, actively jamming machines in overcrowded and underserved Democratic voting counties, massive targeted Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit campaigns to bombard undecided voters with blatantly false propaganda (current estimates are 10+ impressions or views per voter in a swing state, per day which is a substantial campaign), and then yes, hacking both parties and dumping one parties private data into the lap of an ardent opponent.
And that’s only what’s public.
Regardless of what they got out of it, you’re literally taking the equivalent intellectual stance of a climate change denier by arguing against probable Russian interference in the 2016 election.
In order to dispute that, you’re essentially arguing against over 90% the standing evidence.
And keep in mind, they didn’t JUST hack and disrupt the Presidential election. There are County Commissioners that were attacked.
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The US has meddled in Russian elections and this is just tit for tat. They managed to get a complete dolt elected, we are all squabbling about whether it did or didn’t happen while they move aggressively elsewhere (not that we - the west - haven’t). They are laughing at us and especially Ill Douche.
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Fake News, Is Work Of Moose and Squirrel
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If America pulls out of the TTP is that a bad thing? Isn’t the TTP itself a very bad thing?
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The TTP is one thing. Trump does and doesn’t do many things every day. He has no concept of the workload of a president, since he’s used to being a CEO who inherited his position and toadies.
In other words, focusing on one position is stupid. That’s how we got trump as a president in the first place. He saw people who said “abortion should be illegal” then trump said “women who get abortions should be punished”. The dude has no deeper understanding. He’s a moron in a suit.
Pinning your hopes on one policy change just makes you a dumb footsoldier, when you could consider multiple positions and be your own general.
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I didn’t vote him in. I can’t get to vote him out. But I can get screwed by TTP, so if that goes, I can at least get something out of this terrible situation our American cousins have dumped on us. 
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Sorry.
It’s hard dealing with having to tolerate a commander in chief, who is apparently in charge of a lot of nuclear weapons, and who seems to have the maturity of me as a child, and the intellect of me as a middle schooler.
I shouldn’t wish a leader stupider and more impulsive on any other country.
I shouldn’t ever want someone more stupid than me as president.
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My heart goes out to you and all thinking Americans. Fingers crossed we make it to 2020.
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We have to. Otherwise, it’s the end of the world. Not as we know it. The end.
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I’d say it’s a bad thing as it was prime way of restraining Chinese economic dominance in the Pacific. It certainly is a stupid thing to do if you’re someone, like the president, who wants to crack down on Chinese trade.
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Given the present reality, why would assisting US dominance of the Pacific be a good thing?
