ADDED: It has been suggested that I clarify an important point about this post.
So, dear reader, please understand that the information provided here is my best attempt at analysis of the information that I have available. There is clearly conjecture here. So, of course, read all this with a grain of salt. The size of that grain of salt can be as small or large as you like. I also amended the title of the post.
-gtl
ADDED Feb 1
I'll just be putin' this link here: http://money.cnn.com/2017/02/01/news/fsb-kaspersky-arrests/index.html?sr=twcnni020217fsb-kaspersky-arrests0129AMStoryPhoto&linkId=34031636
The story that I outlined on this blog on November 10th was widely known in the US intelligence community and has been developed and elaborated upon in numerous stages. Pretty much everything we need to know is now known, and we await the appearance of the videos currently in possession of Russian agents, and some other key pieces of information. But the story is credible, outlined in moderate detail, and shocking.
To get up to date, read this.
As I have already noted, I find this story very believable because I already knew the broad outlines and some of the details. I came across this via a contact closer to the famous MI6 spy who put together the dossier than most people are to Kevin Bacon. Over the last several days, more information has been made available, and it would now appear, if these sources are accurate, that Russian intelligence has in its possession multiple copies of videos showing Trump in some sort of sexual activity. Multiple things, multiple occasions, multiple locations in Russia, possibly in both Moscow and St Petersburg, according to a source within the CIA (see link above).
There are also financial dealings worthy of use in blackmail.
Obtaining this kind of information on a person with influence is called "developing an asset" and here, Donald Trump is the asset. So, in just over a week, the executive branch of the United States will be run by a person who is arguabley a Russian FSB asset. We hope it is not true, but if it is, there is no way to sugar coat this: We are screwed. And, personally, I'm convinced this evidence is reliable. (I've discussed elsewhere, see link above, why I think it is reliable.)
We know that the US Congress Gang of Eight had all this information weeks ago. People with links into the intelligence community were aware of this report. People like Mad Dog Mattis, who may become our Secretary of Defense, and who have taken an oath to protect and defend the US from all enemies foreign and domestic, knew about this. Let me restate something I've mentioned elsewhere. According to my contacts in the intelligence community, a) this information was generally known, b) this information was not unexpected given the usual methods of the intelligence agencies and Trump's weaknesses, and c) the source, which is now publicly known, is among the most highly regarded agents alive today. It is becoming increasingly fashionable in the media to discredit this source. An MSNBC commenter yesterday morning called it "apocryphal" (tough, when Senator Franken pointed out that this word, "apocryphal," may not mean what she thinks it means, she seemed to withdraw her statement). Bernie bots are resisting this information because they really want to blame Hillary Clinton for this loss, and if the Russians are in with Trump, that takes it away from them.
But when it comes down to it, the evidence is both unproven and highly likely to be true, in my opinion. And -- this is important -- I'm taking my cues from the same people the Gang of Eight and the various other leaders are taking their cue from. It looks to me like they are all, to an individual, currently engaged in committing an act of treason. They will either have to convincingly disprove the ever hardening Trump-Russia connection or live up to their decision to stand by.
What would be the consequences? Many and severe. Here is a quick theoretical look at one of the more obvious possibilities: a convenient arrangement whereby the Russians control key US decisions that will have great positive, and personal, consequences to Putin, and very negative consequences to the US and to the entire world.
One of Trump's most important appointments is his Secretary of State.
The likely appointment of Rex Tillerson is widely seen as an affront to the Earth's climate, and as a prelude to a period of entrenched denial of climate change. That is probably true. But I strongly suspect, and it is starting to become more generally apparent if you are watching the reporting, that this is not the main reason Tillerson is being placed in this position. Most people also assume that Russia would benefit from a Russia-Friendly Trump administration because Russia wants to weaken NATO, and invade a neighbor here or there. I'm sure that is part of it, but again, there is something more immediate afoot.
Tillerson is being placed in this position because Vladimir Putin, Trump's handler, wants Exxon-Mobil and possibly other international agencies to get on with the business of exploiting Russian oil using technology that the Russians are a bit thin on. This will involve the US lifting sanctions on Russia. While wary Americans are waiting for a Russian invasion of Syria or the cancellation of the Paris agreement, the sanctions will be first ignored, then given special exemption, then weakened, then lifted. The Republicans in Congress will facilitate this because they have no intellectual or emotional power to govern, having jettisoned those qualities the day the first black man was elected President of the United States, as they vowed to make removal of the uppity negro from office their number one, and in fact, sole, objective.
Eight years is apparently enough time to gut a political party of even the smallest iota of ability to govern.
Then, of course, there will also be the expected weakening of NATO, the invasions into neighboring territory unchecked by American interest, and all that.
The other developing problem is with China. Trump and Tillerson have been waving swords at China all along, the most recent coming in yesterday's hearings when Tillerson came an inch away from declaring war on China in the South China Sea. We would be prudent to assume, if the worst is true, that this attack on China comes at the request of Trump's handlers in Moscow. The risk here is a trade war. Or a world war. Or worse.
This Tillerson scenario is increasingly buttressed by the facts and the context. It will be very interesting to see how what Tillerson is saying in hearings holds up with his actions, should he be confirmed.
At the moment, there seems to be only one way to address this problem in the short term, and the corruption of the Republican Party makes this nearly impossible. Impeachment would likely be successful, but the House has to initiate it, and the Senate has to conduct it. As long as both are in Republican hands, we would have to trust the Republican party to do the right thing. That, of course is impossible. They will never, ever do the right thing. Republicans will commit treason before they will stand up as patriots for America. How do we know this? Because they are doing it right now! Everything that is now publicly known about Donald Trump being handled as a Russian asset has been known by those in the know inside the beltway for weeks. For many, some of this was known since the summer. For virtually everyone, most of this was known before the election.
The act of treason being carried out by the Republican Party right now has been going on far longer than one might expect for an entity that would eventually come to its senses. They are not going to change course. They are in it until the end.
So, we are left with Plan B: Impeachment of Donald Trump after the midterms, if the citizens of the United States can get past their deeply held racism and sexism to replace many of the Republican members of the Congress, both houses.
Addendum: Donald Trump Regularly Banged Russian People. It Is Said.
This is interesting, if you can stand listening to it.
Start at about 4:10 for the discussion of Donald Tump banging Russian people.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhqUbW35R3Q
Also of note, near the end when "AJ" threatens to date Trump's daughter, "Anything you have, I can take from you." An oligarch in the making!
One minor takeaway from this interview, relevant to those of you unfamiliar with New York (The City), is this: Donald Trump talks funny, both his accent and the way he constructs streams of non-sentences. This is, of course, how New Yorkers talk unless they are in polite company. I assume Donald Trump does not regard America as polite company.
Also, all the talk about winning. Trump is a winner. The rest of you are losers, I hope you know that. Amiright?
Wrong.
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Okay everyone, now meekly put your tails between your legs, bow your heads down, and sign him into power. Try not to whimper too loudly as you do.
If there is hope, it lies in the proles.
If there were hope, it MUST lie in the proles, because only there in those swarming disregarded masses, 85 per cent of the population of America, could the force to destroy the Party ever be generated. The Party could not be overthrown from within. Its enemies, if it had any enemies, have no way of coming together or even of identifying one another.
But the proles, if only they could somehow become conscious of their own strength, would have no need to conspire. They need only to rise up and shake themselves like a horse shaking off flies. If they chose they could blow the Party to pieces tomorrow morning. Surely sooner or later it must occur to them to do it? And yet --!
-- Nineteen Eighty-four, George Orwell, Pt 1, Chapter 7
You're right Wesley. No one has ever been afraid to publish something negative about Trump. Businesses have pushed back against Trump's call to end business in other countries because they're not afraid of the negative publicity of a tweetstorm by Trump. Trump is not vengeful and does not attack those he perceives as wronging him. Trump does not resort to suing people he has issues with. Trump has a good relationship with the media and welcomes what they have to say about him. Trump is secure in his legitimacy as president-elect. All signs point to a quiet and successful next 4 years.
...just one problem: All of that is false.
Agent implies useful intelligence in the actor, which Trump has never demonstrated. Dupe? Much better.
Did they refuse because the dossier smelled so bad, or because they would,like CNN, even if they just mentioned that it was out there, be refused questions at an invited press conference with the future POTUS and threatened with forcible eviction if they ever tried again?
And buzzfeed has recently shown that the "Rape Melania" poster was produced by the AltRight explicitly to turn up, walk into the protesters, raise that sign and make it look like it were anti-trump protesters who were doing this.
Not just unverified, but verified logs of the tweets,which are collected information by twitter for their service operations.
And confirmed by one of the alt-right members.
AND no deny, just a "So jelly" comment from the alt-right leader who created that heinous sign.
PS your "good read"? Is it just a "good read" because it rubbishes the evidence that russia fucked about with the elections?
And as for waiting for the video, when did you wait for the video that Hilary was taking bribes from Wall Street or whatever the shit was about Benghazi, or whether there were any case against her for the email server???
No need to wait for some video then, was there?
Double standard is the standard for the rightwingnutjobs.
I think that the majority of the GOP congress is dangerously playing with fire here, and there is a substantial chance of their actions (and non-actions) blowing up in their face by mid-term elections if not sooner.
Considering that most conservative voters did not even like Trump (their votes were AGAINST Clinton not FOR Trump), and that he is leading an effort to gut programs that the majority of the people are in favor of, and that the vast majority of Americans do not trust Russian motives, and realize that they are bad world actors, considering all of that and the disgust that even mainstream GOP leaders have for Trump, how can their bowing down to him go well?
There doesn't even have to be a Russian sex/treason scandal to be proven to bring down this house of cards.
What the hell was the GOP thinking!
Dean
polezni durak
What the hell was the GOP thinking!
It wasn't. It's brain filmed over and it went for the win.
Pyrrhic victory.
skeptictmac57, what mid-term elections?
Maybe there won't be any.
How many conservative memes have there been about Obama canceling elections and ruling as a dictator have there been?
Perhaps those were psychological projection.
They were thinking that they deserved power.
And they did whatever it took to win it.
The weird thing is that James Bond villains are now more believable than the entire republican party politicians are.
Small, finger....
He's the man, the man with the Midas touch
A spider's touch
Such a cold finger
Beckons you to enter his web of sin
But don't go in
Golden words he will pour in your ear
But his lies can't disguise what you fear
For a golden world knows when he's kissed her
It's the kiss of death from
Mister Small finger
Pretty girl beware of this heart of gold
This heart is cold
Golden words he will pour in your ear
But his lies can't disguise what you fear
For a…
Net time Drumpf is asked about his business and divestiture, he should say
Mind urine business!
It's YUGE!
Hey, all I'm saying is that I read about his prostitute date in a golden shower. It's out there. I don't know if it's true, nobody knows, except the prostitutes and the KGB. I'm just saying it's out there.
And if he's innocent, why doesn't he show us his long form hotel bill for that time?
Gold, Shower....
He's the man, the man with the midas touch....
I bet the prostitutes were relieved after seeing him when the bill for their services included "Fisting".
No worries. There's bigger tampons.
Not that I'm saying anything, just that there's the accusation out there this is what happened. Nobody knows if it didn't happen.
"Hillary gave us Trump, not Moscow."
The difference in the swing states totalled 80,000 votes.
You saying that the timing of the leaks couldn't have affected the voting even that much???
Obviously you don't live in the USA. Or watch TV. Or read the news.
"He’s the man, the man with the MIDGET touch…."
FTFY there.
I agree that they "did whatever it took". And probably thought that they could control Trump once he took office, but I have a feeling that there is some big 'buyer's remorse' beginning to set in. And he hasn't even taken office yet.
David- Indeed the GOP is and has been pretty guilty of
" psychological projection" when it comes to accusing their opponents. It's like looking directly into their motivations when you listen to them spout their crazy conspiracy nonsense.
I have a hard time believing that they would be so overt as to directly try to overthrow the govt. but then I never believed that they would elect Trump, when he first announced his run.
Seen Deadpool? The bit where his severed hand is growing back.
I wonder if his quality time was ruined by the realisation that it felt like Trump was jerking him off...
We shouldn't take the piss of Donald. He paid good money to have it put on him.
"but I have a feeling that there is some big ‘buyer’s remorse’ beginning to set in. "
Hell yeah.
However, they're getting the looting and raping in even before the Big MickeyD gets in. They're going to cash in then cash out.
Or some of them will.
Buyers remorse is for the ones who don't get enough looting in first while in power, and those who voted for them who aren't millionaires.
And everyone else who isn't a millionaire or leaving the USA in the next six months.
"I have a hard time believing that they would be so overt as to directly try to overthrow the govt."
Go look at TYT for how the politicians are BLATANT about the double standard and their lack of regard for ANY law that gets in their way.
Also note that there's fuck all from the "liberal media" who berated Obama mercilessly for many months over THINKING about a bypass of the filibuster for Obamacare, and not even mentioning that it's actually over and done with for the R's repeal of same.
Very liberal leaning...
The ol' US of A has kind of crashed and burned with this last election. Even if fortune delivered us an early impeachment, we are stuck with Pence, who has the religiosity needed to deliver full scale religio-fascism ( Is there any other kind!)
So crank up the Victrola, put on Vera Lynn singing "We'll Meet Again", and have a good cry. Never thought I'd see the day when Republiicans kiss up to Vladimir Putin, but there you have it. Authoritarians now have their Super Daddy in Kim Don Trump, and it looks like fascism is descending on the land. I blame Reagan for institutionalizing stupidity and opening the flood gates to unrestrained right wing media bile, but maybe it is all just a cycle of nature that the human tribe goes through , inevitably, and inexorably.
Crank up the Dr. Strangelove with Vera Lynn...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15YgdrhrCM8
All Hail Soviet Don and the General Secretary of his Politburo, Vladimir Putin!
War.
War never changes.
Prepare for Fallout: LRPG.
When news started coming out last summer about ties between Trump campaign officials and the Russian government, I found that the most charitable explanation was that Putin considered Trump a useful idiot.
I still consider that the most charitable explanation, but I am less confident now than I was last summer that it is the correct explanation.
And the oddness just keeps on coming.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/dc-national-guard-chief-removed-i…
That is indeed deeply strange. There's a sort of Caligula-ish caprice to it.
'Caprice.' Apparently a larger class of federal workers are being swept out as Trump enters office? (WaPo.) Looks like it may have to do with low hanging fruit and symmetry for the sake of appearing like a man of action-- instead of reasoning out the best timing of things and prioritizing more pressing issues.
Or maybe he just saw an opportunity to be a jerk and took it. Who knows. The pattern seems to be stream of consciousness and let staff invent a reason for it later on. That's bad enough; hopefully it's not something more sinister.
Greg - maybe it's the head cold I have right now but your sentence
"Over the last several days, more information has been made available, and it would not appear, if these sources are accurate,that Russian intelligence has in its possession"
indicates to me that they don't have it - I think you need to get rid of the word "not" in there :)
There seems to be a slice of the American left that still has mixed-up feelings about Russia that are left over from the McCarthy- Viet Nam era. It's as if the US can't be royally f****d up and Russia be a very nasty actor at the same time.
Focus. Trump + Putin. How is this a good thing?
OA- "Looks like it may have to do with low hanging fruit and symmetry for the sake of appearing like a man of action– instead of reasoning out the best timing of things and prioritizing more pressing issues."
C'mon man! Can't you see? Trump is creating jobs!
@~#37
Oops. My bad! You're right. In fact I think I just saw a little jobbie scurry across my back porch!
On the other hand, maybe I should just shelve the scotch for a while...
I am skeptical.
This is not how blackmail works.
One doesn't release the information to the public and then try to threaten the victim.
That is backwards.
Let us suppose this hearsay is accurate.
Can Trump be blackmailed now?
I don't think so.
Why aren't the prostitutes trying for their 15 minutes of fame or trying to sell their story or get a book deal?
I will believe it when the tape is released.
Until then this is all just hearsay and yellow journalism.
dean #26.
I think Trump is going for a clean sweep of all political appointees.
The resignation during the ceremony is probably just symbolic.
And what do you take from that? Rick?
After all, he just ignored CNN at the official press conference. Saying "just" doesn't make it a mere petty detail.
So what do you want to actually say?
"One doesn’t release the information to the public and then try to threaten the victim. "
But wasn't the information released by buzzfeed? Are you saying that Buzzfeed are working for the Russian government?
Gadzooks! A reverse strawman.
The Russians have admitted nothing. You are backwards, again.
Which reminds me.
When are you going to acknowledge that you were mistaken about the definition of climate sensitivity and about the fundamental relationship between CS and natural variability?
"Let us suppose this hearsay is accurate.
Can Trump be blackmailed now?
I don’t think so."
As long as Trump insists that it's false, it's still blackmail material.
It's only after he's outed himself that it is no longer blackmail material: there's no point threatening to release the information when the victim has already released the information and confirmed the accusation is true.
So, as long as trump is trying to take the piss out of the public and insisting it's all fake news, it's still usable material.
After all, he can't say it's fake news when it's all been verified and seen everywhere (with the re-tune of the porn filter to black out "Orange" rather than "Pink"), so he can still be threatened.
And by insisting it's fake, Trump is indicating that it would be harmful to him, he thinks (remember, the leak has to be considered harmful by the victim for it to be usable).
So Trump disagrees with you, rick.
Presumably, it wasn't the people who were supposedly blackmailing him that released the information, it was leaked to an former MI6 agent from his contacts in Russia.
If it turns out that any of this is true, I would not want to be one of those who did the leaking. Putin does not play around!
" Bernie bots are resisting this information because they really want to blame Hillary Clinton for this loss"
Uhm, whert????
citation pls for a start.
Second, this was all long before the presidential election, so any fucking about done by russia to get trump on the throne would not care whether the orangutan's opponent was hilary or bernie, they'd just have to use different tactics.
Third, TYT is pretty much your definition of Bernie Bots.
Not even a slight hint of what you say. They seem to be going "Sucks, think it's wrong, but Trump got the election, lets deal with reality". All they still say about Bernie is how he;s now, for a change, getting media attention with what he says for a change, and how he's still strong and hasn't tucked his tail between his legs.
Nowt there about russia being to blame for Bernie's loss. Only the DNC established figures being to blame for Bernie's loss, and they're accepting that loss,and pointing out that this may not have been if Bernie had won the nomination. Fairly safe thing to say given that this would require a time machine to test the claim.
I think you're letting the faked "Bernie Bros are all sexist women haters, hence they don't want Hillary to win" rhetoric that the organiser of which now apologises for having done get to you and pocketed it away where nothing will ever damage the idea.
Drop it like you want the bernie bots to drop the idea that bernie should have won.
RickA. Gotta admire the lad. Always there with two thirds of the comments on every Greg Laden post. And always wrong. Full credit for determination, though.
So, Ricky... with all roads leading to Rome, what ya gonna say if Drumpf gets his comeuppance, and either never gets to take office, or loses it in the first few months? Will that be the fault of us 'libruls'?
Frankly though, I'm more worried about the threat of thermonuclear war. Something I haven't had to worry much about since the 70's.
@Doug Alder (#29): I noticed that too, and you're right.
metzo writes [regarding RickA] "And always wrong."
What I find fascinating are the RickAs, angechs, and Canmans of the blogosphere that seem to have an unwavering sense of being intelligent and correct -- despite hundreds of instances where they are simply and easily proven wrong by people with actual expertise. Heck, most of the time it doesn't even take actual expertise to prove them wrong, just an ability to find and read a few reliable websites.
I realize this is the essence of Dunning-Kruger; people with deficient skill sets are unable to realize that they have deficient skill sets precisely because they have a deficient skill set. Still, it's amazing to watch it happen over and over and over again.
These people seem to have no ability to objectively look at their past beliefs and realize their mistakes and errors. Or, if they do, it still doesn't change their optimism that they are correct *this* time despite a track record of always being wrong.
Obviously their brains are wired completely differently and no self-admission of being generally inept at reaching correct answers is ever entertained.
Kevin- #43 You might be interested in this latest podcast episode of You Are Not So Smart by David McRaney
https://soundcloud.com/youarenotsosmart/093-the-backfire-effect-part-one
It's on the Backfire Effect, which you may already be familiar with, but it highlights the powerful effect that 'in group' tribal instincts might be driving this kind of intractable motivated reasoning that make people impervious to facts and data.
I think we have to go back to Nixon to find the level of malevolent psychopathy that we see in Russian Agent Orange. . Oh, and did I tell you that Trump and Henry Kissinger have a mutual admiration society going on? So when the butcher of Indochina mates up with Mr. Smallfingers, look out world! I expect war, and soon. I don't know if it is their indifference to human life, or some form of sadism, but people like Trump and Kissinger seem to be indifferent to, or maybe even enjoy the carnage of war. So don't be surprised if we are all involved in a war some time soon. It is, I think, a necessary part of the "greatness" campaign.
So here is what I'm fearing. Trump starts a war. Accuses protestors of treason and maybe executes a few... to the cheers of country western fans and red states.. Overt resistance stops. Survival in Murka starts to require abject overt allegiance to Kim Don Trump. The question in my mind is this - is there enough collective moral fiber, selflessness, courage and intelligence to be had among the general population to keep this malignant scenario from coming to pass? Thus far, Trump has cut through all his political obstacles like a hot knife through butter. Sooner or later he has to hit something that stops him.... doesn't he?? Sooner or later he has to run into something more massive than himself... but he could last for years before he finds it. And by then he has a bevy of trained, malignant sons to succeed him.
Oh world, you are so toast.
SteveP, it would be war with China.
His Orangeness wants to be the one & only Mao Ze Don, plus he could never attack his superior, Vladimir Putin -- so China it is!
No, Trump would;t go to war with China. For a start,his ties and the linen at his hotels are made there.
Secondly, he wants to go to war with CHYNYA.
Totally different country, nothing he buys is made there, so it's a safe target.
I'm with you, Greg. BTW if you haven't read this, please do so: http://www.businessinsider.com/russia-connections-to-the-alt-right-2016… What it's about: Russia is seen as a white nationalist utopia by the US "alt right," including their leading spokespeople. Thus all of our complaining about Russian influence may actually work to Trump's advantage with that crowd. Paradox of the century: the right is in bed with Russia, the left is sounding the alarm.
Metzomagic@41: On thermonuclear war: A scenario. Russia and China get together and decide to split the world between them, after taking out the US. They simultaneously launch a "counterforce" strike to take out our strategic missiles and Air Force bases, and inform us that any attempt by the US to retaliate will be met with a massive launch against civilian population centers. Trump "prudently" and "pragmatically" surrenders, and the US is put under joint Chinese and Russian control. Russia gets the Eastern part up to the Missouri, China gets the Western part up to the Rockies, and the middle part is left to fester. Russia also gets Alaska, that they have wanted for some time now. BTW, 4-1/2 feet of earth overhead is enough to protect you from radioactive fallout. If you own any sort of property you can put that fact to good use.
Though they have the mental problem of Snowden being given sanctuary from the USA there. Doing like Snowden? EEEEW!
Denial will likely have to be their only option.
One more thing: this entire debacle, that I think of as "Russia won WW3 without firing a shot," was made possible because "all the respectable people" a) first thought Trump couldn't possibly win (all the polling converged to 90+% probability of HRC win), and b) everyone just "did their job" as if "business as usual," rather than pulling the fire alarm and using whatever means could be used to stop it. Then at stage c) after he "won" (3 million popular votes to the contrary), the "just doing their job" and "business as usual" attitude have continued. This is how dictatorships start: "it can't possibly happen here" and then "there's nothing we can do." The historic parallels are clear and alarming as hell.
(all the polling converged to 90+% probability of HRC win)
Lie.
The polls put Hilary 3% ahead rather than 2% behind, and they acknowledged a 3% error in the polling and therefore put Trump winning at 33% days before the vote.
And oddly the clinton lead, which had been months before the vote showing a massive lead in chances to win (but not a landslide vote advantage), showed them getting closer and closer every time Hilary was investigated or the media talked about her having a server for emails like other secretaries before her, and yet again when the media repeated the CIA(?) report on her staffers' boyfriends' email hack.
Every time the media talked about what Hilary "did wrong", she lost a bit of the lead. Every time the media repeated accusations of Hilary's fraud or complicity with businesses,she lost MORE lead.
When Trump was caught talking about grabbing pussy, his rating went up a bit. When he talked racist bullshit, his ratings went up (and you say his supporters aren't racist??? You might say you aren't, and not be, but you can't whine about his supporters being called racist with THIS evidence, you have to put up with fleas when you lie with dogs.), when he settled out of court for fraud with his "university", his ratings were unaffected.
UNAFFECTED. HE PAID UP FOR HIS FRAUD!!!! Yet Hilary on the ACCUSATION??? Oh, man, that hurt her polling.
Why?
IMO the deplorables voted for Trump, and the more deplorable he got, the better they liked him.
The decent voted for Hilary, and the more was talked about her accusations, the less they liked her.
And given the completely fucked up two party system you run there, there was no option for some of the decent to vote for trump and hope like shit that it would be survivable whilst the message sunk through to the politicians that "none of the above" was the preferred option, but it wasn't available, and they sure as hell weren't offering anyone else.
So don't you fucking sit there and blame decent people or polling predictions and absolve russia and the deplorables for this shit.
If you didn't vote because "I'm not Trump" was not good enough reason, the most you can be blamed for is not voting for a bad candidate or being fooled by a biased but still-so-called liberal mainstream media that is anything but liberal.
If you voted for Trump as protest,make sure you hold the senate and house to task to do their job, or you will take on the responsiblity of helping fuck things up for a nominally good idea of giving the established political classes a wake-up call. When you give a wake-up call, you have to make sure they're damn well getting out of bed and getting dressed. You can't just go "Well, I gave them a wake up call. Not my fault they turned over in their bed and went back to sleep!".
And don't avoid blaming every thing, even if it's smaller than"the big issue here", because all this means is that to distract you from something terrible, they merely have to manufacture a bigger thing to divert you like a magpie to the shinies.
E.g. the list of deplorables Trump is pushing for positions he's already emptying. Dozy in charge of housing will just funnel the housing dollars to Trump Industries to build expensive (to bill) homes for the homeless who shouldn't, in Dozy's opinion, be allowed to have a home unless they've got a job, in which case, they don't need government housing). But we're not looking at that, we are looking at PissGate.
Not that we shouldn't be talking about PissGate (or, for TV, GoldenGate).
We should be talking about that AND the stuffing of the corrupt and incompetent and bribable into highoffice by someone who is the chief corrupt and incompetent bribable orange baboon, Drumpf, the Hitler Youth Gone Old.
When it comes to how people have been the VICTIM of misinformation, watch this youtube clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8o311_OPmxY
(if this eats youtube links, it's /watch?v=8o311_OPmxY )
Obamacare? Socialist failure. ACA? Brilliant, love it!
And note that one person has, it is claimed, said after being corrected, "Oh, I might be racist. I need to rethink things. I just hate everything with Obama".
Because the MSM loathed Obama when he's up against the conservative system, loved him when he's up against liberal systems, and those who were partisan on teh right saw only the second when they thought if the media were liberal, and ingested without remembering the source, the first part, where everything Obama did was bad and communistic and Muslim Kenya-ist.
A fooling of the public by the MSM that, unfortunately, many of those fooled were willing participants in, since it gave them the illusion of control and a scapegoat to blame.
That may, to some, seem opposite to the post above, but remember the last bit: don't concentrate on one facet because it seems "bigger", because misdirection relies on that psychological loophole to fool you. Your only defence is to realise you don't have a defence and are just as vulnerable to it.
That is the cornerstone of the scientific method of personal self-scepticism (which is different from self-doubt).
Re #53. Skillful messaging.....the MSM constantly calls it Obamacare instead of the Affordable Care Act, or ACA.
A1 is substantially equal to A, but it is “advantageous” for me if you believe that it is totally not.. So I willfully cause your perception of A1 to be distorted, corrupted, fouled, substituted. I purposefully confuse you. I foul your detectors. I cut your sensors. I throttle your flow of information. I distract you with something else. Then, it is easier for me to lead you where I want you to go, to get you to do what I want you to do. In this model, deceit is a control function. The game of Deceit require two actors with different goals. It is a method that deceivers use to gain control of the deceived. A viceroy butterfly looks like the highly distasteful monarch butterfly, and it thereby decieves birds into thinking that it is not a tasty meal, and the birds leave it alone. Very advantageous.
Similarly, Agent Orange has deceived the white nationalist males of America that he will deliver them back into the 1940's. He has deceived the Republicans that he is their friend. He has deceived some women and some minorities into thinking that he will help them. In truth, he is more likely a sociopathic killer who can't wait to start killing people..
We really have to overturn Agent Orange's messaging system as soon as effing humanly possible.
Agent Orange has very successfully used deception get the unsuspecting to think that he and they are working towards a common goal when in fact, the common goal is for the benefit of a few. Or just one. Or maybe two. Putin and Trump.
It also helps when you say good things are the result of ACA but never call it Obamacare in that scenario.
Since Obamacare is always in a conversation about cost rises and communism, and ACA is always in a conversation about saving lives and helping 20 million Americans, they CAN'T be the same thing.
Thing is, Democrats helped let that happen.
They should either have abandoned Obamacare and insisted on ACA, or they should have ALWAYS called it Obamacare and if ACA is mentioned, say "You mean Obamacare, right?
http://www.mprnews.org/story/2017/01/19/mpr_news_presents