Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Slate reveals the importance of the Russian DNC e-mail hack.

Source
Courtesy of Slate: 

A foreign government has hacked a political party’s computers—and possibly an election. It has stolen documents and timed their release to explode with maximum damage. It is a strike against our civic infrastructure. And though nobody died—and there was no economic toll exacted—the Russians were aiming for a tender spot, a central node of our democracy. 

It was hard to see the perniciousness of this attack at first, especially given how news media initially covered the story. The Russians, after all, didn’t knock out a power grid. And when the stolen information arrived, it was dressed in the ideology of WikiLeaks, which presents its exploits as possessing a kind of journalistic bravery the traditional media lacks. 

 .............

What’s galling about the WikiLeaks dump is the way in which the organization has blurred the distinction between leaks and hacks. Leaks are an important tool of journalism and accountability. When an insider uncovers malfeasance, he brings information to the public in order to stop the wrongdoing. That’s not what happened here. The better analogy for these hacks is Watergate. To help win an election, the Russians broke into the virtual headquarters of the Democratic Party. The hackers installed the cyber-version of the bugging equipment that Nixon’s goons used—sitting on the DNC computers for a year, eavesdropping on everything, collecting as many scraps as possible. This is trespassing, it’s thievery, it’s a breathtaking transgression of privacy. It falls into that classic genre, the dirty trick. Yet that term feels too innocent to describe the offense. Nixon’s dirty tricksters didn’t mindlessly expose the private data of low-level staff. 

 ..............

The DNC dump may not have revealed a conspiracy that could end a candidacy, but it succeeded in casting a pall of anxiety over this election. We know that the Russians have a further stash of documents from the DNC and another set of document purloined from the Clinton Foundation. In other words, Vladimir Putin is now treating American democracy with the same respect he accords his own. The best retaliation isn’t a military one, or to respond in kind. It’s to defeat his pet candidate and to force him to watch the inauguration of the woman he so abhors.

Yes this is a big fucking deal, and we need to start treating it like it's big fucking deal.

Vladimir Putin is attempting to alter an American presidential election so that the tough minded candidate that he fears will lose, and the orange tinted candy ass he can control will win.

You know in the old Republican party even a hint of collusion with Russia would have inspired them to take their candidate out behind RNC headquarters and beat him with axe handles until he promised to surrender the nomination and leave the country on the next flight to Moscow.

This new RNC is run by a bunch of traitorous wimps.

83 comments:

  1. Anonymous4:38 AM

    Gryph, what's up with your Wickersham's foliage graphic covering a good portion of your new post. I clicked on the edge to edge nature picture and it opened a new window (Wickersham). I was able to read the new post from the 3rd from bottom of it. Have no idea what you said ahead of that.

    Fix it please.

    dowl

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous4:41 AM

    On topic:

    http://chuckleaduck.com/comic/time-to-lift-the-veil/

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous4:51 AM

    What's the big deal?

    ~Netanyanu sees nothing wrong with showing up to give speeches to our Congress hectoring us into going to war with Iran.
    ~during our last presidential elections Blitzer hosted a CNN "Foreign Policy" debate that consisted of nothing more than propaganda about Israel.
    ~Hillary recently gave a speech at AIPAC HQ that was more belligerent than anyrhin Dubyas' neo-cons could have dreamed up.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous8:34 AM

      Gryph is just pissed that faulty candidate Hillary might get caught with her pantsuit down and be exposed beyond her or the DNC's ability to control.

      "Courtesy of Slate:" Larf...


      Delete
    2. Anonymous2:12 PM

      Jeb went running off to Germany right after he announced. Everyone is chums I guess.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous5:05 AM

    Your page has a large photo from WC and a beautiful bird spread across it from top to bottom, and side to side. Not sure if it's covering any of your text, but very disconcerting.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Arrrrgghhh...Wickersham's Conscience photo is blocking most of the text in this entry.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Should be fixed now.

      But I have no idea how that could even happen.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous5:32 AM

      I thought it was just my computer, has Putin hacked IM?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous5:41 AM

      Maybe Sarah got in touch with Putin
      after getting his number from Trump
      to screw up your blog....lol

      Delete
    4. Anonymous5:47 AM

      Obviously Putin hacked your blog. Sarah paid him to do it.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous5:47 AM

      Yes, it is fixed, but there is still that creepy photo of putin with little donnie :)

      Delete
  6. Anonymous5:42 AM

    Why are we not too surprised by this turn of affairs? The GOP Congressional majority has been committing sedition since January 2009. Why not add treason to he mix?
    Beaglemom

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous6:09 AM

      but, but, but, The Donald thinks he is waaaaay smarter than Putin.

      Yea right, Trump goes after his opponents with twitter tantrums, while Putin uses poison.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous6:04 AM

    Russian Hackers Altered Emails Before Release to Wikileaks - Updated

    http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/7/26/1552616/-Russian-Hackers-Altered-Emails-Before-Release-to-Wikileaks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous7:10 AM

      vIn 2007, he praised Putin for “rebuilding Russia.” A year later he added, “He does his work well. Much better than our Bush.” When Putin ripped American exceptionalism in a New York Times op-ed in 2013, Trump called it “a masterpiece.” Despite ample evidence, Trump denies that Putin has assassinated his opponents: “In all fairness to Putin, you’re saying he killed people. I haven’t seen that.” In the event that such killings have transpired, they can be forgiven: “At least he’s a leader.” And not just any old head of state: “I will tell you that, in terms of leadership, he’s getting an A.”"Which is to say, Americans should regard any “leaks” published by Wikileaks in the coming weeks leading up to the 2016 presidential elections with a grain of salt."

      Delete
  8. Anonymous6:08 AM

    Hillary Clinton is not perfect; no candidate is perfect. But she is highly qualified and in winning the Democratic nomination she did make history. But not because she is a woman, but because besides defeating her worthy male opponent, she won the nomination after all manner of attacks from the entire Republican establishment over the past 23 years. It may be why Russia’s punk-ass Commie leader that Hillary owned as Secretary of State inserted himself in the nominating process to help his underling Donald Trump who now has to face the woman an entire party, House Republicans, Karl Rove and Russian spies failed to stop from winning the nomination.

    http://www.politicususa.com/2016/07/27/hillary-clintons-democratic-nomination-massive-victory-republicans.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous6:24 AM

      In 1995, Walmart Thought The Phrase ‘Someday A Woman Will Be President’ Was Offensive

      In 1995 Walmart pulled "Someday a woman will be president" T-shirt from shelves, saying it offended "family values."

      http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/1995-walmart-woman-president-offensive_us_5798b1cbe4b0d3568f853f9e?section=

      Delete
    2. Anonymous7:01 AM

      23 years? You don't know the Clintons, the GOP was after her when she was First Lady of Arkansas in the 80s. She was an uppity woman even then, didn't know her place.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous8:47 AM

      And you know what she was doing while First Lady of Arkansas and then of the US, she was working to help children and families get decent healthcare and early education. The kind of things that drives the GOP wild.
      Beaglemom

      Delete
    4. Anonymous8:48 AM

      And you know what she was doing while First Lady of Arkansas and then of the US, she was working to help children and families get decent healthcare and early education. The kind of things that drives the GOP wild.
      Beaglemom

      Delete
  9. Anonymous6:09 AM

    Der Trumpinator HAS to cozy up to Vlad, US banks will not do business with him anymore. He has screwed too many of them over with bad deals. I bet Vlad thinks Donald is nuts also too, just like most of us do.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous6:25 AM

      Oops! Trump Accidentally Discovers Truth About Fox News

      http://crooksandliars.com/2016/07/oops-trump-accidentally-discovers-truth

      Delete
  10. Anonymous6:09 AM

    An Awesome Collection of Stars Assemble for Hillary Clinton’s Fight Song

    Donald Trump said he was going to put on a real show full of stars, and he ended up with a poorly received convention of doom and gloom, while Hillary Clinton has star after star lining up to speak and sing for her.

    http://www.politicususa.com/2016/07/27/elizabeth-banks-star-studded-video-tribute-hillary-called-fight-song.html

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous6:13 AM

    O/T Looks like we still have a long way to go ladies:

    Front page: Hillary makes history and most of the photos were of Bill, then we have the stupid comment from Andrea Mitchell last night: “Hillary was really playing the gender card…..”

    http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/7/27/1553086/-Clinton-Makes-History-Newspaper-Front-Pages-From-Across-the-United-States-of-America

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous6:58 AM

      Andrew Mitchell is a pig. She is only fit to smell Sarah Palin's ass.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous7:19 AM

      FUCK Andrea Mitchell She is MARRIED to one of the DESIGNERS of this WHOLE FUCKED UP MESS.
      "The fact is that the two Chairmen of the Federal Reserve who served under the Bush administration are Jewish: Alan Greenspan, was appointed in 1986 by President Reagen, and Ben S. Bernanke, the present Chairman, who replaced Greenspan after being appointed by President Bush.
      This is a RACKET (crime), a systematised element of organized crime. By OLD, NASTY WHITE MEN. Everything is about>
      $EX!, BULLYing, MONEY!!!!!!!

      Delete
    3. Anonymous8:04 AM

      What the hell piece of antisemitic bullshit are you quoting there? Go back to Stormfront with the rest of your kind.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous9:10 AM

      @7:19 Add in KOCK suckers Koch Bros, Roger Aile$ and Rup pervert Murdoch.
      MOST WANTED> Dick Fucking Cheney.
      The list goes on and on and on....
      Must be shit getting old 1st dude two toned toady? The Russian pipeline has begun to burst.
      https://malialitman.com/2013/05/22/letter-to-sarah-palin-inviting-a-denial-of-the-description-of-todds-anatomy/

      "Hopefully people will treat her with the scorn that she has earned. Hopefully we will make America great again by ridding ourselves of both Donald Trump and Sarah Palin."
      https://malialitman.com/2016/07/25/most-republicans-are-apologizing-for-trump-why-not-sarah/

      https://malialitman.com/2016/07/21/the-whole-world-is-watching-the-corrupt-behavior-of-the-secret-service-national-press-picks-up-story-of-foia-documents/

      https://malialitman.com/2016/07/22/so-many-examples-of-secret-service-corruption-that-a-second-article-is-necessary/

      tic toc, TICK TOCK...
      PERSEVERANCE MALIA!

      Delete
    5. Anonymous10:29 AM

      " Their goal is to get ten percent of the Jewish vote alienated against Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and swing 10 percent of the Jewish vote."

      read more: http://www.haaretz.com/world-news/u-s-election-2016/1.733246

      Delete
    6. Anonymous11:10 AM

      How is that relevant, 10:29? Are you saying there's some kind of Jewish conspiracy? Is this to make up for or justify the antisemitic shit 7:19 posted?

      Delete
  12. Anonymous6:13 AM

    Assange, Avowed Foe of Clinton, Timed Email Release for Democratic Convention

    Six weeks before the anti-secrecy organization WikiLeaks published an archive of hacked Democratic National Committee emails ahead of the Democratic convention, the organization’s founder, Julian Assange, foreshadowed the release — and made it clear that he hoped to harm Hillary Clinton’s chances of winning the presidency.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/27/us/politics/assange-timed-wikileaks-release-of-democratic-emails-to-harm-hillary-clinton.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous1:01 PM

      Assange didn't write the e-mails.

      Neither did Putin.

      Had there been nothing to find, this would have been minor and direction at Wikileaks and Russia justified. Not saying it isn't important.

      But seems to me there is misdirection going on to cover up the fact of what Debbie Wasserman Schultz and the DNC DID! They wrote the e-mails. Now they've been caught so they are pointing fingers at the messenger in the hopes Democrats will do exactly what they are doing. Forget the content and kill the messenger.

      Delete
  13. Anonymous6:19 AM

    Spy Agency Consensus Grows That Russia Hacked D.N.C.

    American intelligence agencies have told the White House they now have “high confidence” that the Russian government was behind the theft of emails and documents from the Democratic National Committee, according to federal officials who have been briefed on the evidence.

    But intelligence officials have cautioned that they are uncertain whether the electronic break-in at the committee’s computer systems was intended as fairly routine cyberespionage — of the kind the United States also conducts around the world — or as part of an effort to manipulate the 2016 presidential election.

    The emails were released by WikiLeaks, whose founder, Julian Assange, has made it clear that he hoped to harm Hillary Clinton’s chances of winning the presidency.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/27/us/politics/spy-agency-consensus-grows-that-russia-hacked-dnc.html

    Why Security Experts Think Russia Was Behind the D.N.C. Breach

    http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/27/world/europe/russia-dnc-hack-emails.html

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous6:22 AM

    Watch Hillary Clinton Break The Glass Ceiling

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/hillary-clinton-glass-ceiling_us_579827fee4b0d3568f85272e?section=

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous6:43 AM

    This Scary Message From Obama Is Why EVERYONE Needs To Vote For Hillary (VIDEO)

    http://addictinginfo.org/2016/07/27/this-scary-message-from-obama-is-why-everyone-needs-to-vote-for-hillary-video/

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous6:51 AM

    Hillary Clinton made a surprise live appearance at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday night, surprising those in the arena and setting off a raucous ovation.

    The Democratic nominee made the appearance via satellite following the personal and, eventually, rousing prime-time speech delivered by President Bill Clinton.

    Video courtesy of ABC News:

    http://www.politicususa.com/2016/07/27/hillary-clinton-surprise-satellite-appearance-dnc.html

    ReplyDelete
  17. 66gardeners6:59 AM

    Trump is giving a presser. Sounds like he is about to lose it, Splodey heads aspoldin, if you will. Good times! If our country wasn't put at stake, it might almost be funny.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous8:44 AM

      I know that, at some point during this or a speech, Trump called President Obama the "most ignorant president" we've ever had. You just can't make this stuff up. Trump is a raving lunatic. And the reporters who are covering him are giving him a free ride.
      Beaglemom

      Delete
  18. Anonymous7:01 AM

    What's Going on With Putin and Trump and Why It's a Big, Big Deal

    ...For me you start with a series of highly disturbing and dangerous comments by Trump about Russia and NATO. As I noted a couple weeks ago, our relative peaceful and prosperous world is far from the natural or only possible order of things. Things can get bleak very quickly, especially when you're stupid. Trump's comments are far more than highly questionable foreign policy ideas. He seems unable to understand high level geopolitics as anything more than a protection racket with him running for American mob boss. Even if Trump is no more than ignorant, impulsive and stupid, these are highly disturbing intimations of a Trump presidency that should have everyone across the political spectrum taking note and re-evaluating what sort of situation we're dealing with.

    But that's not all there is. On top of that you have very high level advisors to Trump who have been deeply immersed in the Putin world of dirty politics and energy concessions that characterizes Putin's Russia and the post-Soviet successor states. Those associations might simply be unsavory if the candidate were an experienced political figure or surrounded by knowledgable advisors. Neither is the case.

    Is that connected to this in some way? Simply the influence of people who've operated in that world on a man who won't take the time to learn anything about geopolitics beyond the geopolitics of licensing deals and hotel properties?

    Then you see that Trump seems to have relied in recent years quite a lot on investment capital from Russia and Russian oligarchs surrounding Putin.

    I think if you really understand the stakes involved with Trump's comments about NATO and Europe alone and then layer on the advisors who's been operating in that world and the high volume of money flowing in Trump's direction, the entirely rational response is to say, let's put the brakes on here and figure out what we're dealing with.

    http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/what-this-is-really-about

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous7:10 AM

    Trump is really a sleeper agent for Putin, that is what I heard, people are saying, I don't know but that is what I heard.

    That is why Donald is not releasing his tax returns because he is owned by Russia, I don't know but that is what I heard.

    The Donald is really Russian Orthodox and was born in Moscow that is why he won't show us his birth certificate. I will prove this just as soon as my agents return from Siberia.
    The real reason he marries woman from eastern European countries is to hide the fact he is not American. They thought there was a green card in the deal.

    See Donald, we can also spread the rumors or are they?

    --------------
    Donald Trump will not release his taxes

    ..."It has nothing to do with Russia, it has nothing to do with any country other than the United States and his normal tax auditing process," Manafort added.

    Of course not. Manafort, with his ties to pro-Russian politicians in the Uktraine can be totally trusted on that point.

    How much money does Trump owe to Russian oligarchs? We don’t know.
    How much is Trump paying in taxes? We don’t know.
    Did Trump give anything to charity? We don’t know.
    What’s Trump actually worth? We don’t know.
    Trump has already said he's afraid to release his taxes because he knows they contain items that could be used against him.

    Trump loves to brag that he’s “tough.” But apparently he’s not tough enough to face telling the American people the truth about his taxes.

    http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/07/27/1553110/-Donald-Trump-will-not-release-his-taxes?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dailykos%2Findex+(Daily+Kos)




    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous7:25 AM

    OT?“How many consulates and embassies were attacked when Bush was president?” Twenty,” Begala said. “Sixty-six people were killed. How many congressional investigations? Zero. How many frontpage stories? Zero.

    ReplyDelete
  21. This increases my worry about our electronic voting system. How safe is it from foreign hackers--or any hackers?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous7:39 AM

      BINGO!!! Dominion Voting Systems
      Just the NAME alone tells all.
      http://www.dominionvoting.com/company
      want a job in Belgrade Serbia? 3 Available...

      Delete
    2. Anonymous2:55 PM

      I have never trusted them.

      Delete
  22. Anonymous7:32 AM

    “We’re not involved in Russia”, we just owe them huuge amounts of money!!!

    ------------
    Trump Has Fallen Into Hillary Clinton’s Trap By Refusing To Release His Tax Returns

    ..... Meanwhile, Trump is accusing Democrats of spreading a conspiracy theory. In an interview with CBS4 Miami, Trump said, “I can tell you I think if I came up with that they’d say, ‘Oh, it’s a conspiracy theory, it’s ridiculous. I mean I have nothing to do with Russia. I don’t have any jobs in Russia. I’m all over the world, but we’re not involved in Russia.”

    If Trump wants people to be one hundred percent certain that he is not being backed by the Russians, he should release his tax returns. By refusing to show people his tax returns, he is playing into the hands of Hillary Clinton. ....

    http://www.politicususa.com/2016/07/27/trump-fallen-hillary-clintons-trap-refusing-release-tax-returns.html

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous7:37 AM

    During Live Press Conference Trump Asks Putin To Hack The US To Find Clinton Emails

    ...Trump said, “If it is Russia, which it’s probably not, nobody knows who it is, But if it is Russia, it’s really bad for a different reason, because it shows how little respect they have for our country. When they would hack into a major party and get everything, but it would be interesting. I will tell you this. Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you find the thirty thousand emails that are missing. I think you’ll probably be rewarded mightily by our press. Let’s see if that happens next.”

    Donald Trump is about to get national security briefings, and he just invited the Russian government to hack the US government in an attempt to find Hillary Clinton’s emails.

    http://www.politicususa.com/2016/07/27/live-press-conference-trump-asks-putin-hack-find-clinton-emails.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cracklin Charlie8:16 AM

      "Nobody knows who it is"?

      I think Assface sounds a little worried. Surely he knows that hackers leave a trail that can be traced. On second thought, he probably doesn't.

      Guess what, Sporkhands?
      This is not going away.

      Delete
  24. Anonymous7:39 AM

    The rethugs worship ronnie so much I would love to see someone ask them what they think ronnie would have to say about a gop nominee conspiring with the russians. Ask. Them.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Anonymous7:42 AM

    Can someone hack Trump's tax returns?

    ReplyDelete
  26. Anonymous7:42 AM

    Trump encourages Russia to hack Clinton's email

    http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/trump-putin-no-relationship-226282


    Someone is off his meds again:

    http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/07/27/1553117/-Donald-Trump-is-having-a-press-conference-What-will-he-say-this-time?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dailykos%2Findex+(Daily+Kos)

    ReplyDelete
  27. Anonymous7:43 AM

    Check the Citizens United ruling. Pretty sure that foreign espionage, interference in elections and public disclosure of private email correspondence is protected free speech, according to the majority conservative block of SCOTUS. And even if it isn't now, it surely will be when President Drumpf reveals his U.S. Constitution 2.0 on Coronation Day in 2017.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous9:30 AM

      Surely you jest.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:26 AM

      @930

      Yes.

      And don't call me Shirley.

      Delete
  28. Anonymous7:56 AM

    That son of a bitch Trump needs to go down as the traitor that he is.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Anonymous7:59 AM

    So the DNC's emails have been monitored by 'whoever' for a year now, and about a month ago Trump promised that he had something big that was going to bring Hillary down. One could put all that together and surmise that He has known about this for a long time, and that could lead one to speculate that he has been in on it from the start. Notice how I, lacking facts, am not stating my thoughts as 'facts'. Just sayin'... wouldn't put it passed him..... makes sense to me....

    ReplyDelete
  30. Anonymous8:00 AM

    "Kreminologists were beginning to predict the downfall of the man who has ruled Russia with an iron fist for over a decade and a half, and discussing the-day-after-Putin.
    "the fact that Trump has been trying to do business in Russia for three decades, arriving for the first time in still-Communist Moscow in 1987 to erect one of his gargantuan hotels. None of Trump’s repeated forays to the Soviet Union and then Russia resulted in any actual projects, with the exception of the Miss Universe 2013 pageant in Moscow. But his Russian ties yielded him financial benefits in other areas. After his two major bankruptcies in 2004 and 2008, when no American bank was prepared to extend him any further credit, it was shadowy investment funds controlled by Russian oligarchs that bailed him out and allowed him to continue building.
    "The strategy is clear: to propagate the idea that Clinton is equally corrupt and every bit as bad as Trump, and make the young left-wing, idealistic Sanders voters stay at home on Election Day, or vote for the no-hoper Green Party candidate Jill Stein. These votes will be lost to Clinton, and who knows, may be the votes she needs to beat Trump in crucial battleground states.
    Trump has responded to the speculation, tweeting yesterday, “The new joke in town is that Russia leaked the disastrous DNC e-mails, which should never have been written (stupid), because Putin likes ME.”
    read more: http://www.haaretz.com/world-news/u-s-election-2016/.premium-1.733265
    GOOD READ ^^^^

    ReplyDelete
  31. Anonymous8:20 AM

    Trump press conference, he invited Russia to hack computers to help him win - Donald Trump: ‘I Hope’ Russia Hacked Clinton’s Email Servers

    "By actively hoping that American servers were hacked by another nation, Trump broke an unwritten but cardinal rule of American public office: You don’t root against the United States, even when your political opponent is in power."

    Even Pence had the common sense to immediately distance himself from Trump


    Regardless of party or platform, American public officials are expected to champion U.S. interests and defend U.S. national security. Trump seemed to do the opposite Wednesday.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-russia-hack_us_5798d1c8e4b02d5d5ed3b51a

    ReplyDelete
  32. Anonymous8:46 AM

    Yes, Even Some Republicans See Trump as a Fascist

    ...If you follow the reasoning, you find that Republicans are exiting the GOP for the same reasons Democrats oppose Trump. Daniel Piper, a lifelong Republican who served in five administrations, offered reasons that must certainly resonate with every liberal and progressive.

    He gave five:

    1) “Trump’s boorish, selfish, puerile, and repulsive character, combined with his prideful ignorance, his off-the-cuff policy making, and his neo-fascistic tendencies make him the most divisive and scary of any serious presidential candidate in American history.”

    2) Trump’s claim that “as president, he has the mandate to do any damn thing he wants. This unprecedented and terrifying prospect could mean suing unfriendly reporters or bulldozing a recalcitrant Congress. It could also mean martial law.”

    3) The suppression of “elements at the national convention in Cleveland that still tried to resist his nomination.” Yes, Trump tries to represent the Democratic Party as having suppressed Bernie Sanders even as he was busily installing himself as dictator of the Republican Party. It is his party now, folks. Get used to it. As Piper said, “Republican leaders are lining up to surrender to him.”

    4) “The cultural abyss and constitutional nightmare of a Trump presidency will likely destroy” the Republican Party as “a major intellectual force.” We can take issue with his claim that the GOP has been anything but a reactionary group of nay-sayers since 2009. As The National Memo put it Wednesday, the “battle between left and right [is] no longer a contest of ideas”:

    [T]he defining clash of our time is reason versus unreason, reason versus an inchoate fear and fury growing like weeds on the cultural, class, religious and racial resentments of people who cling to an idealized 1954 and wonder why the country is passing them by.

    The Republicans, as presently constituted, have no ideas beyond fear and fury.

    Yet Pipes is right that Trump represents the death of the GOP as we know it, and he is not the only one to say this.

    http://www.politicususa.com/2016/07/27/republicans-trump-as-fascist.html

    ReplyDelete
  33. Trump ; while denying that he has never met Putin, or has anything to do with the DNC hack, is asking Russian spies to find Hillary's missing emails. Yes, he went there. The man who wants to be POTUS, is wading in treacherous waters. He is encouraging Russian espionage.
    To defend himself, he said that he had no investments in Russia. I believe him. He does not have investments in Russia, Russia has heavily invested in him. Trump is Putin's bitch now.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Anonymous9:32 AM

    And the next Russian hack.... wait for it.... Diebold voting machines.

    The ONLY possible way to a clean election is via paper ballots. Take the hackable out of the equation.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Anonymous9:46 AM

    If the Russian govt hacked the DNC that's a bad thing. However, it doesn't ethe fact that the emails leaked as a result of the hack exposed very unethical behavior by DWS and other DNC executives. Fuck anybody who tries to dismiss the emails because of who stole them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You cannot seriously suggest that Russia hacking into the e-mail accounts of one of the two major parties in order to sway an American presidential election is less important then reading e-mails which suggest that the DNC establishment was fed up with the fact that Sanders wanted to stay in the race until the convention, which might have undermined their ultimate nominee's chances of winning the general election?

      What kind of fucked up priorities do you have?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:13 AM

      We've meddled in Russian affairs for hundreds of years. I guess turnabout is fair play.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:19 AM

      What unethical behavior exactly? The e-mails shows a couple dickish comments. Nothing more. Those people should be fired.

      Post your evidence that there was any "very unethical behavior" revealed by the stolen emails.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous12:04 PM

      Gryphen - RIF. Who stole them is bad. Doesn't excuse that they were written in the first place, which is clearly where you and the Clintonites are trying to steer the narrative.

      10:19 - What horseshit that it's just some dickish comments and nobody *did* anything unethical? Of course they *did* something unethical. The executives of an organization whose charter requires it to be neutral called a Democratic candidate disparaging names - "idiot", discussed ways to turn voters against him, called another candidate "ours". They communicated ideas and opinions among themselves and to their underlings that clearly demonstrated a pattern of favoritism for one candidate and bias, even hostility, against another when their role is to neutrally support all Democratic candidates. More heads better roll besides DWS. The organization has lost its moral compass. You should check yours too if don't think the pattern of communication was unethical behavior. "Come on, it was just some dickish comments. Nobody did anything." Never flies ethically. Never.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous12:52 PM

      Oh, please. What was done based on those e-mails? I supposed there was the act of writing and send an e-mail. So they "did" something. But they didn't actually do anything that had any impact on the primary.

      Show me any evidence that they acted in a biased way in any way that mattered to the primary.

      As I wrote, the should be fired.

      What "pattern of favoritism" do you find from a couple e-mails?

      I'm not dismissing the fact that the e-mail about Sanders' atheism was wrong or despicable. I'm saying that there is not one piece of evidence that shows anything "very unethical" was done beyond them.

      Delete
    6. Anonymous1:22 PM

      The DNC preferred the candidate who has been a member of the party for decades and has supported down-ticket candidates over someone who not only selfishly used the party structure to further his own career but has announced that he is returning to the Senate as an Independent, not a Democrat.

      Color me shocked.

      Nothing in the emails shows that anything was done to actually affect the outcome of the primary.

      Meanwhile, a foreign country is trying to control the outcome of the Presidential election but you don't seem to think that's such a big deal.

      Delete
    7. Anonymous3:05 PM

      I'm saying that there is not one piece of evidence that shows anything "very unethical" was done beyond them."
      Sure there is. Read the emails from DNC people and various media figures/outlets that complain about negative coverage of Clinton. The DNC isn't supposed to do that during the primary. Unethical things were done besides writing unethical emails: which Were unethical actions.

      "The DNC preferred the candidate who has been a member of the party for decades"
      OMFG, preferring is exactly the problem. The DNC's sole function is to be a support organization for Democratic candidates. The DNC's charter specifically prohibits it from preferring any candidate over another. Neutral. The DNC encouraged Sanders to run in the Democratic party. It approved him to run so stop with this inteloper/ user bull shit.

      The fact that you don't think there's anything wrong with it because your candidate benefited shows you are as corrupt and morally bankrupt as DWS and her cadre.

      Delete
  36. Anonymous10:22 AM

    Here's a thought- would love to know what everybody thinks of this:

    Suppose the original plan was to hack the emails as a way to do "opposition research"? Trump and his team are far too lazy and dumb to do the job on their own.

    I do think that while it was not smart to put the content of the emails in writing, at least some of the discussion may have been aimed at heading off attacks from the Republicans if Sanders did indeed become the Democratic nominee.

    All of the Republican smear tactics will be used against either, so it would make sense to understand and head off what could potentially happen.

    For example, wouldn't it have been better if John Kerry's presidential campaign could have imagined the lying pieces of crap that became the "Swift Boaters"? No, wait, that would have been impossible since those accusations were complete lies...existing on the same planet as Trump's persistent "Birther" crap....

    IF Sanders had won the nomination, they'd have every tidbit of negative information to use against him, all set up and ready to go. Evaluated by experts at the DNC for effectiveness with strategic counterpoints that would already be planned against.

    We've all noticed that Trump never said a word against Sanders as a candidate. Maybe he expected Sanders to win all along and could easily demolish him with work the DNC had already laid out.

    Maybe that was the starting point, but since Clinton was headed towards being the nominee Wikileaks was happy to provide a second prize instead?

    Wild Tortoise

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:06 PM

      Yeah, that's the ticket! The hack would have be so much worse if Sanders had won the nomination! Keep pluckin' that chicken.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous1:40 PM

      Maybe I didn't express this clearly. My point is that Trump completely held back from any negative comments about Sanders. That seemed odd since Trump has rarely been able to refrain from insulting anybody, the pope included.

      It makes sense, though, if Trump knew that he was getting all the inside scoop to use later.
      Being lazy and looking good (in his own mind), it's a win/win!

      It would make exaggerating and outright lying about Sanders a piece of cake. For example, an email discussion about his religion/or not, or his Socialist identification seems to have been discarded as inappropriate talking points.

      Do you think that the Trump campaign would not have hammered those points endlessly?

      I still think the initial usefulness of hacking may have been a way to know what arguments the Democratic campaign would have used to deflect unethical and spurious claims against the nominee, whoever that might have been.

      A Republican nominee for President gloating about Russians hacking the opposition? Yeah, that's a serious security issue no matter who had won the nomination.

      Oh, and go "pluck" your own chicken, if that's what you're calling it.

      W.T.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous3:20 PM

      What planet do you live on that you think Trump made no negative comments about Bernie? We heard "Crazy Bernie" and "Commie Bernie" every day from Trump for months.

      Your attempt to spin the emails plotting how Sanders could be hurt in the WV primary as really preventive oppo research in case Sanders won the nomination is one of the most desperate things I've seen. Wait til we see the next batch. Those are probably the emails between the DNC and the Clinton campaign.

      Delete
  37. Anonymous11:10 AM

    I haven't the resources, Gryph, but a translation of trump2016.ru might be interesting. According to Garry Kasparov, the domain was registered by a Kremlim troll a year ago. All I can tell is that it's all about Trump (and much larger than I expected).

    ReplyDelete
  38. Anonymous11:26 AM

    OMG!!!

    I was just listening to a CNN discussion of this topic and Jeffrey Lord was claiming that, since this was about Hillary's emails and she has sworn that the missing ones were private, that this whole thing is just not a big deal. He refused to discuss the base issue of Trump encouraging a foreign power to interfere in a national election.

    THEN...
    The subject of Trump's refusal to release his tax returns was brought up and he actually had the balls to ask where Washington's and Lincoln's tax returns were. Is he f*^%$# SERIOUS??? Is THAT the best defense he's got???

    George Washington didn't release records of federal taxes which didn't exist at the time so Trump doesn't have to either??? Lincoln didn't release his tax returns BEFORE he signed the law creating the federal income tax in the first place?

    They have no reasonable defense for Trump's actions so they reach for excuses that are truly pathetic and absurd. It would be laughable if it weren't so damn terrifying!

    ReplyDelete
  39. Anonymous11:29 AM

    You know in the last year, I noticed that Trump, like Palin used rhetoric on the basic level. And people ate it up because it was racist things that they had been holding inside for a while. Our country has always been diverse. We have always had many different kinds of people. Donald has used these differences to get himself a nomination for Presidency, and Hitler did that too. All because of their mental illness. When things got beyond Hilter's magic world mentality he killed himself. It seems that people these days tend to concoct stories of our world that they want to believe, and then they force this belief on the rest of us. The bottom line, is, right now, America is doing good. We are not perfect but we are good. All that civic unrest? We need laws changed. Other countries are living in peace because they have managed to come to compromise on gun laws, and immigration issues. Sure there are always going to be the hardliners. Always was, and will be. But nothing is cut and dried. Ten years from now America will look back and see that things should have been done today but instead we hen picked and bickered over whether Donald Trump's hand was small. We've been trained by tv, and propaganda so long we don't know we are sheep. And sheep go where they are told. We think we are all saying and doing what we want but on another level the Donalds, the Putins, are leading us. Remember when Putin poisoned that one guy, and then flat ass denied it even as that guy was rotting in a London hospital on cameras? The power of deniability. It's part of the Intelligence Propaganda machine perfected to a tee down the years. Just saying, folks, that maybe we don't look back ten years from now and think why did we listen to Donald. He sold us out. No politician is perfect. Name one. There is none. Oh, after they are dead to the world, we tend to boost them up with our projected ideals but they never were that perfect. Let's get our head out of our collective asses and see the real world. A world that could be good if not for the likes of the Putin, Hitler, and Donald. I know putting Donald in with those two seems extreme but his ideas kind of pre-qualifies him for this spot. The story about Putin messing with our elections was bound to happen. Internet is a new technology, and the Edward Snowdens of our world know that damage it can do. They are like gods now.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Anonymous11:58 AM

    If we had real media coverage in this US instead of the clamoring for ratings by giving Drumpf over 2 billion dollars of free campaign time this Atlantic article would/could be the answer to pushing Drumpf out of the race by marginalizing him by shutting him off:
    http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/07/how-tv-networks-can-force-trump-to-release-his-tax-returns/493214/

    ReplyDelete
  41. Anonymous12:07 PM

    Anyone who thinks women are not marginalized in the US just check out the newspaper headlines from all over the nation. Bill Clinton's picture is featured in a bunch of them and some headlines, with his huge photo merely state, "Clinton makes history." Which Clinton? I am sad for the dumbed down media and reporters that are running the stations and news outlets in our country!

    ReplyDelete
  42. Anonymous12:08 PM

    It's as though people believe the United States never interfered in another country's election.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:44 PM

      Well, then, by all means. Let's open up the elections to all kinds of foreign influence.

      It wasn't ok when we did it and it's not ok when others do it. Do you expect us to think otherwise?

      Delete
  43. Anonymous1:03 PM

    Is every one going to dump their wireless keyboards too? Because they've also been hacked.

    ReplyDelete
  44. Anita Winecooler5:26 PM

    J Edgar Hoover, Where's the hackers with Donald's Information? Try again, Donald. Epic fail.

    ReplyDelete

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