Tuesday, April 04, 2017

The Right's alarming embrace of Vladimir Putin.

Courtesy of WaPo: 

The drift on the right toward Vladimir Putin is remarkable. An Economist- YouGov poll in December found that while only 9 percent of Trump voters had a favorable view of Obama, 35 percent had a favorable view of Putin. In February, Gallup reported that the proportion of Republicans viewing Putin favorably rose from 12 percent in 2015 to 32 percent this year. 

Not surprisingly, given what Putin did to defeat Hillary Clinton, his favorability among Democrats dropped, from 15 percent in 2015 to 10 percent now. But note how unpopular Putin was with Democrats in both surveys. What’s striking is that a three-point gap between the two parties in 2015 is now at 22 points.

Putin, of course, will lend support to any political movement — right or left, separatist or nationalist — that disrupts the West. But he seems especially interested in creating a new international political alliance focused on conservatives and the far right. 

He is casting himself as a strong supporter of religion and conservative values, and as an opponent of gay rights. Late last month, Putin staged a highly public audience in Moscow with Marine Le Pen, the far-right candidate in this spring’s presidential election in France. Of course, Putin denied he was trying to influence French voters. 

Putin is active in the United States, too. In a recent Time magazine article titled “Moscow Cozies Up to the Right,” Alex Altman and Elizabeth Dias reported on Russia’s efforts to build ties with America’s Christian conservatives and the gun lobby. 

These days, any liberal who raises alarms about Trump’s relationship with Russia confronts charges of McCarthyism, hysteria and hypocrisy. The inclination of many on the left to assail Putin is often ascribed to partisan anger over his success in undermining Clinton’s candidacy. 

There’s no doubt that liberals are angry, but ask yourself: Shouldn’t everyone, left, right and center, be furious over Russia’s efforts to inject calumny and falsehood into the American political bloodstream?

Just another example of the fact that the ethics and morality which the conservatives are constantly braying about at the top of their lungs is not even kiddy pool deep, and will shift depending on how well it suits their need for power.

Decades ago Republicans claimed that they were the most dangerous foe that America had ever faced, but help steal an election for their candidate and the next thing you know the conservatives claim they are our partner in fighting terrorism and demand that we get rid of all of those silly sanctions.

21 comments:

  1. Anonymous4:15 AM

    Republicans are a very disgusting inbred bunch of criminals. As we overturn their citizen united crime against America we will make sure to embarrass and expose each and everyone of them to their grand children.

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    1. Anonymous5:28 AM

      I so agree w/you, 4:15 AM. Starting w/Trump, bring the assholes down. It will take time, but it can be done. There are so many of them that are racists, liars, frauds, unethical and just plain evil within their inner souls.

      Delete
  2. The top Republicans are cynical, as always, but the "loser" types are against a wall. Their buddy can't get them a low skill job because the buddy is unemployed too. They're being brainwashed by RW media. Now they want a daddy to bail them out. It's about all they have left.

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    1. Anonymous5:09 AM

      Yeah, good luck with that bailing out thang. Government out of everything when they're too stupid to realize that the programs they rely on will disappear. Don't come crying!

      Delete
  3. Anonymous5:09 AM

    What can possibly be the motivation for Republicans (Trump) to cozy up Putin? What's in it for them?

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    1. Anonymous5:29 AM

      Simple. Trump owes Russian banks tons of money. And all the them are invested in mining corporations. Natural Resources is the motivation. Gold, Silver, Copper, oil and more. DICKtaters want control to rule the world, especially little man boys with huge complexes. Little dicks with stubby fingers have the biggest complexes.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous8:20 AM

      Or Russians that were thought to be dead are not?Infiltrating many countries with quietly investing money?

      Delete
  4. "We will bury you"...used to be the mantra coming from Russia. Now it is "we will hack you, and hack you" no matter how long it takes. Cause baby, you are going down.

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    1. That's scary. Russians are known for their relentless patience.

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    2. Anonymous6:12 AM

      One thing about ancestry. Many real American's have a speck of that good old patient Russian dna. Patience yes. But tendency to be not as stupid. That is what makes American's Greater. Those that fled Russia had brains.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous8:22 AM

      Fled leaving their people behind. Yeah real smart. Not. When they are "unmasked" it won't be pretty or patient.

      Delete
  5. Anonymous5:32 AM

    My conclusion about the 21st century GOP: too stupid for words. Not one iota of understanding of history among them. They need a new mascot; elephants are far too smart and have long memories to be anything akin to the modern Republican.
    Beaglemom

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  6. Anonymous5:40 AM

    Remember President Obama's beer summit with a couple of his detractors after taking office in '09? I wouldn't share a beer and conversation with any of these @-wipes. Hate to see grown men cry.....

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    1. Anonymous6:16 AM

      A real leader can keep the enemy close with a smile on the face.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous6:16 AM

    Russian Hackers Are Working To Amplify Donald Trump’s Wiretapping Claim, Expert Warns

    Russian hackers didn’t stop when the presidential election ended ― they’re still working to spread fake news and conspiracy theories across the U.S., an intelligence expert warns. And they’re building on President Donald Trump’s wiretapping tweets, former FBI agent Clint Watts told National Public Radio.

    The operations are constantly reaching out to the Trump administration in an effort to push their own fake news, or to amplify something the president has tweeted, said Watts, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute who testified last week before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Russian interference in the presidential election.

    One of those tweets include Trump’s baseless claim that he was wiretapped by the Obama administration, Watts said.

    “If you went online today, you could see these accounts — either bots or actual personas somewhere — that are trying to connect with the administration,” Watts said in the NPR interview Monday. “They might broadcast stories and then follow up with another tweet that tries to gain the president’s attention — or they’ll try and answer the tweets that the president puts out.”

    Watts, a cyber security expert who has been tracking Russian activity for three years, called it a “circular system.” Sometimes the “propaganda outlets themselves will put out false or manipulated stories. Other times, the president will go with a conspiracy,” he told NPR.

    An example is Trump’s claim that he was wiretapped at Trump Tower, Watts said. Hackers and bots “respond to the wiretapping claim with further conspiracy theories about that claim, and that just amplifies the message in the [internet] ecosystem.”

    “Every time a conspiracy is floated from the administration, it provides every outlet around the world an opportunity to amplify that conspiracy and to add more manipulated truths or falsehoods onto it,” he added.

    It’s a loop, said Watts, of spiraling misinformation.

    “You don’t know where it started,” said Watts, referring to Trump’s wiretapping claim, which the FBI has flatly denied. “You don’t know if it comes from the administration or if the administration picked it up from another outlet, which is part of the debate if you remember back when that [wiretapping] claim came out. Did he [Trump] hear that inside the government, or did that actually come from his news feed? And it sounds like the latter, it came from his news feed.”

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/russian-trump-wiretapping-claim_us_58e3365ce4b0f4a923b15827?

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  8. Anonymous6:16 AM

    Disgusting.

    http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/04/03/let-malia-obama-live-the-right-wing-s-persecution-of-the-former-first-daughter.html

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  9. Anonymous7:45 AM

    Part 111
    http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-ed-trumps-authoritarian-vision/

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    1. Anonymous8:03 AM

      Part 11 :
      "Trump’s thought processes and perhaps his lack of agency. He gives every indication that he is as much the gullible tool of liars as he is the liar in chief."
      "He has made himself the stooge, the mark, for every crazy blogger, political quack, racial theorist, foreign leader or nutcase peddling a story that he might repackage to his benefit as a tweet, an appointment, an executive order or a policy."
      "Our civilization is defined in part by the disciplines — science, law, journalism — that have developed systematic methods to arrive at the truth. Citizenship brings with it the obligation to engage in a similar process. Good citizens test assumptions, question leaders, argue details, research claims.

      Investigate. Read. Write. Listen. Speak. Think."

      Delete
  10. Anonymous8:24 AM

    Age22 Lone Wolf Russian.
    http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2017/04/04/russia-suicide-bomber-caused-blast.html?via=desktop&source=copyurl

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  11. Anonymous8:26 AM

    Say you found out there was a great storm, and you were told there we no survivors? Then you find out they were not killed? That kind of LIE is Unforgiven. Russia and USA are going to get spanked and it's gonna be EPIC. And the media will be there...

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  12. Anonymous2:01 PM

    Guess Ronnie is no longer the patron saint of the GOP; instead they would kick him out of the party for his anti-Russian views.

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