Monday, May 01, 2017

The Washington Post reports on the roots of the alliance between American conservatives and Russia.

Courtesy of WaPo: 

On issues including gun rights, terrorism and same-sex marriage, many leading advocates on the right who grew frustrated with their country’s leftward tilt under President Barack Obama have forged ties with well-connected Russians and come to see that country’s authoritarian leader, Vladimir Putin, as a potential ally. 

The attitude adjustment among many conservative activists helps explain one of the most curious aspects of the 2016 presidential race: a softening among many conservatives of their historically hard-line views of Russia. To the alarm of some in the GOP’s national security establishment, support in the party base for then-candidate Donald Trump did not wane even after he rejected the tough tone of 2012 nominee Mitt Romney, who called Russia America’s No. 1 foe, and repeatedly praised Putin. 

The burgeoning alliance between Russians and U.S. conservatives was apparent in several events in late 2015, as the Republican nomination battle intensified.

Top officials from the National Rifle Association, whose annual meeting Friday featured an address by Trump for the third time in three years, traveled to Moscow to visit a Russian gun manufacturer and meet government officials. 

About the same time in December 2015, evangelist Franklin Graham met privately with Putin for 45 minutes, securing from the Russian president an offer to help with an upcoming conference on the persecution of Christians. Graham was impressed, telling The Washington Post that Putin “answers questions very directly and doesn’t dodge them like a lot of our politicians do.” 

The growing dialogue between Russians and U.S. conservatives came at the same time experts say the Russian government stepped up efforts to cultivate and influence far-right groups in Europe and on the eve of Russia’s unprecedented intrusion into the U.S. campaign, which intelligence officials have concluded was intended to elect Trump. 

Russians and Americans involved in developing new ties say they are not part of a Kremlin effort to influence U.S. politics. “We know nothing about that,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said. Brown said activists in both countries are simply “uniting together under the values we share.”

There are some however within the intelligence community who seriously doubt that last statement:

“Is it possible that these are just well-meaning people who are reaching out to Americans with shared interests? It is possible,” said Steven L. Hall, who retired from the CIA in 2015 after managing Russia operations for 30 years. “Is it likely? I don’t think it’s likely at all. . . . My assessment is that it’s definitely part of something bigger.”

The article goes on to explain how the Russians were able to gain support from the NRA by complaining that Obama's sanctions in response to the invasion of Crimea interfered in their ability to buy certain guns.

This inspired the NRA to speak out against the sanctions.

Putin was also able to sucker Franklin Graham by telling him that his own mother maintained her Christian faith even during the communist rule.

That was all Graham had to hear in order to convince him that Putin was an ally and to start pushing for more positive interactions with Russia from the Evangelical community.

Perhaps that's why Putin's poll numbers increased so dramatically with the Republicans.

So to put it all in perspective, the election of  Donald Trump was not an anomaly, but rather the result of a long ranging plan to manipulate American conservatives into jumping through Russian held hoops.

And it worked out perfectly.

But remember, we're not supposed to disrespect the Trump supporters, or call them stupid.

20 comments:

  1. Anonymous11:38 AM

    BOOM!

    Bill Shine Is Out As Fox News Co-President
    The network shake-up continues amid growing sexual harassment and racial discrimination claims.

    Embattled Fox News Co-President Bill Shine resigned Monday following an increase in questions about his stewardship of the network in the wake of the Bill O’Reilly scandal and amid growing sexual harassment and racial discrimination allegations.

    Shine, a veteran executive promoted in August following Roger Ailes’ downfall over widespread sexual harassment claims, had faced growing scrutiny since top-rated host O’Reilly left last month following similar allegations.

    The O’Reilly scandal, which included revelations that Twenty-First Century Fox paid settlements to the host’s accusers even after the Ailes mess, has undermined the contention from the network’s parent company that it was cleaning up a toxic workplace environment. Meanwhile, the legal threats against Fox News keep coming, with Shine accused in several lawsuits of covering up or downplaying allegations of sexual harassment and racial discrimination.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/fox-news-bill-shine-out_us_5903c3bfe4b02655f83d965d?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:14 PM

      Well, that'll piss Boopsie off! She was just singing his praises the other day.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous11:52 AM

    Sarah Palin got on the Putin train in 2014!

    http://www.salon.com/2014/03/04/sarah_palin_on_foreign_policy_obama_wears_%E2%80%9Cmom_jeans%E2%80%9D_while_putin_%E2%80%9Cwrestles_bears%E2%80%9D/

    “Are you concerned that this goes further, that [Putin’s] ambitions are much bigger than even the Crimean area?” Hannity asked.

    “Well, yes, especially under the Commander-in-Chief we have today,” Palin responded, “because Obama’s — the perception of him and his potency across the world is one of such weakness.”

    “Lookit, people are looking at Putin as one who wrestles bears and drills for oil,” Palin explained. “They look at our president as one who wears mom jeans and equivocates and bloviates. We are not exercising that peace through strength that only can be brought to you courtesy of the red, white and blue, that only a strengthened United States military can do.”

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous1:08 PM

      Palin goes back further than 2014. The skank is a AIP which is Asshole IN Progress. Time to kick some assholes off the planet and send them to Uranus.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous11:53 AM

    "The teen is the youngest person to have been killed by police in the U.S. this year."

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/texas-cop-opens-fire-on-moving-vehicle-kills-unarmed-15-year-old-in-passenger-seat_us_5907686be4b05c39768106eb?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous12:09 PM

    They are undoing every inch of progress we’ve made. Every. Single. One.

    Here’s more on the important “Let Girls Learn” program they are dismantling:

    http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/5/1/1657898/-Trump-administration-ends-Michelle-Obama-program-to-educate-girls-and-lift-them-out-of-poverty

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous1:05 PM

      http://www.wgbh.org/programs/Against-All-Odds-The-Fight-for-a-Black-Middle-Class-3614

      Watch this truth tell^

      Delete
  5. Anonymous12:11 PM

    We have a president who rates women according breast size and how deeply he can shove his tiny stubby fingers into their vagina. He rates men on the size of their bank accounts. He revels in his ignorance, and can barely read text. His domestic and foreign news comes from Fox talk shows. He clearly associates with thugs and strongmen, perhaps thinking some of those qualities can rub off on him. Watching his semi-interview with CBS, and his other press appearances, it is clear to me that we are approaching some breaking point with this nut case. All of this begs the question — When will today’s GOP wake up and smell the stinking, fetid delusional maniac who is screwing up our country and quite possibly risking a third world war?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:47 PM

      What do they care? They'll make damned sure that none of their loved ones are fighting in a WWIII and, besides, they're all fought on foreign soil! No one would dare bring it to US soil, right? RIGHT??

      doofus45 didn't even give a rat's about 9/11!

      Delete
  6. Anonymous12:13 PM


    Donald Trump Rolls Out the Red Carpet for a Murderous Autocrat and Reveals His Inner Thug

    His invitation to Filipino strongman Rodrigo Duterte shows his taste for the cruel and the criminal.

    http://www.alternet.org/donald-trump-rolls-out-red-carpet-murderous-autocrat-and-reveals-his-inner-thug

    ReplyDelete
  7. Okay. Something I will check out. Seems plausible social/religious conservatives might wish this connection and why Trump would this as well, given his political/business interests. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous12:47 PM

    We've been had, America. Hook line and sinker.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous1:05 PM

      Well then get up, Get Mad, Fight. Do not take no shit from anyone. F*cking Fight for Our Country. We have not be had, we have just trusted and believed in our fellow American's. But no more. Identify who is behind this crime and take action.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous4:42 PM

      I do fight 1:05. I fight, march, write. But we were still snookered big time. They cheated, with help from a foreign country. That doesn't mean we can't fight back, I will.

      But WE WERE HAD.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous1:02 PM

    There is NO question about it. WAR against every last one of them. This is NO joke. It is WAR and it must not stop until every one of them are exposed and held accountable. Collusion with the enemy. TREASON. ESPIONAGE. All must be shamed beyond this crime against American's and all countries that are suffering from this OUTRAGEOUS CRIMINAL ACT. TIME FOR ACTION NOW. To hell with them all. A CALL FOR ACTION TO REMOVE THE ENEMY FROM OUR LAND AND BUILDINGS!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous1:05 PM

    We are so fucked. Our economy will eventually be based on human trafficking, drug trafficking, money laundering, and arms. The Russian-American Alliance will be a kleptocracy of dark money.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous1:24 PM

    The White House is quietly starting to pull the plug on its shadow Cabinet of Trump loyalists who had been dispatched to federal agencies to serve as the president’s eyes and ears.

    These White House-installed chaperones have often clashed with the Cabinet secretaries they were assigned to monitor, according to sources across the agencies, with the secretaries expressing frustration that the so-called “senior White House advisers” are mostly young Trump campaign aides with little experience in government.

    The tensions have escalated for weeks, prompting a recent meeting among Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, and other administration officials, according to two sources familiar with the meeting. Now, some of the advisers are being reassigned or simply eased out, the sources said, even though many of them had expected to be central players at their agencies for the long haul. The tumult underscores the growing pains that are still being felt throughout Trump’s government, more than 100 days into his term.

    “These guys are being set up for failure,” said one administration source. “They’re not D.C. guys. They’re campaign people. They have no idea how government works.”

    http://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/01/trump-starts-dismantling-his-shadow-cabinet-237819

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous2:01 PM

    "But remember, we're not supposed to disrespect the Trump supporters, or call them stupid."

    To deny Trump supporters are stupid and ignorant is to live in 'Alt-Reality'. Never!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Now you know why the investigation is stalled, emoluments ignored and there will be no impeachment.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous7:03 PM

    http://www.politicususa.com/2017/05/01/trump-cabinet-member-admits-syria-strike-after-dinner-entertainment-mar-a-lago-guests.html

    ReplyDelete

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