US Politics Thread 2016-2020 - Page 166

Skybird · 04-02-17, 07:57 AM

Who said Putin has no sense of humour?

http://www.dw.com/en/moscow-pulls-an...dal/a-38255204

Platapus · 04-02-17, 09:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nippelspanner

PS: What's a "true American"?

It is a variation of the "No True Scotsman" logic fallacy.. and not even a clever one at that.

eddie · 04-02-17, 04:28 PM

The Brits will bet on anything,lol Even making bets involving Trump!

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/...-it/ar-BBzbxum

Bilge_Rat · 04-03-17, 11:14 AM

the surveillance scandal is starting to close in on Obama.

Susan Rice, Obama's National Security Adviser is the White House official that was reading the raw intelligence spying reports on the Trump transition team AND asking for the names of U.S. citizens to be unmasked so she could identify them:

Quote:

White House lawyers last month learned that the former national security adviser Susan Rice requested the identities of U.S. persons in raw intelligence reports on dozens of occasions that connect to the Donald Trump transition and campaign, according to U.S. officials familiar with the matter.

The pattern of Rice's requests was discovered in a National Security Council review of the government's policy on "unmasking" the identities of individuals in the U.S. who are not targets of electronic eavesdropping, but whose communications are collected incidentally. Normally those names are redacted from summaries of monitored conversations and appear in reports as something like "U.S. Person One."

The National Security Council's senior director for intelligence, Ezra Cohen-Watnick, was conducting the review, according to two U.S. officials who spoke with Bloomberg View on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly. In February Cohen-Watnick discovered Rice's multiple requests to unmask U.S. persons in intelligence reports that related to Trump transition activities. He brought this to the attention of the White House General Counsel's office, who reviewed more of Rice's requests and instructed him to end his own research into the unmasking policy.

The spying seems to have been done to obtain political information on what the Trump administration was planning to do:

Quote:

The intelligence reports were summaries of monitored conversations -- primarily between foreign officials discussing the Trump transition, but also in some cases direct contact between members of the Trump team and monitored foreign officials. One U.S. official familiar with the reports said they contained valuable political information on the Trump transition such as whom the Trump team was meeting, the views of Trump associates on foreign policy matters and plans for the incoming administration.

It also appears that the reason Nunes went to the White House was to review Susan Rice's log with the requests to "unmask" names:

Quote:

The news about Rice also sheds light on the strange behavior of Nunes in the last two weeks. It emerged last week that he traveled to the White House last month, the night before he made an explosive allegation about Trump transition officials caught up in incidental surveillance. At the time he said he needed to go to the White House because the reports were only on a database for the executive branch. It now appears that he needed to view computer systems within the National Security Council that would include the logs of Rice's requests to unmask U.S. persons.

https://www.bloomberg.com/view/artic...iates-in-intel

Was Susan Rice doing this on her own? did she keep Obama in the dark? unlikely. Rice would most likely have told Obama exactly what she knew and did this on his orders or with her blessing.

This is political espionage pure and simple.

Buddahaid · 04-03-17, 11:23 AM

"...according to two U.S. officials who spoke with Bloomberg View on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly...."

Then this is little better than hearsay.

August · 04-03-17, 01:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bilge_Rat

Was Susan Rice doing this on her own? did she keep Obama in the dark?

Plausible Deniability. I'd think thre is no way will we find Obamas personal fingerprints on this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buddahaid

"...according to two U.S. officials who spoke with Bloomberg View on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly...."

Then this is little better than hearsay.

You're right. Time will tell I guess. On the other hand if true it's pretty explosive news.

Mr Quatro · 04-03-17, 01:12 PM

even Bernie Sanders knows the truth ... all of this Russian stuff is a waste of time.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/m/9220716...ays-trump.html
Politics:Bernie Sanders Says Trump Voters Not ‘Deplorables,’ Hillary Clinton to Blame for Election Loss

Quote:

Donald Trump supporters are not racist “deplorables” and Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party are to blame for November’s shock election defeat: So said Clinton’s defeated primary challenger Sen. Bernie Sanders

What month or even what year will be last time we hear about the Trump/Russian campaign that caused the DNC to lose?

Platapus · 04-03-17, 02:43 PM

I am glad they are investigating this.

August · 04-03-17, 03:00 PM

I'm waiting for the Russians to bring up how much meddling we've done to their political system over the years.

ikalugin · 04-03-17, 03:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by August

I'm waiting for the Russians to bring up how much meddling we've done to their political system over the years.

You mean on this forum or on the news?

August · 04-03-17, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ikalugin

You mean on this forum or on the news?

I meant in the news.

ikalugin · 04-03-17, 03:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by August

I meant in the news.

We spin it as internal US thing we have nothing to do with.

Platapus · 04-03-17, 03:42 PM

If, and that is still a yuge if, the Russians interfered with our election, I wonder what law did they violate?

Spreading information/disinformation, even if it is the truth, may be a cruddy thing for them to do, but is it illegal?

Platapus · 04-03-17, 03:56 PM

It appears that president Trump had donated his first quarter's presidential pay to the National Park Service.

http://insider.foxnews.com/2017/04/0...t-quarter-2017

Good for him! He said he was not going to accept his pay, and it looks like he is following through with it.

I was not aware it was legal to donate it to any specific agency other than The Bureau of the Fiscal Service.

August · 04-03-17, 07:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Platapus

I was not aware it was legal to donate it to any specific agency other than The Bureau of the Fiscal Service.

If not there is tomorrows headline. Then again it might be a little awkward to spin him into a monster for donating his pay to a good cause.

04-02-17, 07:57 AM	#2476
Skybird Soaring Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: the mental asylum named Germany Posts: 40,652 Downloads: 9 Uploads: 0	Who said Putin has no sense of humour? http://www.dw.com/en/moscow-pulls-an...dal/a-38255204 __________________ If you feel nuts, consult an expert.

04-02-17, 04:28 PM	#2478
eddie Ocean Warrior Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Minnesota Posts: 3,023 Downloads: 99 Uploads: 0	The Brits will bet on anything,lol Even making bets involving Trump! http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/...-it/ar-BBzbxum __________________ Don't mistake my kindness for weakness. I'm kind to everyone, but when someone is unkind to me, weak is not what you are going to remember about me. Al Capone

04-03-17, 11:23 AM	#2480
Buddahaid Shark above Space Chicken Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 8,574 Downloads: 160 Uploads: 0	"...according to two U.S. officials who spoke with Bloomberg View on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly...." Then this is little better than hearsay. __________________ "However vast the darkness, we must provide our own light." Stanley Kubrick "Tomorrow belongs to those who can hear it coming." David Bowie

04-03-17, 02:43 PM	#2483
Platapus Fleet Admiral Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 18,985 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 0	I am glad they are investigating this. __________________ abusus non tollit usum - A right should NOT be withheld from people on the basis that some tend to abuse that right.

04-03-17, 03:00 PM	#2484
August Wayfaring Stranger Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 22,713 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	I'm waiting for the Russians to bring up how much meddling we've done to their political system over the years. __________________ Flanked by life and the funeral pyre. Putting on a show for you to see.

04-03-17, 03:42 PM	#2488
Platapus Fleet Admiral Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 18,985 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 0	If, and that is still a yuge if, the Russians interfered with our election, I wonder what law did they violate? Spreading information/disinformation, even if it is the truth, may be a cruddy thing for them to do, but is it illegal? __________________ abusus non tollit usum - A right should NOT be withheld from people on the basis that some tend to abuse that right.

04-03-17, 03:56 PM	#2489
Platapus Fleet Admiral Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 18,985 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 0	It appears that president Trump had donated his first quarter's presidential pay to the National Park Service. http://insider.foxnews.com/2017/04/0...t-quarter-2017 Good for him! He said he was not going to accept his pay, and it looks like he is following through with it. I was not aware it was legal to donate it to any specific agency other than The Bureau of the Fiscal Service. __________________ abusus non tollit usum - A right should NOT be withheld from people on the basis that some tend to abuse that right.