In a CNN interview, former CIA official, Robert Baermade it clearthat if America had meddled in a foreign country’s election the way Russia hacked ours, then that country would immediately call for a new vote… and rightly so.
Why shouldn’t we do the same?
“The Russians, it looks like to me did interfere in our elections. We’ll never be able to decide whether they changed the outcome, but I’ll tell you having worked in the CIA if we had been caught interfering in European elections, or Asian elections, or anywhere in the world, those countries would call for new elections. Any democracy would. I mean, I don’t see it any other way. The Electoral College before the nineteenth has got to know whether the Russians had an effect, Whether they went to Wikileaks, whether they hacked email, and whether they affected American opinion.”
“When a foreign country interferes in your election and the outcome is in doubt and the legitimacy of the government. I don’t know how it works constitutionally. I’m not a lawyer, constitutional lawyer, but I’m deeply disturbed by the fact that the Russians interfered, and I would like to see the evidence, because if the evidence is there, I don’t see any other way than to vote again.”
John Bolton, the man leading the way for Trump’s next Deputy Secretary of State, is casting doubt on the CIA’s assessment that Russia hacked in the United States election system with the sole purpose of electing Donald Trump. It should be noted that Russia has already admitted to being in touch with the Trump campaign during the election.
In an interview Sunday, Bolton told Fox News’ Eric Shawn, “It is not at all clear to me, just viewing this from the outside, that this hacking into the DNC and the RNC computers was not a false flag operation.”
Bolton reasoned that Russia would be too sophisticated to leave evidence of its hacking. “If you think the Russians did this, why did they leave fingerprints?” he asked.
Though Bolton didn’t elaborate on the term “false flag,” he seemed to be suggesting that someone in the Obama administration or the intelligence agencies could have been attempting to falsely lead the public into believing Russia was to blame for the hacking.
Shawn followed up by asking, “Are you actually accusing someone here in the administration or in the intelligence community of trying to throw something?”
Bolton was not specific: “We just don’t know,” he replied. “But I believe that intelligence has been politicized in the Obama administration to a very significant degree.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky. gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, March 3, 2010. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
According to a bombshell report from the Washington Post, the CIA concluded that Russia actively interfered in the election not just to destabilize our political system, but to actively elect Donald Trump.
This conclusion was not something they just pulled out of thin air. Intelligence agencies had arrived at their conclusion in September, and briefed a bipartisan group in the Senate and House about it then, along with President Obama. The President wanted to go forward with a full disclosure of the report, but Mitch McConnell quashed it, threatening to taint any disclosure with the claim that it was being made merely for political gain.
McConnell was willing to let the Russians meddle in the election because his guy was getting the benefit of their work. This is outrageous.
“It is the assessment of the intelligence community that Russia’s goal here was to favor one candidate over the other, to help Trump get elected,” said a senior U.S. official briefed on an intelligence presentation made to U.S. senators. “That’s the consensus view.”
In other words, there was active interference on the part of Russia not simply to destabilize our politics, but to actively elect one candidate over another.
Concerned that a unilateral White House statement would appear as though the administration was tilting the election in favor of Democrats, the White House decided to convene a bipartisan panel of elected officials to review the material in the hopes of issuing a unified statement and warning states about possible compromises to their voting systems.
Instead, officials devised a plan to seek bipartisan support from top lawmakers and set up a secret meeting with the Gang of 12 — a group that includes House and Senate leaders, as well as the chairmen and ranking members of both chambers’ committees on intelligence and homeland security.
The Hill is reporting that President Barack Obama has ordered a “full review” before he leaves office of the cyberattacks that plagued this year’s presidential election, a top White House official said Friday.
The announcement by Lisa Monaco, Obama’s counterterrorism and homeland security adviser, follows repeateddemands from congressional Democrats for more information about the digital assault that the Obama administration has blamed on Russia.
“We may be crossed into a new threshold and it is incumbent upon us to take stock of that, to review, to conduct some after-action, to understand what this means, what has happened and to impart those lessons learned,” Monaco told reporters at a breakfast arranged by the Christian Science Monitor.
Monaco would not commit to making the findings of the review public, but did say that it would be shared with “a range of stakeholders,” including members of Congress.
“That’s going to be first and foremost a determination that’s made by the intelligence community,” she said. “We want to do so very attentive to not disclosing sources and methods that may impede our ability to identify and attribute malicious actors in the future.”
I like to call him the Russia-elect because Russia played a pivotal role in him winning the election. So now that Donald Trump will be the next president of the United States, the people responsible for his win are telling Trump what they want.
The Kremlin’s spokesman has urged President-elect Donald Trump to begin repairing U.S.-Russia relations by pressuring NATO to withdraw forces from the Russian border. Dmitry Peskov, President Vladimir Putin’s official mouthpiece, said this “would lead to a kind of detente in Europe.” Peskov said in an interview with the Associated Press that the presence of NATO troops near its borders keeps relations tense, as Russia cannot feel “safe.”
“Of course, we have to take measures to counter,” he was cited as saying. Trump repeatedly praised Putin throughout his campaign and echoed the Kremlin’s stance on NATO, at one point even defying Article 5 of the treaty by refusing to commit to defending NATO allies in the Baltics. His detractors have warned that his fondness for Russia may mean unprecedented interference by the Kremlin in U.S. policies, and Peskov’s recent comments appear to be the first indication of that in Trump’s upcoming term.
Morning Joe’s co-host Mika Brzezinski introduced the next segment on Morning Joe by talking about the explosive news that Russia admitted to having “contact” with various members of the Trump campaign. After beginning of the segment with the Russia news, Brzezinski introduced the next panel member, Richard Haass, President Council on Foreign Relations, to talk more about Russia and its influence in Trump’s election.
But Joe Scarborough had other topics he wanted to talk about, like how to make Trump appear more likable. As soon as Haass was introduced to continue the Russia discussion, Mika’s co-host, Joe Scarborough, piped in with a totally unrelated question for the President Council on Foreign Relations.
“What do you all need to see to be assured that Donald Trump is going to be a good steady hand?”
Really? That’s what concerns you Joe?
Mind Blowing!
Just 24hrs ago, Russia admitted to being in contact with and staying in contact with the man who will now be the next president, and Joe’s main concern was give Trump advice on how to appear presidential? I shudder to think of the consequences had a Democratic presidential candidate and his/her campaign stayed in contact with Russia during an election. Such a candidate would not even be allowed in Washington!
Donald Trump said it multiple times during his campaign, “the election was rigged.” Well, considering that the FBI has blamed Russia for hacking the Democratic National Committee and exposing information favorable to Donald Trump, who’s to say Russia had nothing to do with the voting machines and the questionable results those machines returned on election day?
Per Bloomberg, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov on Thursday acknowledged that “there were contacts” with the Trump campaign during the 2016 election, and that Russian embassy staff met with members of Trump’s campaign.
Trump’s embrace of Putin during the campaign trail has been a major source of contention in American foreign policy circles, and intelligence experts even claimed that Trump ignored their briefings informing him that Russia was behind the hacks of the Democratic National Committee.
Remember a few days ago when Donald Trump stood on stage and swore up and down that all was well in his campaign? That the campaign is the happiest it’s ever been? Well that too, was a lie.
Just hours after Donald Trump shook up his campaign leadership, installing the leader of a conservative blog site to run his campaign operations, Paul Manafort – the man who was responsible for turning Trump from a primary candidate to a general election candidate – sent in his resignation.
Trump issued a statement on Manafort’s resignation in which he said he was “very appreciative for his great work in helping us get to where we are today.” Trump in particular praised Manafort for getting Trump’s campaign through the “delegate and nomination process.”
Manafort, who saw his role as campaign boss diminished this week when Trump appointed Breitbart News boss Stephen Bannon as his new campaign CEO, has been taking fire after multiple reports have revealed his connections to a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine.
Earlier this week, a leaked memo revealed that Ukrainian authorities have accused Manafort of organizing protests against a NATO military exercise in Ukraine on behalf of the pro-Russian Party of Regions. One American soldier who was in Ukraine at the time revealed that protesters organized by Manafort threw rocks at NATO troops en route to the training exercise.
While holding a press conference in Florida, the leader of the Republican party defended Russia as he spoke with confidence that Russia had nothing to do with the hacking of the DNC. Then Trump made this request to the Russians;
“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.”
An amazing pic of a woman in Novosibirsk Russia, although some of her neighbors find her actions offensive, that they started a petition to have the woman stopped, but that petition ultimately failed.
Everyday, weather permitting, the woman can be seen sunbathing from her second floor window by hanging her legs and butt outside her window. Her hours of operation are usually between 10am and 1pm and according to some, her legs and butt are not the only body parts the woman hangs out the window.
You would think, from all the talk about the midterm elections and the final two years of the Obama Administration, that the president doesn’t matter anymore or that absolutely nothing will get done in Washington between now and January 2017. While we may be fighting political gridlock, and the possibility that few if any consequential laws will be passed soon, the rest of the world is not stopping nor is our country’s need for attention to our very real problems. The Republicans in Congress have made it clear that they do not want to work with Barack Obama or give him any victories from which the Democrats can claim any advantage going into the 2016 election season. This is no way to run a country, and we will pay a price in the future for our inability to act now.
There is no shortage of media stories purporting to paint Obama as a lame duck before his time, abandoning his legislative agenda in favor of executive orders and agency rule-writing. The problem with this interpretation is that Obama’s actions, especially on the environment, will have a profound effect on business and industry. New rules that detail how much a company can pollute and whether they need to clean up their emissions is no small matter. If it was, then the various business groups that oppose these changes wouldn’t be making so much noise.
The same is true with the Affordable Care Act. Yes, two Circuit Courts did issue contradictory rulings last week about whether people who buy policies on the federal exchange are entitled to subsidies, but in the end I believe that the law will be upheld and the subsidies will remain in place. I base this not on my fine reading of the law, but on the fact that by the time the Supreme Court gets the case, upwards of 30 million people will be covered by federal subsidies and the cost of ending them will be too much of a disruption to the country. Just as the Supreme Court ruled that police can’t search cell phones without a warrant mainly because the justices understood first hand what that would entail, so they will understand what it means to take health care away from people or make it unaffordable. Either Roberts or Kennedy will provide the deciding vote in any future case; the former to maintain his legacy, the latter because he tends to see applicability more than the other conservatives. The result of any case will be the president having to issue orders or to order executive branch offices to maintain the law so that it continues to honor its promises.
The president is never a lame duck when it comes to foreign policy, and Obama will not be an exception. The world is on fire as we speak and the United States will play a role in unwinding many of the conflicts that engulf it. Critics have been unsparing in their denunciations of Obama’s seemingly uninspiring handling of foreign affairs, but many on the right are calling for actions that the United States will not, and should not, take, such as sending troops or issuing ultimatums. Economic sanctions will have an effect on Vladimir Putin, and I think he understands this which is why he continues to push for separatist actions in Ukraine. Obama’s continuing contact with Benjamin Netanyahu will result in a cease-fire and long-term cessation of hostilities because the American president still carries great weight in the region. Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya look hopeless, but a concerted American effort will yield some results. Ultimately, these countries will have to solve problems on their own, but each will look abroad for help. Obama will be there.
Labeling a president as a lame duck is dangerous business in today’s world technology has made everything faster and response time smaller. The economy is improving, but if the gains in the stock market prove to be a bubble, then the president will need to act quickly. Any number of natural disasters would require a response. And if the GOP ever gets the message that tax policy, infrastructure improvements and immigration really do need more attention than suing or impeaching Obama, then perhaps we could have a significant bill before the next election.
I took my talents to South Beach over the weekend for a relative’s surprise birthday party, and on the plane to and fro I had the opportunity to…think. Love airplane mode. Phones and tablets should have other modes, such as marriage mode, play-with-children mode, just-watch-one-screen mode, or perhaps physical media mode, where you would be forced to consume news and entertainment using a newspaper or magazine. I know, I know. I’m old and out-of-touch.
I am worn out about the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian war and the war over which press outlets are too pro-Israel (FOX) and too pro-Palestinian (The New York Times). Terrorist groups and organizations have for too long molded the narrative and have sabotaged every attempt at peace in the region. And the governmental authorities in the warring camps have let it happen. Clearly, Benjamin Netanyahu is not the man who will lead Israel to recognize a two-state solution and there is no current Palestinian leader with the credibility to make peace with Israel. As long as countries in the region refuse to recognize Israel’s sovereign right to exist, there is no basis for meaningful talks. As long as Israel continues to blow up Palestinian homes, the world will continue to paint it as an immoral country.
And speaking of leaders with no credibility and few morals, Vladimir Putin has almost succeeded in building his neo-Soviet state out of the ashes of the USSR. Covering up the shooting of the Malaysian airliner, then having his thugs block access to the crash site is right out of the Chernobyl 101 textbook. The problem is that textbooks are so passe and the technology we have now has laid bare his claim that it was Ukrainians, not pro-Russian separatists, who perpetrated this horrific deed. I don’t believe that this will lead to Putin’s downfall in the short term because he’s still very popular in Russia and he controls the media. Some Russians even believe that Putin himself was the target as he was flying in the general vicinity at the time the Malaysian plane was destroyed. Next up to blame will probably be the Israelis. Putin loves the Israelis.
As for the latest domestic squabbles, the Third Circuit Court in DC struck down the ACA subsidies and the Fourth Circuit in Richmond upheld them. Gotta love our judicial system. Both sides can claim victories, but my sense is that the ultimate decision by the Supreme Court, either next year or the year after, will uphold the subsidies that people get when buying insurance on the national exchange even though the law says that subsidies should only be given to people who buy on the state exchanges. Of course, the last time we tried to parse the ACA arguments in the court, the general consensus was that the law was toast. Ouch. And even if the Republicans win the Senate in November, which they won’t, the law will still survive.
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