General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIs it possible tfg or vlad are blackmailing some of these repuqs?
I'm sure this has come up before, but it just seems like the question needs to be asked. In public.
KPN
(15,637 posts)Bev54
(10,039 posts)dem4decades
(11,269 posts)cilla4progress
(24,718 posts)I think so, too.
Irish_Dem
(46,554 posts)Kiss or kicked into doing Putin's will.
brooklynite
(94,363 posts)You can compel obedience. You cannot compel enthusiasm.
Add to which, if Trump or Putin have found a scandal, someone else would (and would reveal it) as well.
The Blue Flower
(5,434 posts)The criminal root of it all is putin. Some have been openly bought off.
OhZone
(3,212 posts)Remember when Lindsey Graham looked so worried in a hearing when he heard that the intelligence community might have heard what he said in a conversation with a Russian official?
"
June 27, 2017 | Clip Of FISA Reauthorization
This clip, title, and description were not created by C-SPAN.
User Clip: Lindsey Compromised
"
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4838250/user-clip-lindsey-compromised
bucolic_frolic
(43,062 posts)On another plain, it's been said real criminals don't fear the police or authorities, they fear private intelligence.
Take your pick.
unblock
(52,126 posts)generally, blackmail takes more effort and is specific to individuals. at this point, they've got the entire party and then some giving them pretty much 100% obedience. that doesn't happen with individual blackmail over and over again.
extortion is more scalable. blackmail one person, and others may think they're immune because they haven't done anything wrong or won't give in even if it's fabricated information. but threaten on person, or their family, and everybody quickly gets the message that they're in danger unless they comply.
this is the undertext of donnie's encouragement of violence. he has his enforcers, just as all fascists do. donnie's may be a phone call away or they may be scattered over the internet, but all republicans know that donnie can effectively sic his dogs on them. i mean, donnie got a mob to try to hang his own chosen running mate, ffs.
besides, republicans can survive financial and sex scandals these days because the media only cares about that if you're a democrat. they don't need putin's spies and information.
on the other hand, it's not like most republicans display much in the way of objecting to going along. they'll be happy to be part of the party that owns the government even if they're lapdogs in it.
zuul
(14,624 posts)When the DNC server was hacked, the RNC server was hacked at the same time. Emails of some Democrats were released but none from the pubes.
Putin has all kinds of blackmail material and I think he gave TFG some of that info. Lindsey Graham was anti-TFG until his first golf outing with him. He abruptly changed his tone right after that golf outing. TFG told Lindsey about the blackmail material that day.
ibegurpard
(16,685 posts)They're just evil power-hungry fucks
IrishAfricanAmerican
(3,813 posts)It's absolutely certain.
bamagal62
(3,244 posts)It's the only explanation I can think of.
lindysalsagal
(20,592 posts)keithbvadu2
(36,669 posts)Lindsey went from outspoken arch-enemy to vibrant sycophant.