Sanders: Trump not speaking out against Russia 'is a horror show'

[DonViejo]

Source: The Hill




BY BRETT SAMUELS - 02/18/18 11:16 AM EST

Link to tweet

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Sunday blasted President Trump for not taking action to protect the U.S. from Russian meddling in future elections, saying "that we don’t have a president speaking out on this issue is a horror show."

His comments follow an indictment released Friday by special counsel Robert Mueller outlining multiple actors who played a role in extensive Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 election.

"We have got to bring Democrats and Republicans together despite the president to go forward to protect the integrity of American democracy,” Sanders said on “Meet The Press.”

The Department of Justice announced charges against 13 Russian nationals and three Russian organizations for allegedly attempting to interfere in the 2016 election. The indictment alleges the goal of the Russians was to support then-candidate Donald Trump, and damage his opponent, Hillary Clinton.

Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-talk-shows/374449-sanders-trump-not-speaking-out-against-russia-is-a-horror-show

[Ferrets are Cool]

1. Thumbs UP

[Me.]

2. Yes Something Concrete Needs To Be Done

Does he have any plans to initiate this?

[murielm99]

5. And more importantly,

did he address how this has benefitted him? He was unknown and much less rich until a very short time ago.

[Me.]

10. Excellent Points

It does make the issue of his tax returns even more important. Further, like it or not, he was a tool of the Russians and thus I feel it is incumbent upon him to do more than mouth the typical 'we must do something' type of rhetoric for his own credibility's sake.

[Eliot Rosewater]

27. I am just AMAZED more of his supporters arent curious why he wont release

tax returns.

[Me.]

33. They Just Don't Seem To Care

[Gothmog]

65. I also would like to see these tax returns

[Exotica]

68. me too!!!!!

BOTH Trump and Sanders look so dodgy with the "no tax returns" shite.

Obama and Hillary NEVER had thsi issue!

#releasethebernreturns

[KPN]

15. Low.

[LiberalLovinLug]

29. Abhorrent

[FlaGranny]

42. Arrgghhh! n/t

[George II]

52. I'm wondering if he is going to rail about the 1% in his upcoming re-election campaign.

[Cha]

58. Ari Melber tweets the same, muriel..

Link to tweet

[Gothmog]

64. I really enjoy Ari's show

[PSPS]

6. Nothing will be done. Our Congress may as well be referred to as the Duma.

Democrats have no power whatsoever. The russians now control what used to be called Congress.

[KPN]

16. Do you?

[Me.]

18. A. I Am Not A Senator

Last edited Sun Feb 18, 2018, 04:17 PM - Edit history (1)

B. I was not a Russian tool in the last election...

but were I, I would at the very least be challenging Comrade Trump to enact the sanctions and given this new info confess that I should've voted for them.

My job is a. to vote for the DEM nominee as I did in the last election and b. to hold feet to the fire as much as any citizen can and not be distracted by those who don't want the truth to be told.

[KPN]

22. Just stop making Bernie Sanders and those Dems and Is who

admire (and have admired his views for 20 years or more as I have) into the "enemy". It's ridiculously counterproductive. Bernie ran, Putin did everything he could to undermine Hillary. Don't blame Bernie for Putin.

When you can come up with a solution that will actually work better politically than shaming the GOP, then you will get my agreement on Bernie's statement yesterday. Until then, it strikes me as just more sour grapes.

[Me.]

25. That's Laughable. REally.

You want a solution? How about asking/depending on an actual SEnator to come up with one?

[KPN]

43. WTF do you think the whole

nation minus the gun whackos have been doing for the past 30 years? Nothing to say about the rest? Talk about laughable.

[Me.]

45. What The Heck Are You Talking About?

[KPN]

47. Use your head. Read your post, then read

mine. Put 2 and 2 together.

[Me.]

49. Do Stop Trying So Hard To Be Insulting

Distractions seldom actually work. When the Senator comes up with a real solution for anything, please post.

[KPN]

50. .... Have the last word.

Last edited Mon Feb 19, 2018, 04:06 PM - Edit history (1)

[George II]

51. "Me" is a woman.

[KPN]

57. Thanks for the info. Corrected it.

[Me.]

60. What Gave It Away

the lipstick?....

[Cha]

59. Or when he does this..

Link to tweet

Me

[Me.]

61. It Certainly Is

But doesn't seem to matter to some

Seen THis...

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100210254609

[Cha]

62. Yes, and I'm glad he's

being called out for that, Finally!

Mahalo, Me

[Me.]

63. Anytime Cha

[LiberalLovinLug]

30. +1000

[chuckstevens]

31. They will never hear you....

[KPN]

44. I know. They have their fingers in

their ears ... so to speak.

[dalton99a]

3. Donald Trump is a horror show.

[YOHABLO]

4. Let's get real. We know why Trump won't go there. I'd contend that our Demcy is all but gone.

[olddad56]

7. many claim that Trump was recruited by the soviets around 1984.

I don't think he is going to change his allegiance now.
I often wonder if his wife isn't one as well. You think she would dump him, if she wasn't assigned to keep an eye on him.

Some day he is going to prison for treason.

[dchill]

26. Recruited? He was bought and compromised.

They OWN him. I just wish they'd come and get him.

[olddad56]

40. The Russian's term, not mine.

they became interested in 'recruiting' him in 1977, but he wasn't on the 'payroll' until around 1984.
He has been laundering their dirty money since then.

makes me wonder if his wife isn't an agent assigned to handle him. Ew

[TomCADem]

8. Says The Only Senator Who Voted Against Russian...

...sanctions AND the Magnitsky Act. Say one thing, but do another.

[JCanete]

11. and the reasons were sound. Kerry was also against the Russia

Last edited Sun Feb 18, 2018, 03:51 PM - Edit history (1)

sanctions as written due to the bill's potential effect on the Iran deal. I mean, by all means hold on to your own interpretation if you want it so badly, but understand that its heavily inferred based upon your own desire for Sanders to be corrupt in some way. There was a real concern about the Magninsky act, at least from my very quick acquaintance with it, that this was a form of blacklisting that didn't require any due process, and according to the nation, could be appended to by NGOs, etc. It sounds to me like a tool that could have been used to gain leverage rather than to do the thing it was purported to do, but I'm hardly an expert on the legislation. Are you? Do you have more info on this?

https://www.thenation.com/article/congresss-magnitsky-bill-new-blacklist/

And here's Bill Bowder in his own words, speaking about who he thought was in resistance to his Magninsky bill, which apparently includes the White House itself, and John Kerry again.

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/02/sergei-magnitsky-murder-114878_Page3.html

[KPN]

17. +1

[R B Garr]

12. Exactly. Only three politician opposed them,

Bernie, Rand Paul and Trump. Not good company there.

[TomCADem]

13. Actually, Even Rand Paul Voted For Magnitsky Act

Last edited Sun Feb 18, 2018, 03:55 PM - Edit history (1)

Bernie Sanders is the only Senator who voted in favor of Russia on both bills.

[R B Garr]

14. Interesting. Even Rand Paul knew to punish Russian billionaire

oligarchs.

[oberliner]

24. But 3 Democrats voted no along with Bernie

Including Sheldon Whitehouse.

[TomCADem]

34. False. They Voted In Favor of the 2017 Sanctions Bill

Last edited Sun Feb 18, 2018, 08:15 PM - Edit history (1)

On the sanctions bill, only Rand Paul voted with Bernie Sanders. No Democrat voted against the sanctions bill.

Bernie and Bernie alone voted to support Russia for both Magnitsky Act AND the Russia sanctions bill last year. You might be able to explain one, but both?

[oberliner]

35. It's true - here's an article on that Magnitsky Act vote

Senate passes Russia trade bill in 92-4 vote

Relevant Excerpt:

Sens. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) voted against the trade bill.

http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/271455-senate-passes-russia-trade-bill

This is the bill you brought up, isn't it? I was pointing out that 3 Democrats voted against it along with Bernie.

[TomCADem]

36. CNN: Senate passes Russia sanctions bill, pushing back against Trump

Again, only Bernie voted in support of Russia for BOTH the Magnitksy Act and the 2017 Russia Sanctions bill.

https://www.cnn.com/2017/06/15/politics/russia-sanctions-senate-trump/index.html

The Senate was nearly unanimous on Thursday passing a bill that would slap Russia with new sanctions and give Congress the power to review any White House attempts to roll them back.

The Senate approved the bill 98-2, with Republican Rand Paul of Kentucky and Independent Bernie Sanders of Vermont voting against the measure. The bill, which includes both Russian and Iranian sanctions, now heads to the House, which still needs to pass it before it goes to President Donald Trump's desk.

The measure is widely seen as a rebuke to Trump, as it hits Russia with new sanctions to punish Moscow for its interference in US elections, as well as over Moscow's aggression in Ukraine and Syria.

The bill establishes a review process for Congress to have a say whether the White House eases Russia sanctions. It also establishes new sanctions against those conducting cyberattacks on behalf of the Russian government as well as supplying arms to Syrian President Bashar Assad, and it allows for sanctions to hit Russia's mining, metals, shipping and railways sectors.

[oberliner]

37. The sanctions bill was 98-2 with only Rand Paul and Bernie Sanders voting no

The Magnitsky Act bill was 98-4 with Sanders, Whitehouse, Levin, and Reed voting no.

I'm not sure what we are disagreeing about, if anything.

[TomCADem]

38. The original point I made is that only Bernie Sanders voted no...

...on BOTH bills:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=1991013

Not that he was the only no vote on both bills. Put another way, you can explain voting no on one bill by saying hey, someone else also voted no, so he was not the only outlier. But to vote no on two bills that are central to Russian election interference with Russia trying to cut a deal with Eric Trump to provide dirt on Hillary in return for overturning the Magnitsky Act AND the 2017 Russian election interference sanctions?

That is the point. Bernie is sounding outraged now, but where did he stand when it came to voting on the two bills that are central to this dispute?

[JCanete]

41. ...in the same place he stands now. Good Lord Tom. And he was very clear about where he stood then,

explaining that he wanted Russian sanctions but wasn't happy with the bill as presented(in the case of the sanctions bill). In both cases, this isn't a matter of Sanders saying one thing and acting in contravention of those words, because in both cases, his refusal to vote for the measure amounted to nothing more than a vocalization of his discontent with said measures, since his vote could not change the outcome in either case. The point is, your indignation far outweighs the case you are making.

[TomCADem]

69. Same Place as Trump: Its Hillary's Fault?

nt

[JCanete]

70. that's an entirely different topic...entirely. So why would you bring it up here? Even if Sanders is

wrong in that instance(and I only know the details through your posts here but will look into the circumstances more going forward), that doesn't automatically make every other accusation about him accurate or valid. Your avoidance of defending your own point by redirecting about some other grievance is really exemplary of where we are in this nation when it comes to demagoguery. "We don't like that person, therefore any attack is valid by virtue of its truthiness" is something we, as honest actors interested in dealing with truth, not simply some caricature of it loosely drawn from scant facts, should be aspiring to.

[George II]

54. I guess neither bill was pure.

[KPN]

19. Not true, the say one thing do another part. Though I know your views

about Bernie already, it's nevertheless surprising that you actually seem to see conspiracy in this. Have you let your views cloud your vision?

[TomCADem]

20. Are You Saying His Voting Record Is Fake News?

Not saying anything about a conspiracy. Unless reality and voting records constitutes a conspiracy.

[KPN]

23. Out of context, disregarding his reasoning,

absolutely.

[WIProgressive88]

39. I know I shouldn't feed the tinfoil-hat wearing troll, but enough of this.

On Thursday afternoon, Senator Bernie Sanders voted against legislation to put new sanctions on both Russia and Iran. He voted for a Russia-only sanctions bill, but opposed the final bill’s inclusion of new sanctions on Iran because, like John Kerry, he feared it would endanger the 2015 nuclear deal.

[link:https://www.thenation.com/article/bernie-sanders-is-a-russian-agent-and-other-things-i-learned-this-week/|
Sad to see that some among the #Resistance crowd are apparently as susceptible to fake news as many of the Trumpanzies...

[KPN]

46. +1000

[AtheistCrusader]

67. Are you suggesting politics are complex beyond the 20-30 characters that fit in a headline?

Unpossible!

Next you'll tell me that the ACLU supported the removal of the restriction on Mental Health related blocks for gun purchases that Trump signed.

[George II]

53. That is very true.

[Stallion]

9. Far Left is Throwing Bernie Under the Sanders Campaign Bus for all This RUSSIA! RUSSIA! RUSSIA! Talk

[Skittles]

32. I wish I could say what I REALLY think

[Mountain Mule]

21. Please, friends - no more deviciveness

Surely, we all know how much Putin hated the woman who rightfully should be President of the United States - Hillary Rodham Clinton. He directed his Internet minions to bring Hillary down by any means - one of which would have been by Bernie getting the nomination instead of her. I think he's far more about being anti-Clinton than pro-Bernie.

Our country is going through such a dark times. A united Democratic Party is our only hope. Let's not turn back to the vicious infighting of 2016.

Please, please. Pretty please?

I voted for Bernie in the primaries, but when Hillary won she had my full support - that's a no-brainer because I'm a Democrat. She STILL has my full support. I want to cry every time I think about what an outstanding president she would have been. Please let's not fight each other out of old history while an enemy has breached our gates right now in the present.

[harun]

48. Let's be honest. The U.S. meddles in every election on Earth.

http://observer.com/2016/10/2006-audio-emerges-of-hillary-clinton-proposing-rigging-palestine-election/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Iranian_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_electoral_intervention

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/17/sunday-review/russia-isnt-the-only-one-meddling-in-elections-we-do-it-too.html

https://www.channel4.com/news/factcheck/americas-long-history-of-meddling-in-other-countries-elections

Not that any of that is good, it is just the facts of the matter.

[TomCADem]

55. Trump defends Putin: 'You think our country's so innocent?'

Amazing that on the "left" people make the exact arguments as the Russian/Republican party in defending Russian election interference.

https://www.cnn.com/2017/02/04/politics/donald-trump-vladimir-putin/index.html

Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump appeared to equate US actions with the authoritarian regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin in an interview released Saturday, saying, "There are a lot of killers. You think our country's so innocent?"

Trump made the remark during an interview with Fox News' Bill O'Reilly, saying he respected his Russian counterpart.

"But he's a killer," O'Reilly said to Trump.

"There are a lot of killers. You think our country's so innocent?" Trump replied.

[harun]

56. Not defending it, just not surprised and adding context.

We have plenty of bad policy to attack Trump on without blaming the Russians. Just think it would be of more value.

[bunt homer]

66. Socialist Senator Owns "Capitalist" President

Good work, Bernie!