pbmus

pbmus's Journal

November 28, 2016

Just so we don't forget who helped the Trumpster into POTUS

Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to see Donald Trump become the next president of the United States. To that end, Putin and his government have taken unprecedented steps to influence our electoral process to help the Republican Party’s nominee. Whether Russia’s interventions will succeed is not obvious. But it’s clear that Putin’s government has the motives — and the means — to try.

Putin has rational motives for wanting Trump to win: Trump champions many foreign policies that Putin supports. Trump’s most shocking, pro-Kremlin proposal is to “look into” recognition of Crimea as a part of Russia. President Obama and nearly every member of Congress — Republican and Democrat — have rejected that idea vigorously. Only Afghanistan, Cuba, Nicaragua, North Korea, Syria and Venezuela have recognized Russia’s annexation of Crimea. Naturally, Putin would love to see the United States join that list.

Russian President Vladimir Putin calls presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump "a flamboyant person" and welcomes his calls to restore US-Russia relations. (Reuters)
Trump also has made clear his disdain for the United States’ alliances around the world. Demonstrating his misunderstanding of how NATO works, Trump has demanded that other NATO members essentially pay us for protection, making many of our allies, especially in the eastern part of Europe, nervous about his commitment to defend them. Trump has also disparaged our allies in Asia, creating new opportunities for Russian influence. On trade, Trump’s promises to disrupt our agreements also play right into Putin’s agenda. From Putin’s perspective, what could be a better way to start the New Year than a trade war between the United States and China or Mexico? Trump’s threats to stop paying our debts also would radically undermine our credibility as a lender, another desirable outcome for Putin.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/why-putin-wants-a-trump-victory-so-much-he-might-even-be-trying-to-help-him/2016/08/17/897ab21c-6495-11e6-be4e-23fc4d4d12b4_story.html?tid=a_inl&utm_term=.82f5b7efbd04

November 28, 2016

Americans keep looking away from the elections most alarming story

In assessing Donald Trump’s presidential victory, Americans continue to look away from this election’s most alarming story: the successful effort by a hostile foreign power to manipulate public opinion before the vote.

U.S. intelligence agencies determined that the Russian government actively interfered in our elections. Russian state propaganda gave little doubt that this was done to support Republican nominee Trump, who repeatedly praised Vladimir Putin and excused the Russian president’s foreign aggression and domestic repression. Most significantly, U.S. intelligence agencies have affirmed that the Russian government directed the illegal hacking of private email accounts of the Democratic National Committee and prominent individuals. The emails were then released by WikiLeaks, which has benefited financially from a Russian state propaganda arm, used Russian operatives for security and made clear an intent to harm the candidacy of Hillary Clinton.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/americans-keep-looking-away-from-the-elections-most-alarming-story/2016/11/25/83533d3e-b0e2-11e6-8616-52b15787add0_story.html?postshare=2711480133528811&tid=ss_tw&utm_term=.924c6c582558

November 28, 2016

The Trumpster is using us...

Trump is not using Twitter to distract you from his agenda.

Bannon & co. are using Trump to distract you from theirs.

November 28, 2016

Democrats need to be an opposition party, not a minority party.

More Americans voted for Hillary Clinton than for Donald Trump. More Americans voted for Democratic Senate candidates than for Republican Senate candidates.

So why aren’t Democrats acting like it? Why aren’t they trying to force Republicans, the media, and the emergent Trump White House to act like it?

This is not an argument that the election was rigged, or that Trump’s win is somehow illegitimate. The president is chosen by the Electoral College. The Senate is built to favor small states. Gerrymandering is legal. America does not decide national elections by simply tallying up votes.

But the will of the voters still matters, or at least it should. Thus far, Democrats have slipped comfortably into the position of minority party. They aren’t demanding that Trump put forward compromise candidates for key posts. They aren’t laying out a proactive agenda that would serve as their basis for negotiations with Trump and the Republicans. And they aren’t, in their public messaging, emphasizing that most voters opposed Trump’s agenda, and that both Democrats and Republicans need to take that seriously.

Democrats won the most votes in the election. They should act like it. - Vox - www.vox.com
http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/11/22/13708648/democrats-won-popular-vote

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Somebody on the democratic side better grab a pair and start standing up to the Trumpster .

November 27, 2016

Stop focusing on the Trumpsters conflicts of interest!!!

Donald Trump’s senior adviser and former campaign manager Kellyanne Conway says that Americans should stop focusing on all of Trump’s conflicts of interest and instead focus more on the “sacrifice” he’s making by becoming President.

I apologize for this characterization ... But she really is a blond bimbo...