Trump has signaled that he intends to reform the U.S. intelligence establishment --- It looks like THEY WERE NOT AMUSED --- Is it time for Trump to DOUBLE DOWN ???
Does anybody NOT believe that many of the “Career Professionals” in the various U.S. intelligence services aren’t also [gladly] willing to be partisan "political hacks" ???
In case you missed it, President Elect Donald Trump is
getting briefed today by an official delegation [gaggle] of top U.S. intelligence types about the
alleged hacking of the 2016 American elections by the Russian’s led by Putin.
Yesterday, some the official leading lights of the Obama-led
U.S. intelligence services testified before a U.S. Senate Committee prominently led
by that old “Republican” war horse John McCain.
The upshot of that hearing was that everything that had been said before
was repeated once more with feeling.
That also means that no new evidence of the alleged Russian election hack was put
forward; but everybody there agreed that it happened. TRUMP REMAINED RIGHTFULLY SCEPTICAL
Several news stories today say that Trump is going into his meeting with the intelligence guys openly skeptical about what they have on the Russian’s --- the phrases, “WITCH HUNT” or "POLITICAL WITCH HUNT" seem to be the operative buzz.Let’s see if Trump comes out of this “briefing” and doubles down on his openly-expressed doubt about all of this stuff.
Don't forget, Trump has signaled that he intends to make some changes in/to the U.S. intelligence services. The "career" intelligence folks can't be happy with that. Trump needs to clearly link all that to his crusade to "Drain the Swamp" in Washington.
LET'S SEE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT !!!
13 comments:
These "career" pros are actually political appointees.
UPDATE: THE "TRUMP REALLY DOESN'T BUY IT" EDITION
AFTER INTEL BRIEFING, TRUMP SAYS RUSSIAN HACKING DID >>>NOT<<< AFFECT THE 2016 ELECTION FOR PRESIDENT
According to a Reuters report, "President-elect Donald Trump said on Friday that the outcome of the 2016 U.S. election was not affected by cyber attacks after intelligence agencies briefed him on their conclusion that Russia had staged cyber attacks during the campaign.... Having hours earlier dismissed the controversy as a 'political witch hunt,' Republican Trump later issued a statement whose main aim appeared to be to deflect questions about the legitimacy of his Nov. 8 victory over Democratic Party candidate Hillary Clinton.... Trump said that 'Russia, China, other countries, outside groups and people' seek to attack U.S. institutions including the Democratic National Committee. 'There was absolutely no effect on the outcome of the election including the fact that there was no tampering whatsoever with voting machines.'... (See "Trump says hacking did not affect U.S. election outcome" by Steve Holland, 1/6/17, Reuters/ MSN [http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-says-hacking-did-not-affect-us-election-outcome/ar-BBxYVMl?li=AA5a8k&ocid=spartandhp]).
Similar material also appeared in a later Reuters article co-authored by Steve Holland and Mark Hosenball, which principally dealt with the intelligence agencies' non-classified report (See "U.S. intel report: Putin directed cyber campaign to help Trump" by Steve Holland and Mark Rosenball, 1/6/17, Reuters [http://whtc.com/news/articles/2017/jan/06/trumps-aides-say-president-elect-open-to-russian-hack-info/]).
If everybody says it happened than it must have happened.
It's 'then' it must have happened - not 'than' it must have happened. Didn't you learn anything at Saint Anselm's?
UPDATE & FOLLOWUP: THE “WHY TRUMP WANTS TO SHUT DOWN OPEN DISCUSSION OF RUSSIA’S HACKS” EDITION
AFTER INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING, TRUMP SHOWED THAT HE WANTS TO PUT ANY CONTROVERSY INVOLVING THE ALLEGED RUSSIAN HACKING OF THE 2016 ELECTION BEHIND HIM
TRUMP PRAISES THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY, BUT SAYS THEIR WORK SHOULD REMAIN SECRET SO AS NOT TO HELP “…THOSE THAT SEEK TO DO US HARM”
According to a report in Breitbart, “[a]fter the meeting [with U.S. Intelligence Agency leaders], Trump appeared eager to put the [Russian election hacking]controversy behind him, praising the intelligence community for their efforts…. ‘I have tremendous respect for the work and service done by the men and women of this community to our great nation,’ he said…. He also promised to have an aggressive plan to secure the country from cyber attacks, vowing a plan within 90 days of taking the office of the presidency….” (See “Trump: Intelligence Briefing Shows ‘Absolutely No Effect’ of Cyber Attacks on Election Results” by Charlie Spiering, 1/6/17, Breitbart News/ Big Government [http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/01/06/donald-trump-intelligence-briefing-shows-absolutely-no-effect-election-results/]).
Spiering’s report for Breitbart made note of the following: “Trump was briefed by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, CIA Director John Brennan, FBI Director James B. Comey, and Adm. Michael S. Rogers, the head of the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command….”
The Spiering-Breitbart piece also contained this telling quote by President Elect Trump: “The methods, tools and tactics we use to keep America safe should not be a public discussion that will benefit those who seek to do us harm,” he said. “Two weeks from today I will take the oath of office and America’s safety and security will be my number one priority.”
If Trump had a reputation for being skeptical or even neutral about Putin and the Russians, there might be some cause to doubt the intelligence reports about Russian efforts to influence the presidential election.
Ronald Reagan is spinning in his grave. We have a Kremlin apologist about to enter the Oval Office.
That's pure MSNBC-CNN bullshit! Ronald Reagan never dealt with a non-Communist, democratically elected president of Russia. Reagan always believed that any Communist could be reformed; and he proved that in his personal life.
Trump is trying to get the U.S.A. to back out of its myopic, personality driven Obama-Clinton neo-cold war with Putin and Russia; and possibly even craft a strategic partnership with Putin and the Russians.
UPDATE: THE “TRUMP DOUBLES DOWN” EDITION
TRUMP PUTS-DOWN ALL OF THE NAYSAYERS ABOUT HIS APPARENTLY OPEN-TO- RUSSIA STANCE
TRUMP TWEETS THAT --- ONLY ‘STUPID PEOPLE’ OR ‘FOOLS’ THINK GOOD US-RUSSIA RELATIONS ARE BAD
MAYBE, JUST MAYBE, TRUMP IS TWO OR MORE STEPS AHEAD OF MANY OF HIS CRITICS ON THIS STUFF --- AND AMERICA AND THE WORLD WILL BE ALL THE BETTER FOR IT
Chris Ruddy’s Newsmax is leading with this about Trump’s remarks: “Only 'stupid people' or 'fools' would think that having a good relationship with Russia is bad, President-elect Donald Trump said in a series of tweets Saturday morning…. The messages came on the heels of a post late Friday slamming the Democratic National Committee for its 'gross negligence' that opened the way to allow Russia to hack into its computer servers during the presidential campaign…. Trump kicked off his morning tweets at about 6 a.m., when he insisted there was "no evidence" that Russian hacking affected the election....” (See “Trump: Only 'Stupid People' or 'Fools' Think Good US-Russia Relations Are Bad” by Sandy Fitzgerald, 1/7/17, Newsmax/ Politics [http://www.newsmax.com/Politics/trump-twitter-russia-relations/2017/01/07/id/767301/]).
The Newsmax report also noted this: “.... Trump has continued to question the conclusions [of the declassified report by U.S. intelligence agencies], and on Saturday continued his contention that maintaining a relationship with Russia would benefit the United States.... In the second of his earlier tweets, Trump said the continued discussion about the DNC hacks is occurring because of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton's loss to him....” That Trump tweet said this: “Only reason the hacking of the poorly defended DNC is discussed is that the loss by the Dems was so big that they are totally embarrassed!”
Newsmax then quoted a later series of Trump tweets that gives a more complete insight into what Trump is really thinking and talking about --- “…. Having a good relationship with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing. Only "stupid" people, or fools, would think that it is bad! We..... have enough problems around the world without yet another one. When I am President, Russia will respect us far more than they do now and.... both countries will, perhaps, work together to solve some of the many great and pressing problems and issues of the WORLD!”
All or part of this posting has been published before.
Monica Crowley
Some people are stuck in a time warp and some other 1970s or 80s concepts.
Don't worry, I heard that they're doing a remake of "Little Shop..." and maybe there are parts in it for them.
you are taking advantage of the bad weather & poor choice of reading materials available
Don't blame Gail for taking advantage of your bad reading choices.
BACKFILL: THE “SINCE I MENTIONED HIM IN MY COMMENT ABOVE --- ‘THE CHRIS RUDDY EDITION’” EDITION
DON’T TRY TO ADJUST YOUR SET (ANACHRONISTIC TV REFERENCE) --- IT DOES SAY “ ‘…”THE CHRIS RUDDY EDITION” ’ EDITION” (I THINK I GOT THE “ ‘ ‘ “-THING ABOVE RIGHT)
CHRISTOPHER RUDDY IS CEO AND EDITOR OF NEWSMAX MEDIA INC. --- HE SAYS ANY TALK ABOUT PRESIDENT ELECT TRUMP BEING A RUSSIAN-ORIENTED MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE IS NONSENSE
According to Ruddy, “Nothing seems to excite Donald Trump more these days than the prospect that he will soon be dealing with Vladimir Putin…. Over the holidays I had numerous conversations with the president-elect. He mentioned Putin almost every time…. Trump said the two recently had a phone call. Putin is equally excited about the new potential here — he also holds great disdain for President Barack Obama…. Full disclosure here: I am a Putin critic. I don't trust the man and see him as a great danger. But with Trump's new policy, I am taking an approach similar to when Obama opened Cuba…. While I did not support Obama's move, I thought it was worth the risk to go forward and see what happens…. If Trump can pull off a miracle with Russia and turn Putin into a friend, then better for all of us. It won't take long to find out….” (See “Trump's Putin Play: Will It Work?” by Chrisopher Ruddy, 1/6/17, Newsmax/ Home [http://www.newsmax.com/ChristopherRuddy/Trump-Putin-Podesta-Russia/2017/01/06/id/767159/]).
Ruddy also went on to say this: “…. My prediction is that the relationship will blow up quickly. This won't be due to Trump, who is extending an olive branch with the best of intentions…. Trump likely sees this as a new partnership — one where we help the Russians on some matter of concern to them, and they reciprocate in another area for us. A win-win approach typical of Trump…. But Putin will soon want things Trump won't compromise on. He most certainly will overreach. He will think Trump owes him…. When Putin misbehaves and embarrasses Trump, he will not respond nicely…. Putin faces a rude awakening…. Trump has just announced he wants to modernize our nuclear weapons and dramatically increase our stockpile. Putin can't like this…. Trump told me the START deal signed by Obama was a "bad deal," giving Russia an advantage in strategic nuclear weapons. He also is aware that Russia holds a very large advantage in tactical nuclear warheads….”
EVEN THOUGH RUDDY DOESN”T DISCLOSE THAT HE WAS A SOLID SUPPORTER OF SEVERAL “NEVER TRUMP” REPUBLICANS --- AND --- HE PESONALLY SUPPORTED HILLARY CLINTON’S CANDIDACY AGAINST TRUMP WHEN HE WAS THE GOP NOMINEE, THIS ARTICLE SHOWS A LOT OF INSIGHT AND IS A VERY GOOD ANALYSIS OF TRUMP’S THINKING AND HOPES ABOUT PUTIN AND RUSSIA -- AND THE UNLIKELINESS OF THE ULTIMATE SUCCESS OF MUCH/MOST OF IT
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