“Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections”
Here's the Intelligence Community declassified report dated Jan 6, 2017.
-- 5 pages on 2016 election interference
-- 6 pages on 2012 election interference (Annex A starting on page 6).
dni.gov/files/document…
Here's the Intelligence Community declassified report dated Jan 6, 2017.
-- 5 pages on 2016 election interference
-- 6 pages on 2012 election interference (Annex A starting on page 6).
dni.gov/files/document…
Have you ever heard a peep in the Media about Russian interference in our 2012 election? See the IC report linked in the previous tweet. It is the same report Hillary referenced to claim Russian interference in 2016. But the same report says Russia did the same in 2012 too.
The point I am making is not that Trump should ignore Russian interference because Obama ignored it. I don't indulge in whataboutism, except to point out hypocrisy of the Left (whataboutism is a legitimate tool for doing that).
I point this out to highlight that Russian interference in our elections is par for the course. We do the same to Russia. That's what adversaries do to each other. Russia is our adversary and we are their adversary.
I hope and pray that we are giving them as good or better as they are giving us in terms of meddling in our affairs. I hope we are not just wasting hundreds of billions of dollars we have spent on CIA and NSA over decades.
I believe it is appropriate to handle such attacks from adversaries covertly, and not wash this dirty laundry in public the way Democrats and the liberal media have decided to do just because their anointed Hillary lost. They never made a peep about it when Obama won in 2012.
The crazies who declaim Trump is giving Russia a pass on election interference have no clue how national security is best taken care of. Their idea of leadership is Obama making public pronouncements about troop withdrawal dates, and drawing red lines, and such nincompoopery.
Trump eviscerates ISIS in the Middle East without telling anyone how he did it. Trump shores up NATO funding commitments right before everyone's eyes, but unhinged "Russia Collusion!" crazies call even that "doing Putin's bidding."
Trump shores up missile defenses against Russia in Eastern Europe (reversing the incompetent concessions made by Obama) and "Russia Collusion!" crazies bury their collective head in the sand and continue with their "Russia Collusion!" jihad.
And look at this:
These "Russia Collusion!" conspiracy nuts are not serious people. They don't care about national security or they wouldn't be working 24/7 to make our nation look so ridiculous and weak that, according to them, U.S. got undone by $100K worth of pathetic Russian ads on Facebook.
And then there was that spear phishing attack on a high level Democratic operative whose email password was password. So Democrats decided the best way to distract from the devastating info revealed about Hillary was to cry, "Russia Collusion!" These are not serious people.
"Russians are coming. Russians are coming ..."
"The sky is falling. The sky is falling. ..."
#Resistance has convinced itself that chanting this is patriotic. It's pathetic.
"The sky is falling. The sky is falling. ..."
#Resistance has convinced itself that chanting this is patriotic. It's pathetic.
Russia is barely a shadow of the former Soviet Union in its reach and economic might. Without a doubt, Russia is our adversary, not a friend. But Russia now has a population smaller than that of Bangladesh, and GDP about the same as that of Spain.
What Russia does have is nukes (as does North Korea). So there is no point antagonizing Russia gratuitously, as Democrats insist we do by baring our teeth and intoning chicken little virtue-signal, "Thou shalt not interfere in our democracy!" Who thinks that makes us look strong?
Russia still has a formidable nuclear arsenal and military might, and as such we should engage with them to cooperatively tackle some of the challenges like Syria and North Korea, but economically Russia is no match for the U.S.A., with its GDP about 7% of that of the U.S.A.
Democrats have failed miserably on dealing forcefully with our foreign adversaries for several generations now. You know why? Because they don't have the faintest idea about how to project our strength abroad where bad actors are concerned.
A party that believes Russia stole an American election by hacking John Podesta's emails, and by deploying a $100K worth of amateurish nonsense on social media, scares no one abroad. That's not a serious political party. That's a caricature of a cartoon of buffoons run wild.
Trump knows seething with rage and muttering inane threats scared no strongman ever. Putin is a strong man. Trump seems to know how to deal with him behind the scenes, although too early to tell. Here's one example:
If Trump can make Putin behave on the world stage, without creating a public scene to make Putin recalcitrant, why not? Trump always focuses on results and should be judged by results, not by what geopolitical strategists (who have been miserable failures for decades) say.
Let's face it. It is unlikely we will have another shooting war between major players on the world stage in our lifetime. Major conflicts going forward will be economic. To that end, Trump is leading the charge against both China and Russia, and also against EU for that matter.
Trump has gone as public as any leader can be in excoriating Germany for doing so much business with our common adversary, Russia. By doing so, Trump has put a tourniquet on Germany's economic ties with Russia.
Whether Germany changes the gas pipeline deal with Russia or not, it will be hard now for Germany not to think twice before doing anything which expands its economic ties with Russia. Give credit to Trump for the jolt. His methods are unorthodox, but his results are unmistakable.
Can you imagine any other U.S. leader being able to accomplish such an inexorable reassessment of Germany's economic ties with Russia overnight? Most other leaders would be too worried about diplomatic niceties and press coverage, and thus would be debilitated by self-doubt.
This will scare Putin far more than any sabre-rattling over treating John Podesta's emails as a national treasure. That was more Obama's cup of tea, and even he took a pass on the chance to seem like such a wuss.
So give Trump a chance to do it his way. The man is purposeful. He will scold an ally and smile at a renegade adversary if that's what it takes to move them toward a more constructive engagement for our good, their good, and the good of the world.
Also know that the liberal MSM has been trying to sell a bill of goods about Obama's stance toward Russia. For excruciating details of how Obama weakened America against Russia, go through this thread. If any of this is news to you, you have been duped.
A Very Important Perspective
STEPHEN F. COHEN: The reaction by most of the media, by the Democrats, by the anti-Trump people is like mob violence. I've never seen anything like it in my life.
realclearpolitics.com/video/2018/07/…
STEPHEN F. COHEN: The reaction by most of the media, by the Democrats, by the anti-Trump people is like mob violence. I've never seen anything like it in my life.
realclearpolitics.com/video/2018/07/…
STEPHEN F. COHEN: I didn't vote for this president, but I want my president to do what every other president has done. Sit with the head of the other nuclear superpower and walk back the conflicts that could lead to war.
That is exactly what Trump is doing.
That is exactly what Trump is doing.
Trump versus Putin: A new sheriff is in the White House
And this sheriff knows how to make tyrants eat out of his hand by making them see how it is better for them to mend their ways (witness the turn-around in North Korea's behavior as an example).
thehill.com/opinion/intern…
And this sheriff knows how to make tyrants eat out of his hand by making them see how it is better for them to mend their ways (witness the turn-around in North Korea's behavior as an example).
thehill.com/opinion/intern…
Substance over Style
Unlike his predecessor, Trump doesn't believe in sanctimoniously lecturing adversaries in vague terms and then doing nothing (an approach lauded by MSM, feckless Democrats, and other Trump opponents). He takes resolute action to send unmistakable messages.
Unlike his predecessor, Trump doesn't believe in sanctimoniously lecturing adversaries in vague terms and then doing nothing (an approach lauded by MSM, feckless Democrats, and other Trump opponents). He takes resolute action to send unmistakable messages.
Liberal MSM and Democrats have zero credibility when it comes to their own stance on American Intelligence Community. They excoriated Bush for believing the same Intelligence Community they now excoriate Trump for not believing. These are rabid partisans, not born again patriots.
Why Trump Doesn't Proclaim Russian Election Interference
Byron York is one of the smartest political commentators I know. His analysis of the situation is impeccable. I disagree with him on his prognosis about what will happen if Trump changed his tune.
washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/column…
Byron York is one of the smartest political commentators I know. His analysis of the situation is impeccable. I disagree with him on his prognosis about what will happen if Trump changed his tune.
washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/column…
Byron York is absolutely right on this in my opinion.
I disagree with Byron York in his prognosis below. Having witnessed many political witch-hunts (including the Belgrano affair in which Margaret Thatcher was excoriated by opponents even after having won the Falklands war), I know Media would horrendously abuse any concessions.
While York is right that Trump's approach of not giving an inch on election interference by Russia is not working, I know that Trump has tested the waters on admitting to such an interference and it made no difference to the attack dogs. So I believe Trump knows what the deal is.
Hence, I judge Trump by his actions and results, not by his words. He says what he says to best negotiate the treacherous verbal traps his opponents constantly lay out to ensnare him. This is media kabuki and has little to do with what Trump actually does at a policy level.
