It's been a great watch so far Watching all these episodes Kellyanne Conway's alternate facts People getting fired for ties to Russia, most recently Flynn (sure the conspiracy theories might be a bit much, but it's hilarious how Trumps picks prove to be more Swamp than ever). Trump calling out Nordstrom for not using Ivanka's clothing line, Nordstroms stock raises 4% (great quality levels of unbiased) ... Sean Spicer trying his best to defend all of it, to his credit, clearly struggling with the idiocy of others I probably missed some stuff, feel free to add your favorite scenes Edit, just to be clear, this is not for legislation or whatever (make a new thread), this is purely the sensation that is the Trump administration
I liked liked Conway just straight up promoted Ivankas clothing line on Fox News like that was normal for a govt spokeswoman to do. Quality administration
other world leaders reactions to Trump shaking their hand. the mar-a-lago candle-lit north korea missile test restaurant situation room.
That moment when Conway goes on to promote Ivankas clothing line on Fox News was gold too. Truly, not trying to use the office for personal gain.
I mean, for what it's worth, he wasn't fired for "having ties to Russia." As far as I know, he has no specific ties to Russia, and in fact it seems he was merely doing his job when he got in touch with Russian officials in December. It seems clear to me that not everyone in the Trump administration is on the same page, or are even actively trying to sabotage him*. In some ways this can be a good thing in some instances perhaps; but, for example, Pence wants to be much more aggressive towards Russia (politically at least) than Flynn or Trump. In this case it seems that Flynn "lied" (supposedly by accident, via interpretation) about parts of his conversation which he had otherwise reported. Pence and/or others might be leveraging that and "appearances" (which makes Trump a fool in this case since absolving him would actually look better) to get rid of Flynn and have someone more hawkish get in. It's also possible that Flynn was not on board with some other thing and Trump used this as an excuse, but that's speculation. If anyone's curious what Assange thinks about it in a Twit sized message: (IC is "Intelligence Community" in this context. I think it's more the old-guard or specific factions within it though, personally.) Quite frankly this seems very plausible to me. It would also explain how the phone intercepts were acquired in the first place. The IC has had it's proxies talk about how Trump better not go after them, and have consistently been Anti-Trump without generally being able to provide anything substantive until arguably Flynn's phone call (but quite frankly that doesn't impress me at this time). *(The consistent dripping leaks about non-substantive BS like "he wears a bathrobe" or "he's bad when he misspells!" which aren't important even if they were verified; is among some of the better evidence towards (a) member(s) of his administration actively trying to scuttle him. Though it's not clear yet whether it's "his" people, hold-overs from Obama's administration, or both. Personally, I think the contents of Flynn's phone call being leaked is another example.)
my understanding was that flynn was still a private citizen when he contacted russia, and also probably should have known that pretty much every sort of correspondence to or from russia is gonna be monitored pretty heavily by various US agencies
Flynn knew that phone is wired. This phone call is just an excuse. We have no idea what is going on there.
All **** calling aside. I don't think it's unreasonable that the IC is looking into things. There are clear reasons for concern. If they are going to far, I don't know. I have no idea of the usual workings, the info they got, etc. Anyone with reliable info, feel free to share. (Even though were getting off topic)
Also that time when Trump asked "where is Rudy" when Rudy Guliany was sitting right opposite of him was amusing. Even more so cause everyone in the room was looking confused as hell.
Except that they are going well beyond "looking" and appear to be actively trying to undermine their own President. From a political viewpoint, sure, but it's not supposed to be the IC's job to determine political policy. There is absolutely zero reliable information that Trump or anyone in his administration or campaign, have had significant ties with Russia (I think except that guy that got fired, not Flynn, the campaign guy?), let alone could be considered compromised by or working for Russia. If they had that information they would have used it rather than releasing leaks about a non-substantive phone call. Or that Buzzfeed Dossier thing. Heck, they've never shown anyone any substantive proof that Russia is tied to the Wikileaks document releases, which is what they point to as being "Russian interference in the election" and what they mean when they say: "Russia hacked the election." (Though certainly some people don't hear that.) It seems to me, that the attacks against Putin and Trump, whether pushed together in the narrative or discussed separately, have been over the top. What is especially telling about that to me, is that they are both so easy to attack even if you just stick to substantive things in the first place... But I guess some people feel the need to return lies with lies, over-the-top accusations with over-the-top accusations... even though it undermines their own position. It also further divides the people... but often enough I think that's the real point of it.
Well, no. But then you aren't part of the US intelligence community (or if you are it's as a foreign national asset).
