We're sorry, we didn't mean to offend anyone . . .

[ex-khobar Andy]

Per the Beeb:

Trump says Putin insulted by US election meddling claim

Could you apologize on our behalf while you're there in Nam for your first visit? Maybe get him a little something to make him feel better?

I suggest some nice soap.

[Lord Jim]

Trump says Putin insulted by US election meddling claim

It's worse than that...

Trump said he believes him:

Trump says he believes Putin's election meddling denials

Da Nang, Vietnam (CNN)President Donald Trump suggested on Saturday he's done confronting Russian President Vladimir Putin over his country's election meddling since it's insulting to the Russian leader.

Trump said he took Putin at his word that Russia did not seek to interfere in the US presidential election last year, despite a finding from US intelligence agencies that it did. The fraught relations between the two leaders was underscored anew when Putin's spokesman said election meddling did not come up when they spoke, even though Trump said it did.

And he stressed that bigger issues persist between the United States and Russia that require the two leaders to move on.

"He said he didn't meddle. He said he didn't meddle. I asked him again. You can only ask so many times," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he flew from Da Nang to Hanoi in Vietnam. Trump spoke to Putin three times on the sidelines of summit here, where the Russia meddling issue arose.

"Every time he sees me, he says, 'I didn't do that,'" Trump said. "And I believe, I really believe, that when he tells me that, he means it."

http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/11/politics/ ... index.html

We have a President Of The United States who chooses to believe the word of a murdering thug dictator who leads an enemy regime, over the unanimous conclusions of every single US intelligence agency...

Gee, I wonder why that is...

[liberty]

How do you think the Russians can be stopped from doing it again? They don’t have to collude with anyone to do what they did again. And as long as we allow foreign internet they can’t be stopped. Hey, next time they may choose the democrat if the democrats will refrain from criticizing their treatment of homosexuals.

Do you think he believes Putin? I don’t think he believes the Russians any more than he believed the Chinese; he needs them so he says what he says.

[rubato]

It would help a great deal if Republicans stopped lying and admitted it.

I don't think we can prevent it from happening as long as they call it "fake news" and pretend it didn't happen.


yrs,
rubato

[ex-khobar Andy]

CIA Director Pompeo issued this statement today:

""The Director stands by and has always stood by the January 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment entitled: Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent U.S. Elections. The intelligence assessment with regard to Russian election meddling has not changed.""

At what point do the intelligence guys gang up on the president and go and pound the desk in the Oval Office? he can't fire them all.

[liberty]

It would help a great deal if Republicans stopped lying and admitted it.

I don't think we can prevent it from happening as long as they call it "fake news" and pretend it didn't happen.


yrs,
rubato

How would you stop the Russians from doing it again?

[Lord Jim]

It would help a great deal if Republicans stopped lying and admitted it.

Say rube, would please post the list of Republicans (besides the pseudo-Republican Trump) claiming that the Russians didn't meddle in the election?

(I know you must have such a list, since you're certainly not the sort of person who makes such assertions with nothing to back them up)

Thanking you in advance...

ETA:

""The Director stands by and has always stood by the January 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment entitled: Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent U.S. Elections. The intelligence assessment with regard to Russian election meddling has not changed.""

Gee, I guess that means Mike Pompeo won't be on rube's list...

Neither will these folks:

Last week, at the Aspen Security Forum, Kelly was among several top national security officials who backed the government's conclusion that Russia carried out a campaign of cyberattacks and fake news to influence the election in favor of Trump.

Kelly joined CIA Director Mike Pompeo, White House Homeland Security and Counter-terrorism adviser Tom Bossert and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats who all expressed their support last week for the intelligence community's findings.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/pol ... 521844001/

Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, Richard Burr and Chuck Grassley won't be on the list either...

Neither will any other GOP Senate or House members of any stature, (except maybe Rand Paul...if you consider him to have stature...) or any non-Trump-shill Republican media commentators, or any other major national GOP figures...(former Republican Presidents, former presidential candidates, former major government or party office holders, etc.)

I can hardly wait to see rube's list...

[ex-khobar Andy]

Well there are a few:

REPUBLICANS SAY FIRING MUELLER IS THE ONLY WAY TO PREVENT A “COUP”
Contingents of the G.O.P. are buying into Trump’s theory of Russia alt-collusion.

Vanity Fair

[Crackpot]

Why am I not surprised to see Gomert on that list?

[Lord Jim]

Well EKA, what I see in that article are three fringe types (Louie Gohmert is the biggest whackadoodle on The Hill...at least until and unless Roy Moore gets there...) introducing a grandstanding going-nowhere non-binding resolution calling on Mueller to resign:

Three House Republicans on Friday moved to pressure special counsel Robert Mueller to resign over what they contend are “obvious conflicts of interest,” the latest instance of rising GOP resistance to his Russia probe.

Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) and Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), introduced a measure that, while nonbinding, would put the House on record describing Mueller, a former FBI director, as unfit to lead the probe because of his relationship with James Comey, his successor at the bureau.

https://www.politico.com/story/2017/11/ ... ion-244517

So you've got 3 no-power Trump butt-boys pushing a meaningless resolution. This comment by Paul Ryan at the end of The Vanity Fair article on the other hand, is representative of the sentiments that have been expressed by the overwhelming majority of GOP House and Senate members:

members of Republican leadership have proven skeptical of the push to oust Mueller, throwing their support behind the former F.B.I. chief, who touts a sterling reputation. “We need to let these career professionals do their jobs, see it through,” Speaker of the House Paul Ryan said during an interview with Fox News Sunday. “So, no, I don’t think he should be stepping down, and I don’t think he should be fired. And the president has made it clear, he’s not going to do that.”

In any event, unless I missed it I don't see anything in that article regarding rube's specific allegation that "Republicans" are denying that Russians meddled in the election...

In fact I just did a Google search for "Republicans deny Russian meddling" and the only one named in any of the articles that come up is Donald Trump...

Look, I'm not going to say that it's impossible to dig up some fringe-type Republican office holder or party official somewhere in the country who would say that they don't believe Russia meddled in the election. But the public record clearly shows that the vast overwhelming majority (including those serving responsible positions in Trump's own Administration) fully embrace the fact that they did.

So when rube tries to give the impression that "Republicans" broadly are somehow "lying" about Russian election interference, he's not only wrong, he's making a claim that is the exact opposite of the known, provable facts....

Much like Donald Trump regularly does...

(But that's not really surprising; as I've pointed out before, rube has a lot in common with Trump....)

[rubato]

Only 4 out of 52 Republican senators have repudiated Moore. So 77% of Republican senators still support him. But Republicans are notoriously cowardly and have no real principles ( they're against deficits until they're for them, They're against Russia until they are for it)*. When the tide turns they'll all do the "time warp" and pretend they were always against him. If he gets elected he will be invited into their conclaves called "brother" and embraced. None of their voters will ever notice or care.

Republican voters still overwhelmingly support Trump even when he says he believes Putin when Putin says Russia didn't meddle. Even when he is contradicted by US intelligence agencies. Whoops, Trump did a 180 today and now says the opposite! Not that Repuglican voters will ever care.

9/10 Republicans voted for Trump when he had a 40-year public history of being an egomaniac blowhard racist liar. They are the stupidest people in America and the stupidest people in the world. Putin supporters are less stupid because their perceptions are guided by a propaganda apparatus broader, deeper and more pervasive than even the "Fox news" cavalcade of lies. Republicans have to actively participate in their own brainwashing.

yrs,
rubato

* Even McCain who occasionally bucks the tide in his party pussied out when he wanted to be president and did a 180 on everything that made him a mensch.

[Lord Jim]

So regarding the claim you made that "Republicans" are "lying" about Russia meddling in the election, the answer to the question, "What do you have to support this claim?" would be, "Fuck all."...

[rubato]

So regarding the claim you made that "Republicans" are "lying" about Russia meddling in the election, the answer to the question, "What do you have to support this claim?" would be, "Fuck all."...

Aw geeze, vyou don't actually read anything do you?

Republicans Say Firing Mueller Is the Only Way to Prevent a “Coup”
Contingents of the G.O.P. are buying into Trump’s theory of Russia alt-collusion.

" ... group of conservative Republicans lawmakers has taken the Russian collusion counter-narrative embraced by Donald Trump and run with it, turning the conspiracy theory born out of the far-right fringe into a clarion call for congressional action. On Wednesday, Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz took the House floor to emphatically call for the resignation of Robert Mueller, arguing that the former F.B.I. director has “indisputable conflicts of interest” that prevent him from objectively leading the rapidly escalating Justice Department investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government.

“We are at risk of a coup d’état in this country if we allow an unaccountable person with no oversight to undermine the duly elected president of the United States,” Gaetz said, according to The Hill. “That is precisely what is happening right now with the indisputable conflicts of interest that are present with Mr. Mueller and others at the Department of Justice.” In his appeal on Wednesday, Gaetz sought to highlight the resolution he co-sponsored with Congressmen Louie Gohmert of Texas and Andy Biggs of Arizona and introduced to the House last week, which claims that Mueller’s neutrality in the ongoing Trump-Russia investigation is compromised because he was the head of the F.B.I. when the Obama administration approved the Uranium One deal. ... "

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/11 ... estigation

And your idiot assholes keep repeating the "Clinton-Uranium" story months after it has been completely disproven! Republican = fever swamp of stupidity.

yrs,
rubato

[rubato]

And why have the Republican-controlled investigations not indicted Sessions for a direct obvious lie? He volunteered the testimony that he did not meet with the Russians? False many times over.

yrs,
rubato

[ex-khobar Andy]

It’s more complicated than that; and both Rube’s assertion (“It would help a great deal if Republicans stopped lying and admitted it. I don't think we can prevent it from happening as long as they call it "fake news" and pretend it didn't happen.”) and LJ’s response (“Say rube, would please post the list of Republicans (besides the pseudo-Republican Trump) claiming that the Russians didn't meddle in the election?’) oversimplify.

All the intelligence agencies agree that Russia attempted to meddle in the election on Trump’s behalf. The January 2017 CIA statement as an example(https://www.dni.gov/files/documents/ICA_2017_01.pdf) said, in part, “Russia’s goals were to undermine public faith in the US democratic process, denigrate Secretary Clinton, and harm her electability and potential presidency. We further assess Putin and the Russian Government developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump.” The CIA statement did not attempt to determine if Trump or his campaign had a hand in this. Pompeo’s press release of yesterday noted that the CIA continued to stand behind those findings.

Where Rube’s assertion is (IMO) accurate is that Republicans in general (certainly not all) claim that the collusion with ‘the Russians’ was by the Democrats - we now know that the ‘golden showers’ dossier was originally prepared at the request of one or some of the Sweet 16 who opposed Trump in the Republican primaries. Once Trump became the nominee (or maybe sooner when it was clear that he would prevail) the originators realized that the information was of value only to Trump’s expected opponent in November, so they shopped it to a receptive Clinton campaign. I’m pretty sure this happens every election since the term ‘opposition research’ was coined.

This alt-collusion theory pushed by Trump, Huckabee Sanders, Fox News et al (see, for example, https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/tr ... dc5fbe52a2) requires some mental gymnastics but nevertheless appears to have taken hold among some portion of the Republican Party. I don’t think that even at the outer fringes it is logical to believe that the Russians were simultaneously seeking to wreck both the Trump and Clinton campaigns, so a believer in HRC collusion must also believe that, collusion or not, Putin and his guys did not attempt to influence the election on Trump’s behalf.

Hence Rube’s assertion about lying Republicans. And LJ’s request for a list of Republicans who say that the Russians did not meddle is similarly asking the wrong question because most Republicans (I have not seen a poll so this is me speculating) believe that there was Russian influence but really split into three camps: Lyin' Hillary did it and colluded and should have been locked up; it was on behalf of Trump but he was an innocent bystander (when the sun is behind him you can see the halo); or it was on behalf of Trump and sure as hell he colluded because everyone does it and they do it too.

[Econoline]

Isn't it cute when couples wear the same outfit so that the world can see how in love they are?

[Lord Jim]

So regarding the claim you made that "Republicans" are "lying" about Russia meddling in the election, the answer to the question, "What do you have to support this claim?" would be, "Fuck all."...

Aw geeze, vyou don't actually read anything do you?

Republicans Say Firing Mueller Is the Only Way to Prevent a “Coup”
Contingents of the G.O.P. are buying into Trump’s theory of Russia alt-collusion.

" ... group of conservative Republicans lawmakers has taken the Russian collusion counter-narrative embraced by Donald Trump and run with it, turning the conspiracy theory born out of the far-right fringe into a clarion call for congressional action. On Wednesday, Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz took the House floor to emphatically call for the resignation of Robert Mueller, arguing that the former F.B.I. director has “indisputable conflicts of interest” that prevent him from objectively leading the rapidly escalating Justice Department investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government.

“We are at risk of a coup d’état in this country if we allow an unaccountable person with no oversight to undermine the duly elected president of the United States,” Gaetz said, according to The Hill. “That is precisely what is happening right now with the indisputable conflicts of interest that are present with Mr. Mueller and others at the Department of Justice.” In his appeal on Wednesday, Gaetz sought to highlight the resolution he co-sponsored with Congressmen Louie Gohmert of Texas and Andy Biggs of Arizona and introduced to the House last week, which claims that Mueller’s neutrality in the ongoing Trump-Russia investigation is compromised because he was the head of the F.B.I. when the Obama administration approved the Uranium One deal. ... "

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/11 ... estigation

And your idiot assholes keep repeating the "Clinton-Uranium" story months after it has been completely disproven! Republican = fever swamp of stupidity.

yrs,
rubato

That is beyond hilarious...

In a post where you say:

Aw geeze, you don't actually read anything do you?

You demonstrate that you haven't read a damn thing that was written...

(It's that sort of thing that makes you so bloody funny rube,...please never leave this board... )

Just where Sunshine, in that do you see those three powerless kookaboos saying anything about your claim that the "Republicans" are denying that the Russians meddled in the election?

(Let me help you with that...the answer is "no where"...)

And why have the Republican-controlled investigations not indicted Sessions for a direct obvious lie? He volunteered the testimony that he did not meet with the Russians? False many times over.

yrs,
rubato

Since none of our lawyers here are calling you out on this, I guess it falls to me to point out that Congressional Committees do not have the power to issue criminal indictments...

Yet another display of ignorance you could have avoided with a 10 second Google search....