"The Memo"; Your Thoughts

Even in the worst case breitbart wet dream scenario, Steele’s accumulation of information is being accused of being funded by HRC/DNC, used by people to get a FISA warrant they didn’t have merit for to funnel into a Dem Party haterage fiesta against Donald Trump.

What does that chain of people look like? Looks like most of the Dem higher ups, people within the FBI, etcetc. Seems comparing that level of people to a singular man with a twitter account and a microphone is about as apples and oranges as you can get. The per capita damage Trump has done can be debated about, but any end agreement that doesn’t have him LEAGUES ahead of 2nd place is a joke.

If someone is of the opinion that the general work of an entire organization that spans the globe can be extrapalated (sp?) by a 2 year stretch of its current leader whom for all intents and purposes is a CEO of the FBI, I doubt they’re going to even understand what’s going on.

Mostly because Trump (as POTUS) is a DIRECT reflection of what millions of American people want. What they respect. What they follow. And if we’re being honest, most people will generally agree that Trump is an asshole of a human being. I’d be ashamed of the rest of the world if POTUS Trump didn’t lower their opinion of us.

Absolute best case scenario Trump is the guy calling them all freeloaders but at least some of them aren’t in shithole countries.

2 Likes

It is entirely a matter of motivation.

Steele was deeply alarmed by what he perceived (incorrectly, it turns out) to be an inexplicable lack of action on the part of the FBI. (Recall who he went to first with his concerns–Senator John McCain. Why? Because he knew the Senator was a Russia skeptic, and a Republican, the party of law and order.) Presumably, this inaction is why, in desperation, Steele finally decided to go to the press. But note what he didn’t do–he didn’t start sliming the FBI publicly.

Dems questioned Comey’s motives because of the radical departure from protocol he committed in the very shadow of an election. (As it turns out, there is strong evidence the Dem’s concerns were well-founded.) And many Dems were very critical of Comey. But again, note what they didn’t do–they didn’t smear the FBI writ large.

So, neither Steele nor the Dems engaged in a scorched-earth public-relations campaign to persuade the public that the FBI and Justice are hopelessly corrupt and not to be trusted.

Now, Trump. Trump is engaged in such a campaign. Why? What are his motivations for running down the reputations of the FBI and Justice? Is he doing it from a principled position of deeply-held conviction regarding surveillance overreach? Did he commence it upon discovering systemic corruption in these organizations? Or is he doing it because he knows his only hope of escaping impeachment and/or imprisonment is to convict these organizations of corruption in a trial in the court of public opinion, thereby invalidating the Mueller findings a priori?

2 Likes

Or, is he a filterless, arrogant, obstinate blowhard who believes himself to be innocent and is lashing out over what he perceives to be the only logical conclusion for why he came into office with a target on his back?

It’s incredible that the same people who laugh at the idea of 4D Grandmaster Trump are the same people who have trouble imagining he can be just as brash and childish across domains unrelated to his policies.

2 Likes

Does it have to be either/or?

It’s like the same people who rail at the all-encompassing incompetence of government…and yet ascribe to same said government the absolute power and iron discipline to pull off elaborate hoaxes and conspiracies against it’s people, all while maintaining a veil of secrecy that even the KGB would marvel at…

1 Like

The memo means nada…bunch of posturing… No matter what his camp gonna stand for him… Its all crap. Russia won…

Good to see you, too. Always enjoy reading your stuff. :slight_smile:

To be clear - I want details, too. I want to see the application (redacted where appropriate) yesterday. If the FBI/DOJ misused their powers to target at unliked political candidate to try and ruin him, the American people need to know that without filter. If, on the other hand, Republicans are misusing this (normal) part of a process to mislead the American public in attempt to undermine the credibility of the investigation, then the American people need to know that, too, without filter. These are both good reasons to declassify and produce the application.

Will Trump do it? My hunch is no, because my hunch is the latter scenario is actually the true one, and the Nunes memo was like a bad bluff with a bad hand that fizzled when the cards were laid on the table. If the application was half as damning as Nunes and crew insinuated, he wouldn’t have needed to draft such weaselly wording in key parts of it. There’s no upside to Trump and his minions to produce the application. He’s now hoping the news cycle - his only true god that he bows before - will wash away the stink of this failed attempt to impair the investigation.

I’m all for scrutiny of the process (generally) and laying bare the application (specifically). Something really, really bad has happened, and the American people deserve to know.

One other thing, not directed at you, but an observation about Trump supporters during all this - these folks are suddenly worried about integrity of process and ethics. Trump supporters. The man they support smashes every other norm in connection with the office, and they either indifferently shrug their shoulders or actively cheer him on. Now, Trump needs protection, and there is a sudden sacredness of process and no cutting corners for partisan gain.

Color me skeptical that Trumpkins are sincere in actually worrying about “the process” here.

5 Likes

This is pure Gold, TB.

1 Like

That’s the hypothesis it’s not a proven fact. If it were, then all this other shit would be completely unnecessary.

The ‘memo’ alleges that the dossier was an embellishment of collusion where there was little to none out side the norm. Further, the said dossier was the impetus for FISA warrants and hence the legal/ not-so-legal surveillance. And that it was the Clinton campaign and her cronies working with Russia to push out trump.
That’s what the memo essentially alleges. It’s what allows trump to say he feels ‘completely vindicated’.
Again, this is assuming that the memo is 100% true without error.

So we still need all the facts to be gathered and vetted. Questionable material removed and then released.

My guess is what we will find out is that Russia played both sides, but they were not as much of a factor as people think… ← That’s a GUESS. Nobody get their panties in a wad. I could be completely wrong.

Uh, Trumps had a target on his back from day 1. The man is one giant target…

I just want the truth, good, bad or ugly and I want it soon.
I am tired of it… I am tired of the partisan buffoonary on both sides.

I see this time in history as America searching for it’s identity, while doing that people on both sides are trying to create a narrative they want to be true, but isn’t and never will be.

Identity happens… It is what it is. Forcing identity on people is a failing prospect.

It is much more than a hypothesis. It is the summary conclusion by the people most expert and informed on the subject. It is as close to a “proven fact” as one can get in this realm.

Not really. The Mueller investigation is (in part) looking at whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians. The Congressional investigations are (in theory) intended to help us understand what happened, and how to prevent it from happening again.

But all of these investigations consider it a given (read: a fact) that the Russians interfered with the 2016 election.

The memo has been thoroughly discredited on these allegations.

2 Likes

No way man. It’s not a fact until Putin admits it while Trump is blowing him under the desk.

edit: removing an insensitive line. I shouldn’t post while arguing with my wife.

3 Likes

If you said this…

…then I’m really curious what this “insensitive line” was.

Edit: nevermind. The lack of blowjobs makes me really mad too.

1 Like

It was moreso a line directed at people who still doubt the very premise that Russia fucked with our election. As if that’s even what the investigation, or ANY open investigation is about. It’s impossible to find common ground to discuss a topic with which the other guy is fundamentally ignoring the validity of the very basis of it.

1 Like

I am not in to mood to argue with you. This is one piece to a larger puzzle. I only stated it’s meaning as it pertains if it were 100% true without error.

I am satisfied to wait for all the facts. I am not into arguing ‘what ifs’ right now…

Genuinely curious. What would have to transpire for you to believe Russia fucked with our election? Definitively believe it.

It’s not about whether Russia tried to fuck with our election, they clearly tried. The question is whether or not the president colluded with Russia to fuck with our elections.

The answer is non-partisan, unvarnished facts and evidence.

How will you know whether or not facts and evidence are non partison (hue) and untarnished upon seeing them?

Seems like we’re back to an official announcement from Putin with Trump downunda

That’s the point of the investigation is it not?