To those who would underestimate Carter Page.

[shraby]

It is a pretty good subterfuge for him to behave that way all the time because who would believe that he is capable of being a spy?
With his college creds, I seriously doubt he is incapable of spying. In fact, he is exceedingly capable.

My guess is he's the bagman for the whole thing. Makes the deals that brings the rubles home to the gop.

[Eliot Rosewater]

1. And as we now know he has known for months that Ryan would orchestrate this memo.

So Ryan is dirty too, but we knew that.

Again, the problem isnt can we identify most of the GOP as traitors and criminals, yes we can easily do that now.

But if almost half the country WANTS them to be traitors and criminals, well that is a different problem

[global1]

11. I'm Still Of The Mind That In Nov 2016 We Experienced A Coup d'tat......

You use the word 'orchestrate'. I did as well yesterday but I had an afterthought that a better word for what is going on is that this is all being 'choreographed'. How could Page know back in Oct that Ryan would get involved with the dossier? Where did that come from?

The question is who is doing the 'choreographing'? Is it coming from Putin/Russia? Is it coming from the Repug Party? Is it coming from the uber greedy rich that want to grab even more? Where is this coming from?

Somebody is doing this 'choreographing' of this nightmare that is playing out in front of our helpless eyes. I think we all agree that Trump is just not that smart to be pulling the strings. I just think he is being used as the front man.

What has surprised me all through this nightmare - is that all the people that we point fingers at - Trump, his family, Bannon, Manafort, Gates, Flynn, Page, etc and Ryan, McConnell, Nunes and all the Repugs in general that always circle the wagons around Trump to protect him; the people that support Trump in the WH - none of them seem to be anyway concerned for how they look or worried about any consequences of their words and actions. They take everything in stride. Now maybe we're just not seeing how they might be dirtying their underware in private - but at least their public personna is one of arrogance and defiance. I keep asking why? Why would they put their reputations and careers on the line for Trump and all this - what looks like 'treasonous' activity going on? Don't they care about how history will judge them?

I guess after this last week - with the sham of the SOTU address and the applause the Repugs showered on the lying Trump and this crap of the memo from Nunes supported by Ryan - my tinfoil hat is just getting tighter and tighter.

When will this nightmare end? Or perhaps the better question is 'how will this nightmare end'?

[orangecrush]

13. Great post!

[ismnotwasm]

2. Because he looks like such an idiot?

I’ve actually wondered about that. Hard to believe someone who comes across, and looks a little like, like a Woody Harrelson character (only dumber) is so high up in the espionage community

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

6. That doofus-ish persona could be his cover.

[dalton99a]

9. Yep. Page is not a dumb person.

United States Naval Academy (BS)
Georgetown University (MA)
New York University (MBA)
University of London (PhD)

[dewsgirl]

3. Who would trust him? He's like Forest Gump and Pee

Wee Herman had a baby. There has to be more to his story. I find him psychologically fascinating, of course he's is still a traitorous POS like the rest of them. I hope one day we find out what he's hiding.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. It's certainly suspicious that Trump & Co. are having hissy fits

over somebody whom they described as just a nobody who had little to do with the campaign - but, as it turns out, Page actually had been watched by the IC for years as a possible Russian spy or asset. If he's not the bagman, it's very interesting that a possible Russian spy worked on the campaign and that they're freaking out about the FISA warrants on him.

[global1]

14. Are They Freaking Out About The FISA Warrants On Him Or.....

are they concerned that there may be a whole slew of other FISA warrants on them as well that they just don't have any knowledge of now?

Maybe by trying to discredit these FISA warrants - they feel that they can discredit the whole process and get them off the hook - if they happen to be on the hook as well.

[Sophia4]

5. He has a PhD. Wikipedia is my source.

He is a mess. His life is a mess. But that would not prevent him from being some kind of crooked spy or agent even if kind of haphazardly.

He is smart, but there is something completely awkward and foolish about him. And that might make him quite vulnerable to being recruited as a spy. He is the kind of person who does lots of embarrassing things or who gets embarrassed about his awkwardness quite easily, and that is not uncommon among spies. That is probably why he was spotted by the FBI as potentially being recruited by the Russians.

Sort of hard to place him when it comes to social loyalty.

[Tatiana]

7. He is a graduate of the Naval Academy.

He has an MBA from NYU.

He's no idiot.

We need to figure out which side he is on.

[shraby]

8. That's my point. He's no idiot but has a great cover.

[Grammy23]

10. Come to think of it, Carter Page is a bit like a character in a movie.

I was just thinking yesterday, what IF the persona he presented on All In with Chris Hayes was just an act? What if he was just playing us all for fools? On the other hand, he might just be that goofy, hat and all.

I knew a guy once who had a PhD in anthropology. Very smart and well educated but as weird as they come. At a party one time at the department head’s house he stood under a tree and opined as to what the “strange tentacles” where dangling over the branches. Looking a little higher up, anyone could see a taller pine tree towering above the other tree. The strange tentacles were simply pine needles that had fallen down over the smaller tree. Ooops.

Another time at another departmental get together, he sat cross legged on the floor eating boiled shrimp. A few minutes into eating our seafood feast, I noticed a neat little pile of shrimp tails on his plate but no other parts of the shells. He was biting off the shrimp at the tail and eating the rest of the shrimp, including the outer shell! Guess he needed the extra roughage?

So yeah, there can be people that are very smart (book wise) with advanced degrees. But personality wise, they are as goofy as they come. Guess we’ll have to see how this plays out with Carter Page to see if he really is a goof ball or is missing his calling on stage.

[shraby]

12. Carter Page reminds me of a story my Dad used to tell.

It was at a car dealer in the town where he lived.
A grungy guy, kinda ragged and dirty came in and wanted to buy a car. The salesmen gave him short shrift and wouldn't deal with him much.

The grungy guy left without a car. The next day he stopped by and was driving a Cadillac to show them the car he had bought...with cash. He had the cash on him when he was there the day before.

That's Carter Page in a nutshell. You don't judge a book by it's cover.

[RandomAccess]

15. Somebody on MSNBC -- wish I remembered who --

wondered aloud the other day whether or not he's a double agent.

May have been John Heilman.

I have a feeling Malcolm Nance wouldn't shoot that idea down.