TRUMP'S ILL-BEGOTTEN VICTORY: Intel dossier says Putin helped Sanders, Stein

[Sancho]

http://www.nationalobserver.com/2017/01/14/opinion/trumps-ill-begotten-victory-intel-dossier-says-putin-helped-sanders-stein

The dossier alleges extensive active coordination between Russia and the Trump team, and suggests that much of the anti-Clinton rhetoric from the left was deliberately orchestrated by Russia and Trump's team to harm her campaign.

The dossier reports that "the aim of leaking the DNC emails to Wikileaks during the Democratic Convention had been to swing supporters of Bernie Sanders away from Hillary Clinton and across to Trump."

If true, the Steele dossier brings more clarity to some of the murkier edges of the campaign. To an unknown extent, it suggests that Jill Stein, probably unwittingly, was pulled into Putin’s orbit as part of anti-Clinton pro-Trump plan.

One intriguing feature of the election fallout is the near total silence of Bernie Sanders on the topic of Russian hacks. In light of the Kremlin's alleged pro-Sanders strategy (as a means of supporting Trump), the senator from Vermont seems a little like the dog that wouldn't bark in the night.

Posted with excerpts for discussion. It was on an opinion page.

[Xipe Totec]

1. Qui Bono?

Who benefits from these leaks now?

An attack on Bernie Sanders now helps Trump just as much as supporting Sanders during the primaries.

So, qui bono?

[2naSalit]

5. Divide and conquer... again.

[WhiteTara]

2. I found this interesting as well

Indeed, rather than attack Trump's legitimacy as president, Sanders seems to underline it by pointing to Clinton's defeat as a kind of vindication for his own views.

That's a fair enough position as far as it goes, although Clinton's 2.1% margin of victory in the popular vote somewhat undermines that conclusion.

What's a little more troubling is the CV of his chief strategist, Tad Devine. It turns out that Devine worked as an advisor for Vladimir Putin's man in Kiev, Viktor Yanukovich in 2006, and then for his 2010 election campaign. By curious coincidence another American had very close ties to Yanukovich during this exact period.

That would be Paul Manafort, Trump's one-time campaign manager.

​Manafort is implicated by a host of suspicious circumstances, including the secret ledger in Ukraine detailing millions of dollars in undisclosed cash payments. Although all information is unverified, the Steele dossier identifies Manafort directly as a point person in the "well-developed conspiracy of cooperation between (the Trump campaign) and the Russian leadership."

[Igel]

4. Professional political consultants are just that.

Professional consultants.

Sometimes they lack firm convictions. Sometimes they sort of smudge where their convictions and those of their clients diverge. Devine wasn't necessarily a true believer; he was salaried and plied the tools of his trade like any auto mechanic, chemical engineering professor, car salesman, policeman, or hooker.

So, where do political consultants go? Where there are politicians willing to pay them. And if there are two, one willing to pay them $1000/month and another $150k/month, you go with the better customer.

Notice that Yanukovich wasn't a bad guy in 2006. Or 2010. Or necessarily in 2013. Any more than Yushchenko. (And the first couple of years were when Putin wasn't our "foe", remember, so he had cover from the CiC. They both did.)

[yurbud]

3. so how did Russia get into so many people's heads as far back as 2008?

When many progressives had the same views of Hillary?

[Gothmog]

6. Yes Putin helped Stein and Sanders

Putin knew that Sanders and Stein were too weak to win

[Rex]

7. So now Putin helped Sanders?

What a load of garbage, how sad supposed progressives believe this crap.