Holy shit! Anyone read Josh Marshall's article about Trump and Putin?

[Cali_Democrat]

This should be setting off alarm bells.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/trump-putin-yes-it-s-really-a-thing

[MohRokTah]

1. And Trump starts getting National Security briefings on Monday. eom

[Koinos]

52. I hope these briefings contain some fake or coded data that can be monitored by the CIA.

If that data ends up in the hands of Putin and is communicated by his office in any way, the CIA would know the source of the "leak," and Trump would be experiencing a different sort of wall.

[L. Coyote]

60. Time to end that practice, obviously. Can we sue to protect national security?

[TreasonousBastard]

2. Yup-- read it yesterday, and it's scary as hell.

[Cha]

3. We have to beat trumpence solidly to make sure his fascist-racist type

never rises again.

Even if you draw no adverse conclusions, Trump's financial empire is heavily leveraged and has a deep reliance on capital infusions from oligarchs and other sources of wealth aligned with Putin. That's simply not something that can be waved off or ignored

"Oligarchs"? Now where have I heard that accusation before?

Mahalo for the heads up, Cali_Dem.

[PatSeg]

73. I'm not holding my breath

waiting for those tax returns, though I didn't really believe we'd see them anyway.

[liberalmuse]

4. Read it earlier today.

Yeesh!

[Doodley]

5. Some scary quotes:

Trump is making it clear that, as president, he would allow Russia to advance its hegemonic interests across Europe and the Middle East. His election would immediately trigger a wave of global instability—much worse than anything we are seeing today—because America’s allies understand that Trump would likely dismantle the post-World War II U.S.-created international order.


http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/07/clinton-trump-putin-nato/492332/





Page , an energy expert, has close ties to Russian business and relationships with executives at Gazprom, the giant state-run gas company. Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort has worked as a lobbyist for former Ukraine’s former Russia-aligned president, Viktor Yanukovych.

For Putin, Trump is the gift that keeps on giving. Shunned and sanctioned by western leaders for Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, Putin now sees a future ally riding into view. The Kremlin and its right-wing supporters also enthusiastically applaud the isolationist they see in Trump, who has suggested he might curtail U.S. involvement in NATO and European affairs, and who derides the same political “mainstream” that has deemed Putin a pariah.


http://www.politico.eu/article/why-russia-is-rejoicing-over-donald-trump-vladimir-putin-kremlin/

[L. Coyote]

6. Bill Kristol tweeted it even.

[Cha]

8. Tweeted Josh Marshall? wow.. he really doesn't like trump.

Good!

Mahalo, Coyote~

[L. Coyote]

59. And he fears we are not taking trump seriously enough. Read this:

The Quiet American

Paul Manafort made a career out of stealthily reinventing the world’s nastiest tyrants as noble defenders of freedom. Getting Donald Trump elected will be a cinch.

[Cha]

74. Thank you!

[madamesilverspurs]

7. .

.

[Cha]

9. eeek! just say Nyet to trumpence.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

28. We already do. Got to Get Out The Vote, incl swing voters & to win Senate, SCOTUS, & state Legis. nt

[Canoe52]

10. Just Imagine

World War 3 might be the US and Russia
vs Europe, China, Middle East.

Don't that just blow your mind!

[Sunlei]

18. what I think could happen first(before Nov.) is some type of local instability to frighten the USA

'Local' meaning-perhaps in Mexico/or near the border? Just a feeling where it would be very easy for a criminal element to pay some drug lord/corrupt official/blackmailed person for some kind of 'service' in Mexico. I have a very uneasy feeling that something bad will happen between now and November, I hope I am 100% wrong.

[muriel_volestrangler]

34. That's quite a worrying thought

All it would take would be some extra chaos in Mexico - and there are very dangerous parts of it already, thanks to the drug smuggling industry - and Trump's wall could become popular. Manafort's connections make it easy to send hard-to-trace money (maybe even weapons); with drug smuggling involved, someone who sent money that way might even see it as a speculative investment.

[Hortensis]

56. We're extremely strong and not that easily overset.

There is obviously never going to be a President Trump, but if there were and he moved too fast toward nuclear war for normal ouster procedures to be instituted, we would be seeing our first real coup, or perhaps military refusal to follow orders. Can't guess which of the horrified groups would move first to get power out of his hands, maybe all of them together, including the GOP leadership.

In this fantasy, I would only hope they would have cause to remove VP Pence with him. We can be sure he's conspiring with God. In fact, he's already "confessed" (Christian first). What a pair.

[muriel_volestrangler]

71. No, what I'm saying is worrying is chaos in Mexico being stirred up before the election

by some clandestine actions by allies of Trump; not enough to overthrow the Mexican government, or cause real trouble in the USA, but enough to get some voters fearful of that, and then saying "see? Trump was right, we need a wall between us and Mexico", and that being enough to swing the election. I think fear of terrorism was enough to get Bush elected in 2004, because the kind of voters who were scared of that are also the kind to think a Republican would keep them safer.

[Hortensis]

72. Gotcha, and certainly the fear mechanism is

extremely strong and sensitive these days. But I think this is way too big to just brush aside with a distraction.

I also think all those moderate conservatives who live sensible lives in all respects but politics may finally find their breaking point with the Tea Party/Trump/Bircher-type right -- if most of those don't reject Trump also. It'll take time for all the sorting out, with a lot of noise from all of course! But I think the Republican Party may finally hit bottom and break.

One thing, this is not exactly a boring election year.

[Bluenorthwest]

90. Chaos in Mexico is a constant, to manufacture a level of chaos that would catch attention

would require extreme actions. War level events.

[AwakeAtLast]

89. Never discount an "October Surprise"

Good call, even if it makes me do this ---->

[SheriffBob]

38. yes

I have been posting about it a lot.





this has to be the number 1 election issue.



keep talking about it.

we used it against goldwater and it worked.

[Sunlei]

11. good article, covers the pure facts. trumps made millions of dollars of business deals /w russia

“Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets,” Trump’s son, Donald Jr., told a real estate conference in 2008, according to an account posted on the website of eTurboNews, a trade publication. “We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia.”

[Doodley]

13. And what is Trump giving in return? That is the bombshell.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

29. He's already laid it out: renege on NATO commitments, fuck up N. American economies, & more. . .nt

[Hortensis]

57. That? Nothing necessarily. That was a simple statement

about business. The bombshell is not that he does business with the Russians, millions of Americans do. Although the amount and years of his involvement with Russian business are revelatory, the bombshell is the accusation that Trump is seriously in debt to and financially dependent on people close to Putin.

Also the very strong ties of a number of people close to him with people close to Putin. Like Manafort. Wow, wow, wow!!!

Also, huge, the accusation that Putin may actually have gotten a plank inserted into the Republican Party 2016 platform. Way too big for wows.


Btw, business dealings may be too complex for the evening news, but why have none of the major screen media mentioned that Trump has been blackballed by all major American banks?

[misterhighwasted]

12. Soooo if Trump fails to become President, how will Putin recover his investment?

Sieze Trump's Russian assets???

'gulp!

[Doodley]

14. This isn't money from Putin's personal bank account!

[misterhighwasted]

17. Well of course its not. But I don't see Putin walking away from this with a "gee shucks"

Putin didn't have to invest money, but considering the high stakes in this cozy deal, its going to be a huuuge loss to someone whenTrump doesn't get to be Dictato..er..I mean President!
Putin's gonna be very disappointed in his chosen one.

[world wide wally]

15. So now it makes sense why he is trying to undermine NATO

[Doodley]

16. It even makes sense why he has gone from being a Democrat to a far right Republican.

[StrictlyRockers]

19. I read it all. This is very revealing and it explains a lot.

He's totally in bed with Putin and his cronies.

[Stevepol]

22. I wouldn't say totally. Leave room at the foot of the bed.

Trump has had a more than cozy relationship with the mob over the years and probably still plays footsy with a lot of players.

Here's an article should scare the be-jesus out of people who aren't already scared to death of El Trumpo:

https://www.themarshallproject.org/2016/04/27/trump-and-the-mob#.FIwoAQW26

Here's an even scarier interview on Democracy Now with Trump's biographer Wayne Barrett that touches on the same issues.

[pnwmom]

20. There are a lot of people making that connection. See here:

https://www.google.com/#hl=en&gl=us&tbm=nws&authuser=0&q=trump+putin

[SheriffBob]

40. Isn't it strange

M$M has not reported on putin and trump's unholy alliance.
T here are thousands of stories about it on the web.

For example: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/cover_story/2016/07/vladimir_putin_has_a_plan_for_destroying_the_west_and_it_looks_a_lot_like.html

[MohRokTah]

63. You KNOW how fucking BAD this is when PAUL KRUGMAN attacks Trump about it FROM THE FUCKING RIGHT!!!!

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/22/opinion/donald-trump-the-siberian-candidate.html

[UCmeNdc]

21. Trump pulling his biggest Con game ever

I felt there was more going on between Trump and Russia. Russian intelligence agencies have been running pay ops against Sec Clinton. I was wondering why?

[riversedge]

41. I think we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg on links between Putin and Trump

[L. Coyote]

62. On not taking trump seriously enough, this:

The Quiet American

Paul Manafort made a career out of stealthily reinventing the world’s nastiest tyrants as noble defenders of freedom. Getting Donald Trump elected will be a cinch.

The very worst of the ratfuckers in GOP politics are working for Trump.

[avebury]

23. It really makes me wonder if Trump was blackmailed into

running the President.

Maybe a lot of his comments about Putin, Russia, NATO and so on are a signal of what is going on. He could have just kept his mouth shut on all that and just done as ordered if he reaches the WH. If he is in as deep with the Russians as is reported, he is in way over his head.

It also makes me wonder about Malania and if she was a plant to land the big fish.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

27. There needs to be relentless intense pressure to get Trump to release his tax returns.

This may well be buried there.

Big enough for him to want to hide it.

[avebury]

32. There needs to be relentless pressure for

Trump to reveal any business connections to Russia. As it stands now, it sure as heck looks like he is a danger to national security. He could be the modern day equivalent of the Russian version of the Manchurian Candidate.

[Hortensis]

61. Both seem highly unlikely. Trump's considered

running for decades, dysfunctional dingdong that he is, no need at all for blackmail. It's likely Putin initially just cultivated him for whatever use he could make of him and it developed from there. It's more than likely, though, that Russian "friends" suggested Trump would make a great president and be able to save the world from idiots like the Obamas and Bushes. The question would be when.

As for Melania, any undercover agent would be far too intelligent to plagiarize Michelle Obama's famous speech, or allow it to be done. That's a major bonehead clue.

[independentpiney]

85. Melania is Slovenian

Slovenia was part of Yugoslavia, which was independent of the Iron curtain Soviet Empire, and prior to that was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. So, fun speculation but not likely, slavic accent and features notwithstanding.

[DetlefK]

24. If that's not the definition of "Manchurian Candidate", THEN WHAT IS???

A candidate whose personal financial well-being depends on the goodwill of a foreign head of state AND whose staff has ties to the same foreign government AND who proposes radical policies that would benefit that same foreign government?

[Bernardo de La Paz]

26. Murmansk Candidate. (DetlefK references film The Manchurian Candidate, 1962 w F. Sinatra & 2004).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Manchurian_Candidate_(1962_film)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Manchurian_Candidate_(2004_film)

In the original, nationally released during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the premise was based on communists taking control; in this remake, big corporate influence serves as the "politically correct" evil, a twist to maintain the "Manchurian connection." The remake does not follow the original film's plot details on several occasions.

[DesertRat]

25. k&r

[apcalc]

30. This is very important , enlightening

I am so glad you posted this. I will pass on....

[Bernardo de La Paz]

31. This explains Russians hacking DNC emails. ** Putin fears Hillary ** . . . . nt

[riversedge]

42. Bingo. And so many are playing into this dangerous game

[jimw81]

33. Where is Obama?

[Justice]

35. He is still in the White House. Why?

[Hortensis]

65. :). Jimw81, Obama undoubtedly knew all about

this long ago and a whole bunch more. Hillary too as ex- SoS, and possibly in discussions since although she's not getting intelligence briefings yet. The timing of all this attention may not be coincidence. It's possible some info was given to journalists as we move into the GE, like an alarm clock set to wake up what had been a sleeper story until now.

As for the Republican Party, they own their part in this.

[glennward]

36. And some of the Bernie supporters are more angry about hacked e-mail among DNC staff than

about this interference by Putin into our election. Go figure.

I hope that with Tim Kaine being introduced to the general public will bring more thinking people over into the Hillary side. You really can't hear this man without wanting to be on his side if you have a heart at all. The fact that some people find him unacceptable as VP says more about them than about him.

[Hortensis]

67. Give them time. They got excited all over again about the

realities of how political parties work first, after all.

[RapSoDee]

37. Scuzzy (R)

[Ilsa]

39. Krugman, too, in NYTimes:

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/07/22/opinion/donald-trump-the-siberian-candidate.html

Donald Trump, the Siberian Candidate

Apparently when the RNC wanted to go after Obama for looking weak on the Ukraine issue, Trump's people told them to soften the language or stand down.

Trump praised an article by Putin that criticized American exceptionalism.

Manafort worked for Viktor Yanukovych, the former Ukrainian president and a Putin ally.

And more!

[Justice]

43. Remarkable that Bill Kristol retweeted about this article. Attack from right and left.

?@BillKristol 11h11 hours ago
Trump-Putin. Last time this close a relationship of a U.S. candidate to a foreign dictator? Henry Wallace in 1948?

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/trump-putin-yes-it-s-really-a-thing …
224 retweets 200 likes

[Koinos]

44. When I hear "Russian oligarchs," what comes to mind is "Russian mob."

All of this is extremely frightening. I hope the CIA and FBI are on top of this. The FBI wasted all that time on Clinton's emails, but with Trump we may be dealing with Putin's "Manchurian Candidate."

[kestrel91316]

45. Exactly. Sounds to me like Trump is owned by the Russian mob.

[PatSeg]

77. Talk about misplaced priorities

[Cosmocat]

46. Will this get any play in our media

Likely not ...

[Hortensis]

68. Of course it will. Will the American people

turn off TV news as a result of this ongoing betray of trust and negligence and turn to print in disgust? No.

[Demsrule86]

47. Trump is the sort who gets elected once and is president for life

just like Putin...they are fascist brothers in arms. Thanks for this.

[Hortensis]

69. How would he manage that?

He certainly imagines that he could have Putin power, but that's because he's an idiot. Our basic governmental structure is stable.

Btw, we now know there was and is NO CHANCE Trump will ever become president.

Hillary Clinton will be our next president.

[Demsrule86]

95. That is correct Hillary Clinton must be our next president.

Comrade Heil Trump must be defeated.

[Hortensis]

96. Just heard Trump was badmouthing Hillary

at a VFW hall yesterday, and they were chanting lock her up. Doubt it was all of them, but really?

The bright point of course is that the ugly-natured oens get to choke on their bile for the next 8-1/2 years.

[AngryAmish]

48. The only thing about Josh Marshall that should set off alarm bells is if he ate bad chili

Josh Marshall is a tool. I don't care if he agrees with me. Just a dick.

[randome]

50. A 'tool'? Pray tell, from where did you pull that?

[hr][font color="blue"][center]A 90% chance of rain means the same as a 10% chance:
It might rain and it might not.[/center][/font][hr]

[Skinner]

51. Does he agree with you? (nt)

[Raspol]

79. Why did Marshall's article make you mad?

I'm curious.

[PatSeg]

82. Well then

Try The Atlantic

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/07/clinton-trump-putin-nato/492332/

[geek tragedy]

83. Curiously angry response to the OP. nt

[Her Sister]

49. Another reason he is hiding his tax returns: would show connection to Russia!

Another suit alleged the project "occasionally received unexplained infusions of cash from accounts in Kazakhstan and Russia.

Sounds completely legit.

Read both articles: After his bankruptcy and business failures roughly a decade ago Trump has had an increasingly difficult time finding sources of capital for new investments. As I noted above, Trump has been blackballed by all major US banks with the exception of Deutschebank, which is of course a foreign bank with a major US presence. He has steadied and rebuilt his financial empire with a heavy reliance on capital from Russia. At a minimum the Trump organization is receiving lots of investment capital from people close to Vladimir Putin.

Trump's tax returns would likely clarify the depth of his connections to and dependence on Russian capital aligned with Putin. And in case you're keeping score at home: no, that's not reassuring. "

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/trump-putin-yes-it-s-really-a-thing

[Chemisse]

53. Omg. And the Russians are about to get a peek at all our classified info, via Trump.

This needs to be out there - front and center!

[Hortensis]

70. Chemisse, this is not news to Obama or our

intelligence services. They're on it. I'd bet good money Obama also has something to do with the timing of all these stories suddenly appearing now, just in time for the GE. Much of this was reported before in articles most people don't read, but this'll now be on TV for everyone.

The GOP also are huge in this explosive scandal, of course, above all for including a plank that seems specifically in Putin's interest in their official 2016 platform. It just may be that Obama was waiting to see if some highly questionable move was made before acting.

Btw, Hillary Clinton will be our 45th president of the United States. We know that now.

[Skoods]

81. LOL

You actually think the mainstream media is going to cover this? Don't be naive. The media wants Trump to win because a Trump win means more $$ and viewers. It also means more global war and strife, which also increases viewership and $$.

That's why they're hammering home the DNC leak scandal and not mentioning anything about Trump.

[Hortensis]

87. Yup. Wait and see. This is breaking and they CAN'T ignore it.

[Bluenorthwest]

91. Trump's candidacy has delivered the lowest ratings of any Republican candidate in

memory, the convention was a bigger ratings flop that Mitt's convention which was a long lingering shot of paint drying. This crazed theory that Trump means money and viewers is straight outta Trump's own P.R. materials. He's a ratings loser.

[Chemisse]

84. I hope you are right.

When I think Trump couldn't be any worse, then I see that he has sunk even lower.

[DemonGoddess]

54. I'm going to be watching AM Joy

because she's bringing this up. She's one of the few on MSM who actually does journalism these days.

[Danmel]

55. The time for purity is over-this is life and death

Trump-Pence would be a clusterfuck of epic proportions. I am horrified that this is even a possibility. We really all have to get ourselves ready to fight for the safety of the whole world. The time for purity is over. This is life and death.

[tanyev]

58. Very disturbing. Have any of you ever looked at the Facebook comments to HRCs posts?

At least 50/50 negative to positive. Maybe even higher percentage negative. Just for the heck of it, I started blocking a lot of the people making negative comments and noticed that a lot of them seemed very suspicious. Either from foreign countries or so little content on that page that I wondered if it was fake. In light of the Russian connection, now I'm wondering if any Russian troll factories are involved.

[PatSeg]

78. There was an article

not long ago about Russian professional trolls. I think it is very likely that they would show up on Facebook.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

64. "It's Official. Hillary is running against Putin" -- The Atlantic

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/07/clinton-trump-putin-nato/492332/

[Hortensis]

75. Perfect! Thanks, Bernardo and The Atlantic.

[PatSeg]

80. Thank you!

Wow, what a week this has been.

[nruthie]

66. Alarming! This needs to be front page news.

I wonder of his fans would even care or understand the possible ramifications involved here??

[liberal N proud]

76. Trump is Dangerous

[greymattermom]

86. This is serious, but some journalist needs to figure out how anyone with 6 bankruptcies

is getting loans. Loans from Russia? If that's all there is, that's enough in my mind. The Russian banks can probably recall the loans at any time and crash the Trump organization. Potential blackmail from a foreign agency is bad enough in my mind. Isn't this public record somehow? Maybe the Trump business has to file a record of its financial status that can be accessed by another business?

[Her Sister]

88. We need Trump's taxes!!!!

[ismnotwasm]

92. God that's creepy

Really, really disturbing

[VOX]

93. K&r...Mandatory read! Thank you for posting. n/t

[triron]

94. please notify msm

Please insist to CNN and MSNBC that they cover this!!!