The Argonaut wrote:How do you see that as Obama's concern being to party there?
Because he had information regarding possible Russian involvement in the election and declined to disclose it to the people for political reasons? Who cares what the Republicans would do? He had an obligation regardless.
And from a purely tactical standpoint, it's a weak and stupid decision, and that sort of mindset is a big reason they lost IMO.
I think this is letting the "plague on both their houses" approach override the very real differences between the motivations of Obama and McConnell. Obama seemed concerned about sullying the supposed non-partisanship of the intelligence community in a move that opponents would likely decry as a sitting president weaponizing the CIA for the benefit of his preferred candidate. McConnell did it to win an election.
I agree that it was a remarkably dumb way to approach it, but there were differences in motivation.
If I had any inclination that the spats between Trump and the intelligence community actually had to do with legitimate reticence on the part of Trump towards their findings, I could understand that reticence. But my inclination is that he's not doing the intelligence briefings cause he can't be bothered to, and he's disputing the findings about Russia cause he doesn't seem to accept anything that doesn't affirm his worldview.
The Argonaut wrote:How do you see that as Obama's concern being to party there?
Because he had information regarding possible Russian involvement in the election and declined to disclose it to the people for political reasons? Who cares what the Republicans would do? He had an obligation regardless.
And from a purely tactical standpoint, it's a weak and stupid decision, and that sort of mindset is a big reason they lost IMO.
I think this is letting the "plague on both their houses" approach override the very real differences between the motivations of Obama and McConnell. Obama seemed concerned about sullying the supposed non-partisanship of the intelligence community in a move that opponents would likely decry as a sitting president weaponizing the CIA for the benefit of his preferred candidate. McConnell did it to win an election.
I agree that it was a remarkably dumb way to approach it, but there were differences in motivation.
If that was really his concern, then that was an incredibly foolish thing to worry about. But I don't buy it. It was kept under wraps because of the possible harm to Hillary's campaign. Attempting to neutralize that with a bipartisan announcement was smart, but the Republicans' refusal shouldn't have stopped them.
digster wrote:If I had any inclination that the spats between Trump and the intelligence community actually had to do with legitimate reticence on the part of Trump towards their findings, I could understand that reticence. But my inclination is that he's not doing the intelligence briefings cause he can't be bothered to, and he's disputing the findings about Russia cause he doesn't seem to accept anything that doesn't affirm his worldview.
For sure.
also from the article wrote:Some Clinton supporters saw the White House’s reluctance to act without bipartisan support as further evidence of an excessive caution in facing adversaries.
“The lack of an administration response on the Russian hacking cannot be attributed to Congress,” said Rep. Adam B. Schiff (Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, who was at the September meeting. “The administration has all the tools it needs to respond. They have the ability to impose sanctions. They have the ability to take clandestine means. The administration has decided not to utilize them in a way that would deter the Russians, and I think that’s a problem.”
digster wrote:If I had any inclination that the spats between Trump and the intelligence community actually had to do with legitimate reticence on the part of Trump towards their findings, I could understand that reticence. But my inclination is that he's not doing the intelligence briefings cause he can't be bothered to, and he's disputing the findings about Russia cause he doesn't seem to accept anything that doesn't affirm his worldview.
It appears he is getting one per week and skipping most PDBs. Pence is reading them all. According to reports from yesterday.
"The fatal flaw of all revolutionaries is that they know how to tear things down but don't have a f**king clue about how to build anything."
it is becoming clear at this point that the dependable assumption of this administration's 'ideology' is simply that it will seek to enrich itself any way it can without regard for the well-being of the American people or humanity at large
president - in my first act as president-elect i will ensure that the interests of my argentinian real estate development project and scottish golf course are well-represented
education secretary - voucherize public schools and watch them die
health secretary - let's voucherize medicare and fuck the affordable care act
DOL secretary - i hate american workers and overtime pay to minimum wage slaves
Sec of State - let's go make money drilling for oil in russia on this $300B deal
EPA - we need to roll back regulation so we can dump more toxic shit real cheap and companies can retain more profits
treasury secretary - we must repeal financial regulations so that banks can make more money (off of their customers)
defense / homeland security / Nat'l sec Advisor - if you thought dick cheney's procurement track record was wasteful, just you wait and see what the three of us have in mind
Small Biz Admin - i hate small businesses and plan to dissolve them all in my beak-bearing vaginal cavity
CIA Director - i am committed to the marginal profit maximization of the Koch brothers personally and of all of their affiliates and subsidiaries
All posts by this account, even those referencing real things, are entirely fictional and are for entertainment purposes only; i.e. very low-quality entertainment. These may contain coarse language and due to their content should not be viewed by anyone
hillary's version of crookedness was: you give my foundation money, we give you priority business favor
trump's version of crookedness is: i give myself money; my friends give themselves money; we give our businesses priority business favors
hillary: get with the times, bitch! you're always so old-fashioned!
All posts by this account, even those referencing real things, are entirely fictional and are for entertainment purposes only; i.e. very low-quality entertainment. These may contain coarse language and due to their content should not be viewed by anyone
"First of all, these are very good people that are giving me the briefings. And I say, 'If something should change from this point, immediately call me. I'm available on one-minute's notice.'"
A report published last week said the president-elect receives on average only one presidential intelligence briefing a week. That number is far lower than his predecessors, according to the Reuters report.
Trump suggested during the interview it isn't necessary for him to receive the presidential briefings daily.
"I'm, like, a smart person," the president-elect said during the interview.
Former intelligence officers told the Guardian they considered retaliation by Trump to be all but a certainty after he is sworn into office next month. Trump still has several appointments to make at the highest levels of the intelligence apparatus, picks which are likely to be bellwethers for the new president’s attitudes toward the agencies.
“There is not just smoke here. There is a blazing 10-alarm fire, the sirens are wailing, the Russians provided the lighter fluid, and Trump is standing half-burnt and holding a match,” said Glenn Carle, a retired CIA officer and interrogator.
Carle said Trump’s temperament had played into Russia’s hands and put the president-elect on a collision course with the CIA.
He said: “Look, in my professional assessment as an intelligence officer, Trump has a reflexive, defensive, monumentally narcissistic personality, for whom the facts and national interest are irrelevant, and the only thing that counts is whatever gives personal advantage and directs attention to himself.
“He is about the juiciest intelligence target an intelligence office could imagine. He groans with vulnerabilities. He will only work with individuals or entities that agree with him and build him up, and he is a shockingly easy intelligence ‘target’ to manipulate.”
John McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee who serves as chair of the Senate’s Armed Services Committee; Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the committee’s ranking Democrat; Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican who sits on the committee; and Chuck Schumer, the incoming Democratic minority leader of the Senate. wrote:For years, foreign adversaries have directed cyberattacks at America's physical, economic, and military infrastructure, while stealing our intellectual property. Now our democratic institutions have been targeted. Recent reports of Russian interference in our election should alarm every American.
Congress's national security committees have worked diligently to address the complex challenge of cybersecurity, but recent events show that more must be done. While protecting classified material, we have an obligation to inform the public about recent cyberattacks that have cut to the heart of our free society. Democrats and Republicans must work together, and across the jurisdictional lines of the Congress, to examine these recent incidents thoroughly and devise comprehensive solutions to deter and defend against further cyber-attacks.
This cannot become a partisan issue. The stakes are too high for our country. We are committed to working in this bipartisan manner, and we will seek to unify our colleagues around the goal of investigating and stopping the grave threats that cyberattacks conducted by foreign governments pose to our national security.
The more I think about his State pick, the more it bothers me. It's almost a parody of the "drain the swamp" mentality. Economic integration with Russia is probably a good way to easy tensions by creating common interest, but WTH is this guy gonna do with China and Iran? We can't have oil deals with everyone...
"The fatal flaw of all revolutionaries is that they know how to tear things down but don't have a f**king clue about how to build anything."
