Elaine2025 Loc: Seattle, Wa

I tried to post this for our liberal friends but it did not go through so I am trying again. Hope it doesn't double post.

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/07/24/why-its-hard-to-take-democrats-seriously-on-russia-215415
Excerpts from this lengthy article.

But as much as Democrats may be correct in their diagnosis of Republican debasement, they are wholly lacking in self-awareness as to their own record regarding Russia. This helps explain why conservatives have so much trouble taking liberal outrage about Russia seriously: Most of the people lecturing them for being “Putin’s pawns” spent the better part of the past eight years blindly supporting a Democratic president, Barack Obama, whose default mode with Moscow was fecklessness. To Republicans, these latter-day Democratic Cold Warriors sound like partisan hysterics, a perception that’s not entirely wrong.
Three years later, in the midst of what he thought was a private conversation about arms control with then-Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, Obama was famously caught on an open microphone promising that he would have “more flexibility” (that is, be able to make even more concessions to Moscow) after the p**********l e******n that fall. (Imagine the uproar if Trump had a similar hot mic moment with Putin.) Later that year, after Mitt Romney suggested Russia was America’s “No. 1 geopolitical foe,” Obama ridiculed his Republican challenger. “The 1980s are now calling and they want their foreign policy back,” Obama retorted, in a line that has come back to haunt Democrats. An entire procession of Democratic politicians, foreign policy hands and sympathetic journalists followed Obama’s lead and repeated the critique. According to soon-to-be secretary of state John Kerry, Romney’s warning about Russia was a “preposterous notion.” His predecessor Madeleine Albright said Romney possessed “little understanding of what is actually going on in the 21stcentury.”
Yet rarely in the course of accusing Trump of being a Kremlin agent have liberals—least of all the president they so admire—reflected upon their hypocrisy and apologized to Romney, whose prescience about Russia, had he been elected in 2012, may very well have dissuaded Putin from doing what he did on Obama’s watch. In Obama, Putin rightly saw a weak and indecisive leader and wagered that applying the sort of tactics Russia uses in its post-imperial backyard to America’s democratic process would be worth the effort. The most we’ve seen in the way of atonement are Clinton’s former campaign spokesman Brian Fallon admitting on Twitter, “We Dems erred in ’12 by mocking” Romney, and Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau sheepishly conceding, with a chuckle, “we were a little off.” If Obama feels any regret, maybe he’s saving it for the memoir.
Hypocrisy is no stranger to politics, of course, and it’s never too late for people to come around to the realization that Russia poses a danger. But with Democrats seriously talking about impeachment or even treason, a reckoning is in order. Constantly harping on Trump’s strange affinity for Putin and suspicious connections to Russia isn’t sufficient; the far more substantive policy concessions made to Russia by the previous administration did at least as much damage to American interests, if not more. Are liberals willing to admit the reset was a giant miscalculation from the start? Are they willing to support sending arms to Ukraine? To redeploy missile defense systems to allies in Eastern Europe? Are they willing to concede that Obama’s Syria policy was an epic disaster that paved the way for Russia’s reemergence as a Middle Eastern military power? Are they, in other words, willing to renounce the foreign policy legacy of one of their most popular leaders? Because only that will demonstrate they’re serious about confronting Russia. Anything short reeks of partisanship.

JamesCurran Loc: Trenton ,NJ

Ha. That's just the typical Right-Wing "What-About-ism" they d**g out to avoid every scandal that hits them. "Trump is giving the farm away to Putin? What about that time Obama said he'd negotiate with them!" He also throws is a "Imagine the outrage if Trump did that" --- Ignoring the fact that Trump has already done stuff 10X worse in dealing with Russia, and you keep insisting everything's OK.


We can play that game too: Imagine the outrage if Obama....
- Had met with Russian agent offering him stolen information about Romney?
- Had mocked McCain's Vietnam service and imprisonment?
- Had five children by three different women -- including one out of wedlock?
- Openly c***ted on his first wife with his future second wife, then openly c***ted on her with his future third wife?
- Had FIVE members of his campaign and administration LIE to the FBI about their involvement with Russians?
- Had his National Security Advisor be a paid millions of dollars by a foreign government (to look after their best interests) WHILE being the NSA?

Elaine2025 Loc: Seattle, Wa

This comes from POLITICO, about as left wing of a rag as can be found out there. You make stupid claims and have no facts. WTF, when did it become your business whom he had children with and how many or who he had affairs with? Politico points out that the liberals are not clean little angels and you go into melt down and start trying to sling mud, which is just repeating liberal rhetoric with not one fact to back it up.

Prove that he had 5 members of his campaign lie to the FBI about their involvement. Not your usual bull s**t. Prove it. Prove the other lies. His personal life is none of your business.

JamesCurran Loc: Trenton ,NJ

Hardly. Politico's news reporting is pretty much factual & balanced, so you might think it has a liberal bias. However, their commentary, like that piece, is generally quite right-wing.



I never said it was. All I said was that if OBAMA had done the very same thing, you would have freaked out.





Flynn, Session, Kushner, Trump Jr (and someone else I forget), all signed & filed security forms with the FBI about foreign contacts. All initially denied any contact with Russian agents. When the FBI showed each that had evidence of such meetings, each was allowed to file an admended application. Flynn (or maybe it was Sessions) had to do that three times, because he "kept forgetting" about another meeting with Russians.

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

Get your head outa your ASS old woman! If it’s stuck, we’ll come and pull on your feet!!!!! LoL
SS

Elaine2025 Loc: Seattle, Wa

SS you are one of the left wing bat s**t crazies on here. Keep up the good work. I would be shocked to see a sane response from you. Take a nap and some meds old man.

Elaine2025 Loc: Seattle, Wa

James, You have your opinion, I have mine. Politico is a left wing rag. To support that thought, Dirt, the guy who talks jibbrish posts about an article a day from Politico and he is left wing bat s**t crazy.

You need to stop telling people what they think or what they would do. That makes you look like an i***t. We all know you cannot predict like you constantly do. How the hell do you know if I would "feak out" over something. FYI, I don't freak out over anything. Pointing out something is not freaking out, but maybe it is for a liberal?

I'm going to refrain from calling you an i***t. It is completely NORMAL to file an amended security forms. These people go to hundreds if no thousands of meeting and it is not unusual that you would forget a meeting where a foreigner was in attendance. EACH OF THEM WAS REMINDED OF THE MEETING AND ALLOWED TO AMEND THEIR FILING. It is clear the FBI saw no wrong doing and this happens all the time. Look it up. Had the FBI felt there was collusion or wrong doing, charges would have been brought. You simply are unable to look at anything impartially and feel the need to convert everyone to your way of thinking. Try using facts instead of your opinion.

JamesCurran Loc: Trenton ,NJ

I went back a week and couldn't find a single post by dirtpusher containing a link to Politico. I did find a very large number from him with links to politicususa.com which is a completely different website. Which I think is indicitive of the Right's concerns for facts and accuracy.

Elaine2025 Loc: Seattle, Wa

Well James, I think you are correct on where Dirt gets his information. The fact that I made a mistake is not indicative of the rights concern for fact and accuracy, I simply made a mistake and I have no problem admitting that. Get off you liberal judgmental soap box. Too bad the left never admits their errors.

mwalsh Loc: Houston

Ma Barker apparently thinks Politico and Politcususa are the same thing...LoL

Elaine2025 Loc: Seattle, Wa

You are the typical liberal ass wipe. I admitted I was wrong, I apologized and you feel the need to gloat. What a pathetic piece of dingo s**t you are.

mwalsh Loc: Houston

LoL