Posts Made By: Rod Kaufman

Donald Trump, speaking of the great leader, "We fell in Love". NO, REALLY, We fell in love"...

Trump's Tariff tantrum was all for show for his base, Mexico and the US had secret talks back in March to do what they're already doing:
https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/08/politics/nyt-trump-mexico-agreed-deal-months-ago/index.html
And now Trump is claiming Mexico is going to have jobs for the illegal immigrants, too. Even the Cons on this forum should Mexico can't supply enough jobs to its own citizens, let alone illegal immigrants from central America...

For those who care to understand and are capable of comprehending...
Experts we spoke to described a range of differences between the type of information Trump said he would accept and what Clinton’s campaign was paying Fusion GPS for.
The main difference is the role of a foreign government.
"Working hand-in-hand with a foreign power for information intended to influence an election is different than hiring a private firm that then hired somebody who had been a former intelligence agent," said Karen Greenberg, director of the Center on National Security at Fordham Law.
"Everybody does opposition research," she added. "The issue here is the foreign government."
That distinction is critical, experts told us, because a foreign government that interferes in American politics is likely to have a stake in what happens on Election Day.
While Russia’s meddling was intended to help Trump win, Steele was contracted by Fusion GPS to find out more about Trump’s ties to Russia. "That has nothing to do with a candidate soliciting something from a foreign power," former CIA intelligence agent Glenn Carle said.
"One is collecting intelligence and the other is an active measure by a foreign power to achieve a political end of some sort," Carle said. "There’s no comparison at all."
A foreign government could also take measures that Steele, a private British citizen, would not have been capable of, said Max Bergmann, senior fellow at the left-leaning Center for American Progress and an expert on U.S.-Russia policy. Russia, for example, used its intelligence apparatus to hack the Clinton campaign and steal damaging information.
"Steele is not a member of the U.K. government, so it’s not like they (the Clinton campaign) were working with a foreign government that was trying to interfere in our election," Bergmann said. "They’re not in the same ballpark."

https://www.politifact.com/punditfact/article/2019/jun/13/how-pundits-defended-trumps-abc-interview-and-why-/


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Originally Posted by James Brown

Hi Dave:

Hopefully simple answer:

I suppose I care, but not too much.  It is entirely predictable and unsurprising that nations would try to interfere in each other's elections.  Only a fool would expect otherwise.  I have seen no compelling evidence that the Russians have effectively interfered in any US election.  Secretary Clinton lost 2016 the old-fashioned way, by running the most incompetent campaign in recent history.

I do expect the Federal and all 50 State governments to take reasonable steps to insure that electronic voting machines and ancillary computer networks are not hacked.  Cyber security is a fact of life in 2019 that we all must deal with.  I care very little if Russian troll farms hit social media with fake news and fake political ads.   I do favor technical solutions to minimize this sort of thing, but I also have deep disdain for anyone whose vote is influenced by side-bar ads on Facebook.  Uniformed voters (of any party) are a fact of life too.  I doubt that troll ads and fake news make much difference in any election.  


Jim

So Jim, then you don't care if Mitch McConnell prevents a bipartisan bill to help prevent election interference from becoming law?
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2019/06/12/grim-reaper-mitch-mcconnell-buries-plans-election-security-editorials-debates/1423838001/

Originally Posted by Mel Maki

Are you sure you want a bunch of federal regulations on online ads that will impact millions of Americans because a few Russians spent $100,000 on some ads? This is even called, "The Honest Ads Act." What happened to a liberal's suspicion of new federal regulations? You throw any suspicion of new federal laws regulating what we write on line out the window because you saw the word Trump? This legislation should go through the same process, vote, rewrite, etc. The least they could do is change the title. Look out for, "do something disease." It happens. 

Mel,
It already went thru that process in the house. McConnell won't even let it come up for discussion in the Senate. Nor is it what you've described, either...

Originally Posted by Mel Maki

I got it from a link in your article. What part is wrong?

Your interpretation...

Originally Posted by Mel Maki

Congress must take care not to federalize state and local matters. I haven't seen you care about that but it is a good principle.  And like I said, it is a ham fisted reaction to a few Russians spending $100,000 that will regulate millions of Americans and will not prevent foreign meddling in our elections. Why do you assume it will? 

Because I believe that congress does, every now and then, know what's it's doing even if you don't...

Originally Posted by Mel Maki

But you also have to believe that this bill is as good as it can get, that they will not be able to come up with something better. And that is a real stretch.

That tells me how much you don't understand and how much you've missed the point. IF Mitch would even let the bipartisan bill be heard in the Senate, the process is that there's revisions that are made in the Senate version and then it goes back to a committee where the differences, if any, between the Senate version and the house version are reconciled and the bill comes up for a final vote. Mitch the bitch McConnell won't do that and why? Because he simply doesn't want the Democrats to get any credit for doing anything in congress even if it arises out of a bipartisan effort that benefits the country...

Originally Posted by Mel Maki

Yes, we need federal regulations on online ads because some Russians spent $100,000. Only by the grace of God did our democracy survive. Why are people saying the, "Honest Ads Act" will not stop foreign meddling in our elections?  How do you know it won't? The worst thing we could do is slow down and let people talk about this. Wait until they pass it and then you can read it. The politicians have to put their name on something! If that Republican is against it, you know it is the best way to deal with people trying to undermine the very essence of our Democracy! Why don't you trust our politicians? We all voted for them.

Silly Mel at it again, It's about time we get him back to the world of reality:

https://truthout.org/articles/mcconnell-blocks-election-security-takes-checks-from-voting-machine-lobbyists/

Rich can't stand the reality of a fact check and so he responds with the usual BS of it's a "leftist" this or that nonsensical run-on comment that he actually thinks somebody is follislish enough to take the time to read. In Mel's alternative reality, Mitch McConnell doesn't take money from lobbyists, either.
Must be great being a CONservative...