RussiaGate

[barbos]

With respect, you don't sample the opinions of everyone you interact with on a daily basis, and they have no reason to confide in you

THAT^

Imagine being in Russia when someone you have encountered by chance starts grilling you on your political opinions... what do you do? You praise the ground trodden by your fearless leader of course. Unless you fancy the idea of free room and board somewhere in Siberia.

That's not how it works in Russia. Someone does not grill you, someone ask you to grill him by giving you his opinion without asking. I myself often finds myself defending US (from people I know). With people I don't know I keep it to myself. So yeah, US does not have favorable views in Russia right now.

 

[Copernicus]

With respect, you don't sample the opinions of everyone you interact with on a daily basis, and they have no reason to confide in you

THAT^

Imagine being in Russia when someone you have encountered by chance starts grilling you on your political opinions... what do you do? You praise the ground trodden by your fearless leader of course. Unless you fancy the idea of free room and board somewhere in Siberia.

That's not how it works in Russia. Someone does not grill you, someone ask you to grill him by giving you his opinion without asking. I myself often finds myself defending US (from people I know). With people I don't know I keep it to myself. So yeah, US does not have favorable views in Russia right now.

I do think that people are willing to talk more openly with American visitors in private conversations, but I'm not at all sure about how they would react to questions in a poll interview. The atmosphere is not at all as oppressive as it was in Soviet times. Even back then, we had frank discussions with both liberal and conservative Russians, but people realized that their interactions would be noticed. (Some propaganda posters even warned against contact with foreign tourists.) Nowadays there is more open hostility to the Putin regime in urban areas, but Putin is still basking in the glow of public support for his annexation of Crimea. His recent attempts at pension reform, however, have caused him serious problems.

I did not mean to suggest that barbos was different from the rest of us in how he forms his opinions of the "average citizen". We all tend to be influenced by our immediate circle of friends and acquaintances in terms of what we think the country wants. I live in a liberal urban environment, so I keep thinking that Republican policies and tactics are even less popular than they are. However, people who live in conservative areas tend to have a different impression of public sentiment. That's why one really has to try to find objective measures of public opinion rather than relying on one's gut feelings. I also don't doubt that barbos tends to be more defensive of the US with fellow Russians, but that's because the guy seems to enjoy provoking people. So we get treated to something that sounds way more anti-American than his friends and neighbors probably get.

 

[barbos]

I did not mean to suggest that barbos was different from the rest of us in how he forms his opinions of the "average citizen"

But I am different from the rest of you. My opinion is correct whereas yours is incorrect.

 

[Copernicus]

I did not mean to suggest that barbos was different from the rest of us in how he forms his opinions of the "average citizen"

But I am different from the rest of you. My opinion is correct pone whereas yours is incorrect.

Well, you aren't really different from everyone here. There are a few other narcissists among us. BTW, you could go far in a Trump administration. You have the right attitude, and being Russian is a definite plus.

 

[barbos]

I did not mean to suggest that barbos was different from the rest of us in how he forms his opinions of the "average citizen"

But I am different from the rest of you. My opinion is correct whereas yours is incorrect.

Well, you aren't really different from everyone here. There are a few other narcissists among us. BTW, you could go far in a Trump administration. You have the right attitude, and being Russian is a definite plus.

No, I definitely don't have the right attitude. Correct attitude would be to like or pretend to like Trump. I have neither of these qualities.
And yes I am right and you are unusually often wrong.

 

[Copernicus]

Well, you aren't really different from everyone here. There are a few other narcissists among us. BTW, you could go far in a Trump administration. You have the right attitude, and being Russian is a definite plus.

No, I definitely don't have the right attitude. Correct attitude would be to like or pretend to like Trump. I have neither of these qualities.
And yes I am right and you are unusually often wrong.

Thank you for admitting that my being wrong often is unusual. BTW, check out the Putin "murder" thread. The UK has fairly solid evidence now that the Skripal poisoning was a GRU operation. They even have CCTV pictures of the GRU agents in Salisbury on the day of the poisoning. Ready to admit you were wrong on that one?

 

[Horatio Parker]

Manafort cracking?

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...o-weigh-plea-deal-to-avoid-new-criminal-trial

Paul Manafort’s lawyers have talked to U.S. prosecutors about a possible guilty plea to avert a second criminal trial set to begin in Washington this month, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Manafort, President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, was convicted of bank and tax fraud last month in a Virginia federal court. He’s accused in Washington of financial crimes including conspiring to launder money, as well as acting as an unregistered foreign agent of Ukraine and obstructing justice.

The negotiations over a potential plea deal have centered on which charges Manafort might admit and the length of the sentence to be recommended by prosecutors working for Special Counsel Robert Mueller, the person familiar with the matter said. Manafort, 69, already faces as long as 10 years in prison under advisory sentencing guidelines in the Virginia case.

 

[Copernicus]

Manafort cracking?

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...o-weigh-plea-deal-to-avoid-new-criminal-trial

Paul Manafort’s lawyers have talked to U.S. prosecutors about a possible guilty plea to avert a second criminal trial set to begin in Washington this month, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Manafort, President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, was convicted of bank and tax fraud last month in a Virginia federal court. He’s accused in Washington of financial crimes including conspiring to launder money, as well as acting as an unregistered foreign agent of Ukraine and obstructing justice.

The negotiations over a potential plea deal have centered on which charges Manafort might admit and the length of the sentence to be recommended by prosecutors working for Special Counsel Robert Mueller, the person familiar with the matter said. Manafort, 69, already faces as long as 10 years in prison under advisory sentencing guidelines in the Virginia case.

This information was almost certainly leaked by Manafort's defense team. So what could have been their motive to do so? To influence Mueller? Trump? A potential jury? There is no reason to make this negotiation public unless the person releasing it had a reason to do so.

 

[barbos]

Well, you aren't really different from everyone here. There are a few other narcissists among us. BTW, you could go far in a Trump administration. You have the right attitude, and being Russian is a definite plus.

No, I definitely don't have the right attitude. Correct attitude would be to like or pretend to like Trump. I have neither of these qualities.
And yes I am right and you are unusually often wrong.

Thank you for admitting that my being wrong often is unusual.

I admitted the opposite of that.

BTW, check out the Putin "murder" thread. The UK has fairly solid evidence now that the Skripal poisoning was a GRU operation. They even have CCTV pictures of the GRU agents in Salisbury on the day of the poisoning. Ready to admit you were wrong on that one?

Too good to be true.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Thank you for admitting that my being wrong often is unusual.

I admitted the opposite of that.

BTW, check out the Putin "murder" thread. The UK has fairly solid evidence now that the Skripal poisoning was a GRU operation. They even have CCTV pictures of the GRU agents in Salisbury on the day of the poisoning. Ready to admit you were wrong on that one?

Too good to be true.

That is simply 9/11 Truther level obfuscation.

 

[barbos]

I admitted the opposite of that.

Too good to be true.

That is simply 9/11 Truther level obfuscation.

you obviously have not read my objections.

 

[Copernicus]

I admitted the opposite of that.

Too good to be true.

That is simply 9/11 Truther level obfuscation.

you obviously have not read my objections.

Actually, he has. You just summarized them. Your supporting materials for this grand conclusion rely on making people believe that the British government released a toxic nerve agent on its own soil in order to kill British citizens as a means of embarrassing Vladimir Putin. Which, of course, would not be a story "too good to be true" from your perspective.

 

[barbos]

you obviously have not read my objections.

Actually, he has. You just summarized them. Your supporting materials for this grand conclusion rely on making people believe that the British government released a toxic nerve agent on its own soil in order to kill British citizens as a means of embarrassing Vladimir Putin. Which, of course, would not be a story "too good to be true" from your perspective.

You need a better hobby.

 

[Underseer]

you obviously have not read my objections.

Actually, he has. You just summarized them. Your supporting materials for this grand conclusion rely on making people believe that the British government released a toxic nerve agent on its own soil in order to kill British citizens as a means of embarrassing Vladimir Putin. Which, of course, would not be a story "too good to be true" from your perspective.

You need a better hobby.

You need to stop using alternative facts, just-so stories (ad hoc fallacies), and ludicrous conspiracy theories.

 

[whollygoats]

You need a better hobby.

You need to stop using alternative facts, just-so stories (ad hoc fallacies), and ludicrous conspiracy theories.

But it's a troll! That's what trolls do.

 

[ZiprHead]

 

[Underseer]

You need a better hobby.

You need to stop using alternative facts, just-so stories (ad hoc fallacies), and ludicrous conspiracy theories.

But it's a troll! That's what trolls do.

I doubt he's a troll. I think he actually believes what he is saying.

 

[Elixir]

But it's a troll! That's what trolls do.

I doubt he's a troll. I think he actually believes what he is saying.

You're giving the RPM (Russian Propaganda Machine) a lot of credit. But considering 2016, that seems justifiable.

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

It's been in the news, like The Hill, RawStory, Washington Examiner...not a major news story that Mueller is asking Manafort questions about Roger Stone.

I believe Roger Stone will be the next major person from the campaign who will be taken down.

 

[Elixir]

It's been in the news, like The Hill, RawStory, Washington Examiner...not a major news story that Mueller is asking Manafort questions about Roger Stone.

I believe Roger Stone will be the next major person from the campaign who will be taken down.

I expect a major news dump to come out of the Mueller investigation right after the election. And it appears that if the Dems have taken the house, there will be more Congressional investigations coming than you can shake a stick at.