Comey and Rogers's testimony today (March 20, 2017)

[Artemus]

It's on all the US news stations/sites so I won't bother to give any links, but FBI director Comey and NSA director Rogers confirmed that

a) The FBI has been investigating links between the Trump campaign and the Russian government,

b) Obama/the Obama administration did not order a wire-tapping of Trump,

c) No one asked the UK to spy on Trump.

What does everyone think the reaction is going to be?

 

[Malintent]

"Fake News" will be the reply.... alternatively, silence.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

If you don't drop the investigation I'll replace you with someone who will.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

a) This is yuge because the level of suspicion for this investigation to even happen has to be much larger than normally required for an investigation. Investigating a political campaign can not be something that'd be done with little behind it.

b) We already know that "wire tap" can mean anything, therefore Trump hasn't been proven wrong.

c) Here is an interesting thing, didn't "ask". Doesn't say they didn't intercept.

This entire administration is in trouble.

- - - Updated - - -

If you don't drop the investigation I'll replace you with someone who will.

And that'd take us beyond Watergate.

 

[Artemus]

If you don't drop the investigation I'll replace you with someone who will.

I hope that is the reaction. The  Saturday Night Massacre is what finally turned a plurality of the public against Nixon. It was inevitable after that.

- - - Updated - - -

This entire administration is in trouble.

Yep.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

The major difference is we don't know if Trump broke the law like Nixon had. We seem to have a decent suspicion that somebody in his campaign did, but until the investigation is over, we don't know what Intelligence exists against the campaign. And Nixon was iced by the coverup. There is no coverup yet, for the Russia investigation that we know. I think the level of bravado and narcissism made them think they weren't being watched when in discussions with Russians that were being watched.

And that is the whole basis of Trump saying he was spied on. No, you fuckwad, the Europeans weren't spying on you, they were spying on the Russians and your people were working with them.

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

a) This is yuge because the level of suspicion for this investigation to even happen has to be much larger than normally required for an investigation. Investigating a political campaign can not be something that'd be done with little behind it.

b) We already know that "wire tap" can mean anything, therefore Trump hasn't been proven wrong.

c) Here is an interesting thing, didn't "ask". Doesn't say they didn't intercept.

This entire administration is in trouble.

- - - Updated - - -

If you don't drop the investigation I'll replace you with someone who will.

And that'd take us beyond Watergate.

We're already beyond Watergate, if you think about all the things Twitler has done.

 

[Artemus]

Hmmm...a "Breaking News" ribbon that was on CNN.com for a short period said that the republicans were focusing on finding the identities of the whistle blower(s) who leaked to the press about the Russian investigation. (Fox News right now would have you thing that that is the only thing coming out of the hearing.) Still can't admit that it is time to abandon ship.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

a) This is yuge because the level of suspicion for this investigation to even happen has to be much larger than normally required for an investigation. Investigating a political campaign can not be something that'd be done with little behind it.

b) We already know that "wire tap" can mean anything, therefore Trump hasn't been proven wrong.

c) Here is an interesting thing, didn't "ask". Doesn't say they didn't intercept.

This entire administration is in trouble.

- - - Updated - - -

And that'd take us beyond Watergate.

We're already beyond Watergate, if you think about all the things Twitler has done.

The Republicans were breaking into doctor offices to steal medical records to use as blackmail against the Democrats for electoral purposes. The Watergate coverup was the fall of Nixon, but the Watergate break-in was some very serious stuff.

If the Trump campaign coordinated with the Russians to hack the DNC servers, that would be Watergate but employing a foreign agency to perform the break-in, which indeed would be much worse, however, that hasn't be proven yet.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Hmmm...a "Breaking News" ribbon that was on CNN.com for a short period said that the republicans were focusing on finding the identities of the whistle blower(s) who leaked to the press about the Russian investigation. (Fox News right now would have you thing that that is the only thing coming out of the hearing.) Still can't admit that it is time to abandon ship.

And that is frightening. The narrative they are selling is that 'the public presence of the information about European intercepts of the Trump team coordinating with Russians with ties to the Russian Government is illegal' is the news. Not that 'European intercepts of the Trump team coordinating with Russians with ties to the Russian Government'.

And it isn't Fox selling the narrative, it is the fucking RNC.

Odd, the RNC made a judgment to get on the Trump train during the campaign to keep a massive lack of turnout from harming the RNC. Now they are on the Trump train to keep a massive scandal from seeing the light of day. They continue to make decisions based on the best interests of staying in power, now what is in the best interest of the nation.

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

We're already beyond Watergate, if you think about all the things Twitler has done.

The Republicans were breaking into doctor offices to steal medical records to use as blackmail against the Democrats for electoral purposes. The Watergate coverup was the fall of Nixon, but the Watergate break-in was some very serious stuff.

If the Trump campaign coordinated with the Russians to hack the DNC servers, that would be Watergate but employing a foreign agency to perform the break-in, which indeed would be much worse, however, that hasn't be proven yet.

I meant everything, even beyond RussiaGate. I mean, 9 x sexual assaults, insane level of corruption and obvious goals to destroy governmental institutions supporting social welfare, lies x 1000, publicly asking the Russians to hack Hillary's emails, inappropriate tweets x 1000, plus RussiaGate. This guy would be fired if he were sweeping floors in DC, let alone President.

 

[Ford]

It's on all the US news stations/sites so I won't bother to give any links, but FBI director Comey and NSA director Rogers confirmed that

a) The FBI has been investigating links between the Trump campaign and the Russian government,

b) Obama/the Obama administration did not order a wire-tapping of Trump,

c) No one asked the UK to spy on Trump.

What does everyone think the reaction is going to be?

I'm trying not to overreact, but this is a pretty big deal. Whether Trump himself did anything illegal is one matter, but perhaps more damaging to the President is the appearance of impropriety.

Trump is all about perception. He's spent decades building his brand. His reputation. His public persona. This is bad for all of that. His one angry, misinformed tweet has led to the FBI and NSA directors testifying under oath in Congress that no, he was not wiretapped in Trump Tower, and yes, some of his top advisors have been under investigation for months.

Of course there are those in his base of supporters who will think this is all a fake news/liberal conspiracy/hit job on their hero, but there's got to be some of those older voters who grew up during the Cold War that may finally get it through their thick skulls that the "Russkies" are still out there, still don't mean us well, and apparently had their tentacles in our election.

Joe McCarthy is spinning in his grave right now, because it wasn't the Hollywood commies that finally got to us, but a billionaire businessman Republican, and he's (currently) President.

Gonna need lots of popcorn for this one.

 

[Artemus]

Unbelievable! Trump is live-tweeting anything slightly positive sounding for him during the hearing. The fool has no idea how bad this is for him. (His main message is of course that the evil leaks are the real news here.)

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Unbelievable! Trump is live-tweeting anything slightly positive sounding for him during the hearing. The fool has no idea how bad this is for him. (His main message is of course that the evil leaks are the real news here.)

To be fair, that isn't Trump but whomever runs Trump's Presidential Twitter account (Trump not capable of posting snippets of video!). Trump still uses his private account.

- - - Updated - - -

It's on all the US news stations/sites so I won't bother to give any links, but FBI director Comey and NSA director Rogers confirmed that

a) The FBI has been investigating links between the Trump campaign and the Russian government,

b) Obama/the Obama administration did not order a wire-tapping of Trump,

c) No one asked the UK to spy on Trump.

What does everyone think the reaction is going to be?

I'm trying not to overreact, but this is a pretty big deal. Whether Trump himself did anything illegal is one matter, but perhaps more damaging to the President is the appearance of impropriety.

Trump is all about perception. He's spent decades building his brand. His reputation. His public persona. This is bad for all of that. His one angry, misinformed tweet has led to the FBI and NSA directors testifying under oath in Congress that no, he was not wiretapped in Trump Tower, and yes, some of his top advisors have been under investigation for months.

Of course there are those in his base of supporters who will think this is all a fake news/liberal conspiracy/hit job on their hero, but there's got to be some of those older voters who grew up during the Cold War that may finally get it through their thick skulls that the "Russkies" are still out there, still don't mean us well, and apparently had their tentacles in our election.

Joe McCarthy is spinning in his grave right now, because it wasn't the Hollywood commies that finally got to us, but a billionaire businessman Republican, and he's (currently) President.

Gonna need lots of popcorn for this one.

It is a big deal, but still we aren't certain what exactly has happened.

 

[Artemus]

Unbelievable! Trump is live-tweeting anything slightly positive sounding for him during the hearing. The fool has no idea how bad this is for him. (His main message is of course that the evil leaks are the real news here.)

To be fair, that isn't Trump but whomever runs Trump's Presidential Twitter account (Trump not capable of posting snippets of video!). Trump still uses his private account.

OK. Thanks for the correction. I don't follow Twitter so miss the nuances.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

The Republicans were breaking into doctor offices to steal medical records to use as blackmail against the Democrats for electoral purposes. The Watergate coverup was the fall of Nixon, but the Watergate break-in was some very serious stuff.

If the Trump campaign coordinated with the Russians to hack the DNC servers, that would be Watergate but employing a foreign agency to perform the break-in, which indeed would be much worse, however, that hasn't be proven yet.

I meant everything, even beyond RussiaGate. I mean, 9 x sexual assaults, insane level of corruption and obvious goals to destroy governmental institutions supporting social welfare, lies x 1000, publicly asking the Russians to hack Hillary's emails, inappropriate tweets x 1000, plus RussiaGate. This guy would be fired if he were sweeping floors in DC, let alone President.

For the most part, most of that was out before the US "hired" this idiot on Election Day... or the Electoral College, at least.

The Russia deal is so much bigger than anything else he has done, other than that massive stock fraud deal where he offloaded his bankrupt casinos on shareholders.

- - - Updated - - -

To be fair, that isn't Trump but whomever runs Trump's Presidential Twitter account (Trump not capable of posting snippets of video!). Trump still uses his private account.

OK. Thanks for the correction. I don't follow Twitter so miss the nuances.

One would think he'd use the official Twitter, but that stuff has to be archived, without a doubt. I think his private account could be a gray area... not that once it is live it isn't saved by others.

 

[Malintent]

Unbelievable! Trump is live-tweeting anything slightly positive sounding for him during the hearing. The fool has no idea how bad this is for him. (His main message is of course that the evil leaks are the real news here.)

How do so many people not see what Trump is doing? It's like catching a bank robber in cartoonish style, red-handed with "loot bag" in hand, ski mask, and every other stereotypical "no brainer" case, and then agreeing with his defense that the REAL problem are those men in blue tattle-telling on people. THAT's the crime.

 

[Malintent]

not that once it is live it isn't saved by others.

.. saved by Millions of others, Google Time Machine, Internet Archives, Web Servers, etc...

Things that SHOULD be removed from the internet stay around even longer... Google "Porsche Girl". That was 10 years of concerted effort to remove the pictures... easy to find (NSFW!!!!!!!!).

Remember, you cannot unsee anything you have seen. Proceed with care.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Unbelievable! Trump is live-tweeting anything slightly positive sounding for him during the hearing. The fool has no idea how bad this is for him. (His main message is of course that the evil leaks are the real news here.)

How do so many people not see what Trump is doing? It's like catching a bank robber in cartoonish style, red-handed with "loot bag" in hand, ski mask, and every other stereotypical "no brainer" case, and then agreeing with his defense that the REAL problem are those men in blue tattle-telling on people. THAT's the crime.

OJ Simpson comes to mind.

Man, it really is taking him a long time to put on those gloves. And Mark Furham is a jerk. Maybe OJ didn't do it.

 

[J842P]

How do so many people not see what Trump is doing? It's like catching a bank robber in cartoonish style, red-handed with "loot bag" in hand, ski mask, and every other stereotypical "no brainer" case, and then agreeing with his defense that the REAL problem are those men in blue tattle-telling on people. THAT's the crime.

OJ Simpson comes to mind.

Man, it really is taking him a long time to put on those gloves. And Mark Furham is a jerk. Maybe OJ didn't do it.

Actually, the OJ case is a really good analogy. You have some celebrity that becomes the focal point of a political division, and the trial isn't about the murder, it is two political sides fighting it out.