Conspiracy Theories: WaPo Quiz

[Loren Pechtel]

What's what in it:

• World ruled by supreme shadow 'elites." Once you believe one you usually believe most. Get help. -- "Antifa" starting wildfires, hollow Earth, Nazis on the Moon, Moon landings faked, PizzaGate, Obama birth certificate fake, Sandy hook fake, Satanic cult panic, Holocaust denial, Bill Gates microchipping, New World Order, white genocide, George Soros, "Cultural Marxism", reptilian overlords, flat Earth, Protocols of the Elders of Zion, Deep State, QAnon
• Detached from reality

What do you call the influence of civil servants over elected officials: Officials like James Clapper or Comey who sit in powerful positions, who don't leave when presidents do and who watch presidents come and go? These un-elected bureaucrats who influence policy and influence our elected president!.

They are collectively called the "deep state", you do not have to believe in the Protocols of Elders of Zion to know that they most certainly do exist! And if you do not believe me just ask Senate leader Chuck Schumer...................

“Let me tell you, you take on the intelligence community, they have six ways from Sunday at getting back at you,” Schumer told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow.

You have to be detached from reality NOT to believe in the deep state.

While there are bureaucrats that continue from one administration to the next the control lies with the elected powers. Just look at how fast His Flatulence was able to corrupt so many parts of government. "Deep state" as envisioned by His Flatulence is correctly placed on that list.

 

[Patooka]

What category does the "Trump-Russian Collusion" belong in?

Not conspiracy, more right winger's disability to basic comprehension. You see, there was an investigation towards whether Russia actively tried to subvert the 2016 US election. The US Senate voted unanimously on the findings and key members of Trump's election campaign went to jail. There was never an investigation on whether Trump actively colluded with Russia and personally, I think he lacks the attention span (and most certainly the intelligence) to pull something like that off.

Hope that clears things up. Sorry this is so complicated for you to understand.

 

[thebeave]

What category does the "Trump-Russian Collusion" belong in?

Not conspiracy, more right winger's disability to basic comprehension. You see, there was an investigation towards whether Russia actively tried to subvert the 2016 US election. The US Senate voted unanimously on the findings and key members of Trump's election campaign went to jail. There was never an investigation on whether Trump actively colluded with Russia and personally, I think he lacks the attention span (and most certainly the intelligence) to pull something like that off.

Hope that clears things up. Sorry this is so complicated for you to understand.

OK, thanks for the update! Despite your hope, that doesn't quite clear things up though. I guess it is still too complicated for me to understand, so I hope you will be patient.

I just re-read the OP, and it does include the Trump-Russia Collusion (#5 in the OP list: Donald Trump colluded with Russia to get elected (37%)). I don't know how I missed it initially. Long day I guess!

I also found this article from Reuters:

Despite report findings, almost half of Americans think Trump colluded with Russia: Reuters/Ipsos poll

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Nearly half of all Americans still believe President Donald Trump worked with Russia to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted after Special Counsel Robert Mueller cleared Trump of that allegation.

According to Barr’s summary released on Sunday, Mueller found no evidence that the Trump campaign conspired with Russia in the 2016 election, but did not exonerate the president on the question of obstructing the investigation.

The word conspired is used, so that seems to support the notion that the "Trump-Russian Collusion" is classified as a conspiracy, as opposed to "right winger's disability to basic comprehension". You also say there was no investigation on the collusion, but its called an "investigation" right there in the quote from the article (bolded).

 

[ZiprHead]

What category does the "Trump-Russian Collusion" belong in?

Not conspiracy, more right winger's disability to basic comprehension. You see, there was an investigation towards whether Russia actively tried to subvert the 2016 US election. The US Senate voted unanimously on the findings and key members of Trump's election campaign went to jail. There was never an investigation on whether Trump actively colluded with Russia and personally, I think he lacks the attention span (and most certainly the intelligence) to pull something like that off.

Hope that clears things up. Sorry this is so complicated for you to understand.

OK, thanks for the update! Despite your hope, that doesn't quite clear things up though. I guess it is still too complicated for me to understand, so I hope you will be patient.

I just re-read the OP, and it does include the Trump-Russia Collusion (#5 in the OP list: Donald Trump colluded with Russia to get elected (37%)). I don't know how I missed it initially. Long day I guess!

I also found this article from Reuters:

Despite report findings, almost half of Americans think Trump colluded with Russia: Reuters/Ipsos poll

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Nearly half of all Americans still believe President Donald Trump worked with Russia to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted after Special Counsel Robert Mueller cleared Trump of that allegation.

According to Barr’s summary released on Sunday, Mueller found no evidence that the Trump campaign conspired with Russia in the 2016 election, but did not exonerate the president on the question of obstructing the investigation.

The word conspired is used, so that seems to support the notion that the "Trump-Russian Collusion" is classified as a conspiracy, as opposed to "right winger's disability to basic comprehension". You also say there was no investigation on the collusion, but its called an "investigation" right there in the quote from the article (bolded).

These 11 Mueller Report Myths Just Won’t Die

Here's why they're wrong

time.com

Myth: Mueller found “no collusion.”

Response: Mueller spent almost 200 pages describing “numerous links between the Russian government and the Trump Campaign.” He found that “a Russian entity carried out a social media campaign that favored presidential candidate Donald J. Trump and disparaged presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.” He also found that “a Russian intelligence service conducted computer-intrusion operations” against the Clinton campaign and then released stolen documents.

 

[RVonse]

What's what in it:

• World ruled by supreme shadow 'elites." Once you believe one you usually believe most. Get help. -- "Antifa" starting wildfires, hollow Earth, Nazis on the Moon, Moon landings faked, PizzaGate, Obama birth certificate fake, Sandy hook fake, Satanic cult panic, Holocaust denial, Bill Gates microchipping, New World Order, white genocide, George Soros, "Cultural Marxism", reptilian overlords, flat Earth, Protocols of the Elders of Zion, Deep State, QAnon
• Detached from reality

What do you call the influence of civil servants over elected officials: Officials like James Clapper or Comey who sit in powerful positions, who don't leave when presidents do and who watch presidents come and go? These un-elected bureaucrats who influence policy and influence our elected president!.

They are collectively called the "deep state", you do not have to believe in the Protocols of Elders of Zion to know that they most certainly do exist! And if you do not believe me just ask Senate leader Chuck Schumer...................

“Let me tell you, you take on the intelligence community, they have six ways from Sunday at getting back at you,” Schumer told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow.

You have to be detached from reality NOT to believe in the deep state.

While there are bureaucrats that continue from one administration to the next the control lies with the elected powers. Just look at how fast His Flatulence was able to corrupt so many parts of government. "Deep state" as envisioned by His Flatulence is correctly placed on that list.

According to Trump himself, as POTUS he could not negotiate normally with Russia because of the then ongoing Mueller investigation. If you recall that investigation was started by Comey using tactics lacking of honesty and integrity. Were it not for the actions of Comey, a much different set of circustances under Jeff Sessions would have left the office of POTUS much more intact. The elected POTUS could have more effectively performed his duties.

You can agree with what Comey did or not. But what you can not say is that Comey (by himself alone) was not responsible for the trajectory of the office of POTUS. Note that Comey was a career government bureaucrat NOT elected by the people. And note also that Comey probably acted alone but how do we really know when the initial evidence was a paid for fabrication of the Clinton establishment!

 

[Elixir]

What category does the "Trump-Russian Collusion" belong in?

It reduces to semantics, mainly what qualifies as “collusion”.
Some things are certain:
* Putin wanted Trump to win and tried to help him win.
* Trump knew Putin was trying to help him win and welcomed the help.
Some people consider that those two FACTS combined, amount to collusion.
Others contend that collusion must include face-to-face discussion and agreement about how such assistance would be rendered. (We don’t know that these discussions did NOT occur, since Trump held discussions with Putin that were unrecorded by anyone but Putin’s translators. But we can’t assume that they did occur, obviously)
Trump clearly stated that he would accept “help” from interfering foreign parties, and I consider that an admission of willingness to indulge in collusion. But willingness is not collusion. It’s just an identifier of a power-hungry scumbag.

 

[Keith&Co.]

Thus you put the crew on the duplicate and just about the whole support team is actually seeing a feed from the duplicate, not from the real spacecraft.

But that'd be just as bad. Either the systems never break, which still rings alarm bells, or they claim a failure and the support team walks over to the duplicate to try to engineer a response and find....a closed set?

 

[ZiprHead]

What's what in it:

• World ruled by supreme shadow 'elites." Once you believe one you usually believe most. Get help. -- "Antifa" starting wildfires, hollow Earth, Nazis on the Moon, Moon landings faked, PizzaGate, Obama birth certificate fake, Sandy hook fake, Satanic cult panic, Holocaust denial, Bill Gates microchipping, New World Order, white genocide, George Soros, "Cultural Marxism", reptilian overlords, flat Earth, Protocols of the Elders of Zion, Deep State, QAnon
• Detached from reality

What do you call the influence of civil servants over elected officials: Officials like James Clapper or Comey who sit in powerful positions, who don't leave when presidents do and who watch presidents come and go? These un-elected bureaucrats who influence policy and influence our elected president!.

They are collectively called the "deep state", you do not have to believe in the Protocols of Elders of Zion to know that they most certainly do exist! And if you do not believe me just ask Senate leader Chuck Schumer...................

“Let me tell you, you take on the intelligence community, they have six ways from Sunday at getting back at you,” Schumer told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow.

You have to be detached from reality NOT to believe in the deep state.

While there are bureaucrats that continue from one administration to the next the control lies with the elected powers. Just look at how fast His Flatulence was able to corrupt so many parts of government. "Deep state" as envisioned by His Flatulence is correctly placed on that list.

According to Trump himself, as POTUS he could not negotiate normally with Russia because of the then ongoing Mueller investigation. If you recall that investigation was started by Comey using tactics lacking of honesty and integrity. Were it not for the actions of Comey, a much different set of circustances under Jeff Sessions would have left the office of POTUS much more intact. The elected POTUS could have more effectively performed his duties.

You can agree with what Comey did or not. But what you can not say is that Comey (by himself alone) was not responsible for the trajectory of the office of POTUS. Note that Comey was a career government bureaucrat NOT elected by the people. And note also that Comey probably acted alone but how do we really know when the initial evidence was a paid for fabrication of the Clinton establishment!

Read it again:

Myth: Mueller found “no collusion.”

Response: Mueller spent almost 200 pages describing “numerous links between the Russian government and the Trump Campaign.” He found that “a Russian entity carried out a social media campaign that favored presidential candidate Donald J. Trump and disparaged presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.” He also found that “a Russian intelligence service conducted computer-intrusion operations” against the Clinton campaign and then released stolen documents.

While Mueller was unable to establish a conspiracy between members of the Trump campaign and the Russians involved in this activity, he made it clear that “[a] statement that the investigation did not establish particular facts does not mean there was no evidence of those facts.” In fact, Mueller also wrote that the “investigation established that the Russian government perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency and worked to secure that outcome, and that the Campaign expected it would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian efforts.”

To find conspiracy, a prosecutor must establish a conspiracy between members of the Trump campaign and the Russians involved in this activity, he made it clear that “[a] statement that the investigation did not establish particular facts does not mean there was no evidence of those facts.” In fact, Mueller also wrote that the “investigation established that the Russian government perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency and worked to secure that outcome, and that the Campaign expected it would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian efforts.”

To find conspiracy, a prosecutor must establish beyond a reasonable doubt the elements of the crime: an agreement between at least two people, to commit a criminal offense and an overt act in furtherance of that agreement. One of the underlying criminal offenses that Mueller reviewed for conspiracy was campaign-finance violations. Mueller found that Trump campaign members Donald Trump Jr., Paul Manafort and Jared Kushner met with Russian nationals in Trump Tower in New York June 2016 for the purpose of receiving disparaging information about Clinton as part of “Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump,” according to an email message arranging the meeting. This meeting did not amount to a criminal offense, in part, because Mueller was unable to establish “willfulness,” that is, that the participants knew that their conduct was illegal. Mueller was also unable to conclude that the information was a “thing of value” that exceeded $25,000, the requirement for campaign finance to be a felony, as opposed to a civil violation of law. But the fact that the conduct did not technically amount to conspiracy does not mean that it was acceptable. Trump campaign members welcomed foreign influence into our election and then compromised themselves with the Russian government by covering it up.

Mueller found other contacts with Russia, such as the sharing of polling data about Midwestern states where Trump later won upset victories, conversations with the Russian ambassador to influence Russia’s response to sanctions imposed by the U.S. government in response to election interference, and communications with Wikileaks after it had received emails stolen by Russia. While none of these acts amounted to the crime of conspiracy, all could be described as “collusion.”

 

[Loren Pechtel]

What category does the "Trump-Russian Collusion" belong in?

Not conspiracy, more right winger's disability to basic comprehension. You see, there was an investigation towards whether Russia actively tried to subvert the 2016 US election. The US Senate voted unanimously on the findings and key members of Trump's election campaign went to jail. There was never an investigation on whether Trump actively colluded with Russia and personally, I think he lacks the attention span (and most certainly the intelligence) to pull something like that off.

Hope that clears things up. Sorry this is so complicated for you to understand.

Yeah. I don't think His Flatulence is actually guilty of all that much--he's too stupid and out of it. He's a bit player and a massive puppet. I think somebody near him is working for Moscow, though.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

What category does the "Trump-Russian Collusion" belong in?

It reduces to semantics, mainly what qualifies as “collusion”.
Some things are certain:
* Putin wanted Trump to win and tried to help him win.
* Trump knew Putin was trying to help him win and welcomed the help.
Some people consider that those two FACTS combined, amount to collusion.
Others contend that collusion must include face-to-face discussion and agreement about how such assistance would be rendered. (We don’t know that these discussions did NOT occur, since Trump held discussions with Putin that were unrecorded by anyone but Putin’s translators. But we can’t assume that they did occur, obviously)
Trump clearly stated that he would accept “help” from interfering foreign parties, and I consider that an admission of willingness to indulge in collusion. But willingness is not collusion. It’s just an identifier of a power-hungry scumbag.

I don't think collusion requires a face-to-face meeting. I do think it requires some sort of agreement, though. He welcomed the help but I doubt he made any real agreement about it. (Someone in his circle, though....he's too incompetent to be a Manchurian candidate, but a handler manipulating him is another matter.)

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Thus you put the crew on the duplicate and just about the whole support team is actually seeing a feed from the duplicate, not from the real spacecraft.

But that'd be just as bad. Either the systems never break, which still rings alarm bells, or they claim a failure and the support team walks over to the duplicate to try to engineer a response and find....a closed set?

They don't go to the duplicate over every little issue. They go to the duplicate when they want to know "is X possible?" For example, rigging the scrubbers on Apollo 13--and even then that was done mostly with duplicate equipment (here's what they have, figure out how to rig it), not duplicate hardware. The actual use of the duplicates has more been a Mars thing--can the rover make this maneuver? Things like directing Spirit's camera to figure out what it was stuck on.

It could have been exposed that way, but that's by no means certain.

 

[Elixir]

I don't think collusion requires a face-to-face meeting. I do think it requires some sort of agreement, though. He welcomed the help but I doubt he made any real agreement about it. (Someone in his circle, though....he's too incompetent to be a Manchurian candidate, but a handler manipulating him is another matter.)

There was “some sort of agreement”; a tacit one at least. But there was more - even data sharing with Ruskies.

The basic problem arises from a mistaken assumption on the Founders’ part, that the public would consistently prefer persons of principle to represent them if given the choice.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

I don't think collusion requires a face-to-face meeting. I do think it requires some sort of agreement, though. He welcomed the help but I doubt he made any real agreement about it. (Someone in his circle, though....he's too incompetent to be a Manchurian candidate, but a handler manipulating him is another matter.)

There was “some sort of agreement”; a tacit one at least. But there was more - even data sharing with Ruskies.

The basic problem arises from a mistaken assumption on the Founders’ part, that the public would consistently prefer persons of principle to represent them if given the choice.

I don't think they made an agreement with him. He would be too likely to screw it up. While I think there's an agreement it's with a handler in his circle, not with him directly.

 

[lpetrich]

Where is the evidence for the "deep state"? It's not enough to point out that intelligence agencies like the CIA are often very secretive. They have to be as part of their work.

I once saw the theory that Trump was opposed by the deep state. But it would have been a simple matter for the deep state to depose him and put someone more compliant in his place.

Imagine someone from the deep state, someone I'll call Deepak, who gets tasked with doing so. In early 2019, he researches the impeachment process, noting that it involves the House making an indictment and the Senate doing a trial. He considers what might be good to charge Trump with, and he calls up Nancy Pelosi, Kevin McCarthy, Chuck Schumer, and Mitch McConnell about doing so. None of them like the idea, especially not the Republicans. The Democrats don't like the idea of impeaching the President for something that is not very big. But Deepak sweetens the pot by offering some help for their re-election campaigns, and they get interested.

The Democrats say "Sure thing. We can whip the votes for you." The Republicans take more persuading, but in the end, they agree. They'll also whip some votes.

So they go ahead, the House voting to indict Trump, and the Senate then trying Trump and finding him guilty.

Deepak looks on as Trump is ordered to pack his bags and leave the White House. Trump can cry in his beer all he wants in Mar-a-Lago, Deepak thinks, and he also thinks about how much more pliant Mike Pence will be.

 

[Swammerdami]

Include me among those who detest this quiz. The mere fact that a "conspiracy theory" hasn't been proven does NOT show that it has been DIS-proven!

Many scholars with relevant PhDs as well as five now-deceased Supreme Court Justices think that Wm Shaksper of Stratford did not write the plays and poems. Are they all wrong just because Wikipedia says so?

In 1915 Albert Einstein predicted^* starlight deflection of 1.7 arc-seconds during a solar eclipse; this was confirmed in 1919. During the intervening 4 years was Einstein's theory a false "Conspiracy theory"?

Republicans cheated to win in 2000, 2004, 2016 (27%)

Yes they did, depending on how you define cheating. Setting up the "false-flag" lie in 2004 that deflected Dubya's AWOL crimes into a slur on Dan Rather is just one of several examples. To say "21st-century Ds do it too" shows ignorance.

3. Genetically-modified food dangers hidden (45%)

Yes, ecological damage is a serious danger. It wouldn't be "hidden" except for the concerted efforts, by both the left and the right, to suppress discussion of such dangers

Donald Trump colluded with Russia to get elected (37%)

It is certain that Russia deliberately helped him. Trump did ask for such help on national TV. Top Trumpists like Jared and Junior did meet with Russian officials. The claim that "collusion was debunked" hinges mainly on lies from the traitor Bill Barr, which FoxNews and Alex Jones were happy to embrace and which the "Lame-stream Media" was too lame to push back against.

.

Bah, humbug! It's crap like this quiz that makes me lose respect for U.S. media. I get my news from Reuters, Al-jazeera etc. The best U.S. news network is the Comedy Network!

* - Historical note: Einstein initially predicted half that deflection — the same result as with Newtonian physics. Efforts were made from 1911 to 1914 to confirm this with new observations and by studying old observations. Fortunately for Einstein — who might have been discredited along with his theory — those efforts were unsuccessful. In 1915 Einstein found his math error, and published the 1.7 arc-second prediction, twice the Newtonian value.

 

[Bullmoose Too]

I was wrong on one of the questions. It was the genetically modified food has dangerous properties that is hidden from the public.

I was wrong because my dumbass didn’t read the question fully.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

I don't think collusion requires a face-to-face meeting. I do think it requires some sort of agreement, though. He welcomed the help but I doubt he made any real agreement about it. (Someone in his circle, though....he's too incompetent to be a Manchurian candidate, but a handler manipulating him is another matter.)

There was “some sort of agreement”; a tacit one at least. But there was more - even data sharing with Ruskies.

The basic problem arises from a mistaken assumption on the Founders’ part, that the public would consistently prefer persons of principle to represent them if given the choice.

I don't think they made an agreement with him. He would be too likely to screw it up. While I think there's an agreement it's with a handler in his circle, not with him directly.

You mean like when Trump confirmed the Israeli spy thing when trying to deny he told the Russians about the deeply embedded spy Israel had in ISIS?

I'd say the most concerning issue with Trump and Russia was the secret tete-a-tete with Putin, and a translator. There is really no way Trump was qualified to handle a meeting like that. I hope I live long enough to read the debriefing.

 

[Elixir]

I hope I live long enough to read the debriefing.

I hope you do too. That would be a very long life.

 

[Jarhyn]

I hope I live long enough to read the debriefing.

I hope you do too. That would be a very long life.

Look me up in 30 years. I'll hook you up with a second spin JUST to see that with me, assuming my trajectory doesn't change.

 

[Swammerdami]

You mean like when Trump confirmed the Israeli spy thing when trying to deny he told the Russians about the deeply embedded spy Israel had in ISIS?

I'd say the most concerning issue with Trump and Russia was the secret tete-a-tete with Putin, and a translator. There is really no way Trump was qualified to handle a meeting like that. I hope I live long enough to read the debriefing.

Both these were mind-boggingly bad. Trump's only defense against charges of treason in either case is to plead gross stupidity. In a way it didn't matter whether he was a traitor or an imbecile; he should have been removed from office ASAP in either case. But the Cabinet had been filled with crooks, morons and sycophants so there was no 25th Amendment solution. When the House finally got around to impeaching him they charged him only with a misdemeanor phone call.

And when General Mark Milley (CJCS) revealed that he had averted the risk of nuclear war under the imbecile/traitor by telephoning his Chinese counterpart in January, the media — both its fake wing and its lame wing — condemned Milley, rather than praising him for circumventing the imbecile/traitor!


... But I don't know what "de-briefing" Mr. Higgins refers to. Any remarks by the imbecile/traitor — if he even remembers the incident at all — will be lies. Vladimir Putin would be so overwhelmed by the situation's hilarity he could hardly utter his lies for the laughs. Is somebody going to kidnap Putin's personal interpreter?