Friday, December 30, 2016

Russogate

As a precious few other people have pointed out what Russia did in hacking into the computers of Democrats is a re run of Watergate which caused such a cataclysmic effect on American politics for a generation and led to a presidential impeachment. Yet not a peep of outrage from the establishment to what is in effect an act of war. Obamma has been very late in condemning this espionage by Russia which is morphing back into the Soviet monster of old although he is right to apply such sanctions he has announced but they hardly redress what Russia has done.

Trump of course is seeking to dismiss this outrage as he would wouldn't he, but my only suggestion would be for the US to block the State run RT TV channel if it is possible. As it is a tool of the Russian government this would be entirely justified.

11 comments:

Linda Method said...

Prez Obama knew full well of the Russian cyberattack before the election, but declined to respond publicly about it for fear that the timing of such action would appear to be with an eye upon the election outcome. I think that was a forward-thinking wise decision, consider how it would have played out had Hillary won. It's not like America didn't already have plenty of sanctions against Russia for various other offenses.

I don't believe that Russia 'hacked the election' directly in terms of accessing voting machines or anything like that, but the electronic footprint of Russian interference in the election process was abundantly apparent. What continues to amaze and outrage me is that the incoming White House press secretary Spicer is attempting to deflect attention from the Russian scandal to instead 'punishing Hillary' for her 'dishonest actions during the election.' What the effing eff. The answer to his question "Is she being punished in any way?" could be very easily answered this way: Yes she's being punished! She crashed and burned in one of the most crushing defeats ever seen in American politics. She's in the eternal hell of public disgrace, her dynasty utterly decimated. What more can she suffer. How about the begged question of what would have been the outcry if Hillary had been the beneficiary of an election result in her favour amidst the revelation of shady business ties to Russia and a confirmed cyberattack against her opponent. Double standard much?

Dare I ask: can this get any worse? With a two-face fink in the White House it's anybody's guess.




niconoclast said...

I never thought I would say this but I actually think she is kind of dignified although I do not like here statist politics one iota but she was def handicapped by what I do believe was the Russian espionage although Trump would have won anyways cos he was riding the rage zeitegeist.But he is an oaf and a thug so it is easy to look good next to him lol. And Happy New Year fellow scourge of Masters!

Linda Method said...

Haha! Happy New Year to you as well, friend. Ms. Clinton's behaviour throughout the fallout of the election train wreck has indeed been very dignified. Very presidential, actually. She's a real statesman/woman. I'm really embarrassed for my country, though. There's a sign outside a pub in England that states: 'Americans must be accompanied by an adult...." and that sums up how I feel about the droves and droves of gap-tooth bubbas that voted for Fump. He's not Trump to me, he's Fump. As in Truck Fump. The fact that Fump's bubbas are not outraged let alone concerned about Russion interference in our affairs is beyond understanding. They discount the fact that the Republican National Convention was hacked too, but the Russkies didn't spill anything from that breach because Fump was their candidate, and they wanted that 'useful fool' in a position to remove all the sanctions and start talking business. Am I dreaming this? My god it's like a Twilight Zone inspired nightmare. Somebody wake me up!!! Fate is taking this prank too far.

At least Obama is proving tactical in throwing every monkey wrench he can into the works in order to complicate Fump's foreign policy. Good on him.

I wanted Bernie, by the way. For the disgraceful anti-Bernie bias in the DNC that was brought to light by the hack, I don't mind that they got their ass handed to them in the election. The richly deserved that. It's unfortunate that Mr. Sanders was the casualty because I think he'd have kicked Fump's rump in the election. Now everybody's already looking forward to the next election, I only hope the damage doesn't take another generation to fix. Lord.

niconoclast said...

I get your passion lol but have to say Bernie scares the hell out of me as his views are way way Left and out of sight and America was built on liberty and individual rights not collectivism and socialism for Chrissakes!. He would fit Russia or Cuba lol (but hope we won't fall out on this one ha).He has a brother in the UK who is just as far left.Funny thing is as I have mentioned in quite a few posts his protectionist views are almost identical to Trump's.But he is nice and a sweet old man so he gets away with it whereas Trump is a brute and abrasive narcissist but they are both collectivists under the skin when you strip away their very different presentational styles.

Linda Method said...

Fump is the poster boy for protectionism. Maybe I don't know enough about Bernie to label him that way, or to say he is a collectivist. I'm not exactly sure what this, really. Yes, Bernie tends to scare the be-jesus out of conservatives! I find that funny because he's really more of a social democrat than a socialist or Marxist. He does not want to re-create Castro's Cuba, or make America a socialist republic. He doesn't want to demolish capitalism, either. I think he just wants to regulate it a little more. America is so flippin afraid of regulations and 'government overreach.' I just think a little balance would be a good thing. Perhaps I'm too much of a simpleton to understand why there's no such thing in America as 'affordable care.'

I left a job about a year ago because the only medical benefits it offered that I could afford was a horrible plan that would cost me over a $100 a month for my husband and myself, and the deductible was $6000 per person per year. That means I'm paying a premium for a policy that won't pay for anything until I've racked up $6000 in medical bills. How is that fair? Now I have a better policy, but it still carries a $3000 per person deductible. My husband needed surgery last year and we finally met his deductible, and it's going to take me a while to pay off the outstanding bills. He doesn't work because he's home helping take care of my disabled son, plus he's got partial disability from spinal stenosis himself. It's hardship for our family to keep ourselves healthy, that just doesn't seem right. We applied for him to get disability and were denied because they said 'you are expected to get better.' Well, I hope so. We're only in our 50's, too young to have to worry about our health. With all the wealth in this country that's being funneled up to the smallest segment of the population, isn't there something that can be done to make healthcare actually affordable and accessible? prospect. Maybe Bernie isn't right about everything, but he's got my ear. I don't see how Fump is a collectivist though. ? Probably because I don't understand the concept.




niconoclast said...

Appreciate your comments and yes Bernie is more of a social democrat but to me that is not an argument in his favour! as that position is only a halfway house to socialism. Either we have freedom and liberty or we do not.America is supposed to be a Republic not a democracy. Re healthcare I believe in a total free market which even your still glorious America is far from with all the statist interventions going back decades such as medicare and medicare and the inability to purchase insurance across state lines, the regulations,taxes etc and now the calamitous Obamacare attempting to socialise and appropriate healthcare in a socialist putch -come to jolly old England and our NHS to see how that one ends. (although I am no expert on the details re US system I must stress.)And collectivism means seeing people as a mass or blob rather than as individuals with inalienable rights to be left the hell alone by the State.If you want to explore this matter you could try Yaron Brook's blog talk radio where he discusses these issues and he is from the Ayn Rand institute which you may or not be familiar with and may not like so prior warning lol.Sorry to hear your situation but I would swap my UK citizenship for yours any day lol.Ps why Trump is a collectivist I will have to leave to another post as tie does not permit lol

Linda Method said...

I know all about NHS from my husband who is a dual citizen. Not a perfect system whatsoever, but at least no one has to choose between paying medical bills and buying food. In America, a 'democracy' and a 'republic' aren't exactly mutually exclusive, although the Constitution states the US is a Republic and I understand that.

I think Obamacare was more of an experiment than anything, a landmark accomplishment that's merely a step in the direction of making healthcare actually affordable and accessible. The glaring difference between American medicine and that of the UK is that over here, we seem to be terrified of regulating anything. Pharmaceutical companies and healthcare providers can literally charge anything they want. Owner/proprietor of the Epi-Pen recently decided to up the price by 400% making it un-affordable for most folks who need it. Why? Because there's no law against it. Did you know that in the US, pharmaceuticals are allowed to advertise day and night for prescription drugs on TV, the internet, and print media, with the admonition to "ask your doctor" about writing a script for the drug, whatever it is. There's literally no regulation of the market in this country for drugs and treatments. Many drugs hawked on TV are ones that have been banned in England as unsafe, such as Celebrex, Tamiflu, and certain weight loss drugs...you can't even turn on the TV without watching adverts for these. Right on the heels of such adverts you'll see a commercial for 1-800-BAD-DRUG which allows you to sue the shit out of the pharmaceutical company for releasing it onto the American public. This is insanity, there's no protection for the American people from these predatory drug companies and the greedy lawyers who probably have an under the table agreement to mitigate lawsuits against them. Why is this? Because America is afraid of the government taking control of anything, because god forbid we limit how much businesses based on health care are allowed to exploit suffering in order to profit from it. I think that's pretty much where Bernie is coming from.

If Fump can effectively fix Obamacare, or totally replace it with something much better (without a gap in the timing leaving millions with no healthcare), I'll salute the fink. I just don't think anything good can happen as long as the healthcare industry is allowed to charge anything they want with no limits. Healthcare in America 101.

niconoclast said...

Wow there are so many collectivist assumptions in all of that: that the State's role is to meddle in transactions between individuals and companies,fix prices,ban drugs,proscribe advertising (violate the first amendment so doing) totally trash individual rights,run a coach and horses through the Constitution -I am deeply shocked ha ha.Do not worry about there not being enough regulation in the US there is plenty of it and it is destroying it.Healthcare is not a right,it is a service like any other and in a free market prices would be reasonable but it is bedevilled by State interference taxation,regulation and is anything but a free market in healthcare.Anyway we shall have to agree to disagree on this.Either you believe in individual rights which means no state coercion and interference whatsoever in trade and the purchase of services or you do not.Have you ever read Ayn Rand by the way?

Linda Method said...

Price fixing and regulating will never happen in America. Sorry I brought it up. Probably I'm talking out my ass, not knowing the first thing about it. All I know is my own bottom line: I never go to the doctor because my husband needs more care than I do, and I can't afford for both of us to go. I just try really hard to stay fit and healthy, that's all I can do. My husband's favourite saying about healthcare in America: Death, the poor man's doctor.

Also let me correct you about something: buying healthcare across state lines is permitted. When I worked in Washington State, the healthcare plan I had was Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina. What was shocking was how few choices I was given during open enrollment when you're supposed to choose a plan, and the fact that the one I ended up with was from out of state. It was the most expensive crappy plan I've ever had the displeasure of being forced to purchase. Also I don't know why you think I don't believe in individual rights. Perhaps I'm just a klutz at explaining myself.

Ayn Rand is interesting. I agree with some of her bs, but not everything. I agree with her denigration of religion. She crystallizes the meaning of the American Constitution into an incredibly narrow viewpoint that seems to pit the individual against society rather than looking at the individual as a member of society. A dog-eat-dog society masked as 'civilization'. I agree with the role of government being that of a public servant rather than a ruler, fine. Who doesn't believe that. Perhaps I'm too sensitive about issues that are up close and personal to me, such as the fact I have a severely disabled young son for whom I am legal guardian and conservator. He's one of those 'useless eaters' who can only exist through the support of public assistance. Ms. Rand would probably call me an idiot for even caring about him. Maybe in her world, 'useless eaters' would be exterminated to save money. She'd have made a good Nazi.

Perhaps you're an all-or-nothing guy. A person is either a 'collectivist' or an individualist. There's no spectrum, only Randian extremes. Sorry, I am not much into extremes. It doesn't mean we can't bash Masters and have a laugh at Fump once in a while. We don't have to understand each other. I hope I didn't insult you.









niconoclast said...

Ok Linda and firstly I must reiterate that I hugely appreciate your work on Masters and it was what first gave me the encouragement to come out and expose this arrant fraud myself so mega kudos to you for bringing all that about. Regarding the rest we are clearly not and never going to see eye to eye but I have to say your mischaracterization of Rand which in fact is a smear is frankly not on but having read her over 3 decades I recognise it as a very familiar refrain from her critics who either do not understand her or who -as I suspect is most often the case choose not to and resort to smears and misrepresentations of her philosophy.That's their prerogative but its is mine not to engage with such unthinking or dishonest,immoral and evil - take your pick - interlocutors.Sorry but your Nazi Rand smear was a bridge way too far for me and unless you can retract it immediately and either admit it was such or that you just have not properly understood Rand I would prefer if you will desist in future from commenting on my blog, thankyou.

Linda Method said...

Can you block my evil profile and delete all my evil posts including this one? I tried to remove myself and wasn't able to do so. Thanks.