Thanks to reader Joel Herman for bringing this article in “The Nation” to my attention.
It discusses the latest charges against Trump and his curious and deferential relationship with Putin. Trump has no hesitation slamming the American media, but he can say nothing critical about Putin.
Journalist D.D. Guttenplan says that Trump has to clear the air.
“Although he’s never made this claim—and indeed often forced us to think about it more than we want to—Trump’s sex life is his own affair. But his personal and family business ties to foreign autocrats—whether Russian, Chinese, or Emirati—should have been fully aired long before now. Today’s Twitterstorm doesn’t change that. Nor should it deny even Donald Trump the same presumption of innocence any American would be entitled to (though I wouldn’t want to argue the point with any of the Central Park Five).
“And if the most serious charge proves true? If Trump or one of his employees did knowingly conspire with the agents of a hostile power to influence the American election in exchange for promises regarding US foreign policy? Trump’s mentor Roy Cohn sent the Rosenbergs to the electric chair for a lot less.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
And while you’re at it, explain the money coming into the cliton foundation of foreign money while she was SOS and running for POTUS.
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Alpha wolf, to the best of my knowledge, Hillary Clinton is not president-elect. Why do Trumpsters always deflect any valid criticism of Trump by attacking Hillary? Can you keep this up for four years?
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Typical, Alpha. Hillary’s out. Trump is in. It’s over. So leave her alone and focus on defending your guy…
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At the rate the Dems are going try eight more years.
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You’re right about the Democrats. That’s why Robert Reich wrote this last week:
“There’s Not Very Much Time”: Robert Reich’s Plan to Fix the Democratic Party
http://inthesetimes.com/article/19769/robert-reichs-plan-to-fix-the-democratic-party-sanders-populism-wall-street
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Note the misogynistic word play. Clever! You seem to have the minimum qualifications for a White House communications job after Jan. 20.
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It is imperative for all of us to write and call Marco Rubio and thank him for his intensive questioning of Tillerson today.
If Marco votes with the Dems he can turn the tide of the Sect. of State appointment. I emailed him a note thanks and encouraged him to use his insight and his courage to vote against this close friend of Putin. So much of Exxon’s holdings are in Russia, but under the embargo they cannot drill, so Tillerson has a clear economic AGENDA.
I also left a phone message in his DC office.
Did the same with McCain and with Lindsey Graham. Please do this and don’t just cry.
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Rachel Maddow reported that ExxonMobil has a $500 Billion deal with Russia that was put on hold because of sanctions. What do you think Tillerson will do about the sanctions?
ExxonMobil has 15 million acres in US with drilling rights in Russia, it has 63 million acres, on hold.
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Rubio was great when he asked Tillerson if he believed Putin was a war criminal…and Tillerson hedged…and Rubio pinned him to the wall with talking about Aleppo and how Russian weapons murdered over 300K innocent civilians. Rubio has become a fave, at least for the moment. He could be the first one to step up and say NO.
John Lewis brought tears to my eyes when he rejected everything, every lie, that Sessions put forth. He told the real facts about Sessions and Alabama, and how he was almost beaten to death in the 60s when he marched for voting rights. Sessions voted against the Voting Rights Act just last year.
It is all so fascinating, keeps me transfixed, but wish it was just a Tom Clancy novel and not our lives at stake.
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alphawolf1 is a Russian troll.
I think their presence here, there, and everywhere tells us everything we need to know about Trump’s “special relationship” with Putin.
I am shocked that every person close to the Trump campaign has not been put under oath a la Watergate Hearings to learn exactly what their ties with the Russians are and when they were informed about the hacking that was benefiting their campaign.
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I have written comments questioning the narrative of Russia “hacking” the election, as well as the wisdom of Democrats basing their resistance to Trump on those claims.
Am I a troll?
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Michael,
Democrats have many reasons to resist Trump. They don’t need the dossier. You often defend the legitimacy of Teump’s election, which is your right. What’s even more alarming is that 42% of voters voted for a charlatan. Why not Elmer Gantry?
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Michael Fiorillo,
Do you answer any concern with Tillerson’s and Trump’s “special relationship” with Putin with the following:
“And while you’re at it, explain the money coming into the cliton foundation of foreign money while she was SOS and running for POTUS.”
If you, yourself, Mr. Fiorillo, believe your posts are similar in tone and intent as that quote above, then how can I argue with you about that?
If that’s how you see yourself, then that is what you are.
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Diane, I think your and others’ use of the loaded term “dossier,'” which tries to give an official imprimatur to a bunch of unverified opposition research (the spreading of which discredits the media, solidifies Trump’s support and inoculates him against future transgressions which can be proven and perhaps resisted) is indicative of the Kool-Aid being ingested by much of the population.
Sadder still is that so much of the Center Left is drinking it. This type of thing is certain to strengthen, not weaken Trump, and will have other terrible consequences in the future.
If that makes me a troll, so be it.
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Michael,
I used the term “dossier” because it is common parlance. I could say “report,” but what difference does it make what I call it when the mainstream media says “dossier.” There is nothing official about the term.
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“Trump has no hesitation slamming the American media…”
He hasn’t just been slamming them, he has also been BANNING them. Today, Trump refused to allow a CNN reporter to ask him a question at his news conference, claiming CNN puts out “fake news.” (That surprised me because I thought the fake news was about Hillary and coming out of his camp.)
Anyways, I looked into Trump’s history of banning the press and discovered the following CNN article from June 2016 indicating that Trump has banned a whole list of news organizations from being admitted to the press corps and attending his events, such as the Washington Post, the Daily Beast (Newsweek), Politico, Huffington Post and more (If updated today, CNN could add themselves to their list).
‘The Blacklist’: Here are the media outlets banned by Donald Trump:
http://money.cnn.com/2016/06/14/media/donald-trump-media-blacklist/
I find this so alarming, because if it is not an attempt to circumvent the Constitution and censure the press, I don’t know what is. I think the MSM should have stopped giving Trump so much free coverage last year, because that enabled him to manipulate the press to his advantage. In the future, to gain the upper hand, news organizations should direct their journalists to unite and walk out en mass whenever Trump tries to censure a reporter in public again.
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Yes, the news organizations and the reporters do need to find their backbones and walk out when Trump does this again (and he will).
They should have done it at the press conference. They need to all stop and think that next time, it could be them.
(Well, except for Breitbart- I doubt Trump would ever do this to them.)
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It is time for this senile travesty to be sent packing.We have seen enough.
His Press conference proved that he is insane!
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Young Turks and Circle of Fire both have excellent you tubes on Trump’s brain problems…and many are calling for him to be examined by a panel of psychiatrists. We should keep up the pressure on this by writing our legislators. All the reports show that massive protests are working.
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My only familiarity with “golden showers” comes from books I’ve read and documentaries I’ve seen which were about Hitler, who was supposedly into that in his relationship with his niece, Geli –who committed suicide.
I think one could see other similarities between AH and the Donald as well, such as the intense rage, vindictiveness and megalomania, which appear to be clinically significant, IMHO. I think Trump also has issues with impulse control and, most likely, an inability to delay gratification. The megalomania is narcissism, a personality disorder. Personality disorders are entrenched and don’t have a track record of being amenable to treatment. So, we are pretty much stuck with a POTUS who is a very sick puppy and, considering his age, over time, I think he is more likely to deteriorate than improve.
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I’m not surprised by any of this and expect more appalling information to emerge over the next four years.
However, don’t expect Trump supporters to care one way or another. They voted for him, warts and all
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And the Nation article ends by saying that Trump’s mentor, Roy Cohn, sent the Rosenbergs to the electric chair for doing a lot less (if the British report is true)…so the implication is that he better clear his name or else…but then, Lawrence O’Donnell reminded us tonight that tRump could “shoot people on 5th Ave, and still win”…as this deranged braggard said during his campaign. Conway lied her way through every news show tonight…yet again.
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The media is their own worst enemy . Why do we use that phrase (media) to describe the press . When one thinks of “the press” we think about investigative journalists researching a subject and presenting their findings. The media has the connotation of entertainment which is exactly what it has become . How do we fill up a 24 hr news cycle ?
You take pundits sit them across the table shouting at one another, In the noise any sense of investigative journalism is lost, everything becomes a he said she said matter of false equivalences.. Kelly Anne Conway is a created phenomenon. There is a live game show we call television journalism, a mic switch would have taken the wind out of her sails a long time ago. Further why was she given a platform when continually refusing to answer questions,changing the subject ,or inventing false realities? The answer to that is, it sells commercials and fills airtime. Conway did/ should need the press more than the press needs Conway.
Here is a novel thought go out do investigative journalism, then present clips of interviews that demonstrate why you have reached your conclusions. You can air opposing views to give perspective. But your conclusions should be based on a sum total of investigative journalism.
What television journalism has devolved into, when talking heads shout over one another, is game show journalism. However if they actually did journalism all three cable news networks would be running reruns of “Maximum Lock Up” much of the day.
Of course as we know from the education wars, too much of journalism is no longer independent of the owners or publishers (if it ever was). We have the specter of several right wing infomercials posing as Cable News and Corporate domination of several other news rooms. But the days of Murrow and Cronkite insisting on an independent news room seem like a distant memory. His statement on Vietnam went up against the narratives of the day, so much so, that LBJ was quoted as saying “we lost Cronkite we lost middle America” That was a brave decision not just by him but by the network that granted him the platform to make the statement. But it was made after a trip to Vietnam ,investigative journalism that revealed the American people were not being told the reality on the ground.
A different thought; one of the more popular reality shows was “To Catch a Predator”. In which child predators are caught propositioning young girls every one of them turns and says ” I knew it “, when the cameras come out. Every politician caught in a sting knew that stings were always possible. Some have even been seen questioning the plant before grabbing the cash.
So Donald would you be be so stupid as to do something knowing you would likely be filmed. We already know you were taped talking about assaulting women . So you ain’t the sharpest tool in the shed.
I don’t know if the tapes exist, but I would be happy to donate $27 to a fund to find out and buy them.
The tape I have seen is of Mike Flynn sitting next to Putin at a dinner in Moscow . That a very recent former top intelligence official should be sitting next to the Russian President, should send shivers down your spine, in light of the unprecedented assault on our democratic process to the benefit of the candidate he was working with.Especially with the things that have come out of Flynn’s mouth.
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Although Ellen, you have to give Conway credit. Without her I don’t think Trump would have won the election. She’s able to take the most inane comments/actions and somehow rationalize them making them seem reasonable.
While we aren’t fooled, many buy in to the rhetoric, considering the rest of sore losers.
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Conway is an amazing spinmeister. She was defending the House Republican effort to abolish the Ethics Office, until Trump tweeted and said the timing was bad. I think she called it an “update” of an “obsolete” office. Or something like that.
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I seriously hope no one is taking this “dossier” seriously. The media have had it for months and no one was willing to run with it. https://theintercept.com/2017/01/11/the-deep-state-goes-to-war-with-president-elect-using-unverified-claims-as-dems-cheer/?comments=1#comments
I feel like I’m living on Animal Farm. That part where Napoleon runs Snowball off the farm and then conveniently the pigs “find” secret documents that prove that he was an enemy all along. No one thinks to question these secret documents because “Napoleon is always right.”
When I was in civics class in high school we learned that one of the bedrock principles of American justice is the concept of innocent until proven guilty. Even someone as odious as Trump is entitled to that presumption until and unless the government can make its case. A bunch of assertions from intelligence agencies with a history of lying and worse does not make a case. A “dossier” from a questionable, alleged former MI6 agent who’s worked for both Trump’s Republican opponents and his Democratic opponents, full of anonymous sources also does not make a case. I realize civics is no longer taught (and if this actually were Animal Farm, we’d probably find that principle has been altered on the barn wall anyway), but I shake my head in wonder what’s happened to my country and to the party that used to be for the people.
From Greenwald’s article:
“There are solutions to Trump. They involve reasoned strategizing and patient focus on issues people actually care about. Whatever those solutions are, venerating the intelligence community, begging for its intervention, and equating their dark and dirty assertions as Truth are most certainly not among them. Doing that cannot possibly achieve any good, and is already doing much harm.”
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The dossier was not compiled by the intelligence agencies. It was created by a former British spy on behalf of Trymp’s Republican opponents. The rumors about Trump and Russian prostitutes predates the dossier. Of course, he is innocent. No one could believe Trump would sexually assault women.
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I hope no one is taking Greenwald seriously.
I find it very telling that it never occurs to Greenwald to demand a Watergate hearings type investigation to get “all the President-elect’s men” under oath answering questions about contacts with Russia, what they knew and when they knew it.
Greenwald would have said about Nixon: “we can’t prove anything and we don’t trust the FBI so let’s shut up and focus on how terrible McGovern was with his nasty liberal ideas. We need a law and order candidate and that’s all I care about and since we don’t have any evidence of Nixon’s crimes, we need to shut down all investigations right now and say “we don’t trust the FBI so how dare anyone demand
Watergate hearings”.
That’s what many Hillary-haters on here believe. They would have despised the Senate for taking the charges against Nixon seriously because they didn’t have 100% proof! They would have said “we need to spend the time attacking McGovern instead”.
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I thought this was interesting.
Donald Trump’s Legal Team Won a ‘Russia Law Firm of The Year’ Award
Mahita Gajanan
Updated: 2:21 PM CST
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, the law firm advising President-elect Donald Trump on handling his business conflicts, won the Russia Law Firm of the Year award in 2016.
The law firm announced the award in a press release last May, noting it was recognized in the Chambers & Partners’ 2016 Chambers Europe guide. According to Morgan Lewis’ website, the firm’s Moscow office staffs more than 40 lawyers who are well known in the Russian market and “have deep familiarity with the local legislation, practices and key players.”
Trump tweeted on Wednesday morning that he had no ties to Russia and repeated the sentiment during a press conference later in the day.
“I have no deals that could happen in Russia, because we’ve stayed away,” he said. “And I have no loans with Russia.”
Morgan Lewis attorney Sheri Dillon spoke about Trump’s conflicts of interest during the press conference, announcing that Trump plans to hand over leadership of his company to his two adult sons and a longtime executive.
A spokeswoman for the firm declined to comment.
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The first thing that goes wrong and the armor will turn into tissue (I hope)
“We do not know what the next four years have to offer, particularly when Trump begins to dismantle government programs on which people rely for subsistence, or when he ignites a trade war with China and downscale consumers, the archetypal Walmart customers, suddenly discover either that the shelves are empty or that their cost of living has increased by 45 percent.”
That was Mike Lofgren yesterday of course it is counter to the argument he is making ,but I see it as our only hope. Economic collapse . No one’s son dies overseas anymore we long ago assured that a very small economically dependent segment of Americans bear the burden of war .
His real conclusion is dark and frightening.
“So perhaps democracies die of old age and we cannot quite see which event will cause their final cardiac arrest. But more likely, their leaders make avoidable mistakes, and then persist in them because their ideological disposition causes them to resist the warning signs of danger ahead. If authoritarian populism is the wave of the future, its midwife is neoliberal economics turned punitive and illiberal.”
http://billmoyers.com/story/maybe-democracy-ends/
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Trump supposedly + Putin = what to do with education?
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Duane,
The future of our nation and our values and ideals is a matter of great concern to me. I write what I want. You don’t have to read it.
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And I have no problem with your thought. I concur. Just doing my part by asking impertinent questions.
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In Vietnamese way of saying that only “knowledge” (biet with accent aïgue) can guide people to safety. However, after communists’ invasion from Northern Vietnam, people jokingly said that only “run away” (biet with a dot) can guide people to safety.
Experience is very different from theory. The majority of western people are VERY NAIVE in dealing with DEVIOUS, MANIPULATIVE, UNETHICAL, unconscionable, fraudulent, and nefarious academe like law makers, party, ideology, politicians, journalists, and publishers…
In America, today political turmoil is happening because the negligence of DE-regulation has allowed CORRUPTED BILLIONAIRE TO ERODE Public Education System = bedrock of democracy.
Happiness and security come from keeping vigil at corruption and deregulation from law makers. The unity from all educators is very essential to American democracy and the world peace.
People who try to dance around with tigers, will be eaten alive sooner or later by tigers. Please do not play fool with fascism and communism whose leaders do not have respect for humanity and civility, except power and control through TERRORISM, TRICK, LYING, MANIPULATION, and DIVISIVE TECHNIQUES. Back2basic
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Thank you for your wisdom, May.
That’s one of many things I love about you. Integrity, courage, honor, honesty.
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Dearest Dr. Ravitch:
Thank you for your love.
I am heartache to acknowledge that naive American politicians and commoners are fooled by Russian, Chinese business and political leaders.
Here is a story that my parents try to educate their children.
From nowhere, there is or are certain “famous” person or group of people, we should observe their attitude, character, living lifestyle, background, and their circle of CLOSE friends.
In my small town, there was a man WITHOUT a strong character, suddenly operated a manufacture to produce baby foods nationwide. After communists invaded southern Vietnam, that owner turned out the communist “financial supporter” MOLE!
In the same vein, I am sure that all trolls in this website have shown their true color through their expression. I only pray to God that with your wisdom and patience, you can guide those trolls’ souls to be awakened one day sooner, BUT NOT LATER.
Lots of respect and love for your wisdom and patience, May.
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