Brennan: "nothing short of treasonous"

[metis]

One does have to keep in mind that the opinion is coming from John Brennan. Does anyone actually still take him seriously?

Five presidents did.

 

[YmirGF]

Five presidents did.

That was then; this is now that he is a mere political hack.

I suspect that even if Trump walked on water and somehow brought about world peace, Brennan would find something negative to say. It's what he do.

 

[Milton Platt]

John Brennan, the CIA director under President Obama, didn’t mince words in describing Monday’s press conference with President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin: Trump’s performance was “nothing short of treasonous.”:
"Donald Trump’s press conference performance in Helsinki rises to & exceeds the threshold of “high crimes & misdemeanors.” It was nothing short of treasonous. Not only were Trump’s comments imbecilic, he is wholly in the pocket of Putin. Republican Patriots: Where are you???"

During the press conference, Trump said he trusted Putin over the American intelligence community and his own appointees, he attacked the investigation from special counsel Robert Mueller that recently led to the indictments of 12 Russian intelligence officers for crimes related to the 2016 election, and he said he hoped to strengthen relations with Russia — which, according to Trump, had never been worse.


David Gergen, adviser to four presidents, three of them Republican. said that he has never seen anything like what Trump has done with any previous president, trashing our own agencies while fully believing in Putin's words and "innocence". He went on to say that this press conference today will likely go down in history as probably being the most harmful presentation by an American president in our long history.

So, what do you think the Republicans in Congress will do next with this? I watched it, and Trump looked like a sock-puppet of Putin.

He will in all likelihood ride out his term as president. Not that I like that, but there is is........

 

[Stevicus]

What???

Mueller has issued over 100 charges on around 25 people thus far, five have already taken plea deals to turn state's witness, and then you say there's nothing? You've got to be kidding. Please tell me you're kidding, OK?

You were asking about the reactions of Republicans and European leaders. Most of this seems like nothing more than a show to me; it's all just acting, as politicians and lawyers are wont to do. When I've asked for specifics in logical, rational terms, all I get is more emotionalism.

I'm not saying it's nothing, but computer hacking is so ubiquitous, it's hard to know how one is "supposed" to react to it. I remember a while back when Target got hacked and millions of customers' credit card data was breached. This kind of thing seems to happen so much that we've gotten to the point where we just accept these things as the cost of doing business by computer.

We've had numerous cases of spies and hacking from China, and our reactions to that have been more measured, not ballistic.

 

[Stevicus]

If only Russia had the same concern after meddling in our election process as well as several other countries, plus invading Georgia, the Crimea, and the eastern Ukraine. It seems the Trump caters to Putin's demands but the contrary certainly isn't true. Even a strong supporter of Trump like Gingrich blasted Trump yesterday.

I'm not talking about Gingrich or any of the rhetoric common in U.S. politics. I'm talking about the US geopolitical position and what we regard as our interests and threats to those interests. The world is nowhere near the same as it was just after WW2 when the Cold War started. Russia is no longer the same either, and neither is America for that matter. This isn't the 1950s, and Putin is not Stalin. Considering our present position and our national security aspirations right now, we'd be far better off with Russia on our side than not.

As far as Russian meddling or meddling by any other foreign entity - what can we do? We have an internet which is open to all around the world. We even have people who are not US citizens commenting in forums like this on American politics, which could conceivably influence US voters and could be deemed "meddling" in our election process.

We haven't been innocent either, in terms of meddling in elections and other internal affairs of sovereign nations. So, when Trump mentioned that both sides share fault, that was a true statement. I think people expected him to stomp his foot and tell Putin that he was bad man or something, but perhaps it's time to get past this petty squabbling and work towards something more meaningful - like peaceful coexistence in this world.

 

[Stevicus]

I don't know that I would go as far as treason, but it is certainly pretty disgusting to watch the president tell the world that he believes Putin while trying to discredit our intelligence agencies.

I suppose that's one point of view, although not everyone views our intelligence agencies as being "sacred cows" who are beyond reproach. In the eyes of some, our intelligence agencies discredited themselves decades ago.

 

[metis]

That was then; this is now that he is a mere political hack.

Really?

Maybe he's saying this because of Trump's atrocious statements, which even many Republicans have referred to as being off the wall and utterly despicable.

I suspect that even if Trump walked on water and somehow brought about world peace, Brennan would find something negative to say. It's what he do.

Nah, I think it's more a matter of your use of "projection".

 

[metis]

He will in all likelihood ride out his term as president. Not that I like that, but there is is........

For what it's worth, I agree.

 

[metis]

I'm not saying it's nothing, but computer hacking is so ubiquitous, it's hard to know how one is "supposed" to react to it.

As far as Russian meddling or meddling by any other foreign entity - what can we do?

You're conflating the issue as my emphasis is not on what the Russians did, which is to be expected, but Trump's lack of an adequate response to what they did plus his bromance with Putin, defending and even elevating him at the expense of our long-term allies. And then he goes on tv yesterday and reads a script claiming that he used the wrong word, which makes not one iota of sense because that wouldn't fit the context, and then he doubles-down later with his tweets.

IOW, he's lying through his teeth-- but what's new.

Oh, and the WSJ this morning says the Kelly told Republicans to condemn what Trump said in order to try and pressure him to accept a rewriting of what he originally said, = the clown-car in action.

 

[YmirGF]

You're conflating the issue as my emphasis is not on what the Russians did, which is to be expected, but Trump's lack of an adequate response to what they did plus his bromance with Putin, defending and even elevating him at the expense of our long-term allies. And then he goes on tv yesterday and reads a script claiming that he used the wrong word, which makes not one iota of sense because that wouldn't fit the context, and then he doubles-down later with his tweets.

IOW, he's lying through his teeth-- but what's new.

Oh, and the WSJ this morning says the Kelly told Republicans to condemn what Trump said in order to try and pressure him to accept a rewriting of what he originally said, = the clown-car in action.

Indeed. It's going to be a very long next six years....

 

[metis]

Indeed. It's going to be a very long next six years....

I like the sound of "two" much better, and even that's a compromise on my part. If he were to be reelected in 2020, I would be very tempted to renounce my American citizenship because I would believe that this country would have stepped into an irreparable low. With all he's said and done that has harmed so many people with the consent of millions here, it is embarrassing at this point to be considered an "American".

BTW, my wife and I almost moved to Canada in the early 1970's, including even doing some house-hunting there, so wouldn't it have been wonderful for you to have me as a neighbor!

 

[tytlyf]

Indeed. It's going to be a very long next six years....

What makes you think Trump has more voters today? Outside of RW media's reasoning of course.

Trump will lose voters based on the fact that Russia will be watched closely this election.

 

[YmirGF]

What makes you think Trump has more voters today? Outside of RW media's reasoning of course.

Trump will lose voters based on the fact that Russia will be watched closely this election.

I keep forgetting that the Dems be woke now. Thanks for the head's up.

 

[metis]

We pretty much know that Putin's attempt here was to do much the same as he's done in Europe, namely to undermine democracies that he considers enemies. With Trump, he found a sucker, and this in part may be due to him having something on Trump [think "golden showers").

With that being said, it's possible that Putin could be planning to undermine Trump at some point by dropping some sort of bombshell on him that could throw the country into even more of a tizzy. If Trump caves into pressure by us to issue new sanctions against Russia, Putin may have a "nice" surprise for the Donald made public.

 

[Kangaroo Feathers]

What makes you think Trump has more voters today? Outside of RW media's reasoning of course.

Trump will lose voters based on the fact that Russia will be watched closely this election.

I know the Dems ASSUME Trump will lose the next election, but so far I haven't actually seen them do anything to make it happen. If you think he's bad enough that everyone will come vote against him next time in protest, well, good luck. If I were a Democrat, though, I might be trying something more than crossing my fingers and praying to St. Mueller to make the bad man go away.

 

[metis]

If I were a Democrat,...

You should be because you have a brain and use it with plenty of morals to boot.

BTW, did you hear Comey's statement yesterday whereas he encouraged his fellow Republicans to vote Democratic this year to replace the ball-less wonders in Congress now who won't stand up to Trump.

 

[tytlyf]

That was then; this is now that he is a mere political hack.

I suspect that even if Trump walked on water and somehow brought about world peace, Brennan would find something negative to say. It's what he do.

Riight...Cause Trump says so...bizarro

Brennan wasn't the only person to rip Trump's embarrassing summit. Take a pick

-Former Defense Secretary (R) Chuck Hagel said Trump "failed America today,"
-Another former defense secretary,(D) Ash Carter, said the news conference was "like watching the destruction of a cathedral."
-Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, who served during the Obama administration, called the news conference "truly unbelievable."
-Former CIA and National Security Agency Director (I) Michael Hayden, who led the NSA during the final years of George W. Bush's presidency, also expressed dismay over the President's performance.
-Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said Trump had "one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory."
-Former GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a Trump confidant, called the president's comments "the most serious mistake of his presidency."
-etc

Tea Party supporters don't care. Dangerous.

 

[YmirGF]

Dangerous.

Deplorable and dangerous... jus' sayin'

 

[tytlyf]

Deplorable and dangerous... jus' sayin'

Hillary wasn't referring to all republicans.

 

[Stevicus]

You're conflating the issue as my emphasis is not on what the Russians did, which is to be expected, but Trump's lack of an adequate response to what they did plus his bromance with Putin, defending and even elevating him at the expense of our long-term allies.

Why should we have to choose between Russia and our supposed "long-term allies"? Why should we play favorites at all? How does it benefit America?

I've already argued many times how an alliance between America and Russia could be beneficial, based on our current national security aspirations and the current state of affairs in the world. Attempting to maintain the old status quo of the Cold War era seems anachronistic at this point.

Besides, what have our "long-term allies" ever done for us? Our relationship with them has been lopsidedly one-way for a very long time. They've been getting a free ride on the gravy train at the American taxpayers' expense, yet all they can ever do is complain and criticize. Trying to maintain and defend the present global system (which was mostly set up by our "allies") has been prohibitively expensive and the main source of all our troubles ever since the end of World War II.

And then he goes on tv yesterday and reads a script claiming that he used the wrong word, which makes not one iota of sense because that wouldn't fit the context, and then he doubles-down later with his tweets.

IOW, he's lying through his teeth-- but what's new.

Oh, and the WSJ this morning says the Kelly told Republicans to condemn what Trump said in order to try and pressure him to accept a rewriting of what he originally said, = the clown-car in action.

Well, either he's lying or just terribly confused - hard to say which. As for the condemnations of what he said, that's just typical political rhetoric - not to be taken seriously.