President Obama Orders Sanctions
 

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/29/us...ions.html?_r=0
"WASHINGTON — The Obama administration struck back at Russia on Thursday for its efforts to influence the 2016 election, ejecting 35 Russian intelligence operatives from the United States and imposing sanctions on Russia’s two leading intelligence services.
The administration also sanctioned four top officers of one of those services, the military intelligence unit known as the G.R.U., which the White House believes ordered the attacks on the Democratic National Committee and other political organizations.
The expulsion of the 35 diplomats was in response to the harassment of American diplomats in Russia, officials said. None of those officials are believed to be connected to the hacking, they said. In addition, the State Department announced the closing of two “recreational facilities” — one in New York, another in Maryland — that it said were used for Russian intelligence activities, although officials would not say whether they were specifically used in the election-related hacks.
In a sweeping set of announcements, the United States also released samples of malware and other indicators of Russian cyberactivity, including network addresses of computers commonly used by the Russians to launch attacks. Taken together, the actions amount to the strongest American response ever taken to a state-sponsored cyberattack aimed at the United States." NY Times

Good.

Waiting to hear what the Donald has to say about this. Kind of puts him between a rock and a hard place, eh?

If he yells he's Putin's buddy. If he yells bloody murder he's Putin's puppet.

I'm waiting to see what is happening a month from now. To little to late I feel by this President.


Barney

I have to wonder with a certain wry humor if perhaps Obama is purposely setting the drump up for a fun-filled first year...... little pits of diplomatic horror for drump to fall into...with his tiny little hands waving in the air.

I don't think so. If he had gone after Putin before the elections, it would have looked like direct interference and not very presidential. Besides like rest of the country, he probably thought that Hillary was a shoo-in.

This forces Trump's hand by having to rescind the decision after he occupies the WH. Will he do it, probably find out from Twitter soon.

Should be a no-brainer decision by Trump:
Come out and say he was wrong about Putin and that the interference should be investigated by a select committee, thus putting the investigation in a non-partisan light.
Thus he could avoid any sort of suggestion that he puts Putin first and the American intelligence community (i.e. US) second. Then get on with whatever he has planned as far as running the country.

He should be tweeting how he supports what Obama did today. PLUS he himself has access to intelligence reports NOW.

Obama is trying to do Trump a favor by steering him down the right path.

The fact that the people that voted for Trump are not upset about his dalliance with Putin and Trump's cavalier attitude toward his own intelligence services is the scariest thing ever.

This could of been handled in such a way no clear link to the US was evident. I think hacking the Russians and releasing the intel gained would be a first step. Financials, personal photos even recorded video audio.

I'm sure we have it, just the releasing it would tell a tale to the Russians and the the open door would be shut off. So this alone may be the reason why it will not happen.


Barney

Putin to Donald Trump: No tit for tat re expulsions.

Reinforcing Donald Trump: "It is time for our country to move on".

Wow, expelled some diplomats. Wonder how long Obama boiled that wet noodle before he whipped the Ruskies with it?

Donald Trump also said back in August,

That's what BFF's do, lie for each other. :D

Same meme in every mouth!

It was extremely well-staffed, I'm sure. Even got the Repub leaders in congress to initial it.

Nice gesture from a man who kills his political enemies.

Even Putin knows what Obama is doing with Trump.

I don't doubt that intelligence supported Obama's action, but I have to think that he loves the irony of having a factual basis (as opposed to Trump's manufactured Birther crap) to place into doubt the legitimacy of Trump's presidency.

Smart move by Vlad...he did not take the bait and enlarge an issue which is more media than substance.

Also a smart move, for the same reason, if there's a ton of substance to it.

Vlad knows his boyfriend will reverse everything in a few short weeks.

So, is vlad coming to the inauguration? I hear Kim Jung Un will sing.

MOSCOW (The Borowitz Report)—Capping an extraordinary year for the former television host, the Kremlin has named Donald J. Trump its Employee of the Month for December.

“No one has worked more tirelessly for the glory of the Fatherland than Donald Trump,” the Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an official statement. “He has set a high bar for all Kremlin employees, and for that, we salute him.”

To mark the honor, Trump’s name will be added to a plaque that hangs in the hallway outside the Kremlin’s H.R. office.

According to Kremlin sources, Trump faced tough competition in the Employee of the Month voting, besting both Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and ExxonMobil’s C.E.O., Rex Tillerson.

Speaking to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate, in Florida, Trump called the award “a tremendous honor, just tremendous.”

“Obama was President for eight years and he didn’t win this a single month,” he said. “Loser.”

I wonder why donald can't show his tax returns ie: income and bribes, he will probably reverse it all and his sheeple love him for it. Most Russians are white after all and Chinese aren't. Slava!
Obama is doing what he can and good for him, don't forget he did do what it took to get Bin Laden with surgical precision and all Bush did was kill a half a million people saving face. I think trump will do the same sort of thing. Saying trump is in over head head will be the understatement of 2017.


Carl

You are still missing the essence.

Our factories have not been sent to Russia.

The sheeple hardly encounter made in Russia.

The sheeple do not connect Russia with the Rust Belt.

Ah, blame the Chinese for our long term business failures in order to make the rich richer in the short term. We always seem to think we have the most nukes so the world will do as we want and won't do as what the Japanese started in the 1970's with government subsidies and market flooding.

That is as rich as thinking the people will buy "nation building" as an excuse for thinking Viet Nam can't happen in the middle east. Guess what? Russia has been next door to Afghanistan for centuries and could not do what Bush was sure he could. :rolleyes:

Too bad we don't spend our money on our own instead of multi national corporations that call the US home but make their money elsewhere just as Bayer and Nestle are quietly buying up American corporations.

Trickle down works as a short term stimulus but fails as a standard business model. We don't learn this so we repeat failed policies. Even Bill Clinton won't say he was a dumbass for signing NAFTA. :rolleyes:

Carl

So, how does any of this "place into doubt the legitimacy of Trump's presidency....at least, with anyone other than the whacko left?

Pondering the impact of Russia's deliberate fucking with our election is certainly more legitimate than Trump himself pounding his ridiculous birther drum for years on end.

You're not concerned that the country Saint Ronnie identified as the "Evil Empire" interjected itself into our election in favor of its preferred candidate? Your effort to delegitimize this conclusion assigning it to the "whacko left" is par for the course for you. One must remember that you now march with Trump and will mimic him with you methods.

Doesn't answer the question...though your petty attempts at insult is par for the course when you want to avoid the question. you don't The question was how any of this...as you suggested...places into doubt the legitimacy of Trump's presidency?

Doesn't answer the question.

'Trump was silent on new U.S. sanctions against Russia, but he praises Putin's response' LA Times

"Great move on delay (by V. Putin) - I always knew he was very smart!" Donald Trump's tweet of the day. :rolleyes:

http://www.latimes.com/nation/politi...htmlstory.html

It is not an insult to identify your methods of trying to diminish a damaging fact by attributing it to a fringe group. I do not believe that the FBI and DHS are fringe groups. The selective release of emails to embarass one campaign worked to Trumps advantage. It provided Sanders supporters an excuse to stay home. Considering the narrow margins in several states, the intervention by the Evil Empire certainly raises questions about a candidate that will gladly accept such intervention and praise the KGB agent who planned it.

I will now await a barrage of whataboutery.

Legitimacy is given or withheld in the minds of the people. Every individual gets to answer your question for themselves. You can call people 'wacko' all week, troll, but you'll never put Trump over for four years.

You have hitched your wagon to a Trump. Enjoy the ride!

Problem is, they never learn. Look at everyone who hitched their wagon to GWB, then promptly forgot they ever supported him, acting even like his two terms never existed after he took the country to a low not seen since the great depression, both financially and morally.

Sucking up to the poor Russian servant of his people. They think of him like the Trump fanboys here think of the orange one, and why Trump is a fanboy of Pootin, he is setting himself up for a money grab. No doubt about it.

Trump worships authoritarian leaders, and he worships the ultra-rich. So he utterly melts for Putin.

It seems I thoroughly dashed your flawed premise.

They are not fringe groups, but they are suspect re Russia.

What I find surprising is that Trump supports Putin over our own president. I would almost call that traitorous. It's become clear as a bell that Trump does not support America. And If he does not support American how can he possible support the American people. And further, how can a pack of billionaires in any way even remotely represent the lower 90% of america, they haven't a clue of how we live other than as servants.

Yes, Putin is smart, Donald. Way smarter than you and far more ruthless too. This is why the rest of us need to worry.

My worry is what happens when the Donald figures this out? He has the temperament of a two year old......

No one to telling him NO his whole life too!


Barney

Yeah, well I'll take the word of the spooks in Langley over der Trumpenfuror's gangsters and Vladdi's FSB spooks. Shit Dondi, you more than anyone here knows that the Rus are playing three dimensional chess while Trump is playing with himself. ;)

Here I have to agree with Trump overall geopolitical perception...we are focusing on the economically weak Russians while the wily Chinese are beating us everywhere--Australia, Asia, Africa, Europe, North and South America.

Russia is not our economic competitor; China is a serious one.

More effort to isolate Russia, will make it more dependent on China.

Our spooks were trained and crafted on an anti-Russian template; it is difficult for them to see a big picture.