Mattis: Russia tried to interfere in 2018 midterms

[American]

Mattis is just another seasoned propagandist for TPTB, like Brennan, Clapper and many others.

Hyperbole much?

 

[Athanasius68]

Anyone who believes Putin wanted Hillary to win forfeits his seat at the table. He can still sit at the children's table though. Cause you've missed the posture of each political party toward Putin and Russia. Democrats oppose Putin the KGB man while Republicans spent the Obama years praising Putin. It's only in the past few years Republicans have gone silent in their worship of Putin the strongman leader. American Conservatives were calm indeed during October 2016 and going into voting day. Confident, one could say. It's as if American Conservatives had reason to believe Trump was well positioned going into the voting at that point. The armed forces oath is to the Constitution not to any one official or to any person in the government and as Mattis notes the military "protects what we stand for." That would be against all enemies foreign and domestic.

We certainly do know Russia benefited from the foreign policy of the Obama Admin: it was able to expand into Europe and the mid-east. Whether that translated into a desire for Clinton to win in '16 is unknown.

 

[Athanasius68]

You quoted me: "Democrats oppose Putin the KGB man while Republicans spent the Obama years praising Putin."

Putin returned to the presidency of Russia in 2012 with a new agenda of Russian nationalism. The knowledge was everywhere that Putin had a Russia First program and that Putin was going to restore Russia's imagined glory. The KGB officer of the busted USSR was going to read the Russia First Riot Act to the former satellite states who'd joined EU and Nato and to the US. Putin out of office four years had had his bosom buddy Pres. Dmitry Medvedev expand the four year term by two years so Putin himself could be methodical and paced. The relatively good days of Medvedev since 2008 were over and for good. During Medvedev's four years Democrats in the US had hoped to capitalize on his year by year relative normalcy to help make Russia the international basket case a normal country. However, when Putin returned to the presidency reset meant one thing to the US but it was an entirely different beast to Putin.








Romney in 2012 was out of the general flow of US-Russia relations of the prior four years, so it took many people as unusual, not only Democrats. Medvedev's Russia was no angel during his four years as president but compared to Russia after Putin's return Medvedev's Russia was milquetoast. Indeed from the turn of the century the US had the national defense posture of "strategic ambiguity" meaning it did not have an enemies list of major foreign states and powers. Once Putin returned with a vengeance however that changed. In 2015 the US ended its period of strategic ambiguity in national defense and global security to put Russia behind Door Number 1, CCP Beijing behind Door Number 2, Iran behind Door Number 3; NK centerstage under a spotlight.

From 2012 the Republican Party praised Putin as a strong leader, a decisive statesman, a master strategist and chess master, a genius on the global stage, loved by his people etc etc etc. Right Wing and Libertarian Right posters here said these very things and repeatedly. We over here talked instead of Polonium Putin and that Putin never played chess against anyone he couldn't put in jail. Or have shot outside the Kremlin. Or murdered in prison. And so on up to the present moment and Putin's most prized gift of all -- Donald Trump in the White House.

Hello-- Putin was prime minister when Medvedev was president. They simply reversed jobs. Putin was the puppet master though.

 

[Tangmo]

*From 2012 the Republican Party praised Putin as a strong leader, a decisive statesman, a master strategist and chess master, a genius on the global stage, loved by his people etc etc etc.*

Substantiation ?? I'll wait

You'll need to start paying attention thx. Pay attention rather than sit around waving your hand to demand that which occurred and is well known. Again, we're talking since Putin resumed the presidency of Russia in 2012. The Right can deny being Putin Trump Fanboys as many times as you like and forever but it doesn't change the facts. Either that or the Right was absent from international politics, government, global security since 2012, which is impossible to believe. So my reply is that you hire or otherwise obtain a personal researcher if you want it all served on a platter. Cause I'm not at your disposal, beck and call over there. See below...

We certainly do know Russia benefited from the foreign policy of the Obama Admin: it was able to expand into Europe and the mid-east. Whether that translated into a desire for Clinton to win in '16 is unknown.

You too seem to have been several years absent from international affairs since 2012. Or you're yet another Putin Trump Fanboy pumping blue smoke into a chamber of mirrors. Because the record of American Conservatives/Republicans the past several years is that they want the USA to be more like Putin's Russia than the other way around. The reason is more than obvious, i.e., American Conservatives have become what we once fought against. See above.

Hello-- Putin was prime minister when Medvedev was president. They simply reversed jobs. Putin was the puppet master though.

Tell me something I don't already know thx. Your post is what's called begging the question. Everyone on the planet knows Putin had Medvedev appoint him prime minister. My post included the fact Medvedev was Putin's "bosom buddy." Still is as he's prime minister again as he was during Putin's first time in the presidency. It's clear you guys can cite only the obvious in your posts. That's when you've not denying the obvious at the same time. You guys are at a loss over there. Reduced to driveling tripe in a vacuum of denial.

 

[Fledermaus]

You'll need to start paying attention thx. Pay attention rather than sit around waving your hand to demand that which occurred and is well known. Again, we're talking since Putin resumed the presidency of Russia in 2012. The Right can deny being Putin Trump Fanboys as many times as you like and forever but it doesn't change the facts. Either that or the Right was absent from international politics, government, global security since 2012, which is impossible to believe. So my reply is that you hire or otherwise obtain a personal researcher if you want it all served on a platter. Cause I'm not at your disposal, beck and call over there. See below...







You too seem to have been several years absent from international affairs since 2012. Or you're yet another Putin Trump Fanboy pumping blue smoke into a chamber of mirrors. Because the record of American Conservatives/Republicans the past several years is that they want the USA to be more like Putin's Russia than the other way around. The reason is more than obvious, i.e., American Conservatives have become what we once fought against. See above.







Tell me something I don't already know thx. Your post is what's called begging the question. Everyone on the planet knows Putin had Medvedev appoint him prime minister. My post included the fact Medvedev was Putin's "bosom buddy." Still is as he's prime minister again as he was during Putin's first time in the presidency. It's clear you guys can cite only the obvious in your posts. That's when you've not denying the obvious at the same time. You guys are at a loss over there. Reduced to driveling tripe in a vacuum of denial.

A long rambling post providing nothing substantive when simple substantiation was asked for.

Pure Tangmo...

 

[Tangmo]

This is only a quick survey opener about the Putin-Trump-Fanboys Triumvirate and their posts since Putin returned to power ca. 2012. There's a lot where this comes from. American Conservatives/Republicans have for a long time wanted the USA to be more like Putin's Russia than the other way around. Now that it's happening they've gone to ground on their praise of Putin.


Mar 10th, 2014

In fact, over the past twenty years, although Republicans cite Reagan as their idealized leader, they have never found a candidate in his image because even their man-god Reagan was not a prototypical conservative.

Now Republicans are on the verge of finally, at long last, finding an archetype of everything disparate 21st Century conservatives stand for who is part George W. Bush, part evangelical freak Mike Huckabee, and part neo-con Dick Cheney rejecting the rule of law. There is some division among Republicans but one thing is clear; conservatives think he [Putin] is a “real leader” and lust for a Republican president like Putin.

In Russia presidents assassinate you.

Republicans, conservative pundits, and evangelical fanatics have lined up behind their prototypical conservative Putin. Fox News strategic analyst Ralph Peters was effusive in praising Russia [which] he asserted “has a real leader.” Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani could barely contain his enthusiasm for Putin and said “Putin decides what he wants to do and does it in half a day. He makes a decision and executes it quickly and everybody reacts. That’s what you call a real leader.”

Another conservative pundit praised Putin because “he likes to hang out with his shirt off and tells the West if you mess with me I’ll kill you all.” In Putin, you’ve got a big strong guy, muscular and shirtless on a horse who wrestles tigers.

However, as much as Republicans are enamored with Putin’s rapid decision to invade Ukraine without a reason other than he wanted to, it is the religious right that would install Putin as America’s theocratic dictator tomorrow if they could convince Americans to amend the Constitution to allow a Christian foreigner to rule America. The religious right regards Putin as their archetypical leader because he made it Russian policy to do what Christian fanatics yearn for in America; crackdown on gays and make Christianity the state religion. In fact, Christians anointed Putin the “defender of the Christian civilization” or as Christian zealot Bryan Fischer asserted, Putin is “the lion of Christianity, the defender of Christian values, the president that’s calling his nation back to embracing its identity as a nation founded on Christian values. To ever think we would get to the day that Russia would be more advanced spiritually than the United States. I mean, it’s just staggering to see what is happening to this country.”

https://www.politicususa.com/2014/03/10/republicans-dream-leader-vladimir-putin.html


I'll take Mattis any day. If ancient Rome had had Mattis instead of Caesar we'd all be speaking Latin still. Which with our Constitution as amended to date is good thx.

 

[holbritter]

Uhh..he's the Secretary of Defense so I would guess he knows more than all of us about this. Or are you in denial that the Russians meddled in our recent elections? (Denial is not a river in Egypt).

You do know 'attempted' and 'tried' do not mean they succeeded, right?

 

[hanger4]

You'll need to start paying attention thx. Pay attention rather than sit around waving your hand to demand that which occurred and is well known. Again, we're talking since Putin resumed the presidency of Russia in 2012. The Right can deny being Putin Trump Fanboys as many times as you like and forever but it doesn't change the facts. Either that or the Right was absent from international politics, government, global security since 2012, which is impossible to believe. So my reply is that you hire or otherwise obtain a personal researcher if you want it all served on a platter. Cause I'm not at your disposal, beck and call over there. See below...

Would have been a lot easier and taken less time to just say, no, I can't substantiate my statement, instead of that word salad that says nothing.

 

[JoanDavis]

https://thehill.com/policy/international/419282-mattis-russia-interfered-in-2018-midterms

Defense Secretary James Mattis said Saturday that Russian operatives attempted to interfere in the 2018 midterm elections, apparently confirming for the first time that Moscow attempted to meddle in last month's elections.

Mattis spoke of the relationship between the Trump administration and Russian President Vladimir Putin during an interview Saturday at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California.
=========================================
Well, so much for the chummy relationship between Trump & Putin. Putin's release of Cohen emails regarding Trump Tower Moscow is another sign that Vlad sees Trump as a liability.

Putin and the crown prince showed trump he is a ***** to them when they high fived each other at the G20. That high five was clearly done to make fun of the ***** grabber. A STRONG president would have called out these 2 alleged murderers. Reagan, Bush, Clinton, dubya and President Obama would have put these 2 a-holes in their place. trump just gets on his hands and knees and kisses their feet.

 

[JoanDavis]

Hello-- Putin was prime minister when Medvedev was president. They simply reversed jobs. Putin was the puppet master though.

Of course Putin was running the show and Medvedev was his puppet. Just like America now. Putin is running the country and trump is his puppet.

 

[wellwisher]

Russia targeted Trump. It makes sense if the theory is that they targeted the 2016 election.

On the other hand, the Clinton Foundation received a $25 Million donation from Russians and Putin prior to the 2106 election. If you recalled Hillary and Obama had previously sold the Russian uranium and Putin was happy with them. Even if the evil Putin was being a pure humanitarian by given the money, politics is all about optics. Putin could now make it look bad for Hillary, thereby leveraging her cooperation. The only thing the Clintons and Obama could do was to the change the focus of optical attention, with the help of fake news. A bird in the hand; large check in hand, has better leverage than two in the bush; long term hotel deal that may or may not even happen. My money is on Clinton collusion.

The interference on the midterm just so happened to be worse in places where the vote was counted late because of Democrats-Russian games.

 

[Tangmo]

Would have been a lot easier and taken less time to just say, no, I can't substantiate my statement, instead of that word salad that says nothing.

The Right is incapable of knowing whether it has won or lost in a discussion or whether they've fallen again into their usual muddle. So the Right keeps on posting interminably. They don't know when to quit so they go on forever. It's the price of insecurity that the Right pays blindly.


Republicans overwhelmingly approved of President Donald Trump’s handling of his press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin according to a new poll.

Trump’s approval among Republicans has remained strong since he entered office and the Axios and Survey Monkey poll indicated there was very little the president could do wrong in the eyes of Republicans, even while Trump wavers on Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.

Seventy-nine percent of Republicans approved of Trump's performance alongside Putin, while 91 percent of Democrats and 62 percent of independents disapproved. Overall, Trump received 58 percent disapproval and 40 percent approval, though both figures were clearly skewed by the deep partisan divide that often accompanies Trump.

Those results backed up a Reuters/Ipsos poll released Tuesday, which showed 55 percent overall disapproved of Trump’s work on Russian relations. But, the poll also reflected approval from 71 percent of Republicans.

The results echoed Trump’s recent approval ratings among the GOP. Earlier this month, Trump registered a 90 percent approval rating from Republicans, while only 8 percent of Democrats and 38 percent of independents offered approval, according to Gallup. Throughout his 18 months in office, Trump has never received less than 78 percent approval from Republicans in Gallup’s poll.

The recent findings suggest a strong shift within a Republican Party that was staunchly anti-Russia for decades. Starting with notorious Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy and his firebrand style known as “McCarthyism,” the GOP has long been firmly anti-Communism and viewed Russia as the nation’s greatest enemy.

https://www.newsweek.com/republicans-apprve-trump-putin-mccarthyism-1032595


Since Putin returned to the Russian presidency the American Right has embraced the conservative Putin. American Conservatives/Republicans want the USA to be more like Putin's Russia than the other way around. Putin is a Conservative's Conservative. It goes beyond trying to get along with Russia under the pretense of world peace. It is instead a simple matter of the American Right getting under Putin period. And loving it. American Conservatives/Republicans believe Putin would favor them but they don't know Putin at all. That is, Putin is Russian first and foremost.

 

[Brockenhurst]

Always surprised by USA "In God we Trust". Supposed to be a land founded on freedom of religion, and yet it is one of the only countries in the free world where acceptance of the exisitence of God seems to be assumed. And, of course, God hasn't actually got a very good reputation in the trust department.

 

[hanger4]

The Right is incapable of knowing whether it has won or lost in a discussion or whether they've fallen again into their usual muddle. So the Right keeps on posting interminably. They don't know when to quit so they go on forever. It's the price of insecurity that the Right pays blindly.


Republicans overwhelmingly approved of President Donald Trump’s handling of his press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin according to a new poll.

Trump’s approval among Republicans has remained strong since he entered office and the Axios and Survey Monkey poll indicated there was very little the president could do wrong in the eyes of Republicans, even while Trump wavers on Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.

Seventy-nine percent of Republicans approved of Trump's performance alongside Putin, while 91 percent of Democrats and 62 percent of independents disapproved. Overall, Trump received 58 percent disapproval and 40 percent approval, though both figures were clearly skewed by the deep partisan divide that often accompanies Trump.

Those results backed up a Reuters/Ipsos poll released Tuesday, which showed 55 percent overall disapproved of Trump’s work on Russian relations. But, the poll also reflected approval from 71 percent of Republicans.

The results echoed Trump’s recent approval ratings among the GOP. Earlier this month, Trump registered a 90 percent approval rating from Republicans, while only 8 percent of Democrats and 38 percent of independents offered approval, according to Gallup. Throughout his 18 months in office, Trump has never received less than 78 percent approval from Republicans in Gallup’s poll.

The recent findings suggest a strong shift within a Republican Party that was staunchly anti-Russia for decades. Starting with notorious Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy and his firebrand style known as “McCarthyism,” the GOP has long been firmly anti-Communism and viewed Russia as the nation’s greatest enemy.

https://www.newsweek.com/republicans-apprve-trump-putin-mccarthyism-1032595


Since Putin returned to the Russian presidency the American Right has embraced the conservative Putin. American Conservatives/Republicans want the USA to be more like Putin's Russia than the other way around. Putin is a Conservative's Conservative. It goes beyond trying to get along with Russia under the pretense of world peace. It is instead a simple matter of the American Right getting under Putin period. And loving it. American Conservatives/Republicans believe Putin would favor them but they don't know Putin at all. That is, Putin is Russian first and foremost.

I'm not playing a win or lose game, I simply askes you to substantiate your statement. You have ignored substantiating your statement (because you can't) and instead run off meaningless word salads.

 

[Tangmo]

I'm not playing a win or lose game, I simply askes you to substantiate your statement. You have ignored substantiating your statement (because you can't) and instead run off meaningless word salads.

The post is your 7th post to me in the last two pages thx. And this page has just begun as I write this. It's fun when you just won't take substance for an answer even when you demand it. Most amusing is that you're not competent in respect of content or substance. This is significant of course. I've done this before btw with American Conservatives who post interminably and in a continual denial or dismissal.

We know that Putin is the Conservative's Conservative. For the American Conservatives Putin is the ideal leader. Which is what makes 'em the Putin-Trump-Fanboys Triumvirate. While virtually everyone knows Trump is the latter day Caligula, Putin is the real thing in power and authority. We know also that Tsar/Czar is the language variation of Caesar. Which is why American Conservatives love and adore the Conservative's Conservative, the serious man Putin. And we know what happened back then. But let's look more recently in more civilized times. We've already posted about the Romney-Russia thingy in 2012 but a reminder in context wouldn't hurt...


September 9, 2016

After Donald Trump proclaimed this week that Russian President Vladi*mir Putin was a “stronger leader” than President Obama, many Republicans quickly condemned or distanced themselves from the remarks.

Not for the first time, Trump has pulled an idea from the political fringes into the mainstream. His praise of Putin in particular — and a “strongman” style in general — has alienated some of the party’s most experienced *foreign-policy hands while stoking no visible backlash from its voters.

The atmosphere is a far cry from four years ago, when Republicans rallied around GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney after he declared Russia to be the United States’ “number one geopolitical foe” and called Putin a thug.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...ory.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.1a3f53966838


Thug.

 

[Thoreau72]

Hyperbole much?

No, but truth as often as I can.

 

[hanger4]

The post is your 7th post to me in the last two pages thx. And this page has just begun as I write this. It's fun when you just won't take substance for an answer even when you demand it. Most amusing is that you're not competent in respect of content or substance. This is significant of course. I've done this before btw with American Conservatives who post interminably and in a continual denial or dismissal.

We know that Putin is the Conservative's Conservative. For the American Conservatives Putin is the ideal leader. Which is what makes 'em the Putin-Trump-Fanboys Triumvirate. While virtually everyone knows Trump is the latter day Caligula, Putin is the real thing in power and authority. We know also that Tsar/Czar is the language variation of Caesar. Which is why American Conservatives love and adore the Conservative's Conservative, the serious man Putin. And we know what happened back then. But let's look more recently in more civilized times. We've already posted about the Romney-Russia thingy in 2012 but a reminder in context wouldn't hurt...


September 9, 2016

After Donald Trump proclaimed this week that Russian President Vladi*mir Putin was a “stronger leader” than President Obama, many Republicans quickly condemned or distanced themselves from the remarks.

Not for the first time, Trump has pulled an idea from the political fringes into the mainstream. His praise of Putin in particular — and a “strongman” style in general — has alienated some of the party’s most experienced *foreign-policy hands while stoking no visible backlash from its voters.

The atmosphere is a far cry from four years ago, when Republicans rallied around GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney after he declared Russia to be the United States’ “number one geopolitical foe” and called Putin a thug.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...ory.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.1a3f53966838


Thug.

Now you've contradicted yourself;

*From 2012 the Republican Party praised Putin as a strong leader, a decisive statesman, a master strategist and chess master, a genius on the global stage, loved by his people etc etc etc.*

Now it's;




*The atmosphere is a far cry from four years ago, when Republicans rallied around GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney after he declared Russia to be the United States’ “number one geopolitical foe” and called Putin a thug.*

You need to make up you mind Tangmo, which is it ??

As usual word salad purveyors contradict themselves in time.

 

[Buzz62]

Net 40 Democrats won in the House to get majority control of it which is when Putin shat a brick. It's the only Bric they got over there btw cause the Brics have fallen and crashed. Shattered. Nobody in it was a model of democracy anyway. Quite the opposite.

Putin-Trump-Fanboys.

I just love reading posts by people who no nothing so they go for the sound-bytes and supposition.

 

[Buzz62]

Putin and the crown prince showed trump he is a ***** to them when they high fived each other at the G20. That high five was clearly done to make fun of the ***** grabber. A STRONG president would have called out these 2 alleged murderers. Reagan, Bush, Clinton, dubya and President Obama would have put these 2 a-holes in their place. trump just gets on his hands and knees and kisses their feet.

Really...

 

[Tangmo]

Now you've contradicted yourself;

*From 2012 the Republican Party praised Putin as a strong leader, a decisive statesman, a master strategist and chess master, a genius on the global stage, loved by his people etc etc etc.*

Now it's;




*The atmosphere is a far cry from four years ago, when Republicans rallied around GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney after he declared Russia to be the United States’ “number one geopolitical foe” and called Putin a thug.*

You need to make up you mind Tangmo, which is it ??

As usual word salad purveyors contradict themselves in time.

It's the timeline sequence of the Republicans going over to Putin after Putin's return to the presidency in 2012. We're talking 2012 to 2016 and forward to the present moment. So don't you look dense and confused. Indeed, your post confirms further and reinforces that you are not competent in posting content or substance. The error is a wild desperation over there.

Meanwhile...


The tiny minority of American Conservatives/Republicans reject Putin despite the fact Putin is the Conservative's Conservative who is a magnet to the huge majority of American Conservatives/Republicans. Romney-Rubio are two among the handful of some exception. Putin being the world's foremost Conservative's Conservative pulls it all off by having a sham democracy. I expect however Putin privately looks ahead to the day he will get 120 percent of the vote. Then of course there's Trump who as we know hasn't limits.

Here's Sen. Rubio dumping on Trump for the Putin-Trump press conference after the two met secretly in Helsinki when Trump said he believes Putin over US intelligence reports and analysis. Yes, we recall Putin and Trump met in deep state secrecy...

Sen. Marco Rubio is rumored to emerge from the private barfroom reserved for Senators only of either party to rush into after Trump speaks anytime on anything.


"I don't think it was a good moment for this administration, and I disagreed with it," Rubio said. I'm glad that he cleaned that up because it left, if you watched that video, it leaves the impression that my intelligence community says one thing, Putin says another, I'm siding with Putin, and that was a bad impression to leave behind." He added, "I don't like the way this was handled."

Rubio counts himself as one of Putin's chief critics in Washington, and in his interview Sunday, he accused Putin of perpetrating war crimes and killing political opponents. He said that because of Trump's lack of political background, there was at times a clash between Trump's approach to Putin and the more hardline approach other politicians might have delivered in his position.

In his assessment of Putin, Rubio said he did not believe the Russian leader expected a better relationship with the United States and was more "interested in gaining advantage at our expense and to his benefit."

https://www.local10.com/news/politics/rubio-trump-should-be-cleareyed-about-who-putin-is


To Putin's Benefit. At the expense of the United States...its allies and partner countries globally.

 

[Tangmo]

I just love reading posts by people who no nothing so they go for the sound-bytes and supposition.

{SIC}

I'd guess then you no what you no. Then there are sound bites and also megabytes but never mind cause it's okay. The domain is loaded with Maga Bytes by you guys as things are.

Your hit and run post reminds me anyway to remain humble at all times thx.

 

[Buzz62]

{SIC}

I'd guess then you no what you no. Then there are sound bites and also megabytes but never mind cause it's okay. The domain is loaded with Maga Bytes by you guys as things are.

Your hit and run post reminds me anyway to remain humble at all times thx.

Do you have any facts, or were you simply venting?

 

[Deuce]

Hahahahahahahaha, for the FIRST time. :lamo The TDS is strong around here.

Did Mattis say something about the 2018 election before?

 

[American]

Did Mattis say something about the 2018 election before?

It's been confirmed by more authoritative sources than Mattis, Sec Def.

 

[Deuce]

It's been confirmed by more authoritative sources than Mattis, Sec Def.

Yeah but has he said anything?