Efforts among top Democrats to make hay over claims of Russian culpability in the DNC hack and to try to link the Trump campaign to those efforts have centered on Trump’s comments during a news conference suggesting that if Russia was so good backing the Democrats they might be able to find the 30,000 missing Hillary emails. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack claimed this amounted to a felony.
Speaking at the Democratic National Convention, Vilsack told delegations that Trump’s comments were “not legal,” and might have violated the Logan Act, described it as banning Americans from “siding with the enemy,” and adding that “Trump sided with Russia and not with us.”
The Logan Act regulates private correspondence with foreign governments, and bars any attempt to directly or indirectly influence a foreign government “in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States.” The Logan Act has only led to one actual indictment in US history, way back in 1803, and even that went no further.
Trump insists he was joking, but even if he wasn’t, his comments appear to fall well outside what the Logan Act is intended to cover, both because an offhand comment at a news conference is obviously not “private correspondence” and because the missing Hillary emails aren’t a dispute between the US and Russia at any rate.
Good thing the Secretary of Monsanto isn’t the AG.
Yeah, okay, except Russia isn’t our enemy. That little detail throws the Logan Act out the window and under the bus.
It takes a moment to fully absorb the level of insanity at the highest levels of the most powerful government the world has ever known. This cannot end well.
Insanity or Inanity?
I hope Trump doubles down on this, it seems to increase the frenzied madness of the people nominally in charge of the omnishambles to hilarious degrees.
If these guys come back for another round, God help us!
The actual traitors are the Israel Firsters who are running the 24/7 smear campaign against Trump.
“When I become President, the days of treating Israel like a second-class citizen will end on day one.” — Donald J. Trump, March 21, 2016
“Trump said there that as president Israel is the first country he would visit in the region. He declared that if Israel is attacked, he would come to its defense.
“He endorsed Jewish settlements in the West Bank and would move the American embassy to Jerusalem. Stating that he would stand behind Israel 100 percent, he proclaimed himself a ‘big fan’ of Israel.
…
“Sheldon Adelson, proclaiming that Trump is definitely pro-Israel, has announced that he will give $100 million or more to the Trump campaign.”
— Jonathan Adelman in the Jerusalem Post, May 18, 2016
I guess the Zionuts don’t believe Trump – their absurd smears have just intensified.
It may be that the Zionists don’t believe Trump.
But if YOU consider him trustworthy on anything else, why not on this?
Purely and simply, Trump would go in with full military force in an attempt to kill all opposition to Israel. Hasn’t he said just that? Nobody needs to lecture you on what that means but it doesn’t hurt to drive the message home to the dogs who have ‘sort’ of heard his whistle. Why is this such a difficult concept for them to understand? Because the desperation in their lives has caused them to not hear anything else from Trump than the hope he sometimes feeds them?
I don’t know what Trump will do as president. But we do know what Hillary will do — total capitulation to Israel. Continuing and expanding the endless wars with Muslim majority nations as directed by the neocons. Can you say War with Iran? How about an attempted regime change of Russia..they’ve been pushing for that. Trump may very well be a disaster. Hillary will be one without a doubt.
Hillary, as an Obama leftist tool is hostile to Israel. You are stupid enough to believe trump will be against Israel. I’m happy he has your vote, as he supports Israel, and is against the terrorist Arabs.
Leftist? Obama did not investigate the previous admin for lying us into war nor did he go after the bankers for blowing up the economy. That’s some real right wing sh&t. Meanwhile the puppet to the neocons whose first white house manager was the Israel veteran of the IDF Rahm Emmanuel (whose brother was in on the theft of American nuclear material for Israel) gives Israel the biggest gift package ever even though Israel did all it could to sink the Iran deal. I am sick and tired of so called Americans who rip America and love Israel.
America is the greatest country on earth. Your name is a lie and you spout non stop nonsense. Your support of Arab terrorists undermines your pseudonym and reveals your true hate of American values.
You are a traitor to humanity and the American people with you support for the virulently racist and violent settler state called Israel. You know the place — the one that interferes mightily in the American political process and sticks its hand deep into then pocket of every American taxpayer.
Don’t label all Israelis as Zionists. See my message on that above. You are playing into their hands if you do so. I know it’s going to require a bit of rational thinking but to separate them is to conquer. They know very well that in unity they have strength. The easiest way to prove this to yourself is to tell a hardline Zionist that.
I guess you are one of those divide and conquer agents?
The Zionists are apeshite in attacking Trump daily.Any rational person will remember it.
You don’t guess very well, do you?
When it comes to Trump and Israel, I listen to what HE says, not to what his opponents say.
Trump is sharp. He can’t win without the pro-Israel element. One must actually get elected.
In other words, when he says something you like, believe him; when he says something you don’t like, assume he’s lying to curry favor with others but is really secretly on your side.
Doesn’t strike me as very rational.
That’s it exactly Thomas! But batshit crazy would describe it better than irrational. Irrational is libertarianism. We should talk about it sometime.
A campaign is a talkfest in pursuit of votes. It’s always been that way. To achieve that end, manipulate the voters by deploying the perfect mixture of truthiness and confirmation bias triggers. Psychological studies have shown that the best of liars succeed in politics precisely because they are charming in their insincerity and so their lies are believed. Sorting out the lies and the Bernay’s techniques from the truth is a challenge. When I hear people say “He said such and such, and therefore he means such and such”, I conclude very few people have the presence of mind to rise above the influence of political manipulation.
Trump says he’ll build a wall. He says he’ll deport all the “illegals”. Hogwash! That was all red meat for the Republican primary knuckle-draggers. And that’s how he won the primary contest.
What he really believes, what he will really do, can only be guessed at, and requires a different approach than either accepting or rejecting what he says. You may not like the reality of swimming in a sea of lies, truthiness, and every variety of manipulation, but hey, sorry, time to grow up.
It’s called the Obama Syndrome. A very serious mental illness that has now spread across both major parties.
In your case it’s called racist hate for the uppity nigra who presumed he could be your president.
For an “anti-racist” you sure love to throw the N-word around TROLL. Maybe hoping it catches on? Serve your masters well TROLL. For after all, what else are you good for? (Cue CS&N now.)
That’s the definition of whistling to the dogs. Just wait until the debates start and Trump is asked for a position of any of the positions on which he has reversed himself. All the dogs that heard him promise the moon and the stars to them for their vote are going to be crying big puppy tears. Man, oh man, are americans fu–ing stupid or what? No wonder the libertarian pie in the sky agenda is being entertained as actually possible to succeed!
Either way libertarians are against BS wars and many on the left are against BS wars. Better to find common ground to work together than engage in self-defeating arguments about economic policy, where lie the biggest difference in opinions. War, especially pushed by Israeli loyalists, is the worst outcome and seems likely regardless if Hillary or Trump becomes president. It’s going to require Americans working together, regardless of less vital differences, to prevent this disastrous outcome.
I care not about your domestic politics Mark. My invitation to anyone on this board is to work together for the antiwar cause. A cause that’s sadly, hardly visible anymore.
Really? You seem extremely angry, especially being from Canada and not having to pay or die in potential wars that us Americans may get pushed into. It seems that you’re also sensitive about anti-semitism (given dog whistle references and the defense of Israelis), yet if that is the case insulting others doesn’t help your case, it reinforces the perceptions that bother you to being with.
Come on peeps, this is the Sec of Cowsh!t and GMO labeling (not). Nobody listens to him. And as others have pointed out, Russia is not our enemy – at least until we invade them to facilitate regime change.
Yes, I’m sure nobody listens to a guy who controls a $140 billion annual budget and has every farmer and food producer in the US by the short hairs. Man of no importance whatsoever.
Well, OK – the subject of the article was Trump’s call for Russia to hack someone’s data and whether that call was illegal – both of which I personally don’t think are true. Government employees, IMO, should stick with their AOR and let those responsible for other areas make the pronouncement and statements. But thanks for your chastisement – I’m a better person for it, I’m sure.
He’s making a reputation for himself of hedging on the topic. I think he doesn’t consider this banter on this forum as worth his time and so he shouldn’t be taken seriously. It’s often nothing more than a brief ‘fixed that’ for you and no decent rebuttal. Although we all know that he’s quite capable of better if he can stay away from his ‘pie in the sky’ delusions.
I’ve made numerous offers to him of working together for a common cause but he doesn’t even recognize a ‘common’ cause.
Donnie, this really doesn’t concern you. If you have a bone to pick with Thomas, open your own thread and pursue it there, please.
Thanks asshole but he picked the bone first. I’ve invited him time after time to settle down and work with me on our common cause of antiwar. Speak to him numbnuts if you want to see some harmony on this board. We can start anytime!
luv from Canada.
Ahhh…you say you want harmony but resort to name calling…you just don’t get it, do you Don. Don’t bother responding because you’ll only be talking to yourself.
First there is a typo – the word “backing” should be “hacking”. Second, Trump never asked the Russians to “hack” anything – he asked them to turn over any emails they MIGHT have. People who misrepresent what Trump says are as bad as he is – liars.
Almost all of the criticisms of Trump are misrepresentations of what he’s said. That’s because the Dems run his comments through their “how can we spin this so he looks bad” partisan filter. The “Muslim ban” for instance wasn’t about discriminating against a religion, though his impolitic phrasing gave the Dems the opportunity to spin it that way. And the Dems jumped on it, flavoring it with their Kool-Aid of opportunism and political correctness. Yet any thoughtful person understood that for the sake of the security of the American people Trump sought to prevent ISIS terrorists from coming to the US mixed in with the massive wave of refugees fleeing Hillary’s/Obama’s/Cheney’s Neocon/Zionist-directed American war-on-Islam (to make the world safe for Israel).
Calling Rosie O’Donnel fat, she’s got a heart of gold, but her stand-up schtick is rough and mouthy, so a little bit of that back at her was simply fair play, as was slapping down Megan Kelly (and the entire Fox squad) for their lame attempt to ambush Trump in that first debate. They got a well-deserved thrashing that set the tone of the rest of the primary spectacle: “Mess with me at your peril, I’m not some political pussy in an Armani suit and a $300 haircut!”
America is going cold turkey on Kool-Aid detox, courtesy of Mr. “I don’t do tone” Trump. I’m lovin’ it.
Yes, there’s little doubt your type is loving it. That’s because you are incapable of understanding that racism, women demeaning, and promoting hate of Muslims is below the standards of 21st. century decency. You are likely living somewhere in the south in a house in the Ozarks with your sister and dreaming of the day when Trump will change the tone of progress so it will be socially acceptable to take your pointy hat and bedsheet out of the closet and wear it proudly.
It’s people like you who think they are making a case for Trump when they are doing the exact opposite.
luv from Canada.
p.s. isn’t it nice to take part on a forum where any insults less egregious than FUC- OFF TROLL must be found acceptable!
All the national press in Washington, DC gave their opinions like farm animals when Donald Trump’s maw opens and makes wacky comments:
“‘Moo-moo”, said the CNN cow.
“Quack-quack”, said the ABC duck.
“Cluck-cluck” said the CBS hen.
“Bow-wow “, said the NBC dog.
“Meow-meow”, said the FOX cat.
But they all turned their collective heads to the corral where Barney the Jackass stood. “Bray-bray!” said Barney. They all nodded in unison like bobble-head dolls saying, “Barney’s right.Trump is a felon, send him to jail!’.
This is why farm animals or the press should never be listened to or believed. Everyone knows jackasses can’t talk.
Poor desperate Democrats: Hideous Hillary is sinking fast, and good riddance to her!
Will Mr. Ballsack please shut up and tend to his garden as head of agriculture dept.
The DNC got busted rigging the election so of course they are going to blame Trump, makes perfect sense if you are an idiot.
I’m sure Vilsack is keen to talk about absolutely anything other than agricultural subsidies.
Monsanto’s man in the White House joins the “Russian fear card” team. Last person to play it as I recall was Sarah Palin. Takes one to know one.
If the Neocons in our government and media weren’t so war hungry, our officials would do proper research and vet material before freaking out. This would have prevented the Iraq war on the grounds of WMDs. It would have revealed that the Sarin gas used in Syria didn’t match Assad’s stockpile, as proved by an independent lab in the UK. Subsequently the justification for arming radical rebels wouldn’t have been sold to the public along with this whole regime change BS. Unfortunately our next president is destined to be a bull-shitter in a party with an official war platform or a proven war hawk who’s become the poster girl for Neocon war mongers striving to bloody up our nation.
Well said Mike. But remember that nobody can do it except the American people. Not enough have had enough yet, but it got close for a while. I think it’s going to be harder next time because neither party is going to allow itself to be hijacked by an outsider.
It seems that the creation of a third, fourth, fifth party(s) is in order. It would have to start on a more local level so as gain experience and have a record to be judged on. Unfortunately Neocons like Bloomberg are on to this and have suggested it, yet mainly to preserve the status quo by acting as a spoiler in what was a potential Sanders vs Trump scenario. If our next president, pursues war with a country like Syria or larger which seems likely, there will probably be a back lash shifting power to another other party. Yet in our current 2 party system that’s not very reassuring.
Late entry to Dumbest Thing I’ve Read This Week, but definitely a strong contender.
No, where you were born does not determine your political orientation. It can certainly be a strong influence, of course, but no, an Israeli is not a Zionist “by definition.”
Of course all Israelis are Zionists. By choosing to live in Israel they declare themselves as such. I suppose the West Bank Settlers are not all Zionists?
Not all Israelis “choose” to live in Israel. 70% of them were born there, and presumably not all of them are able, financially and otherwise, to just pull up stakes and leave.
There is no “of course” about it. Your claim isn’t just wrong, it’s stupid.
Well, you may claim some are not Zionist but every poll conducted shows that more than 70% of Israeli Jews call themselves such. R U calling the liars? That’s anti-semitic. Or Holocaust denial. Or blood libel or something
The article you cite states that “70.5% of the Arabs [Arab Israelis] say that the government [of Israel] today treats Arabs as second class citizens or as hostile citizens who do not deserve equality.” It goes on about their growing discontent and alienation. Arab Israelis are clearly not happy to be part of Israel as it exists today, nor do they view it as a real democracy.