American Thinker:
Over the past three years, the MSM has done a thorough job brainwashing its captive audience into believing that Putin preferred, supported, or even colluded with Trump in the 2016 elections. Not only was this untrue, but even the idea of such a preference, much less collusion, was ridiculous in the U.S. in the spring of 2016. Russia was our ally in the fight against terror, and CIA Director John Brennan visited FSB head Gennadiy Bortnikov in Moscow in March 2016.
Not Trump, but the Democratic party and Hillary Clinton personally were the perfect fit for Putin. Hillary Clinton started her tenure as Secretary of State by implementing a “reset” with Russia in 2009. During 2012, Russia joined theWorld Trade Organization, and the West bought from it hot air (carbon credits). Later that year, Obama was caught on mic promising Medvedev that he would become even more accommodating towards Russia after the election. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama sold Uranium One to Russia, organized the transfer of dual-use technology in Skolkovo, and allied themselves with Russian-funded groups against fracking and pipelines in the U.S. Allegations that Putin had a personal grudge against Hillary, and kept it for five years, are just laughable.
Trump conducted a Miss Universe pageant in Russia in 2013, and that was all. As a presidential candidate, he promised a U.S. military buildup, and he said the U.S. should shoot down Russian interceptors that were reportedly harassing U.S. military planes in international airspace, after appropriate diplomatic steps.
The ideation of a Putin-Trump association and of Russian interference on Trump’s behalf came from Western Europe. People of Germany, Britain, and other EU states were dissatisfied with policies robbing them of their sovereignty. European politicians wanted to crush dissent, and Russia and Putin became a convenient boogeyman. The government of Angela Merkel blamed Russia for public protests. This is how Obama advisor Ben Rhodes illustrated this attitude in his book The World as It Is:
In Germany, Merkel’s spokesperson told me about how fake news impacted their politics… A rape, for instance, caused a huge outcry in a community. For days, there were protests, political fallout. … “And we trace the story, and it started with a social media user with a German-sounding name, but something is not exactly right. The name is a little off. And the server, it is not German…Russians…”
Later, James Clapper expressed a similar sentiment, saying that the Russians are “almost genetically driven to co-opt, penetrate, gain favor, whatever.” Peter Strzok and Lisa Page exchanged comparable texts immediately before officially launching Crossfire Hurricane.
Rhodes’ quote continues:
I thought about all the made-up stories about Hillary — her ill health, her corruption, her crimes.
Sorry for making you laugh amid such a serious matter. more here
I was brow beaten recently while in a crowd of democrat voters, when I suggested that the moon was not made of cheese.
It’s made of green cheese.
As we painfully have found out, if a lie is repeated often enough and for long enough, it gets believed. Putin doing stuff to favor Trump in the 2016 election has never made any sense to me at all, but that’s the “conventional wisdom” now.
p.s. @MJA – I do love that graphic! Whose farting butt is that, anyway?
p.p.s. – Mike Collins told me that Neil and Buzz swore up and down that the moon is made of American cheese, nice and orange.
“Some people did something…”
Uncle Al,
PS1
That gaseous plume has the scent of Biden Breech.