# A Russian President? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 7, 2017, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-russian-president/776540 "2017-01-07T16:54:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-russian-president/776540/61 "2017-01-08T05:56:19Z")
Former NSA staffer and now national security columnist John Schindler: _Old #NSA friend tells me that the term used by Kremlin higher-ups to describe Trump is severely unflattering, much worse than “our bitch”._ Tim Kaine: _“Why does President-elect Trump again and again and again take it upon himself to be Vladimir Putin’s defense lawyer rather than listening to and respecting the intelligence professionals of the United States,”. “There is something very unusual – indeed, even sort of suspicious – about the degree to which he casually kicks aside the intelligence community when he won’t even go to the briefings again and again and takes the Assange/Vladimir Putin line on this important question” about whether Russian was behind the election-related hacks._ ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-russian-president/776540/62 "2017-01-08T06:14:59Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > There’s a _lot_ that’s alarming and disturbing about the Trump presidency and about the fact that so many Americans are not alarmed and disturbed about the Trump presidency. > > But I suspect that _part_ of the answer to the OP’s specific question is that, during the Cold War, the enemy was Communism and the Soviet Union (aka the Evil Communist Empire); and that enemy no longer exists in that form. True, Communism doesn’t exist as the enemy anymore, but another one has taken its place. The enemy that \*does \*exist-- Islam (dressed up for the sound bites as “Radical Islamic Terrorism”)-- is an enemy common to both these men. > [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Uh, doesn’t the media already talk up a perfectly good terrifying bogyman? > > Just picture the sales pitch: America and Russia, together again, united in common cause against the sort of folks who carry out spectacular attacks against the French and hate Jews and operate in North Africa and – I dunno, somebody else can maybe WWII up the metaphor; but just make sure to toss in something about the Boston Marathon bombers being Muslims from Chechnya, or whatever? Something with an easy ‘Putin’ hook? Exactly. A few more major attacks by ISIS on major cities (or Russian diplomats or American locations), and you’re going to see these two tough guys shoulder to shoulder to take on the dirty barbarians. Think about what Trump may agree to if Putin dangles some shiny promises (or shinier blackmails) in front of his fat orange nose and gives him a power-handy under the negotiating table. Worse yet, imagine if ISIS manages to get their hands on a rough nuke and detonate it somewhere in the world. Suddenly we’d be living in a security state with suspended civil liberties and Trump at the helm taking notes from Putin. Whip up enough fear, and some people will be willing to accept anything and everything as long as a tough guy promises to make them safe. Putin knows Russia could never beat the USA in a traditional war, so he came up with the idea to create chaos within our political system, maybe our economic system, etc. But now, if he plays his cards right, he could have some bigger prizes within reach. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-russian-president/776540/63 "2017-01-08T06:35:55Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > I think you will find that many of us Do care. Unfortunately the flag waving phoney patriots in Congress, and their blind followers don’t give a fuck. Now the son of a bitch is going to gut our intel agencies for daring to contradict his bullshit. He’s also doing everything he can to discount and sabotage any information that covers all the shit the Russians were doing - fake “news”, mudslinging, hacking, etc etc etc etc. > > He’s a fucking traitor. > > If this country was still worth a damn, he’d be swinging from a rope on the White House lawn. Yeah, if this country were worth a damn, it would be worse than anything Trump envisions. :roll eyes: ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-russian-president/776540/64 "2017-01-08T17:04:00Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Did you read it? > > **37** %. > > That’s not even a majority, let alone 100%. You might want a basic understanding of mathematics. I’ll bet some Democrats even liked Lenin - a quick Google throws up Eugene Debs. **Quartz** , you clearly have a problem of your own. Either you can’t read well or you have the attention of a goldfish. This line of discussion started when I expressed disdain for the fact that Republicans, as a whole, like Putin more than Obama. You asked for a cite. One was provided that shows that Putin is twice as popular than Obama among Republicans. It also shows that Putin’s approval among the GOP has nearly quadrupled during the years he has become more aggressively anti-US. You then respond that Putin’s approval of 37% is less than 100%. In my view, having more than one in three Republicans approve of Putin, while just about one in six can muster approval of Obama, is nuts. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2017, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-russian-president/776540/65 "2017-01-09T00:43:55Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > Former NSA staffer and now national security columnist John Schindler: > > _Old #NSA friend tells me that the term used by Kremlin higher-ups to describe Trump is severely unflattering, much worse than “our bitch”._ Without necessarily assuming the truth of this currently unsubstantiated (although admittedly highly plausible-sounding) assertion, I now REALLY want to know what the specific Russian term is that he’s talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2017, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-russian-president/776540/66 "2017-01-10T21:01:44Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > [Trump Calls for Closer Relationship Between U.S. and Russia](http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/07/us/politics/donald-trump-russia-united-states.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0) > Big surprise. I wonder if Trump and Putin have registered at Target yet? This is very bad. We should not have a good relationship with Russia. We have to be enemies with them. IF Trump doesn’t nuke Russia then he will be the worst President of all. > [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > The prisons are full of felons with more virtues than he has. Especially the murderers and rapists. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2017, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-russian-president/776540/67 "2017-01-10T21:13:26Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > This is very bad. We should not have a good relationship with Russia. Electing an incompetent lunatic because their leader finds it useful to cripple the US isn’t a “good relationship”. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2017, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-russian-president/776540/68 "2017-01-10T21:40:12Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > This is very bad. We should not have a good relationship with Russia. We have to be enemies with them. IF Trump doesn’t nuke Russia then he will be the worst President of all. Your "look at what a tremendous asshole I am " schtick is getting tiresome. I’d call it trolling, but it’s too stupid even for that. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2017, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-russian-president/776540/69 "2017-01-10T23:09:02Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > This is very bad. We should not have a good relationship with Russia. We have to be enemies with them. IF Trump doesn’t nuke Russia then he will be the worst President of all. Don’t go being premature; he won’t be the worst POTUS until Inauguration Day. At present he’s only the worst President-elect. And you may be a crusty and infected anal fissure on the SDMB’s ass, but you’re not even the worst troll. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2017, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-russian-president/776540/70 "2017-01-10T23:22:13Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally Posted by Drunky Smurf View Post > This is very bad. We should not have a good relationship with Russia. We have to be enemies with them. IF Trump doesn’t nuke Russia then he will be the worst President of all. The fear is that Trump is so close to Putin that he will hand over Eastern Europe without a fight (or even a complaint) You may recall he’s not so hot on NATO or the UN. So, letting Russia reestablish dominance over people that are someone free now, would indeed make him a pretty bad president. And doing so because he owes a favor is a lot worse than simply miscalculating the situation. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-russian-president/776540/71 "2017-02-10T03:15:08Z")
Is this the [first piece](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/national-security-adviser-flynn-discussed-sanctions-with-russian-ambassador-despite-denials-officials-say/2017/02/09/f85b29d6-ee11-11e6-b4ff-ac2cf509efe5_story.html?utm_term=.46ba8969d38c) to fall? Flynn is no longer denying that he had discussions with Russian officials regarding easing sanctions before the inauguration. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-russian-president/776540/72 "2017-02-10T22:15:05Z")
Is the [second piece](http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/10/politics/russia-dossier-update/index.html) now falling. Investigators starting to corroborate the infamous dossier. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-russian-president/776540/73 "2017-02-10T22:28:04Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > Trump may be many things but a Russian puppet isn’t one of them. For all his faults, and I concede he has a few, he’s a patriotic American. The danger for them is that if liberals continue to portray Trump as the Devil Incarnate that’s a pretty low bar for him to jump over and look good when compared to the hellish portrait. I thought I already had you on Ignore. No matter, it’s corrected now. I see Trump as a stooge and as Putin’s bitch. And possibly a traitor, at least in the dictionary sense if not in the legalistic Constitutional sense. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2017, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-russian-president/776540/74 "2017-02-11T00:45:01Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Is this the [first piece](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/national-security-adviser-flynn-discussed-sanctions-with-russian-ambassador-despite-denials-officials-say/2017/02/09/f85b29d6-ee11-11e6-b4ff-ac2cf509efe5_story.html?utm_term=.46ba8969d38c) to fall? > > Flynn is no longer denying that he had discussions with Russian officials regarding easing sanctions before the inauguration. Well, to be more accurate, he’s now playing the “I’m so incompetent, I can barely remember anything” defense. The “I don’t know what I said, or who I said it to” defense. The question now is: Did Flynn lie to the Whitehouse, and then Pence went out and spread this lie unknowingly to the American people? In which case Flynn should be bounced out of his position pronto. Or did Flynn tell the whitehouse the truth, and then Pence went out an lied knowingly to the American People? In which case Pence should be bounced out of his position pronto. I think we all know what the response will be: A 3:34 am tweet that says “Washington Post is a terrible paper. Circulation dropping because nobody likes them. Sad.” ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2017, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-russian-president/776540/75 "2017-02-11T01:09:44Z")
[The White House may be settling on a theme:](http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/10/politics/flynn-russia-us-sanctions-reports/index.html) - Trump did not know anything at all about anything that Flynn did, ever. (this one is actually believable) - Flynn did not tell the facts to Pence, even after Pence asked him directly if he discussed sanctions with the Russians. - It’s OK, because Flynn does not remember anything. > [@](#): > > Three administration officials said Pence only knew what Flynn told him – that he had not talked about sanctions – before Pence stood before cameras last month and vouched for Flynn. One official said Pence was trying to “get to the bottom of it,” and two senior administration officials said Pence was “very intentional” in asking Flynn about his communication with the Russians before speaking to the media. > A source with knowledge of the situation told CNN the only reason Flynn hasn’t been fired is that the White House doesn’t want to look bad. Adding to Flynn’s problems, the source said, is that this latest revelation reflects poorly on Pence. I still stand by my prediction of a tweet attacking the messenger. ---
**Author:** ![Paranoid\_Randroid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paranoid_randroid/32/18_2.png) [@Paranoid\_Randroid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paranoid_Randroid)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2017, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-russian-president/776540/76 "2017-02-11T02:22:24Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Is the [second piece](http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/10/politics/russia-dossier-update/index.html) now falling. Investigators starting to corroborate the infamous dossier. I love this: > [@](#): > > Reached for comment this afternoon, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said, “We continue to be disgusted by CNN’s fake news reporting.” This does not give the impression of someone who knows how to finesse the narrative. CNN says, hey, can you respond to what our sources are telling us? “You disgust me.” ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2017, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-russian-president/776540/77 "2017-02-11T03:13:29Z")
> [@Paranoid\_Randroid](#): > > I love this: > > This does not give the impression of someone who knows how to finesse the narrative. CNN says, hey, can you respond to what our sources are telling us? “You disgust me.” They’re guilty as hell and they know it. It isn’t JUST Flynn, either. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2017, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-russian-president/776540/78 "2017-02-11T03:20:42Z")
> [@Paranoid\_Randroid](#): > > I love this: > > This does not give the impression of someone who knows how to finesse the narrative. CNN says, hey, can you respond to what our sources are telling us? “You disgust me.” Probably why they’re already [interviewing his replacement.](http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/319059-wh-interviewed-press-secretary-candidate-report) Can’t imagine who would want this job. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2017, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-russian-president/776540/79 "2017-02-11T03:24:18Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Probably why they’re already [interviewing his replacement.](http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/319059-wh-interviewed-press-secretary-candidate-report) Can’t imagine who would want this job. Did that idiot really expect to be treated any different? He better hope any paychecks he got, don’t bounce too. That’s his reward. Lie, debase himself, take the heat. And then get thrown under the bus for doing what the shit-gibbon told him to do. I expect that will be a regular pattern. ---
**Author:** ![Belowjob2.0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Belowjob2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belowjob2.0)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2017, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-russian-president/776540/80 "2017-02-12T03:14:30Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > I think you will find that many of us Do care. Unfortunately the flag waving phoney patriots in Congress, and their blind followers don’t give a fuck. Now the son of a bitch is going to gut our intel agencies for daring to contradict his bullshit. He’s also doing everything he can to discount and sabotage any information that covers all the shit the Russians were doing - fake “news”, mudslinging, hacking, etc etc etc etc. > > He’s a fucking traitor. > > If this country was still worth a damn, he’d be swinging from a rope on the White House lawn. It’s become obvious now. People will still deny as the whole thing unravels. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-russian-president/776540.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-russian-president/776540.md?page=5)