# WaPo: Trump was the Manchurian Candidate **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 10, 2016, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wapo-trump-was-the-manchurian-candidate/774322 "2016-12-10T03:02:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wapo-trump-was-the-manchurian-candidate/774322/1 "2016-12-10T03:02:51Z")
[Secret CIA assessment says Russia was trying to help Trump win White House](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/obama-orders-review-of-russian-hacking-during-presidential-campaign/2016/12/09/31d6b300-be2a-11e6-94ac-3d324840106c_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_russiahack-1215p%3Ahomepage%2Fstory) What is worst to me is that Mitch McConnell, as always, put party before country. Ah, but his wife gets a cabinet post out of it, so it was all good. Right? right??? ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wapo-trump-was-the-manchurian-candidate/774322/2 "2016-12-10T03:32:51Z")
> [@BigAppleBucky](#): > > [Secret CIA assessment says Russia was trying to help Trump win White House](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/obama-orders-review-of-russian-hacking-during-presidential-campaign/2016/12/09/31d6b300-be2a-11e6-94ac-3d324840106c_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_russiahack-1215p%3Ahomepage%2Fstory) > > What is worst to me is that Mitch McConnell, as always, put party before country. > > Ah, but his wife gets a cabinet post out of it, so it was all good. Right? right??? I think the backlash against the McConnells will be severe. If and when the full story comes out on this, and it becomes obvious that the GOP decided to put party WAY before country, it’s going to be a problem. I can’t believe that the uber patriotic commie hating party of Reagan got had by the Russians in the end. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wapo-trump-was-the-manchurian-candidate/774322/3 "2016-12-10T03:56:31Z")
You know, if this story has merit, all those fuckers that voted for Trump aren’t going to give a shit. And they’ll call you a Liberal LSM lover because Russia isn’t the bad guy to them, Hillary Clinton is. Eagle and flag tattoos all around, on me. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wapo-trump-was-the-manchurian-candidate/774322/4 "2016-12-10T03:58:59Z")
> [@BigAppleBucky](#): > > [Secret CIA assessment says Russia was trying to help Trump win White House](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/obama-orders-review-of-russian-hacking-during-presidential-campaign/2016/12/09/31d6b300-be2a-11e6-94ac-3d324840106c_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_russiahack-1215p%3Ahomepage%2Fstory) Well no shit. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wapo-trump-was-the-manchurian-candidate/774322/5 "2016-12-10T04:22:28Z")
No puppet! No puppet! You’re the puppet! I wanted to be the first. I liked this part of Trump’s response to the report: “The election ended a long time ago in one of the biggest Electoral College victories in history.” Uh, what? How did he vault into “one of the biggest Electoral College victories in history”? He won a fairly close EC contest. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wapo-trump-was-the-manchurian-candidate/774322/6 "2016-12-10T04:45:35Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > No puppet! No puppet! You’re the puppet! > > I wanted to be the first. > > I liked this part of Trump’s response to the report: “The election ended a long time ago in one of the biggest Electoral College victories in history.” Uh, what? How did he vault into “one of the biggest Electoral College victories in history”? He won a fairly close EC contest. Can they just stop FUCKING LYING? Out of the 57 presidential elections in US history, [only 11 contests were won by a smaller percentage of the Electoral College](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_presidential_elections_by_Electoral_College_margin) than Trump/Clinton. Both of Obama’s victories were bigger than Trumps, just for starters. Facts still exist YOU FUCKING LYING CUNTS. It’s slightly annoying. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wapo-trump-was-the-manchurian-candidate/774322/7 "2016-12-10T05:03:21Z")
Only a matter of time before someone hollers “False flag!”. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wapo-trump-was-the-manchurian-candidate/774322/8 "2016-12-10T05:09:36Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > I think the backlash against the McConnells will be severe. Relying on Republican voters to engage in intelligent introspection based on factual evidence is like relying on unicorns to deliver you diamond encrusted magical staffs of power. ---
**Author:** ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wapo-trump-was-the-manchurian-candidate/774322/9 "2016-12-10T12:30:40Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > Can they just stop FUCKING LYING? Birds gotta fly, fish gotta swim… ---
**Author:** ![JoeLr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecd19e/32.png) [@JoeLr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoeLr)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wapo-trump-was-the-manchurian-candidate/774322/10 "2016-12-10T14:45:21Z")
This is probably bigger than Watergate, but how many will notice (he asks, tongue-in-cheek)? My cynical side is resigned to this resulting in nothing beyond ugly social media wars. I’m struck by how this story broke on Friday night, traditionally the day when news is dumped. Trump supporters I know won’t even consume news from WAPO, WSJ, NYT, CNN, etc. Whatever spin Breitbart/Alex Jones/InfoWars puts on this is what they’ll believe. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wapo-trump-was-the-manchurian-candidate/774322/11 "2016-12-10T14:58:19Z")
So I guess we need a cute meme of Trumpy, looking Pres-E-Den-Shul: HALF NAZI HALF COMMIE WHAT A COUNTRY! (or NOW THAT’S CHANGE!) ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wapo-trump-was-the-manchurian-candidate/774322/12 "2016-12-10T15:05:53Z")
I linked[this _Washington Post_ story](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/12/09/the-cia-concluded-russia-worked-to-elect-trump-republicans-now-face-an-impossible-choice/?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_fix-choice-620am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.eadc33cb54f1) elsewhere; it was updated to include this statement from Trump’s minions: > [@](#): > > _“These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. The election ended a long time ago in one of the biggest Electoral College victories in history. It’s now time to move on and ‘Make America Great Again.’”_ _Post_ coverage has showing mainstream Republican response to the story…with investigations after the Inauguration, of course… > [@](#): > > But for congressional Republicans, the evidence is increasingly getting to the point where they simply can’t ignore it, and some of them are feeling compelled to act — in a way that Trump isn’t likely to embrace… > > Many Republicans are undoubtedly concerned about this. But as long as Trump is holding fast to the idea that this is all made up in an effort to undermine him, this whole thing could reinforce the long-standing chasm within the GOP, with him and his base pitted against establishment Republicans who will (again) be made to look like they’re trying to take down their outsider president-elect. And you can bet that’ll be how Trump pitches it. > > It all presents a possibly inauspicious start for the GOP Congress in the Trump era: a potential Trump vs. congressional-Republicans-battle over the same election that surprisingly installed him as president. So, we may get to see the jackals & hyenas battle it out… ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_fun_ball/32/17664_2.png) [@Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Fun_Ball)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wapo-trump-was-the-manchurian-candidate/774322/13 "2016-12-10T15:19:11Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > I think the backlash against the McConnells will be severe. If and when the full story comes out on this, and it becomes obvious that the GOP decided to put party WAY before country, it’s going to be a problem. I disagree; I don’t think the right cares about what their leaders do as long as they can stick it to the libtards. ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2016, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wapo-trump-was-the-manchurian-candidate/774322/14 "2016-12-11T11:44:04Z")
[Wil Wheaton: Is it treason?](https://medium.com/@wilw/are-congressional-republicans-with-us-or-against-us-the-nation-deserves-to-know-right-now-cf4b5c5d4757#.42n31ld0m) > [@](#): > > This can’t be said loudly and often enough: Russia manipulated our election and at the moment appear poised to install their puppet into the presidency of our nation. Are our elected officials in Washington DC with us, or against us? In my opinion, Ryan, McConnell and the rest of the Republicans are far too Vichy to rise up and do what’s right. These days they are busy rubbing their hands together thinking about how they can sock it to everyday Americans and enrich themselves and their billionaire benefactors and not at all concerned about what’s really happening. When they finally wake up it will be too late. ---
**Author:** ![jshore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@jshore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jshore)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wapo-trump-was-the-manchurian-candidate/774322/15 "2016-12-12T01:57:40Z")
I was sort of amused by this sentence in the NY Times ([http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/11/us/politics/trump-russia-democrats.html](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/11/us/politics/trump-russia-democrats.html)): > [@](#): > > After initially believing that Russia’s goal was to undermine American democratic processes, the intelligence agencies concluded a week after the vote that the Russian efforts had been intended, at least in their latter stages, to help Mr. Trump. Talk about making a distinction with no real difference!! ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wapo-trump-was-the-manchurian-candidate/774322/16 "2016-12-12T02:37:54Z")
If the man wasn’t such an egomaniac, he’d say something like he was concerned about the Russian invasion of US private e-mails and would ask the intelligence agencies to produce a comprehensive report on a crash basis. The whole thing, no matter what the conclusion of the report, would blow over for Trump. Probably not for USA-Russia relations though. We’ve seen Trump double down before and then back off when his handlers made him see the light. Could happen in this case unless he is actually too deeply in debt to the oligarchs of Russia. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wapo-trump-was-the-manchurian-candidate/774322/17 "2016-12-12T05:06:29Z")
What was in the Podesta emails that was so damning that their hacking affected our democratic processes? ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wapo-trump-was-the-manchurian-candidate/774322/18 "2016-12-12T05:47:22Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > What was in the Podesta emails that was so damning that their hacking affected our democratic processes? Well, for one thing, there was evidence of a pedophile ring… > **[Pizzagate conspiracy theory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizzagate_(conspiracy_theory))** > > "Pizzagate" is a conspiracy theory that went viral during the 2016 United States presidential election cycle, falsely claiming that the New York City Police Department (NYPD) had discovered a pedophilia ring linked to members of the Democratic Party while searching through Anthony Weiner's emails. It has been extensively discredited by a wide range of organizations, including the Washington, D.C. police. > In March 2016, the personal email account of John Podesta, Hillary Clinton's campaign ch... And the democrats rigging the polls… > **[Pants on Fire! Trump says Clinton campaign rigged polls](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2016/oct/25/donald-trump/trump-absurd-claims-podesta-rigged-polls/)** > > Two weeks away from the Nov. 8 election, Donald Trump is behind in the polls. According to him, it’s because the Hillary The nice thing about getting a massive dump of internal communications like this is that it’s trivial to spin wool out of nothing. It’s trivial to find _something_ that _seems_ bad, even if there’s nothing there, even if it’s all completely innocuous, or at least thoroughly _normal_, the internet will find something. If you disagree, one word: _Climategate_. There was _nothing_ there, and yet denialists will still cite it as though it had proven once and for all that climate change was a hoax. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wapo-trump-was-the-manchurian-candidate/774322/19 "2016-12-12T06:28:55Z")
IIRC, the earliest reports of _skullduggeriski_ centered around Wikileaks of the DNC dissing Bernie Sanders. Which would mean to me that whomsoever wanted to exacerbate the conflict in the Dem Party between Clinton and Bernie. Did it work? Dunno, really, my personal impression is that it did at least to some degree, I recall reading any number of Bernie people referencing it as proof that Bernie wasn’t getting a fair hearing. ---
**Author:** ![snoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@snoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoe)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2016, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wapo-trump-was-the-manchurian-candidate/774322/20 "2016-12-12T06:37:35Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Only a matter of time before someone hollers “False flag!”. > > :rolleyes: [A “whack-ass mustache” emoji would be handy right now.](http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2016/12/john-bolton-set-be-2-state-department) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wapo-trump-was-the-manchurian-candidate/774322.md?page=2)