# WTF is Obamagate? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 12, 2020, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-obamagate/853616 "2020-05-12T01:41:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![jshore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@jshore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jshore)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2020, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-obamagate/853616/142 "2020-05-19T01:18:29Z")
I thought this was a good discussion of the Trump et al. strategy behind “Obamagate”: [Unmasking Trump’s ‘Obamagate’ Madness - The American Prospect](https://prospect.org/politics/unmasking-trump-obamagate-madness-biden-media) ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2020, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-obamagate/853616/143 "2020-05-19T03:11:26Z")
It’s plainly obvious that the purpose of this thread is to militantly ignore and misdirect an issue, so much for “Fighting Ignorance”. Looking at it without the handicap of intractable partisanship. this “Obamagate” makes Nixon’s Watergate look like rank amateurism and needs to be examined, but of course that would likely bring down many beloved narratives and force some serious introspection so that’s not going to happen, not here anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2020, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-obamagate/853616/144 "2020-05-19T04:51:48Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Yes, I wish they would do this. Trump is a headline whore and unfortunately all he has to do is fart and it makes headlines. Even the MSM are guilty of this. He prefers that the headlines praise him, but he doesn’t care if they vilify him. As long as he gets them. And if a few [del]hours[/del] minutes go by when he’s not in the headlines, he’ll tweet something outrageous and make everyone jump. He’s fiddling and we’ve all been dancing to his tune waaaaay too long! I disagree in two ways. Trump is the president. If he were just some Alex Jones online crank, then we can ignore him, sure. But, as president, Trump’s words often presage the government’s actions so are highly significant. And even if we were to argue that the media should just focus on _the actions_ then, it’s not that simple. For instance, when Trump says that Governers that are nice to him will receive greater support, or that the FBI agents involved in Flynn’s case should be convicted of treason, these things have great influence on behaviour even if he doesn’t follow up on them; because he has power and these kinds of threats can be intimidating. If the media doesn’t report it, then the public is unaware of such bullying, and the erosion of checks and balances and the rule of law. The other way I disagree is that I think the press is actually making a good stab at ignoring a lot of Trump’s nonsense at this point. There have been days where trump has posted 100+ tweets of craziness, and the actual tweets aren’t reported anywhere; the headline is just, essentially “Another day of Trump madness”. Also the claims are usually treated critically. When trump accused Obama of wiretapping him in 2017 (I think), the whole media blew up and there was a lot of speculation about what evidence he had. Now when trump makes such claims the media comes at it more from the perspective of “Is there any reason to take this fever dream seriously?” All that said, there is one important thing in that we can’t allow debunking trump to push out the real stories: the many injustices and corruption going on. Even pointing out that the emporer is naked sometimes takes away time from doing that. ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2020, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-obamagate/853616/145 "2020-05-19T05:15:05Z")
> [@Ale](#): > > It’s plainly obvious that the purpose of this thread is to militantly ignore and misdirect an issue, so much for “Fighting Ignorance”. > Looking at it without the handicap of intractable partisanship. this “Obamagate” makes Nixon’s Watergate look like rank amateurism and needs to be examined, but of course that would likely bring down many beloved narratives and force some serious introspection so that’s not going to happen, not here anyway. Just on the wild case this isn’t sarcasm…cite? ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2020, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-obamagate/853616/146 "2020-05-19T12:56:05Z")
> [@Chisquirrel](#): > > Just on the wild case this isn’t sarcasm…cite? You won’t get one. They came into a thread that asks for an explanation of what “Obamagate” actually is, just to respond that they didn’t need to explain it because it’s so obvious what it is. O-gate is nothing more than the most recent manifestation of their fact-free dismissals of everything Obama. They spent his entire time in office simply declaring that he was a “disaster”, the “worst president ever”, that America was a “laughingstock”, without even attempting to explain why, because they knew they didn’t need to explain it. Then, as soon as Trump was elected, they started simply declaring that Trump was the best ever, that America was “great” again, that America was “respected” again, and again, provided no explanation or evidence for these claims. Because it was never about the evidence. And it’s not about the evidence now. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2020, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-obamagate/853616/147 "2020-05-19T14:00:41Z")
**[Obama Lives in Trump’s Head](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/17/opinion/trump-obama.html)** > [@](#): > > Obama is everything that Trump is not: intellectual, articulate, adroit, contemplative and cool. He also happens to be a black man. The fact that he could not only ascend to the height of power but also the heights of celebrity and adoration vexed Trump. > > Trump set about to demonstrate that none of that mattered, none of it could supersede the talents of a confident counterfeit. He convinced himself that Obama was the convenient recipient of affirmative action adulation from a world thirsty for racial recompense, an assuaging of white guilt. > > Trump has held this view well before anyone heard the name Barack Obama. In 1989, Trump said in an NBC News interview, “A well-educated black has a tremendous advantage over a well-educated white, in terms of the job market.” Trump went so far as to say that “I’ve said on occasion, even about myself, if I was starting off today I would love to be a well-educated black because I really believe they do have an actual advantage today.” > … So… trump wants to BE Obama. Well, who wouldn’t-- the guy is the essence of stylish, intellectual _cool_. No wonder trump can’t get Obama out of his head! He’s everything trump wants to be and is not-- including **black**! > [@](#): > > … > These [2016] voters\* chose the opposite of Obama, they chose the moral and intellectual antithesis, someone who could arrest the advance that Obama represented: an ascension of multicultural power and a coming erasure of white advantage and the dominance of white culture, all of which establishment forces had either allowed or encouraged. > > Trump was elected to restore the cultural narrative of the primacy of whiteness. > > Now, with the colossal disaster of his Covid-19 response threatening his re-election prospects, Trump is attempting to draft Obama once again as his primary opponent. > … - Although, one must point out, NOT a majority of voters. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2020, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-obamagate/853616/148 "2020-05-19T14:51:24Z")
> [@Ale](#): > > It’s plainly obvious that the purpose of this thread is to militantly ignore and misdirect an issue, so much for “Fighting Ignorance”. > Looking at it without the handicap of intractable partisanship. this “Obamagate” makes Nixon’s Watergate look like rank amateurism and needs to be examined, but of course that would likely bring down many beloved narratives and force some serious introspection so that’s not going to happen, not here anyway. Asking the public what the nature of an alleged scandal is (since our President can’t be bothered to explain it) somehow equals an attempt to “ignore and misdirect” on the issue? That doesn’t make the slightest bit of sense. Clearly you believe there is indeed a scandal of some sort. I will assume that you have the ability to explain to others what it is. What do you believe are the main elements of this alleged scandal? What specific crime or crimes do you believe have been committed, and by whom? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2020, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-obamagate/853616/149 "2020-05-19T14:53:53Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > \*\*[Obama Lives in Trump’s Head](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/17/opinion/trump-obama.html)\*\*So… trump wants to BE Obama. Well, who wouldn’t-- the guy is the essence of stylish, intellectual _cool_. No wonder trump can’t get Obama out of his head! He’s everything trump wants to be and is not-- including **black**! Trump’s pathology is weird; he’s a narcissist _and_ he has an inferiority complex. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2020, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-obamagate/853616/150 "2020-05-19T15:15:04Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Trump’s pathology is weird; he’s a narcissist _and_ he has an inferiority complex. He is all things to all people-- including himself! ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2020, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-obamagate/853616/151 "2020-05-19T15:29:09Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Trump’s pathology is weird; he’s a narcissist _and_ he has an inferiority complex. I always figured the two go hand in hand. Deep down inside they at least suspect they’re not as good as “other people” which is why they brook no criticism of them or their actions. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2020, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-obamagate/853616/152 "2020-05-19T17:10:45Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Trump’s pathology is weird; he’s a narcissist _and_ he has an inferiority complex. Thats not weird, that’s textbook. ---
**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:** [May 19, 2020, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-obamagate/853616/153 "2020-05-19T22:48:58Z")
> [@Ale](#): > > It’s plainly obvious that the purpose of this thread is to militantly ignore and misdirect an issue, so much for “Fighting Ignorance”. > Looking at it without the handicap of intractable partisanship. this “Obamagate” makes Nixon’s Watergate look like rank amateurism and needs to be examined, but of course that would likely bring down many beloved narratives and force some serious introspection so that’s not going to happen, not here anyway. [Better luck next time.](https://thehill.com/opinion/criminal-justice/498494-obamagate-backfires-documents-show-biden-obama-acted-properly) You can send your apology here: [The Office of Barack and Michelle Obama](https://barackobama.com/contact/) ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2020, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-obamagate/853616/154 "2020-05-20T01:23:25Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > You won’t get one. They came into a thread that asks for an explanation of what “Obamagate” actually is, just to respond that they didn’t need to explain it because it’s so obvious what it is. > > O-gate is nothing more than the most recent manifestation of their fact-free dismissals of everything Obama. They spent his entire time in office simply declaring that he was a “disaster”, the “worst president ever”, that America was a “laughingstock”, without even attempting to explain why, because they knew they didn’t need to explain it. Then, as soon as Trump was elected, they started simply declaring that Trump was the best ever, that America was “great” again, that America was “respected” again, and again, provided no explanation or evidence for these claims. Because it was never about the evidence. > > And it’s not about the evidence now. Who is this “they” I’m supposed to be part of? You don’t see that your first reaction is to look for some nebulous, nefarious, conspiring group for an explanation? > [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Asking the public what the nature of an alleged scandal is (since our President can’t be bothered to explain it) somehow equals an attempt to “ignore and misdirect” on the issue? That doesn’t make the slightest bit of sense. > > Clearly you believe there is indeed a scandal of some sort. I will assume that you have the ability to explain to others what it is. > > What do you believe are the main elements of this alleged scandal? > What specific crime or crimes do you believe have been committed, and by whom? You really don’t know what it’s all about? [“… the most critical reason to delve deeply into this case is that it reveals one the most dangerous abuses of power a democracy can suffer: The powers of the CIA, FBI, and NSA were blatantly and repeatedly abused to manipulate election outcomes and achieve political advantage.”](https://theintercept.com/2020/05/14/new-documents-from-the-sham-prosecution-of-gen-michael-flynn-also-reveal-broad-corruption-in-the-russiagate-investigations/?comments=1) [“… here’s a conspiracy, an outgoing president and vice-president and a Washington Post columnist … and the FBI setting up an incoming administration”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-C1_0knDeJI) The use of the FBI to entrap a member of an incoming administration official, and the thousand conspiracy theories launched after that. Apparently, you (plural) see nothing wrong with that, or that it was lead by a man [who stated that he would stop Trump from becoming president](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/14/us/politics/fbi-texts-trump.html). Nothing to see here., shut eyes close, stick fingers in ears and la-la-la the bad things away. You want Banana Republic? because is how you, as in the US public, turning your back to corruption and abuses of power like this, get Banana Republic. > [@BlankSlate](#): > > [Better luck next time.](https://thehill.com/opinion/criminal-justice/498494-obamagate-backfires-documents-show-biden-obama-acted-properly) > > You can send your apology here: [The Office of Barack and Michelle Obama](https://barackobama.com/contact/) An opinion piece, dripping with propagandistic language, written by: “Marik von Rennenkampff served as an analyst with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation, as well as an Obama administration appointee at the U.S. Department of Defense.” :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2020, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-obamagate/853616/155 "2020-05-20T01:49:51Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > **[Obama Lives in Trump’s Head](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/17/opinion/trump-obama.html)** The rent is low, but the view – Cabrini Green had more appealing views and better neighbors. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2020, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-obamagate/853616/156 "2020-05-20T02:14:24Z")
[https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/19/mcconnells-gop-takes-trumps-election-year-cues-268477](https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/19/mcconnells-gop-takes-trumps-election-year-cues-268477) > [@](#): > > In the days to come and with McConnell’s public blessing, GOP committee chairmen plan to follow Trump’s lead and approve a series of subpoenas for documents and testimony that could hit some of Trump’s favorite targets, including Hunter Biden and dozens of Obama administration officials. > It’s all part of the last stage of the GOP’s evolution during Trump’s first term: an apparent end to public disagreements for the next six months until the party is past the election. > > “I just think that everybody realizes that our fortunes sort of rise or fall together,” said Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), the party whip. “One thing we have to do is to make sure that we are united on our agenda and make sure that there’s not separation between the White House and Republicans in Congress.” The fact that it’s a fake scandal means nothing to a party bereft of any scruples. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2020, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-obamagate/853616/157 "2020-05-20T02:43:27Z")
> [@Ale](#): > > You want Banana Republic? because is how you, as in the US public, turning your back to corruption and abuses of power like this, get Banana Republic. This is rich considering [how corrupt the investigations of any alleged malfeasance from Obama or Biden made by Trump and henchmen has been.](https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a29445236/marie-yovanovitch-ukraine-ambassador-testify-congress-trump/) > [@Ale](#): > > An opinion piece, dripping with propagandistic language, written by: > > “Marik von Rennenkampff served as an analyst with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation, as well as an Obama administration appointee at the U.S. Department of Defense.” > > :rolleyes: The AP also did check, and on the whole, yes it is another nothing burger that the republicans will use to play many of their followers like fiddles. > **[AP FACT CHECK: Trump, GOP falsehoods on Flynn, Biden, virus](https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-ap-top-news-joe-biden-politics-virus-outbreak-eb19b89d489278bcd6db9bf5fdfc493a)** > > WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump and his GOP allies are misrepresenting the facts behind the legal case of former national security adviser Michael Flynn as they seek to allege improper behavior during the Obama administration in the... > [@](#): > > SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee: “The unmasking of General Flynn by the Obama Administration regarding conversations during the presidential transition are deeply troubling and smell of politics, not national security.” — statement Wednesday. > > THE FACTS: There is nothing from newly released material that suggests the unmasking requests were rooted in politics rather than national security. > > There were indeed multiple Obama administration officials, including then-Vice President Biden, who asked the NSA to disclose the name of an American whose identity was concealed in intelligence reports. That American was revealed to be Flynn. > > But there’s nothing inherently unusual about the requests, and the documents released by the Trump administration say the people who made the requests were authorized to receive the underlying intelligence reports. > [@](#): > > TRUMP, addressing the criminal case against Flynn that Trump’s Justice Department is now seeking to drop: “This was all Obama, this was all Biden. These people were corrupt, the whole thing was corrupt, and we caught them.” — interview Thursday on Fox Business Network. > > THE FACTS: He’s suggesting partisan politics by the Obama administration were completely behind Flynn’s investigation. That’s incorrect. > > It is true that the counterintelligence investigation into ties between Russia and the Trump campaign, and into Russia in particular, began during the Obama administration. But it continued well into Trump’s own administration. The investigation into Flynn was taken over by a special counsel who was appointed by Rod Rosenstein, Trump’s own deputy attorney general. > [@](#): > > TRUMP: “So even before I got elected, you remember the famous — the two lovers, right, Strzok and Page, the insurance policy, she’s going to win, but just in case she doesn’t we have an insurance policy. That means that if I won, they’re going to try and take me out.” — Fox interview Thursday, which re-aired Sunday. > > THE FACTS: There was no conspiracy afoot to take out Trump in the 2016 text message between two FBI employees. > > Trump depicts the two as referring to a plot — or insurance policy — to oust him from office if he won the presidential election over Democrat Hillary Clinton. It’s apparent from the text that it wasn’t that. > > Agent Peter Strzok and lawyer Lisa Page, both now gone from the bureau, said the text messages reflected a debate about how aggressively the FBI should investigate Trump and his campaign when expectations at the time were that he would lose anyway. > > Strzok texted about something Page had said to the FBI’s deputy director, to the effect that “there’s no way he gets elected.” But Strzok argued that the FBI should not assume Clinton would win: “I’m afraid we can’t take that risk.” He likened the situation to “an insurance policy in the unlikely event you die before you’re 40.” He has said he was not discussing a plot to drive Trump from office. And then the AP also had to check what Trump did toss also there about testing in the USA, of course a big lie and it seems that many followers of Trump do not care that lives are on the line. > [@](#): > > BRETT GIROIR, the federal health official overseeing U.S. testing: “Everybody who needs a test can get a test. … If you’re symptomatic with a respiratory illness, that is an indication for a test and you can get a test. If you need to be contact traced, you can get a test.” — news briefing on May 11. > > THE FACTS: Not according to public health experts, who say the U.S. is not near the testing level to safely reopen. > > Researchers at the Harvard Global Health Institute, for instance, said the U.S. should now be doing 900,000 tests a day to help stop the spread of the virus. Trump this week said the U.S. was doing about 300,000. > > Giroir stressed that an adequate number of diagnostic tests were available for those with symptoms of COVID-19, but studies have shown many who get infected never show symptoms. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious diseases expert, has urged enough testing to include at the least asymptomatic people in vulnerable populations, such as nursing homes. > > The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently broadened its guidelines for coronavirus testing to include certain asymptomatic people who may be at higher risk. > > More than 40 states are failing to test widely enough to reach the level needed to safely loosen stay-at-home orders, according to an AP analysis of metrics developed by the Harvard Global Health Institute. The group includes four — Colorado, Florida, Georgia and Texas – that have already reopened. ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2020, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-obamagate/853616/158 "2020-05-20T03:07:47Z")
> [@Ale](#): > > [“… the most critical reason to delve deeply into this case is that it reveals one the most dangerous abuses of power a democracy can suffer: The powers of the CIA, FBI, and NSA were blatantly and repeatedly abused to manipulate election outcomes and achieve political advantage.”](https://theintercept.com/2020/05/14/new-documents-from-the-sham-prosecution-of-gen-michael-flynn-also-reveal-broad-corruption-in-the-russiagate-investigations/?comments=1) An opinion piece, dripping with propagandistic language, which is impressive in it’s gall to claim that things that happened after the election were an attempt to manipulate election outcomes. It’s ok to lie to law enforcement when you’re Republican. Because we know what Flynn said to the FBI, we know what Flynn actually did, and the two are not the same. This is the same “perjury trap” bullshit we’ve heard for years. Easiest way to not get caught lying? Don’t lie. How to not get in trouble for undermining the current administration? Don’t undermine the current administration. If anything, Flynn has been treated with kid gloves - the guy (and his son) worked with literal foreign agents in an attempt to discredit a Turkish dissenter and have him extradited. If this is the best you’ve got… ---
**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:** [May 20, 2020, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-obamagate/853616/159 "2020-05-20T03:56:07Z")
> [@Ale](#): > > Who is this “they” I’m supposed to be part of? > You don’t see that your first reaction is to look for some nebulous, nefarious, conspiring group for an explanation? > > You really don’t know what it’s all about? > [“… the most critical reason to delve deeply into this case is that it reveals one the most dangerous abuses of power a democracy can suffer: The powers of the CIA, FBI, and NSA were blatantly and repeatedly abused to manipulate election outcomes and achieve political advantage.”](https://theintercept.com/2020/05/14/new-documents-from-the-sham-prosecution-of-gen-michael-flynn-also-reveal-broad-corruption-in-the-russiagate-investigations/?comments=1) > > [“… here’s a conspiracy, an outgoing president and vice-president and a Washington Post columnist … and the FBI setting up an incoming administration”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-C1_0knDeJI) > > The use of the FBI to entrap a member of an incoming administration official, and the thousand conspiracy theories launched after that. Apparently, you (plural) see nothing wrong with that, or that it was lead by a man [who stated that he would stop Trump from becoming president](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/14/us/politics/fbi-texts-trump.html). Nothing to see here., shut eyes close, stick fingers in ears and la-la-la the bad things away. > > You want Banana Republic? because is how you, as in the US public, turning your back to corruption and abuses of power like this, get Banana Republic. > > An opinion piece, dripping with propagandistic language, written by: > > “Marik von Rennenkampff served as an analyst with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation, as well as an Obama administration appointee at the U.S. Department of Defense.” > > :rolleyes: Putin stooges and an amateur youtube video. What next? Alex Jones? You got nothing. :rolleyes: The phony “Obamagate” is an entirely fabricated ‘scandal’ designed by the republican smear machine to distract from the tens of thousands killed via the incompetence of the Trump administration. It ain’t gonna work and it’s going nowhere. Still waiting for evidence of any wrongdoing…come back if you can ever find any. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2020, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-obamagate/853616/160 "2020-05-20T13:04:05Z")
> [@Ale](#): > > Who is this “they” I’m supposed to be part of? > You don’t see that your first reaction is to look for some nebulous, nefarious, conspiring group for an explanation? You can put your paranoia aside. The poster you are responding to used “they” as a genderless noun, not as some attempt to associate you with some nebulous, nefarious, conspiring group. Why is your first reaction to seeing a very common and innocuous usage of a pronoun to assume some sort of conspiracy? ---
**Author:** ![crywalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crywalt/32/3224_2.png) [@crywalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crywalt)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2020, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-obamagate/853616/161 "2020-05-20T14:54:43Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > You can put your paranoia aside. The poster you are responding to used “they” as a genderless noun, not as some attempt to associate you with some nebulous, nefarious, conspiring group. > > Why is your first reaction to seeing a very common and innocuous usage of a pronoun to assume some sort of conspiracy? Also the referent for “they” shifts between paragraphs. The first one is the other poster, the second one is “Republicans in general” or perhaps “right-wing nutjobs” or whatever. Some people are still very cranky about the use of the singular they. It’s a real shame. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-obamagate/853616.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-is-obamagate/853616.md?page=9)