I haven't been on since before the election. Throughout the summer and fall I was basically on a tirade about Mr. Trump's close ties to the Kremlin and his seeming agreement with their worldview and support of Russian stances on the EU, Syria, and NATO.

At the time of my smarmy posts I never really entertained the notion that Mr. Trump could actually become President. I was really just commenting on what i saw as a lot of coincidences in the Trump rhetoric, unsophisticated foreign policy positions, deep connections between so many of his advisors and the Kremlin, et cetera. Four days from the transition of power, I can only write that my opinions have drastically changed.

Mr. Trump obviously is willing and planning on implementing a new Foreign Policy directly in line with Fascist Russia. There can be no doubt. From his support of Brexit, head nod to the infiltration and destabilization of the Ukraine, open support of the annexation of the Crimea, and last but not least, his complete acceptance of Iranian and Russian control of a wide swath of the Middle East, through the use of terror bombing in support of a criminal regime, he has proven what he is.

Combine the very real and life crushing examples above with his apparent lack of care that the Russian FSB has been conducting a very effective disinformation campaign in the West, cleverly using our very openness and liberality to weaken our positions on the world stage, and you have a person who is very dangerous to the security of the United States and the Liberal democracies of the West.

Mr. Trump's fondness of the "sovereign types" and nationalist movements spreading today in Europe is aligned perfectly with Mr. Putin's goals of fracturing the European alliance, and in result strengthens his geopolitical position. To slowly, or perhaps not so slowly, return Europe to a hodgepodge of totally independent, ethnically homogeneous states, forever sniping and warring with each other over petty economic issues and the like. In essence, returning to the old European model that led to wars and hostilities amongst themselves about every two years from Charlemagne to 1945.

As Trump continues to pull away and criticize our strongest Western allies, the circle will be complete, and Mr. Putin's Russia, long after he is gone, will reap the benefits of 20 little enemies, all pursuing their own self interest, rather than a cohesive political unit, made up of 20 liberal, dynamic, capitalist nations, supported totally and unquestionably by the United States. The country with the most powerful nuclear arsenal, navy, and air capabilities in the world.

This is past the point of simply making fun of the buffoon, talking about pussies or the "Wall", or even the ethics of his administration. Mr. Trump is, on a daily basis, proving that he is a direct threat to the national security of the United States of America.

He needs to be arrested, detained, and replaced before he does long lasting damage to the viability of the free world.

I post this here only because it is the only place I have a made up screen name, and this kind of post immediately generates a massive number of death threats, which could actually tell you something about the effectiveness of the Russian propaganda operation in the West.

By the way, I'm a Republican. Peace out.

For what crime are you going to "arrest" the President for?

I don't know. I'm just kind of hoping that someone in the Military complex can make one up. Also hoping that the stuff getting leaked goes up in quality and reliability. Early efforts to delegitimize have been okay, but nothing great. Hoping they will judiciously leak in a steady drip that builds to an indictable crescendo.

Well trump did break several laws while running for office, plus he'll be in violation of the constitution on day one, so...

The Pentagon, CIA, and NI directors will be Trump's people. He will also be in charge of the NSA and all its spying and surveillance capabilities. Do you think someone with his morals will be against using it? He will likely purge whatever high level people Obama placed in over next few months.

The man will be infused with immense amounts of power.

What will there be to leak once he gets into power?

I am definitely fearful about abuse of these agencies given the expansions of power that first Bush II gave them, that were then cemented and made permanent by Obama. It's pretty scary.

I also think that you are overestimating the ability of politically appointed directors of agencies like the NSA and Central Intelligence to control operations and directly enforce policy directives. There will be large factions, in some ways uncontrollable, in direct conflict with this Administration.

This has always been a problem within our intelligence agencies. Most notably in 1976 when Carter fired Bush and replaced him with an outsider, Admiral Turner, who was given the mandate of cleaning up CIA and bringing it directly under Presidential control. In the first year of his directorship Turner fired over 800 career agents who were considered the worst of the "bad actors".

During Carter's Presidency, the dismissed group of officers, along with their buddies in cliques who survived the purge actively worked in coordination to undermine Carter's foreign policy and weaken his presidency. Most of this group campaigned for Geo Bush and then were folded into the Reagan campaign.

I'm getting long winded, but there is definitely precedent when it comes to CIA working against a President's irresponsible FP agenda. The Liberal bogey man (CIA) could prove to be our salvation from the Trump/Putin/Flynn/Bannon/Page group.

This thread has potential. OP opines that Trump will be too powerful before he takes office and asks for his ARREST!

His crime... demanding the EU pays the primary cost for their defense! And he is responsible for Obama/Clinton/Kerrey bollixing up foreign policy as the JV team runs amuck

The delusion is strong in you young Skywalker :-)

Why should my taxes go on ****ing yank oil wars?

Defense...my arse, how much did you help Ukraine?

There is ZERO reason for any european nation to contribute anything to NATO. If Russia, the only credible aggressor, invades, the US will do nothing. Why would they do so when the US has repeatedly backed down to Russian aggression?

I'm with you pal. I don't want to spend a penny on the defense of the EU. I'm happy if you don't want to pay for your collective defense. Leaving it up to Germany has worked out really well in the past....

It is funny, though. The only Russian territorial aggression in Europe was under Obama. Under GHW Bush, the ruskies were heading in the other direction....

Gbv going against the grain and opposing the fact nato had been the most successful political alliance, perhaps ever shows you all you need to know here.

You can be sure he will misstep at some point. Also, you can be 100% certain that intelligence over in Europe and even in the US is working around the clock digging on his business ties all over the world. I give Trump 6 months before he is facing impeachment.

One can be hopeful at least.

It's as if Trump got the memo that the US can't afford to be the world's hegemon anymore.

The US has not interved on behalf of the UK since WWI. We ourselves supported the US in afghanistan and Iraq with blood and money. The end result is our country is less safe.

I do not see that as a "success". If Trump wants to stop taking advantage of the limitless tolerance of the British taxpayer and the sycophantic grovelling of the political establishment he is very welcome to do so.

Things are now playing out that prove that a lot of powerful people realize that the United States can't afford to NOT be the world's hegemon anymore.

One should find it curious that both the hard left and hard right in the United States, and the Western European democracies, both share some key policy positions. Less Military intervention, less free trade, less integration of allied nations, less trust and respect for our security and legal institutions. Funny how those have been RU and Soviet goals for decades.

If you want Russian support or funding, join up with the far left or right, doesn't really matter which one. They are both compromised.

If you want to become an RU target, stand with center left or right, responsible, sane, and effective leaders in any Western democracy.

Three arrests in the first go around. One of them, Manafort, was responsible for the delegate coordination at the RNC and also was a strong voice of persuasion regarding the selection of Mike Pence as VP nominee. When that is a prosecutors opening salvo, things are going to get very interesting.

Political neophytes attempted to collude with foreign enemies via Skype and Facebook Messenger are now under investigation by 17 of the finest Counterintelligence prosecutors on the planet. Mr. Trump is going to get a taste of what real power is, and it has little to do with running a casino or golf course.

In an effort to prove that I'm not partisan about this, there is ample evidence that RU troll farms also targeted liberals via support for Sanders in an attempt to weaken HRC, and also aid to the Stein campaign narrative to strip liberal votes from HRC in key swing states. Russian Intelligence Services are non ideological, pragmatic practitioners of their craft. As any competent foreign intelligence service should be. It worries me because the Trump administration, in a thinly veiled attempt to protect itself rather than America, has convinced a large number of Americans that this entire scandal is a "hoax" and politically motivated fake news.

This isn't a party issue. It's just focused on Trump because of the huge success the RU backed Alt-Right has had in pushing his agenda and co opting the GOP. Plenty of Dems are going down in this investigation as well.

MTG cards have become way stronger since I stopped playing.

agree 100%

I had no idea they had a Dungeons and Dragons or whatever so close to my screen name. The genesis of it for me is way more mundane. I was getting killed on Party and when I started on Stars I chose SQRED as an acronym for SCREWED but i forgot the W. I wish i would have known about this card i definitely would have went with SKRED.

U.S. Hires Company With K.G.B. Link to Guard Moscow Embassy

Under a $2.8 million no-bid contract awarded by the Office of Acquisitions in Washington, security guards at the American Embassy in Moscow and at consulates in St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and Vladivostok will be provided by Elite Security Holdings, a company closely linked to the former top K.G.B. figure, Viktor G. Budanov, a retired general who rose through the ranks to become head of Soviet counterintelligence.

...

“This is very good for us,” said Mikhail Lyubimov, a former K.G.B. spy who knew Mr. Budanov from their time together in the Soviet intelligence service. “If I were the chief there, I would never do this for a very clear reason,” he said, adding that the Russian Embassy in Washington would not put security in the hands of an American company known to have ties to the C.I.A.

Next up: Will Trump sign off on an arms deal between Raytheon and Ukraine for the sale of 47M$ worth of FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank missile? These weapons were specifically designed at the end of the Cold War to neutralize Soviet armored capabilities.

These are the little deals, underpinning and girding European policy, that need to be watched closely, yet are not covered in the public media outlets.

We shall see. But traitors are gonna treason, so who knows?

GOP chairman worried by Trump's stance on Russian interference

The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee says he is worried that President Trump has not issued an “outright condemnation” of Russia for meddling in the 2016 election.

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), who was widely viewed as a contender for Trump’s secretary of Homeland Security, told The Hill in a sit-down interview that he has told the administration the president needs to “more forcefully” stand up to Moscow.

But, nearly one year into Trump’s administration, McCaul’s appeal has gone unanswered.

“I think there is a lot of, for whatever reason, avoidance of the issue, or saying that it could have been some other country. When you look at the intelligence, it is very clear the attribution goes directly to the Kremlin,” McCaul said. “That worries me.”

https://twitter.com/NatashaBertrand/...47014231330823

Well, yeah. It's not just a figure of speech that the Russian 'government' is merely an organised crime syndicate. It's literally true.