Jesus tucking Christ it's not a binary solution. You can stand up to someone without going to war. You can recognize an adversary without unleashing your army. Quit offering a false choice. As Winston Churchill said "Vigilance is the price of freedom". If you believe Putin wants to be our friend then I've got some prime beachfront property for you about 50 miles south of Cut Off for you. If you think working with him will be productive then you must have supported Obama's bending over to him on Iran nuclear negotiations. You sound just like John Kerry Ted Kennedy and Jane Fonda. @shane0911 @HalloweenRun you all should know better. When in history has showing weakness to an adversary resulted in anything but war? Usually a devastating war that was preventable.
And we are not simply doing "nothing" as you imply. Labels are useless in this time of game. This isn't ISIS here. This is not the type of adversary you call an Enemy in public. Gets you nowhere. This is the type of adversary you can have dinner with. And for the love of god stop with the Strawman bullshit. Getting old. As I said earlier, all your solutions are emotionally based.
You are thinking about all of this at a very low level. Puffed up chests and strong words are nothing. Russia and the US are above such nonsense. This isn't North Korea here were you can provoke them propaganda. This is a broad game of ideals and transactions. I am not saying Trump is the right man for the job, but simply asking for sanctions or "tough talk" does nothing to further "our" agenda. An agenda that is in the middle of a shift. Mind you, we have our own internal fights going on.
I don't think engagement with Russia, rather than confrontation, is a weakness. Like Teddy Roosevelt said, "Walk softly but carry a big stick". Sanctions after sanctions is not walking softly. Punitive action against Russia, when there are so many leaky holes n the wall (capitalism unleashed, by other countries) will only ensure international relations will NEVER get better. Bad idea.
Oh, but it has been investigated and reported on. So let me help you with the details since you have failed to recall them on your own. Alexandra Chalupa was a political operative in the DNC who was tasked with helping the party reach out to various ethnic groups. During that time she was also tasked with investigating Paul Manafort's ties to Russia and loans he had received from pro-Russian groups inside the Ukraine. Mrs. Chalupa's employment with the DNC ended at the convention last summer. During the course of investigating Manafort she reported her findings to the Clinton campaign and the DNC. A Politico story, which has since been largely discredited, was the impetus for this story. Further, there was a Ukranian anti-corruption agency that investigated the ledger that showed Manafort accepting 12 million from the pro-Russian group. Lastly, and perhaps most legitimately, was the fact that several Ukranian officials publically criticized Trump and his candidacy. While unwise, it hardly amounts to anything illegal or inproper. It is, however, another attempt by the Trump people to create a false equivalence. But let's compare the two stories just for the sake of argument to see how they might compare: The Ukranian government announced an investigation that contributed to Manafort's downfall.....the Russian government helped spread fake news using social media, hacked the DNC and spread the emails around to create a new narrative going down the stretch. Further, it is unclear and immaterial if the Ukranian government opened the investigation into Manafort as a political play when our own intelligence agencies have now concluded that Manafort did accept funds from the pro-Russian group whereas our intelligence agencies have concluded definitively that Russia was out to support Trump and weaken Clinton. The Ukranians held a public investigation that followed their laws and customs while Russia dealt in stolen e-mails and cyber espionage to affect the elections in our country. Stop acting like these two are equal. They are not. If they were then there would be a parallel investigation. Clue: Something isn't worth investigating just because Trump says so. The man is a liar. He lies all day every day and has been caught doing so time after time after time.
she was investigated by Republicans and has been investigated by Republicans for the past 20 years. I can't stand the lady but I feel pretty certain that if there was real dirt on her then FOX news or Breitbart would have found it by now. I am sure it's not for a lack of looking. Go back and read my post to Pride about the comparison between what the Ukraine did and what Russia did. Two different things my man
you act as though we get to pick and choose our enemies. an enemy is one who opposes you, which the Russian's do at every turn. newsflash snowflake.....no one in Moscow is waiting for us to vote on whether we are going to be enemies or not. Putin's decided that a long time ago..........but go ahead and think that they are our friends.....but don't eat the damn brownies without a roll of toilet paper.
we do not have to go to war with them to hold them accountable for meddling in our elections. it makes no sense that it has to be one way or the other.
