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So, when the reports started coming out that the eagerly anticipated IG report about the origins of the “deep state” investigation of Russian campaign interference had found that there was no there, there I was admonished to wait for the actual report before getting “too giddy.” Okay. Here it is.
And as I predicted many months ago, it confirms that the laughable charges of a “deep state” conspiracy to hurt Mr. Trump was just another of his countless lies. Part of his billowing smoke screen of falsehoods to hoodwink his gullible supporters.
The sad thing is that any thinking person could have made the same prediction. The idea that the “deep state” was out to hurt Mr. Trump NEVER made ANY sense. It was, in fact, their ill-advised actions put Mr. Trump in the White House – one of those “inconvenient truths” that “conservatives” never could incorporate in their “thinking” about the looming “bombshells” that were going to come out.
Tidewater News and Opinion Forum 
Conspiracies are the lifeline for modern conservative politics. It has found a skilled and conveniently amoral champion in Trump.
From “birther blather” to Mexicans “sending” rapists to retweeting racist memes and videos to “fake news” to “deep state” to a White House meeting with conspiracy media stars to “everyone knows” to “they say” to “I’ve been told” and of course the “deep state”, the president has pushed every button of doubt and mistrust.
At least 29% of Americans believe in a conspiracy of deep state efforts to take down the president. Almost the same percentage as believe aliens are hidden in Area 51 by our government.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/959315/belief-in-conspiracy-theories-in-the-us/
Len’s theory of “Rabbit Hole” politics:
Considering that another 10-12% of rational Americans will support Trump for political preferences such as SCOTUS or regulatory relief, we have the unshakeable 40% that approve of the regime.
I believe that the regime, through its “stable genius”, is trying to match Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan and other shaky autocracies in conspiracy mongering to solidify power.
Of, course, that could be a conspiracy theory itself.
Final thought: it takes solid, committed organization to foster conspiracies. The Democrats are not an “organized” political party. Even Will Rogers was aware of that a century ago.
IMHO
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I believe our stable genius made a campaign promise to drain the swamp, and little by little he’s fulfilling that promise.
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What “swamp” are you talking about? Originally it referred to the greedy cabal of lobbyists, political insiders and corporate grifters feathering their own nests in DC. Now it seems to refer to our national security institutions? Which is it?
If it is the former, he has taken it to a new level of “swampiness” with all the corruption he surrounds himself with. If it is the later then he is doing Putin’s work. Either way, there is NOTHING to admire.
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Dream on.
He has loaded his administration with sycophants and crooks. Wilbur Ross comes to mind as Trump’s money laundering partner from the Bank of Cyprus. He has made foreign policy decisions based on how they might affect his investments. (China and ZTE v. Trump investments in Indonesia and troop withdrawal from Syria v. hotels in Turkey.)
He has shuffled tens of billions in taxpayer money to his buds in Big Agra. Billion dollar wall contracts to his compadres.
There ain’t no swamp drainin’ going on. He has sucked respect for the presidency down to nothing, however.
I guess that is something, I suppose.
IMHO
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RE: “Dream on.”
I intend to. None of your allegations against Wilbur Ross or Trump or his family has gained traction, probably because they lack substance.
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He did make that promise. However, he is not draining the swamp. He is swamping the drain. Crony capitalism, that he used to work in, is now crony governing, hiring only people that agree with him.
IMHO
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RE: “What ‘swamp’ are you talking about?”
It’s clever to treat the question as a choice between two options, as if some sort of deep analysis were in play, but I’m not persuaded that a formal definition of “swamp” is needed. Instead, I merely note that the IG report looks to me like an incremental step in a process candidate Trump promised to undertake.
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Clever? No. I was simply wondering what you are talking about. Back in the campaign Trump defined “swamp” he was going to drain in the first way – corrupt insiders feathering their own nests. The idea that he has made progress in draining THAT “swamp” is laughable. He and his kleptocratic administration has made it worse – far worse than it has been for generations. Thus the switch in the lying liars propaganda which is now saying that the “swamp” is the deep state. Your most recent comment shows that you are one of those who has been fooled. And even more absurd, the IG report exonerating the new “swamp” you now take as evidence that Trump is keeping a promise. You cannot make this stuff up!
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RE: “the IG report exonerating the new ‘swamp…”
To paraphrase the IG in testimony, “No one who touched the FISA process is exonerated.”
You are the one making things up.
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I can paraphrase the IG too . . . “Everyone involved in the Russia-Trump investigation acted in good faith to protect this country. No one involved allowed their personal political preferences to compromise their work. There were good and valid reasons to open this investigation.”
It is really kind of pitiful when a grown man who has repeatedly touted the looming “bombshells” exonerating Trump and damning the “deep state” that would come out of this IG investigation is not man enough to simply admit that he was wrong. Kind of like Dear Leader who is NEVER wrong, right?
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If swamp is euphemistic for the national coffers, then yes. $3.5T and counting.
The only swamp Trump is draining is a syphilitic canker sore.
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read the impeachment report if you want to see a string of conspiracy theories strung together.
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Half right.
It is not a “theory” when it is fully documented and evidenced. It is, however, a “conspiracy” which is the word for people coordinating their efforts to break the law.
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The IG report shows, and the IG confirmed in Senate testimony, that the FBI conducted illegal surveillance of Trump and his campaign. Now that you have the report in hand, you can prove it for yourself.
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“FBI conducted illegal . . .”
You can cherry-pick isolated and minor instances of this or that FBI agent being sloppy in their work if that floats your boat, but the big picture in the report is the opposite of the lies that Trump has been selling to his dupes. It is also the opposite of the “bombshells” that you and other Trumpists have been predicting.
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Wow. Really? I guess you glossed over the part where the IG stated that the lie of political bias in opening the investigation was NOT proven? 17 errors and you take it to illegal surveillance. Cherries picked, pitted and maraschino-ed.
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RE: “17 errors and you take it to illegal surveillance.”
Yes I do, and so did the IG in his testimony. The absence of evidence of political bias is a red herring. The surveillance was illegal because the FISA warrants were illegal.
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Full troll mode, no surprise.
Also no surprise that the “deep state” silliness was disproved.
The Conspiracy Crowd can go back to their flat earth and moon landing rants now…
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RE: “Also no surprise that the ‘deep state’ silliness was disproved.”
You mean the FBI is not part of the deep state?
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Let’s remember that Brennan was the head of the CIA yet he did nothing to correct the FBI regarding Carter Page reporting to them, thereby exonerating him prior to the FISA warrant.
Sounds pretty deep-statey to me.
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Sounds pretty “deep-statey to me”
Sounds more like the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing. Not at all uncommon in massive organizations. What would be the motive for one part of the “deep-state” to let another part of the “deep-state” waste its efforts?
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RE: “You can cherry-pick isolated and minor instances of this or that FBI agent being sloppy in their work if that floats your boat, but the big picture in the report is the opposite of the lies that Trump has been selling to his dupes.”
That the FBI conducted illegal surveillance for two years, producing potentially false prosecutions along the way (e.g., Michael Flynn) and trampling on citizens’ rights (e.g., Carter Page and George Papadopolous) strikes me as a very “big picture” revelation, and much closer to “bombshell” than “cherry pick.”
You are not specific in naming the “lies that Trump has been selling to his dupes,” but it is now indisputable that he has been correct in claiming he and his campaign were the targets of illegal behavior.
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The main claims by the regime are that the investigation of Russian interference was precipitated falsely.
Which it wasn’t.
Bad actions afterwards regarding professional lapses and some lovers’ emails does not change that one iota. Except in the mind of Trump’s personal attorney, Barr.
BTW, Flynn pleaded guilty. So he is a felon by his own admission regarding his lies about Russian communications. Not to mention not registering as a foreign agent and accepting money from foreign sources and still being National Security Advisor.
He may have been a hero at one time, but he tap danced softly around treason for the regime.
With all the felons surrounding Trump I think he was trying to create a deep state, but luckily for America patriots outed these traitors.
IMHO
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RE: “Which it wasn’t.”
That’s debatable, as both Barr and Durham have shown.
RE: “BTW, Flynn pleaded guilty.”
A plea which Flynn and his new attorney are now contesting.
RE: “He may have been a hero at one time, but he tap danced softly around treason for the regime.”
That’s just a ridiculous speculation.
RE: “With all the felons surrounding Trump…”
None of whom have been prosecuted for crimes arising from their dealings with Trump. Frankly, I see alleging guilt by association as dishonest.
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…”as both Barr and Durham have shown.” So you have advanced knowledge of what will be in Durham’s report or indictments? What an interesting concept, considering you keep saying let’s wait and see what Durham’s investigation turns up. He shows his bias by parroting Barr, and by extension, Trump. Whatever happened to independence of the DOJ? Oh, wait. Trump finally found an AG to do away with that concept.
As far as Barr goes, he did the same thing with the IG report that he did with the Mueller report; provided his biased, advanced opinion of what was in it, there by laying the ground work for trolls such as yourself to attempt to muddy the full truth. Were mistakes made in the execution of the warrants? Yes, the report says so. Was their political bias in opening the investigation? No, and the report says that as well.
Is Christopher Wray in position to fix what has come to light? I believe he is. But Mr. Trump, because Mr. Wray came out in support of the findings, without condition and committed to fixing what need fixed, instead of parroting Trump and Barr, feels quite the opposite. All because of perceived “bad attitude”.
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RE: “So you have advanced knowledge of what will be in Durham’s report or indictments?”
I don’t, and I don’t need it. Both Barr and Durham have publicly disagreed with the IG’s finding that Crossfire Hurricane was properly predicated. This substantiates my observation that Mr. Rothman’s assertion of proper predicaion is “debatable.”
As to your conspiracy theories about Barr, they are discredited by the fact that House Democrats were free to use the Mueller report as the basis for impeachment. If anything in it was impeachable, they could have used it, no matter what Barr or the DOJ had to say. Mueller himself pointed this out, but there was nothing to use, so the Democrats chose a different path.
The full impact of the IG report isn’t yet known, but one thing is clear: The malfeasance at the FBI was vastly more serious than a few mistakes made in the handling of a warrant.
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Durham is conducting a criminal investigation of what went on. He should refrain from any comments concerning the IG report, which is related to his investigation, until he has completed it. By his statements he shows his bias toward Trump and not for the rule of law. He has indicated by his thoughts on the IG report that no matter what he turns up he will downplay the finding of the INDEPENDENT report. IMHO.
As far as what you are calling a conspiracy theory about Barr’s response to the Mueller Report was a pre-release assessment to control the narrative concerning the findings of the report. And a questionable narrative it was. – IMHO.
And the fact that the report put the lie of political bias in opening the investigation means nothing to you? I get it. Take the parts that are good for Trump and ignore the parts that prove him to be the liar we all know and love.
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