Quote:
Originally Posted by mooby
Apologies for passing this over, I think the bolded line at the top is a plausible scenario. Trump doesn't seem like the type to give anyone else any credit for any of his victories.
And the last paragraph gave me a good laugh. There's so many things I could harp on Republicans for, but this makes a good point. The one bone I have to pick is he's not just being nice to Russia, he's hanging out with one of our enemies several days after we brought indictments against 12 people who were acting under his command. The timing couldn't be worse. And it's his continued refusal to say Russia means us no harm after we brought charges alleging they meant to cause us harm (and are probably still doing so to this day).
Also if you want to switch gears we can discuss the role Maria Butina played/facilitated in Russian money laundering via the NRA. Hard to see the gov't bringing charges if they didn't have evidence to back up their case. Also serious question for you: Do you think the NRA has the moral fortitude to not take donations/work with any country willing to help the cause? Even if that country was our enemy and was still doing everything possible to undermine our position?
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I don't know much about the NRA. I would like to hope they would have the moral fortitude, but I tend to see groups that live and die around politics as money grubbers of the worst sort, and if they can maintain a semblance of deniability they probably would take money from anyone thats willing to give it to them.
One thing I think we have seen, and the depths of it is pretty amazing, is how deep Russia was willing to go to sow discord in our political environment. They were funnelling money and trolls to both sides simply to polarize the country, and it was/is a pretty effective strategy. But I do think the world has always underestimated how united this country can become if the circumstances of the international arena require it. Even as polarized as we are, our ability to function as a nation-state is pretty amazing when you think about it. With a near 50/50 split most european countries would have disbanded their parliaments and been forced into political chaos as the parties held continual referendums and alliances shifted under foot.
Our federal/local structure and our constitution allows us to disagree vehemently, yet have a functioning government with no real hint of collapse or uprising. At worst we get congressional inaction and paralysis, which isn't necessarily the worst thing.