People applying for a job in the intelligence community or the armed forces or those inside them moving to positions where they handle confidential materiel are universally checked in any country.I thought that was what the NSA and DHS were for. — Question
Trump had the cozy relationship with the Russians before the elections at least on some level. — ssu
↪VagabondSpectre There's a revealing article in the NY Times today, about how the 'conservative media'/Trump supporters are depicting Trump's problems. According to them, and him, the whole problem is the 'deep state' which is defending itself against Trump's vision for 'making America great again' by leaking and undermining at every point. Backed by the big money of liberal donors like Jeff Bezos, who owns the Washington Post, and various un-named moles in the State Department and other agencies, all of Trump's problems are simply being spun into existence by the dirty liberals. — Wayfarer
How is Trump still president if what you say is true? — Question
There is allways a first time and likely nobody believed this could happen... not likely even the Russians at first.My question seems to be of the following,
How is Trump still president if what you say is true? — Question
That true. And they will take time.Everybody is just waiting to see what the investigation brings to light. — Mongrel
And this whimsical idea just shows how totally ignorant, hubristic and out of touch Trump is with reality. What suits me is important, what other think, who cares?What's wrong with that? Trump was upfront about his views on Russia, he said all along that he considered the Russians to be natural allies in the fight against extremism and that he would work to ease tensions with Russia and put US-Russia relations on a friendlier footing. — Sivad
annexation of Crimea isn't accepted. — ssu
Getting screwed by a world-class villain feels every different than getting screwed by a clown. The villain makes you feel good about yourself, but with the clown things just get weird. — VagabondSpectre
When it comes to "Trump's agenda" I wouldn't be so quick to assume that he even has one beyond securing his own legacy. — VagabondSpectre
Those Champagne bottles weren't opened in celebrating in Trump's win just for Trump winning, but for the brilliant work made for Russia. — ssu
I'm curious if calling this an "annexation" is actually fair. If the Crimean people really wanted to be Russian and voted for it, should we really feel so bad for Ukraine that we tell the Crimeans they aren't allowed to join Russia?
Whether or not their referendum was representative seems a relevant question. — VagabondSpectre
Clearly both sides just want Crimea to be a part of their economic batteries and not the other's. — VagabondSpectre
If that were so, Russia would've been happy for Ukraine to have Crimea: that battery is shelling their own! Now and in the foreseeable future Crimea is a drain on Russia's resources. And I am not just talking about the international sanctions. — SophistiCat
It wasn't. There wasn't anything like a real referendum, such as what the Scots had. Before Russia made its play, there wasn't even much of a separatist movement there; it was just a sleepy and neglected province, more-or-less content to eke out a living from Russian and Ukrainian summer vacationers. But once the invasion got under way, local authorities toppled, Ukrainian media shut down and the propaganda of fear and patriotism revved up, I think it is plausible that most of the population would have voted to join Russia. But they weren't even trusted with their voices. — SophistiCat
Classic reply would be: so did the Sudetenland Germans want to join Germany. And the question is, just how many do have to have to "join" Russia. Russia has a long track record of staging these kind of "voluntary joining".I'm curious if calling this an "annexation" is actually fair. If the Crimean people really wanted to be Russian and voted for it, should we really feel so bad for Ukraine that we tell the Crimeans they aren't allowed to join Russia? — VagabondSpectre
How about the Tatars in Crimea?What concerns me I guess is that both sides seem to care less about the Crimean people than they do about getting what they want and spiting the other, so I'm often left not knowing who's account contains more deceit. — VagabondSpectre
Don't forget that the actual war happened in Eastern Ukraine, in the Donbass region. It's not a separate issue here. And there the Russians didn't just aid the rebels, but participated with Russian ground forces in combat.In light of Russia admitting spetnaz involvement pre-referendum, annexation might be a fair word regardless of what the Crimean population actually wanted, but I still wonder how much of the west's vigorous condemnation of this move is built around self interest rather than sympathy for the Crimean's loss of sovereignty. — VagabondSpectre
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