Which is why, in reaction to the so-called "election hacking," Obama ordered 35 Russian diplomats (described by the White House as "intelligence agents") out of the country, closed a couple of domestic Russian facilities (described by the White House as "intelligence agencies"), and promised to unleash a cyber counterattack (described by the computer literate as "fat chance").
Unfortunately, despite requests from the Senate and House Intelligence Committees, Barry has failed to produce any compelling evidence that Russia was behind the Wikileaks document releases which revealed to American voters that the Democratic party, from Hillary on down, is populated by sleazy, bribe-mongering crooks, lunatics, and sex addicts. In fact, it's highly questionable whether any final intelligence analysis will even hit Obama's desk before he leaves office - making the timing of his saber-rattling highly suspect if not downright dangerous.
Mind you, Hope n' Change isn't suggesting that Russia didn't hack into the email servers of Hillary, Leon Panetta, and the DNC. Of course they did; the cyber-porch lights were left on, the cyber-front door was wide open, and there was a big cyber-sign on the porch saying "please don't steal anything while we're not home."
The secret keepers were, in the laughable words of James Comey, "extremely careless." Meaning neither Russia nor anyone else had to be extremely clever to steal documents.
But all of that being said, no evidence has been presented that it was Russia who gave damning but 100% truthful documents to Wikileaks. It could have been a mischievous high school kid or, our personal belief, a Democratic insider who wanted to save our nation from Hillary.
Which is why it's disconcerting that Obama, while still vacationing in Hawaii, has prematurely chosen retaliatory action against the only suspect who has a huge nuclear arsenal and pretty much no sense of humor.
Perhaps, before the big ball drops in Times Square on New Year's Eve, he just wants everyone (especially Historians) to think that after 8 simpering years in office his own balls have finally dropped.
AND ONE MORE THING...
Drink up, drive safely, and join us Monday for "2016 - the year in review!"
31 comments:
At my age, not much scares me anymore. However, lamont at the last minute, trying to prove he's a girly man instead of a girly girl, causes me to pause. I don't think russia will take the bait as they know there will be an adult they can deal with in a few weeks. The sooner the White House is vacated and sanitized for our protection, the better.
It is my belief that the Russians if they had wanted to help someone they would have helped Hillary. It has been reported they were in her unauthorized server. Having done that they would have known enough about the Clinton foundation to blackmail her for all the years she would have been in office. They would have made her their puppet. She already sold them uranium.
Obama is one of the most dangerous people on the planet right now. I pray to God he doesn't start WWIII as a farewell gift to the rest of us - that is if he really ever truly leaves. This man is frightening.
As Nixon was leaving there was concern about what he would do. The JCOS reviewed Presidential orders prior to execution. So there is precedent.
Nixon loved America and world peace a whole lot more that pbho.
If these 35 diplomats that Øbyebye is expelling from the US are really spies, why were they not expelled long ago?
Also, since www stands for World Wide Web, what does it matter if these supposed hackers are sent elsewhere?
At least Putin is acting like an adult in this fiasco:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-12-30/putin-stunner-we-will-not-expel-anyone-we-refuse-sink-obamas-level
Perhaps that is why he has an 82% approval rating in Russia, while the best CNN liberal-biased poll places Øwanker in the mid-fifties.
I believe that the Russians could do us a lot of damage if they wanted to. They choose to sit back and read the daily cartoon (US news) and laugh at us. They know that BO will soon be gone and they will have an adult to deal with. I believe that they are waiting for that time as much as we are. Not saying that it will be easier for them, it may not be, but at least it will not be a laughing matter anymore.
Naughty children do exactly what they know you don't want them to. .....sigh 22 more days.
C'mon, Stilton... you and I know beyond ANY doubt that if lamont actually OWNS any balls, the ONLY way they could "drop" is if the Wookiee loses her grip on her PURSE! lamont couldn't "saber-rattle" anyway, since the closest facsimile he HAS is a "My Little Pussy" twirling baton!
Vile, petulant bastard loser. I only hope the damage is largely reversible. And defund the damned UN immediately.
Chris Plante on WMAL (I listen on IHeartRadio) commented on the "17 intelligence agencies" that allegedly concluded the Russkies had purloined the email. His comment is roughly: All 17? Even Coast Guard Intelligence? Even the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency?
Happy New Year to all.
Sorta makes ya feel sick when a foreign pres. acts better than our US pres.
https://www.sott.net/article/338141-Putin-mic-drops-Obama-Russia-retaliates-against-US-retaliations-by-inviting-families-of-US-diplomats-to-New-Years-party-at-Kremlin-wishes-Obama-and-family-all-the-best
Here's to a better New Year for all of us!
I HOPE we can survive the remaining days of that sorry so and so and his efforts to CHANGE our beloved country into something we barely recognize. That he was allowed to do his dirty deeds merely based on the color of his skin is beyond comprehension to all thinking people. It seems to be in fashion right now to mourn all the celebrities who have died this year but there is one death I am personally celebrating - the political career of the vile, evil, corrupt, despicable witch of the West, the one and only Hillary Clinton. I hope we never have to suffer someone else like her. May she burn in hell! At least we have a fighting chance again with Trump and I wish him all the best.
Happy New Year to all you Hope n' Changers, especially to you Dr. J. for all the insights and humor you provide to us.
Obama is having a temper trantrum just like any other two year old. His legacy is trashed and he knows after Trump swears the oath he will be little more than a negligible, forgettable, hollow, cheap plastic figurine. He is showing himself to be the immature, narcissistic, egomaniac that most of the thinking people in this country have known him to be since the beginning of his tenure. Hopefully, Trump will be able to repair Obama's damage in short order.
You know, when the Clintons left the White House they ripped all the W's off the typewriters and keyboards, stole lots of the good stuff in the house,and sold Presidential Pardons. Obama is doing as much damage as the Clintons did, only in the political spectrum. Is this the typical behavior of disappointed adults? No, but it is typical of the spoiled political elite. The Clintons have been there for years and now the Obama's join the club. Evidently they never read much French history, especially what happened to the elites during the French Revolution. If they had, they'd respect the American system of political change more.
@Shelly
I, too, hope we never have to suffer someone else like her. However, they have Elizabeth Warren all picked out and warming up in the bullpen. i do not know why, but she has been being pushed since before she was elected to the senate. reminiscent of how hillary was treated as first lady.
My late father use to say; Don't go deaf or blind because you have not heard or seen it all yet. I would suggest we are just now seeing the REAL girly man.
So, then I suppose that 'DEEP THROAT' was the 'Russians' as well...?
Did the Muslim crank up the bulldozers today to flatten the ex Russian embassies? Just curious. Boy, in my lifetime, I have never seen such potential damage put on an incoming administration. The good news is that the countries affected will not take the bait. Utah, I do not know if that can be easily fixed but suspect it can. The offshore drilling will take a bit of work but PE Trump will open up the Arctic, more of Alaska and maybe off shore California just to piss off those crybabies. I have a feeling Gov Perry is on this like white on rice. Now, what is coming next? Lord only knows but you can depend on it not being good for this country. I suspect the Muslim will hammer China, Great Britain and Europe in general. I do wonder where his over 50% "approval" comes from, they must be poling parolees.
I hope you understand that not only does the Muslim in Chief want to antagonize Russia before Trump takes office, but so do the Rove Republicans as well:
http://tinyurl.com/hxay353
Lyin' Ryan, Post Turtle, Johnny McShame, and the rest have jumped on that bandwagon. And they will do their best to keep President Trump from fulfilling his other campaign promises as well:
http://tinyurl.com/j8w3uqh
Because, after all, they are all One World Globalists, just like Barry Sotero and Cankles and Soros and Merkel and Juncker and...
My only hope is that AG Sessions drives the DoJ to investigate and prosecution across the entire government, REGARDLESS of whether the perps are Democrats or Republicans or Rastafarians. I am glad that President Trump did not select Mr. Giuliani for that position, since he has always seemed too much like a partisan hack to me.
Funny how the notion of Russia hacking our election was considered a crackpot conspiracy of the alt-right and not taken the least bit seriously until after Hillary lost.
So only now after 8 years of passivity, Obama decides to take "bold" steps. Sorry dude, your legacy is already toast. This was supposedly done to somehow de-legitimize Trump. Instead, I can't see how it does anything other than to amplify Obama's failure. How's that supposed "reset" working out now for ya?
As for the expelled Russians: I'd suggest tearing up your IDs and just becoming "undocumented aliens" for the next 20 days or so. There's little consequence of doing that instead of having to endure the jet lag of flying back to Moscow.
@Mike L, it's my guess that if you are right, they're sitting on the missing 30,000 just on the off chance that the Clintons somehow stage a resurgence in the future. The Clintons are like herpes, I am afraid; Once you have them, they are practically impossible to get rid of and re-emerge at the least opportune moment.
@Anonymous, I'm sure that Obama would like to think that. But I seriously doubt anyone else does. I think everyone is just sitting out the next 3 weeks waiting for the adults to return to DC.
@Geoff King said "If these 35 diplomats that Øbyebye is expelling from the US are really spies, why were they not expelled long ago?"
Good point! It's also embarrassing that this plays well to Putin. But then again, this isn't anything that we haven't known for most of a decade now.
At some point the no/low information voters will outnumber the rest of us so greatly that we cannot overcome them at the ballot box. In Lincoln's First Inaugural Address he said that the government of this country belongs to the people. And the people can change that government at the ballot box, at Constitutional Convention, or on the streets. I think option #3 may be here sooner than we wish. As for the MSM and their lemmings, their reaction to deceased movie stars and musicians is out of proportion to their accomplishments. While some are altruistic and strive to help their fellow humans, most are arrogant, egotistical, and culturally and historically ignorant. Stilt's pics of Loretta Swit made me want to swear off watching MASH reruns. I did see an obituary the other day which was completely ignored by the media. An old veteran passed who risked his life repeatedly during WWII so that we could inherit a country with all of its freedoms.
This made my day:
http://ninetymilesfromtyranny.blogspot.com/2016/12/the-greatest-gift-of-all-trump-style.html
@Sortahwitte- I agree; this is a volatile and dangerous time with Barry trying to do last minute things that Trump will have a hard time undoing.
@Mike L- As I've opined here previously, I just don't see the benefit to Russia in having leaked the documents - while the benefits to blackmailing a sitting president would have been huge. As I said in the commentary, I think Russia (and numerous others) probably did swipe easy-to-grab documents. But I don't think they were working with Wikileaks.
@Anonymous- I think Barry would be glad to see something horrible happen to the country as soon as possible after Trump's inauguration.
@NaCly Dog- I agree that Barry's final orders should all be scrutinized before implementation, but it's the lack of such an apparatus (or political will) that helped put Trump in the Oval Office.
@Geoff King- Great point; if we know these "intelligence agents" to be spies, why tolerate them until now? This is a big smoke screen. Really stinky smoke.
@chef621- I agree that Russia (or China, or North Korea) could probably raise holy Hell with us with a real cyberattack. Which is why I'm not crazy about Barry suddenly going cowboy on Putin. Maybe Vlad will shut down Washington's electrical grid for a couple of hours to slap Obama back down to Earth.
@Bruce Bleu- I was indeed being metaphorical. I don't believe that Barry has anything going on in the testicle department. Seriously, have you EVER seen evidence of him growing body or facial hair?
@TrickyRicky- If you want to make a couple of "Vile, Petulant Bastard Loser" signs, I'll hold one in front of the White House with you as Barry is escorted from the premises!
@Dan- The "17 intelligence agencies" being in agreement is a total fabrication. Wait, did I say "fabrication?" Sorry, I meant a steaming hot, fly-infested lie.
@chef621- Barry has just been bitch-slapped by Putin for approximately the jillionth time.
@Shelly- I regret seeing the deaths of celebrities too; some old, some too soon, all mortal like the rest of us. But the death of Hillary's political ambitions? Now THAT is a great thing if it truly comes to pass. I'd almost (but not quite) forgive 2016 for being an awful year.
Why tolerate known spies among us? So we can follow them and discern who they're running, what kind of information they seek, and perchance to turn them.
If the Russkies already named the 35 they were, originally, supposed to declare PNG and kick out, they're burned anyway so they might as well prepare for a life at Langley. Hard to be a spy if the target knows who you are.
@Graylady- I think the Obamas believe that their own place in history is all that matters, and are largely ignorant about the rest. There's a reason that Michelle wasn't proud to be an American until she had visions of taking $10 million worth of vacations every year.
@jlw- I still feel like we dodged a bullet not running against a Sanders/Warren ticket. Mind you, they're awful politicians, but are wildly popular among the under-informed (whose numbers are legion).
@Anonymous- Your late father was a wise man. As much as we might wish otherwise, there's still going to be plenty more to see and hear from Bathhouse Barry in the future.
@MrBeatrixKiddo- Good point!
@James Daily- You can bet we haven't seen the worst of Barry's mischief yet. I predict some whoppers in the next couple of weeks. But he should be careful - if his sabotage is too obvious, he might actually get some rational people on the Left (just grant me a wild hypothetical that a few must exist) to be more supportive of Trump.
@Mark Matis- I don't want to sound like an MSNBC newsreader, but I get tingles up my leg when I hear the word "investigations" applied to those who have done us so much harm. I'm not advocating revenge, but I'm sure as hell calling for justice.
@John the Econ- I simply can't and won't take seriously all of this hysteria about Russia stealing documents until I see serious criminal charges leveled at Hillary and others for putting our secrets at risk. Cyber-security is either serious or it's not; you can't have it both ways.
And yes, maybe we should just keep the "expelled" Russians here and embrace them. After all, they're only doing the jobs that American journalists won't do.
@Dave- I'm genuinely afraid that the reality of an "Idiocracy" is inevitable now for a variety of reasons: social, cultural, political, and demographic. And as you point out, celebrity for its own sake is now valued more than actual accomplishment. And that can only end disastrously.
@Mark Matis- Thanks for getting us back on the laugh track with that picture!
@Dan- I agree that there's logic to letting unfriendly agents "run" while under observation... but I've given up hope that this administration had the brains to do it. It's kind of the same theory they used to give guns to the Mexican drug cartels in hopes they could track the movement of the guns...but instead lost them completely until they started turning up at the sites of massacres.
It was only 4 years ago the ball less wonder said wait till after the election and I'll be more flexible! He has been more flexible grabbing his ankles!
Oh Lord Please help
I am not sure I can handle 2016 'the year in review' as it was so damned tough to live it the first time.
Stilt - In Re DC 'going dark' as retribution - lovely thought.
Also, heard an interview the other day w/ one of the 'security advisors' to The Team, and he was talking about 'grid vulnerability' - maybe we'll see some security / hardening at last!
@Pete I don't see why the systems part of our power grid isn't on its own, discrete, network. There's no reason I can think of to allow general Internet access from those systems.
We had a similar problem at the Army hospital at which I worked (in IT). We wanted to keep the NIPRNET (Non-classified Internet PRotocol NETwork) gateways to the open Internet pretty tight, but there was too much clamor to allow pretty much open access to the world wide mess that is the Internet today.
Want to Facebook with your spouse in Iraq or Afghanistan? Suuuure! You're a patient, and want to diddle around on the Internet? No problem! We'll put a cluster of machines on the NIPRNET at the end of the hallway so you can while away your time visiting just about anything. No, we don't want to spend the money to put those systems on commercial Internet, we'd rather risk all sorts of cyber insecurities than spend the extra bucks.
Then the Army puts training on sites that need open ports to allow video streaming and other goodies. We even had to open up our systems to allow folks to watch the Inauguration (on their computers, not just on the cable TVs in the various clinic waiting areas, patient rooms, etc.) in 2008.
The lack of common sense in protecting the systems (and lack of desire on the part of command and leadership) was one of the reasons for me putting in my retirement papers earlier than I originally planned.
Critical systems should be identified honestly, and their IP networks segregated from the Internet, such as how the Secret Internet PRotocol NETwork (SIPRNET) is segregated from the NIPRNET.
There's no reason why Patient Privacy Information should be exposed to the Internet at large the way it was when I retired (and probably still is).
It's N.Y.Eve and we're just getting back to normal after the Christmas holidays. I want to also say we also appreciate very much both this blog & its contributors.
As for Obama's late term actions RE Russia: I've mentioned before that I worked extensively with Russians a lot; respect many (almost all that I met, really); and truly enjoyed many friendships. The mayor of Las Vegas once described Obama during his first campaign for POTUS as a "Slow Learner" and all this just brings that back to mind. It's an understatement. He was in the U.S. Senate 4 years & POTUS for 8 and has not learned a damned thing about actually working with Russians or anyone else for that matter. Putin enjoys playing him like a cheap drum; and anyone could see the Putin put-down by NOT reacting coming from across the room. HEY Barry: it means you're not worth anyone's trouble and are soon to be outta here. All Obama is doing in this last few weeks as lame duck is (A) Trying to make it difficult for Trump (read that: For all of us.. (B) Cover things up, and (C) salvage his "legacy" which is worthless as tits on a boar, now and forever.
Every time I check in and see that clock, I do a little happy dance!
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