Puppet MastersS


Info

No, Hillary, you weren't screwed over by Comey and the Russians - you're just a horrible person

Matt Vespa
Townhall
Wed, 03 May 2017 18:36 UTC
hillary clinton
Do we feel sorry for her or do we just roll our eyes? Hillary Clinton seems to be taking baby steps towards accepting responsibility for blowing one of the most winnable elections in recent memory. Still, she's hung up on James Comey and the Russians. Cortney wrote about Clinton admitted to CNN's Christiane Amanpour about the "shortfalls" during her failed presidential bid, but then said, "I was on the way to winning, until a combination of Jim Comey's letter on October 28 and Russian Wikileaks raised doubts in the minds of people who were inclined to vote for me but got scared off." Amanpour interviewed Clinton during the Women for Women International luncheon in New York City.

"If the election had been on October 27, I would be your president," she added, citing FiveThirtyEight's Nate Silver. Yeah, and to quote Republican strategist Mike Murphy when people say these sorts of things: If Napoleon had nuclear submarines; we'd all be speaking French. The fact is Election Day was on November 8—and you lost.

Comment: On the Obama voters who switched over to Trump:
One finding from the polling stands out: A shockingly large percentage of these Obama-Trump voters said Democrats' economic policies will favor the wealthy — twice the percentage that said the same about Trump. I was also permitted to view video of some focus group activity, which showed Obama-Trump voters offering sharp criticism of Democrats on the economy.
[...]
The poll found that Obama-Trump voters, many of whom are working-class whites and were pivotal to Trump's victory, are economically losing ground and are skeptical of Democratic solutions to their problems. Among the findings:

50 percent of Obama-Trump voters said their incomes are falling behind the cost of living, and another 31 percent said their incomes are merely keeping pace with the cost of living.

A sizable chunk of Obama-Trump voters — 30 percent — said their vote for Trump was more a vote against Clinton than a vote for Trump. Remember, these voters backed Obama four years earlier.

42 percent of Obama-Trump voters said congressional Democrats' economic policies will favor the wealthy, vs. only 21 percent of them who said the same about Trump. (Forty percent say that about congressional Republicans.) A total of 77 percent of Obama-Trump voters said Trump's policies will favor some mix of all other classes (middle class, poor, all equally), while a total of 58 percent said that about congressional Democrats.


Read More...
Attention

House Republicans narrowly pass Obamacare repeal-and-replace bill


RT
Thu, 04 May 2017 18:40 UTC
US Congress building
© Joshua Roberts / Reuters
House Republicans squeaked by with a one-vote victory to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, after months of negotiations and failed attempts to unite the conservative and moderate factions of the party.

With four empty seats in the House of Representatives, the GOP needed 216 votes to pass the American Health Care Act and fulfill their seven-year-old promise to rid the country of Obamacare. The AHCA passed 217-213, with no Democrats voting for it.

It is one of the first major legislative victories for President Donald Trump, who made repeal-and-replace a cornerstone of his campaign.
Read More...
Chess

Paul Craig Roberts - Washington creates shield against nuclear strike from Russia and China

Paul Craig Roberts
Institute for Political Economy
Thu, 04 May 2017 19:43 UTC
Kim Jong-un
© KCNA / Reuters
The North Korean "crisis" is a Washington orchestration. North Korea was last at war 1950-53. N. Korea has not attacked or invaded anyone in 64 years. N. Korea lacks the military strength to attack any country, such as South Korea and Japan, that is protected by the US. Moreover, China would not permit N. Korea to start a war.

So what is the demonization of N. Korea by the presstitutes and Trump administration about?

It is about the same thing that the demonization of Iran was about. The "Iranian threat" was an orchestration that was used as cover to put US anti-ballistic missile bases on Russia's borders. An anti-ballistic missile (ABM) is intended to intercept and destroy nuclear-armed ICBMs (intercontinental ballistic missiles) and prevent them from reaching their targets.

Washington claimed that the anti-ABM bases were not directed at Russia, but were for the protection of Europe against Iran's nuclear ICBMs. Insouciant Americans might have believed this, but the Russians surely did not as Iran has neither ICBMs nor nuclear weapons. The Russian government has made it clear that Russia understands the US bases are directed at preventing a Russian retalliation against a Washington first strike.

Comment: See also: US deployment of THAAD deliberately stirring up crisis in Korean peninsula to achieve military superiority over China and Russia

Read More...
Evil Rays

The Resistance's new persuasion: "Trump is crazy"

Scott Adams
Scott Adams' Blog
Thu, 04 May 2017 18:19 UTC
Trump
© Matt Rourke / Associated Press
I'm watching this week as the so-called "Resistance" movement changes their attack on Trump from "Russian Puppet" to "Trump is crazy." This has the look of a coordinated change. Watch how often you will see "Trump is crazy" articles and commentary in the coming weeks as the Opposition Media tests this new line of attack.

Trump eviscerated the "Russian Puppet" line of attack by lobbing 59 Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian air base under the nose of Vladimir Putin. That made Trump look very un-puppetish. And it dismantled the Resistance's primary line of attack. They needed a new approach.

The Resistance's new approach is "Trump is crazy." This persuasion play is strong because it will work well with future confirmation bias. You can make almost anything sound crazy if you try. For example...
  • Did Trump not know Andrew Jackson died before the Civil War? He must be crazy!
  • Did Trump make an exaggerated claim about something like he always does? He must be crazy!
  • Did Trump say something provocative that worked in his favor even if you don't understand why? He must be crazy!
One sign of a persuasive attack is that it primes people for confirmation bias. Once you start seeing Trump as crazy, you'll automatically see it in everything he does. If he forgets something important, crazy! If he gets a fact wrong, crazy! If he gets tough on an adversary, crazy! If he says he will do something that is hard, and you don't think he can get it done, crazy!

The "crazy" approach is good persuasion. I give it an A+.
Read More...
Yoda

Zakharova: Russia welcomes Facebook's plans to stop fake accounts from spreading fake news and disinfo


Sputnik
Thu, 04 May 2017 18:19 UTC
russian foreign ministry
© Sputnik/ Natalia Seliverstova
Moscow welcomes Facebook's plans to tackle the spread of social media fake accounts, spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.

In late April, Facebook said its platform had been used to control and manipulate public discourse by stealing and leaking personal data, seeding stories to journalists via fake online personas and coordinating action by inauthentic accounts to amplify certain narratives. The company released a white paper stating it would try to disrupt "attempts to manipulate civic discourse and deceive people."

"A Facebook abuser's arsenal includes using so-called 'fake accounts' for spreading fabricated news and disinformation, spam, malware, for financial fraud and hacking users' personal data. The social network announced its intention to deal with this and use a set of measures against such phenomena. We welcome this decision of the Facebook corporation to draw attention of the international community to the risks posed by social media and especially to the issue of deceptive information campaigns that we have talked about numerous times," Zakharova said.
Read More...
Attention

Astana talks: Russia calls the bluff of Turkey and so-called Syrian opposition and wins

Adam Garrie
The Duran
Thu, 04 May 2017 18:05 UTC
Erdogan and Putin
Russia, Iran and Turkey agree to form safety zones. The militants who would supposedly benefit from them storm out of the peace talks.

The joint Russian-Iranian-Turkish delegation at the Astana Peace Talks agreed to form four 'safety zones' in Syria in order to help stabilize the fragile Russian authored Syrian ceasefire agreement.

The position set out in a memorandum produced by the leaders of the Astana talks calls for the creation of special zones in Latakia, Idlib, Homes and a portion of Aleppo Governorate. These zones will be designated as areas where government troops and militants will cease from hostilities against one another.

Comment: For more on the results of the Astana meeting: Russia, Iran, and Turkey sign agreement on creation of Syria de-escalation zones

Read More...
Info

Whipping up the bogeyman: Macron tells Le Pen he 'won't submit to Putin' but admits Russia is needed to solve conflicts


RT
Thu, 04 May 2017 17:48 UTC
Emmanuel Macron (R) and Marine Le Pen
© Eric Feferberg / Reuters
While French presidential candidates Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen disagreed on mending relations with Russia's President Vladimir Putin in a heated debate Wednesday, Macron conceded that Moscow is vital in solving the Ukrainian and Syrian conflicts.

The Wednesday debate, livestreamed by France 24, presented National Front's Le Pen and former economic minister and a leader of centrist En Marche party Emmanuel Macron with the last opportunity to drum up voters ahead of a runoff Sunday as they were grilled by TF1 and France 2 hosts for over two hours.

Apart from weighing in on an array of domestic issues, including social security, the fight against a persistent terrorist threat, tax policy and other topics, the candidates also unveiled their visions of France's position in the world and its relations with the Trump's US and Moscow.
Read More...
Attention

Yemen is one of the many countries where US and Al-Qaeda are on the same side

Daniel Larison
Russia Insider
Thu, 04 May 2017 19:19 UTC
Al Qaeda fighters

How many does this make now? Three? Four? Half a dozen?

The AP reports on something that has been more or less common knowledge for years:
The leader of al-Qaida' branch in Yemen said that his militants have often fought alongside Yemeni government factions — remarks that could embarrass the U.S.-backed coalition fighting the impoverished Arab country's Shiite rebels.
On top of that, some of Hadi's associates have been sanctioned by our government for their connections to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
Read More...
Stop

Rare moment of sanity: US House prohibits funding to Ukraine's Nazi battalion 'Azov'

Antifashist, translated by Inessa Sinchougova
Fort Russ News
Thu, 04 May 2017 17:12 UTC
Azov Battalion
© Getty ImagesNeo-Nazi Azov Battalion
The US House of Representatives has prohibited the spending of funds allocated to Kiev for its military, on the Nazi battalion "Azov".

Until the end of September, the Pentagon is allocating $150 million to support the Ukrainian military, which includes training, weapons, equipment and machinery. The United States also determine for what purpose funds should be allocated.

"Funds provided cannot be used for the supply of arms, training or the provision of any other support for the Azov battalion", - states a US document.

Comment: A public relations gesture aimed at easing guilty consciences? As these lawmakers well know, there are always methods to circumvent such mandates and no doubt the Ukrainian government will do so.

Read More...
Network

Despite N. Korea warning China of 'grave consequences', Beijing maintains it wants friendly relations with its neighbor


RT
Thu, 04 May 2017 21:25 UTC
china north korea flag
© Joseph Campbell / Reuters
North Korea has warned China of "grave consequences" if it "chops down" relations between the two countries. Despite the angry outburst, Beijing says it wants to maintain friendly relations with its neighbor.

In a commentary late Wednesday, North Korean state news agency KCNA took aim at a "string of absurd and reckless remarks" from Chinese media towards Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions.

"The DPRK will never beg for the maintenance of friendship with China, risking its nuclear program which is as precious as its own life, no matter how valuable the friendship is," the editorial said.

"China should no longer try to test the limits of the DPRK's patience... [and] had better ponder over the grave consequences to be entailed by its reckless act of chopping down the pillar of the DPRK-China relations," it continued.
Read More...