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Another interesting theory: The Trump campaign alleges that the DNC hacked itself https://twitter.com/JTSantucci/status/743194156739108865/photo/1 https://twit

by 21 10y ago

Another interesting theory: The Trump campaign alleges that the DNC hacked itself https://twitter.com/JTSantucci/status/743194156739108865/photo/1 https://twitter.com/JTSantucci/status/743194156739108865/pho...

rhizome 10y ago
I'm not sure that's a reasonable interpretation. Is there a such thing as Occam's Taser?
MichaelGG 10y ago
I took a quick read through the so-called "Opposition Playbook". It's just quotes from news articles and stories about Trump. There's no actual guidance or anything internal-looking from what I saw. The huge "CONFIDENTIAL" watermark also seems a bit out of place.
- huac 10y ago
  most likely answer: DNC sucks at oppo (the best insult they could come up with for trump was 'dangerous donald', i mean seriously)
  - venomsnake 10y ago
    When I first heard it - I thought it was a compliment. Or the next spin off from Serious Sam.
  - daveguy 10y ago
    Most likely answer: They don't need anything except Trump's own words and public news segments about what Trump does on a regular basis in order to make him look batshit crazy and unfit to be president.
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
    - huac 10y ago
      You're not wrong, but the DNC has done a pretty bad job against probably the easiest candidate to beat so far. I mean something like this: '“Dangerous Donald,” the “loose cannon,” hated by loser Republicans, capable of doing anything. This is all straight out of the orange idiot’s dream journal.' - http://gawker.com/dont-blow-this-1775111772 http://gawker.com/dont-blow-this-1775111772
      - kelukelugames 10y ago
        I like thin skinned.
jandrese 10y ago
There is no conspiracy theory that the Trump campaign won't try to hang on to. They're like your crazy uncle that has tinfoil stapled to the ceiling of his shack but somehow manages to have an internet account that he only uses to read about the Illuminati.
- 1337biz 10y ago
  In this election season there are no conspiracy theories anymore. Just theories.
  - homogeneous 10y ago
    What about the theory to which Trump alludes suggesting that Obama is somehow complicit in the continued existence of ISIS?
    - hueving 10y ago
      That one is actually easier to swallow than others if the implication is just that Obama is soft on threats. Every leader can be considered 'complicit' in that regard.
      - homogeneous 10y ago
        >if the implication is just that Obama is soft on threats My point is that he is suggesting something more sinister.
        vonklaus 10y ago
        wouldn't be the first time the U.S. has armed an ostensibly rogue power in the region.
        homogeneous 10y ago
        Sinister meaning Obama is sympathetic to ISIS and the terrorist ideology.
hugh4life 10y ago
Looking at the file, I have to agree... I doubt there was a hack and I doubt this is really their oppo playbook. This looks like Black PR to me... a way to dump talking points easily in the media without having them all come out of Clinton's mouth.
- travoc 10y ago
  I've been in both politics and Infosec long enough to know that you're probably correct.
- oh_sigh 10y ago
  Candidates already feed talking points to the media via backchannels....there would be no need to leak this doc for that purpose. Also, consider how benign the information is in the doc.
  - rdtsc 10y ago
    This is more impactful. It is designed to let those in opposition look at them as well and say "aha, yeah, maybe this does make sense". Perhaps like a Trojan Horse type attack. Nobody in the Trump camp will believe these unless they think these are the hidden dark secrets full of juicy secrets from Hillary. So they read and it and then see stuff like "Oh Trump is a racist, huh, I guess maybe that's right".
    - oh_sigh 10y ago
      I love the "Trump is a racist" meme. He's been in the public eye for 30+ years, but somehow now it comes out that he's been secretly racist all along. Typical democratic race baiting strategy worked pretty well - too bad we all need to live in this world that they built.
- themartorana 10y ago
  You've looked at the file and have thusly determined that the DNC faked first a state-level-actor hack and then changed it up to a single script-kiddie attack. Thought this was HN.
newman314 10y ago
This is quite odd. I had posted a reply previously but it seems to have been removed. Admin(s): tell me if I did something wrong but I believe I was just making observations about the docs on the site.
- i336_ 10y ago
  (Not an admin - that would probably be someone like dang) Have you tried resubmitting the reply? It might've gotten eaten by a slow spam filter or something (I have no idea how HN works). You have contact info in your profile, so that works if there's a real issue.
dang 10y ago
We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11912615 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11912615 and marked it off-topic.

by 21 10y ago

rhizome 10y ago

I'm not sure that's a reasonable interpretation. Is there a such thing as Occam's Taser?

MichaelGG 10y ago

I took a quick read through the so-called "Opposition Playbook". It's just quotes from news articles and stories about Trump. There's no actual guidance or anything internal-looking from what I saw. The huge "CONFIDENTIAL" watermark also seems a bit out of place.

huac 10y ago
most likely answer: DNC sucks at oppo (the best insult they could come up with for trump was 'dangerous donald', i mean seriously)
- venomsnake 10y ago
  When I first heard it - I thought it was a compliment. Or the next spin off from Serious Sam.
- daveguy 10y ago
  Most likely answer: They don't need anything except Trump's own words and public news segments about what Trump does on a regular basis in order to make him look batshit crazy and unfit to be president.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - huac 10y ago
    You're not wrong, but the DNC has done a pretty bad job against probably the easiest candidate to beat so far. I mean something like this: '“Dangerous Donald,” the “loose cannon,” hated by loser Republicans, capable of doing anything. This is all straight out of the orange idiot’s dream journal.' - http://gawker.com/dont-blow-this-1775111772 http://gawker.com/dont-blow-this-1775111772
    - kelukelugames 10y ago
      I like thin skinned.

jandrese 10y ago

There is no conspiracy theory that the Trump campaign won't try to hang on to. They're like your crazy uncle that has tinfoil stapled to the ceiling of his shack but somehow manages to have an internet account that he only uses to read about the Illuminati.

1337biz 10y ago
In this election season there are no conspiracy theories anymore. Just theories.
- homogeneous 10y ago
  What about the theory to which Trump alludes suggesting that Obama is somehow complicit in the continued existence of ISIS?
  - hueving 10y ago
    That one is actually easier to swallow than others if the implication is just that Obama is soft on threats. Every leader can be considered 'complicit' in that regard.
    - homogeneous 10y ago
      >if the implication is just that Obama is soft on threats My point is that he is suggesting something more sinister.
      - vonklaus 10y ago
        wouldn't be the first time the U.S. has armed an ostensibly rogue power in the region.
        homogeneous 10y ago
        Sinister meaning Obama is sympathetic to ISIS and the terrorist ideology.

hugh4life 10y ago

Looking at the file, I have to agree... I doubt there was a hack and I doubt this is really their oppo playbook. This looks like Black PR to me... a way to dump talking points easily in the media without having them all come out of Clinton's mouth.

travoc 10y ago
I've been in both politics and Infosec long enough to know that you're probably correct.
oh_sigh 10y ago
Candidates already feed talking points to the media via backchannels....there would be no need to leak this doc for that purpose. Also, consider how benign the information is in the doc.
- rdtsc 10y ago
  This is more impactful. It is designed to let those in opposition look at them as well and say "aha, yeah, maybe this does make sense". Perhaps like a Trojan Horse type attack. Nobody in the Trump camp will believe these unless they think these are the hidden dark secrets full of juicy secrets from Hillary. So they read and it and then see stuff like "Oh Trump is a racist, huh, I guess maybe that's right".
  - oh_sigh 10y ago
    I love the "Trump is a racist" meme. He's been in the public eye for 30+ years, but somehow now it comes out that he's been secretly racist all along. Typical democratic race baiting strategy worked pretty well - too bad we all need to live in this world that they built.
themartorana 10y ago
You've looked at the file and have thusly determined that the DNC faked first a state-level-actor hack and then changed it up to a single script-kiddie attack. Thought this was HN.

newman314 10y ago

This is quite odd. I had posted a reply previously but it seems to have been removed. Admin(s): tell me if I did something wrong but I believe I was just making observations about the docs on the site.

i336_ 10y ago
(Not an admin - that would probably be someone like dang) Have you tried resubmitting the reply? It might've gotten eaten by a slow spam filter or something (I have no idea how HN works). You have contact info in your profile, so that works if there's a real issue.

dang 10y ago

We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11912615 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11912615 and marked it off-topic.