4 ms·

> If Trump were a Russian asset, what could he possibly do to advance their interests more than what he is already doing? Rhetoric is a poor substitute for act

> If Trump were a Russian asset, what could he possibly do to advance their interests more than what he is already doing? Rhetoric is a poor substitute for actual evidence. Many moons ago, the fringe right used a similar argument to imply that Barack Obama was pro-ISIS. After his hasty withdrawal from Iraq, ISIS filled the power vacuum. Their "caliphate" grew for years and years, with no significant intervention from the US! At the time there wasn't a great answer to the question "If Obama were pro-ISIS, what could he possibly do to advance their interests more than he already has?". Yet (hopefully) we all know that this was simply bad faith, conspiratorial rhetoric. He was obviously not pro-ISIS, and there was no evidence whatsoever that he was. So how could people possibly have entertained such an idea? Easy--they already hated Barack Obama, so they were willing to give the conspiracy theory the benefit of the doubt. Do yourself a favor and apply the old tried and true standard: extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. It'll save you a good deal of embarrassment.

actionfromafar 2y ago
Obama could have invited ISIS to talks with his security advisor. He could have made any sanctions on them toothless. I'm sure there's more.
jeremyjh 2y ago
[flagged]
varispeed 2y ago
Have you seen Obama disseminating ISIS propaganda?
- marcusverus 2y ago
  Your conspiracy theory isn't coherent enough to be implied. Make the argument.
  - jeremyjh 2y ago
    Trump and his administration do spread Kremlin falsehoods and talking points. This was a major sticking point in Gabbard's confirmation. For instance, she spread the false claim that Ukraine was developing bioweapons that are a threat to Russia. Trump himself repeated the false claim that Zelensky has a poor approval numbers and is preventing elections because he's a dictator. Trump also said Ukraine started the conflict. In his last admin he said that "Crimeans want to be Russian".
    - marcusverus 2y ago
      >Gabbard Tulsi isn't Trump. > Zelensky Trump quite reasonably called Zelensky a dictator. Ukraine can legally skip elections while under martial law, sure. But seeing as Zelensky has the power to end martial law at any time, he is single-handedly preventing Ukranian elections, depriving the people of Ukraine of their voice during what is potentially the most pivotal span of time in Ukranian history. Surely you still call Putin a dictator, even though he attained his status without directly violating the constitution? > Trump also said Ukraine started the conflict. Are you referring to that time Trump uttered the words "you never should have started it" in one of his word clouds while speaking to a journalist? That is evidence that he is in thrall to the Russians? > In his last admin he said that "Crimeans want to be Russian". The vast majority of them are Russian, ethnically and linguistically. All polling prior to the 2014 invasion showed that a significant majority would support annexation by Russia. Don't worry, you can know this fact--and even repeat it out loud!--without the bad men in the Kremlin gaining control over your mind.
      - mopsi 2y ago
        > But seeing as Zelensky has the power to end martial law at any time, he is single-handedly preventing Ukranian elections He doesn't. The president of Ukraine can only propose the imposition or termination of martial law to the parliament. Nothing happens unless the parliament approves the proposal. In February, the Ukrainian parliament even adopted a resolution to remind the dumbasses calling Zelenskyy a dictator of this fact. > All polling prior to the 2014 invasion showed that a significant majority would support annexation by Russia. Support for joining Russia was 23% in a 2013 poll, down from 33% in 2011. The majority opinion (53%) was that Crimea should remain as it was, an autonomous region within Ukraine. In your opinion, what should the status of Crimea be? 2013 2011 ----------------------------------------------------- ---- ---- Autonomy in Ukraine (as today) 53 49 Crimean Tatar autonomy within Ukraine 12 4 Common oblast of Ukraine 2 6 Crimea should be separated and given to Russia 23 33 Don't know 10 8

actionfromafar 2y ago

Obama could have invited ISIS to talks with his security advisor. He could have made any sanctions on them toothless. I'm sure there's more.

jeremyjh 2y ago

[flagged]

varispeed 2y ago

Have you seen Obama disseminating ISIS propaganda?

marcusverus 2y ago
Your conspiracy theory isn't coherent enough to be implied. Make the argument.
- jeremyjh 2y ago
  Trump and his administration do spread Kremlin falsehoods and talking points. This was a major sticking point in Gabbard's confirmation. For instance, she spread the false claim that Ukraine was developing bioweapons that are a threat to Russia. Trump himself repeated the false claim that Zelensky has a poor approval numbers and is preventing elections because he's a dictator. Trump also said Ukraine started the conflict. In his last admin he said that "Crimeans want to be Russian".
  - marcusverus 2y ago
    >Gabbard Tulsi isn't Trump. > Zelensky Trump quite reasonably called Zelensky a dictator. Ukraine can legally skip elections while under martial law, sure. But seeing as Zelensky has the power to end martial law at any time, he is single-handedly preventing Ukranian elections, depriving the people of Ukraine of their voice during what is potentially the most pivotal span of time in Ukranian history. Surely you still call Putin a dictator, even though he attained his status without directly violating the constitution? > Trump also said Ukraine started the conflict. Are you referring to that time Trump uttered the words "you never should have started it" in one of his word clouds while speaking to a journalist? That is evidence that he is in thrall to the Russians? > In his last admin he said that "Crimeans want to be Russian". The vast majority of them are Russian, ethnically and linguistically. All polling prior to the 2014 invasion showed that a significant majority would support annexation by Russia. Don't worry, you can know this fact--and even repeat it out loud!--without the bad men in the Kremlin gaining control over your mind.
    - mopsi 2y ago
      > But seeing as Zelensky has the power to end martial law at any time, he is single-handedly preventing Ukranian elections He doesn't. The president of Ukraine can only propose the imposition or termination of martial law to the parliament. Nothing happens unless the parliament approves the proposal. In February, the Ukrainian parliament even adopted a resolution to remind the dumbasses calling Zelenskyy a dictator of this fact. > All polling prior to the 2014 invasion showed that a significant majority would support annexation by Russia. Support for joining Russia was 23% in a 2013 poll, down from 33% in 2011. The majority opinion (53%) was that Crimea should remain as it was, an autonomous region within Ukraine. In your opinion, what should the status of Crimea be? 2013 2011 ----------------------------------------------------- ---- ---- Autonomy in Ukraine (as today) 53 49 Crimean Tatar autonomy within Ukraine 12 4 Common oblast of Ukraine 2 6 Crimea should be separated and given to Russia 23 33 Don't know 10 8