Is This Treason? What Donald Trump Just Said Undermines American Democracy

It may be an Olympic-grade understatement to say that Donald Trump has done some god-awful things in his quest for the presidency. From mocking the disabled to ripping off veterans to insane proposals with regard to Muslims and immigrants. But he may just have outdone himself.

In a press conference this morning, Trump was asked about reports that Russia was responsible for the hacking of DNC emails. He has previously dismissed the charges as Democratic efforts to distract from the content of the stolen emails, despite the fact that it is the FBI and other intelligence agencies who identified Russia as the likely culprit.

Trump Putin

His response to today’s inquiries, however, introduced a new and deeply disturbing tactic on Trump’s part. He offered, without prompting, his interest in further exploiting the email theft to his advantage. In a direct response to a question on whether he would condemn the hacking he said “No, it gives me no pause,” and that:

“If Russia or China or any other country has those emails I mean to be honest with you, I’d love to see em.”

Let that sink in for a minute. Donald Trump, the nominee of the Republican Party for President of the United States, is affirmatively endorsing the notion of revealing private information that was stolen from Americans by a foreign and hostile government. That is an untenable and unpatriotic position that undermines the country’s interests as well as the principles of personal privacy and information security. But it gets even worse. Trump went on to say:

“Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing.”

In that statement Trump is literally soliciting Russia to commit cyber-crimes and espionage against fellow Americans. How is that not treasonous? He continued with a thinly disguised reference to Russia being “rewarded mightily” for their hacking. Is that an offer to compensate Russian hackers and spies for their efforts? Or is Trump simply implying that Russia would benefit from a Trump presidency and that he would make it worth their while were they to sabotage the campaign of Hillary Clinton? Either way he is taking up sides with an international foe against his own country. Now what is it that we call that?

In the press conference Trump flatly denied having any connection to Russian politics or business. That’s a lie. Has he already forgotten his Miss Universe Pageant he held in Moscow just three years ago? But his Russian ties go much deeper than that. As reported by Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo:

“At a minimum, Trump appears to have a deep financial dependence on Russian money from persons close to Putin. And this is matched to a conspicuous solicitousness to Russian foreign policy interests where they come into conflict with US policies which go back decades through administrations of both parties.”

Marshall’s article goes into extensive detail of Trump’s connections to Russian oligarchs and politicians. He makes the case that Trump’s chumminess with Putin is not coincidental. Marshall’s documentation is thorough and somewhat frightening. And if anyone wonders why Putin would favor Trump, look no further than Trump’s recent denigration of NATO and his reluctance to honor the agreement. That would be a huge advantage for Putin whose expansionism would be made much easier if he didn’t have to worry about the U.S. defending its NATO allies.

Another Trump lie in the press conference was his assertion that “I never met Putin, I don’t know who he is. He said one nice thing about me.” It is true, of course, that Trump never met Putin (although he once claimed to know him very well because they both appeared on “60 Minutes” in separate interviews, thousands of miles apart). But what are we to make of his claim that he doesn’t know who Putin is? Folks, we are treading dangerously close to mental incapacity here.

Trump’s VP, Mike Pence, issued a statement that appeared to distance himself from Trump’s perfidy:

“If it is Russia and they are interfering in our elections, I can assure you both parties and the United States government will ensure there are serious consequences.”

Pence might want to confirm that with his boss who is promising that the perpetrators would be rewarded mightily. And contrary to his suggestion that both parties will ensure that there are consequences, the Republican Party has yet to make any public statement repudiating Trump’s remarks or even the more general issue of the hacking of the DNC. Contrast that with the statements from the Democratic side including:

Hillary for America Senior Policy Advisor, Jake Sullivan: This has to be the first time that a major presidential candidate has actively encouraged a foreign power to conduct espionage against his political opponent. […] This has gone from being a matter of curiosity, and a matter of politics, to being a national security issue.

Former CIA Director Leon Panetta: “I find those kinds of statements to be totally outrageous because you’ve got now a presidential candidate who is in fact asking the Russians to engage in American politics. I just think that’s beyond the pale. […] I think that kind of statement only reflects the fact that he truly is not qualified to be president of the United States.”

It is incomprehensible that a candidate for the nation’s highest office is articulating activities that amount to aiding and abetting foreign enemies. Trump’s comments should be investigated by the FBI and his connections to Russian economic and political players should be thoroughly examined. As for Trump’s supporters, they need to reassess their allegiance to him, because if he can’t be trusted to act in the best interests of the nation, he surely should not get the vote of any patriotic American.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

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3 thoughts on “Is This Treason? What Donald Trump Just Said Undermines American Democracy

  1. The hypocrisy is palpable. The brain dead supporters of Trump would be screaming bloody murder if a democrat had a similar association or relationship with Putin and the Russians.

    It boggles the mind that folks are unable to determine that Trump is anything but presidential. It certainly isn’t due to lack of evidence or material. If one can’t bring themselves to vote for Hillary, the other two options would be far better than Trump.

    The dumbing down of America is almost complete.

    • Who said money and Russia can’t buy America?

      Bully bully in England, way to say Good job old boy!

      In America, Bully, Bully is a person that we pray our children will not come In contact with.

      In Russia a bully is what every child aspires to be!

      Bullies and Dictators, Both are driven by power and tyrannical authority. The authority that is sought by both personalities is attained by aggression, very loud aggressive actions, illogical behavior, and fear.

      Both of these figures are out to rob others of their freedom and pride. Both employ violence as a method of getting what they want.

      School bullies and dictators also have, in many cases, a common talent for talking their way out of otherwise unexplainable situations. Even though these two share many similarities beyond these examples, they also have many differences.

      The most profound difference is that, generally, a dictator is sovereign over a vast amount of land and a large population. A school bully only has his stretch of authority over a school, and not usually all of it. Many times a bully will have friends that support him, while a dictator will have armed forces, and support from other dictators at his disposal, to help defend them.

      A Dictator country will be well policed because violence and uprisings are common place.

      A True Bully or Dictator, never stops, they drive for attention, and more powerful and violent, situations, war, putting down riots, the power to push bigger people and countries around, are normal place. Dictators, look for ways to improve and grow their bulling and dictatorship, by destroying others lives.

      Dictators get great pleasure from destroying other people and they get even more pleasure in doing it to women! They strive to push from there country any race that might threaten their dictatorship. Dictators, are in constant fear and will wildly spend on defense, and security, they will not like close fiscal contact, hand shaking, or hugging, will only indorse there ideas.

      Best examples of bullies that turned to Dictator!
      —- Adolf Hitler—–Benito Mussolini—– Francisco Franco—–Donald Trump.

      We have rules even laws to protect us from bullies, and dictators, So why do we want to elect one to the office of President? If we do every Bully our children face, will simply say, “I’m just being like our President, you know practicing for when I grow up to be a Great American.

      With a bully or better said Dictator, as President , Our allies will pull away from America, we will need to partner with other Bullies, like Russia and China! Perhaps even move to their KGB type policemen

      Rule 1 of a Dictator, Donald your first goal for your Dictatorship is well stated in your own advertisements, and is also the first rule of a dictator.
      Your advertisement says “Donald Trump will turn Washington upside down! Bully to Dictator overnight!
      Many other Dictator rules Donald Trump is putting in place and telling you about them!
      Rule number 2, shore up your boarders, walls, mine fields, patrols.
      Rule number 3′ kill off all opposition, and jail your biggest opposers.
      Rule number 4, keep up massive propaganda efforts, brain wash the people, inspire the help of many others to make your efforts easier.
      Rule number 5, continue promising your supporters a better life, but give them nothing, instead blame it on the opposition, inspire riots so that you have a Nation in fear, then turn to police states.
      Rule number 6, Bully, bully, bully, keep fear in their hearts.
      Rule number 7, take over as much as you can from the government, and hide great amounts of wealth.
      Rule number 8, always be shown in great parties, with strong dictators as allies.
      Rule number 9, show no fairness, it’s only a sign you are losing control!
      Rule number 10, yell, pound your fist, never let people’s ideas be heard, only your ideas matter, speak over people, insult people, no one matters but you!
      Rule number 11, take credit for everything good that happens, give God no credit, everything bad blame on Opposition, and God!
      Rule number 12, Replace military leadership with those you can trust.
      Rules 13 of a Dictator, suppress the media and control the Media.
      Rule 14 of a Dictator, always lies, your word is the only truth!
      Rule 15 of a Dictator, keep your self in the limelight, and your actions to the dark.
      Rule 16 as a Dictator, always place your people in the highest offices of the land!
      Rule 17 of a Dictator, accuse others for being wrong for their actions, no proof needed your word is law, especially accuse them of the same crimes you have already done.
      Rule 18 of a Dictator, always have your other Dictator friends bring false accusations against your opposers.
      Rule 19 of a Dictator, always brain wash the children!
      Rules 20 as a Dictator always, take out your enemies supporters.
      Rule 21 of a Dictator, only teach hate, love is weak!
      Rule 22 of a Dictator, keep everyone scared of you, of war, of alien intruders, of reduced income.
      Rule number 23 of a Dictator, never allow your country to be stable, always keep it looking to only you!
      Rule 24 as a Dictator, never answer accusations or publicly meet with accusers, that gives them credence, especially when children are involved.
      Rule 25 as a Dictator, keep in very close contact at all times with your supporters, that way if anything negative or post I’ve turns up you can quickly blow it up is size to make it even more damaging.

    • Multiple choice leadership test

      Who as a leader has lost $917,000,000?
      A. General Motors
      B. General Electric
      C. Donald Trump

      Who has an 18 year Tax Deferment?
      A. General Motors
      B. General Electric
      C. Donald Trump

      Who thinks they have the right not to pay taxes in support of our Nation for 20 years?
      A. Injured war Veterans
      B. Medal of Honor winners
      C. Donald Trump

      Who thinks they know more about ISIS?
      A. US Generals
      B. US intelligence Service
      C. Donald Trump

      Who respects Women’s rights, and fights for their equal pay?
      A. Hillary Clinton
      B. Hollywood
      C. Donald Trump

      Who has cut off more heads, fired up more people, and lest respects women?
      A. ISIS
      B. KKK
      C. Donald Trump

      Who Owes millions to Foreign Banks?
      A. General Motors
      B. General Electric
      C. Donald Trump

      Who has more Russian supporters?
      A. Hillary Clinton
      B. Vladimir Putin
      C. Donald Trump

      Who has or wants to build the largest wall in the world?
      A. Great Wall of China
      B. Great Wall of Donald Trump, but as usual someone else will pay for it.

      Who says they are smart and proud of not paying Their taxes?
      A. Hillary Clinton
      B. Vladimir Putin
      C. Donald Trumps

      Who’s leadership bounds Nations to strong agreements to stop the spread of Terrorism?
      A. Hillary Clinton
      B. Vladimir Putin
      C. Donald Trump

      Who says they thinks it would be better if More Countries had Nuclear Weapons?
      A. Hillary Clinton
      B. Vladimir Putin
      C. Donald Trump

      Who has shown their life to revolve around their own interest, instead of others interest?
      A. Hillary Clinton
      B. Vladimir Putin
      C. Donald Trump

      Who asked on TV, Russia, then just last week China our
      Anyone, for Clintons emails.
      A. Hillary Clinton
      B. Vladimir Putin
      C. Donald Trump

      Who says they have been bankrupt 4 times, but has been
      Proven to be 6.
      A. Hillary Clinton
      B. Vladimir Putin
      C. Donald Trump

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