U.S.-Russia relations

[nickle7]

Seems like Trump is advocating for and taking steps to improve relations with Russia. Obviously there's problems with Russian hacking and influencing the election (who can know for sure), and they're not a shining example of a state run on the principle of protecting human rights, and they're involvement in Syria is not fully parallel with U.S interests... the list goes on.

But wanting to improve U.S. relations with Russia doesn't actually seem all that bad to me. Sure, it's dependent on Trumps motives, but taken at face value, it's something the U.S. population should be promoting. Thoughts on why he's being tarred so much over this?

[Smitty-48]

He's being tarred over it because the liberal media is just throwing the kitchen sink at him to see what sticks, as far as the American people go though, I'd be wary, you're not dealing with the Russians, you're dealing with the Kremlin, it's not actually in the Kremlin's interests to have better relations, without America as the enemy at the gates, they have no raison d'etre, and for them, Détente is all Maskirovka.

[Okeefenokee]

Seems like Trump is advocating for and taking steps to improve relations with Russia. Obviously there's problems with Russian hacking and influencing the election (who can know for sure), and they're not a shining example of a state run on the principle of protecting human rights, and they're involvement in Syria is not fully parallel with U.S interests... the list goes on.

But wanting to improve U.S. relations with Russia doesn't actually seem all that bad to me. Sure, it's dependent on Trumps motives, but taken at face value, it's something the U.S. population should be promoting. Thoughts on why he's being tarred so much over this?

Voting machines aren't networked. They can't be hacked remotely. You'd have to send people into the voting polls to link in directly. Logistically and realistically, it's nonsense.

[nickle7]

He's being tarred over it because the liberal media is just throwing the kitchen sink at him to see what sticks, as far as the American people go though, I'd be wary, you're not dealing with the Russians, you're dealing with the Kremlin, it's not actually in the Kremlin's interests to have better relations, without America as the enemy at the gates, they have no raison d'etre, and for them, Détente is all Maskirovka.

That may be but I'm sure people said the same thing about the Chinese governance during the Nixon administration. Not to dismiss the likely nefariousness of the Kremlin, but who knows, maybe that nature can be changed. Seems an impossibly pie-in-the-sky pursuit but I'm sure Trump, in his rhetoric about moving closer to Russia, isn't devoid of some of that same nefariousness. I hesitate to make the comparison but as I write this I can't help but imagine an international version of Game of Thrones... ugh.

[nickle7]

Seems like Trump is advocating for and taking steps to improve relations with Russia. Obviously there's problems with Russian hacking and influencing the election (who can know for sure), and they're not a shining example of a state run on the principle of protecting human rights, and they're involvement in Syria is not fully parallel with U.S interests... the list goes on.

But wanting to improve U.S. relations with Russia doesn't actually seem all that bad to me. Sure, it's dependent on Trumps motives, but taken at face value, it's something the U.S. population should be promoting. Thoughts on why he's being tarred so much over this?

Voting machines aren't networked. They can't be hacked remotely. You'd have to send people into the voting polls to link in directly. Logistically and realistically, it's nonsense.

Right. It seems those claims are primarily serving as attention-shifters. It was the same thing with the DNC email hack. The moment the hacks came out, there was an underwhelming amount of attention paid to the actual content of the emails. All the talk was about Russia's hacking... alleged attacking anyway.

[Smitty-48]

He's being tarred over it because the liberal media is just throwing the kitchen sink at him to see what sticks, as far as the American people go though, I'd be wary, you're not dealing with the Russians, you're dealing with the Kremlin, it's not actually in the Kremlin's interests to have better relations, without America as the enemy at the gates, they have no raison d'etre, and for them, Détente is all Maskirovka.

That may be but I'm sure people said the same thing about the Chinese governance during the Nixon administration. Not to dismiss the likely nefariousness of the Kremlin, but who knows, maybe that nature can be changed. Seems an impossibly pie-in-the-sky pursuit but I'm sure Trump, in his rhetoric about moving closer to Russia, isn't devoid of some of that same nefariousness. I hesitate to make the comparison but as I write this I can't help but imagine an international version of Game of Thrones... ugh.

Frankly, I don't think letting the Chinese off the hook has actually worked out so well for America, they stole your jobs, they carried on being nefarious, deliberately hollowing out your domestic manufacturing to their advantage, and they stole all your intellectual property as they went, as a result, they're far more of a threat to you now than they ever were in 1972, and far more agressive therein, you basically gave them time and space to build themselves up as your nemesis, and funded it all with your own money.

[Penner]

Seems like Trump is advocating for and taking steps to improve relations with Russia. Obviously there's problems with Russian hacking and influencing the election (who can know for sure), and they're not a shining example of a state run on the principle of protecting human rights, and they're involvement in Syria is not fully parallel with U.S interests... the list goes on.

But wanting to improve U.S. relations with Russia doesn't actually seem all that bad to me. Sure, it's dependent on Trumps motives, but taken at face value, it's something the U.S. population should be promoting. Thoughts on why he's being tarred so much over this?

Voting machines aren't networked. They can't be hacked remotely. You'd have to send people into the voting polls to link in directly. Logistically and realistically, it's nonsense.

Right. It seems those claims are primarily serving as attention-shifters. It was the same thing with the DNC email hack. The moment the hacks came out, there was an underwhelming amount of attention paid to the actual content of the emails. All the talk was about Russia's hacking... alleged attacking anyway.

And some people have no problems with foreign entities to interfere with US elections? The problem is that this shit is going to get worse before it's going to get better.

[nickle7]

He's being tarred over it because the liberal media is just throwing the kitchen sink at him to see what sticks, as far as the American people go though, I'd be wary, you're not dealing with the Russians, you're dealing with the Kremlin, it's not actually in the Kremlin's interests to have better relations, without America as the enemy at the gates, they have no raison d'etre, and for them, Détente is all Maskirovka.

That may be but I'm sure people said the same thing about the Chinese governance during the Nixon administration. Not to dismiss the likely nefariousness of the Kremlin, but who knows, maybe that nature can be changed. Seems an impossibly pie-in-the-sky pursuit but I'm sure Trump, in his rhetoric about moving closer to Russia, isn't devoid of some of that same nefariousness. I hesitate to make the comparison but as I write this I can't help but imagine an international version of Game of Thrones... ugh.

Frankly, I don't think letting the Chinese off the hook has actually worked out so well for America, they stole your jobs, they carried on being nefarious, they're far more of a threat to you now than they ever were in 1972, and far more agressive therein, you basically gave them time and space to build themselves up as your nemesis, and funded it all with your own money.

But America's not blameless in this. I mean, they didn't blindly take advantage of America. Companies willingly moved overseas, China didn't steal our jobs. So you're right, America funded it and it's certainly something to be leery of moving forward. But we can't underestimate America's agency in its relations with Russia. I guess I'm making it sound like you're saying America shouldn't be mending ties with Russia, but don't fully intend to. (Am I reading what you're saying correctly?) I'm just saying I think there's potential here for something good to happen.

[Okeefenokee]

Voting machines aren't networked. They can't be hacked remotely. You'd have to send people into the voting polls to link in directly. Logistically and realistically, it's nonsense.

Right. It seems those claims are primarily serving as attention-shifters. It was the same thing with the DNC email hack. The moment the hacks came out, there was an underwhelming amount of attention paid to the actual content of the emails. All the talk was about Russia's hacking... alleged attacking anyway.

And some people have no problems with foreign entities to interfere with US elections? The problem is that this shit is going to get worse before it's going to get better.

As if we don't interfere with other nation's elections. Russia didn't hack any voting booths. All that can be claimed is that they released material to try to influence the election, just like we have. Relatively recently, Russia released intercepted cables showing communication between state department affiliates in Ukraine coordinating to influence the election in Ukraine in favor of the US and against Russia.

Liberals clutching their pearls at the thought of Russia doing exactly what Obama did.

[nickle7]

Any thoughts on the claim that Assange was somehow working with the Russians? I find it pretty far-fetched. Same with the synonymous claims about Snowden. Smear campaigns and distraction-oriented claims in my opinion.