Trumpled (Alternative Leading)

[Mav]

None of the leaks are illegal.  The leakers haven't committed any crime.  The information here isn't classified.  The information is that Flynn amongst others had frequent contact with Russian actors at the time of sanctions being imposed and it became apparent from this that Flynn lied to Pence.  Leakers might be sacked if identified but that's it.  This isn't analogous to Snowden's case at all. 

[LP]

No guarantee that the leaks didn't come from inside the White House.  But if they came from the intelligence services, there's a pretty good chance that the leakers were concerned about Flynn being a threat to national security.

Remember, one of Flynn's deputies lost his security clearance shortly before this story broke: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/02/...-team.html.

Remember also that the suggestion is that Flynn was in contact with Russians "of interest" to intelligence services.  That seems to translate to Russian intelligence operatives.  Such relationships are a security risk and it's not ideal at all.

One thing is for certain, there are very few "intelligence types" in the Trump administration!

[Lods]

None of the leaks are illegal.  The leakers haven't committed any crime.  The information here isn't classified.  The information is that Flynn amongst others had frequent contact with Russian actors at the time of sanctions being imposed and it became apparent from this that Flynn lied to Pence.  Leakers might be sacked if identified but that's it.  This isn't analogous to Snowden's case at all.

A sacking's fair enough..if they've done nothing illegal.
But they still have to go.
You can't run a government without that type of security of information.

Flynn went because he lied to (and embarrassed) Pence

Anything beyond that ...we'll have to wait for the transcripts.
If Flynn or others have been involved in illegal activities they should be subject to criminal charges.

[Mav]

Bit late for Trump to complain about leaks.  Isn't he the one who said he loves Wikileaks and publicly called on Russia to do more hacks?

[Lods]

Bit late for Trump to complain about leaks.  Isn't he the one who said he loves Wikileaks and publicly called on Russia to do more hacks?

Look
He's a shambles no doubt...
but it's a bit different when it's coming for within your own administration.
Now he needs to get on top of it.
That's his responsibility....but you also need to be able to trust those people under you in positions of responsibility.

I think we have to be careful that our own opinion of Trump doesn't fog our opinions of the forces against him because while there are many sound and reasoned arguments against his actions there are also some crackpots and obstructive folk out there on the other side as well.

Two wrongs don't make a right and in fact in some cases these attempts to undermine him may not play out well in the general population.

[cookie2]

I'm not sure individuals leaking information to the press whether it's coming from the White House or intelligence services isn't also a security risk and not ideal at all.

That needs to be fixed up quick smart.

Yep. If true you'd have to wonder about what other stuff gets fed out and what purpose/agenda it may be serving?

[cookie2]

@ Lods
Good post Lods.

[Mav]

It would be useful if Trump appointed some people who weren't mad as cut snakes.  Appointing team players with level heads is apparently what politicians do.  So Trump rounds up a bunch of freaks to show how different he is.  I'm sure Trump channeled Baldrick as he said to himself, "I have a cunning plan."  Then, he exacerbates the problem by fostering rivalries as if he's a producer on Survivor. 

[Mav]

Oh, the irony!  ;D

Milo Yiannopoulos is an alt-right troll and took over Brietbart News when Steve Bannon left to join Trump's campaign.  He managed to get himself banned from Twitter after leading racist, homophobic and anti-feminist trolling campaigns.  He created a storm when he tried to give a speech at Berkeley but the university banned him from doing so.  Trump then tweeted that this was an outrage, wondering what had happened to free speech - he even threatened to defund Berkeley!

Naturally, he became a hero to conservatives - so much so that CPAC (the Conservative Political Action Conference) announced he would be the keynote speaker at its upcoming conference: "We look forward to hearing Milo’s message,” and having Yiannopoulos “answer some tough questions ... at a time when political correctness is properly being discarded.” 

Free speech is always a good thing according to CPAC, but as the saying goes, sometimes you CAN have too much of a good thing. 

Video of Yiannopoulos surfaced in which he defended older men and women having consensual sex with 13 year old boys.  He said that they could often be tender coming of age moments for young boys who were seeking to understand themselves.  He thought that boys could even be predators who ultimately destroy the lives of female teachers who fall in love with them. HERE'S one of the videos.

And, hey presto, CPAC has withdrawn his invitation to CPAC.  You'd even think that they have done exactly what Berkeley did.  But no!  In the words of one tweeter:

There's nothing about this that's amusing. This isn't about free speech. This is about basic decency. 

So racist and homophobic hate speech isn't an affront to basic decency, it's just free speech.

[cookie2]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GF7sAD0jf1o

Here's one bloke's view of the Donald - would be funny if it weren't so serious!  :o

PS. Bad language alert!