Ex-CIA Director says he thinks Trump may be unwitting agent of Russians

[libby]

I posted this in another thread yesterday, but, in retrospect think it deserves a thread of its own, so:

From yesterday's N.Y. Times:

I Ran the C.I.A. Now I'm Endorsing Hillary Clinton.

By MICHAEL J. MORELL, AUG. 5, 2016

During a 33-year career at the Central Intelligence Agency, I served presidents of both parties — three Republicans and three Democrats. I was at President George W. Bush's side when we were attacked on Sept. 11; as deputy director of the agency, I was with President Obama when we killed Osama bin Laden in 2011.

I am neither a registered Democrat nor a registered Republican. In my 40 years of voting, I have pulled the lever for candidates of both parties. As a government official, I have always been silent about my preference for president.

No longer. On Nov. 8, I will vote for Hillary Clinton. Between now and then, I will do everything I can to ensure that she is elected as our 45th president.

Two strongly held beliefs have brought me to this decision. First, Mrs. Clinton is highly qualified to be commander in chief. I trust she will deliver on the most important duty of a president — keeping our nation safe. Second, Donald J. Trump is not only unqualified for the job, but he may well pose a threat to our national security.

I spent four years working with Mrs. Clinton when she was secretary of state, most often in the White House Situation Room. In these critically important meetings, I found her to be prepared, detail-oriented, thoughtful, inquisitive and willing to change her mind if presented with a compelling argument.

I also saw the secretary's commitment to our nation's security; her belief that America is an exceptional nation that must lead in the world for the country to remain secure and prosperous; her understanding that diplomacy can be effective only if the country is perceived as willing and able to use force if necessary; and, most important, her capacity to make the most difficult decision of all — whether to put young American women and men in harm's way.

Mrs. Clinton was an early advocate of the raid that brought Bin Laden to justice, in opposition to some of her most important colleagues on the National Security Council. During the early debates about how we should respond to the Syrian civil war, she was a strong proponent of a more aggressive approach, one that might have prevented the Islamic State from gaining a foothold in Syria.

I never saw her bring politics into the Situation Room. In fact, I saw the opposite. When some wanted to delay the Bin Laden raid by one day because the White House Correspondents Dinner might be disrupted, she said, "Screw the White House Correspondents Dinner."

In sharp contrast to Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Trump has no experience on national security. Even more important, the character traits he has exhibited during the primary season suggest he would be a poor, even dangerous, commander in chief.

These traits include his obvious need for self-aggrandizement, his overreaction to perceived slights, his tendency to make decisions based on intuition, his refusal to change his views based on new information, his routine carelessness with the facts, his unwillingness to listen to others and his lack of respect for the rule of law.

The dangers that flow from Mr. Trump's character are not just risks that would emerge if he became president. It is already damaging our national security.

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia was a career intelligence officer, trained to identify vulnerabilities in an individual and to exploit them. That is exactly what he did early in the primaries. Mr. Putin played upon Mr. Trump's vulnerabilities by complimenting him. He responded just as Mr. Putin had calculated.

Mr. Putin is a great leader, Mr. Trump says, ignoring that he has killed and jailed journalists and political opponents, has invaded two of his neighbors and is driving his economy to ruin. Mr. Trump has also taken policy positions consistent with Russian, not American, interests — endorsing Russian espionage against the United States, supporting Russia's annexation of Crimea and giving a green light to a possible Russian invasion of the Baltic States.

In the intelligence business, we would say that Mr. Putin had recruited Mr. Trump as an unwitting agent of the Russian Federation.

www.nytimes.com

[Locutus]

The endorsements for Hillary just keep rolling in.  Even a staunch Republican newspaper in Houston Texas has endorsed her.  How anyone can consider voting for Trump is beyond me at this point. 

[me]

The endorsements for Hillary just keep rolling in.  Even a staunch Republican newspaper in Houston Texas has endorsed her.  How anyone can consider voting for Trump is beyond me at this point.

Neither one is worth the powder and shot to....well you know. Either way it goes this country is in more trouble than it's in now.

[Locutus]

Neither one is worth the powder and shot to....well you know. Either way it goes this country is in more trouble than it's in now.

That's especially true if Trump is elected. 

[Exterminator]

Either way it goes this country is in more trouble than it's in now.

The country is not in trouble now...it's just fine.

[me]

The country is not in trouble now...it's just fine.

That's because you live in a bubble and believe everything the mainstream media says.

[Exterminator]

That's because you live in a bubble and believe everything the mainstream media says.

No, I live (and work) in the real world.  How is our country in trouble in your opinion?

[The Troll]

That's because you live in a bubble and believe everything the mainstream media says.

  You're the one who's living in a bubble.     you got your head up your ass, come out and breath some fresh air.    You never had it so good.  You sure got better than your parents and grandparents.  Tell me when you had it worse under the Democrats.  Why don't you dance for us, Sweetie Pie.

[me]

No, I live (and work) in the real world.  How is our country in trouble in your opinion?

Terrorists, economy, unrest, debt, and no leadership just for starters.

[Palehorse]

Terrorists, economy, unrest, debt, . . .

It isn't just us. You really need to pay attention to world news. . .  In fact, we're doing much better than most.

[The Troll]

Terrorists, economy, unrest, debt, and no leadership just for starters.

  We have had terrorist under George W. Bush, remember 9/11   Remember the economy under George W. Bush.   How much did Ronald Reagan leave, George H. Bush, Nixon, George W. Bush leave us in debt.    We sure had a lot of leadership under Ford, Nixon, Reagan, Bush, Bush.  They are the reason you dumbass Republicans think it so bad.     God damn it!

[libby]

 

The endorsements for Hillary just keep rolling in.  Even a staunch Republican newspaper in Houston Texas has endorsed her.  How anyone can consider voting for Trump is beyond me at this point. 

  There's more.  Yesterday, while the news talkers were going on and on about Hillary lying about those e-mails, and Trump was talking (reading from the teleprompter) about his plans for making America great again, I heard this on CBS radio and then found it on line:

50 Republican National Security Officials Eviscerate Trump In Open Letter
Trump "would be the most reckless President in American history," they write.

"EDITION
US
The Huffington Post

08/08/2016 03:28 pm ET
Christina Wilkie 
National Political Reporter, The Huffington Post

Dozens of the Republican Party's most experienced national security officials will not vote for GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, they wrote in an open letter released Monday.

"We are convinced that [Trump] would be a dangerous President and would put at risk our country's national security and well-being," said the former officials, many of whom held top positions in the George W. Bush administration.

"Most fundamentally, Mr. Trump lacks the character, values, and experience to be President," they added. "He weakens U.S. moral authority as the leader of the free world. He appears to lack basic knowledge about and belief in the U.S. Constitution, U.S. laws, and U.S. institutions, including religious tolerance, freedom of the press, and an independent judiciary."

Signers include some of the best known intelligence, defense and security experts of the past two decades: Michael V. Hayden, the former director of both the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency; Michael Chertoff and Tom Ridge, both of whom served as secretaries of Homeland Security during the Bush administration; Dov Zakheim, a former under secretary of defense; John D. Negroponte, a deputy secretary of state and a former director of national intelligence; Eric Edelman, a top national security adviser to former Vice President Dick Cheney; and Robert Zoellick, a former deputy secretary of state, United States trade rep and president of the World Bank.

The letter, which was first reported on by The New York Times, represents yet another blow to Trump's ongoing effort to win over top Republicans. That job that has become significantly more difficult in recent weeks, as Trump has feuded with the family of a fallen soldier and threatened repeatedly to abandon NATO.

The missive also raises questions about who might agree to serve in a hypothetical Trump administration and offer the former reality TV star advice on national security issues.

Trump has repeatedly sought to distance himself from some of the most controversial policies of the Bush administration, such as the war in Iraq, which Trump claims he opposed in 2003. Even so, it's safe to assume that Trump's campaign would have welcomed support from top members of the national security apparatus.

The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment about the letter. "

[Exterminator]

Terrorists, economy, unrest, debt, and no leadership just for starters.

There has always been terrorism; you just weren't aware of it.  I was because a large part of my job as an Army M.P. in Europe was providing security for our troops, their families and our installations.

The economy is fine.  Unemployment is low, the stock market continues to break records and corporate profits are as good as they ever have been.  If you and those around you aren't feeling the benefits, maybe...just maybe...it's time you start to reconsider conservatives' claims about trickle down economics because clearly it doesn't work.

According to FBI statistics, violent crime has been on the decline in this country for decades.  What you call unrest only seems so because the internet gives us access to more information faster than we had before.

Debt is caused by increased spending, especially when combined with decreased revenues.  Every Republican administration in the past 30 years has increased the size of government and spending more than every Democratic administration.  Waging war against sovereign countries who are no threat to the U.S. doesn't help either.

Somehow, all of the above were accomplished despite the current administration having been obstructed by Congress at every turn.  I would submit that shows a great deal of leadership.

Now that your talking points have been debunked, I will ask again: how is our country in trouble?

[Locutus]

Now that your talking points have been debunked, I will ask again: how is our country in trouble?

....and crickets.   

[me]

  There's more.  Yesterday, while the news talkers were going on and on about Hillary lying about those e-mails, and Trump was talking (reading from the teleprompter) about his plans for making America great again, I heard this on CBS radio and then found it on line:

50 Republican National Security Officials Eviscerate Trump In Open Letter
Trump "would be the most reckless President in American history," they write.

"EDITION
US
The Huffington Post

08/08/2016 03:28 pm ET
Christina Wilkie 
National Political Reporter, The Huffington Post

Dozens of the Republican Party's most experienced national security officials will not vote for GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, they wrote in an open letter released Monday.

"We are convinced that [Trump] would be a dangerous President and would put at risk our country's national security and well-being," said the former officials, many of whom held top positions in the George W. Bush administration.

"Most fundamentally, Mr. Trump lacks the character, values, and experience to be President," they added. "He weakens U.S. moral authority as the leader of the free world. He appears to lack basic knowledge about and belief in the U.S. Constitution, U.S. laws, and U.S. institutions, including religious tolerance, freedom of the press, and an independent judiciary."

Signers include some of the best known intelligence, defense and security experts of the past two decades: Michael V. Hayden, the former director of both the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency; Michael Chertoff and Tom Ridge, both of whom served as secretaries of Homeland Security during the Bush administration; Dov Zakheim, a former under secretary of defense; John D. Negroponte, a deputy secretary of state and a former director of national intelligence; Eric Edelman, a top national security adviser to former Vice President Dick Cheney; and Robert Zoellick, a former deputy secretary of state, United States trade rep and president of the World Bank.

The letter, which was first reported on by The New York Times, represents yet another blow to Trump's ongoing effort to win over top Republicans. That job that has become significantly more difficult in recent weeks, as Trump has feuded with the family of a fallen soldier and threatened repeatedly to abandon NATO.

The missive also raises questions about who might agree to serve in a hypothetical Trump administration and offer the former reality TV star advice on national security issues.

Trump has repeatedly sought to distance himself from some of the most controversial policies of the Bush administration, such as the war in Iraq, which Trump claims he opposed in 2003. Even so, it's safe to assume that Trump's campaign would have welcomed support from top members of the national security apparatus.

The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment about the letter. "

Like this publiciation or this reporter can be trusted. If she would lie like in this story below she would lie about Trump also.

http://www.ammoland.com/2013/03/huffington-post-reporter-christina-wilkie-doubles-down-on-antis-gun-lies/#axzz4GtavpOoW

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/29/neil-heslin-father-of-newtown-victim-heckled_n_2572503.html

Full testimony:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvT9peqTM5E Do you hear him getting heckled? I wouldn't believe anything that publication or Christina Wilkie put out.