Events moving too fast to sit on these until Monday. Beginning to see why the Russian troll operations weren't wrapped up after the election. And here's the thing about conspiracies at higher levels of government, it doesn't remain a secret for very long when it involves the American people.
"Vice President-elect Mike Pence is seeking to keep secret the contents of an email relating to Indiana’s participation, at his behest, in a lawsuit to block President Barack Obama’s executive actions on immigration, an Indianapolis Star article revealed Monday." The GOP keeps flogging the corpse of irony. (Grokked from Jim Wright)
"The CIA has concluded in a secret assessment that Russia intervened in the 2016 election to help Donald Trump win the presidency, rather than just to undermine confidence in the U.S. electoral system, according to officials briefed on the matter." That's the Washington Post, by the way. There's no word in this article about Trump being a Manchurian Candidate, or a Putin Pawn. That can be implied by statements the President-Elect made during the campaign, including an open call to release any of the "deleted" emails from Clinton's server (which he later claimed was a "joke"). This could be solely a mater of Putin not wanting Clinton in the White House (personal animosity or fear of dealing with someone who understand how Putin worked and was suspicious of his goals). Or it could be that authoritarians tend to support each other. In any case, if this proves out, and if a connection from that "one step removed" from the Russian government to the inner circle is found, this is disastrous for our democracy. Oh, and it's not like we don't see Putin's hand in other elections in Europe (also using Wikileaks as a vector of attack). (Grokked from BoingBoing)
"Trump won the Presidency by gas light. His rise to power has awakened a force of bigotry by condoning and encouraging hatred, but also by normalizing deception. Civil rights are now on trial, though before we can fight to reassert the march toward equality, we must regain control of the truth. If that seems melodramatic, I would encourage you to dump a bucket of ice over your head while listening to 'Duel of the Fates.' Donald Trump is our President now; it’s time to wake up." I don't know if Teen Vogue has always been political, but damn. And then there is this: "There are things you can and should be doing to turn your unrest into action, but first let's empower ourselves with information. Insist on fact-checking every Trump statement you read, every headline you share or even relay to a friend over coffee. If you find factual inaccuracies in an article, send an email to the editor, and explain how things should have been clearer. Inform yourself what outlets are trustworthy and which aren’t. If you need extra help, seek out a browser extension that flags misleading sites or print out a list of fake outlets, such as the one by communications professor Melissa Zimdars, and tape it to your laptop. Do a thorough search before believing the agenda Trump distributes on Twitter. Refuse to accept information simply because it is fed to you, and don’t be afraid to ask questions. That is now the base level of what is required of all Americans. If facts become a point of debate, the very definition of freedom will be called into question."(Grokked from Elizabeth Bear)
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